Wags

COYOTES MAY have invaded the otherwise orderly confines of Hancock Park adjacent, but where I live, in Echo Park, we've got an even more vexing problem: domestic dogs. Like their wild cousins, certain canine pets in this neighborhood see fit to strut around as if they own the place.

WITH Oscar buzz in Tinseltown nearing a crescendo, owners of the Puppies and Babies pet boutique say devising their Valentine's Day-themed window display was a no-brainer. " 'Brokeback Mountain' is one of the great love stories of all time, so of course 'Barkback Mountain' just came out," says Hannah Brand, who with husband Robert Moritz crafted a cheeky homage to the Heath Ledger-Jake Gyllenhaal film about two cowboys' epic romance.

Re "A mouthpiece says it all," Opinion, Oct. 25 Gustavo Arellano emphasizes that the use of a Mexican-flag-decorated mouthpiece by USC quarterback Mark Sanchez is a statement about ethnic heritage. Numerous hyphenated groups (such as African-Americans, Korean-Americans and Mexican-Americans) populate this country. The actual hyphenation itself is intended to recognize and honor the first part of the hyphen while, at the same time, affirming allegiance to the second part.

Editors' note: Last week's cover photo (right), taken in 2001 by Times staff photographer Ken Hively at an existing fire ring near Thousand Island Lake, generated a lot of letters from readers eager to assert that building a fire at this elevation -- 9,833 feet -- is illegal and/or reprehensible. Environmentally incorrect? Yes. Illegal? No. The Ansel Adams Wilderness Area prohibits fires only above 10,000 feet and less than a quarter mile from the lake's outlet. Even if a fire were allowed, it is irresponsible to use such a limited [fuel]

We, the many tabloid readers of Britain, devour the antics of the WAGs in Germany. You don't know the WAGs? Well, "WAG" is high-brow proper English for Wives And Girlfriends of famous English soccer players, a word probably worthy of newfound qualification in the dictionary. If we're to believe the tabloids, and some of us even do, the WAGs have savored Germany, lounging and cavorting while not even once being ripped for lack of any coherent offensive structure.

President Bush was awarded the Millard Fillmore Society's tongue-in-cheek "Medal of Mediocrity" on Monday, beating out runners-up Woody Allen, Vice President Dan Quayle and the Postal Service. The group said Bush clinched its 1992 award when his popularity plummeted from a record high after the Persian Gulf War and he lost the election.

Sinead and Baby O' are not quite slaves of fashion. They're more like pets. But they do have a nose for it--two moist, cool noses, in fact. The Weimaraner and the collie stepped out on their fashion careers when their human companion, Antonio Rendon, began posing live mannequins on a ramp near the entrance of his Venice shop, Titanic Boutique, some years back. "People don't know if they're real or not," he said of the weekend tableaux vivants.

So, NBC is going to tape-delay the Winter Olympics to the West Coast. No problem. NBC, tell your multimillion-dollar advertisers that I will do what I did in the past Summer Olympics. I'll tape their tape, check my computer for the results and see only those portions that interest me. No promos, no commercials, just those events I'm interested in. About 12 minutes of viewing time should do it. Louis H. Abramson Westlake Village

"The crowd swells, the heat intensifies!"--An Elian Gonzalez news tease on MSNBC. Throat dry. Head aching. Eyes stinging. Ears ringing. Heart thumping. Watching television can reduce you to a suffering, frustrated wreck who snarls and screams epithets at the screen.

Re "Who got Georgia into this?," Opinion, Aug. 14 Rosa Brooks' excellent column points out the connection between Randy Scheunemann, John McCain's foreign policy advisor, and the current hostilities between Russia and Georgia. Scheunemann's lobbying firm is being paid handsomely by Georgia, which obviously expected the U.S. to rescue it when it picked a fight with Russia. I see another, more sinister connection. The U.S. has nothing to gain in Georgia. Our cozying up to Georgia, and McCain's supporting their claim to South Ossetia, are only aimed at provoking Russia.