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What snippets of calls from the masses would look like

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The latest kerfuffle over the National Security Agency analyzing patterns in phone usage has raised several issues. There is no evidence to date that government is monitoring the text of phone calls unless there is specific reason to. Such is good not just from a constitutional perspective but if G-men did have to listen to the great unwashed……

• “Can you believe Linda Cardellini is engaging Steven Rodriguez?!? I thought I had a shot. I sent her 14 letters and figured she’d go for a pizza flipper from Staten Island. Dumb broad!”
• “I hope Kim and Kanye tie the knot as their child deserves to grow up in a stable home.”
• “I’m sorry, I don’t follow current events. Barack who?”
• “Yeh, Yeh. Sorry to hear the chemo isn’t working. Did you happen to catch this week’s Pick-6?”
• “Sorry sugar but this Sunday is no good. After church we’re going to the Klan’s annual civic pride picnic.”

Amongst other threats to society that NSA eavesdropping on calls could reveal is that Kim Kardashian and Snooki Polizzi are guiding lights for all too many

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• “Sweetie, if you want fulfillment in life I’ve got just 2 words: Bo Tox.”
• “I’m going to IKEA and not leaving until I get the futon I’ve always wanted…I’m tired of pushing off my lifelong dreams.”
• “I did it!!…I finished the Sunday crossword puzzle!!…….in The Newark Star-Ledger.”
• “Why are you worried about Obama? Didn’t the navy SEALS get him in Afghanistan or Jersey City or somewhere like that overseas?” [this call intercepted from a 20-something in the San Fernando Valley].
• “Could we continue this conversation on Twitter?”
• “Look, we all gotta die someday. Now you either have the winning Pick-6 numbers or you don’t. Stop sobbing!!”
• “Me? My life goal? A reality show. Gotta aim high.”
• “Whenever I am faced with a tough decision, I call you……or ask myself ‘what would Snooki do?’ “
• “NASCAR or visit my wife and newborn in the hospital tomorrow? The wife will forget and my new kid is too young to realize. Besides, I’ll bring them back a Pennzoil cap and chew.” [this call intercepted in Tennessee].
• “Ok. If we don’t Twitter the rest of this conversation, how about we do it on Facebook? Hearing a voice is unnerving.”
• “I don’t care if Mitsy is rumored to be wearing the low-cut red Jovani dress to the cancer research fundraiser. I’m going in it as I deferred to her last year and I’m tired of her dictating what I wear! Besides, wardrobe is something I strongly believe in.” [this call intercepted somewhere in the Hamptons].
• “I hope Kim doesn’t marry that Kanye West fellow. I think she’d be better off with someone like me,  a pizza flipper from Staten Island.”

Perhaps Liberals are right that we should keep private, at all costs, the bantering of the masses. If the enemy, whomever that may be, got detailed insight about our cultural decay, the republic would be in big trouble.

-I.M. Windee

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Of all people, an NFL linebacker teaches us the wisdom of Shakespeare 

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Today, eight-time Pro Bowler linebacker and 2005 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Brian Urlacher announced he is retiring from football after 13 stellar NFL seasons.

Knowing when to go out on top has always proven to be difficult whether an entertainer, athlete or even a business executive. The most recent example of hanging on beyond one’s prime was NFL quarterback Bret Favre who all but made a sorry joke of himself for several seasons and a couple of different teams in the twilight of his career. But Urlacher saw the writing on the locker room wall, with the help of the Bears’ decision not to retain him and a relatively uninterested free agent market.

Mr. Urlacher, a colorful character but never considered one of the brainier players to walk the grid-iron let alone a philosopher-king, seems to understand Shakespeare’s wisdom in Julius Caesar:  “There’s a tide in the affairs of men.” Mr. Urlacher’s tides of performance have peaked and now he is in the ebbing of his career and he has decided to go out on top.

Who says defensive players are dumb?

-I.M. Windee

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Even perceived super-humans in our society are ultimately human

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The bigger and perhaps more startling reality check this week was that as deified as they may be, Brad Pitt and  Angelina Jolie have not been handed perfect lives and are human like the rest of us

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Ms. Jolie provided a valuable reminder to us that breast cancer is a pervasive and deadly problem that both women and men face. Her approach to such and disclosure about it will likely save quite a few lives as it will embolden others to get screenings and take whatever action, no matter how radical, needs to be taken.

