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WALNUT CREEK, Calif. Consuming large amounts of caffeine during pregnancy by drinking coffee, soda, tea or hot chocolate increases the risk of miscarriage, a new study reveals.Women who ingest 200 milligrams or more of caffeine per day are twice as likely to miscarry as women who consume no caffeine, the study by Kaiser Permanente found.That equals about two cups of coffee daily or five 12-ounce cans of soda.”We recommend avoiding caffeine, but if people are compelled to have it, we tell them for sure to limit it,” said Dr. David Walton, Kaiser’s regional chief of perinatology.Previous studies have shown a link between caffeine and miscarriage. But critics questioned those findings, arguing that the results may have been skewed since many healthy pregnant women reduce their caffeine intake because of nausea and vomiting.The Kaiser study addressed that issue by examining both women whose caffeine consumption changed during pregnancy and those who had no change.It also adjusted for such factors as a mother’s age, race and income level, and whether she smoked, consumed alcohol, used a hot tub or had a previous miscarriage.The study appears online Monday in the Web site of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, www.ajog.org.”Caffeine crosses the placenta barrier easily,” said Dr. De-Kun Li, the study’s lead investigator.Once in the fetus, it may stay there longer because fetuses have an underdeveloped metabolic system, Li said.In large quantities, caffeine may also decrease placental blood flow and harm cell development, experts say.Not only should pregnant women limit their caffeine consumption, women who are attempting to become pregnant should consider doing so as well because the first 20 to 40 days after an egg is fertilized is a key time in its development, Walton said. As a result, harm could occur before a pregnancy is confirmed.The researchers examined caffeine use among 1,063 pregnant Kaiser members in the San Francisco area from October 1996 to October 1998.Interviewers asked the women about the frequency and amount of beverages they consumed and whether they changed their patterns after becoming pregnant.The researchers then estimated the amount of caffeine consumed by assuming that for every 150 milliliters of a beverage, coffee contains 100 milligrams of caffeine, tea 39 milligrams, soda 15 milligrams and hot chocolate 2 milligrams.Even decaffeinated coffee contains some caffeine. They estimated 2 milligrams.The researchers then compared caffeine use with rates of miscarriage during the first 20 weeks.”The increased risk of miscarriage appeared to be due to caffeine itself rather than other possible chemicals in coffee because caffeine intake from non-coffee sources showed the similarly increased risk of miscarriage,” the study found.While there was some indication that consuming less than 200 milligrams of caffeine daily might increase the risk, the numbers were not large enough to be statistically significant, and thus no conclusions could be drawn about smaller amounts of caffeine, Li said.Walton said he is concerned that women who had a miscarriage several years ago will now blame themselves because they drank coffee during their pregnancy. He noted that many other factors can lead to miscarriages.Kaiser urges pregnant women to drink no more than the equivalent of one or two cups of coffee per day, if they cannot avoid caffeine altogether.”What we’re trying to tell people is that a lot of times we use caffeine because we have bad lifestyles,” Walton said. “So if we can make our lifestyles better and exercise more and sleep better, then caffeine isn’t such a compelling part of our life.”We’re really trying to get across the message that healthy lifestyles can help us reduce our intake of things like caffeine.”Experts suggest seeking a natural energy boost by taking a brisk walk, doing yoga stretches, or snacking on dried fruits and nuts.

LOS ANGELES Hollywood directors reached a tentative contract deal Thursday with studios, a development that could turn up the pressure on striking writers to settle their 2-month-old walkout that has crippled the entertainment industry.”Two words describe this agreement - groundbreaking and substantial,” said Gil Cates, chair of the Directors Guild of America’s negotiations committee. “There are no rollbacks of any kind.”Among other things, the three-year agreement establishes key provisions involving compensation for programs offered on the Internet.That issue has been a key sticking point between striking writers and the studios, which broke off talks on Dec. 7.The writers walkout has halted work on dozens of TV shows, disrupted movie production, turned the glitzy Golden Globes show into a news conference and threatened the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony.The deal between directors and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, was lauded by top executives from eight major companies, including Fox, Paramount Pictures Corp., The Walt Disney Co., CBS Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros., MGM and NBC Universal.In a joint statement, the executives said they hoped the agreement would signal the end of an “extremely difficult period for our industry.”They called on the writers guild to join in the kind of informal talks with industry leaders that preceded the directors’ negotiations, and said the deal with directors established a precedent for the industry’s creative talent to “participate financially in every emerging area of new media.”The Writers Guild of America said it would evaluate the terms of the directors’ proposed contract. The guild also reiterated that it has been calling on the studios to resume negotiations.”We’ve been making independent deals, so we’re in a negotiating mood,” said Writers Guild of America, West, President Patric Verrone, referring to interim agreements the guild has reached with companies such as United Artists and The Weinstein Co.Verrone declined to comment on specifics of the deal by directors or compare it to what the writers are seeking until he saw a copy of the proposed contract, which he expected to receive from the directors guild.Writers previously said directors do not represent their interests.Alliance President Nick Counter said in a statement that the directors’ talks focused on key issues, and the result was a groundbreaking agreement for the industry at large.”This deal was strongly influenced by the writers strike,” said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles and a former counsel to the