Foolish

Joe Paterno shifts uncomfortably on the couch of his office at Penn State University and makes a confession about his holier-than-thou image. "It scares the heck out of me," booms the hallowed football coach. "Because I know I'm not that clean. Nobody is that clean." "I don't want to appear to be any more than I am," says Paterno, now speaking in a near whisper. "And that's a good, hard-working coach who is a decent guy, a family guy, who doesn't want to cheat." "I lose my temper sometimes.

Question: Much has been written about Paris hotels, but I don't seem to find much information on how to get from Charles de Gaulle airport to downtown Paris (taxi, train, bus?) and how much it costs. On our way back from India to South America, we need to stay at a hotel near that airport. Any suggestions? Robyn Merino Palos Verdes Answer: When you're traveling, you should bounce your budget against your travel style and use that as a guide to selecting options.

Pity the poor Hollywood agent. In the '80s and early '90s, talent agents ruled the industry. Movie studios and television networks found themselves beholden to International Creative Management, the Creative Artists Agency and the time-tested William Morris Agency, the "big three" agencies that had a lock on most A-list stars. Agents made big money for both their clients and themselves, charging the TV networks, for example, huge so-called packaging fees to assemble talent for shows.

If in the past you tried to buy health insurance for a child with a preexisting health condition and were turned down, it's time to give it another shot. A provision of the federal health reform law and a new California law punish insurers that refuse to sell policies to children. As a result, those younger than 19 will have access to insurance and cannot be denied coverage, regardless of health condition. Jan. 1 marked the start of California's initial open enrollment period, which runs through March 1. During this time, parents can purchase health benefits for their children on the individual insurance market without fear of being denied or of significant increases to monthly premiums for kids with preexisting conditions.

It used to be that when children in foster care turned 18, their surrogate parent — the county — would wash its figurative hands, wish the youth well and hope to never see them again. But the county too often does see them again, in court, in jail, living on the street, in substance-abuse treatment, in mental healthcare or in other programs for the traumatized and the have-nots. Even 18-year-olds with loving, functional families and the best care and support are seldom ready for independence and self-sufficiency, so it would be foolish to believe that foster youth aging out of the system without traditional family help will find jobs, get apartments and otherwise get on with the business of living without transitional assistance.

THE STORY SO FAR Bob Duke was sentenced to 10 years in prison for plotting to kill his parents, but authorities were having a difficult time proving that the deaths of his wife and son six years earlier were anything more than an accidental fall. Roger Brauburger, who insisted Duke had tried to hire him to kill them all, was the prosecution's strongest witness. But with his reputation for carousing and small-time drug-dealing, would a jury believe him? - From Associated Press * GREEN RIVER, Wyo.

Imagine yourself back in middle school imagining a future in which you will get to hang out with your Best Friend Forever, extending into chronological adulthood that golden moment between childhood dumbness and pseudo-sophisticated teendom -- that time of pranks and projects and of humor as a substitute for self-confidence.