Campus activism at UCLA puts the state of Israel in its cross hairs, and who wins the bragging rights for the amazing 3-year-old colt California Chrome?

* … ISRAEL: Did you hear about the latest incident of political correctness at UCLA? The Westwood campus is embroiled in a controversy over student government elections in which

candidates were pressured to promise that they would not visit Israel on sponsored visits. This kind of anti-Israeli sentiment is common on university campuses and it is sad that some try to quash a civil conversation about a very complex and important topic. One UCLA student, who refused to sign the pledge, lost by 31 votes. According to the Los Angeles Times, Chancellor Gene Block said he was disturbed by what happened and is calling for more tolerance on the campus. Other universities, including UC Santa Barbara and the University of Michigan, have seen undergraduates demand the school cut ties with companies that do business with Israel.

 * … BULLYING: And speaking of political correctness, you have to admire Porterville Mayor Cameron Hamilton's chutzpah even if you don't agree with his message. Hamilton is under attack for saying that bullying victims should toughen up and defend themselves and not blame the world's problems on bullying. In what can only be described as an unusual display of frankness, he said some folks should "grow a pair" and learn to "just stick up for them damned selves." You can imagine the ruckus that followed in the small community of 55,000 people. At issue was a student program proposing safe zones around town with signs directing children to places where they could seek refuge from bullies.

* … CHROME: It looks like there is a battle for bragging rights over California Chrome, the 3-year-old colt who will try to become the first horse in 36 years to win the Triple Crown. Folks in Bakersfield love the horse because co-owner Steve Coburn used to call Kern County home, but he now lives in Reno so the Nevada city also claims the horse. And up in Coalinga, where California Chrome was trained at Harris Ranch, there are bragging rights as well. It looks like the thoroughbred really has become "America's horse."

* … EXHIBIT: If you have a smart phone, and you use Instagram, here's your chance to enter a photography contest. The idea came from Don Martin, owner of the Metro Galleries on 19th Street, for a June exhibit. It will be called INSTAexhibition, a collection of Instagram only photography. Martin said this will be a unique show exploring not only the use of the app but also hashtags for marketing purposes. He already has entries from Europe, Canada and throughout the United States. For info on this exhibit log on to www.TheMetroGalleries.com or email Martin directly at Don@theMetroGalleries.com . (photo by Don Martin)

 * … MUSIC: And speaking of Metro Galleries, Don Martin is hosting a terrific Americana folk singer this Thursday, kicking off his summer concert series. The songstress is Kat Devlin from Santa Barbara, and I can personally vouch for her talent. A portion of the proceeds from the event (tickets are just $10) will go to support the Arts Council of Kern,. Doors open at 6 p.m. and Kat sings at 7 p.m.

 * … NUT FESTIVAL: Organizers are gearing up for the second annual Kern County Nut Festival out at the Kern County Museum. The inaugural event last year was a huge success but was not without its hiccups. This year they promise it will be bigger and better. It is set for Saturday, June 7, over at the museum. Pick up your tickets at the museum.

Merle Haggard plays at the Fox Theater, a professional tennis tournament takes over the Bakersfield Racquet Club, and was I guilty of bullying in remarking on Kim Novak's appearance?

* … TENNIS: I stopped by the Bakersfield Racquet Club on Saturday to watch the qualifying round for a big USTA tournament there. The club has never looked better, the players were phenomenal and I was pleased to see that Randy Martin and his crew from Covenant Coffee had taken over the snack

shop and were doing a brisk business. The tournament runs this entire week, and there is no cost to come watch tennis on a professional level. Drop by this week to catch the action.

 * … MERLE: Merle Haggard performed before a sold out crowd at the Fox Theater Saturday, and longtime Californian photographer John Harte (now retired) shot the concert. "My favorite Merle Haggard song is and always has been 'Silver Wings, ever since the day my longtime friend Bill Wheeler introduced me to his music, driving around Taft in the 1970s in his Datsun pickup. 'Mama Tried' is my second favorite. When I got the assignment to photograph Merle for The Californian, it came with an odd request: He was asking that we shoot songs 4, 5 and 6. I've been covering concerts for 35 years, probably hundreds of them, and this is the first time anyone has ever made 4 through 6 the songs we can shoot. It has always been the first two or three. Anyway, I waited out the first three songs, and song four started. Guess what? Yep, 'Silver Wings.' Then '[I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink,' and then, yep, 'Mama Tried.' This, my friends, is the first version of a story I will tell forever, the story of the night Merle Haggard gave me my own personal concert!"

* … BULLYING: After one reader accused me of "bullying" by questioning the appearance of Kim Novak at the Oscars, John Sarad wrote in with his take. "I usually smile when I read your blog. I did not when I read today that you are officially a bully. It’s about time we decide what bullying really is.  If you say something that is not threatening or coercive, but with which someone with thin skin takes offense or merely disagrees, is it really an act of bullying?  Is calling someone a bully under those circumstances actually bullying as well under that definition. I recall when the neighborhood bully beat up on the nerds and was an actual threat. My mom always told me to defend myself and remember what is now so out of favor…'Sticks and stone will break my bones, but words will never hurt me!'  What an age we live in."

