One Man's Opinion

It needed to be said, and the Pope has said it. The cover up of child sex abuse by priests is wrong, and the bishops who have done it did an evil thing. He went so far as to say that he can understand why a victim and his family are unable to forgive a priest who engaged in such an abuse. Once again, he has refused to be judgmental of people who have endured a great pain in their lives or are somehow "different." Even in the case of a woman who lost her faith and died an atheist because she could not cope with the fact that her daughter had been abused by a priest, the Pope says he understands her, and is sure that God welcomed her. This is the kind of message that we all need to hear, one that reassures us of God's love and understanding of our human frailty.

Politicians tend to self-destruct, by talking too much. Sooner or later, they get in trouble because they say what they truly feel and think. Then come the apologies and clarifications, but to no avail. Jeb Bush has recently said that blacks in the U.S. want too much of the "free stuff" that Democrats have given them over the years. By "free stuff" he means the entitlement programs that began in earnest with the "War on Poverty" under the Johnson administration. This, coming from a rich white man born into wealth and political power. Although not as outrageous as Trump's comments on just about everything, Bush has alienated a good part of the American electorate, while revealing his true self.

The Dalai Lama has just cancelled his trip to the U.S. "for health reasons." For all his Buddhist humility, I think that he doesn't want to suffer for the comparison between his visit and the Pope's. In any case, at 80, he has been giving signs of deterioration. Like his recent remark about a female successor having to be "attractive." Not the kind of thing you would expect from a spiritual leader of any religion, much less one that emphasizes an extreme form of modesty in dress and personal appearance. He also called one of his aides "stupid" in a documentary I saw a while back. Although he did it in a joking manner, I was taken aback by his insensitivity at using such a strong word in such a public medium. So, maybe he is sick.

The Pope at the UN has said that the blame on the exploitation of natural resources falls on "a selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity." I wonder about who could he possibly have been thinking of...

This post is just for real baseball fans: "It's really over, now."

Brian Williams, the former TV news anchor who got fired for "embellishing" his part in news stories, is back on TV, covering Pope Francis' trip to the U.S. I wouldn't be surprised if he claims to have been at Calvary on Good Friday.

I recently saw the film  Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. You would think that a man such as he, having endured racial prejudice, and a deeply religious person, would be much more sensitive to what ethnic and religious prejudices can do to human beings. Yet, it doesn't seem that way. His recent remarks on Muslims suggest that his concerns are only for blacks and Christians. By saying that a Muslim shouldn't be President, because a Muslim holds values that are inconsistent with the Constitution, he is espousing discrimination against and fear of a group of people. He, a black man in the U.S.! He has also come very close to the Donald Trump position on these matters. Dr. Carson, a noted neurosurgeon, ought to have his head examined.

I've said this before, but it bears repeating. The wave of suicides of former U.S. military personnel is a way in which karma works. The bad things you do in life will come back to haunt you. You can't sleep or you have nightmares, you can't eat, you drink and take drugs; you can't have a normal life. All those people you killed for no reason. All those people you tortured or did horrible things to. You have to pay for what you did. In a way, it's and eye for an eye. Except, in this case, it's you who take your eye out. Two comments about this situation are extremely revealing. In trying to explain how the soldiers who come back feel, one reads: "The thrill of combat is gone." Jesus! Is that what these guys are there for? Thrill-seeking?  Another likened combat to the "Wild West." War as a video game or the romanticized violence of the American expansion. No wonder these people kill themselves; they were deeply disturbed to begin with. T

Now, I can understand the part about being wary of a clock mechanism associated with a boy named Ahmed Mohamed. The part I can't understand is the arrest and the rest of the criminal procedure that goes with it. What did this boy say and do, that warranted such extreme measures, given the whole scenario? This has to be one of the most embarrassing things in a long string of ludicrous events in recent history in the U.S. But, then again, this happened in Texas, to a boy named Ahmed Mohamed.

Another comedian is in trouble for pulling an outrageous stunt: lying about being at one of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, and maintaining that lie for 14 years. A day before being exposed publicly, he decided to come clean about it. Barely. First, he sort of excuses himself by saying that he  was "an immature young man." Well, he was 23 at the time, an age at which most people have graduated from college and some are working on their masters' degree. So much for that claim. Then he goes on to say "I don't know why I said this." Really? Because he wanted to appear to be part of a major historical event as a victim. Also, because he is a pathological liar. Case in point: He claimed falsely to have graduated from State University of New York at Purchase with a degree in Theater and Film. He never even attended it. There have been other cases of people who claim falsely to have been at the World Trade Center on that fateful day. It

The people at Charlie Hebdo  just don't get it. The message of their latest cartoons may be true and funny, but including the image of the dead Syrian boy is extremely insensitive and offensive. They could have conveyed their feelings about the hypocritical attitudes of European governments on the migrants issue without using the little boy's image. Don't these people have children or grandchildren of their own? Is it easier to do this because this is not a French boy? Being controversial or outrageous for the sake of it is sophomoric and, in this case, despicable.

