Fold

Regarding "Why Marry Outside of the Fold?" (Jan. 23): The article reads like something dated 1890 instead of 1990. Are there still people who stereotype males and females in those roles? Does any individual aware of the economic and social conditions in our world today feel that Jewish women sit around hoping for a passive, successful but unsexy Jewish man to make her life complete? And as for that man who was quoted as saying he "would never marry a Jewish woman to avoid giving a Jewish mother to his children," on behalf of the Jewish women of America, I would like to thank him--he's one to avoid.

When getting off a bus at a major tourist attraction in India, forge ahead and try not to make eye contact with the vendors who will swarm you (unless you really want one of those trinkets). Sometimes, the vendor will try to place the object on your body, thinking that once it is on you, you have to purchase it. Just brush it off and go on your way. Jane Barack Los Angeles When traveling internationally, take along a roll of toilet paper. It compresses more than you think, and you never know when you'll be using some primitive facilities at a historical sight.

"If there's one more lockout or one more strike, they might as well fold up the games because no one is coming back." George Brett, Hall of Fame player with the Kansas City Royals, on baseball's problems.

Brett Favre spent 16 years with the Green Bay Packers, leading the team to one Lombardi trophy, two Super Bowl appearances, four NFC championship games and 160 overall victories. Sure, things came to a messy end when his indecision about retirement led the team to trade him to the New York Jets. And, sure, he ended up leading bitter division rival Minnesota to the NFC championship game a year later. But in many people's eyes Favre will always be associated with the Packers. And team President and Chief Executive Mark Murphy says the Packers want to take that a step further.

Re "With Davids, 'Idol' still Goliath," May 22 It appears that the transformation of The Times from a respected newspaper to a daily version of People magazine is almost complete. Not only is the report of who won "American Idol" considered news, it is considered news that is worthy of front-page exposure. I guess the only surprise is that this "news" was below the fold. Michael Byrne Oxnard

Tom Plate's article, "China, Taiwan: No Force or Taunts" (Commentary, Sept. 16), contains several incorrect or unfair assertions. Plate suggests that Taiwan should stop its "game-playing" and "return to the fold." This reasoning has two very serious flaws. The idea of a Taiwan governed by the PRC as being a "return to the fold" is ludicrous. The people on Taiwan have never been governed by the PRC. If anything, Taiwan's democratic reforms have been a return of the government of the Republic of China to the fold of the people.

In the article in which Commissioner Bud Selig suggests that six to eight major league teams may fold as long as the current economic arrangement remains, Selig complains that he can no longer see the continuation of funding loans because the sources are "drying up." Is the commissioner so blind to the fact that in today's America, we often hold out a helping hand to those who need it (at least for a while). When the helping hand is no longer able, those teams should fold up their tents.

From out of the Fold Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Trail of Dead are coming back to the Fold -- in a manner of speaking. A two-disc album featuring tracks by bands who have played on promoter Scott Sterling's bills at the Derby and the Silverlake Lounge, "The Fold Compilation," was released Tuesday. A record-release bash is scheduled Nov. 21 at the Derby. "I had thought of doing a compilation for years," Sterling says, "but Chris Jerde had the patience to go through all the rigmarole to get the songs."

Deane C. Kensok's letter (June 13) against increasing the minimum wage is the perfect illustration of the ignorance which persists on this issue. Kensok feels that by lowering the minimum wage you would create more jobs. Let's drop the minimum wage to, let's say a penny an hour--we would have full employment by his thinking. If this was the case there would be full employment in all of the underdeveloped countries. In the Philippines for example the minimum wage is about $25 a week and the employers complain that it's too high, just like they do here.

Dear Fashion Police: I don't know what to do with my woolen tops. If I hang them up, they get those pointy shoulder thingies, even if the hanger is padded or shaped. If I fold them, they get a crease in bizarre places, even if I'm careful and fold them the way I see them done in stores. What to do? Also, I don't have any moths yet, but do you have any suggestions for eliminating them if they do show up? --WOOL YOU HELP ME? Dear Wool: First things first. You should never hang stretchy knits of any kind since gravity ultimately takes its toll, resulting in misshapen clothes.

