Upside

BMW has been striving to reconcile its dueling images for years. Best known for its luxurious, sport-oriented cars, the German manufacturer's motorcycles are only beginning to shed their reputation as wheels for safety-conscious old men, thanks to exciting new bikes like the S 1000 RR and K 1600 LT. At this weekend's International Motorcycle Shows event in Long Beach, BMW is likely to confuse its image even further when its first scooters make...

SAN ANTONIO -- As I travel with our local teams across the country, I'm truly amazed to find so many negative columnists working out there. Must the glass always be half empty? Instead of writing about their own players, they want to tear into our fine, upstanding athletes. It's just flat-out muckraking. I sometimes wonder whether Dwyre and I are the only two columnists left in the land who want to always gush about a job well done. Here we are in the NBA playoffs, the second round ever played by Blake Griffin, and how often do the Clippers ever advance to the second round?

It will be debated and discussed for the next five years. Did the Lakers do the right thing in essentially trading up-and-comer Trevor Ariza for already-there Ron Artest ? An unforgettable July afternoon turned into the busiest of the summer for the Lakers after they agreed to terms with Artest on a five-year, $34-million free-agent contract. Ariza then accepted Houston's identical offer almost immediately after hearing that Artest had been snapped up by the Lakers. Time will be the final judge, as always, though one Western Conference coach is already offering an intriguing analysis.

Ramon Sessions earned his first battle scar as a Laker on Sunday, getting a scratched forearm on a flagrant foul by Utah's Jamaal Tinsley early in the fourth quarter. Sessions' performance in the Lakers' sloppy 103-99 loss to the Utah Jazz at Staples Center should also earn him the starting point guard role, and fairly soon. Sessions' 10-point, six-assist effort in 22 minutes and 38 seconds wasn't perfect. In his second game as a Laker, he made only one of seven shots from the floor and there were times he needed prompting from teammates on where to be. All of which is totally understandable, given that he had the benefit of exactly one practice and Sunday morning's shootaround since he made his debut with a seven-point, five-assist game in 19 minutes Friday.

The World Series apologized to Canada for displaying its flag upside down. They should apologize to American Indians for the disrespectful display of tomahawk-waving and chanting. ROBERT ROCCHIO, Newport Beach

About 40% of those who bought homes in Los Angeles County and Orange County in the last five years now owe more on their property than the homes are currently worth, according to data released today by Zillow.com. The most "upside down" are those who bought in 2006 -- Zillow says 71% of them have mortgages greater than their property values. About 57% of those who bought in 2005 and 2007 are upside down. Homes in L.A. and O.C. purchased in 2006 had a median down payment of 5%, according to the Zillow third-quarter real estate market report, which also has data for the rest of the nation.

He strolled coolly out of Cincinnati on Sunday night hauling a weekend stash of two homers, five runs batted in and a game-winning fly ball. Yet none of it was as impressive as this foreign object also found in his blue Dodgers duffel bag. A basketball. Matt Kemp travels with a basketball? "Sure, so we can play H-O-R-S-E," Kemp said. So you can play what? "In Colorado, our hotel has a gym. A bunch of us get together and shoot around; it's fun." Who wins?

Federal officials seem to have waved the white flag in their battle with a group of elderly former servicemen who fly the American flag upside down as a "distress symbol" to protest commercial activities at the VA's Brentwood medical center. The Department of Veterans Affairs last week dropped charges against Robert Rosebrock alleging that he and other former military men desecrated the U.S. flag by hanging it upside down on a fence outside the agency's Wilshire Boulevard property.

Regarding Conrad's upside down Europe ("Now what do we do?" Dec. 12), maybe the secret to understanding Paul Conrad's work is to turn them all upside down! DONALD MUGGERIDGE Rolling Hills Estates

No one seems to have noticed, but it has to be another sign of a world turned upside down when we ban toy guns instead of handguns. D. MARTIN Whittier

Travelers in Alaska, Canada, the northern Plains, parts of the Midwest and much of the West tonight (Thursday) may be treated to a northern lights display more intense than usual because of the powerful solar storm hitting the Earth's surface, according to science and weather reports. The geomagnetic storm reached Earth about 5:45 a.m. EST Thursday. Scientists say the initial storm has been weaker than expected but may intensify later today. Northern lights trackers say tonight could bring a spectacular show to mid- and high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.