writers guild. “It shows all the earmarks of the improvements the writers were looking for - but it doesn’t achieve them by any means.”In the significant area of streaming media, the deal falls short of “fundamental fairness,” Handel said.However, he considers it unlikely the writers can get a better agreement.The deal with directors gives their union jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet and sets a new residuals formula for some paid Internet downloads that essentially doubles the rate currently paid by employers, the guild said.In addition, it sets residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet.The deal was welcomed by others in Hollywood.”I’m very pleased with the new agreement and I hope it helps speed up the negotiations” with the writers guild, George Clooney said in a statement.Clooney has often commented on the need to resolve the strike to put thousands of people back to work in Hollywood.Roberta Reardon, president of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which represents actors, singers, dancers, announcers and others, called the deal encouraging and said her guild was optimistic the writers guild would resume negotiations soon.The directors guild was well-prepared when it started negotiations Jan. 12.It had spent $2 million researching the potential value of new media over the next decade and held a series of meetings with key studio heads to establish a basis for the formal talks.Gil Cates, who’s been involved in union contract negotiations for three decades, served as lead negotiator for directors.He is also producing this year’s Academy Awards, which are imperiled by the writers’ standoff.Last Sunday’s Golden Globes show was reduced to a news conference after actors refused to cross writers’ threatened picket lines.NBC lost millions of dollars in ad revenue, and award winners were deprived of instant publicity that could have provided a box-office bump.New media issues also were expected to dominate negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild, whose contract expires in June.The directors guild said late last year that it would delay the start of talks to give writers a chance to come to an agreement with studios.But the guild clearly lost patience after negotiations between the writers and studios broke off last month and the strike dragged on.Among other things, the studios’ deal with directors says programs produced for the Internet will be directed by guild members, with the exception of low-budget shows, and payments for downloaded TV programs and movies will be based on a distributor’s gross.Distributor’s gross represents the amount received by the company responsible for distributing the film or TV program on the Internet.The writers guild was seeking 2.5 percent of such grosses, about three times what the directors’ deal provides. Interim deals the writers guild has made with studios provide for 2 percent compensation on downloaded films and 2.5 percent on TV programs, the guild said Thursday.Under the proposed directors agreement, companies are contractually obligated to provide the guild “unfettered access to their deals and data,” the guild said, calling that unprecedented transparency.In their talks, the writers guild and studios clashed over using a percentage of gross receipts to determine Internet compensation.The guild said it sought that approach but was told by the alliance it was an unworkable and unacceptable formula.The studios offered, for example, a flat $250 payment for a year’s use of an hourlong TV show on the Web.The guild balked, citing the $20,000-plus residual that writers now earn for a single network rerun of a TV episode.Also at issue for the writers guild is unionization of reality and animation writers.Talks broke down after the alliance demanded the guild take that and other issues off the table, claiming there had been an agreement to drop it.The guild’s next move may be influenced by history.There’s a lingering resentment among members over what they considered raw deals in the 1980s involving what eventually became lucrative home-video and DVD markets.The writers guild home-video deal was shaped by a deal made previously by the directors guild, following an industry practice of pattern bargaining. That created resentment among some writers guild members toward the directors guild.

In the new movie “Cloverfield” a towering monster runs amok in New York City, knocking over buildings and collapsing bridges.No, it’s not a very original idea. But “Cloverfield” sells an old premise by telling the entire story through the footage shot on a video cam by a 20-something partygoer who witnesses these cataclysmic events.”The idea of a Godzilla-like creature trashing New York is pretty absurd,” observes Anthony Timpone, editor of Fangoria, a magazine devoted to horror, fantasy and science fiction.”But by telling the tale through `found footage,’ the filmmakers provide the sort of immediacy that might overcome the viewers’ objections. They’ve even cast the film with talented unknowns. … If it was Tom Cruise running around trying to evade the monster, it would take you out of the movie. But having unknown actors helps sell you on the story’s authenticity.”No matter how convincingly made, “Cloverfield” is unlikely to persuade anyone that it’s based on real events.Yet just a few years back a little movie called “The Blair Witch Project” did just that. The film so effectively employed “found footage” - purportedly left behind by members of a documentary crew who vanished in the Maryland woods - that thousands of gullible moviegoers became convinced it was the real deal.Called fake documentaries, mockumentaries or faux reality, movies that mimic documentary forms can range from the hilarious to the dead serious.Often, as in the comedies of filmmaker Christopher Guest (”Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show”), they have satiric intentions and slyly ridicule political and cultural norms and human foibles.Sometimes the format is used to make the scares scarier, as with “Cloverfield” or George Romero’s “Diary of the Dead” (scheduled to open Feb. 15), in which footage shot by students making a zombie movie reveals that they’ve captured real zombies on film.At other times, as with director Brian De Palma’s “Redacted,” the mockumentary format brings added realism to dramatic current events.In that film the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl by American soldiers is told entirely through the evidence left by a GI’s video, surveillance cameras, Web sites, news footage and a documentary film. It’s fake, but it looks real.As we’ve seen with “Blair Witch,” these movies can be quite convincing.Which raises an interesting question: Are we sophisticated enough to recognize when the images we see in theaters and on TV and the Internet have been faked? Are we smart to the scam?”I don’t think there is an easy answer to these questions,” said Craig Hight, a New Zealand educator and co-author of the book “Faking It: Mock-Documentary and the Subversion of Factuality.”"Audiences are familiar with mockumentaries after watching everything from `This Is Spinal Tap’ to `Blair Witch’ to TV’s `The Office’ to `Borat.’ So they are `sophisticated’ to the extent of their knowledge of the form.”People watch reality TV shows like “Survivor,” well aware that authentic images can be manipulated and rearranged, Hight said, and almost everyone recognizes that photographs and video footage can be digitally altered so convincingly that only analysts with sophisticated computer programs can detect the changes.”Despite all of these developments, I think we still have a common-sense belief in photographic images,” Hight said. “We go to the television set to see what really happened, to hear the emotion, to live something of the experience. We still seek those forms of media that we can assume are more `authentic’ or `raw.’ I think that’s a key part of the attraction of sites like YouTube, with so much amateur content.”In fact, the Internet is replete with sites offering bits of fuzzy footage recorded by just plain folks on their cell phone cameras. We assume that what we see really happened, whether it’s footage of skateboarders doing incredible stunts or of sidewalk fistfights.But there’s nothing to stop a tech-savvy provocateur from giving us staged or digitally manipulated footage and making it seem real by mimicking the look and feel of something recorded on a cell phone.It’s all part of a long tradition of selling fantastic fiction by making it seem real. Bram Stoker’s original vampire yarn “Dracula,” for example, was written as a series of diary entries, an approach that made the story seem plausible. Orson Welles’ infamous “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast in 1938 so perfectly mimicked a night of standard radio fare that when it was interrupted by fake news reports of a Martian invasion, mass hysteria followed.”We’re pushovers for this stuff,” said Chris Gore, movie critic and operator of the pop culture site filmthreat.com.”You could argue that there are no original stories left, but there are original ways of telling those stories. A film told in fake documentary style approaches the material in an entirely new way. And we’re eager - maybe too eager - to buy into the illusion.”An exhibition opening next month at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in Washington examines this very issue. The show, “The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality and the Moving Image,” explores (according to the exhibit’s program) “the ever-increasing impact of the cinematic on our perceptions and the ways in which the very boundaries between ‘real life’ and make-believe have become at least blurred, if not indecipherable.”Kristen Hileman, co-curator of the exhibit, said the show examines “how contemporary artists use a documentary aesthetic to create a convincing illusion of real life, or to present alternate views of reality.”One installation, created by a young woman who grew up in the Republic of the Congo, contrasts propaganda footage celebrating that country’s dictator with images of the artist participating in a march to honor his reign.”Only her movements are so mechanical and puppet-like that it forces you to examine how politicians and the media can create a spectacle that doesn’t at all represent what people are truly experiencing,” Hileman said.Another piece in the show uses a computer program to turn footage of the reading of the verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial into a cartoon. The change in medium, from news footage to animation, completely changes the viewer’s reading of the scene and forces us to consider how images can be manipulated.”You come away thinking that we really need to be savvy about what we’re looking at,” Hileman said.Younger audiences tend to be wiser to visual trickery than their parents, Hight suggests.”What’s somewhat shocking and disturbing for older audiences has become just a fact of life that young people deal with every day,” he said. “After all, we’ve got `The Daily Show’ giving us a constant lesson in deconstructing the news. It’s a new kind of literacy which is becoming more mainstream, and it’s created a more challenging environment for filmmakers to operate within.”Hileman said she endorses “a healthy cynical attitude” about the images we’re fed through the media.”That attitude is a manifestation of a culture becoming more self-aware about image use and the technological tools that can manipulate reality.”But at the same time, one of the big attractions of art is that people appreciate being fooled. We love the illusion, and part of the pleasure of being sucked in is knowing that the reality we’re being immersed in isn’t real.”The cinematic experience, after all, will always be about suspending our disbelief.”MEMORABLE MOCKUMENTARIES”Cannibal Holocaust” (1980): In this gruesome exploitation film, documentary footage left behind by a film crew in the South American jungle reveals a bloody encounter with an Indian tribe.”This Is Spinal Tap” (1984): A has-been Brit heavy metal band tours America in this hilarious faux documentary from Rob Reiner. Among the leads is Christopher Guest (see below).”84 Charlie Mopic” (1989): An American patrol in search of the Viet Cong is shown in the footage of an Army cameraman sent along to record their mission. Regarded by many as the most authentic Vietnam combat movie ever.The films of Christopher Guest: After starring in “Spinal Tap,” Guest adopted the mockumentary as his signature directing style. The result: largely improvised comedies like 1996’s “Waiting for Guffman” (about a small-town historic pageant), 2000’s “Best in Show” (the national dog show), 2003’s “A Mighty Wind” (folk singers) and 2006’s “For Your Consideration” (Oscar mania).”The Blair Witch Project” (1999): Made on the cheap, this atmospheric horror film felt so “authentic” many moviegoers assumed it was the real thing. One of the most lucrative movies ever released.”The Office” (2005- ): This popular workplace TV comedy employs documentary-style talking-head interviews in which characters speak directly to the camera.