The Transportation Security Administration will soon let airline passengers carry small folding knives on planes for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But a group of flight attendants is doing everything it can to halt the shift in policy. It has even employed the families of flight attendants who died in the terrorist attacks to put pressure on the TSA. Still, TSA is set April 25 to allow passengers to bring onboard small folding knives, with blades 2.36 inches or shorter and less than 1/2 an inch wide, as well as pool cues, ski poles, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks, golf clubs and novelty-size bats.

The Pasadena Playhouse will present a revival of "Smokey Joe's Cafe" and a new play from former New York Times journalist Bernard Weinraub as part of its 2013-14 season, announced Thursday. In all, the company will present six main stage productions, including a holiday special, the same number as this season. The Pasadena Playhouse has been working toward financial stability since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010. That same year, the company ceased producing for several months because of financial difficulties.

Ken Stovitz is returning to the agency business after six years as a producer. Stovitz, who formerly was a longtime agent at Creative Artists Agency until leaving to become a partner at Will Smith's production company, has joined Paradigm as a senior agent. At the Beverly Hills based agency, Stovitz will serve on Paradigm's five-person management committee, which oversees day-to-day operations. Chief Executive Sam Gores also sits on the committee. During his tenure at Smith's Overbrook Entertainment, the company produced such movies as "Hancock" and "Seven Pounds," as well as "The Karate Kid," which starred Jaden Smith, the son of Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.

In September 1889, years before Peter Pan took his inaugural flight, his creator declared that there was a new curse in the world. The curse was maps, specifically foldable maps - and more specifically still, maps that, once unfolded, could never be folded up again. J.M. Barrie was 29 and living in Edinburgh when he noticed a trend in bookshops along the main street. When paying for your purchases at the counter, the bookseller would offer a new map that was "convenient for the pocket.

Ben Folds Five amicably split in 2000, leaving Ben Folds to go it alone for a successful decade-plus of solo work. Now the famously mis-numbered trio has reunited for "The Sound of the Life of the Mind," and while they may not have a pop breakout like "Brick" again, their combo of indie fuzz and creative piano pop still has plenty of stories to tell. The Wiltern, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 7 p.m. Sat. $45.50-$57.50. wiltern.com .

Day at the races, Santa Anita: First race. Starter allowance for 3-year-old fillies who are a little conflicted and (supposedly) never dated. On the first turn, my horse goes into labor, then rallies to finish fourth. Good sign. Karma. I claim the foal just in case. Because that's how winners roll. Second race. Stakes race for California-sired maidens who have never once been kissed. After betting, I get lost looking for a bathroom, then accidentally wander out onto the track and - amid a cloud of dust and confusion - finish second.

It's all crossovers these days. From the polo grounds of Malibu to the campgrounds of Maine, nearly a fifth of all vehicles sold in the U.S. last year resided somewhere in this netherworld between a car and an SUV. So the stakes were high for Toyota's overdue redesign of the RAV4, a pioneer of the segment in the mid-1990s that had grown stale in comparison with competitors. Often resembling small sport utility vehicles, crossovers are truck-like vehicles built on front-drive car platforms.

In the tense days of this nation's twin gas crises in the 1970s, one automaker dominated U.S. roads with diesel cars: Mercedes-Benz. The automaker says that between 1975 and 1985, a majority of its cars sold here were diesels, hitting a peak of 80%. Since then, that number has shrunk to a modest 6%. Yet the diesel engine has come a long way since the soot-stained versions from 30 years ago. Although many still have a distinctive idle not unlike your...

I'm not one to make a gazillion New Year's resolutions. I've faltered too many times. Exercise every day? Up at 5:30 every morning to write or swim? Less time in front of the computer? Probably not going to happen. But it always takes a while for reality to kick in. The resolutions I do keep tend to be things I really long to do more than those I'd give anything to avoid. So, once a year, I'll sit down and muse about where I'd like to go, culinarily speaking, in the new year. It's thrilling to learn some new dishes, techniques or a new cuisine.

The first time Matthew Schwartz ditched junior high in the early 1980s, some upperclassmen smuggled him in the back seat of a car and drove to Henry's Tacos. "We could have gone anywhere, but we went to Henry's," said Schwartz, 42, a Pasadena lawyer. "It was the place to go. " Schwartz has been coming to the taco stand in Studio City since he was a second-grader. Other than price inflation, the bare-bones menu has stayed the same for 51 years: ground beef tacos, refried bean and orange-cheese burritos, and "taco burgers.