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A friend saw my blog on the colonoscopy earlier today, and added her "Amen" to my colleague's advice.
"I loved your topic and I am a pro at it (have had one twice, and am due this Spring for a third, since everyone on my dad's side died of colon cancer). I totally agree with your friend, the procedure is a breeze - and there is no need, in Katie's words, 'to die of embarrassment.'
The most challenging part of the exam is the 'prep.' The first time I had to drink the gallon of stuff, I gagged and half way thru called the doctor's office defiantly refusing to drink an ounce more. They said, 'no problem.' The second time, I asked for an alternative 'drink' and guess what, they gave me something a fraction of the size, not nearly as disgusting in taste, and even the prep was a piece of cake (well, not quite, but you get my point). Why they don't offer this normally, is beyond me, but at least now I know what to ask for (you might want to do the same when you make your appointment)."
So, there you go. Be sure to ask for the "express lane."
I had my ticket last night, but to no avail. No ticket in any state matched all six numbers drawn for the Mega Millions lotto game Tuesday night, which had a jackpot of $216 million. The 12-state grand prize now goes to an estimated $267 million for Friday night's drawing, officials said.
I buy a ticket every week, for both the Mega Millions and the Superlotto. My husband and I have an agreement -- no more babies until we win and, when we do win (note my optimism), he gets to be a stay-at-home daddy. I'd keep working -- I love my job and we'll still need an income after the 26-year payout ends.
Do you plan to buy a ticket? You know what they say: "You can't win if you don't play."
The folks from the Central Valley Business Incubator paid a visit to The Bee's Editorial Board yesterday to update us on some big plans for their future. They're moving into much larger quarters soon, and also cranking up the Claude Laval Water and Energy Technology Incubator, a partnership between CVBI and Fresno State's International Center for Water Technology.
It's exciting stuff for those who are concerned about regional economic development, which should include all of us. Helping small businesses get started and giving guidance to those with entrepreneurial impulses may be the single most important factor in overall economic development for any region.
Check out the CVBI Web site for more info.
A new report from the Immigration Policy Center in Washington, D.C., suggests that the widely held belief that immigrants are part of some vast crime wave is a myth.
From the report: "Even as the undocumented population has doubled to 12 million since 1994, the violent crime rate in the United States has declined 34.2 percent and the property crime rate has fallen 26.4 percent."
And: "Among men age 18-39 (who comprise the vast majority of the prison population), the 3.5 percent incarceration rate of the native-born in 2000 was 5 times higher than the 0.7 percent incarceration rate of the foreign-born."
And: "The problem of crime in the United States is not "caused" or even aggravated by immigrants, regardless of their legal status. But the misperception that the opposite is true persists among policymakers, the media, and the general public, thereby undermining the development of reasoned public responses to both crime and immigration."
If we were all immigrants, perhaps our expensive state prisons wouldn't be bursting at the seams.
One of my colleagues has been much braver than I. She's actually obeyed her doctor's orders to have a colonoscopy just to make sure everything's all good in there. Well, I've been getting the same instructions for years and promptly ignoring them just because I don't like the sound of such a disgusting test. Who thinks up these things? You want to take a camera and do what with it? Oh, yeah, that's happening.
Well, she came to work bright and chipper yesterday and swears it was nothing, zip, the easiest invasive medical test she's ever had. They put her out; she didn't feel a thing. In fact, she's feeling really good, exceptionally good, which she's crediting to having her system "cleaned out." Another colleague piped up that he'd had the same procedure awhile back and he, too, felt strangely good afterward. They even gave her a picture.
(Could it be there is something to all that colonics nonsense that I've been laughing at for all these years? Well, I'm not about to find out, but it does make one wonder.)
All that is just to say, if your doc says you need the exam, don't do as I do, do as my braver, smarter colleagues do and do as Katie Couric does. Have it. They swear it's a breeze and oh, yes, it might save your life.
From USA Today: "Currently, the American Cancer Society recommends that average risk individuals begin screening at age 50, because 90% of colorectal cancer happens after that age. But unfortunately, fear and ignorance about colonoscopy screening prevent far too many Americans from getting examined. As a result, colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths for Americans. While nearly 150,000 people will be diagnosed this year with the disease, more than 56,000 people will needlessly die of colorectal cancer in 2004."
Guess I'd better wise up and make that appointment.
Talk about wasting our tax dollars. There is no good reason to have county islands within the borders of the city of Fresno. It's time to annex every neighborhood that causes the inefficient delivery of public services, such as police and fire protection. If you live in an urban area, you should be in the city. If you live in a rural area, you should be governed by the county. It's that simple.
It is costly to have city police officers and county sheriff's deputies criss-crossing the urban area to get to calls for help. The same for the various fire agencies serving the metropolitan area. More importantly, these inefficiencies could harm public safety.
Public services are expensive enough without compounding the cost by having pockets of county jurisdiction within the city. Fortunately, there's a new state law that is helping the city to annex small pockets of county neighborhoods.
The law that was passed in 2005 allows islands of 150 acres or less to be easily annexed. City officials say 12 of Fresno's 21 county islands are small enough to come under the law.
Annexing county islands makes sense for every taxpayer.
If our elected officials need any reminders of the urgency of addressing the immigration crisis, I direct their attention to John Walker's photograph on the front page of today's Bee. It's a photo of Feliciana of Mendota, holding her 10-month-old daughter and with a 2-year-old, Iris, at her side. Her husband, an undocumented field worker, was one of scores picked up by immigration agents during a raid a few weeks ago. Every politician in this Valley should post this picture on their office walls.
The expression on this young mother's face will haunt their dreams. I have to think that the government's inability to create a realistic and compassionate immigration policy is going to be judged by history to be one of our darkest hours. I can easily imagine a museum of the future that displays pictures such as this one. People will shake their heads as they tour the exhibits and say, "How could people have let this happen?"
It is hard to reconcile the priorities of a government that sweeps into a small San Joaquin Valley farming community devastated by a freeze that has already crippled the local economy and then dissects scores of hard-working families by separating parents from their children, deporting the breadwinner of the family and leaving the mother and children to fend for themselves. These are not Bulldog gang members; these are not car thieves and internet child molesters -- these are people whose big offense is that they desperately want to work hard in our fields. We just as desperately will need them in a matter of weeks when the harvest begins in earnest.