Fiction today, reality tomorrow? It’s the year 2012. Meet Susan and Jim. They are the parents of Emily, who just turned 2 and is their pride and joy. Susan and Jim have always wanted a boy and girl, and last week they learned their dream may come true. Susan is a few weeks pregnant. They’re hoping for a boy and have already named him Joshua. Only one problem with their dream: Emily has a terminal disease and won’t make it to adulthood. Yesterday, a new doctor, upon learning Susan was pregnant, told them surgeons can now take stem cells from Joshua and transplant them into Emily, which will cure her disease. The procedure needs to be done now. Joshua, however, will die from it.Should we destroy one life with the hope of saving someone else’s life?Welcome to the embryonic stem cell debate. The Jan. 11 story in the Statesman about a new study brings this issue once again into our consciousness.Some say that an embryo is not a living human being, just tissue. So creating embryos through cloning to produce embryonic stem cells for harvesting is no problem. Are they right? Scientifically, “life” is characterized by metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli and reproduction. An embryo has these characteristics; it is “living.” An embryo also contains human DNA; it is “human.”Think of an embryo like the film in those old Polaroid cameras. You pointed, clicked and out came a photo which was all black and took time to develop. When you clicked the shutter, everything instantly went in the film which over time developed into the photograph - even though what you first saw on the film was total darkness.Unlike my story, embryonic stem cells have yet to cure one disease or even come remotely close. But stem cells taken from adults, where no life is destroyed, have. Studies have reported at least 73 human conditions where a person’s health has been improved through adult stem cell therapy. Millions of dollars, however, are being thrown at embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) because certain scientists speculate that embryonic cells hold more promise for curing disease than do adult cells.Among other breakthroughs in adult cellular research, scientists recently reported that embryonic-type stem cells can now be produced from ordinary skin cells. No embryos are created or destroyed in this process. Scientist Ian Wilmut, who created the process used in cloning embryos, thinks so highly of this research that he has abandoned ESCR.Unfortunately, as the Jan. 11 story on Advanced Cell Technology’s (ACT) study reflects, some will continue to pursue ESCR because they have so much invested in it. ACT has put millions into ESCR and animal cloning, so it’s not surprising it quickly announced results, accurate or not, which serve their financial interests.Idaho has a special opportunity to learn more about these potentially life-saving developments. Cornerstone Institute of Idaho is bringing Dr. David Prentice, an internationally known expert on stem cell research, to the Boise State University Student Union’s Hatch Ballroom on Tuesday, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. and to Northwest Nazarene University, Science Lecture Hall in Nampa on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 3 p.m. The public is invited to both presentations.Society should have the utmost compassion for those with debilitating diseases and strive to find cures. At the same time, science must be governed by ethical standards that protect all of life, including our weakest members of society. With the latest advancements in adult cellular research, both goals can be achieved. Emily will live and Joshua will be born.Douglas K. Barth is the executive director of Cornerstone Institute of Idaho, a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening families throughout Idaho. Cornerstone’s address is P.O. Box 563, Eagle, Idaho 83616. Its web site is www.cornerstoneofidaho.org.

JOB CHANGESTitleOne Corp., a locally owned and operated title and escrow company, has announced that Doug Brigham has joined its team as vice president for finance and strategic growth. Brigham’s background includes 20 years of operations, finance and administrative management in private industry. He has held increasingly responsible positions including treasurer, corporate controller and business unit chief financial officer. Most recently he served as senior vice president for business development for the Infrastructure Business unit at Washington Group International. Brigham is a Meridian High School graduate and earned a BA in Business Administration from The College of Idaho. He went on to get an MBA from Boise State University.George Seybold has accepted the position of project manager with Wirestone LLC. He comes to Wirestone with 14 years experience in online marketing, online community creation, Web analytics and search optimization.Formerly, Seybold held the position of brand marketing e-media manager at Weyerhaeuser’s building materials division, iLevel (formerly Boise-based Trus Joist), where he managed and set the strategic direction of the division’s online properties and online marketing promotional activities. He will maintain his seat on the Metrics and Standards board of Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization.RECOGNITIONThe National Association of Women Business Owners, Boise Area and Southern Idaho Chapter, announced the winners for its Business Women of the Year Awards. This is the sixth year NAWBO has recognized Idaho business women who exemplify excellence in business accomplishments, employee development, achievement, community leadership and advocacy for women professionals. Joan Stephens, CR, of Stronghold Remodeling Inc., won the Business Woman of the Year Award. Kandy Weaver, of Kandy Weaver and Associates LLC, was also nominated. In other categories, Paula Miller, owner of Framed!, won the award for Business Woman of the Year - Up and Coming. The other nominees were Tawni Weaver of ReNu Medispa, Rebecca Evans of Inner Element, and Robin Phipps Woodall of Tone Athletic Club. Irene Deely, owner of the Woman of Steel Gallery, received the Trailblazer Award, given to an inspirational businesswoman whose accomplishments are in a field or industry where relatively few women have made inroads. Melanie Krause, of Cinder/Krause Consulting LLC, was also nominated. And Tamara Brandstetter, president and CEO of Delta Dental, received the Leadership Award, given to a woman who promotes a climate for a healthy business community on a local, regional and state level. Other finalists were Rebecca Poedy, Idaho president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, and Judith Garzolini of Hewlett-Packard.Dr. Carl Thornfeldt, chief executive officer and founder of Boise-based Episciences Inc. and practicing dermatologist, and the Epionce product line are featured in three national publications this month. Thornfeldt was interviewed for and appears in the article “Chemical Peels Today” in the January/February issue of Medesthetics Magazine, a trade publication for physicians and medical spa professionals. The article highlights the Epionce Equalizer Peel, a chemical peel for sensitive skin. He was also interviewed for and appears in Household and Personal Products Industry’s January issue article “Transdermal Delivery: Marketers rely on a variety of ways to deliver active materials to the skin.” Finally, the Epionceproduct line is featured in the January issue of Dermascope Magazine, another skin care trade publication for estheticians, spa owners and the salon industries. Thornfeldt wrote an article, “Skin 101,” that will appear in the February issue of Dermascope as well.

