CAPPING OF NOVEMBER TWENTY-TEN

Is it just me, or did somehow the world get turned unto its ears during the month just ended?

If you will, ponder these:

IS THE POPE CATHOLIC? - Prelates of the church during inclement weather have surely worn rubbers. But the 265th Bishop of Rome; Benedict XVI struck a whole new meaning to the term when he reversed hundreds of years of dogma suggesting that condoms are okay when used with a view to preventing sexually transmitted maladies. What next, a blessing of the Sheiks ceremony?

MAY BE THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO OBAMA: - Whilst shilling her latest tome: "America By Heart - Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag," darling of the tea-party movement, Sarah Palin, reflected to Barbara Walters that she could "beat" Barack Obama for the Presidency in 2012. It's been a miserable year, and Palin's admission may be the best thing yet for the beleaguered President. Just 19% of Republicans support a Sarah Palin bid for their party's nomination.

MAYBE THEY'VE BEEN TRAINED TOO MUCH: Pretty much everyone in Parliament along with our NATO allies have been in self-congratulatory mood over Prime-Minister Harper's decision to extend Canada's military commitment to Afghanistan beyond our "firm" departure date of July 2011. For the foreseeable future, thereafter our Forces will remain on-site to train the Afghan army. Good heavens; just how much training do these folks need? Harking back to Genghis Khan and the Great Mongol Empire; through the battles for the Silk Road routes; the British Expedition to Tibet; the 9 year war with the Soviets; and the current tilt with the Americans and NATO forces these people have just about defeated every military expedition known to man.

HARD TO FIND A SANE PLACE TO LAND AN AEROPLANE: North Americans are terrified of flying terrorists...so, lets touch their genitals and use scanners that show them naked: That should make em' feel safe; right? As a strategy it's absurd. Fanatics and their followers devise all kinds of bombs for a few hundred dollars, and provoke the world into spasms of security responses costing billions of dollars. When body cavities are perceived as a threat, will passengers be required to submit to MRI's and/or manual probing to board a flight?

BORN AGAIN IN CUBA: A story buzzing around the fringes of the American social media claims that Rapper Tupak Shakur, murdered in Las Vegas in 1996; and pop-icon, Michael Jackson who died last year; are actually alive and living their "golden years" in Castro's Cuba. It may very well be that Elvis invited the two to join him there at Fidel's suggestion.