I'm off for a few days....

Sure they are - but so is the opening of a Trader Joe's. When Congress passed a transportation bill last week, Mayor Villaraigosa called it a "game changer." But drill down a bit and the story gets murkier.

Travel times during peak hours take, on average, 33 percent longer than when traffic is flowing freely - you know, like Sundays at 6:30 a.m.

Mixed views on public pensions, China's growth is slowing, MTV and other Viacom channels might be pulled in dispute with DirecTV, and more doubts about the high-speed rail project.

This is a very dumb idea, of course, perhaps the dumbest thing you can do with your money. Yet for folks of a certain age who have little savings - and who are getting next to no return - it might seem tempting.

This goes back to when Peter O'Malley's father Walter was negotiating with the city of L.A. to build Dodger Stadium. The deal was opposed by John Smith, who with his brother owned the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League.

It's one thing to be rich - it's another to be a rich jerk.

The deal from hell will never go away - not only because journalists keep wanting to talk about it, but because it captures the cockiness and conceit of a rich guy who thought he knew it all.

Long wait for California's bullet train, L.A. firm cuts big deal with Boeing, O'Malley family close to purchasing San Diego Padres, and Dodger attendance is up from last year.