Papal Concave Surrounded with Scandals And Intrigue

Pope Benedict will resign the papacy at the end of February 2013 citing the deterioration of his health for the decision. This is the first time in hundreds of years that a Pope has resigned before dying in office. Critics say that Pope Benedict may influence the decision of his successor. 

The bureaucracy of the Vatican and the secrecy of the election leave room for media speculation.  Just as it happens in presidential elections, the media begins scrutinizing the possible candidates for the soon to be vacant papal position, especially those who may have played a role in the sexual scandal that erupted in 2010. 

In recent days, Italian reporters believe that the American Cardinal, Roger M. Mahony, who protected priests accused of sexually abusing minors, should no be invited to the conclave- the assembly of cardinals for the election of the next Pope. Also, new sexual accusations are being leaked in the media and are already being firmly denied by people who work in the Vatican. 

As Cardinals from around the world are arriving at the Vatican for the choosing of the next Pope, it is more likely that the successor will be European as it has been for a very long time.

Can Sport Superheroes Be Human Beings?

Lately, an epidemic of imperfect sport superheroes are filling up the news and not necessarily for their athletic achievements, but by the antagonist behavior of a superhero such as lying, cheating, and murdering.

Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee who became an exceptional runner on carbon-fiber blades in the Paralympic and Olympic races, is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp who died after 4 gunshots on the night of Valentine’s Day. Pistorius initially declared that he confused his girlfriend with an intruder but as details emerged in the ongoing investigation, she was shot through a bathroom door and neighbors heard the couple fighting previous to hearing the gun shots.

While sport fans are seeing their hero plummeting down, sponsors are quickly withdrawing millions of dollars from Pistorius. Sponsors release statements as if they were as important as the statements from the victims’ families or lawyers.  “In light of the recent allegations, Oakley is suspending its contract with Oscar Pistorius, effective immediately,”an Oakley spokeswoman said.

 We live in a society that is obsessed with sport superheroes that have unique stories of overcoming unthinkable challenges and therefore their life becomes a sort of untouchables journey, or at least that’s what we think.  

 Sponsors play a big role in creating that fallacy. For example, Nike helped Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong to polish a perfect image of undefeatable superheroes in order to profit from their images. Without a doubt those athletes have unmistakable talent and perhaps are the best in their fields. However, the high expectation and the pressure to be a sport superhero make them fall to the darker side of a human being.  

CBS Playing Conservative At Grammy Awards

A few days before the 55^th Annual Grammy Awards, CBS sent out a dress-code memo to make sure that “…buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered. Thong type costumes are problematic…” If we consider that Katy Perry’s green dress with full view cleavage is within the rules, then people chose relatively conservative outfits.

 Although throughout the history of the Grammy Awards there have been crazy outfits from extroverted personalities, last time an attendee wore a  “problematic” costume was 13 years ago, when Jennifer Lopez chose to wear a sexy green Versace dress that looked more like a semi-open bathrobe. So, why is CBS so particularly interested in forcing a dress code this year as opposed to the year after Jennifer Lopez’s almost naked gown exhibition? 

I don't exactly know the answer to that question, but Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl almost cost CBS a half million dollar fined by the FCC for obscenity, so is it understandable that CBS producers want to be safe than sorry.

Ironically, it is not hard to agree that popular media currently has much more explicit sexual material on TV programming or advertisements than the outfits celebrities wear on the red carpet. CBS carries images as part of its commercial culture in which women are being treated as property and commodities, but there is no rule for regulating these images.

Soccer is unexplicable love for fans

What happens when a soccer fan wants to watch his favorite team but all the games play overseas or aired earlier than any Sunday Mass? For Travis Stanley, a Liverpool soccer fan this is not a problem, but his passion.

“It’s not like you’re getting up early to go to work, this is love,” Travis says while cleaning the living room table at 6:50 am to make room for his coffee cup, a basket of bread, a jar of marmalade, and a pat of butter.

The game hasn’t started yet but Travis stares quietly at the empty field on  the screen as he imagines himself in the stadium stands rooting for his team. The referee gives the first whistle and Travis is caught not wearing his Liverpool jersey as is his ritual for every game, perhaps the  bad results from his team lately has discouraged his old time ritual.

He sits quiet and practically motionless for the first 10 minutes until the opposite team scores a goal. Now, he slaps the table, grabs his cup and walks away to the kitchen for more coffee to avoid seeing the painful replay.

The second half of the game starts and Travis is already wearing his jersey, as he is the 12th player ready and anxious to get on the field and reverse the score. The most emotive moment of the game comes when Liverpool evens the scores; he jumps out of his seat, lifts his arms with closed fists and screams euphoric for a few seconds as if nothing could give him more pleasure than  seeing the ball penetrating  the goal  and hitting the net.

Travis’ passion for his team keeps the long-distance love alive.

Glen Martin pops your bubble

 It’s hard to ignore what Glen Martin said in the first 20 minutes of his speech. He was our first guest speaker in Florangela’s writing for mass communication class and we were ready to get some tips on how to be better writers, but instead we learned how an old school journalist struggles to support himself in the new social media era.

 “I’m poised with my own petard,” he said as he confessed he doesn’t read daily newspapers anymore. Glen said the newspaper industry has gone down since the launch of craigslist and with it many journalists like himself struggle to find a full time job in the new social media. Although he manages to get enough freelance jobs, he sharply admitted, “I will not necessarily recommend [this] as a career path for you.”

 A good writer needs to have more abilities than just “to blog other bloggers,” he said. He is convinced the essential writing skills in up and coming journalists are eroding. He compared the new social media as the partisan newspapers of the late 1700, in which they were highly opinionated. “They spewed venom at each other and now we’ve gone back to that tradition,” he said. Students are being trained to write for the social media and not focused on producing content, conducting an interview or double-checking their own reporting.

Glen’s advice to become a good writer was simple: write everyday and read good writers, but won’t guarantee you are going to make a living as a writer.