Random Notes, January 2023

 The lord's year 2023 is barely a month in, and it's already running fast and loose:

+ When Pope John Paul II passed in 2005, I vividly recall the endearing, round-the-clock news coverage as speculation ran rampant about the next leader of the Catholic Church. When Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the first papal leader to retire in centuries, passed just before New Year's, the news coverage seemed a tad more ambivalent. Perhaps it was because Benedict had been out of the public eye for awhile, a relatively short reign of eight years, but maybe because he wasn't the populist JP2 was. Benedict was a traditionalist (read: conservative) pope, and his death was mourned largely by more hidebound Catholics. 

+ No one really knows anything Rep. George Santos (R-NY) because George Santos is a pathological liar, but the GOP doesn't care because they need his vote in a razor-thin majority *and* Trump supporters clearly couldn't care less about character issues. Sadly, he's not going anywhere.

+ After two months on a long-term assignment, I'm back to your regular, run of the mill sub life. This was a familiar group of middle school students, but the aforementioned behavior issues (especially in my last class of the day) was starting to wear me down. The teacher I was covering opted to retire, and the new teacher is more discipline-driven than I am. On the last day of my assignment, I had to remind the kids that this wasn't goodbye, just see you later. In fact, I was back in the building covering an aide the following Tuesday, and it felt oddly refreshing. 

(706)

Random Notes, February 2013

+ I might have been one of the few people that were not shocked by the Pope's decision to resign this week. When he succeeded John Paul II not quite eight years ago, the former Cardinal Ratzinger and the college both knew he was a short-term solution. For his hard-line conservative reputation, Benedict XVI's decision to step down is actually somewhat progressive; the Euro-centric notion that any title is yours to keep until you die is horribly antiquated. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands made a similar move several weeks ago, and there is speculation Queen Elizabeth II might do the same. It's hard to fathom someone in their 80s or 90s "leading" a country or sovereignty  Pope Benedict's reign was short but concise, seldom straying from the traditionalist platform of the church's upper body. His legacy won't compare to the John Paul's 27 years on the throne, but I suppose he did a capable job of keeping the boat steady.

+ The GOP didn't like President Obama's State of the Union address? Wow, what a shocker. The Party of "No" just keeps doing their thing. It's one thing to be obstructive, and another to be obstructive and bring very few concrete ideas to the table. The President knows he bit off more than he could chew in his first term, he's working goal by goal and keeping expectations modest, and the Republicans still won't give him an inch.

+ Speaking of the State of the Union, I think that awkward Marco Rubio/water gaffe was thrown a little bit out of proportion. It was amusing for sure, though it distracted from Pollyanna-ish substance of the Republican response.

+ Finally, if anyone's looking for more proof that the people that regulate our banks are buffoons, look no further.

(396)