But perhaps a larger and more timeless lesson is that, in the end, we are all human and face much of the same challenges as everyone else, even those who are wildly successful celebrities with seemingly fairy-tale lives, like Mr. Pitt and Ms. Jolie. Whether it be heartbreak, loss of a loved one or sickness and potential death as in Ms. Jolie’s case, few if any of us are exempt from such requisites of being human.

This is probably the best possible takeaway from Ms. Jolie’s disclosure and should help us get through those difficult times when the weight of the world is on our shoulders and we wrongly think that there are others around us who don’t have any problems at all.

-I.M. Windee

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An honest obituary

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One of the more peculiar pieces that occasionally graces some papers, aside from the atrocities that humans commit upon each other, is the honorarium that is paid for which reminds us, if not celebrates, the life of a deceased person, usually a businessman. Some can take the space of a whole page, others no more than that of an over-sized classified ad. But they are all unusual in that they inform us of the saintly virtue that this person allegedly had, as if the Vatican is in the process of beatification for such newly deceased pilgrim.

It’s a wonder why such an ostensibly wonderful person would need one final earthly public relations push. Don’t people already know how good she or he was? Why do they need a reminder?  Maybe it is assumed that God reads the papers and he’ll judge the deceased better after reading such puff piece.

With the death of Mortimer Randolph “Chip” Winthorpe, XXVII, the world eagerly awaits………#28

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Given the corporate world we hear about, one must believe these encomia are, to put it charitably, overly flattering.

Here’s what a more sober eulogy would look like [WITH CLARIFYING TEXT] if not paid for by the deceased’s estate nor beneficiaries of the dearly departed pietist:

Mortimer Randolph “Chip” Winthorpe, XXVII, 70, of Rochester, NH and Palm Beach Gardens, FL [ACTUALLY, HE HADN'T BEEN IN THE CITY LIMITS OF ROCHESTER SINCE HIS CHILDHOOD BUT WANTED TO BE KNOWN AS STILL "IN TOUCH WITH HIS ROOTS"] died on March 19, 2013 surrounded by his family [IN TRUTH, HE DIED AT THE HOME OF HIS MISTRESS BUT HIS CHAUFFER, PROVIDED TO HIM IN HIS RETIREMEMT PACKAGE AS AN EX-CEO, IMMEDIATELY MOVED HIS BODY BACK TO HIS ESTATE AND CONTACTED HIS WIFE WHO WAS ON VACATION; SHE GRUDGINGLY CUT SHORT HER SOJOURN ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA. AS IN THE EXECUTIVE SUITE, HE THOUGHT HE WAS SUPERMAN AND TOOK A COPIOUS AMOUNT OF VIAGRA THAT DAY DESPITE A HISTORY OF CARDIAC PROBLEMS. HE LEARNED HIS LESSON.]. He was a veteran [OF THE PALM BEACH POLO CLUB] and held a BS and MBA from New York University [AS REVEALED A FEW YEARS AGO IN AN EXPOSE, HE DID NOT HOLD THE MBA BUT HIS BRIDGE PARTNER DID]. Since 2002, he served as Executive Managing Director [EFFECTIVELY, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE CLOSET] of the leading high net-worth investment advisory firm Dewey, Cheathem & Howe. Prior to that, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of FOS Industries, where his crowning achievement was to stand down a striking union and not give any concessions. When the strike ended, Mr. Winthorpe issued a statement saying “increasing the line-workers’ base pay from $8 to $9 an hour would have put yet another U.S. company at a competitive disadvantage with foreign firms and I’ll be damned if I’ll allow such un-American acts to occur while I’m leading this company!” Shareholders cheered him on as the stock increased 50% for the rest of the year and the board of directors rewarded Mr. Winthorpe for his patriotism with a $12 million bonus [ESTIMATED BY ANALYSTS TO BE $2 MILLION MORE THAN THE PAY INCREASE LINE WORKERS WERE LOOKING FOR]. A leading Conservative editorial page at the time gushed “this country needs more business leaders like Mr. Winthorpe; he’s what will prevent further American decline and a descent of corporate executives into lower marginal tax brackets.”

