1. Alright, many of you know already that if you looked really really closely, you could spot Captain America's shield in Tony Stark's lab during one scene ("ok let's face it, you've caught me in worse position than this"- T.S.). Apparently in Iron Man 2, they'll be more suprises intended to set up the bond between the two characters. [Also, in one of the deleted scenes of The Incredible Hulk, if you look really really closely, you can spot Captain America's frozen body being loosed by Bruce Banner's alter-ego (quite by accident)]. Marvel is setting things up quite nicely. Why can't D.C. get their act together?
2. Tiger Woods will make his return to Golf at the upcoming Masters Tournament. A word from Mike Walker, Senior Editor, Golf Magazine:
“As a four-time champion, Tiger Woods has every right to resume his career at the Masters this April, but I wish he wouldn't... what's going to happen to the Masters when the Tiger circus comes to town? Get ready for souped-up security lines, paparazzi stakeouts at all entrances to the club (the Washington Road Starbucks is going to love this), and the ultimate "Where's Waldo?" as everybody tries to figure out where Woods is staying...”
Mike Walker might be right. A less auspicious return might have been wise. But like I said before, Tiger isn’t the only professional golfer with skeletons in the closet. Leave the guy alone. Personally I hope he opens up a can of ‘whoop-ass’ on the field and claims another Master’s Championship.
3. According to the Associated Press, Ben Roethlisberger (QB, Pittsburgh Steelers) “has yet to meet with Georgia authorities who are investigating a sexual assault allegation made against him by a 20-year-old college student”. Don’t think racial issues persist in this day and age? The alleged assault took place in Georgia. If the accused had been a big African American NFL player (Ben is 6’5” 240pds), he’d already be in Georgia State Prison serving a 20 year sentence. Believe that.
4. Was at a Ralph Lauren outlet store the other day...the cashier next to mine politely asked the customer she was serving (a young dude very interested in making sure that his pants sat below his buttocks), “...would you like to receive coupons by providing your email and address?”. The young man hesitated, then shrugged after completing what seemed like a mental check and then replied “alright...yeah...what do I gotta do?” To which the amused cashier (who had to look down at this point) replied “uh...provide your email and address”. Wow...where do you think education ranks on his totem pole?
5. Read an article in the NY Times about a group of men who were sexually abused as children by Priest Lawrence C. Murphy at a school for the deaf in Wisconsin.
“They used sign language, written affidavits and graphic gestures to show what exactly Father Murphy had done to them. But their reports fell on deaf ears of hearing people”.
Here’s the kicker, in 1996 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now known as Pope Benedict XVI) received letters about this case from an Archbishop in Milwaukee. The Vatican sat on the case until the priest died in 1998. It turns out that Father Murphy may have molested as many as 200 boys between 1950 and 1974. Even after he was first accused, he continued to lead youth retreats for another 24 years.
Listen, no man is perfect; therefore, it stands to reason that no church organization is perfect and not without sin in its proverbial ‘closet’. However, the number of cases of specifically Catholic priests abusing young boys is out of control...and has been for decades. At what point does the Vatican actually do something about this? Beyond of course a prayer read during Palm Sunday’s papal service asking God to help "the young and those who work to educate and protect them" (according to Vatican Radio, that statement was intended to “sum up the feelings of the church at this difficult time when it confronts the plague of paedophilia”). The plague? Try the Tsunami. To rub salt into the wound, the Pope got a little defensive on Palm Sunday as well in the face of a barrage of questions about his handling of sex abuse cases in the past. He said that faith in God leads one “towards the courage of not allowing oneself to be intimidated by the petty gossip of dominant opinion”. Wow...good come back. Try this one on for size:
“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones...it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea”- Matthew 18:6