The numbers, including five consecutive double-doubles, suggest he is ready and his coach believes he will be called up to the NBA soon. But Idaho Stampede center Lance Allred constantly fights the urge to look ahead.”I’m hearing a lot of things, but I’m trying not to count my eggs before they hatch,” Allred said. “You just keep an even keel or else you could go crazy - you really could.”Allred and the rest of the players in the NBA Development League will find it a little tougher to stay calm when the league’s annual Showcase begins Monday at Qwest Arena.Representatives of all 30 NBA teams and most foreign leagues will be in attendance during the four-day, 14-game event. Each D-League team plays twice.That’s two opportunities to impress the scouts and become the 102nd call-up from the D-League, which began in 2001. Ten players have gotten the call this season, including Idaho’s Luke Jackson, who signed with the Miami Heat.”It lets you know the system is working, and you’re in the right system for if you want to get to the NBA,” said the 6-foot-11 Allred, who is averaging a team-high 18.8 points and 10.6 rebounds.Those kinds of numbers will get him noticed by scouts, who likely already have the 26-year-old on their radar.”I’m not expecting Lance to be here all season,” Stampede coach Bryan Gates said.The Showcase, which is expected to attract NBA general managers, could give Allred the final push. Last year, Golden State - which, ironically, was the only team not there - called up Renaldo Major during the event. Several players could have a similar story this week.Even if it’s not an NBA team that calls, players can earn a lucrative living from one of the foreign leagues.Allred, however, tried to downplay the significance of the Showcase to his NBA dreams, pointing out that he plays just as hard in every game.”If you’re playing any harder in a Showcase game than you are in a regular game, shame on you,” he said. “You can’t treat it any different. You just got to go and play basketball.”Part of that is Allred’s demeanor. Part is trying to stay on that even keel.And part of it is untrue.”Every Showcase I’ve witnessed, the games are at a playoff intensity. The games are all competitive and the players definitely seem to go a little harder,” said Chris Alpert, the league’s vice president of basketball operations and director of player personnel.Alpert is a key liaison between the NBA and the D-League, often alerting needy NBA teams to specific players in the D-League. It is a zero-sum game. In order for a D-League player to get the call, there must be an opening in the NBA.That’s why Allred keeps an NBA transactions Web site bookmarked on his computer. Allred, who went to training camp with the Boston Celtics, is eligible to sign with any of the 30 NBA teams.”You don’t want to be a bad guy and say, ‘Oh yeah, injured. Go down. Go down,’ ” Allred said. “But every man’s misfortune is another guy’s opportunity. You wait for your chance to come up.”That’s what they’re all doing. Not just the players, but the coaches, the referees, the front-office personnel. All hoping for an opportunity to make their move to the NBA.And stick there.Coaches know the game.Gates’ double-double center could soon be gone. His veteran point guard and the league’s MVP last season, Randy Livingston, is also likely to be moving up before the end of the season.But Gates couldn’t be happier. His greatest satisfaction comes not from wins, but from seeing players make that jump.”Our teams, they understand what our league is about,” Alpert said. “Ultimately, you’re going to lose your top players.”It can’t happen soon enough for Allred, or the rest of the league’s players in Boise this week.All aiming to be No. 102.All aiming to keep their sanity.Brian Murphy: 377-6444

NUCLEAR ENERGYAsk for the full clean up
Do you remember the nuclear waste deal in 1995? Colorful ads promised this nuclear deal would “say no to leaving waste over the aquifer.” They promised if we import tons of foreign spent nuclear fuel, this deal would “guarantee that the federal government must come up with the money to clean-up existing INEL waste for disposal outside our state.”The final plan is out for official public comment now, quietly released during the holiday season. The “preferred alternative” #4 does not come even close to removing 10 percent of the buried plutonium.Why is the state not demanding alternative #5, which removes “all” the buried plutonium?The final plan concludes a full clean-up is too expensive! Have you ever seen an Idaho politician refuse $8 billion in nuclear jobs? Why are the politicians refusing to demand a full clean-up?Do you remember the infamous Pit 9? In 1993, that was chosen as the worst plutonium pit. Now, this final plan cherry picks just a very small portion of Pit 9!When God blessed Idaho, there was no man-made plutonium in our water. Please call your silent politicians. Ask for the full clean-up proposed in Alternative 5 at Brandt.Meagher@icp.doe.gov.DR. PETER RICKARDS, D.P.M., Twin FallsWhere did the West go? Keep Idaho green
Coming up nuclear plants?What ever happened to “green” - windmills, solar and vouchers for fuel cell-natural gas homes, buildings and electric cars and trucks? “Keep Idaho green,” don’t put us, our aquifers, the Tetons, Yellowstone, our farms, our tourism under a dark cloud, or worse a disaster.We have to ask, would housing costs go down, sales, would people move away? What ever happened to common sense … smelling the roses, or our Snake River, the gas? Where did the West go?Help save Idaho, all us Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, Christians and non-Christians! It’s a no-brainer to my way of thinking. We haven’t yet even used “traditional” energy sources. Slam the door on nuclear power.”Keep Idaho green.”MONTY STIPP, MeridianHEALTH CARESave money, go to Mexico for dental work
