Visibility

SAN DIEGO - In the ocean off Coronado, a Navy team has discovered a relic worthy of display in a military museum: a torpedo of the kind deployed in the late 19th century, considered a technological marvel in its day. But don't look for the primary discoverers to get a promotion or an invitation to meet the admirals at the Pentagon - although they might get an extra fish for dinner or maybe a pat on the snout. The so-called Howell torpedo was discovered by bottlenose dolphins being trained by the Navy to find undersea objects, including mines, that not even billion-dollar technology can detect.

SAN FRANCISCO - With a new political advocacy group that plans to inject millions of dollars into shaping public policy coast to coast, Mark Zuckerberg is taking a significant step onto the political stage, expanding his influence far beyond his home turf in Silicon Valley. The billionaire founder and chief executive of Facebook made it official Thursday that he plans to take on a far more visible national role in launching Fwd.us, which will lobby for the passage of comprehensive immigration reform, investments in scientific research and higher educational standards.

Through the academy's honoring of "Driving Miss Daisy," we can be assured that what people want is not sexual visibility but quality of humanity. MARY RADLOVA Los Angeles

Demolition crews in Seffner, Fla., on Monday knocked down walls of the house where Jeff Bush, 37, was living before a sinkhole swallowed his bedroom on Thursday night. The hole was not visible outside the home before an 80-foot excavation arm knocked down the walls and revealed the chasm, which experts thought extended dozens of feet into the earth, where Bush's body is thought to remain. His brother, Jeremy Bush, has been vocal about his family's desire to recover his brother's body, telling reporters earlier in the day, "It's hard to see his hole.

Eight explorers reached the North Pole after 600 miles on skis, but an expedition spokeswoman said the team could be in peril because of thin ice and low visibility. "They've reached the pole," Tracy Carpenter of the Icewalk Expedition said in Ottawa, the Canadian capital. "Now the next job is getting them out. The visibility is bad and the ice is rough and thin." She said there was concern about when a Twin Otter aircraft could reach the explorers. The eight-member team, led by British adventurer Robert Swan, is seeking to draw attention to global pollution but has run into rougher conditions than expected.

In response to "A Matter of Sin and Acceptance," Commentary, Oct. 15: Don Baker's comments regarding gay rights reminds me of what it must have been like when it was discovered that the world was round. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the "flat earthers" persisted in their illogical position. As an out-of-the-closet gay person, I can tell you that we no longer care what the Don Bakers of the world think of us. We are healthy, productive people, and we have abundant scientific evidence to prove it. We deserve equal rights, and we will fight to get them.

Why do so many seem to get so much pleasure from seeing those with fame, fortune and/or accomplishments topple. We are all imperfect. We all make mistakes. Must we be so harsh on those with high visibility for the sake of example ? Have they not already sacrificed elements of their private lives because of their accomplishments and visibility? Pete Rose has done his time--more so than some guilty of far more heinous acts. Let us take heed as to how our mistakes directly affect the health and well-being of our neighbors when we judge and punish.

The Bixby Ranch should be developed and become a nice city up the coast from Santa Barbara ("The Last Perfect Place?" by Ann Herold and Dan Harder, May 13). I can picture another Malibu or Laguna Beach, along with low-visibility oil wells. I cannot believe that this beautiful land is not to the benefit of our people--rich or poor. John Sanchez Madera

Disabled with severe cerebral palsy, 32-year-old Anne Lamic spends her days in southeastern France mostly in bed, surrounded by stuffed animals and dolls. She cannot speak or walk, and she sometimes has seizures. Now, Lamic's parents are planning to broadcast her quiet life to the world via webcam. Their announcement has caused a stir in France, with many criticizing the plan as an invasion of Lamic's privacy and asking: How far is too far in the struggle to make disabled people more visible in society?

