Rewriting History –or- Don’t be Stupid be a Smarty Come and Join the Nazi Party

So today in a tribute to inefficiency and the ridiculousness of old Italian Catholic men and their centuries of traditions, millions around the world watched a chimney and waited for bells to toll – simple signs that are the only signals a new pope has been chosen.

I will very rarely quote or reference CBS since I have lost respect for the Tiffany station after, Memogate/Rathergate and CSI/Arafat debacle. Yet I must give credit where credit is due and Bob Schieffer made an eloquent point in his Pope picking coverage this afternoon.

Smoke first started coming out of the Vatican chimney at about fifteen minutes to noon. Five minutes later all three stations were in special report. From the networks to the 24 hour channels across the board all stations were live with their shot focused on a static shot aimed at the roof. On that roof all focused from different angles on one single thing, the chimney. At first the smoke was white but no bells rang – so the thousands verging on millions waiting in Saint Peter’s Basilica cheered thinking a new Pope had been chosen and were simply waiting for the bells to ring.

Much like the Vatican reporting the Pope had died almost a full day before John Paul actually shuffled off the mortal coil, the Italian press once again jumped the gun and said the smoke was black. They reported though the smoke looked white it was really black meaning no new Pope had been chosen. Granted this was feasible since Monday night during the Cardinals first vote the smoke appeared white and then went black.

So for almost 20 minutes the world watched white smoke pour out of the chimney. I am not proud – I will say I watched it too, nonstop. Almost without blinking my eyes were trained on the coverage – watching to see if the smoke would darken, and then it would be at least another day before a new Pope is chosen, or bells would toll meaning there was a new leader of the Catholic faith.

Then it happened the first bell tolled – and the crowds rejoiced. People from all different nationalities chanted in union waving flags of their different nations supporting someone they didn’t even know.

Here’s where I need to give my props to Bob. In one of the many breaks when coverage craped out during their continuing coverage Bob made a remark about the age we live in and the abudence of technology. Here we are in the 21st century where the internet speed information across the globe – where mini commentators like myself can reach an unlimited audience, and yet sometimes traditonal methods mean more. Today when the Pope was chosen to some the most powerful man in the world, the message is sent out by a simple means of communication. A simple puff of smoke selects the leaders of millions. A tradition seemingly ancient, and outdated, and occasionally errous, some would say like our own electoral collage, yet it exists and works, at least to the somewhat confusing extent it did today.

Meanwhile in a showing of his techno savvy when the Pope John Paul died a message was sent out to millions cell phones. People across Europe received the news of the Pope John Paul the Second’s death by text message. A text message. Then to find out about the new Pope what are we watching? A chimney. Waiting for smoke. Smoke signs like we are back in the old west waiting for the signal to rob a stagecoach. Like Tonto trying to contact the Lone Ranger we wait and watch smoke.

So this afternoon white/black smoke is sailing from the chimney. Then it was official, the bells began to toll, around 12:10. However it wasn’t until just about 12:43 when he was announced. The Cardinals came out on the balcony and announced they had selected Joseph Ratzinger, a German, the bookies favorite at Ladbrokes, and one of the most polarizing figures in the Catholic Church. Meanwhile the pope chose the humble name Pope Benedict the sixteenth. He is against women in the clergy birthcontrol, and many fear he will threaten dissention in the church.

As a Jew what does this selection mean to me? Well here is the heart of the matter. Ratzinger being a German youth in the 1940’s was a member of the Hitler youth. Lets look at some quotes. First lets look at his memoirs. In 1941, Ratzinger, 14, and his brother, Georg, were enrolled in the Hitler Youth when it became mandatory for all boys. Soon after, he records in his book, "The Salt of the Earth," he was let out because of his intention to study for the priesthood. Thats not the ends of the Nazi ties. He was later drafted into the Nazi army. A Pope who served in the Nazi army and is feared in the Vatican world? Who would have guessed?

But how does the world report this? Lets find out.

CNN: “Ratzinger is pictured in his German army uniform during World War II after he was drafted in 1943.”

Fox News: In May 1945, thousands of German prisoners of war trudged down the highway toward the Bavarian town of Bad Aibling. Among them — tired but grateful to be alive — was 18-year-old Joseph Ratzinger, who just days before had risked death by deserting the German army.

Not the Nazi’s the Germany Army, which was the Nazi’s if I remember the World War Two section of my history book correctly. Not all were so kind as to white wash the history of Pope Benedict.

On MSNBC: “According to his memoirs, Ratzinger was enrolled in the Nazi youth movement against his will in 1941 when he was 14.”

Sure it was against his will but at least they say Nazi.

So pay attention there is a reason Jews are wary about the selection of the new Pope. Sure he deserted the ‘German Army’ but it was in the waning days of the war – when American troops were already closing in. Sure anything associated with the Nazi party usually sets off red flags with Jews; you know the mass genocide of six million might do that. It seems a stark contrast from Pope John Paul the Second who was one of the friendliest Popes to Jews in history.