 * … MORE BULLYING: And there was this from Phillip Anderson commenting on Kim Novak: "I agree with you. Way too much work. I am their age and look at me! Wait… forget that. But I do think you can comment on their looks as they are celebrities and they're the ones showing poor taste in their appearance."

 * … BAD FORM: Kathryn Guerra was driving to Tehachapi on Highway 58 when she witnessed some appalling behavior. A truck driver was passing another truck, and correctly signaled his intentions as he passed and then pulled back into the slow lane. But apparently he didn't do it fast enough for a car of young people that was behind him. "The 20 somethings paced themselves next to the truck, rolled down all four windows in the vehicle and proceeded to direct a one fingered wave at the truck driver for almost two miles," she said. "Do these young people not have any patience? Do they not realize that trucks deliver many of the things they use daily? ...Why must people be so rude? The truck signaled in plenty of time and did what was necessary."

 * … VILLAGE GRILL:  We all make our own traditions, and one that has been going on for over 10 years happens the first Monday of every month at the Village Grill. It's a reunion of a group of retired Bakersfield High School teachers, many of whom retired in June, 2004. Among them are Marjorie Bell, Jim Cowles, Maria Polite, Vicki Bousquet and Donna Long. "Darn good food and service," Bell told me.  "And our waitresses have always been great about writing separate checks. And don't forget to mention their special coffees.

Bakersfield is among the fastest selling home markets and another example of some really bad homophobic form at a local bar

 * ... HOME MARKET: The average home in Bakersfield stays on the market just 44 days before being sold, putting our town on the list of cities with the fastest selling home markets. According to Realtor.com, our median home price of $149,500 "is the lowest on this list, except for Detroit, and only a little more than a fifth of the median price of a San Francisco house. Only 1,815 houses were listed on the market, a decline of more than 47% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, the 44 days on the market is a drop of 22.8% from a year ago, compared to the national average of 9.67%. The labor market is far weaker in Bakersfield than it is in some of California’s healthier local economies, with an unemployment rate of more than 14% in June, compared to about 7.5% in San Francisco and 8.2% in the United States."

* ... BAD FORM: Ty Shaffer was enjoying an evening at Tahoe Joe's Sunday when he witnessed an extreme case of bullying mixed with homophobia. "This wasn't a kid bulling another kid, this was a grown adult bulling two other grown men he claimed where gay... This man was at the bar and told these two men that he was going to take them out to the parking lot and kick their asses." A couple in their 50s intervened and sure enough the bully turned on them and tried to grab the woman, only to be deterred by her husband, who got into a tussle with the bully. "The fight was broken up. The older man left with a gouge above his eye from the fall.  He and his wife said that people at any age need to stand up for others and put bigots like this guy in his place. By the way I overheard the bully say he was going to call the cops on that man and have him jailed. Really, didn't he just commit a hate crime? Typically response from a bully!"

* ... HALLOWEEN: Another seasonal oddity from my correspondent Craig Holland. "Facebook friends are bemoaning the fact that Wal-Mart and Target already have Halloween costumes for sale." In August?

 * ... BAKO FAMILIES: Sean McNally of Grimmway Farms tipped me to this tidbit about the first cousin of former Fresno State football player and now New York Giants Bear Pascoe: "(His) first cousin, Kathleen (Pascoe) Clerou, recently had a baby girl named Lucile Pauline Clerou after the matriarchs of two great longtime Bakersfield families.

* ... SPOTTED: Jon Bennett is a resident of Seven Oaks and regularly spots a young man driving a gray Buick Ranier SUV who has the bad habit of tossing trash out his window into the street. "He has been tossing trash all around the neighborhood for months even after being confronted by numerous residents," he told me. "Some people are just jerks." In fact, Bennett sent me a video of the young man doing that, callously throwing trash out the window of his silver-gray SUV.

* ... SEVEN OAKS: And speaking of Seven Oaks, the old truism "all politics are local" is alive and well even at homeowner associations across our community. Which is why I found it interesting that an old friend, retired dentist Robert Smith, is running for the homeowner's association board of directors at Seven Oaks Grand Island. Bob is trying to increase homeowner influence and threw his hat into the ring for the August 22 election.

* ... QUAKE MEMORIES: Marjorie Poore Payne shared with me her memories of the 1952 earthquake, when her family was living at their dairy farm in Lamont. After the "big July shaker," Marjorie's mother took the children to the then-famous Union Avenue pool. "My mother stayed while we swam for several hours until, over the loud speaker, it was announced that everyone should get out of the pool and go home that there had been another big quake. We did return home to Lamont to find that waterlines were broken and major damage for the operation of the dairy barn. My dad had to truck in water for the cows and of course have a generator to milk the cows. The memories still linger and every July and August I remember that unexpected and most frightening event."