Random Thoughts: March 2013

Pope Benedict is now history. He has a new title, ''Pope Emeritus.'' The Vatican hands out titles like paper towels. He leaves a legacy of almost no importance. Except one. He did oversee an institution--- the Catholic Church--- that continues to be a most corrupt institution. And, we know the stories of corruption. Starting with the most serious and horrible--- the ongoing cover-ups of children being molested by priests. We have heard these tales of abuse for far too long. Not all priests molest, of course. The higher ups cannot be blamed for the individual behavior of a deviant. That applies to all of society. However, as we have seen, the Church has no reservations of burying the scandal to protect its all- important image of looking out for God's children. Millions of dollars of hush money, let alone the costs of high-priced lawyers, have been standard procedure for this most evil of institutions. I'm not talking about the Catholic faith or beliefs, but, the business that controls that faith. They are as corrupt as any of the Penn State bastards who looked the other way for years while Sandusky was conducting his vile deeds. The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict, is as guilty of lying and covering up child abuse as the head of Penn State. He did not know the individual priests who did the foul acts, but, he knew after the fact. And, in typical Catholic Church dogma tried to ignore or buy off the victims. Meanwhile, the standard operating procedure of scamming its faithful--- begging for money--- was in full stride. The next time you are in the holy house of a church, and, the priest is telling you about church repairs and shortages that will affect many churches, just remember that the Catholic Church is the largest real estate profit organization in the world, with holdings that are in the hundreds of billions. That the Vatican has always worked with the Mafia hand and hand is common knowledge. This goes back many centuries [ The Borgias, folks!] with many Popes married with several families.Stories of bloodletting, blackmail, and murder [ see the Roberto Calvi story, and, his fleecing of millions of dollars through the Vatican bank]. All of these betrayals of people's faith, not to mention using God's name for personal greed, were presided over by a Pope. So, as Pope Benedict goes away to do whatever--- and, there are rumors of scandal that he knew about that promise to bubble to the surface--- just remember that he is no different than any scumbag politician, lawyer, hired killer, child molester. Why? Because he was in charge of an instituion that sanctioned it. I hope that whomever the next Pope is will, finally, clean house and try to run an honest organization that focuses on the teachings of God and not how to slide abuse cases under the rug while making dirty money. There was one Pope in modern history that tried to do this: Pope John  Paul, The First, in 1978. He came into the job determined to whipe out the stain of financial and physical abuses by the Church. Perhaps, you remember him. He was only in for a little over a month before he died in his sleep. There are many versions of what happened to him. Officially, the Church says he died of natural causes. But, many believe he was poisoned on purpose for wanting to sweep out the scum that were in the Church. He was succeeded by Pope John Paul, The Second. His rein continued business as usual...... Seth McFarlane hosted the recent Oscars and is being plummeted in the press for doing a lousy job. I am not a fan of his-- and, his 3rd grade humor--- but, I thought he did ok. It is a tough job being the host of the Oscars. Many talented people have fallen on their faces trying to host this runaway train of a show. Bob Hope and Johnny Carson remain the template of a successful host. Billy Crystal has had his moments, but, contrary to public memory, he has also bombed as host a few times. Truth be told, they really do not need a host past the opening monologue. There, the host is all-important to set the tone. As the evening drags on, and we get impatient waiting for the big awards so we can call it a night, the host almost seems like an added intrusion, elongating the show. The fact that McFarlane told some jokes that met with resistance from the audience is not his fault. Like David Letterman years ago, McFarlane was hired to comment on the show in progress, but, instead, he made fun of the whole gaudy idea of an awards show. And, like Letterman, he met with much hostility from his targets. This is not McFarlane's fault, nor was it Letterman's. It is the fault of the producers, who by hiring McFarlane, knew exactly what they were getting--- a smart-ass. Hollywood likes to think it can take a punch, but, it cannot. Not all of what McFarlane did was good. He certainly bombed on many jokes. Still, he did the job they hired him to do and he should not be condemned for it. I will save that condemnation for Harvey Weinstein, the ultra- powerful head of Miramax, who insited that Michelle Obama present the Best Picture award via satellite. It was contrived and added a mix of politics that is never necessary to any awards show. And, you had Jack Nicholson, the most beloved and admired actor of the last 50 years, who has been absent from the telecast for many years, being asked to share the spotlight with a First Lady, out of her depth, as usual. In terms of pure entertainment, Nicholson should have given the award himself. But, Hollywood, liberal Hollywood, who likes to suck off Washington politics, went with Mrs. Obama. Maybe, next year, Jack can share the stage with The Artist Formally Known As Pope Benedict....... Don't worry, it is never ''too soon'' to tell a joke about a recently departed public person . Humor is the most effective way to laugh at death, who, as we know, gets the final laugh on all of us. Just make sure that your audience can appreciate it. They will understand that you are not being cruel to the dead person, but, are just adding a little spice of shocking humor to the moment. If someone is very offended, then apologize, call them out on bringing the subject up to you in the first  place knowing full well you are gonna say something meanly humourous, and, make a mental note to yourself to never see this person socially. I seem to be the first person people contact when someone kicks the bucket. Many family and friends want to hear my wicked words of wisdom about a fallen human being. And, I will pipe up with some comment. But, as I have gotten older and realize that certain things that were funny as a young man are no longer funny I pick and choose my targets. Most of the time I go after worthy villains, like a celebrity murderer or someone who is Pope, that deserves the cheap shot. I made a slew of jokes about Lance Armstrong because he deserves all my venom for his prick-like way of hurting people. That is a worthy target. Someone who is suffering from a cruel disease or mental retardation should never be a subject of humor. That perosn who makes those jokes usually will get a tongue-lashing from me. But, a little salty or black humor directed at a horrible person-- whether alive or dead--- should never be judged as ''too soon''. And, one last thing. If I do not like or respect a person when they are alive, then I will not suddenly change my mind because they died. If I hate you in life I will hate you in death........ Looking back at what I have have written I see that I have a bit of chip on my shoulder today. I do not mean to write a blog that is steering towards the negative. It is just that a few things about the world have been bothering me, and, I have designated this place as my release, my therapy, if you will. I hear back from many people who take time out of their busy lives to read these thoughts of mine. I do not express nearly enough on how much this means to me. I need to thank people more for visiting my spot here, but, I shamefully, do not show my deep caring that people are doing this. Thank you all!!!! I love all of you!!!! Lets all go out for a drink and cheeseballs!!!!!!