Here's another reason to have that second cup of java: studies show coffee drinkers have better memories. And where are the best places to go to college?

* … COFFEE: Here's another reason to enjoy that cup of java in the morning. According to a story in The New York Times, researchers now believe that coffee can boost your memory. In a study, 73 male

and female volunteers were divided up and given two pills: one that contained enough caffeine equivalent to two cups of coffee and the other a placebo. The result? Those who received the caffeine pill were able to respond to memory questions more effectively than other group.

* … COLLEGE LIST: The Huffington Post came out with its list of the most interesting places to go to college. Apparently this had more to do with location than academics, but it nevertheless is an interesting list. So for all you high school kids, here it is: University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of California-Berkeley, University of Iowa, Cooper Union, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Southern California, Brown University, Drake University, Vassar College, The University of Texas at Austin, New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, University of Alabama, University of Pittsburgh, Arizona State University, Harvard University. Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California-Santa Barbara. (Berkeley campus shown)

 * … LYNCH: Keep an eye on the lawsuit surrounding the death of Joseph Adam Lynch, the developmentally disabled man who died in a group home in Lamont after being restrained by staff members. Neil Gehlawat, an attorney with Chain, Cohn, and Stiles, told me on First Look with Scott Cox that one of the defendants is the Kern Regional Center, a little-known non-profit that helps place the disabled in group homes and is charged with making sure the homes meet minimal state standards. Kern Regional Center is just one of a cobweb of organizations that oversee all the group homes that serve a disparate clientele that includes the disabled, the elderly, the infirm and the recently paroled. These types of civil suits shed daylight on the operation of these organizations.

 * … KING: I found this lovely tribute to Martin Luther King on the Facebook page of McKinley Elementary kindergarten teacher Jolie Brouttier: "I teach children of all different colors and race, I work, befriend, socialize, and love amongst faces all unique and special. So thank you Martin Luther King, for giving all of us the privilege to see such strokes of different colored paint and the creation of such a beautiful masterpiece."

 * … HOME: Gerhard H. Schmidt weighed in on those who bash Bakersfield, noting that despite the bad publicity it hasn't affected our growth. "Before the 1970s, according to my recollection, the area had been growing by about 10,000 in population per decade. But since then, vow! Funny, isn’t it, if it is so bad here, how come people keep coming in such numbers?"

Is the New York Post cartoon racist? You decide

There's a huge brouhaha over a cartoon in today's New York Post, depicting a rabid chimpanzee being shot by police. Critics are saying it is clearly racist (see the Huffington Post report here) but others say it's a takeoff on the bad stimulus bill and the Connecticut chimp that went wild and had to be shot. Is the cartoon implying President Obama is a monkey who should be shot? Or is it simply a takeoff on the rapid chimp who was shot the other day? You be the judge on this one, but it's bound to be fodder for local Bakersfield radio talk show hosts.

Why it's okay for reporters to have opinions

It's been my belief for some time that one of the problems with traditional journalism - least the way I was taught - is that it is increasingly seen as bland in this age of visual journalism, YouTube and blogging. When compared with the fire and crackle of its competitors, old school reporting can seem well... simply boring. We try so hard NOT to have opinions that our writing (and reporting) is so bland as to become irrelevant. The San Francisco Bay Guardian tackles this issue on its website with an interesting piece that quotes Arianna Huffington from her Huffington Post. To wit:

"Our highest responsibility is to the truth," Huffington told us in a recent interview. "The truth is not about splitting the difference between one side and the other. Sometimes one side is speaking the truth ... The central mission of journalism is the search for the truth."

I'm not advocating for every reporter to become an opinion writer, but sucking the life out of copy just to remain "unbiased" isn't the way either.