Friday's Odds and Ends

Yesterday's blog hop was so much fun. I hope you had a chance to go visit some of the blogs and see where people went via the wormhole.

The big news for Roman Catholics this week is the election of a new Pope, Francis the First.   Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was chosen on Wednesday, and reactions from most Catholics has been positive. There was some advance speculation that Cardinal Bergoglio was high on the list of favorite candidates, so there is not a lot of surprise with the choice. It will be interesting to see if he will take the church in a new direction, or it will be more of the same'ol same'ol.

In other news, the U.S. government is still grappling with setting a new budget. It is politics as usual with both parties looking after party interests instead of the interests of the people. And of course the items being cut, or under consideration for cuts, are programs that directly help the people. Nobody has talked about cutting some of the totally unnecessary items like portraits of cabinet secretaries and administrators. Big bucks are spent on those portraits. The Environmental Protection Agency spent nearly $40,000 on a portrait of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, while a painting of Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley will cost $41,200, according to federal purchasing records.

Didn't we just elect a president? Now there is already talk of who is running next. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush recently said, "I'm not saying yes. I'm just not saying no."

The city of Austin, Texas has banned the use of plastic shopping bags for some time now, and Rep. Drew Springer of Muenster, has introduced a bill to overturn the ordinance. He calls the bill "Shopping Bag Freedom Act." Okay, of all the freedoms being threatened in our country, is this one really that crucial?

Now for some fun from Garfield.  Jon is holding a door open for Liz, saying, "Allow me to get the door for you, Liz. I'm always the gentleman."

To which Liz responds, "That's the closet."

Garfield has one of his inimitable comments, "He said he was polite, lady. Not smart."

Literary Lesson: "Dreams never die. Sometimes you think they are dead, but they are just hibernating like some big old bear. And if that dream has been hibernating for a long time, that bear is going to wake up hungry and grumpy." A character from Harlan Coben's Fade Away