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Items included in this column are things that I have heard, seen or have been reported to me. I cannot vouch for their veracity.

The Seattle (Washington) -King County Humane Society offers doggie yoga classes. Sometimes the dogs fall asleep.

Brooklyn, New York's Edward R. Murrow High School adopted a policy that allows the students a lot of freedom during the school day. During their free time, students, like college students, are allowed to sit in the hallways, do independent study, etc. Calculus teacher and chess coach Elliot Weiss recruits players from the hallways, as well as area youth chess clubs and tournaments, to play on his team. The two best players on his team are also the two best players in the country.

Bee Serious

Early in the summer, one of my favorite TV Programs, Sunday Morning on CBS, did a piece about bees. The report was swarming with information.

American scientists have discovered that bees can be trained to locate explosives of all kinds, including hard-to-detect plastic explosives. The critters are rewarded with sugar water.

American beekeepers have noticed a troubling trend that has been called Colony Collapse Disorder. Keepers have reported that an increasing number of hives have been abandoned, for no apparent reason. No sign of the colony remains.

In southern Europe, especially Spain and France, global warming is a suspect in the destruction of beehives. A large, voracious species of wasp has moved north. The unwanted African Immigrants attack the European hives, eating everything inside.

Wine producers and other agricultural based industries are growing very concerned. About one-third of all the food we eat is made possible by bee pollination. Bee pollination adds $14.5 billion to the US annually.

Consuming locally produced honey helps humans build immunity to allergens. Honey bees flap their little wings 11,000 times per minute. In a lifetime, a bee produces about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey. Bees take nectar from about 2,000,000 flowers to produce one pound of honey.

Nigeria

Africa's most populous country is a mess. Nigeria, with a population of more than 130 million, is located between Timbuktu and the equator on the south side of that big bump that sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean. The northern part is desert-like and the south is tropical rainforest - jungle.

It is one of the largest oil producers in the world with most oil pumped out of the Mangrove swamps in the Niger River delta near the Atlantic. Even though the petroleum industry produces tremendous wealth, much of the local population lives in desperate poverty.

In the shadows of the oil wells, the poor live with no access to electricity or natural gas to power their homes. Many have resorted to diverting pipelines and stealing oil for resale. Ethnic and religious violence have become commonplace.

In addition, locals live in an environmental nightmare. In the process of drilling oil wells, natural gas often escapes in large quantities. To dispose of the unwanted gas, companies are "flaring," burning the unwanted gas. Sometimes flames and huge plumes of smoke pour out of smokestacks. Sometimes it comes directly out of holes in the ground.

The flares are so numerous and big that they are clearly visible from space. This relatively small region contains about 25 percent of the world's flares, more than every country in the world except Russia. The effect is one of the most concentrated areas of the production of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, in the world.

The smoke goes into the air and, when it rains - as it frequently does in a rainforest, is comes back down in the form of acid rain. The combination of acid rain and pollution, as by-products of oil wells and spills caused by the sabotaging of pipelines, have created an oil-based quagmire unfit for habitation.

The collection and sale of the natural gas is not as profitable as the oil production. With new techniques and increasing energy prices, this is slowly changing. But, we have a long way to go.

I'm afraid not!

About a month ago, we ran into an old friend at the world-famous Debs Parade. This guy is an equal-opportunity offender. When he starts telling a story, it's generally safe to bet that it will be politically incorrect, unsuitable to repeat in mixed company and quite funny. I'm always a bit nervous when he starts by saying, "Did I tell you about...." this story is an exception.

A group of strings walk into a bar. One of the strings says to the bartender, "Hey, barkeep, can we have a couple of?"

"Nope," the bartender interrupts. "We don't serve your kind in here!" The bouncer unceremoniously escorts the strings out and tells them not to come back.

The same thing happens at three more bars. They are mystified until one of the strings notices that several of his friends are becoming unraveled. The leader of the strings pulls out his fray-check to correct the problem.

Feeling certain that this has been the problem all along, he leads his strings back into the first bar and says, "Hey, barkeep, now can we have a couple of?"

Interrupting once again, the bartender says, " 'Fraid not!"

You are invited to send interesting, unusual and/or humorous items that could possibly be used in this space. If you choose to do so, please send it to [email protected].

If you prefer, you may send it to

Chisago County Press

Attn: Dave

12631 Lake Blvd.

Lindstrom, Mn 55045

or, you may bring it in to the office.

Sports stuff would be great, but, please do not limit yourselves. Politics, religion, culture (pop or otherwise) are welcomed. Please do not feel offended if your contribution is not included.

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