It's difficult for me to believe that the United States of America cannot do better than this.
Weddings are making news again. My first job at The Bee at age 19 was one of the lowliest jobs in the reporting food chain: the wedding story writer. I didn't care; I was just thrilled to have a job at The Bee at all. The experienced reporters, and most definitely the men, considered all these stories of powerful family unions, romantic honeymoon destinations, French lace, covered buttons and stephanotis bouquets just so much fluff. But I was fascinated with every last detail and didn't consider it boring at all.
There was a lot of information in those stories of the weddings of the rich and powerful that revealed quite clearly who their alliances were, who hosted and attended their bridal showers, who was in the wedding party. It was quite easy to see who all their cronies were and didn't take much conversation over the phone with those families to find out who was pouring on the lavish wedding gifts. That background came in handy later on when I was writing deeper stories about the alliances among people who were influencing life in the Valley.
As women's lives became more complex - the wedding wasn't the culmination of their lives anymore - interest in wedding stories diminished. Now, unless it's a major celebrity, it's just a few paragraphs of who married whom.
At the New York Times, however, where the weddings of the uber-powerful and celebrities are neighborhood news, there has been a resurgence of interest in wedding stories. In Al Tompkins' blog for the Poynter Institute, he says The Times has taken the wedding announcement into the multimedia world with a video feature called "How We Met."
"Watch "Vows: Alex and Matt" for an example of a story loaded with twists and turns that kept me watching even though I knew how it would turn out," he says. The stories were produced and editing by members of The Times' staff.
The beauty of these stories is that they tell the story of the people, of their relationship, of their love affair -- not the menu of the reception and the fabric content fo the wedding gown. It's far more engrossing to hear about when they first kissed, not when she threw the bridal bouquet.
NYTimes.com is asking couples to send completed home videos that tell "how we met" stories. The site has not started using the homemade versions yet, but I really like this idea. What do you think --- would you watch local true-romance videos if they were on fresnobee.com?
Following today's story in The Bee about the immigration roundup that hit Mendota earlier this month. state Sen. Dean Florez e-mailed this to us:
"Question: How many 'employers' did they arrest for those that had 'pay stubs' in their wallets or purses?"
Good question. My guess would be zero.
Normally I try not to bore those around me (too much) with my toddler's chatter, which I find totally endearing. But this was too funny not to share.
Last night I was helping my 10-year-old print out a school project. Since only one of our printers was working, she emailed it to herself so we could bring it up and print it out in the room with the working printer. After we were done with Shayna's email, Katie, who is almost 4, asked me, "Where's my email, Mommy?"
"You're too little for email," I replied.
"I'm a big girl," she argued, "and big girls need email."
I don't think so!
I can't think of a public event I've been to over the past 25 years that Howard K. Watkins hasn't been there taking photographs. On Sunday, Watkins donated his collection of more than 150,000 photos to the Henry Madden Library at Fresno State. The collection chronicles a community, going back more than 30 years.
Howard not only takes photos, he gives copies of them to his subjects. On several occasions, he has sent me photos that I'm in. The reception Sunday afternoon on the fourth floor of the Madden library brought together a cross section of the community, including judges, city council members, county supervisors and civic leaders.
Here's Susie Pakoua Vang's story in The Bee about the event.
Vang wrote: "The goal is to digitize Watkins' photos so people could have online access, said Peter McDonald, dean of library services. But funding, he said, is key because the project is estimated to cost about $200,000. The nonprofit Fresno Regional Foundation is accepting tax-deductible donations to support the project."
This is a wonderful project and will help fill out the Valley's historical record.
Today the Fresno Bee's Leadership Development group is meeting with the editorial pages staff to learn about how we work. I have Jeanne Beebe of sales and marketing, Kathy Mahan of the newsroom and Marshall McDowell from circulation in my office at the moment...
As part of their training, I thought it would be fun to show them the glories of blogging. The chitchat before the meeting was all about the Carnaval Party over the weekend sponsored by the Fresno Art Museum. Jeanne and Kathy both attended the '60s theme bash and had big fun.
That was Jeanne and her husband dressed up like hippies, rolling those funny cigarettes (don't get nuts -- it was just basil this time). And Kathy had her blond hair all teased up. Lots of people really got into the costumes -- think go go dancers. Carlos Martinez, executive director of the Fresno Art Museum, was dressed as Austin Powers. He was Jeanne's favorite costume. Kathy said she never saw so many big wigs in one place in her life. A lot of men wore long hippie wigs. Marshall could relate; he's got a wig in his office from a past circulation contest kickoff, where he played a hippie... They get creative over there...
Kathy and Jeanne really liked the tone of the party because people really had more fun with how they dressed rather than the usual black tie affair.... The place was still jumpin' at midnight. Sounds like it was a great success and a fun way to raise money for the arts. How about you? Did you go? Tell us about your costume -- send us a picture!
If you are looking for a special way to memorialize a loved one, Tree Fresno has a lovely program that I just learned about. You can sponsor a tree to be planted in a park or school in the name of a someone special. You can choose the place for it to be planted and, often, the type of tree that gets planted.
We recently had a death in the family and several of our friends donated memorial trees. We had a joyful planting ceremony on Saturday, a glorious day, and even the smallest of the relatives could help out with his little rake. Each tree gets a little engraved tag attached to one of its branches giving the name of the memorialized person and the date of the planting.
The trees are small now, but soon we hope many people will play and enjoy picnics in the shade of Scott's Grove near Valley View shelter at Woodward Park. Tree Fresno has all the information on its Web site www.treefresno.org.
And to Holly, Pam, Elizabeth, Leslie, Doug, Ines and Monica -- thank you so much. It's a day we'll remember forever.
The Bee's John Ellis reports that presidential candidates have rediscovered the San Joaquin Valley. It has helped that next year's California primary will be in February, but also that the Valley's growing population makes it key to carrying the state.
Ellis points out that Republicans Mitt Romney and John McCain and Democrat John Edwards have scheduled local visits in the next few weeks. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani just visited the Valley.