So what happens next? Lets keep count, and see how often and on what stations use the term Nazi in connection to the new Pope Benedict. Who knows after years of interfaith dialogue under Pope John Paul II will the new Pope pull a Benedict Arnold on the Jewish people? Only time will tell, but this Jew is watching his back.

Calling 911 shouldn’t be a Joke – or – Don’t do That on Tape

Interesting story out of Texas today making the national news wires along with the 24 hour networks.

Authorities in the lone star state say Mike Forbess who was working as a 911 dispatcher answered a call from a woman who claimed her two 12-year-old daughters were fighting.

She told him she needed help and she feared for their safety. Granted this doesn’t seem like a major 911 call, since sisters fight all of the time. I do fell it often isn’t anything more serious then a simple catfight. Also the caller doesn’t say there are any weapons involved so that would also downgrade the importance of the call. Anyway back to the call.

The woman on the phone tells Forbess: "The 12-year-old is completely out of control, she's as big as I am, I can't control her."

Forbess reply? "OK, Do you want us to come over to shoot her?" After a few seconds of what I can imagine is very awkward silence Forbess told the woman that the comment was a joke. "This is really not very funny," she responded.

She told Forbess that she would call his supervisor.

Authorities said Forbess has received two letters of reprimand.

If you don’t believe me here is a link to a Texas web site: http://www.wmcstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=3212000

So what's my point? 911 Operators must know they are being recorded. So why the rude remark? Granted if I was a 911 operator and received hundreds if not thousands of calls a day often for domestics, the occasional bleeding out the rectum, and every once and a while a real call I can see where a worker can get fed up. There are plenty of instances of this in the past so I wonder how many of the joke 911 calls happen and aren’t even reported.

So to balance out this story I figured I would give you an amazing story about what a local Onondaga County dispatcher did. About a year ago dispatcher Greg Hoxie got a call. On the other end of the line there was no voice – but a beeping –according to him “like an alarm clock.” It takes him a few seconds (34 to be exact) until he realizes what the sound is, a smoke detector. He dispatches a full Syracuse fire crew. They arrive to see a two-story house almost engulfed in flames. Through the quick work of the fire crew – they are able to pull a family of four out of the burning home. The home is a total loss – but the family is safe. Their lives were saved due to the quick work of someone behind the scenes.

No moral to these stories and no punch line. Just two people in the same profession – one being a jerk the other saving a families life. What respect do we owe the people in charge of our lives? What respect do they owe us – no one suffered from Forbess’s joke – but still you never know. Just something to think about the next time you call 911.

No Signs of Visual Trauma – or – Why I Hate Cayuga County Sheriffs

Let the record show that as of April 12, 2005 I have officially been employed for one full year in the real world. Let me reiterate – I still love my job. However every now and then an ugly fact rears its head. This weekend was one of those times. To start – if you are squeamish about satire, irony, and humor dealing with human suffering then stop reading right now (of course if you are you probably wouldn’t really be reading this anyway). So lets get started. We need to flash back to Sunday morning. An eight and thirteen year old come home to find their parents dead. They call police. Media come out to find a wall of silence surrounding the case. The family wont talk, neighbors say they are a quiet family off camera but clam up as soon as the red record light goes on. No one knows what is going on and no one is talking. Cayuga County Sheriff’s eventually they say they are investigating the case but have found no signs of trauma. Authorities say the couple were not stabbed or shot – nothing telling on the bodies.

Media begins to hypothesize: Carbon Monoxide? Murder-Suicide? It’s a long shot but synchronized heart attacks or strokes? Questions begin piling up. People stop talking. Fast forward to Monday. Reporters from all four stations are in the tiny town of Aurelius hitting the pavement working the authorities nothing all day. Just after five o’clock after live hits and top of the shows – Sheriff Rob Outhouse (real name), gives us an empty sound bite – saying they are still investigating and autopsies are still being done.

So Monday’s a wash lets head to Tuesday. Tuesday we are hesitant to send a crew out because of what happened Monday. So we wait – and as the afternoon begins to creep up and we inch closer to 5 authorities say they are holding a press conference. So we fly out to Auburn – where the Cayuga County Sheriff’s headquarters are – what do we find out? They are holding a news conference at five on the dot.

Nothing like making it easy on the news folks…thanks Cayuga County.

So many take the news conference live. Ok – no problem. So what do we find out – the couples death was ruled murder-suicide, according to autopsy results. Husband strangled his wife and then committed suicide by overdosing on a combination of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Sheriff Outhouse then continued to say husband duct-taped a plastic bag around his head before he died.

So lets refresh. Husband was found with empty pill bottles somewhere and I’m sure deputies no matter how inept could miss the bag and duct-tape around his head. Granted what killed him probably need an autopsy. So I can forgive the lack of information about husbands’ untimely demise. However – the wife is where I start to have the problems. Something happens when you strangle someone. Strangling anyone even a small woman takes strength – and leaves bruises. If you do it by hand or with a rope or piano wire will leave a mark – which is what? Let me remind you a visible sign of trauma.

Poorly time news conferences – piss poor information and just treating the media like crap – way to go Cayuga County.

