Very Civilly Yours Lately I’ve been irked by the lack of civility that has hit our country like some sort of syllabic plague. A few years back National Public Radio ran a story about George Washington and the fact that when he was a mere lad, he took it upon himself to handwrite a little something he called, 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, which were built upon a number of 6th-century guidelines he’d gleaned from some Jesuit gentlemen. When I read the list, it made me wonder. What happened to us and by “us,” I mean our society? Sometimes we are just plain not nice to one another. I notice this when I flick on a news show and watch a panel interview.

Looking for a way to hold history in your hand? Former presidents Bush, Carter and Clinton, as well as President Obama, will appear at the Sierra 2 Center on Sunday -- on buttons, badges and posters. They are all part of a political collectible show and sale put on by the Northern California Chapter of American Political Items Collectors. The APIC, a nonprofit that began in 1945, has more than 2,000 members and 19 regional chapters. Northern California's chapter has about 300 members, said Adam Gottlieb, the chapter's president. Gottlieb has been collecting political memorabilia since he was 11, starting with a Teddy Roosevelt button from 1904. Gottlieb, 45, said Roosevelt memorabilia m