It's a script written in the Pentagon. Support with money and guns, lots of both, right-wing military juntas around the world. Assist them in all kinds of human-rights violations, including large-scale torture and murder.  Give them shelter in the U.S., where they stay for a long time, living like ordinary people. Then, decades later, "discover" that those people you helped get to power and stay there are criminals of the worst kind. Now, scramble to bring them to justice. A current case of a former Salvadoran military officer follows this script to a "t." Too little, too late for all those he murdered. Nothing the U.S. does now means much. What counted was what was done in 1989 and afterwards. If the Americans had not rushed to support those criminals, there would be no need now to prosecute him. Won't they ever learn?

I've just seen a video of a man being attacked by two pit bulls on a New York street. It's an extremely disturbing scene. The dogs were relentlessly vicious in their attack, even when a group of people came to the man's aid. They wouldn't let go. When they were forced to let go, they came back with a vengeance. The man is miraculously alive, but he may be maimed for life. I've never liked dogs. Don't trust them. People say that some people are worse than animals. True. I'll take my chances with people any day.

This time it's the Chinese. During WWII, the Americans targeted Japanese-Americans as possible spies, and ended up by placing whole families in internment camps for the duration of the war. That shameful practice was even condoned by the U.S. Supreme Court. It took the Americans several decades to acknowledge the error of their ways, apologize and offer a meager compensation to the few survivors or their families. Now, with the "economic war" with China -- which, by the way, the U.S. is losing -- the Americans see in every American citizen of Chinese ancestry a "spy", especially, if that person has anything to do with science and technology, which many of them do, given the fact that a good number of Asian scientists have gone to the U.S. to study and work, and have remained there. In a recent case, the head of the physics department at Temple University, a Chinese professor who is a U.S. citizen and has lived there since 1989, was accused of spying for Chin

Hillary Clinton did not learn the basic lesson from her husband's personal troubles in office. After saying that there was nothing to apologize for in the e-mail controversy, she has had to do just that. Not only has she been caught in a compromising situation all of her making, but she has shown herself to be a stubborn person, in not recognizing that this was a no-win situation for her. She has done herself no favor in assuming an untenable position and trying to maintain it for too long.

The way "New York's finest" treated James Blake, the former tennis pro, when they mistook him for a guy who had been involved in an illegal activity was not, by far, one of their finest moments. Although he hasn't made much of the racial element, we can't be that naive, in discounting the fact that his being black had a lot to do with it. Blacks in the U.S. have the presumption of guilt, which is why they are so easily targeted when there is the least bit of a suspicion that they may have done something wrong.

In a sort of "two can play at that game", a Kentucky Deputy County Clerk has stated that he will continue to issue marriage licenses, even if his supervisor, the infamous Kim Davis, orders him not to. In other words, he is going to do his job, the one he said he would do and is paid for. We'll soon see what happens when Davis returns to work from her "martyrdom" at jail. Will she respect her employee's duty to do his job, or will she fire him for going against the "Word of God", as it has been revealed to her?

It's been reported that a comedian-turned-politician is leading the election results in Guatemala. Another comedian is leading the polls in the U.S. Funny, isn't it?

American mythology holds that military academies are hallowed ground where ordinary men are turned into "officers and gentlemen." Hollywood has done much to keep that myth alive. But, for some time now, that squeaky-clean image has been tarnished by scandals, mostly sexual, who appear to be part of the extracurricular activities in the three military academies. Now, the dumb pillow-fight tradition at West Point has left 30 cadets hurt, because, last month, those pillows were filled with hard objects, which resulted in broken bones, dislocations and head injuries. First of all, what kind of a 100-year-old tradition is a pillow fight at a military academy? Secondly, who came up with the idea of filling the pillows with hard objects? Are these cadets the future elite of the U.S. Army? No wonder American troops do such a poor job wherever the're deployed. No wonder there are incidents of "friendly fire", when officers-in-training have such a low regard for the s

Yeah, I know what some of you are going to say. But, after seeing a picture of Kim Davis, the Kentucky County Clerk who is in jail for contempt of court, for refusing to issue marriage licenses for homosexual couples, I know why her husband supports her being in jail "as long as it takes."

"Afghan villagers skeptical as U.S. reopens probe into 2013 killings." Of course! Who wouldn't be skeptical of the Americans investigating themselves again . If they didn't do it right the first time, when the facts were fresh, are they going to do a better job now, two-and-a-half years later? The Afghans have enough experience with the U.S. by now, to start trusting the Americans on matters such as this one. Nothing will come of this new "probe." Afghans may be poor and somewhat unsophisticated, but they are not stupid.

"Another day at the office." A U.S. drone killed six suspected militants  in Pakistan. Maybe they were; maybe they weren't. Does it really matter to the U.S.? Not really. What's a few Pakistani more or less? Now, six dead Americans; that would be a real tragedy.