Puts

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."

SACRAMENTO — A data breach that jeopardized the personal information of more than 700,000 people has spurred California officials to change the way they transport sensitive material. Packages of payroll data, including Social Security numbers, will be delivered by courier rather than dropped in the mail. And officials are examining ways to transmit encrypted data rather than store it on microfiche. "We're looking to improve the process," said Oscar Ramirez, a spokesman for the California Department of Social Services.

Ben Foster is standing on a boulder in a field in Armenia. That's not some trendy new Zen practice and he's not shooting a scene (although he's there working on "Here," his next film); he's just trying to manage some decent cell reception. Normally soft-spoken, he gamely shouts into the wind about his turn as an Army casualty notification officer in Oren Moverman's "The Messenger." "If you can remove the filter of war, it's about feelings we all have -- falling in love with someone in a difficult situation; we've all experienced loss; we will make the phone call to loved ones and have to break the news.

High-end outdoor clothier and gear maker Patagonia Inc. is out to prove that a company can generate strong sales while being nearly fanatical about environmental concerns. The Ventura company was the first major clothier to make fleece jackets out of recycled bottles. Nearly a third of the power for its headquarters and adjoining child-care center comes from solar. And it donates 1% of its sales to environmental causes. With Patagonia being a privately held company, its finances are not public, but it says it's riding a growth curve.

Fittingly for an actress who has already shown remarkable range, the petite, blond Jess Weixler's face can change radically. Depending on the angle, the moment or the character, she can go from pretty to harsh, innocent to murderous. In the chaotically sequenced romantic drama "Peter and Vandy," she puts on display the many facets of what she calls "a whole person." "It feels so much better to act when you're not just part of a person; you're not just trying to be charming or lovable," she says, warming her hands on a double shot of green tea. "Stuff is going to fly out of you."

Regarding the Oct. 10 letter proposing "fingerprinting" of guns by the markings they make on bullets and shell casings: This would not work. A few seconds with a file will change the profile any barrel puts on a bullet. Not only that, rifling marks change with wear and time. Dream on about catching terrorists by destroying American rights. Chris Keller Alhambra

The Times reports that "UCLA will run basically the same version of Dorrell's West Coast offense that it used last season, [although] much of the terminology has changed." That made me think of a joke: A guy goes to the refrigerator and takes the milk out. It's gone bad. He puts it back, saying, "Maybe it'll be better tomorrow." Oh, how I miss Bob Toledo. Ken Haymaker Woodland Hills

Thank you, Chicago Bears. You gave us a 300-pound offensive back who runs for touchdowns, a quarterback who wears gloves indoors, a Hall of Fame running back who is not concerned with personal statistics, a defense that puts eight barking men on the line, a Super Bowl victory when you were supposed to, and a coach who directed you to come out throwing in the second half with a 20-point lead. Best of all, you put a spark of life to what had been one of the most predictable and boring events ever devised--professional football.

New figures from Gallup place President Obama's reelection bid in a precarious gray zone between the one-term exit of presidents like George H.W. Bush, and successful second-term victories like those of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Combining Obama's job approval rating with several evaluations of public sentiment on the economy, Gallup's indicators show that the president is performing better than he was just a year ago, but his numbers are nonetheless lackluster compared with those of his predecessors.

If you give millions of seriously underwater homeowners a new equity position in their properties by reducing their principal mortgage debt, will they keep paying on their loans and avoid foreclosure? Call it a pipe dream or a significant model for other lenders and investors, but one company says it has found an important combination: Modify underwater borrowers' loans so that their payments are reduced to a manageable amount and cut their principal debt over time, but make the deal dependent on their scrupulous on-time monthly payments of the new amount plus sharing of a portion of any future profit they make on the house sale.