Imagine a country where the majority of the people have no health insurance and they cannot afford to go to the doctor or the dentist.Image a country where the majority of people hope they die before they have to go to a nursing home because of the cost.The last four years I have been going to the dentist in Algodones, Mexico. I was happy with my local dentist, but I could not afford the cost. I am almost 70 years old, my teeth are worn down and I had a few teeth missing. This fall I went to Mexico to a dentist that I have 100 percent confidence in, and got 28 new porcelain crowns, including three bridges. The whole process took three days. The total cost was less than what my daughter paid a specialist to get one crown. I now have teeth better than my originals.Millions of Americans go to Mexico for major operations, dental work, and prescription drugs because they cannot afford the price in the US. Millions of Mexicans come to this country and go to our hospital emergency rooms and receive free health care. What kind of country would let this happen?If you need dental work, check out this Web page, www.sanidentalgroup.cjb.net.GARY WILLSON, ReubensEAGLE FOOTHILLSCity Council put best interests of Eagle first
Power (city voters) and knowledge (North Ada County Foothills Association) helped lead City Council to approve a far more responsible M3 Company Foothills development agreement than what Council was ready to approve just two months ago. The Nov. 6 Eagle city election results proved that knowledgeable Foothills’ advocates are not a “relatively small group of critics” with a “significant self-serving negative bias that does not truly represent breadth of the community.” (Councilman Bandy’s October campaign quote.)Congratulations and gratitude go to John Petrovsky’s NACFA for pursuing a course of public leadership, persistence and informed advocacy for a responsibly managed foothills growth plan, during the past five years at the county and city levels. NACFA stepped in where elected city officials feared to tread with developers.Gratitude goes as well to the recent successful and influential Preserve Eagle campaign platform. City Council subsequently switched to damage control mode to regain leadership credibility on the major issue of city growth. Thanks go to Council for deciding on Nov. 20 and Dec. 11 to put the best interests of the city of Eagle first rather than those of a Foothills developer. Well done, City Council.PATRICIA MINKIEWICZ, EagleBARACK OBAMAStop spreading political rumors as facts
Most will agree that politics is too partisan; but what to do about it? First, stop spreading “Patriot Police” rumors as fact. Clarice Wright stated that Barack Obama attended a radical Muslim school as a child, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance with his hands at his side, his back to the American flag.CNN investigated the charge of attending a radical Muslim school, a “madrassa.” Not true. He attended the Basuki school, a general school, from 1969-1971. Students dress in school uniforms and teachers in Western attire.A photograph of Sen. Obama’s alleged pledge infraction was taken on Sept. 16, 2007, at Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry festivities in Iowa. The photo was taken during the National Anthem not a recitation of the pledge. The area was covered with American flags so while he had his back to the one in the picture he was facing a flag as were the others in the picture.To diminish the partisan nature of our system, Clarice, stop spreading false rumors. When anyone allows themselves to be used by the “Patriot Police,” partisanship is magnified. So what will it be? Furthering the problem or becoming part of the solution?ED LONSDALE, Boise

Will Micron Technology stay in Idaho, or will it go? Even state officials are baffled. Gov. Butch Otter’s chief economist says Micron will stay. Otter’s economic development guru suggests Idaho should plan on life without its largest private employer - just in case.The whole situation has a muddled, improvised feel, largely of Micron’s making.Private companies like to keep their competitors guessing - the essence of a shrewd business strategy. Companies shouldn’t leave the state’s decision-makers guessing. But Micron’s tight-lipped approach to losses and layoffs has bred a culture of confusion.The confusion reached a head Friday. Jim Ellick, the head of the Commerce Department, said the state should prepare two budgets: one that assumes Micron will remain in the state, one that assumes Micron will leave.Micron, Ellick told the Statesman Friday, is “either going to stay and everything’s great or they’re going to leave and everything’s bad.”Ellick doesn’t exactly chart out much of a middle ground - and, of course, he provides a refresher in the value of economic diversification.State economist Mike Ferguson offered a much more hopeful forecast Friday - a relative phrase, since he projects the company will lose 1,000 workers in 2008 and another 1,000 in 2009. “We don’t believe we’re on the verge of losing our biggest private employer,” Ferguson said. “Beyond 2009, we see growth resuming.”Ferguson’s prediction seems consistent with recent comments made by Mike Reynoldson, Micron’s head of government affairs. Earlier this month, he told legislators that the company expects to see depressed prices for DRAM memory improve in 2009. Said Reynoldson: “We have always come out of a downturn as a stronger company.”How should lawmakers read the company’s signals, and the mixed messages from the executive branch? The Micron question will go a long way to set the tone for the spending decisions facing lawmakers.It may make some lawmakers uneasy about Otter’s $3 billion general fund budget, and the governor’s plans to pour surplus dollars into college scholarships, state building and park maintenance and scientific modeling of Idaho’s aquifers. It may also give lawmakers qualms about raising vehicle registration fees to address a statewide backlog in highways.In a February 2005 report - which still appears on Micron’s Web site, even after $320 million in 2006-07 losses and 1,100 Treasure Valley layoffs - the company touts its economic impact on Idaho. At the time, Micron accounted for 3.7 percent of Idaho’s economic activity. Said the report: “It is unusual for a single private employer - especially in the high-tech sector - to have such a large impact on the state’s economy.”With that impact comes responsibility. Even in a turbulent business such as the semiconductor industry, transparency is key. The guessing game over Micron’s future provides more proof that Micron has done a poor job of helping Idaho understand what the future holds.As a Statehouse adage goes, when Micron catches the sniffles, the state’s economy gets the flu. We can hardly blame lawmakers if they’re having a hard time reading the thermometer.