When I covered politics in the 1980s and early 90s, presidential candidates made regular visits to Fresno. Then in 1996, 2000 and 2004, that changed. Part of the reason was the nominees of both parties were decided well before the California primary rolled around. But if the state's primary is held Feb. 5 next year, the candidates likely will still be seeking the nominations of both parties. That means a lot of campaigning in California and the Valley.
There's a nice story on Gene Rose's new book about the road to Yosemite National Park by The Bee's Guy Keeler. Gene, a friend and former colleague, taught me an important lesson about photography when my daughter was an infant. It was more than 25 years ago, and I asked Gene why some of the photos of my daughter were good, while others were very bad.
I was looking for a more technical answer about lighting and framing the shot. Gene waved his hand as if to say I was making this way too complicated. "The difference between a professional photographer and an amateur photographer is the professional knows which photos to throw away," he said.
Photography, of course, is way more complex than that, but it was a good lesson for an occasional photographer. Take lots of photos, and just keep the good ones to show your family and friends. I never forgot that bit of wisdom from Gene. Now, with digital cameras, it's especially easy to toss the bad photos.
Gene was both a photographer and reporter for The Bee, covering the region's back counrty recreation areas. His latest book"Yosemite's Tioga Country" is published by the Yosemite Association.
Cynthia Cooper of the Fresno Coalition for Art, Science & History passes along some news from the recent California Arts Council conference. She says Fresno and the Valley got plenty of attention at the meeting.
"There were over 400 people from around the state and of all the cities and communities represented, Fresno by far got the greatest recognition. John McGuirk, the Program Director for the Arts for the James Irvine Foundation mentioned Fresno and the Central Valley several times; when Carlos Martinez was introduced Fresno made a fuss over it; [actress and state council member] Annette Bening gave the keynote speech and opened her talk by reading the editorial you wrote for The Bee, and then Muriel Johnson, the director of the CAC mentioned Fresno several times. Your editorial was a great hit."
(Carlos Martinez is the executive director of the Fresno Art Museum and a recent appointee to the state council -- the Valley's first representative in 30 years, according to Cynthia.)
This is great news. The arts are more than a source of enjoyment and enrichment, though they are cherished for that. They are also part of the economic engine that drives the Valley. The more help we get, the better things will be for all of us.
KVPT Channel 18 begins a four-part examination of the Valley's future tonight that could be interesting. It's being put together with the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, which was established by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and stretches across eight Valley counties.
The first part, airing tonight beginning at 7 p.m., discusses economic and workforce development. Subsequent programs will cover health & human services (March 1), air quality (March 8) and the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint Project, which covers land use, water, resources and transportation issues (March 15). More info here.
A group of experts will offer their perspectives, followed by a live panel discussion that tonight includes -- ahem -- me, along with Tim Stearns of the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Ken Newby from Deloitte & Touche.
Later sessions will include my Bee colleague, Associate Editor Gail Marshall (March 1) and columnist Bill McEwen (March 15).
Tune in, and I apologize in advance for the bad hair day I'm having.
Another group of tree-hugging environmental wackos has emerged, huffing and puffing about the dangers of global warming.
Styling themselves the "Global Roundtable on Climate Change," this band of Chicken Littles has called for "prompt, decisive action on climate change created by the emission of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide," according to a story in Newsday.
And the group "calls on governments to set scientifically informed targets for reduced global emissions and concentrations of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases and to take immediate action in pursuit of those targets."
Just who are these doomsayers? Well, the list includes Dupont, Alcoa, BASF, Citigroup, Rolls Royce and General Electric. Other enviro-radicals signing on include the National Council of Churches USA and the World Council of Churches. Sheesh. What a bunch of wierdos.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez has written a commentary in reaction to my columm last Sunday suggesting that politics will get in the way of major health care reform. The speaker disagrees, and predicts a reform bill will pass the California Legislature ths year.
Here's today's commentary by Nunez.
Here's my column that provoked the speaker to write to us.
Red flags are going up all over the place at Fresno Unified. Clashes seem to be developing between some board members and the superintendent, and even between board members. And a group is saying that the board may have violated California's open meeting laws.
This all needs to be smoothed out. This friction between the board members and the superintendent jeopardizes any progress the troubled district has made in recent years. Everyone should just take a step back, take a deep breath and re-focus on what's important here -- steering the district in the right direction to give our students -- and the teachers who teach them -- the greatest opportunity for success.
What's it going to take to get this back on track?
Vice President Dick Cheney must have been playing with his shotgun that doesn't shoot straight again. He is charging that the Democrats' attempt to stop President Bush's troop surge in Iraq will "validate the al-Qaida strategy."
Talk about an Alice-In-Wonderland view of the Iraq war. The Veep has it upside down. What's validating al-Qaida is the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld strategy of mismanaging the war. They jettisoned Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after the voter backlash in November, but they kept a tired old war policy that's not working.
So instead of figuring out how to develop a winning strategy, the Bush/Cheney machine does the same old thing, and we get the same old results. Maybe the Democrats don't have a better idea about the war, but you can't blame them for the Iraq debacle. That came from the Bush/Cheney brain trust.
Now Cheney wants to divert attention from the mess by questioning the Democrats' patriotism. It's an old strategy by the Republicans. The public will see through it.
Bush and Cheney are right about one thing. We must fight terrorists on their soil, not ours. But the Taliban is reasserting itself in Afghanistan and now Iraq is a haven for terrorists. How are Bush and Cheney going to turn this around?
Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Mee started hiccupping four weeks ago today and hasn't been able to stop. Some media outlets can't stop either, it seems.
NBC's Today show brought Jennifer and her mom to New York so they could interview her, and ended up moving the pair to another hotel to try to stem the avalanche of inquisition dropped on the girl by another network.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, "Representatives from ABC's Good Morning America called Jennifer's home 57 times on Sunday and slipped notes under her hotel room door, her family said."
Who needs to cover war in Iraq, health care, environmental issues, immigration and the like when you've got a teenage girl with all-galaxy case of the hiccups to pester?
William Powers, writing on the Web site of the National Journal, takes the media to task for our "slavish" attention to the antics of the super-rich.
"Where very rich people go, journalists follow -- dutifully, slavishly. Elite news outlets enthuse about the business deals of the super-rich, lately chanting the phrase 'private equity' like a magic spell. Reporters fawn not just over the money the uber-rich are making but also over how they spend it: the houses they buy, the cars they drive, the private jets they fly in and whatever they happen to be doing at the moment."