Last year's tussle over increasing the federal debt limit showed Congress at its worst, paralyzed by dueling ideologies and incapable of striking a grand bargain. The eventual compromise by lawmakers and the White House raised the debt ceiling enough to last until the end of 2012 or early 2013, giving voters a chance to shuffle the deck in Washington before the next round of negotiations. House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), however, has been calling on Congress to take up the issue before the election, saying Congress shouldn't wait He's got a point, but the debt ceiling bill is the wrong place for that debate.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Clarence Campbell bowl, awarded to the champion of the NHL's Western Conference, is not what the Kings dreamed of lifting or kissing or winning this season. Always, their goal was to win the Stanley Cup, as preposterous as it seemed while their offense went stale and they struggled to score goals and went through the turmoil of a midseason coaching change. Sometimes it seemed that they alone believed, that they alone saw what they could become with the right tweaks and right coach and right approach.

OAKLAND — What seemed like a routine slide into second base turned into a major injury for Vernon Wells , who will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb, a procedure that will sideline the Angels left fielder for eight to 10 weeks. "He thought it popped out and back in — that happens a lot, and guys usually work through it," Manager Mike Scioscia said of Wells, who was injured in the second inning of Sunday's 3-2 loss to San Diego. "But the next inning, there was no chance of him swinging a bat, and we knew it was significant.

New adventures in Lakers playoff losses … They have been blown out. They have frittered away a seven-point lead in the final two minutes. On Saturday night, in one of the cruelest defeats imaginable, the Lakers found themselves immersed in a nearly total fourth-quarter implosion. A 13-point cushion was obliterated during the final eight minutes of a wobbly leggged 103-100 defeat against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals.

SAN ANTONIO -- With the Clippers and Kings having playoff games on Sunday at Staples Center, a scheduling conflict could arise. The Kings are scheduled to play the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference finals at noon and the Clippers are scheduled to play the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals at 7:30 p.m. If the Kings go past one overtime period, the start of the Clippers' game could be...

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Vice President Joe Biden and unofficial Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney skirmished over the economy and their ability to improve it in swing-state appearances Wednesday that underscored each side's positioning on the key issue in November's general election. Biden and other Democrats are seeking to disqualify Romney in the minds of voters as an alternative to President Obama. Polls consistently have found that voters give Romney better marks for his potential handling of the economy than they give Obama for dealing with it. Romney and other Republicans have long criticized the president's moves on the economy.

Auto leasing deals abound these days, with offers that often seem too good to be true. How about a well-equipped Honda Accord for $250 a month with no down payment or any other drive-off fees? Or better yet, $199 a month for a Chevrolet Malibu? So, what's the catch? There isn't any if you know what you're getting into. There are always details. You need top-tier credit to qualify. You pay a penalty if you turn that Honda in with more than 36,000 miles. And the payment is not $250 a month because of that little matter of tax. It is more like $275, depending on where you live.

"Battleship"is not the first major motion picture to be based on a board game - who could forget 1985's benighted "Clue"? - but it is surely the most expensive. With every superhero more celebrated than Amazing-Man or the Chameleon already spoken for (ditto for hot toys like Transformers), Hollywood has fallen back on popular games as likely fodder for action epics. If "Scrabble: The Movie" or "Qwirkle or Death" appears on a future marquee, don't say you weren't warned. As its north-of-$200-million budget indicates, "Battleship" has been expanded considerably from its origins as a pre-World War I pencil and paper game to include a major alien invasion that puts the very fate of the human race at stake.

Three days after Walt Disney Studios said it would incur a $200-million loss on "John Carter," the film's star, Taylor Kitsch, was still licking his wounds. He had just returned to his Beverly Hills hotel, cheeks flushed following a boxing workout where a fellow gym rat had tried to console him about the box-office dud. "This guy came up to me and goes, 'Next one. Don't worry about it, you'll be fine,' " Kitsch chafed. "I'm like, 'I'm not worried about it, man. I didn't market the movie.

Culture Monster will occasionally visit museum exhibits dealing with history, anthropology, science or sociology. The show : "Visions of Empire: The Quest for a Railroad Across America, 1840-1880" at theHuntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. The goods : The Huntington archives supply 98% of the exhibits, from the resolutions of eight Eastern states to build it, to a railway worker's letter home to his mother and the ledgers workers signed (one with Chinese characters)