Discipline

washington -- Mitt Romney twice emphasized his unique business background when he and eight other Republican presidential candidates faced off in a debate last week in Iowa. "I've spent the last, as I've told you, 25 years in the private sector," former Massachusetts Gov. Romney declared at one point. "I understand why jobs come and why jobs go. I've done business in 20 countries."

SEATTLE -- It was one at-bat in a season filled with 126 of them through Wednesday, but it spoke volumes for the strides Mark Trumbo has made in plate discipline. With two on in the seventh inning at Texas on May 13, Rangers reliever Mark Lowe threw a 1-and-2 pitch an inch or two off the plate. Trumbo took it for ball two and eventually drew a walk to load the bases, extending a rally in which the Angels scored three runs to trim Texas' lead to 10-5. Howie Kendrick grounded out to end the inning, and the Rangers won, 13-6, but had Kendrick hit a grand slam, Trumbo's walk would have set it up. Had it been 2011, the inning probably would have ended with a Trumbo strikeout or weakly hit ball.

First of three parts Tiffany Lee wanted a car. She was weary of the two-hour bus ride to her job at a UCLA Health System clinic. She hated having to ask friends to drive her 7-year-old son to his asthma treatments. But as a single mother with three children, bad credit and a $27,000-a-year salary, she couldn't find a bank or dealership willing to give her a loan. Then a friend steered her to Repossess Auto Sales in Hawthorne. Another buyer might have balked at the deal she was offered.

Two retired Los Angeles County sheriff's supervisors painted a violent picture of life inside Men's Central Jail on Monday, recounting tales of deputies beating prisoners, ignoring bosses, forming cliques and engaging in off-duty misconduct. The former sergeant and lieutenant, who both retired in 2007, told a county jail commission that they felt their efforts to discipline wayward deputies were undermined by a top manager they accused of ordering supervisors to "coddle" young deputies in the jail.

It was just minutes into his workday when Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Mark Moffett saw a gun aimed straight at his head. The man gripping the gun, he told investigators, was a fellow sergeant staring at him from a glass office inside the Compton sheriff's station. "I'm gonna kill you," Moffett said his colleague mouthed at him. "I'm gonna kill you. " Moffett said the threat was one of many that Sgt. Timothy Cooper directed at him over the years, a vendetta he alleges was motivated by Cooper's ties to a secret deputy clique.

The Pentagon was warned repeatedly going back a decade that it was accepting military recruits with criminal histories and was too lenient with those already in uniform who exhibited violent or other troubling behavior. Six studies prepared over 10 years by an outside expert at the Pentagon's request found that too little was being done to discipline lawbreakers in uniform or even identify problem recruits. A 1998 study estimated that one-third of military recruits had arrest records.

It was 9:15 on the night of May 27, and Cara Vanni was chatting with a friend on the phone, just like any number of San Clemente teen-agers. Suddenly the line went dead. A minute later, strangers appeared in her bedroom doorway. "My parents brought these three people into my room," Cara, 16, recalled. "At first I thought they were old friends of the family who were about to say they knew me when I was 4. They weren't."

Credit card users with money smarts and discipline can protect themselves better than any legislation can. Initial provisions of the federal Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act took effect in August. They require banks to give cardholders longer notice before increasing the interest rates on their plastic. And cardholders can opt out as long as they stop making charges and pay the balance under existing rates within five years. That's all good, of course.

Recent news stories about lawyer Richard DeGallegos' alleged mistreatment of his legal clients were of interest to many people who have been frustrated (or made ill or made paupers) due to legal abuses. Their attorneys have: failed to appear in court or missed deadlines, filed or settled a lawsuit without a client's knowledge or consent, overcharged or kept the client's money, not answered calls, or kept the client informed, dragged out a simple lawsuit for 5 to 10 years, etc., etc. Like a trip to the dentist, visiting a lawyer is probably inevitable for virtually all of us. The pain of injury, divorce, death in the family, business problems, or being sued eventually forces each of us to use legal services, at some time.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are prepared to discipline quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for his off-field behavior but do not plan to do so for at least two weeks. Steelers President Art Rooney II addressed the media Thursday at team headquarters and said the club will coordinate with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who met with Roethlisberger earlier this week regarding an accusation the star quarterback sexually assaulted a 20-year-old college student. A district attorney in Georgia said Roethlisberger will not face criminal charges in connection with the alleged incident.

