This is a memo to all media:
Local and network television, cable, radio, print, online, billboards, bus cards, and all other deliverers of news.
Stop it.
Stop it right now.
I’ve talked about this before and you obviously weren’t paying attention.
So now I’m going to get tough about it.
Tough about this:
About you misleading your news consumers with headlines like this:
To most eyes this looks like an innocuous headline.
And I’m not suggesting you’re spreading disinformation.
I don’t think you’re doing this intentionally or maliciously or for profit.
But as I said – misleading.
Oh, yes.
Let’s go back and look at that headline again:
“San Diego paying out $2.3 million.”
No, no, no.
Here’s the correct wording for that headline:
It’s the taxpayers who are paying – not “San Diego.”
You members of the media put this misinformation out at all levels:
City:
County:
State:
Federal:
But cities and counties and states and the federal government don’t pay.
We pay, with our…
And when stories appear about this city “paying” or that branch of the military “paying,” it lulls us into the mistaken notion that it’s not costing us anything.
And we say,“Did you see what the city is paying out for such-and-such?”
As though “the city” was some sort of entity that has some source of revenue that has nothing to do with us…
Taxpayers.
I want you purveyors of news to stop saying entities “pay,” and start saying that taxpayers pay.
I especially want you purveyors of news to stop saying entities “pay” TWICE in one day – this first, about an $85 million payout supposedly by the County of San Diego:
And this, about a payout supposedly by the Department of Justice:
Two in one day was two too many.
And once you stop, maybe…maybe…some of us taxpayers will start becoming more focused on where our tax dollars are going, and start asking our politicians…
“Why am I paying for that?”
And while I’m ranting about the media misleading news consumers, here’s another example, this one not tax-related:
The Catholic church doesn’t “pay” for anything.
The church’s money comes from its members.
Its 1.3 billion members who make what the church euphemistically calls “donations.”
Donations, meaning, “Pay up, or you’re going straight to…”
Donations, meaning those ubiquitous collection baskets seen wherever two or more Catholics are gathered together…
You know – where the guy with the basket gives you the stink eye if he thinks your “donation” isn’t large enough.
But the church doesn’t limit itself to just the collection basket at Sunday services.
While I was doing research for this post, I encountered a rather creative and very lucrative revenue stream the church has devised:
Sainthood!
Everyone’s heard of saints: Saint Mary, Saint Joseph, Saint Cunegonde – well, maybe not that last one, so I included her picture above. The church has thousands of saints; according to Britannica.com, “There are more than 10,000 saints recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.”
And you, too, can become a saint, or nominate someone for sainthood.
The latter is exactly what members of Our Lady of Victory National Shrine & Basilica in Lackawanna, NY have done, according to this 2015 article:
These suckers folks have…
“…raised over $250,000 in an effort to canonize its former priest, Father Nelson Baker.
“The funds cover the publication of materials about Baker, prayer cards, communication between the church and the Vatican, travel costs for visits to and from Rome and the fees of a canon lawyer.”
You can bet the church is collecting a hefty part of that $250,000.
When that article was written in 2015, it noted that “The church first appealed to Rome to have Baker canonized in 1987. The case was approved in 2011.”
It took 24 years just to get an “OK, we’ll think about it” from the church.
That was the first step; there are more to go before the deceased is declared a saint.
It’s called The Canonization Game:
It looks like a board game, right? Kind of a scaled-down version of Parcheesi, maybe?
Instead, this is from a book that details the canonization process, and you can buy it for just $4!
Here’s the website:
The folks in Lackawanna, NY have also have a website, this one all about the late Father Baker’s long road to sainthood:
A website where you, too, can donate money…
…to “Father Baker’s Cause for Canonization” because…
“The journey leading to canonization is long and costly, and much needed prayer and financial support needed along the way.”
They aren’t kidding about that “long” part. This process started in 1987, and now – 35 years later – ole Father Baker is marooned in Step 2, “Beatification,” awaiting…
“…a miracle attributed to the potential saint’s intercession to be verified by the Vatican.”
These folks are – literally – waiting for the late Father Baker to perform a miracle.
And while they’re waiting…and asking for more money…and spending even more money…
The Catholic church…
FYI – after Step 2, there’s a Step 3, which requires yet another miracle.
And more money.
What’s it all mean?
It means that please, all of you news outlets, no more headlines this entity paying out money:
Or this entity paying out money:
Whether it’s taxpayers or church members or whoever is being parted from their money, please…
Just stop with the misinformation and…
I Hate Houseguests 