Naples has a big garbage problem. Yuck! The garbage hasn’t been picked up since December because the dumps are too full. And my husband thinks I’m obsessive because I empty our little garbage bins every night in anticipation of our weekly pick-up! Maybe he’d like to see what happens when no one takes care of the stuff.

Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of smelly, rotting rubbish are piling up in Naples’ streets. It’s gotten so bad that other areas in the country are actually offering to take the garbage and dispose of it in their dumps. Well, the E-U says enough is enough. Italy has been given one month to clean up the mess. I’ll be holding off on booking a vacation there for the next while!

Forbes.com is out with its list of the world’s 20 richest female singers. The cash queen is Madonna who pulled in $72-million between June 2006 and 2007. Barbra Streisand is second on the list at $60-million; Céline Dion third at $45-million.

Madonna is a pop culture icon and has to be admired for her ability to continuously re-invent herself. I mean, think back to her in the video for “Like A Virgin” on a gondola in Venice. Then picture her now. Big change and still an amazing entertainer.

The obviously troubled Britney Spears also made the list, coming in at number 14 after earning $8-million. Maybe she could use a few pointers from Madonna who has had her moments of rebellion, but never slumped to the bottom of the barrel. As I write this, Britney is in hospital again. She was taken by ambulance from her home early this morning under heavy escort by the L.A.P.D. She’s reported to be undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. You’d think making millions and being the idol of so many young girls would put you on top of the world, but for some reason Britney Spears has gone the other way.

Scholastic Canada is red faced - and it’s not blushing with first love. It’s decided to pull an item from its classroom catalogues after complaints from parents. Some young children are coming home with valentines ordered from a recent flyer, but the little cards aren’t the warm and fuzzy kind.

The pictures on the Happy Bunny cards (from the books by Jim Benton) are cute, but contain messages like, “Wish you were floating face down in a river” and “Let’s be the kind of friends who throw up a little each time we see each other.” Imagine little Tara getting one of those from Pesky Timmy in kindergarten.

Scholastic says the valentines are meant for older kids and obviously shouldn’t have been in the flyers for young readers. Oops!

There are more concerns about certain plastics and the chemicals they may or may not leach.

It seems plastic bottles with the number 7 in the recycling symbol are particularly guilty of releasing Bisphenol A. It doesn’t matter whether the bottle is new or old. The key factor in the amount of chemical leached is the temperature of the liquid in the bottle.

Scientists who did the research at the University of Cincinatti aren’t sure how our bodies are affected by the Bisphenol A leached from the plastics, but you probably want to check your baby bottles just in case. And maybe avoid putting hot water from the kettle or scalding hot chocolate into those kinds of containers too.