As a hurricane barreled toward the Florida Keys, John Schappert, the chief operating officer of Zynga Inc., was on a charter boat to catch lobsters with half a dozen friends. When the winds kicked up and large waves tossed the small craft about, several passengers felt too seasick to dive. But Schappert insisted on diving until he caught close to a dozen lobsters before he was willing to call it a day. "Most of us were begging to get back to shore," recalled Steve Chiang, a close friend who was on the boat that day in July.

Chivas USA and its coach, Robin Fraser, were both slapped on the wrist -- gently -- Thursday when Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber leveled penalties for actions taken in last Saturday's game with the Philadelphia Union at the Home Depot Center. Two Philadelphia players were ejected for hard tackles in the second half and after the second foul -- charged against Gabriel Farfan in the 85th minute -- Chivas USA's Blair Gavin and Dan Kennedy rushed over to confront Farfan.

The Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday made its case for why officers often are given warnings, instead of suspensions, for drunk driving, domestic disputes and other serious types of misconduct. Deputy Chief Mark Perez appeared before the civilian Police Commission, which oversees the LAPD and has raised concerns in recent months about the department's unconventional approach to disciplining officers. Perez presented preliminary discipline figures that, he said, showed officers who received the warnings recommitted the same type of misconduct far less often than those who were suspended.

The gospel of successful playoff hockey, according to Kings Coach Darryl Sutter, is indisputable. "Goaltenders, special teams, top players, unsung heroes and discipline. Write it down and don't forget it," he said. "It's true. It's part of the hockey bible. I've seen it for 35 years, live. " He saw it again during their five-game elimination of the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks, a series the Kings ended Sunday with a 2-1 overtime victory at Rogers Arena. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick was better than Vancouver's Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider, compiling a 1.59 goals-against average and .953 save percentage.

The paratroopers had their assignment: Check out reports that Afghan police had recovered the mangled remains of an insurgent suicide bomber. Try to get iris scans and fingerprints for identification. The 82nd Airborne Division soldiers arrived at the police station in Afghanistan's Zabol province in February 2010. They inspected the body parts. Then the mission turned macabre: The paratroopers posed for photos next to Afghan police, grinning while some held - and others squatted beside - the corpse's severed legs.

In February, a Philadelphia high school teacher was suspended because of a posting to her blog in which she complained that her students sometimes acted like "rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. " In May, a Florida high school football coach was fired for sending explicit pictures to his 20-year-old girlfriend. She was not a student. In August, a Florida high school's "Teacher of the Year" was fired for writing on Facebook outside school hours that he considered gay marriage to be a sin and same-sex unions a "cesspool.

Re "When Punishment Becomes Child Abuse," Voices, May 18: The "misconception" to which Daniel Brezenoff refers can be blamed on King Solomon, who wrote in Proverbs 13:24, "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently." Brezenoff writes, "Appropriate physical discipline, while in no way necessary, does not appear to traumatize children." While burning his son's hand was excessive, at least Wellington Soto cared enough to deter his son from stealing.

Carol Jago's opinion in "Old-Fashioned Steps to Make Schools the Salt of the Town" (Commentary, July 19) that schools may have to bring in as teachers professionals such as poets, mathematicians and scientists "who have not passed through formal education programs" is not new. As a teacher I have seen a number of these individuals enter the classroom. They may have had a "love and deep knowledge" of their subject, but they had no classroom control. One basic that every experienced teacher knows is that it is impossible to teach Shakespeare if the students are not paying attention.

The NBA is not expected to further discipline Lakers center Andrew Bynum for his ejection from Tuesday's game against Houston, according to a league official. Bynum was ejected with 1:10 left in the third quarter after picking up his second technical foul. He high-fived teammates and a handful of fans in court-side seats before being turned toward the locker room by a team security official. Instead of walking around the court, Bynum walked across it to get to the locker room.

SPYGATE New England Coach Bill Belichick is fined $500,000 and the Patriots are fined $250,000 and forfeit a first-round draft pick for taping the signals of the New York Jets' defensive coaches during a game on Sept. 9, 2007. HORNUNG-KARRAS Green Bay Packers star running back Paul Hornung, the 1961 NFL most valuable player, and Detroit Lions All-Pro defensive tackle Alex Karras are suspended for the 1963 season for betting on NFL games and associating with gamblers.