Reporting from the Sierra Nevada foothills -- It was a dream to retire here — in a quaint little town atop a hillside, among the pines and the quail and the Main Street shops. When Kate Hamon arrived more than a decade ago, she had it all. Now she is on the phone with Kmart, hustling to get a job. "Please, please keep me in mind," she tells the manager. "I can start any time you like. " Work is hard to find around these parts, especially when you're 78 years old. PHOTOS: Lean times in Gold Rush country For many retirees such as Hamon who came to spend their golden years in California's Gold Rush region, life has not turned out the way they'd hoped.

And so it ends. The United States is leaving Iraq. I'm solidly in the camp that sees this as a strategic blunder. Iraqi democracy is fragile and Iran's desire to undermine it is strong. Also, announcing our withdrawal is a weird way to respond to a foiled Iranian plot to commit an act of war in the U.S. capital. Obviously, I hope I'm wrong and President Obama's not frittering away our enormous sacrifices in Iraq out of domestic political concerns and diplomatic ineptitude. Still, there's an upside.

The Pacific 10 (now 12) Conference is proud to welcome two new lodge members. One program is disheveled, walks with a limp and wears its shirt tail out — the other is Utah. One is a model of efficiency, efficacy and proficiency — and the other is Colorado. Did the Pac-12 get better or get buffaloed? At face, it's not even close. Utah brings cornerstone credibility. Shoot, since 2003, Utah has a 7-3 record against its new conference comrades. The Utes flexed undefeated teams in 2004 and 2008, produced a No. 1 NFL pick in quarterback Alex Smith and a coach, Urban Meyer, who later won two national titles at Florida.

Eight years ago, as I watched a building near my work be converted from vacant offices into lofts, I couldn't stop thinking about it. If I lived there, in that beautiful old building, I could walk less than a block to work. That micro-distance was important: Any farther and I wouldn't have felt safe walking home after dark. There were no streetlights on the block back then. Homeless people curled up in doorways and under cardboard boxes. On the sidewalk was a row of public outhouses, which I soon realized were "owned" by drug dealers.

Spoiled A Novel Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan Poppy/Hachette: 360 pp., $17.99 ages 15 and older It's fitting that the characters in a novel titled "Spoiled" would be named Brie, Arugula and Brick, especially since the setting is Hollywood and its authors are professional celebrity skewerers Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. The Fug Girls, as they're known, write the laugh-out-loud fashion faux pas blog, Go Fug Yourself. "Spoiled," their first young-adult novel, is a natural extension of their talents.

Regarding Calendar's April 28 and May 5 issues, I am so glad that you ceased hiding the Book Review by wrapping Calendar upside down around it. "One of the Four" LEO AY Los Angeles

Here's an idea: Why not make the Book Review part of Calendar and put the Las Vegas section upside down in the middle of the classifieds? Hey, just a thought. DON WREGE Los Angeles

When it comes to a projected everyday lineup, you can miss what you never had. For all their shortcomings, the Dodgers might not rank near the bottom of the National League in runs scored and earned runs allowed if they did not lead the league in injured players. "I don't want to be first place on this side of the equation," said Stan Conte, the Dodgers' increasingly busy trainer, who couldn't recall being part of a team with eight players on the disabled list at one time before this season.

Donald T. Sterling Sterling World Plaza Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Dear Donald, I wanted to say hi before it gets hectic with the Lakers in the playoffs and you making plans for the lockout as the hawk most likely to shut the league down for as many years as it takes. I know you've been busy too, with the Elgin Baylor trial, and the upcoming Mike Dunleavy arbitration. By the way, even though everyone else was surprised, I found your testimony that you didn't really know who Elgin was when you hired him totally credible.