Vulnerable

Phil Jackson never liked to compare Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan. Believe me, I tried everything. Sometimes I'd ask him after random Lakers practices or before games against Charlotte, the team Jordan owned. Or after games in Chicago, where nostalgia hopefully would add to the mix. There would be a little nugget here, a tiny nibble there, but nothing that mattered. It's coming out now, though, in Jackson's 339-page memoir co-written with Hugh Delehanty and available Tuesday: "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success.

WASHINGTON - Five days before two bombs tore through crowds at the Boston Marathon, an intelligence report identified the finish line as an "area of increased vulnerability" and warned Boston police that homegrown extremists could use "small-scale bombings" to attack spectators and runners at the event. The 18-page report, similar to others sent to police and first responders before major events in the Boston area, was written by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which is funded in part by the Department of Homeland Security and helps disseminate intelligence information to local police and first responders.

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's giant Popocatepetl volcano may generate lava flows, explosions of "growing intensity" and ash that could reach miles away, the National Center for Disaster Prevention said Monday. Officials were preparing evacuation routes and shelters for thousands of people who live in the shadow of Popocatepetl, located 40 miles southeast of Mexico City. Officials have created a 7.5-mile restricted zone around the cone of the volcano. Popo, as the volcano is known, has displayed a "notable increase in activity levels" in the last few days, including tremors and explosive eruptions, according to a statement from the federal government.

When giant container ships sail into major ports like Los Angeles and Long Beach, it's not just clothing and cars that they deliver. They also carry critters. The specimens - microscopic algae cells or larger castaways, such as eggs of fish or crustaceans - float about in the thousands of tons of water the boats use as ballast. When the ships dump their ballast at port, the species can establish a foothold in foreign lands, often with detrimental consequences to native wildlife. But soon ports may be able to mitigate some of that harm by predicting where invasive species are likely to arrive.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors' decision to stop funding the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center is a short-term solution that will do very little to resolve the anticipated budget shortfall ("County OKs Hospital Cuts," Oct. 30). Instead, it will leave thousands of paraplegic, quadriplegic and other ill and disabled patients without the resources essential to their rehabilitation. Sure, no one could have predicted a year ago that by 2006 the L.A. County Health Department would be approximately $700 million in the red. And I agree with the supervisors that difficult decisions must be made -- but not at the expense of the most vulnerable members of our society.

Challenge Dan Quayle on issues of substance, such as his record on the environment, the economy and domestic policy. There, he might be vulnerable. Forget the rumors. JOHN BEDARFAS Rancho Palos Verdes

"The Death of Reading" omitted two points: Electronic media are far more vulnerable to government control than are books. In the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev's memoirs have been banned from broadcast, while smuggled copies can be read. Electronic media are also vulnerable to system failure. If viewing supplants reading, what happens when the system crashes? MARY MANSELL PAUL CARACCIOLO Pasadena

In the Homeland Security bill just passed (July 15), mass transit took a back seat. Baggage checking is still limited. More enhanced airport security is delayed. Why? There is no question that there is a need and that we are not addressing security matters in the manner required, and doable. The justification in each case is budget limitations and priorities. I noted that the deficit was considerably less than anticipated (July 14), which may increase support for a tax cut desired by the Bush administration.

As a person who often advises people how to effectively and safely lose weight, I'm angered by articles such as Mark Stuart Gill's "Losing It in Fat City" (June 2). It upsets me that such quackery continues to exist, taking advantage of consumers who are vulnerable. I urge the consumer to beware. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. JENNIFER GARRISON South Pasadena

The May 4 article about the grossly underpaid professionals working for L.A. County took me back to the New York City internship my physician husband served, for which he was paid the munificent sum of $300 per year. Then, after completing his service as a physician for the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater, he obtained a residency at the VA hospital in L.A. for $3,000 per year, 10 times as much as the internship, but still not enough for a family of three to live on, even then. Apparently exploitation of young, vulnerable professionals is nothing new!

SACRAMENTO - Arnold Schwarzenegger persuaded voters nine years ago that if they let him borrow money to cover the budget deficit, California's financial woes would end for good. A key part of his plan was a new rainy-day fund to insulate the state from further crisis. "It will be a whole new ball game," Schwarzenegger said. "Trust me. " But California was roiled by financial turmoil for years afterward, and today the reserve is empty. With more than $5 billion in bonds left to repay, Gov. Jerry Brown apparently plans to leave it that way. The reserve was created without a firm requirement to fill it, and Brown's proposed budget contains no allocation for the fund.