WINTER GARDEN AGLOWVisit this stunning display
Anyone who has not visited the beautifully lighted Idaho Botanical Garden this holiday season should gather up the family and go. It’s like visiting fairyland, with a much expanded area as a result of the new Lewis and Clark Native Plant Garden.Many thanks to the volunteers who must devote thousands of hours to creating this stunning display. The result is a wonderful gift to Valley residents.ALICE HENNESSEY, BoiseOILFind out what media aren’t telling about oil supply
Gas price increases and reports of economic hard times on the way are alarming.More alarming, however, is that the local and national media are reporting the symptoms, while staying conspicuously mute about the root disease. We all know that there is a problem with oil supply. The world’s petroleum geologists have been saying it is a problem they call “Peak Oil” and that it will get increasingly worse. Google “Peak Oil” and follow the links. You will find U.S. senators, ex-presidents, bankers, oil executives, scientists, mayors, governors, and literally hundreds of thousands of highly placed experts around the world who consider “Peak Oil” the most imminent threat to our global civilizations.Blow away the smoke and shatter the mirror of popular America media fantasy, and you will find that the consumer culture, the personal automobile, the interstate highway system, obesity, the electrical grid, and many other “normal” things will be only a distant memory in 5 to 10 years.If you do nothing else today, google “Peak Oil” and find out what they (the fascist government-corporate-media entity) are not telling you.BOB BLURTON, BoiseNATIONAL POLITICSU.S. on verge of bankruptcy, Bush is lying again
American citizens are being led down the path to bankruptcy by a bunch of war-mongers, paranoids and perverts. Our sinking U.S. dollar will soon be worth about 25 cents Canadian. Instead of doing his job in Congress, our leading Idaho conservative, “Sen. Larry Craig,” has been moonlighting as a plumbing inspector in Minneapolis restrooms. It’s easy to see why our real estate industry is now in shambles, along with some big banks. Instead of repairing our broken Social Security system, Bush has plundered our Social Security trust fund to the tone of $2.4 trillion. After being assured by the United Nations that Iraq has been completely disarmed, Bush gave that tiny landlocked, half starved country a taste of Christianity by attacking and slaughtering them by the thousands. Any Iraqi hero who dared to oppose us was immediately labeled a terrorists or insurgent and tortured accordingly. Iraq was once our friend and ally in their chemical warfare against Iran. We are no longer trusted, for very good reasons. With our country on the verge of bankruptcy, Bush is back to lying again to start a new war with Iran. ROBERT G. SCHULTZE, RigginsDEVELOPMENTWhat is ecological impact of cutting down trees?
Boise is being deforested by developers. A lot on Alanta Street, that once had over 15 mature trees, is being denuded for four new skinny houses. This hole in the woods regimen has taken hundreds of trees on the Bench. Our neighborhoods slowly are looking like those of the west valley, with their look alike houses set on arid lots. Four houses replace one, trees are cut down. What is the ecological impact? What is the aesthetic result? What is Boise?CARL ROWE, BoiseTRANSPORTATIONTrucks cause most damage, trains make more sense
In the Dec. 14 issue of the Statesman an article in the Reader’s View section titled “trucking vs. railroads” caught my eye. First off, I have no dog in this fight but it struck me after reading this article I lean toward the railroad point of view.Mr. Noud and Ms. Fowers denigrate an unsupported claim “… about trucks causing astronomical damage to roads …” All you have to do is follow a semi down I-84 and see how the trailer’s tires fit into the “grooves” in the road and then look at how automobile tires do not even come close to tracking in the grooves to know, without being a “scientist” that the trucks are making the grooves. Trucks should pay more to help pay for the damaged roads. Oh, and throw in the studded snow tire drivers to pay their fair share of road damage.I, for one, am tired of subsidizing commercial heavy trucks use and destruction of public roads.And one more thing, Mr. Noud and Ms. Fowers, if the railroads made small spurs and unloading points in most cities they could unload their trailers and deliver them to anyone with a loading dock.JAMES LUCKER, MeridianTHE STATESMANStatesman should edit foolish Web comments
When reading articles on this web site, must I read the opinions of what any fool with a computer was thinking when they read it? The idea of stimulating debate on events covered is commendable, but when any moron with an agenda gets to place their comments right on the same page as the actual article, it’s not good. I’m usually either annoyed or offended by comments that have no bearing on the article in question. My guess is that this will eventually cause a problem. Imagine a scenario where an article about a poor kid getting hit by a car has comments by “Blufan69″ indicating that it’s a good thing because he resents bicycles on the road … and the kid’s mom reads this and complains to anyone who’ll listen. Is she gonna say “Blufan69″ is an insensitive jerk, or that the Statesman is? I’m pretty sure your Web gurus can hide the comments with a click … or make it an “opt in” situation. On the other hand, the chances of me avoiding this Web site go up with the chances of me ever buying a newspaper from the Idaho Statesman … so I suppose it could be some mad genius’s strategy for increasing circulation … but I doubt it.JOSEPH PEAVEY, BoiseJapanese paper offers better coverage than here