He's got a point. Are we feeding the genuine desires of our readers and viewers? If so, they are a pretty sad and voyeuristic lot. Or are we satisfying some motive of our own, out of envy for these people or our desire to tear down those who make more money than we do?
Either way, it's pretty disgusting. I know some people who would be regarded as very rich by conventional standards. Some are bright, innovative, interesting people. Others are drop cases and empty suits, who have their stunning wealth only because Daddy took rich and then managed to hide the loot from the taxman until he keeled over and left it to his undeserving offspring.
Meanwhile, back to Anna Nicole Smith and Bald Britney...
What's with the Save Mart Center's inability to put down safe ice for a hockey match? Seems like they ought to have that down by now. But for the second time in a year, a Fresno Falcons game was postponed because of unsafe ice at the SMC. Today's match with the Bakersfield Condors was scrapped and reportedly will be rescheduled for Tuesday evening. Check The Bee's sports section Tuesday morning for details of the rescheduled contest.
Of course, the game will only be played if the folks at the SMC can figure out how the icemaker works. SMG, the management company, puts down the ice, and needs to explain this pattern of problems. Getting the playing surface in proper shape seems fairly basic.
Maybe the Falcons should consider returning their home games to downtown Fresno. At least Selland Arena can get the ice down in time for a match. Of course, SMG also manages the downtown arena.
My column today about California not having the political will to pass a decent health care insurance plan set off several readers. They all gave reasons that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan won't work. And that's the point of my column. Any plan -- the governor's or a Democratic alternative -- won't pass because it will get picked apart by critics. Here's a link to today's column.
There are 6.5 million uninsured Californians, and we all pay for them through our taxes and in increased insurance premiums. The uninsured will get their health care at hospital emergency rooms, and taxpayers subsidize that care. That is the most expensive way to deliver health care. It is estimated that California families pay a "hidden tax" of $1,186 every year to cover the uninsured.
This is a big problem for our society. Too bad the special interests will get in the way of significant reform in California.
JetBlue, the darling of the travel industry, has really stepped in it with its inability to respond to a crisis. After an ice storm hit the East Coast last week, JetBlue had to cancel 1,000 flights over a five-day period. Unfortunately, JetBlue didn't inform its passengers right away, leaving thousands stranded and angry. Then the crisis snow-balled, leaving pilots and flight attendants out of the communications loop. No one seemed to know what was going on with the airline's operations.
What a mess. JetBlue has both customers and employees angry, and it wasn't generating revenue by putting planes into the air. The airline has passengers stranded all over the country, and flights are still being canceled for Monday.
It will take some time for JetBlue to win back customer loyalty. The way this fiasco was handled does not give the flying public confidence in JetBlue's operations.
David G. Neeleman, JetBlue's CEO, said he was "mortified" at the way his company handled the crisis. He promised that the low-cost airline will do better. Here's a New York Times story laying out JetBlue's problems,
On Saturday's Valley Voices page, fiction writer Larry Hill gives a detailed memoir of the Old Fresno Hofbrau, Armen D. Bacon of Fresno County Schools talks about her "accidental visitor" from France, and Albert Valencia of Fresno State discusses an inspiring mentoring program at Fresno State.
In Sunday's Bee, the Vision cover carries a provocative essay written by a feminist women's history instructor, Linda Hirschman, on why women haven't had a more profound effect on elections historically. If you are expecting. Victor Davis Hanson suggests the U.S. keep picking at Iran's thin shell of a government and Thomas Friedman of the New York Times discusses the relationship of market prices in Russia to the freedoms people enjoy.
On the Op-ed page, the question of a nuclear power plant in Fresno is debated. The affirmative argument is assumed by John Hutson, who chaired the Fresno Utilities Commission, and M. Aslam Lone, Ph.D. of Fresno, a consultant in nuclear and radiation physics. The opposing position is written by Mark Stout, who handles major accounts for Unlimited Energy Solar Solutions.
Jim Boren, editor of the editorial pages, says the health care insurance mess will never get fixed because the political leadership would rather work on spanking bills than anger any of the powerful special interests by passing a reform package that would require everyone to share the financial burden for a better system.
The Valley's Top 10 lists things that Rudy Guiliani might have said while attending the World Ag Expo in Tulare. One of them is, "When I said I was pro-choice, I meant paper or plastic."
Enjoy!
Former state Sen. Chuck Poochigian has been rumored as a possible candidate for Fresno mayor next year. When Poochigian was in Visalia recently for a Rotary Club speech, The Bee's Lewis Griswold asked him about his political plans.
"I have a very open mind about my future. I'm exploring any number of opportunities," Poochigian said. "It'll take another month or two to decide what to do next. I'm flattered by the encouragement I've received and I'm not foreclosing any opportunities."
He added that "It's really not a high probability" that he'll run for mayor.
One hurdle: He'd have to move into the city to run.
If Poochigian decides to run for mayor to succeed Alan Autry, who is term-limited, he would be the big favorite. That would likely persuade other mayoral candidates to re-think their plans.
How angry are we?
Jamie Malanowski, writing in the Washington Monthly, takes on a new book called "A Bee in the Mouth: Anger in Amercia Now," by anthropologist Peter Wood. Malanowski takes exception to Wood's thesis that we are somehow more anrgy a society than we once were, pointing out numerous examples from our history.
And he asks, "The real question, though, is, What's wrong with anger? Our civilization's moral tradition stems from laws supposedly handed down by a God who got fed up and flooded the world and set fire to cities and turned people to salt and drowned the armies of the Pharoah, and who sent as a redeemer his son, a prophet of forgiveness who nonetheless had a day when he drove the money changers out of the temple. Anger isn't foreign to us; anger is at our root -- at least when it seems legitimate."
Malanowski also observes that "We may be angrier as a society but arguably more accepting of living with people of different religions, races, sexual orientations, and so on." Interesting notion.
And if you don't like that, well, get out of my face, you blithering morons. Ahem.
According to an Associated Press article: 
"New Mexico is taking its fight against drunken driving to men's restrooms around the state. The state has ordered 500 talking urinal cakes that will deliver a recorded anti-DWI message to bar and restaurant patrons who make one last pit stop before getting behind the wheel."