After bombs ripped through the crowd gathered along the final stretch of the Boston Marathon on Monday, Los Angeles police officials did what they could to calm fears among their own residents. Standing before a bank of television cameras, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck on Tuesday reiterated that upcoming sporting and cultural events would be patrolled by a higher-than-normal number of officers and bomb-sniffing dogs. He talked cryptically about the secretive work being done by the department's counter-terrorism units.

North Korea recently launched a cyber attack on South Korean TV stations and banks. Iran carried out a cyber campaign against U.S. banking sites. The U.S. and Israel released malware that disabled Iranian nuclear centrifuges. Or did they? There's no doubt someone did all these things, and there are reasons to believe that those suspected are responsible. But because of the way the Internet is designed and the poor general state of computer security, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint an attack's origin.

After three weeks of spring practice, it's evident that USC has a major position-group issue to address before its opener at Hawaii in late August. Yes, quarterback is still up in the air, though third-year sophomores Cody Kessler and Max Wittek showed Saturday that both are making progress if not separating themselves. Unfortunately for the Trojans, their highlights came at the expense of a secondary that has proved consistently vulnerable at cornerback. After a 52-play situational scrimmage at the Coliseum, Coach Lane Kiffin described the cornerback spot as "a huge concern.

With Pau Gasol back in the lineup, the Lakers are taller, slower and more vulnerable. Gasol, who was out for over six weeks with a foot injury, is still working his way back into shape, but some of the initial problems that plagued the Lakers persist. Coach Mike D'Antoni benched Gasol for Earl Clark to give the Lakers a more athletic starting lineup. The change in continuity has contributed to a three-game losing streak. Integrating Gasol properly with center Dwight Howard is the goal over the final stretch but it may also be what derails the Lakers' playoff hopes.

USC's basketball players took full advantage of the $136-million dance floor UCLA built for them. The Trojans' 75-71 overtime victory last week prompted a spontaneous display worthy of a "Footloose" audition, though UCLA players turned a blind eye as they trudged off Nell and John Wooden Court. "I heard them but I didn't want to look at them," UCLA forward Travis Wear said during the postmortem. The nightmare that "new" Pauley Pavilion was supposed to be has occasionally visited the Bruins.

Are they going to take time out during an episode of Angels '88 to send the chic, sophisticated, 5-9, 120-pound Eurasian into an eating disorder hospital to deal with her bulimia? It's frightening to think that the role models Aaron Spelling intends to create perpetuate the myth that in order for a young woman to be perceived as "intelligent, independent . . . vulnerable, sensitive, and bright," she has to be grossly underweight. Young girls are throwing up and swallowing boxes of laxatives out of sheer desperation to be thin and my guess is so are some of the actresses Spelling's about to hire.

Re "LAPD Arrests Skid Row Campers," Oct. 4 It's unfortunate that Los Angeles, and especially Police Chief William J. Bratton, haven't learned some of the hard lessons New York City learned about street homelessness during Mayor Rudy Giuliani's administration -- instead focusing on expedient, short-term measures that simply sweep the problem from public view. Certainly no one wants to see vulnerable homeless people exposed to the unrelenting dangers of the street. But policies that focus on arresting homeless people offer no lasting solution.

WASHINGTON - Action in Washington over the next few months on gun control, immigration and fiscal policy will set the stage for a fierce midterm election battle next year, with control of Congress the ultimate prize. Republicans are expected to keep their majority in the House, and history would suggest they might expand their numbers in the sixth year of a two-term presidency. But the Democrats' hold on the Senate is at risk, with competitive 2014 contests for at least nine of their seats - seven in states Mitt Romney carried in 2012.

The police officers made their way though the Costa Mesa park known as "ground zero," the crowded hub for the city's homeless, handing out fliers and encouraging people to get on a bus that would take them out of town. Like other cities, Costa Mesa has had a tenuous relationship with its homeless, and many would just as soon they all simply leave. But efforts on this crisp afternoon had a different motivation: They were nudging them to seek shelter from the near-freezing nights that had gripped the area and board a shuttle to the Santa Ana armory.