Over the span of his 50+ year career, he played a leading role in the development and subsequent globalization of supply-chain logistics. He began his professional career at Bauer, Stern and Co. [WHERE HE REALIZED THERE WAS ALREADY AN ENTRENCHED, OSSIFIED EXEUTIVE TEAM EXTRACTING RICH COMPENSATION PACKAGES AND WERE NOT GOING TO SHARE SO HE MOVED] and later joined Pilsbury, Nugent and Co. eventually becoming Chairman and CEO [THANKS TO SOME VERY SHARP ELBOWS, CLUB CONNECTIONS AND UNTRACEABLE BACKROOM DEALS ENRICHING THE BOARD]. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Largesse University and a founding member of the Largesse University Wall Street Committee [BOTH POSITIONS ATTAINED BY GENEROUS DONATIONS FROM HIS BONUS EARNED FROM NOT GIVING HIS LINE-WORKERS $1/HOUR PAY INCREASES WHEN THEY WENT ON STRIKE]. He was a board member of the Save-the-Earth Foundation, Widows’ and Childrens’ Fund, and numerous other foundations [THAT HE HIMSELF WOULD NO BE ABLE TO NAME; ONLY HIS BOOKKEEPER COULD AS SHE WOULD SEND CHECKS TO SUCH TO RETAIN AFFILLIATION FOR PRESS RELEASES AND HIS OBITUARY]. Mr. Winthorpe also had a building named after him at Largesse University in gratitude for his charity [WHICH HE OFTEN QUIPPED IN PRIVATE SHOULD BE NAMED "FOS INDUSTRIES LINE-WORKERS' HALL" AS THEY EFFECTIVELY PAID FOR IT BY NOT GETTING THE PAY INCREASE THEY SOUGHT AND DESERVED].

Beloved husband of Claire “Mitsy” Cavanaugh [HE NEVER HAD THE COURAGE OF HIS CONVICTIONS SO HE REMAINED OFFICIALLY MARRIED AND HAD, BY ONE UNOFFICIAL COUNT, 17 MISTRESSES OVER THE COURSE OF HIS LIFETIME], loving father of Elizabeth (“Little Mitsy”) [WHO CLAIMED HE WAS THE BEST FATHER A GIRL COULD HAVE AS HE NEVER MISSED A WEEKLY STIPEND] and Mortimer Jr. [UNAVAILABLE FOR COMMENT AS HE HAS BEEN ESTRANGED SINCE BIRTH].

A memorial service will be held at Our Lady of the Perpetual Collection Plate Church, in New York City [WHERE MSSR. WINTHORPE CONTRIBUTED ENOUGH TITHES TO HAVE 18 PEWS NAMED AFTER HIM AS WELL AS OBTAIN INDULGENCES FOR HIMSELF, HIS FAMILY AND HIS MISTRESSES].

-I.M Windee

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Claiming peace exists to pacify belligerent foes is dangerous business when you are the leader of a major country and the enemy is relentless

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As the Syrian civil war continues to spiral out of control and results in more carnage, the characteristically passive approach to foreign affairs by President Obama is coming under scrutiny anew.  As with most foreign affairs, Mr. Obama is more comfortable with allowing other countries to take the initiative on difficult matters.

To understand why President Barack Obama leads from the rear when it comes to tough and adversarial situations from Libya to Afghanistan to Iran to North  Korea, it is important to  look at where he stood before he became president. From the Illinois legislature to the U.S. Senate and  all the way through his election in 2008, Mr. Obama had maintained a solidly dovish approach to world affairs. There was no confrontation that the U.S. faced in foreign affairs, in his opinion, that could not be resolved by reaching out to the belligerent party and providing them reasonable concessions.

Neville Chamberlain claimed “peace in our time” when he tried to appease Hitler. He was sorely wrong. Is Barack Obama’s claim that “the tides of war are receding” equally mistaken?

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In fact, candidate Obama very explicitly conveyed that most of this country’s foreign policy woes came from both George W. Bush’s black-and-white approach to foreign governments (“You’re either with us or against us”) and President Bush’s requirement that governments back their words of goodwill with actions. To his credit, Barack Obama truly believed what he said and was not merely assuaging the liberal flank of the Democratic Party to win the nomination.

But then Mr. Obama became president and realized that the positions of candidate Obama (and Liberals) aren’t applicable to the times we currently live in. The war on terror is likely the most striking awakening that the president had. After unequivocally stating that President Bush was wrong on Guantanamo and military tribunals, he wound up adopting both, along with many other less-publicized policies. This is a bitter pill for the president and one that he can barely believe, let alone admit to.