What will they think of next?
There's a fascinating article on Yahoo News.  A study has found that the typical office desk harbors more bacteria than a workplace restroom, and women's workspaces have more germs -- three to four times as much -- than their male counterparts.
Why were the women's desks germier? University of Arizona professor Charles Gerba, a professor of soil, water and environmental sciences, found that 75% of women had munchies in their desks, which can harbor microorganisms.
Do I have food in my desk? You bet I do.
A French writer, Pierre Baynard, has written an invaluable book for these hectic times: "Comment Parler des Livres que l'on n'a pas Lus" ( How to Talk About Books that You Haven't Read) will solve the problem of carrying on scintillating conversations about tomes you know nothing about.
Sarah Vine writes in the Times of London that "it is perfectly possible to bluff your way through a book that you have never read -- especially if that conversation happens to be taking place with someone else who also hasn't read it. All of which just goes to confirm what I've always thought about French academics, which is that mostly they are oversubsidised frauds."
I can't wait to get my hands on Baynard's book and not read it.
The Pacific Research Institute has released its 2007 California Education Report Card and the grades aren't very good. The state education system is graded in 17 areas. There were six F's and five D's among the grades offered by PRI, which calls itself a "free market think tank."
"Californians need to spend less time debating how much should be spent on public education and should spend more time focusing the discussion on what works in raising student achievement," said Lance T. Izumi, the group's education studies director. "Finding effective answers to this question will lead to improvements in the quality of education services, the performance of students, and ultimately the future of the Golden State."
You can read the report card here.
California education got F's in its accountablity system that tracks student performance, the low number of student who are proficient in Engligh language arts and math in grades two through 11 and a funding system that has spent millions of dollars on "programs that have yet to show success," according to PRI.
The state's education leaders and the California Teachers Association will undoubtedly disagree with much of the PRI's assessment. I'll add their responses to this post when they are available
I have a very helpful little guidebook at home called "It's Just Lunch! Guide to Dating in America." By Andrea McGinty, Nancy Kirsch and Alana Beyer. It's Just Lunch is a dating service, a very successful one -- they say they are responsible for more than 2 million fun first dates and a ton of marriages. Don't be starting any rumors now, I'm not using a dating service - I've been happily married almost 25 years to my Valentine, Rich. But even if you're working on your golden anniversary, it's fun to go to romantic places.
Hey, these writers know what they are talking about. I just arbitrarily opened the book, which is organized by cities, to Houston. And there, in the list of Top Five Dates is "Space Center Houston." I was impressed. Clearly, they know things the rest of us would never suspect.
Closer to home:
Here are their suggestions for the Top Five Dates in San Francisco:
Hornblower Cruises and Events, www.hornblower.com (They do dinner cruises around the Bay.)
Dolores Park Café, www.doloresparkcafe.org
Japantown, Buchanan and Post Streets
Alcatraz Island
Coit Tower. Have coffee at the Café Trieste, grab a sandwich at Molinari's Deli and then enjoy some of the best views and people watching in all of San Francisco.
And just in case our lawmakers have been working too many hours (poor darlings!), here are the hot spots the experts recommend in Washington, D.C.
Steeeeee-rike!, a bowling alley with a VIP room.
National Cathedral tour, www.cathedral.org/cathedral
DuPont Circle Farmer's Market, www.freshfarmmarket.org/markets.html
Mie N Yu in Georgetown, www.mienyu.com Chi-Cha, Soussi or Spy Lounge
And Sacramento:
Apple Hill www.applehill.com
Adventure Sport rentals www.gearcloset.com
Gold Mine Miniature Golf in Yuba City
The Punchline www.punchlinecomedyclub.com Lake Tahoe Ski Resorts www.sierratahoe.com
Fresno's not in this book. I resent that, especially since they've got Omaha and Little Rock in there. Please.
A change to the date in daylight-saving time this year may cause some glitches (depending on your operating system and whether you've downloaded the appropriate service pack) if you depend on the calendar programs provided by Microsoft Corp., according to the company's Web site. 
Where in the past, clocks have "sprung forward" the first Sunday in April, this year it's happening March 11. That may cause problems with software that automatically advances its timekeeping to account for daylight-saving time if the software was created before the 2005 law was passed.
Microsoft says "Some of the products affected include home electronics, such as VCRs, DVRs, clocks, telephones and PDAs, as well as computer software calendar and scheduling applications (Outlook, Exchange, or third party calendars).
There are many familiar clichés about life in the Valley: "It's a dry heat," or "It's so close to Yosemite." Here's another one: "We must save the Valley's farm land." But do we really mean it? Doesn't seem so.
The Bee's Sandy Nax has a story in today's paper about the astonishing rate at which ag lands are being developed, especially during the housing boom of the past couple of years. Valley farm land was being lost at a rate of 24 acres per day between 2002 and 2004. Fresno County leads the state when it comes to vanishing farm land. That's another contest -- like the race to achieve the worst air quality -- that we may not be so happy about winning.
Agriculture is the foundation of wealth in the Valley, as we constantly remind ourselves. But we don't seem to want to preserve it. The pressures -- and profits -- of development are just too seductive. It might not be so bad, in the larger scheme of things, to lose ag production if we were replacing it with a more diversified economic base. But we aren't doing much of that either. We may be digging a hole we can't get out of: Trading ag jobs for -- what?
These folks will never learn. The last time the Legislature moved the California primary to an earlier date -- from June to March -- to give the most populous state more clout in the presidential nominating process it didn't work. Smaller states just moved their primaries ahead of California's new date. The Golden State then decided to move the primary election back to June.
But there's a new effort. On Tuesday, the California Senate voted to move the state's presidential primary from June to February. Unfortunately, other states are going to again move their primaries to diminish California's clout. California's primary bill now wil go to the Assembly, where hearings will be held next week. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to sign it when it clears the Legislature.
But the Legislature has another motive for moving next year's primary to February. Senate and Assembly leaders want to put a term limits bill on that ballot. If voters changed term limits, legislators who are termed out next year would be able to run for re-election instead of retiring. Beneficiaries would include Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata.