Four people killed when their helicopter crashed on a highway were returning from an event where they had given helicopter rides to raise money for troubled youth, authorities said. One victim, Niall R.Y. Booth, 43, told his son that he was waiting to fly back because of foul weather. Visibility was somewhat hampered by fog, and storms had passed through earlier. But investigators could not say if weather was a factor, said Kitty Higgins, a National Transportation Safety Board member.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Kobe Bryant doubled over in laughter when I asked whether he thought the day would come when Bynum played so well. Will Bynum. A runt who plays for the Pistons. Shredded the Lakers' interior defense. And by the way, whatever happened to that other Bynum? He's not playing, of course, but then the guy they got for him, Dwight Howard, isn't playing either. And the whisper coming out of the Lakers' locker room after Mike D'Antoni suggested his team had won a playoff game with Detroit was not good.

If French cinema still carries a reputation for talky chamber pieces of the bourgeoisie, here's a visceral slice of life in the raw: Whether it's the killer whales, the prominent Katy Perry song, the back-alley fighting or its unlikely romance set against day-to-day hardships in the South of France, the new "Rust and Bone" is imagistic and emotionally wrought, pushing into surprising territories. Director and co-writer Jacques Audiard's previous film, "A Prophet," was another high-pitched drama and was nominated for the foreign language Academy Award.

A rare "ring" solar eclipse is coming to California on Sunday evening - the first of its kind to be visible from the continental United States since 1994. From our vantage point in Southern California, the moon will block about 85% of the sun's diameter, leaving behind a crescent-shaped sliver. But those farther north will see the moon nudge its way into the center of the sun, leaving a ring of fire visible around the moon's edge. Scientists call this an annular eclipse. ("Annulus" means "ring" in Latin.)

WASHINGTON - The $2-billion trading loss at JPMorgan Chase & Co. rekindled fears about the stunning risks still being taken on Wall Street, reviving demands for tougher financial rules and calls for the nation's biggest banks to be broken up. U.S. and British regulators said they were investigating the huge loss in a trading portfolio at JPMorgan. The bank saw its stock tumble 9% on Friday, the day after it disclosed that traders in New York and London had made misguided investments in complex derivatives in an effort to hedge against losses.

Reporting from San Francisco -- Warren Hellman, a San Francisco financier, philanthropist and bluegrass enthusiast who lavished his city with a free concert that grew into one of the nation's largest music festivals, died Sunday of complications from leukemia, his family said. He was 77. Hellman, co-founder of the San Francisco private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, built his wealth through fierce professional drive, while nurturing his penchant for ultra-distance marathons, endurance horseback riding and ski racing.

"Outrage," the latest offering from prolific Japanese filmmaker and actor Takeshi Kitano, marks his return to the pure, visceral gangster picture, so low-key and offhanded in its mastery that it becomes something like a pulp sleight-of-hand trick. Kitano plays a middle manager of sorts in the Japanese yakuza gangster underworld, destined never to rise to the heights of the true bosses even as promotions are constantly dangled before him. Against a complex web of deal-making, promises made and broken and alliances well above his paygrade, he finds himself simply fighting for survival.

Regarding the great news about the cancellation of the cancellation of the LACMA film program ["LACMA Aims Big in Film Refocus," by David Ng, Sept. 2]: I hope part of the new budget will go toward advertising. I've seen many wonderful films in that lovely auditorium, but only because I happen to be a member of LACMA and got the information in the newsletter. How about more visibility in the mainstream media? This would probably give a boost to museum attendance in the bargain. Cabell Smith Pacific Palisades

In your endorsement for L.A. Community College District Office No. 6 (editorial, March 1), I was surprised to read your dismissal of candidate Maria Grunwald-Agazaryan as lacking "a detailed agenda." In fact, Agazaryan's plans for the district are plentiful, thoughtful and forward-thinking. She has pledged to expand the system's "distance learning" capabilities, push for the swift completion of facilities construction and work to guarantee the establishment of a districtwide student senate.

The white neon clock at the park couldn't be missed. It was 10:03 p.m. At the northeast entrance to Lincoln Park in Long Beach, a handful of people were on the move. Some were dragging a blue tarp from the grass to the sidewalk along Pacific Avenue while others were folding chairs. Nearby, sleeping bags were laid out, side by side, on the concrete. This is the nightly ritual for Occupy Long Beach. Unlike other demonstrators across the country, the three dozen or so Long Beach loyalists leave the ground they've staked as protest central by 10 p.m. to avoid violating a city ordinance that prohibits overnight camping in parks.