Just to show you what it really means when there is no signs of trauma let me give you an example from today – Wednesday April 13^th. This morning a man is walking his dog on the West side of Syracuse – and his dog goes nuts and jumps into a drainage basin. What do they find there but a body! So police are called in and the investigation starts. Rumors spread – though the body by smell factor alone has most likely been there a few days. No one is reported missing with his description most people lean towards transient, hobo, bindle bum, what ever you want to call him. On his body there are no signs of trauma since he most likely got drunk and fell in the basin and died. No bag on his head no knife wounds, no strangulation bruises on his neck no bag on his head no signs of trauma.

Officers just think before you speak – especially when we have it all on tape.

Dead Bodies Everywhere Or Just Another Day in the Neighborhood

Violence has always been a part of life in Syracuse. It has gotten better and worse depending on the year and more importantly the weather.

Spring has finally arrived in the Salt City and that means one thing more shootings. There are plenty of shooting calls that go out all winter and occasionally the hit someone – but normally during the cold winter months temperatures drop down so low even the gangbangers end up staying inside. You can’t successfully pull of a drive by shooting when it’s to damn cold to roll down the windows. So temperatures are back up and that means so is the body count.

It is (technically) Saturday morning (1:30ish). In the last week there have been two murders – two injuries – and more shots fired calls then you can shake the crime stick at. The sad part is they aren’t really even related, despite how similar they seem. In the major gang days, with Boot Camp the Bricks and the like gangs shot each other to death. Shootings came in pairs. One gang attacks someone who was dealing in their territory – then the other retaliates.

This week we have similar sounding murders but they are most likely worlds apart. One was found on early hours of Sunday the other by garbage men Wednesday morning. Both men were shot to death and died in their cars. They were even found reasonably close to each other. The difference is found when we look at the two victims life style. The first was found in a parking lot after getting shot after a fight at Syracuse’s local biker bar the ‘Cuse Road Dawg. The other was a father of two, mixed up with drugs, who lived in a halfway house and had a lengthy criminal record. Two people two very different lives both meet the same unfortunate end.

Then Thursday on the north side of the city – a man walks in to a connivance store without id to try to buy beer. The clerk does the right thing and says no – so the kid says he’ll be back with his posse. He shows up a few hours later with a gun. He walks in fires three shots - grazing the clerk in the arm – and then walking off. The kids showed up just with an entire clip of friends, but I guess that really is all you need to make your point.

Then you have your average run of the mill shots fired. Just kids driving around hanging out and firing off their guns. They aren’t shooting at anything or anyone in particular. Just being stupid, but as the weather gets warmer and there are more people and kids out – it’s going to eventually be a little kid on the receiving end of one of those bullets.

When I first started one of the first major continuing stories was about a 7 year old kid who got shot by some idiot just driving by – luckily the kid survived – but next time we may not be so lucky. No matter who ends up getting shot – gang member, bystander, drug dealer, there will most likely be someone mourning them – someone who loves them. Be it a mother, a babies momma, an aunt, a grandmother, some family, even a fellow gang member pouring out a forty on the street, who will tell the media – that just before they were killed they started turning their life around.

Prime Time, Jane Pauly and the Pope

This weekend the Pilgrim Pope, Pope John Paul the second passed. He spent most of Friday April 1^st, in grave condition, in fact everyone though he was going to die Friday afternoon.

This biased blogger thinks he did pass, since Italian news agencies reported his death around 12 and the Vatican spent the rest of the afternoon trying to refute that claim. In fact we were receiving reports his EKG flat-lined. Of course this means they could have restarted his heart- but again after going into septic shock most of his organs failing and the Pope refusing to be hospitalized his outlook was more then bleak.

If you watched any television this week – every station from Entertainment Tonight to CNN ran special reports, retrospectives, looks back at the Pope’s legacy. Take my advice don’t expect it to end any time soon. It will most likely continue throughout next week during his viewing through to his burial. It won’t end there for another week stations will provide ‘expert speculation’ on who the Cardinals will pick to lead millions and millions of Catholics across the globe.

You would think with the coverage the Pope is getting now - no matter what was on television the stations would have dropped everything and went into emergency ‘Pope-Passing’ coverage. Not the case. On Friday here was the plan from the network CBS head honchos. If the Pope died anywhere after four o’clock – the network would cut into Jane Pauly and take up our newscasts and cover to 7pm – right through the evening news. HOWEVER if the pope died anytime during prime time – the only coverage that would exist is a seven-minute obituary special report. Seven minutes. Decades of service, hundreds of trips around the globe, one assassination attempt, millions of mourners, the life of one of the most beloved Popes in memory – knocked down to seven minutes - so not to interrupt Joan of Arcadia, NCIS and the rest of CBS’s Friday night line up. Really puts things in perspective – a television station would love to cover the Pope but only if he dies at a time when nothing worth watching is on.

I wonder if the Pope would even have gotten seven minutes if he died during the last 90 seconds of one of the final four games. Somehow, I think the end of basketball would have taken precedence over the Pope. Right now I guess I’m just thankful we didn’t have to find out.