On second thought...

Dale Stephens was in town recently. He founded Uncollege, a movement promoting pathways to success that don't rely on college. Creativity is important, he says, and colleges aren't really teaching that these days. Perhaps, but there is a fine line between dropping out to be creative and merely mooching off your parents for life.

Salt Lake City came in eighth last week on a list of the best cities in which to live without a car, compiled by the website 24/7 Wall St. The city's mass transit system and walkable neighborhoods no doubt were factors. Still, I doubt the authors have tried living near 90th South and walking to the store or bank.

I don't want to say turnout was low in Tuesday's municipal elections, but a South Salt Lake bond lost by 11 votes, and that was still .6 percent of the votes cast.

South Salt Lake has a population of 23,617, and only 1,827 people cast votes. That's what is known as a voting committee.

Other Utah cities holding elections didn't do any better. There ought to be a law that says unless a certain percentage of voters shows up, any bond issue on the ballot automatically doubles. Call it an apathy tax.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy told President Obama last week he thinks Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is a liar. Obama then made a crack about how he has to deal with Netanyahu every day. Neither was aware that their conversation was being relayed to reporters. With politicians like these, who needs Wikileaks?

American parents have long told their junior-high aged children they could grow up to become president. But how many of them realized being a world leader was so similar to being in junior high?

When the G-20 breaks for lunch, is Netanyahu the guy wandering endlessly, looking for an empty seat no one has set a backpack on?

The single most important question a politician should ask before launching into a candid conversation is, "Is this thing on?"

An asteroid came close to earth this week. If NASA had been nimble enough, it could have gotten that land-on-an-asteroid project out of the way for a fraction of the cost.

Jay Evensen is associate editor of the Deseret News editorial page. Follow him on Twitter @Jayevensen