Popes, Billionaires, and the Anti-Cheney

(We've been enjoying an early Spring here in Oregon this week, with temperatures dangerously near 70 at times with no rain.  In our neighborhood the daily sound is the drone of lawn mowers and leaf blowers, with the occasional jarring braap of a chain saw.  It's all an illusion, of course, as we true Oregonians know that the weather around here can be cruel to those who rototill too early.  Last year we had 4 inches of snow at the end of March.  By the way, today is "pi day," 3/14, get it?  It is also the day I retired, exactly one year ago.  But I digress ...)

• Does anyone but me see the joke potential in having a Nazi Pope retire and an Argentine Pope take his place?  Can anyone tell me what the hell this is all about?  Why do we have be subjected to hourly media coverage of this nonsense?  Maybe this will explain some of it.
• Dumb people hate to read.  At least they hate to read anything more complicated than comic books and menu items on the reader board at the Burger King drive-up window.  So how do some organizations who love dumb people, such as churches and the Republican party for example, attract their flock?  I mean, consider this: 18% of Americans believe the Sun revolves around the Earth.  Another 18% still believes the President of the United States is a Muslim.  Surely people don't get ALL their news from FOX News, do they?  Mark Morford comments "37 Percent of People Completely Lost."
• It's been a while since we checked in with the world's billionaires, those bloated fat cats who never worry about paying the utility bill on time.  This year, the combined wealth of the world's billionaires hit an all-time high of 5.4 trillion dollars.  Just for fun, here's a list of the 10 Worst People on Forbes Billionaires List, beginning with, of course, The Koch Brothers.
• And as the billionaires keep getting richer and richer, the homeless are becoming more and more invisible.  Cutting safety net programs for families in need to fund the non-need for F-35 fighter jets has seemingly become the national political norm.  For example, how would you raise 5 kids in a tiny camper?  "The Atrocious Ways America Treats Poor Women and Children."
• Don't know about you, but I'm getting a little uneasy about President Obama's secrecy surrounding the drone program.  I've even gone so far as to feel almost thankful for Rand Paul's recent filibuster which called attention to this problem, even though I still think Rand Paul is a bit of a nut case. And what's this about the administration saying they have legal justification to drone kill American citizens?  What?  And now we have President Obama trying to calm us about all this by saying at least "I'm not Dick Cheney."  Well, that's comforting in some surreal way I suppose, but I'm afraid we need a bit more information than that.
• And finally, thanks too the urging of several Vietnam era veteran friends of mine, and especially to my advocate friend Dirk, I went down to the local Veterans Affairs office in town and signed up for overdue benefits. Apparently some of my ailments are on the list of symptoms of Agent Orange poisoning and I am entitled to a monthly stipend.  Who would have guessed?  And while we're on the subject, here's some interesting news:  Representative Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) proclaimed the other day the "Vietnam was winnable!"  Apparently he agrees with some of us who have always believed we were just two 20 megaton bombs away from beating those little bastards.