Which gets to his standard “leading from behind” posture. As he perhaps is unnerved by the fact that he has become President Bush II in the terror war, he reflexively takes a very low profile on actions that he does not believe in or agree with, almost with the hope that no one will notice despite being in a hyper-charged publicity age fed by a “gotcha” media. From the abdication to NATO on the Libya operation to his knowingly nonstarter position that Israel revert to pre-1967 borders to achieve peace to his navel-gazing on North Korea, Mr. Obama does not want to be associated with matters he does not like or positions he does not agree with. So he claims “the tides of war are receding” as he withdraws troops from Afghanistan and Iraq in the hope that somehow our adversaries will call it a day and not press the matter further in response to his gestures of non-aggression. The problem is, they see Mr. Obama as only acting weak when he withdraws troops from various hotspots; goodwill gestures are seen with contempt by Al Qaeda and the Taliban, not with reciprocal good faith.

As Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great Britain in the late 1930s, might attest to now, trying to appease a belligerent enemy by claiming “we have peace in our time” will only instigate such enemy to be even more aggressive; few world problems fix themselves or go away especially when they involve determined and misguided enemies. Thus, presidential abdication of the form that Mr. Obama practices might have worked in some parts of the 19th century, but the 21st century demands a president who not only possesses the high intelligence of Mr. Obama, but the leadership from the front of someone like Ronald Reagan or Harry Truman, not the passivity of a Chamberlain.

While we can only be relieved that Neville Obama was not this country’s president on December 7, 1941 nor September 11, 2001, amongst other critical times in history calling for resolute force by the U.S. president, the world still needs a more forceful response from the White House whether President Obama likes it or not.

-I.M. Windee

Over the coming days, weeks and months, society will try to understand, explain and rationalize the murderous atrocities that the Tsarnaev boys committed in Boston.

It’s fine if we try to figure out what reasonable safeguards, if any, society can implement to prevent such barbaric catastrophes.

In the Old West, evil got its due with no rationalizing

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But it is critical that in trying to find an explanation for why people resort to such violence, we do not conclude that their acts, and similar ones that occur throughout the world every day, are somehow justified and rational acts. They are nothing more than pure evil, whether motivated by a conscious decision to do wrong to advance an agenda (“we’ll bomb them into political submission”) or the inability to decipher right from wrong (“the dog made me do it”). When all is said and done, there is no mathematical formula, algorithm, arc of the covenant or the like that can explain let alone justify murder as being anything other than a wrong that is unacceptable to civilization.

Moral relativists are, at best, confused when they equate bombers who detonate themselves in crowds of civilians with the minutemen of our American revolution or similar patriots of revolutions that fought for the dignity and freedoms that rightfully belong to human beings. At their worst, such apologists are aiding and abetting, if not instigating, such barbarism.

Such exercise in moral relativism occurred right after the Boston bombings when Richard Falk, a special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights  Council and professor emeritus at Princeton, wrote a ridiculous diatribe blaming the “American global domination project” for terrorism. Sadly, he is not alone in the halls of academia and elsewhere.

Given the clear-cut wrongness of terrorist acts and the existential threat they present to a forward-moving civilization, the perpetrators, whether they be those who carry out the actual acts or instigate them from a mosque, an ostensibly god-fearing church or a KKK hall, must be shown the gallows post-haste, lest there be no one left but them.

I.M. Windee

Civil War hero Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain commanded a Union regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg. Out of ammunition and in a state of desperation while defending a critical hill that, if taken by the Confederates would’ve exposed the entire Union army to destruction, he ordered one of the most brutal military actions: a bayonet charge. The day and arguably the ultimate Union victory was saved.

