So Many Headlines

Nelson Mandela passed away yesterday. Many others who knew him personally have commented on his life, and I have nothing to add to these accounts. I will admit that it's almost impossible to think of someone who's been imprisoned for twenty seven years emerging, not only as a well-known figure, but as the central candidate for president of a country going through earth-shaking change, as South Africa was in the period immediately following apartheid. That would have required a person unlike anyone I have ever known.

Everyone has their own opinion of our new system of health care distribution known as "obamacare". It does seem, however, that the Republican Party is willing to do some things to reverse the law that border on sabotage or armed rebellion. Here in California, you can find a website that looks like an official spot for enrollment. Turns out that it is not only not able to process applications,  but it contains material designed to convince people to not have any coverage. Of course, should someone actually become sick or injured, the GOP of the Golden State wouldn't so much as send a get-well card. There goes the old Republican value of  "taking personal responsibility".

Every time I think I've mentioned Vania King for the last time, she pops up again in some new,  surprising context. Just yesterday, I saw the Chinese-American tennis pro being interviewed at the site of some mixed martial arts event. You know MMA, that fighting style that invariably ends in blood and pain that many people (myself included) find disturbing. Right now, it's a hot item for PPV fans, to say nothing of surgeons and first aid pros.
Anyway, there was King, who has probably never deliberately harmed a fly in her life, going on about how exciting these MMA fights are. She admitted that they seemed "brutal" at first, but now she's past that, kind of like a bullfight aficionado, I guess. Keep reading this space for more fascinating details of Vania King's life.

Did anyone notice Rush Limbaugh's latest self-appointed duty? Now he's taking on the Pope, especially His Holiness' comments on rich and poor people, which El Rushbo described as "pure Marxist". After all, the Great Man declared, doesn't the Catholic Church itself have lots of ...money? How could they have built all those super cathedrals without plenty 'o cash, huh? I guess the next time some one asks the rhetorical question "Is the Pope Catholic?" we'll have to check with Rush before answering with confidence.

Finally, I noticed that the Purdue University (that's in Indiana, folks) basketball team has a guy with a ready-made name for someone assigned to play tough defense - Smotherman. What a great excuse for someone shooting two for twelve against the Boilermakers. "What do you expect, man? Smotherman was on me like mustard on a hot dog."