Here's a story by The Bee's E.J. Schultz on the Senate action on Tuesday.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has been spending quite a bit of time in the San Joaquin Valley. He was in Fresno Monday and is attending the opening ceremonies of the World Ag Expo in Tulare today. He was at the state Republican convention in Sacramento over the weekend.
It's all in preparation for Giuliani's announcement for president. California is crucial in his bid for the GOP nomination and that means he must appeal to the conservatives in the Valley. His appeal here will be a good indicator of how he will fare with other conservatives. Some think Giuliani isn't conservative enough to get the GOP nomination. Giuliani has supported abortion rights and gun control.
Here's John Ellis' story in The Bee today on Giuliani's visit to Mimi's restaurant in Fresno to meet with local party activists. Mimi's, by the way, is referred to as "City Hall North" because that's where Mayor Alan Autry and council members do a lot of business.
It will be a crowded field for the 2008 presidential nominations for both major parties, and Giuliani is among several potential candidates who will be making Valley visits. But this campaign has barely begun and we won't know what the final field looks like for several months.
I've been dropping huge hints to all the foreign-exchange teenagers hanging out in our house that in the United States, Valentine's Day isn't just for lovers. Don't forget your hostmommies! Our neighbor boy got the idea right away. "I'm making something in my ceramics class!" he said. "If it turns out well, maybe I can give that to her." Oh, yeah, a handmade gift for mom -- that kid's going to do just fine in our culture. Homemade gifts from kids melt the hearts of moms all around the world. Me? I just love notes. I save them forever.
The love flows both ways - parents need to remember to show their love to the kids, too. It seems obvious, but adults get busy and distracted. Need some ideas? The American Academy of Pediatrics compiled these 14 ways to show love for your child not just on Valentine's Day - but every day.
* Use plenty of positive words with your child. Try to avoid using sarcasm with your child. They often don't understand it, and if they do, it creates a negative interaction.
* Respond promptly and lovingly to your child's physical and emotional needs and banish put-downs from your parenting vocabulary.
* Make an extra effort to set a good example at home and in public. Use words like "I'm sorry," "please," and "thank you."
* When your child is angry, argumentative or in a bad mood, give him a hug, cuddle, pat, secret sign or other gesture of affection he favors and talk with him about his feelings.
* Use non-violent forms of discipline. Parents should institute both rewards and restrictions many years before adolescence to help prevent trouble during the teenage years. Allowing children of any age to constantly break important rules without being disciplined only encourages more rule violations.
* Make plans to spend time alone with your young child or teen doing something she enjoys.
* Mark family game nights on your calendar so the entire family can be together. Put a different family member's name under each date, and have that person choose which game will be played that evening.
* Owning a pet can make children, especially those with chronic illnesses and disabilities, feel better by stimulating physical activity, enhancing their overall attitude, and offering constant companionship.
* One of the best ways to familiarize your child with good food choices is to encourage him to cook with you. Let him get involved in the entire process, from planning the menus to shopping for ingredients to the actual food preparation and its serving.
* As your child grows up, she'll spend most of her time developing and refining a variety of skills and abilities in all areas of her life. You should help her as much as possible by encouraging her and providing the equipment and instruction she needs.
* Your child's health depends significantly on the care and guidance you offer during his early years. By taking your child to the doctor regularly for consultations, keeping him safe from accidents, providing a nutritious diet, and encouraging exercise throughout childhood, you help protect and strengthen his body.
* Help your child foster positive relationships with friends, siblings and members of the community.
* One of your most important gifts as a parent is to help your child develop self-esteem. Your child needs your steady support and encouragement to discover his strengths. He needs you to believe in him as he learns to believe in himself. Loving him, spending time with him, listening to him and praising his accomplishments are all part of this process.
* Don't forget to say, "I love you" to children of all ages!
Airline travel is getting more and more complicated by the day. It seems that Spirit Airlines is the first U.S. airline to allow just one bag per passenger, according to ABC News. A second bag will cost $10.
One man interviewed in their story says he avoids the whole "weight, lost bags, schlepping luggage through the airport" routine by sending his bags ahead of him to the hotel. I thought that was pretty outrageous expense until I read that British Air could charge you $235 per bag in its new schedule of fares.
I also filed an item I saw in last week's Daily Candy e-mail under the category "things for people who have too much money," but the Spirit Airlines idea made me think differently. Daily Candy carried an item about a company called FlyLite that not only sends your bags ahead of you, but packs, delivers, picks up, and even dry cleans your stuff so you don't have to. It calls itself a remote wardrobe manager. For people who travel for a living, it might actually be worth it.
Here's how it works: You sign up online, and FlyLite sends you a suitcase to fill with your usual travel kit (jeans, shampoo, golf clubs). They clean, store, and catalog everything (in a virtual closet that you can arrange to your liking). Before your next trip, select what you want online, and let FlyLite know where and when you'll need it. Your stuff will be there when you arrive.
The downside: So far the service is available only in the United States. And it costs $100-$200 per trip.
I received this email this morning from a reader:
"I just came across a newspaper article about the Mammoth Orange; probably from 2004/5. Is this place still in business? I would love to make the trip from San Francisco one day just to say I've eaten here. Thanks."
Does anyone know, is the Orange still open for business? Let me know, and I'll pass it along to her.
UPDATE, 2:42 p.m.: And the answer is ... yes. Another reader e-mailed a response to me:
"It's open daily 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Phone is (559) 665-2955."
Former Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante is pursuing a contract with the city of Livingston, according to the Merced Sun-Star. The Livingston City Council is considering making Bustamante the city's lobbyist on a major area highway project.
This is the the Sun-Star's story on Bustamante: "Livingston officials want to widen Highway 99, the Winton Parkway and Hammatt Avenue onramps and offramps, and the bridges across the highway. At peak times, traffic backs up on the onramps, and the interchanges are almost at capacity, (Mayor Gurpal) Samra said. The improvements are expected to cost between $15 million and $20 million each, and neither is included on the state's project priority list."
Bustamante told the Sun-Star that Livingston would be his first consulting contract. He said he also is talking to other cities about representing them.
Bustamante lost a run for insurance commissioner in November, and is now out of elective office for the first time in a generation. He represented Fresno in the state Assembly before serving eight years as lieutenant governor.