The following is a portion of his recount of that 90 minutes in a letter he wrote 4 days later. Inserted in [BOLD LETTERING] is this father’s recount of a similar recent battle with his 8 and 10 year olds:

The struggle of an hour & a half [MOST OF THE DAY SINCE THE CRUMB-CRUNCHERS WOKE UP] was desperate in the extreme [SEEMINGLY HOPELESS AT TIMES]: four times did we lose & win that space of ten yards between the contending lines, which was strewn with dead and dying [COUNTLESS TIMES DID I TAKE AND RE-TAKE THE DEN AND KITCHEN, WHICH WAS LITTERED WITH TOYS, BROKEN ITEMS AND WHAT APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN AT SOME POINT EDIBLE FOOD, ALTHOUGH TOO MUTILATED TO TELL].  I repeatedly sent to the rear reports of my condition [I INFORMED MY WIFE OF THE IMINENT DESTRUCTION OF THE HOUSE], that my ammunition was exhausted [MY PATIENCE WAS RUNNING OUT], & that I could hold the position but a few minutes longer [I WAS ABOUT TO LOSE MY SANITY].

        
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain & I.M. Windee:

2 battle-hardened veterans

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………In the midst of this, our ammunition utterly failed [MY WIFE’S ADVICE TO REASON WITH THEM IN THE SPIRIT OF MODERN PARENTING WAS MET WITH SNEERING CONTEMPT AND DISREGARD BY THE KIDS]……..Officers came to me, shouting that we were “annihilated” [MY WIFE AND I CONCLUDED THE BATTLE WAS BEING LOST]…..I saw that the defensive could not be maintained not an instant longer [I HAD TO CHANGE MY TACTICS IMMEDIATELY OR THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP WOULD BE LOST FOREVER], & with a few gallant officers rallied the line, ordered “bayonets fixed,” & “forward” on the run. My men went down upon the enemy with a wild shout [REALIZING THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE, I FIXED THE PARENTAL BAYONET (AN EXTENDED HAND IN THE SPANKING POSITION) AND WITH A GUTTERAL, DEMONIC SHOUT, SWEPT FORWARD INTO THE DEN]…the rebels seemed so petrified with astonishment that their front line scarcely offered to run or fire [IN WHAT HAD TO BE IMMEDIATE INCONTINENCE ON MY KIDS PART, THEY BROKE AND RAN, WITH A PETRIFIED LOOK, THROUGH THE KITCHEN, DINING ROOM, LIVING ROOM AND UP THE STAIRS TO THEIR RESPECTIVE REDOUBTS (BEDROOMS). NOT A HAND WAS LAID. THEREAFTER, THEY CAME OUT OF THEIR ROOMS WITH THE OFFER TO CLEAN THE CARNAGE THEY HAD CAUSED. ORDER HAD FALLEN UPON THE HOUSE (AND HAS LASTED SINCE). THAT NIGHT, GIVEN THE UNUSUALLY CHILLY WEATHER FOR LATE SPRING, THE VICTORIOUS PARENT CHOSE TO REFLECT ON THE DAY'S BATTLE OVER A CAMPSIDE FIRE IN THE SAME WAY AS DONE AFTER BATTLES PAST. THE FIREPLACE WAS FED MODERN PARENTING BOOKS, WITH NO REGRETS].

-I.M. Windee

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An accountant recalls (non-Kodak) memories from another tax season

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As another tax season came to a close, some memories:

• “Why must I give you the same forms that I gave you last year? Can’t you just use those?”
• (the wife on March 20) “I booked our vacation for April 1-7; we got a great rate!”
• (a client on March 25) “I want to thank you for the great job on my taxes. How about dinner the first week of April?”
• “Why must I pay? I don’t like what the government does with my money!”

Recounting another tax season

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• (the client from March 25 above) “I haven’t heard from you. May I presume Friday night, April 1?”
• “Is there a box I may check on the return that switches me from Liberal to Conservative so I may pay less? Those wild-eyed Conservatives are starting to look more reasonable.”
• (the wife) “I don’t care what time of the year it is! The fertilizer must be laid down no later than April 14!”
• (the client from March 25 above) “I figured it out; you’re on a diet and don’t want to eat out. How about a Yankees game on April 13? It’s against the Orioles, a great rivalry!”
• “Why do I have to make a payment when my neighbor doesn’t?”
• (the wife on April 12) “I don’t care about your silly client meeting at 6 pm. You tell your client that every Friday night is pizza night with the family and you must be home early. Besides, your top client will understand, trust me.”
• “If I only supported the Iraq war but not Afghanistan, may I get a reduction on my taxes?”
• “WHAT DO YOU MEAN I OWE??!!?? I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GOOD ACCOUNTANT!!”
• (the client from March 25 above) “I’m disappointed having not heard from you and it’s mid-April. I’ll give you one last chance: how about snowboarding the first week of July?”

