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Since the passing of the previous Pope and the appointment of Pope Benedict, I have been giving the institution of the Catholic Church a great deal of thought. More so than I usually do, that is. This, of course, I attribute to all of the media that has been surrounding the Catholic Church as of late. When I normally see something strange and topical regarding Catholicism, I usually nod with that bland look on my face and say, “Ah,” as if I were entertaining the notions of a child, or a traveler who went in search of the truth and somehow lost sight of the goal.

As the centuries pass, evolution and transition of management can push an institution farther and farther from the reason they were established in the first place. And the Catholic Church is taking a lot of poor, lost souls with them. This makes me furious, as the Catholic Church has demanded that members of this sect put their trust and faith completely into the institution and Catholic leaders – those in robes and pointy hats – to guide them to… Heaven? Goodness? Brownie points with Jesus? Get out of hell free cards? I wonder if followers even know anymore.

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My biggest passion in cooking and baking has always been cookies. Why cookies? Because no person is ever unhappy to receive them. Cookies are an amazing, fun-filled pastime for all ages in every culture. This is something you can do by yourself or with other people for special occasions – or for no occasion at all.

It has been my life’s pursuit to find the greatest cookie recipes of all time; although just recently I have come to the conclusion that this is impossible. Due to the different tastes and preferences between individuals (not to mention between cultures), it would be impossible to find the top ten definitive cookie recipes.

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A recent article by hulk asserts that “The biggest problem in the black community today is that they are waiting for help. They expect it to come from outside.” I have a slightly different take on the issue — that poverty, which tends to afflict more racial and ethnic minorities, creates a cycle of learned helplessness.

Learned helplessness is a theory in psychology that states when an organism is exposed to repeated aversive conditions from which it cannot escape, the organism eventually stops trying to escape. To apply it to this problem, if a person learns though repeated experience that he cannot escape poverty, that whatever job he can get will pay minimum wage, and that he can’t survive on that, he may stop trying to escape poverty and begin living hand to hand, without saving money, because he has come to believe that his actions have no effect on his world and that everything around him is out of his control.

A friend of mine worked in a free reproductive health clinic that served mostly patients without insurance or other access to healthcare. One of her patients was a 13-year-old girl, already sexually active. My friend explained the need for the patient to protect herself against disease and unwanted pregnancy, explained the birth control options, and then asked which of the options the girl would like to choose. The girl said, whatever happens to me is going to happen — I have no control over it. At 13, she had already decided that she had no control over her life, even over what happened directly to her body.

So if learned helplessness is happening in poverty-stricken areas of the US, what can be done? Welfare won’t help, because it’s a benefit that happens to someone, not a benefit that someone causes to happen. Handouts, however well-intentioned, won’t help either. What needs to happen is a sense of ownership and a sense of control being given back to people, starting at an early age — people need to learn that what they do has an effect on their world and that they can make changes, for better or for worse, in their lives.

I’ve received questions from a couple of people now, asking what the real deal with Harriet Miers is. If you haven’t been able to follow the hand grenades being lobbed around, or you’re intentionally trying to avoid the whole thing, I don’t blame you one bit. Given that all of my information on Miers was obtained via the media, I can’t promise that all I am about to say is entirely true. But it’s all been in the media, whatever that means.

To start, Wikipedia has a summary on Miers, including biography, awards, government service, career, blah blah blah. Down at the bottom there are a variety of news links and various websites pertaining to her. Click if you feel lucky. Well, do ya, punk?

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Previously, I expressed my frustration over the number of Americans between the ages of 18 – 24 who do not vote, and a large percentage of that age group whose primary source of news is satire – namely, Jon Stewart. From time to time I like to ask people in this demography why they did not vote in presidential elections, and to no surprise, the answers I receive are usually the same: “Politics are stupid; it’s all stupid. I don’t agree with anyone.”

After giving this a great deal of thought, I have come to the conclusion that many of the programs and campaigns aimed at this demography are actually doing more harm than good. Humor and satire rule the day when it comes to wooing the younger voter to the ballot box, however, as this has proven more and more ineffectual, the level of sarcasm slopped on top of these attempts has increased to painful decibels. It is my opinion that sarcasm-overkill is creating the mindset in younger voters that politics are stupid, and is ultimately deemphasizing the importance in voting and the long-term effects of individuals in office. As I obviously enjoy humor and satire as much as the next person, the level of bullshit being slapped onto important issues are doing more harm than good. It is time to pare back to news Cliffnotes with some simple satire.

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Another email that was sent to me – way too funny to resist this one. Click on me for a big laugh.

Scroll down and read his description. You won’t regret it.

I purchased a Palm Zire 31 last week, so of course this week Palm released the upgrade, the Z22. I’m not bitter about the timing at all, in case you couldn’t tell. In any case, they’re both great products, and I feel it is my duty to let you, the Halffull public, know what I think of them.

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I don’t know why I’m suddenly getting all these joke emails sent to me. Here’s one for our liberal readers.

How many members of the Bush administration does it take to change a light bulb?

Ten:

1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed;
2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed;
3. One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb;
4. One to tell the nations of the world that they are either for changing the light bulb or for eternal darkness;
5. One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton for the new light bulb;
6. One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a step ladder under the banner ‘Bulb Accomplished’;
7. One administration insider to resign and in detail reveal how Bush was literally ‘in the dark’ the whole time;
8. One to viciously smear No. 7;
9. One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light-bulb-changing policy all along;
10. And finally, one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the entire country.

A man, his wife, and his mother-in-law went on vacation to the Holy Land. While they were there, the mother-in-law passed away. The undertaker told them, “You can have her shipped home for $5,000, or you can bury her here in the Holy Land for $150.00.”

The man thought about it and told him he would just have her shipped home. The undertaker asked, “Why would you spend $5,000 to ship your mother-in-law home, when it would be wonderful to have her buried here and spend only $150.00?”

The man replied, “A man died here 2,000 years ago, was buried here, and three days later he rose from the dead. I just can’t take that chance.”