LORD GRANTHAM AND THE PAPISTS

OK--so we are all going to continue our calmness, tolerance, and flexibility from two weeks ago.  In the PBS series Downton Abbey (which I watch in order to spend time with Barbara--what's your excuse?), Lord Grantham ends up with a Catholic son-in-law and spends a lot of time moaning and groaning about the Papists and their "god" forsaken practices.  So, this whole business of electing a new Pope would have sent him over the edge.  I am only teetering on the edge and not because of the selection process; but because of the media coverage.  As in--the Globe closed all its foreign bureaus and depends exclusively on wire services.  But lo and behold, they did manage to send someone to the Vatican.  As in--our local TV stations which normally stick to a diet of blood and disasters also managed to find the time to send a correspondent to the Vatican.  As in--CNN actually had on its website a chimney cam so we could all be sure to see the white smoke.  As in--all the locals were just wishing and hoping and praying (!) that our Cardinal would become Pope.  Kind of like the sports guys hoping for a Super Bowl win.  It bordered on the distasteful but surely shows us all who they believe is in their audience.

Gotta move on before my teetering tips me over.  Roger Ailes calls the President lazy.  OK, so he does not like the guy but they did lose the election and I wonder what people in other countries make of such comments.  Lindsey Graham and John McCain hold up Brennan's nomination because of concerns regarding Ben Ghazi.  I don't know if Brennan is good or bad (actually some of the stuff about drone use in this country is kind of scary)--but I do know those two guys are idiots and I do mean in a diminished intellectual way. Paul Ryan submits a budget which was identical to what he proposed in the campaign and is not embarrassed.  Another loser but a bright one.  And then the Mitter comes out of his shell and has no insight into his loss--blaming it on Obama pandering to "minorities".  Not to worry, he already has himself on some boards and will shortly be making millions again.  And then there is the ugly truth that Obama nominees across the judicial board are held up because the Dems do not have 60 votes in the Senate.  They just don't get what happened last November and really dislike the person who happens to be President.  One can only hope that they are so far off the mark, 2014 will be a debacle for them.

It is quite easy for Marissa Myers to require folks to work in their office and not at home.  As part of her signing package, a room was added to her office for her baby.  My partner in crime over here believes her nanny comes to work with her.  Now I don't work in an office anymore and am not exactly sure about this tele-commute business.  But I am sure, Marissa is not extending her benefits to others.

Victor Jara was a Chilean folk singer memorialized in a song by Arlo Guthrie.  He was murdered by the gangsters associated with Pinochet.  In the last few months, his murderers were arrested--25 years or so after his death.  Terrific.

I don't want anyone to be homeless or lose their homes due to natural disasters.  But the whining of those folks who built right on the waters edge up there in Plum Island is plain disgusting.  They had million dollar homes and the bucks to live in them.  Now they want the ocean to recede and be "normal".  Hello.

Some odd ends:  So far Penn Sate has spent 41 million on the Sandusky scandal and they are not done.  Those are taxpayer dollars folks.  A new law in South Dakota allows teacher to carry weapons because it will make schools safer.  People really do scare me.  Iran is going to sue someone over the movie "Argo".  I am hoping Judge Judy gets the case.  Jessica's friend Josh produced a terrific segment on the Today Show regarding a woman with ALS.  Watch it with tissues nearby.  Jacob Bernstein wrote a wonderful elegy to his mother Nora Ephron in a recent NY Times magazine--also a tearjerker but for different reasons.

And, finally, in the Tear Department, I saw the video "Bully".  Now I happen to believe kids are mean to each other and especially in adolescence it can be ugly--but it is almost like a developmental step they go through.  This documentary was totally disturbing because of the adults including the parents of the kids bullied.  The adults made me want to puke.

SPORTS TALKS
Of course, we should be wringing our hands (and perhaps should have tissues nearby for this also) about Wes Welker.  But I have to say I am not sure I care though I am very intrigued about how the Pats operate internally.  For example, the owner is quoted as saying he wants Welker for life and then his staff lets him go. I would love to hear Kraft and Belichik chat about that. I would worry about cornerbacks though.

Watched Barcelona this week in the UEFA Champions League.  I have said this before but their passing is so hard to believe--the scoring almost does not matter.  Sure Messi can score at will but the team is so highly skilled, some of his goals are almost "easy".

I hear that point guards are the key during March madness games.  Trey Burke  out there in Ann Arbor is the best point guard in the country.  But my Wolverines are woefully short in the height department (!) and a tad inconsistent.  So I am not sure how far they will go.

Good luck with Big Papi, you Red Soxers.

To those who celebrate:  Happy Passover and Easter.

Sayonara.