Was paging through "Healthy People 2010," an updated report by the Central Valley Health Policy Institute that ought to cause shame and action on the part of political leaders. (Hard to imagine, though, 'cause the 2003 report hasn't sparked much.)

The 40-plus page Fresno State report is a bible of bleakness. Residents in eight Valley counties continue to have high rates (higher than state and national, in some cases) of binge drinking, unprotected sex and obesity, meeting only three of 20 positive targets. There is inadequate insurance, access to care and a dearth of mental services.

Guess it's somehow good news -- given we crave food and can't get therapy -- that Kellogg Co. is bowing to consumer pressure and reviving Hydrox cookies, which it dropped in 2003. The Wall Street Journal quoted one fan as saying Hydrox may have faltered to Oreos on account of its name -- " A good product name for a toilet cleaner, maybe, but a cookie?"

Outlook is Hydrox may revive in a non-trans-fat formula. Hard to imagine it as no-fat, low-cal or organic. But I guess we are what we eat and deserve what we get. That's one takeaway from an editorial board meeting Gov. Schwarzenegger had with the San Jose Mercury News.

The Gov. responded to a critic who said his budget-rescue plan, which counts on lottery revenues, would lure poor people who would otherwise spend money of food and rent. A Mercury News story quoted him:

"The state is making money off alcohol, the state is making money off tobacco, the state is making money off junk food .. all of those things you could say is not good for you. So since when is the state becoming a judge? ... No one is forcing them."

Point taken. Dollars from vices have been used toward noble purposes for eons. People need to take personal responsibility, learn the consequences of choices. Many of them in the Valley, as the Healthy People report notes, also need basic health education and access to preventive medicine. In the meantime, they'll raise the costs of everyone's health care as mental resignation and dollar desperation feed the bad habits that are handy.

(To view a copy of the "Healthy People 2010" report, go to http://www.csufresno.edu/ccchhs/documents/_CSUF_HealthyPeople2010_A2007Profile.pdf )