There are many Fresno residents who believe that IKEA, the low-cost furniture store, would be a better anchor for downtown revitalization than Bass Pro, which is being pursued by the city. But Council Member Jerry Duncan says IKEA is not an option -- at least right now.
This is a statement from Duncan, which he posted on the local Web site Mindhub: "We have talked to IKEA and they indicate that when the population of Fresno metro hits 1 million, we will be on their radar screen. Until then, we are too small for their concept."
So this isn't about choosing Bass Pro over IKEA. Bass Pro is the one showing interest, while IKEA for now has Fresno on the backburner.
This is a description of IKEA from Wikipedia: "IKEA is a privately-held, international, low-cost home products retailer. IKEA was founded in Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad, but is owned by a Dutch-registered foundation, controlled by the Kamprad family. Inter IKEA Systems B.V. is the owner/franchiser of the IKEA trademark and the IKEA Concept."
This is Wikipedia's description of Bass Pro: "Bass Pro Shops is a privately held sporting goods and outdoor goods store headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. In addition to the Outdoor World store located at the corner of Sunshine and Cambell in Springfield, Bass Pro Shops has over 35 large retail stores in the United States and one in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada."
If you're so in love that you'd like to serve a life sentence together, you are in luck. The Fresno County Sheriff's Department and the Fresno County Clerk's office have conspired to create a chapel of love on Wednesday.
Since Valentine's Day is the busiest day of the year for marriage licenses and ceremonies at the clerk's office, Sheriff Margaret Mims and additional deputies will be issued one-day permits to perform civil ceremonies as deputy commissioners of marriage.
The office and chapel will be decorated for the occasion and the business hours will be extended from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. No reservations are required; it's first-come, first served. Cost is $49 for the marriage license and $21 for the ceremony. You can pay in cash, Visa or MasterCard, but no checks will be accepted. Couples have to take valid photo identification. Questions? 488-3428.
Best wishes!
On the Valley Voices page Saturday, a weekly space devoted to Valley columnists, Ron McLain reminds us why healthy marriages are a very big deal. McLain is founder and executive director of the Fresno County Healthy Marriage Coalition, an organization comprising community-based and faith-based organizations, businesses, governmental agencies, health care entities, education institutions and individuals. Liesl Garner, a wife, mother and business owner, marks the arrival of her first gray hair; Scott Key a faculty member at Fresno Pacific University, suggests romantics ask a lot of questions before they buy flowers, chocolate or diamonds for those they love.
We hear a lot about the evils of sprawl and Sunday's Vision cover disputes that. Authors Ted Balaker and Sam Staley take the position that criticism is overstated. They are the authors of "The Road More Traveled: Why the Congestion Crisis Matters More Than You Think, and What We Can Do About It." In their Sunday piece, they identify what they consider five myths about suburbia and our car-loving culture.
Will we ever see redistricting? The Sunday editorial expresses doubt at the California Legislture's resolve to correct this awful, unjust mess.
New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman tests your knowledge of our nation's friends and enemies. Do you know who's who? Maureen Dowd analyzes Hillary Clinton's performance in the land of bingo and bacon. Robyn Blumner, columnist for the St. Petersburg Times, says that the secret to a happy marriage is more often about dollars than devotion. Families with incomes below $25,000 a year divorce twice as often as families with $50,000 annual incomes. As she says, "It's hard to get along when you can't get by."
On the Op-ed page, we take two views of the question, "Should Congress increase vehicle fuel economy standards?" Taking the affirmative position is Llewellyn King, publisher of White House Weekly and host of the weekly PBS television show "White House Chronicle." The opposition is written by Andrew P. Morriss is the H. Ross & Helen Workman professor of law at the University of Illinois College of Law.
The letter writer of the week is Republican Rodney J. Nidever, a teacher and missionary. The Valley's Top 10 suggests some unexpected Valentines.
Enjoy!
Does this sound familiar? Fresno Council Member Jerry Duncan passes on the following story that ran in 2000 in the Tucson Citizen newspaper:
Owners of Gateway Ice Center want the city to buy the facility, but the proposal is receiving a chilly reception from the City Council.
Numerous community and youth groups - ranging from the Boys and Girls Scouts to the Tucson Urban League - also are encouraging the city to study the feasibility of the purchase.
Backers of the idea will pitch their case to the council Monday afternoon.
Although local skating clubs use the ice at the Tucson Convention Center, Gateway is the only rink open to the general public.
Some City Council members say the purchase would amount to a bailout of a failing private business.
''To think the city should pick up a business that is marginal is an insult to the taxpayers of this community,'' said Councilwoman Carol West. ''Don't even get me started.''
Rodney Glassman, Gateway's manager, said the 4-year-old rink, at 7333 E. Rosewood, is on thin ice. The business is only breaking even at 50 percent capacity, and Glassman said he's been unable to find private buyers.
''The situation is terminal,'' he said.
Glassman said if the city buys the rink, it could easily turn a profit and dramatically expand its use by youth groups, many of whom could skate for free. The city could either manage the rink itself or have a private company do the job, he said.
Duncan's Web site has the entire story. You have to scroll past a couple of other issues to get to the Gateway stuff.
There's a fun little column on today's Op-Ed page from a Prius owner, talking about her transition into an eco-snob. I told my mom she'd be able to tell that I picked it out -- I bought a Prius in August, tired of becoming ill at what we were spending each month on gas for the two fuel-inefficient in our household at the time. 
I had a hard time convincing my 3-year-old daughter that the multi-informational display camera didn't have built-in TV or movie playing capabilities. She'd cry the first few times I shifted from reverse into drive and the back-up camera went away. My oldest daughter's favorite feature is the on/off button -- "Too cool," she says of the ability to power down just by pushing a button.
Although I've never stared down the drivers of SUV's (yet!) as the author of today's column says she has, I am glad we bought it.
(Photo: Associated Press file)
"You see, increasing energy efficiency will help consumers save money. Increasing energy efficiency will leave American businesses with more capital, will make American businesses more competitive. Increasing energy efficiency will help reduce our energy consumption, and to help us achieve a vital national goal, and that is making America less dependent on foreign sources of energy."
-- President Bush discussing energy policy, June 15, 2005
So in his new budget, the president asks for more money for nuclear energy and alternative fuels. But he wants to take the funds out of federal energy efficiency programs.
