Smart Move

Tiger Woods said Tuesday that there's "no timetable" for returning to competitive golf while he recovers from injuries to his knee and Achilles tendon. Woods spoke in Pennsylvania at the Aronimink Golf Club for the AT&T National, which he's also sitting out. For Woods, who has dominated at 73 PGA Tour events but last won one in September 2009, the decision was likely a wrenching one. "That's hard for me. I've always been very goal-oriented about when I'm going to play," he said Tuesday.  But it was the right decision to make, research shows.

That's one confrontation avoided, for now. Carlos Quentin , Stanford man, has elected to drop the appeal for his eight-game suspension for charging Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke and began serving it Sunday. Which means, of course, he will not participate when the Padres come to Dodger Stadium for a three-game series on Monday. See, Quentin is smart. That's what Clayton Kershaw said he'd be if he simply took the suspension and skipped the Dodgers' series.

Brandon Jennings [July 10] is not a trend-setter, he ran out of options. To spin this as if he is helping mankind and pushing back at the NBA and the NCAA is almost laughable. He does not have a choice, because the choice he made was to work on his crossover while other kids did their homework. Jeff Wolf Encino

For decades, the Los Angeles Convention Center, that drab behemoth on the south edge of downtown, has done a serviceable job of providing space for local trade and consumer shows, most notably the Auto Show. But if Los Angeles officials want it to be competitive on a national level and generate more revenue - enough to make it worth keeping - then the city needs to get out of the business of operating it. That is the centerpiece of a proposal to revamp the marketing and management of the Convention Center that will come before the City Council next month.

Treasury Secretary Rubin's proposal to issue bonds adjusted for inflation met with a generally negative press, including your Tom Petruno ("Will 'Inflation-Protected' Bonds Be a Good Buy?" May 17), and I wonder why. They have been a success in Canada. If they work for our Treasury, commercial bonds will surely follow. The bond market is a stumbling block to any sort of progressive growth. "Fear of inflation" is cited whenever employment rates climb, or the economy "heats up," as if prosperity was a bad thing.

President Obama is correct in saying that a public health insurance plan would help lower costs for everyone by making the market more competitive. But when the Obama administration signaled this week that it was backing away from a public plan, it wasn't putting the kibosh on meaningful change. What it was saying was that we've taken our collective eye off the ball. The point of this debate isn't whether the government should offer its own insurance product -- and it's certainly not whether the government wants "death panels" to kill old people.

Many people think Mitch Williams, the bullpen ace of the Philadelphia Phillies, is a bit of a character. Off the mound he does and says unusual things. But in a game Williams has never been accused of giving anything but his best. His smart move Sunday at Philadelphia saved the Phillies' 5-4 victory over the New York Mets. Sent in to protect a one-run lead during the ninth, Williams was in trouble. The Mets put runners on first and third with one out and Bobby Bonilla was at the plate.

Now that personal computers have been around for a few years, we're seeing a market for used equipment. Turn to the classified section of most local papers, and you'll probably see a special section featuring personal or "home" computers. Attend a meeting of a computer user group, and you're likely to find members swapping used equipment. Some areas have occasional "computer swap meets," and some cities have stores specializing in used computers. People sell used equipment for a lot of reasons.

For decades, the Los Angeles Convention Center, that drab behemoth on the south edge of downtown, has done a serviceable job of providing space for local trade and consumer shows, most notably the Auto Show. But if Los Angeles officials want it to be competitive on a national level and generate more revenue - enough to make it worth keeping - then the city needs to get out of the business of operating it. That is the centerpiece of a proposal to revamp the marketing and management of the Convention Center that will come before the City Council next month.

This doesn't compute. The Philadelphia Eagles might have been able to ship Donovan McNabb to Oakland or Buffalo, moving him out of the NFC and keeping the five-time Pro Bowl quarterback at a safe distance. Instead, the Eagles on Sunday traded McNabb within the division, sending him to the Washington Redskins for a second-round pick this year and a third- or fourth-round selection next year. In doing so, the Eagles handed over one of the best players in club history to a bitter rival, and to new Coach Mike Shanahan, who already has one of the league's up-and-coming defenses.

