Here are some odd things I’ve noticed.

Representative Steve Scalise from Louisiana is the Majority Whip of the House of Representatives. He’s been getting a lot of criticism lately because he gave a speech to a white supremacist group in 2002. Scalise says he doesn’t remember it at all, but he’s sure he didn’t know who the group was or what they stood for when he gave the speech he doesn’t remember to the group he doesn’t remember.

In his defense he announced “I detest any kind of hate group. For anyone to suggest that I was involved with a group like that is insulting and ludicrous.”

He “detests any kind of hate group.” So by his own words, Scalise is a guy who hates people who hate people. Maybe suggesting that he’s involved with a group that hates people is not so ludicrous after all, since he’s proud to say he’s among them.

Pogo was right.

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If a stray dog is caught in Europe, is it taken to the Dog Kilogram?

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Among the junk that arrived in the mail this week was a flyer trying to get us to subscribe to a consumer newsletter. It promised valuable articles like “9 Secrets Hotels Don’t Want You to Know.” Secret number 8 was “It’s no secret that crime is increasing in hotels.”

Note to editor: If you’re going to publish an article called “9 Secrets Hotels Don’t Want You to Know,” don’t headline one of your secrets “It’s no secret…”

Another secret told how to get discounted rates at hotels. The advice was to call after 6 p.m. when they dump all the no–show reservations that were not secured by a credit card. OK, good tip. But then it went on to say “..in some cities, like New York and San Francisco, that time is 4:00.”

Note to editor: “..like New York and San Francisco”? Are you trying to explain what a city is by giving examples of two of them? Dubuque: not a city; San Francisco: city.

Or are you saying that in cities that are similar to New York and San Francisco the best time to call is at four o’clock? And if that’s the case, exactly what cities are like New York and San Francisco?

“Hello, is the Boston downtown Marriott? Are you like San Francisco?” “OK, OK, wrong number.”

Oh, and by the way, this list is online on at least seventeen different places and has been since 2008. So the odds of my buying your newsletter to have the same crap sent to my door – not real good.