Some of the cuts would come in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and weatherization assistance grants, which help fund insulation and other energy-saving home improvements.
From the Los Angeles Times: "Drawing the most criticism were proposals to cut the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to about $1.8 billion, from the nearly $2.2 billion expected to be allocated in 2007, and to cut the weatherization program -- which helps the poor insulate their homes -- from the proposed $242 million for the current fiscal year to $144 million."
That sounds like robbing Peter to pay Paul -- or perhaps robbing poor people to pay General Electric and Exxon.
Little did I know the firestorm I would set off this morning when I announced that I liked the article in today's Fresno Bee about the college professor who is pod-casting his lectures so students can listen to them or review them on their MP3 players.
Apparently Jim Boren has some strong feelings on the subject, believing that all distance learning, from online traffic school to college courses offered over the Internet, is riddled with opportunities for cheating.
My opinion is that actually learning something from an MP3 player is a far better use of technology than just ruining your hearing listening to loud music.
The discussion that ensued ranged from the benefits of using these classroom podcasts as a supplement to the classroom experience, and all its inherent give and take between students and teacher, to the demise of higher learning as we know it with students never having to step foot in a classroom, instead preferring to have knowledge injected directly into their heads with a turkey baster-like syringe.
Jim echoed the concern of Bruce Thornton, a professor of classics and humanities quoted in the story, "who worries that podcasts are one more technological change pointing to a future where students are not in class with a professor."
I don't see it that way. I think it's a useful tool that can enhance learning, when used as a supplement to attending class and participating in student-instructor interaction. And I know there were classes where I might have been able to more fully devote my thinking to the lecture if I hadn't been trying so hard to catch every word for my notes to review later.
What do you think about teachers pod-casting their lectures? Is it the road to ruin or a good thing?
(Photo: Craig Kohlruss/The Fresno Bee)
While California is still deciding what to figure out what to do about preschool, nine states are already requiring full-day kindergarten. And five more are seriously debating it. A story in the Bergen (N.J.) Record called "Doubling Time for Shaping Young Minds" sorts out the arguments for and against the doubling of kindergarten time.
I like the idea. I would be even more supportive of the idea if schools used that time to teach the children second or third languages, escorted them on field trips to expand their view of the world and gave them more time for fitness.
Today's Opinion page features an opinion piece by a writer who hasn't appeared before on our pages.  Amy Goodman, the host of "Democracy Now!" , writes about U.S. Army Lt. Ehren Watada, whose court-martial is being held this week for refusing deployment to Iraq.
We haven't yet decided if she will be added to our regular list of opinion writers. We are sampling her work, trying her out to see what you, the readers, think. Tell us what you think of her opinion and her writing style and if she's someone you'd like to see in the future on our pages.
Have you heard? Valentine's Day arrives a week from Wednesday. I love this day. I think everyone should get a Valentine every year. So I send a lot of them. It's an especially important day for the ladies, so guys, don't forget. I remember my grandmother telling us a story about her ultimatum to my grandfather. When they first got married, she told him that she didn't mind if he forgot her birthday, but that he should never ever forget Valentine's Day.
He was a very smart man and he listened to her very well. When Nana died, my mom found a tidy little bundle in her dresser drawer, tied in a ribbon. There she found every Valentine my grandpa had sent her throughout their lifelong marriage. Now, there's an inspiration.
Francine Farber of Fresno has a sweetie of her own, her husband, Murray, but she's got Valentines to spare. She already put one of hers in the e-mail -- "A Valentine to Fresno." You could do the same thing by writing about your own city in the Valley and post it right here for everyone to see. Lord knows this region could use a little love.
Fresno, Fresno, please be mine
Won't you be my valentine?
Here are some things I really like
While some things need to take a hike
We love your weather, hot and cold
Fiery summers and winters bold
Temps that vary up and down
Some 30 points, you're quite a town
Your Bulldog teams that growl so fierce
Their losing howls my heart doth pierce
Your fans that leave the games so early
They miss the best of plays, or nearly
The music scene so wide and varied
So much to hear we all get harried
Jazz and country, blues and rock
Thelonius Monk to good ole' Bach
I love to count your fast food spots
They fill up space like polka dots
The tacos and the burgers fly
Upon our hips, our weight's too high
Let's not forget the fruits and nuts
That grow in deeply planted ruts
Their bounty gives us food from trees
Their lovely blossoms sure to please
And what about the Chaffee Zoo
The jungle comes right here to you
Too bad the chimps will have to go
Their throwing talents brought them woe
The schools need work but could be winners
Our teachers - are they saints or sinners?
The students have a role to play
We need them - we must find the way
With mountains, trees, perhaps a lake
This town could have a major stake
In tourist action from afar
A place whose beauty knows no par
So Fresno, on this special day
Remember what we have to say
But if you don't, I think you're fine,
You'll always be my Valentine.
Longtime California politician Leo McCarthy died of a kidney ailment Monday at age 76. In my years as The Bee's political writer, I covered him dozens of times. I always came away with this impression: In a nasty political world, Leo McCarthy was a decent man who wanted to do the right thing. That doesn't mean he was always right, but he was motivated by public service.
The former lieutenant governor and Assembly speaker was a native of New Zealand and grew up in San Francsco. Here is the San Francisco Chronicle's story about McCarthy.
Democrats are pressuring Assemblyman Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, to reverse his position on not seeking another term.  Shortly after Arambula was re-elected in November, he anounced that this two-year term will be his last in the Assembly. That set off an early scramble for his seat. But hold on.
Everyone from Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to former Assembly Member Sarah Reyes are pressuring him to not step down after this term ends. The word out of Sacramento is that Arambula is wavering and could announce soon that he had changed his mind.
A spokesman for Speaker Nunez said that in addition to asking Arambula to stay on, he has asked other members of the Democratic delegation to urge the Fresno Democrat to seek a third term. How can Arambula say no?
This isn't a race we want to win. The California Air Resources Board recently recalculated the number of times various areas of California violated federal smog standards in 2006. We're now tied for the lead -- 86 violations -- with the Los Angeles area.
The Valley also led in violations of state smog standards, with 141, to 130 for the South Coast air basin. Get all the details here.
We really have to do better, and soon.
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