-I.M. Windee

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The voice of youth is fine, so long as it knows what it’s talking about

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Up until the 1950s, the voices of youth were generally not given much credence, if heard at all. Then came the “Beat Generation.” as coined by Jack Kerouac, where youth was seen as a semi-rebellious movement, as personified by James Dean. But then the voice of youth (anyone under 30 to borrow their definition from the children of the 60s) came into bloom in the 1960s where teenagers and those in their 20s protested everything from social injustice (which in their view included the illegalization of drugs) to the Vietnam war.

It’s tough to say what impact the protesters had in ending the Vietnam war but it ended sooner than had they not publicly weighed in like they did.

But since the 1960s, youth has still been speaking far louder than before it. And on complex topics like global warming and economics.

Recently, there I looked at a picture (below) of Cypriot students protest the bailout package that the European Union was giving to 2 of the largest banks in Cyprus. I wondered how many of them knew about the underlying mechanics of the crisis. And how much did they know about banking? If even a handful of them had any material assets of significantly greater value than their I-Whatevers, that would be a surprise. Most likely they did not have deposits in the failed banks being rescued. In short, they probably had little if any immediate skin in the game, let alone knowledge on the matter.

Associated Press

Cypriot students protest the bailout package in Nicosia, March 26.

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But from a long-term perspective, they unknowingly put quite a few chips on the table. By advocating yet another ostensibly painless government bailout, they were only advocating piling on even more debt and burden onto themselves and generations yet born. How many of them will support an endlessly growing government-state when they become taxpayers.

This has become the common thinking: assume that somehow The Great Oz (government) will resolve all problems. Any social, economic, environmental or other problem can be solved by government and whenever there is the slightest bit of pain inflicted on private parties for their malfeasance or just plain lousy judgment, it is because government has not come to the rescue enough.

Perhaps more than even during the Great Depression, all too many people believe that government is a panacea for all of the world’s ills.

The problem with this anti-physics thinking is that, ultimately, government solutions must be paid for, as government merely transfers and does not create wealth. Thus, government is solving a problem with other people’s resources. So who specifically must pay for the government solutions? Future generations, whether they be in the private sector or choose the refuge from reality that all too much of government employment is.

Perhaps all students should take an obligatory course in physics and learn one of its basic tenets: to give to one thing you must take from another.

-I.M. Windee

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The mutually-exclusive position of bemoaning wealth-creation but insisting upon more people on Mother Earth

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In Pope Francis’ Easter message, he bemoaned a world “torn apart by…….the iniquitous exploitation of natural resources!” He went on to hope that humanity becomes “responsible guardians of creation.” Presumably he was referring to the elimination of abortion, a very worthy and necessary goal. It would be nice, though, if the church would add birth-control to its definition of responsible guardians of creation but that’s a discussion for another day.

Perhaps the Vatican takes a green position in the hopes of increasing its fan base, and thus what it pulls into the collection plate. But in all likelihood, it is more the byproduct of a purist and idealist, if not naive, view of how humanity should conduct itself in this world.

Pope Francis deplores materialism…..unless it fills the collection basket

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The great irony, though, of the pope’s denunciation of the exploitation of natural resources, iniquitous or otherwise, is the seeming ignorance of the fact that wealth creation, which includes exploiting natural resources, is what fills the never-ending collection plates in churches. Without those evil capitalists obsessed with materialism, institutions in formal education, public broadcasting and organized religion, which natively distance themselves from the evils of money but can never stop asking for such, would cease to exist. And the church’s position that birth-control should not be used which would result in an explosion in population is inconsistent with the discouraging of wealth creation that occurs when natural resources are exploited, as one could argue God meant them to be.

Pope Francis has inherited many challenges that the church faces, much of which stem from a loss of spiritualism amongst its flock. But one area that the church could help re-connect itself with its members is realizing, accepting and admitting that wealth, while in and of itself not redemption, can address people’s basic needs and allow them to elevate themselves to be better pilgrims, which is what the church always calls for.

As this new pope is partial to calling for tolerance, he may want to consider the tolerance of those people and acts, despite their materialistic tinge, that allow us to meet basic needs and consequently think at a more spiritual level.

-I.M. Windee