I recently returned from spending three weeks in Japan. Imagine my surprise when I picked up a copy of the Japan Times and found better sports coverage than our “beloved” Statesman. In fact, the Japan Times had a oversize half page of NHL coverage every day. Kind of puts the Statesman’s pathetic sports page in perspective. Sure would be nice if our sports editor could get with the program and put out a daily sports page that had more than just Broncos’ coverage.TIM KUTKUHN, BoiseReligion wasn’t relevant in local business article
I have just finished reading Ken Dey’s Dec. 18 article “State files suit against Boise business owner,” and find it appalling that he found it necessary to include the accused’s religion in his article. There is absolutely nothing in the piece that would remotely suggest there is any reason to include the accused’s religion. It seems that the media for some unearthly reason as a whole have to take a shot at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You rarely, if at any time, mention that the accused is a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Catholic.Enough is enough. If there is no direct connection with the piece, just leave it out.Perhaps if Mr. Dey wants to be connected with a newspaper, he just stick with just removing and replacing it in the bottom of a birdcage.ROBERT W. MCCAMMON, BoiseBANK ROBBERIESHow do criminals get away with it time after time?
I just don’t understand how time after time after time, that these low-life thugs, that rob these local banks and convenience stores in Boise, continually are getting away with it. What in the world are these cops doing in this town? There has to be something done about this matter. They are either short-staffed, or just not doing their job. It is pretty obvious that you can get away with these crimes, and that is why there are so many robberies. There has to be a drastic change, or our safety in Boise will be so bad that you won’t even be able to go out after dark!TONY ECHEVARRIA, Boise

Boise has changed a lot since Sheila Lincoln became a nurse 11 years ago, and Lincoln’s job has changed accordingly. The proportion of low-income children in Boise has risen from 28 percent to 43 percent since the early 1990s, according to the Boise School District’s Web site. Lincoln said she sees a lot more children than she used to who don’t have insurance and don’t regularly visit a doctor. “We are the first health care professional, often, that most of the children see,” said Lincoln, who was chosen as this year’s Nurse of the Year by the state’s association of school nurses.Lincoln came to nursing relatively late in life; when she graduated with her nursing degree in 1992 from Boise State University, she said, she was older than the head of the department.Being a school nurse had been her lifelong dream. Lincoln loves her work, where her time is divided between Shadow Hills Elementary School and Cole Elementary. She’s also very active in the School Nurse Organization of Idaho. Lincoln has given a lot of thought to how the school nurse’s job has changed. “We’re seeing more of what we call English Language Learners,” she said, referring to children who speak a foreign language at home. “We have a lot more refugees coming, young people, some of whom were born and grown up in refugee camps. They come with huge medical problems of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.”Also, I think since the twin towers, we see more parents full of fear; children are not walking to school.” Parents tell Lincoln they don’t let their children ride the bus for fear of bullying. There are kids in the district who are HIV-positive. As medical technology changes, children with more fragile medical conditions are coming to school, a development Lincoln finds positive. “I want inclusion; I want them to spend part of their day in a regular classroom,” she said.Other things have stayed stable during Lincoln’s tenure, such as the number of abuse cases she sees. Lincoln’s award enables her to attend the national school nurses’ conference in Albuquerque, N.M., in June. More importantly, for her, “it is a vote of confidence by my peers” for her outside work, her teaching and her contributions to various association committees, such as one that looks for ways to encourage more kids to walk to school. Claudia Terrell, the past president of the state nurse’s association, nominated Lincoln for the award. “She’s willing to get on board with new things and help,” she said.Terrell and Lincoln both noted that school nurses do a lot more than treat playground scrapes and other accidents that happen at school. They also set up health maintenance plans for children with chronic conditions, and they help steer parents toward health care, either by finding a doctor willing to treat a condition for free; by contacting one of the clinics for the uninsured in the Treasure Valley; or by helping the parents do the paperwork necessary to qualify for low-income health insurance programs.”I have actually driven kids to the doctor,” Lincoln said, noting that a parent who couldn’t drive came along. The Boise School District has 15 elementary school nurses, some of whom divide their time between schools, and 13 secondary school nurses, said Terrell. Some Idaho districts don’t have the money to hire even one school nurse, she said. “The health coverage is good in Boise,” said Terrell. “It would be nice to see all schools in Idaho have school nurses.”Anne Wallace Allen: 377-6433