Simplify

As the backlash continues over Bank of America's new debit card fee, the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau called for more disclosure about what customers pay for checking accounts. Raj Date, the Obama administration advisor leading the agency until it gets a Senate-confirmed director, weighed in on the controversy Wednesday without directly addressing BofA's new $5 monthly debit card fee. Instead, Date said banks often are unclear about how much they charge customers for various services, and he suggested the agency might move to simplify checking account disclosures.

Myspace has kicked off what its new owners hope will be its comeback tour. The site's senior executives joined with creative partner Justin Timberlake in outlining plans Monday to return Myspace to its musical roots. Their presentation for top advertisers gathered at Radio City Music Hall in New York was followed by a VIP concert whose lineup included contemporary artists Far East Movement, Natasha Bedingfield and B.o.B. The splashy promotional affair came three months after Irvine advertising firm Specific Media bought Myspace for $35 million and touted Timberlake's ability to lend cachet to the once-dominant social network that long ago lost its magnetism.

Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is releasing an economic plan today that will include a call for lowering the top federal tax rate on income to 23% and eliminating all taxes on capital gains and dividends. Huntsman, who trails the rest of the GOP field, is attempting to grab attention by getting a jump on other 2012 candidates who will be announcing their own plans in coming days.  Mitt Romney will deliver his in a Las Vegas area speech next Tuesday; President Obama will announce his latest jobs and economic stimulus plan shortly after Labor Day. "Meeting our challenges will require serious solutions, but above all, it will require serious leadership - a quality in high demand in our nation's capital, and among my opponents on the campaign trail," said Huntsman, according to an excerpt from his prepared text released by his campaign.

NCAA leaders are ready to give college sports an overhaul. They want to simplify the 439-page Division I rulebook, enforce stronger penalties for rule-breakers, increase academic standards and link academic performance to possible postseason bans. And if NCAA President Mark Emmert gets his way, all of this would be approved in the next 12 months. "What's different is a lot of things have reached a boiling point," Penn State President Graham Spanier said after Emmert's two-day presidential retreat wrapped up Wednesday in Indianapolis.

Dear Karen: Our business has a lot of products with names all over the map. How can we simplify? Answer: You're running a "house of brands," with multiple product identities that share no organizing principle, said Steve Cecil, a verbal branding professional at WhereWords.com. This contrasts with a "branded house," in which all products draw on the master brand, like Purina Dog Chow and Cat Chow or Apple's iPod, iPad and so on. Reference your driving brand as you add new products.

The blizzard of complex disclosure forms required in getting a mortgage soon could ease a bit as a new federal agency tries to streamline and simplify an important part of the process. In its first major move, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released two prototypes of shorter and easier-to-understand disclosure forms that lenders must give home buyers when they apply for a mortgage. The goal is to help consumers better comprehend the terms of the loans and compare them with mortgages available from other banks, Elizabeth Warren, the special White House and Treasury Department advisor helping to launch the consumer bureau, said Wednesday.

When it comes to bars, Santa Monica is home to one of the best local scenes in Southern California. From the walkable watering holes of Main Street to the destination haunts such as Casa Del Mar's classic Veranda Bar or Santa Monica Place's busy Sonoma Wine Garden, Westside residents are not lacking in options for conversation over drinks. But finding an upscale lounge that has space for conversation, crafted cocktails and a DJ for dancing? There are fewer of those. The new 31Ten, in the space at 3110 Main St. that was previously Cache and before that Hidden, hopes to fill a void not being met by many of the city's 246 licensed venues that serve alcohol.

After returning home from a four-month stint abroad, I picked up the Sunday Times, excited about reinstating my weekly ritual of reading all my favorite sections (in English!). When I saw the title of Leon Logothetis' article, "Revelation Road" [Dec. 19], I knew that what I was about to read could provide solace to my ever-growing longing to return abroad. The points he made about how powerful a teacher travel can be summarized so well what I had feared I would never be able to explain to my friends and family.

"Sarah Palin's Alaska" didn't debut until Sunday night, but the former governor has been defending it for weeks. After Karl Rove wondered how a reality show fit "the American calculus of 'that helps me see you in the Oval Office,'" Fox News gave Palin a chance to respond. "You know, I agree with that," she said. "Those standards have to be high for someone who would ever want to run for president, like, um, wasn't Ronald Reagan an actor? Wasn't he in 'Bedtimes for Bonzo,' 'Bozo' or something?"

The Pentagon said Thursday that decisions about discharging homosexual service members would now be made by the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force, a move aimed at ensuring uniformity amid uncertainty about the 17-year-old law prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military. The new rules, which take authority for removing enlisted personnel found to be gay away from uniformed officers, came a day after an appeals court in San Francisco lifted a judge's order that had barred the Pentagon from enforcing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.