Rant #1,524: Bits and Pieces

Here are my observations on a few recent news items that might have gone under the radar during the work week we are happily now concluding today.

Me, I have to work tomorrow, but for most of us, we will be jumping for joy come 5 p.m. or so today.

Kid With Clock Isn't So Innocent After All: Yes, I kind of figured this was going to happen. Remember the kid who supposedly, innocently, brought a clock to school and was later arrested when some teachers thought the clock was a bomb?

Well, this kid apparently is no choir boy.

According to reports, a teacher who had the kid as a student said that, basically, the kid is already, in his young age, a "professional victim" who has been suspended before for causing a ruckus in the school system. The teacher, who was anonymous, said that the kid did things to draw attention to his Muslim faith, and has caused problems in the school system before.

In fact, the teacher said that the kid was so smart that he could be a great scientist one day, "or a gang leader."

I hate when people use "anonymous" to identify themselves, it does take away from the veracity of what they say, but in this case, the person probably feared retribution from the PC Police, so he/she laid low.

But, let's all of us--including President Obama, among others--take another look at this incident, and put it in its proper context.

We are in a situation where anything suspicious on school grounds must be reported, and that includes a clock with wires hanging out of it that appears to resemble a bomb. So the school district was right in taking some action against the kid, even though it ended up being misplaced.

Schools have become, unfortunately, places of sometimes horrible violence. Look at what took place in Oregon yesterday.

So, if a teacher believes something that resembles a bomb might just be a bomb, isn't it his or her duty to report it as such? Our own President has said we have become jaded to such things, but our own President also lauded this kid as something of a conquering hero, making the local school system look like fools in the aftermath.

To our President, shut up and be our President, and don't stick your nose where it does not belong.

Pope Visits Anti-Same-Sex Marriage Martyr: Yes, it comes out that the Pope visited that woman who refuses to sign marriage licenses for same-sex marriages during his visit to the United States last week. This was kept very hush-hush, and only came out after he left our country.

(I have since heard that this "meeting" was possibly only a meeting in a line with others, where the Pope may have not even known it was the person in question. Who knows what the truth is, as the Vatican tries to clear up this mini-mess.)

It just goes to show that last week's visit was nothing but a carefully orchestrated marketing/PR push for a Pope who is being marketed and sold to the public as being "new and unique," but, well, really isn't much different from the Popes the preceded him.

Why did he give an audience to a woman who does not support same-sex marriages, supposedly because of her religious beliefs, but who is breaking the law of the land?

Because, my friends, he is as against same-sex marriages as she is, that's why.

This Pope was supposed to be a new breed, someone who welcomed everyone into the Catholic Church, but he seems to talk out of both sides of his mouth, depending on the audience.

And he supposedly has God behind him, so people make of him what they want.

To me, that whole trip was a whitewash, an untruth, and this visit was one thing that certainly proved that.

For a Pope that is supposedly so open to change, he still doesn't support not only same-sex marriages, but he doesn't support abortion, divorce, contraception, etc., either.

This is a progressive Pope?

Boy, did he sell the public a rancid bill of goods last week!

Yankees In Playoffs, Win 10,000th Game: Two things finally happened last night at soggy Yankee Stadium. Not only did the Yankees officially squeak into the playoffs as a wild card team, they won their 10,000th game since joining the American League in 1903.

I am happy about the former, but let's focus on the latter.

The Yankees are the first American League team to reach this plateau, doing it in 112 seasons. They started off life as the original Baltimore Orioles, but moved to New York in 1903 and became the Highlanders.

Of course, when they finally adopted the Yankees monicker, they became what they are today, North America's most successful professional sports franchise, bearing one of the most iconic logos on the face of the earth.

It's too bad that Yogi Berra passed on right before reaching this triumph. He was undoubtedly a first-hand witness to a great portion of these wins, either as a manager, a coach or a player.

Now, onto the playoffs, that one wild card play-in game, where anything can happen, and let's start today off by winning No. 10,001.

Speak to you again on Monday.