Weekend preview

Saturday is Valley Voices Day on the Opinion pages, a day reserved for commentaries by local writers. This week, we've got Dr. Tom Eliason, a retired cardiologist, writing about what he's learned since he began caring for the poor one day a week at Holy Cross Center. Wayland Jackson, a retired teacher, also is writing about lessons he's learning during volunteer work at the Fresno Rescue Mission. He's finding illiterate men there who actually hold high school diplomas and college degrees from schools in the Valley. And he's none too happy about the teachers who pushed them through. Larry Dunn of Fresno Pacific University talks about the importance of mothers who are willing to campaign for peace.

The Vision section cover, coming up Sunday, analyzes Freud. It's the guy's 150th birthday, so the timing seems right. Steve Parra, The Bee's graphic artist, has a fun little "Freud at a glance" graphic that gives simple explanations for his theories on things like the id, ego and superego. Victor Davis Hanson suggests in his column that the money that Mexicans send home while working in the United States actually hurts everyone involved. The workers live in poverty here, and the money they send home is helping to enable Mexico to keep cheating its residents of a good standard of living.

On the Opinion page, we present our recommendations on the sheriff's race and congratulate the winners of the Academic All-Stars competition. Our letter witer of the week feature is Joe Hemphill, who writes prolifically despite debilitating cerebral palsy. Jim Boren answers folks who wonder why The Bee makes recommendations in the election. Are we trying to tell people how to vote or what? Look for the Word for Word column of quotes on the back page, and a new feature, the Valley's Top 10 List. This week, it's the Top 10 reasons for the Valley's high car-theft rate. It's fun -- and there is an opportunity for you to join in. We'd love folks to come up with their own lists. Don't miss Maureen Dowd comparing the popularity of the two Presidents Bush -- both had pretty lousy numbers. Annette Amelia Oliveira writes a memoir of her mom, who could really play "Deal or No Deal" with nerves of steel. Thomas L. Friedman gives even more reasons for making drastic changes in our lifestyle to escape dependence on forein oil. Some pretty ugly folks are in control of that oil and so long as we need them, they've got a grip on our throats.