Etc...

I still think I ought to have it

The time had come for another of gas station owner Mike Paz's promotional giveaways in Abbottsford, British Columbia. So he drew the name of a "Mr. Jengels." Before long, however, he decided the $410 prize was not going to go to the winner after all. Instead, he'd donate it to the local animal shelter. Why? Well, Mr. Jengels not only couldn't claim the money himself but also lacks the capacity even to cash a check . That's because he is a dog. His master, Kevin Strybos, who did try to claim the dough, said something about using the canine's name to avoid calls from telemarketers . And while Strybos said he appreciates the $410 being donated to the shelter and Paz's offer to hang a portrait of Mr. Jengels in his station, "I don't know if [that] really changes the way I feel about the whole situation."

"This land is your land, this land is my land," ... or is it? The Woody Guthrie folk song lyric notwithstanding, many native Americans live on 308 reservations largely isolated from the larger populace. In all, 56.2 million acres are "reserved" for descendants of the people whose lands later became the US. These reservations originally were established via treaties with the federal government, later becoming subject to legislation and various executive orders. The Navajo Reservation, the largest, encompasses roughly 16 million acres in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The largest reservations, their locations, and the population of each:

1. Navajo Nation 175,228 (Arizona/New Mexico/Utah)
2. Cherokee (Oklahoma) 104,482
3. Creek (Oklahoma) 77,253
4. Lumbee (North Carolina) 62,327
5. Choctaw (Oklahoma) 39,984
6. Cook Inlet (Alaska) 35,972
7. Chickasaw (Oklahoma) 32,372
8. Calista (Alaska) 20,353
9. United Houma 15,305 Nation (La.)
10. Sealaska (Alaska) 15,059 - www.infoplease.com