The feature debut from writer-director Nicholas Ozeki, "Mamitas" is an adaptation of his earlier short film of the same name, and despite flashes of lively charm the expansion may not be entirely justified. Los Angeles high-schooler Jordin Juarez (E.J. Bonilla) tests well but doesn't apply himself, opting instead to put on the air of a tough-guy player. After being shot down by her cousin, he ends up talking to Felipa Talia (Veronica Diaz-Carranza), a bookish girl he wouldn't normally give a second look.

For years, it was an organization defined by a crazy owner, his careless vision and caustic misfortune. For years, even during their rare brushes with success, they were viewed not as an actual basketball team, but as a comedic product of a strange man's obsession, a parlor trick trotted out 82 times a years to entertain family and friends. They were never just "The Clippers," right? They were always, "Donald Sterling's Clippers," with that villainous prefix defining their perception and determining their future.

So far, the only apparent solutions to California's budget crisis are increased revenues and draconian budget cuts. Legislative leaders have pledged to examine all options to avert further crippling reductions in state funding for higher education, the court system and social support for poor and vulnerable families. They should be looking at the state criminal justice system; there are savings that could help us avoid harsher cuts. To his credit, Gov. Jerry Brown has implemented budget and policy changes that have significantly reduced the state prison population and may reclaim up to $1 billion from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

It's hard to tell who stole, er, embraced the pension legislation first. Was it Gov. Jerry Brown? Or Republican legislators? Either way, it was an artful heist. When GOP legislators last week adopted en masse the Democratic governor's proposed public pension reform as their own, it was like the Lakers shooting jumpers for the Clippers or cats purring alongside dogs. It's very rare — and I can't think of a similar occasion — when legislators of one party unconditionally endorse a top legislative priority of a governor from the other party.

Tiger Woods said Tuesday that there's "no timetable" for returning to competitive golf while he recovers from injuries to his knee and Achilles tendon. Woods spoke in Pennsylvania at the Aronimink Golf Club for the AT&T National, which he's also sitting out. For Woods, who has dominated at 73 PGA Tour events but last won one in September 2009, the decision was likely a wrenching one. "That's hard for me. I've always been very goal-oriented about when I'm going to play," he said Tuesday.  But it was the right decision to make, research shows.

A recent city survey found that garbage pickup is the public's favorite municipal service. No wonder: It's efficient, environment-friendly and, for most, free. Although most apartment and condo dwellers and businesses pay for garbage pickup, residents of single-family homes do not, thanks to the so-called People's Ordinance of 1919. The unusual law was spurred by civic anger over a Los Angeles entrepreneur who was charging to pick up San Diego garbage and then selling it as pig slop, reaping a large profit.

There is such a tangible life force pulsing through "127 Hours" that it is almost impossible not to be drawn down into Blue John Canyon alongside its star, James Franco, for the real-life ordeal of Aron Ralston, a solo hiker trapped in a remote area of Utah's Canyonlands National Park. Once there, with the hiker's right arm hopelessly pinned by an 800-pound boulder, director Danny Boyle wrings you out completely with a film so emotionally and intellectually involving that when the horrific last resort finally arrives, it leaves some moviegoers in a faint.

There is such a tangible life force pulsing through "127 Hours" that it is almost impossible not to be drawn down into Blue John Canyon alongside its star, James Franco, for the real-life ordeal of Aron Ralston, a solo hiker trapped in a remote area of Utah's Canyonlands National Park. Once there, with the hiker's right arm hopelessly pinned by an 800-pound boulder, director Danny Boyle wrings you out completely with a film so emotionally and intellectually involving that when the horrific last resort finally arrives, it leaves some moviegoers in a faint.

This doesn't compute. The Philadelphia Eagles might have been able to ship Donovan McNabb to Oakland or Buffalo, moving him out of the NFC and keeping the five-time Pro Bowl quarterback at a safe distance. Instead, the Eagles on Sunday traded McNabb within the division, sending him to the Washington Redskins for a second-round pick this year and a third- or fourth-round selection next year. In doing so, the Eagles handed over one of the best players in club history to a bitter rival, and to new Coach Mike Shanahan, who already has one of the league's up-and-coming defenses.