Hey, did you hear about the college professor in Great Britain who has come up with a solution to the inability of college students to spell?

I think recycling is a great idea. The operative word here is “idea.” As an intellectual construct, it makes perfect sense. Throwing stuff away that has value is pretty much the same as taking money out of your pocket and tossing it in the trash. But there’s another side to that coin, and that’s where the intellectual construct butts up against hard-headed reality. Because what’s being recycled belongs to somebody; somebody who paid for it and who owns it. It’s what is known as personal property.

Have you ever stopped to think about how definitions of pollution have changed in the last 30 years or so? It started happening about the time environmentalists figured out that there’s lots of money to be made and power to be gained by making sure that no matter what we do, there will always be plenty of pollution to be cleaned up. It’s environmentalist job security.

Non-Indian smokers beware. If you buy your cigarettes from a smoke shop on the Yakama Reservation and the pack doesn’t have a state tax stamp, they’re now officially contraband.

You’ve probably heard by now that people around the country are a little disappointed in Congress. Their approval rating is 9 percent, and according to what I’ve read in several places, that is the lowest it’s ever been since somebody started keeping records of Congressional approval ratings.

With all the talk of “change” we’ve been hearing for what seems like forever, already, and we’ve still got five months to go, some of you may have been wondering what kind of “change,” specifically, was being talked about. If so, you’ll be glad to know I’ve unearthed some specifics, and significant ones, at that, if you agree that our foreign policy is significant.

I know there are lots of people who think this country is great because of government. There are lots of others who think it’s great because of the people who live here, because of their individual initiative and a willingness to struggle and strive in search of achievement. I’ll concede there are some things government is sometimes reasonably good at. For example, many members of Congress are pretty fair at getting themselves re-elected term after term, whether they deserve it or not.

If you’ve been worried about having enough to eat, you’ll be relieved to know that scientists have decided that there’s an easy answer to deal with any potential shortage of food. Eat insects. We’re told that the little critters are “delicious” with the right recipe, and they’re rich in nutrients. And in addition to keeping us healthy, some scientists say eating bugs would help keep the planet healthy, by offering a way to “put less strain on increasingly scarce resources.” They said lots of people around the world eat bugs routinely, and some are considered delicacies. The bugs, that is.

This weekend, you’ll have the opportunity to see history in the making. Or maybe I should say history in the painting, but history, nonetheless.
And interestingly, that’s true literally, because some very talented and hard-working people will be painting about a historic event, and true figuratively, because those people will also be creating something that will be a historic event in its own right. Don’t be surprised, though, if you come down to watch it happen before your very eyes and you don’t have much company.

I know it’s a presidential election year, and I know I should expect to hear more rhetoric than usual, but I’ve heard some stuff this year that is a little – no, way more than a little – over the top.