Guest View

Good heavens ... this is getting out of hand. Seriously. I thought I could just ignore the proposed bill by Assemblywoman Sally (Motto: "I have no kids and therefore know more than you do about raising them") Lieber of Mountain View. But Ms. Lieber, mother of a politically correct cat or something, has become a media darling recently as she touts her plan to let government further intervene in our day-to-day lives – specifically by making it illegal for a parent (or other caregiver) to issue a swat on the bottom of an errant child under the age of four.

If you are a reasonably observant person, you've no doubt noticed that most plastic containers have a number surrounded by a set of chasing arrows. Here's your weekly eco-quiz, don't worry ... it's multiple choice, which gives you a chance to gauge your eco-knowledge:

It is a fact that two words still strike terror in my heart: Valentine's Day. This is not because I don't believe in love and hearts and all. It's just that every Feb. 14 I suffer unfortunate flashbacks to my grade-school days, which, truth be told, occurred lots of decades ago.

When the syndicated newspaper columnist Art Buchwald died in mid-January, America lost the insights of a man who always looked at the world through the prism of irony.

As a nasty virus made its presence unpleasantly and unmistakably known late last Monday night, I tossed and turned in bed, too miserable to sleep and irritated by a high-pitched, wobbly electrical whine. Although I had noticed it the last few nights, I'd successfully ignored the sound. This night, the whine grated my very last nerve. However, also on this night, on one of my many trips to the bathroom, I discovered the source of the bothersome noise – the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner on its charger – and silenced it.

Some months ago, a friend and colleague called. Her good friend moved out of the country and she was missing someone to go out and play with. So, she asked if I would like to take a Gavilan community education class with her? How about African Caribbean drumming? I have a bad habit of doing things just because certain people ask me to. Just on the basis of my relationship with and trust in someone, I sometimes find myself in the strangest places or doing things I never thought I would have, especially when I myself am in a rut of doing the same old same old.

Once upon a time Hawaii (prior 1960) had a great idea about teacher qualifications. There was only one licensing credential. This basic license was valid for a lifetime. There were no bureaucratic renewal fees, as Hawaii felt that competence was lifelong and didn't suddenly expire. Principals developed and required ongoing teacher improvement.

You know, it's occurred to me that there are some interesting differences between men and women. Yes, I know about the obvious ones, but there are other, more subtle dissimilarities that we don't necessarily think about every day.

Fifty years ago, the film "12 Angry Men" had its premiere. Based on a play originally performed on television, "12 Angry Men" had an all-star cast. Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E. G. Marshall, Ed Begley, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden and Martin Balsam, among others. The film is about the 12 men, jury members deciding the fate of a young man from the tenements of New York accused of murdering his father.

Here's a quick question. Why should you act to reduce the amount of junk mail sent to your home? It's the trees. If you care about trees then you should care about reducing junk mail. The average American home receives 1.5 trees in their mailbox in the form of unsolicited mail every year. That adds up to over 100 million trees cut down and over 28 billion gallons of water consumed to produce one year's worth of this country's junk mail.