Sticker

I bought bumper stickers that said: "I Had a Job During the Bush Administration." But I don't know anyone to give them to. LYNDA KING Orange

New federal regulations aimed at giving airline passengers the true price of their tickets when booking a flight may provide some travelers with an unpleasant surprise. The U.S. Transportation Department rules that took effect Thursday require airlines to include all mandatory taxes and fees in their advertised prices. But travel experts say the rules may have the unintended effect of reducing airline ticket sales by scaring away passengers with prices that suddenly seem much higher than in the past.

It's difficult to tell sometimes when you've had too much sun, but a new product called SunSpots may help change that. Manufacturers of the 1-inch, bandage-like sticker claim they can reveal how much sun exposure a wearer has received. Each SunSpots sticker contains radiochromatic materials that change color upon exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. The sticker is placed on the skin and covered with the sunscreen the user normally wears.

General Motors Co. plans to bring a special version of the Chevrolet Volt to the California market that will qualify the plug-in hybrid sedan for a $1,500 state rebate and a coveted carpool lane sticker. The Volt, which the automaker has made the poster child for its environmental credentials, has sold more slowly in California than its all-electric rival, the Nissan Leaf, in part because it previously did not qualify as a vehicle that solo drivers could use in the state's network of time-saving carpool lanes.

Time was when "beach bum" was a phrase of endearment in laid-back Ocean Beach. No more. This normally quiet neighborhood is being torn by a dispute over the recent emergence of a beach subculture of unkempt young males sleeping in doorways, urinating in public places and panhandling aggressively. The flash point was the appearance of bumper stickers proclaiming: "Welcome To Ocean Beach. Please Don't Feed Our Bums." The stickers — sold at a local landmark business, The Black, better known for the sale of bongs, posters and jewelry — are flying off the shelves and cropping up on shop windows and cars around town.

I can sympathize with Kimber Jerrils' experience with a pro-choice bumper sticker, but not with her reaction: removing the sticker. We brave people in the pro-choice bumper-sticker crowd have been followed to our cars in public parking lots, had our cars keyed, epithets screamed at us and the finger flipped at us by "Christians" concerned about our morals. We have also had people wave at us, honk encouragement and give the thumbs-up sign. It's unfortunate that Ms. Jerrils ran into two hateful fanatics on the first day of her bumper-sticker use. I would encourage Ms. Jerrils to get another pro-choice bumper sticker and display it proudly.

Re "Shut up and drive," Opinion, July 31 I know we at times encounter individuals who are ugly and unpleasant to deal with on the road, but we have to take the opinionated bumper-sticker view with a different approach. This is L.A.; everyone is craving attention. Whether it's a phase, a belief or a right, people want to be heard. Even though at times we could get the finger, the look, the "F"-off attitude, we have to look the other way and let it fly. L.A. is a dangerous place to take one's reaction to heart.

Colman Andrews' snide comment concerning the "Friends Don't Let Friends Eat Meat" bumper sticker he saw on a "dusty little Toyota" (Would it have been more valid placed on a Mercedes?) reveals a totally unenlightened and narrow-minded perspective on vegetarianism (Restaurant Notebook, Nov. 22)! Andrews should realize the ranks of vegetarians are growing astronomically and his comment has greatly offended numerous readers. There are many reasons why meatless diets are gaining popularity--health, religious, philosophical, cultural, etc., but whatever the reason, those of us who do not eat meat have the same right to make our views known as proponents of any other bumper sticker persuasion.

If the record industry really wants to protect America's impressionable youth, it should adopt a new cautionary sticker that goes something like this: "Warning--cliched lyrics. Contents devoid of original thought or vivid expression. This music may induce mental torpor." They could launch the campaign by slapping a big sticker on Whitesnake.

I want to applaud Patrick Goldstein for his excellent article on "The Cooler's" struggle with the Motion Picture Assn. of America ("Arguing Their Case Against NC-17," July 1). As a filmmaker, I sympathize with "The Cooler's" plight and feel that the article illustrates the prejudice the MPAA displays against independent films not connected to studios that finance the MPAA. The punitive, stigmatizing NC-17 should be used only as a rating of very last resort. An R rating is a formidable and restrictive tool that gives sufficient warning to filmgoers about content and yet lets the film enjoy a regular release pattern.

General Motors Co. plans to bring a special version of the Chevrolet Volt to the California market that will qualify the plug-in hybrid sedan for a $1,500 state rebate and a coveted carpool lane sticker. The Volt, which the automaker has made the poster child for its environmental credentials, has sold slower in California than its all-electric rival, the Nissan Leaf -- in part because it previously did not qualify as a vehicle solo drivers could use in the state's network of time-saving carpool lanes.

I've never been one for eating food off the street. But this week, in pursuit of journalistic truth, I purchased a tamale — or tamal, in Spanish — from a street vendor pushing a shopping cart in South Los Angeles. You can sell food on the street legally, with a series of business and health permits, but these days, L.A. County is taking the move to regulate food vending a step further by issuing letter grades to food trucks. Now, even hot dog, fruit and tamale vendors are getting grades.

Convinced that everything you buy these days has a Made-in- China label? Then you aren't paying attention. Things made in the U.S.A. still dominate the American marketplace, according to a new study by economists at the San Francisco Federal Reserve. Goods and services from China accounted for only 2.7% of U.S. personal consumption spending in 2010, according to the report titled "The U.S. Content of 'Made in China.' " About 88.5% of U.S. spending last year was on American-made products and services.

Life in the fast lane is coming to an end for hybrid drivers. After a six-year run, the yellow stickers that allow owners of about 85,000 older hybrid vehicles to drive solo in carpool lanes are expiring July 1 — this time for good. The day of reckoning has been postponed twice before, but now that hybrids are popular and the carpool lanes are getting jammed, the Department of Motor Vehicles said there won't be any additional extensions. "It's done," said Jaime Garza, a DMV spokesman.

Gasoline prices are skyrocketing — and so are oil company profits. Exxon Mobil Corp. earned nearly $11 billion in the first three months of the year, a rollicking 69% increase over its performance for the same period last year. That's on sales of $114 billion. It's the same story for the other big oil companies. Royal Dutch Shell turned a profit of $6.3 billion in the first quarter, and BP — despite lingering costs from the Gulf Coast oil spill — made $7.1 billion. What they aren't making is fuel, at least not in normal quantities.

If you're thinking about buying a car this year, you're far from alone. Auto sales appear to be ramping up after a couple of fairly lackluster years. But with the economy still on tenterhooks, consumers may want to pay careful attention to auto economics, said Jack Gillis, author of "The Car Book," an annual compendium of information on auto safety, reliability and costs. The price of the car is an important consideration, of course. But ongoing costs — for insurance, repairs and fuel — can vary markedly from one vehicle to another.

This morning [Nov. 3] I overheard this exchange between a precinct worker and a voter turning in his completed ballot at the polling place at Monlux Elementary School in North Hollywood: Worker: "Would you like a ['I Voted'] sticker? You ought to at least get a little something for your effort." Voter: "Thanks, but I already got what I came for." "And what was that?" "A voice." DAVID WHITTAKER North Hollywood

Re "Idea for Freeway Jams" (May 9): I understand that Mexico City, which was very smoggy even in the early '70s, has greatly reduced its traffic and pollution problem by adopting a sticker system. In that city's novel approach, each car is issued a coded color sticker that prohibits the car from being driven on a certain day of the week. This not only reduces the number of cars on the street, but forces people to car-pool with their neighbors. Thus, instead of having to spend even more money to set up a huge bureaucracy to coordinate car-pooling, people can take responsibility to find partners who are more compatible.