1. It’s Wednesday, February 18, 2015. Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Christian season of Lent. It’s 46 days until Easter, when Lent ends.

2. State and local governments have farmed out the collection of unpaid bills and penalties to collection agencies. And some of the abuses uncovered in a tremendous CNNMoney report are shocking — for example, an Oklahoma businessman received a $112,000 bill for taxes he already paid. The story, written by my former colleagues Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken, is well worth your time and attention.

3. The first part of “The Italian-Americans” on PBS was excellent. Good interviews, good perspective on the history of my ethnic group. 

4. Because of a Texas federal judge’s ruling, President Obama has been forced to delay implementation of his executive action on immigration. So, instead of working toward solving this problem, we go another day into this intransigence that gives nothing to anyone. The stupidity of the judge and the people who brought this case boggles the mind. 

5. Jeb Bush is laying out a foreign policy that he says differs from his father’s and, more importantly, his brother’s. Of course, he consulted some of the same meatballs who led the U.S. into the Iraq debacle. But it’ll be different. Really.

Right.