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Pope Rises from Dead and Eats Bowl of Spaghetti

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Uh oh. Now he wants to play some hockey.

pope.jpg
 
There was a lady on talk radio yesterday complaining that the US Presidents (both Georges and Bill) that were going to the Popes funeral were using tax payer dollars to pay for trip. She argued that this was not right since the Pope was not a dignitary of a specific country and as such the Presidents should have to pay for this trip out of their own pocket.

I totally agree with her. Why should I be helping to pay for them to go to Popes funeral? There are no grounds that I can think of that would make this kind of expense worthy of using tax dollars.

Can somebody out there in TBF help me understand why I should have to help pay for this trip?

I also noticed the flags where I work are at half staff. Is this for the Pope? Is America in a National state of mourning for the Pope?
 
Motokid said:
She argued that this was not right since the Pope was not a dignitary of a specific country and as such the Presidents should have to pay for this trip out of their own pocket.
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I agree that taxpayers money should not be wasted on attending funerals, royal weddings, etc, but the lady in the radio got the wrong end of the stick. The Vatican is officially a country and the Pope is its main dignatary.
 
BTW Moto, Vatican City is an independent political entity, ruled by the pope who is the legal head of state. Vatican City is technically outside the jurisdiction of the Italian gov't. So the Presidential trips are, strictly speaking, politically justified.

(clueless, I just posted over you, repeating basically the same. :) )

These are the pope's real shoes. I am sooo jealous.
liturgical%20shoes%20of%20pope%20paul%20VI.jpg
 
Oops. Sorry. I did not know that either.

What's the name of the country that Vatican City is a part of? Are they part of the UN? Or is it the churches way of circumventing having to answer to anybody, anywhere, other than to themselves?

Is it a puppet country, or is it really considered a country?

edit: got the pogo picture now....thanx...
 
Well, I don't know if Italian laws apply to Vatican citizens, but for example, children under 10 don't have to pay to museums in Italy, but they do in the Vatican. And maybe you've heard about the Vatican Bank (Ambrosian Bank) being used by the mafia for money laundering, as it does not come under the jurisdiction of the Italian financial jurisdiction.
 
It's an independent state, like Monaco. It has it's own laws and police, etc. and is ruled by the pope.
 
Here is Team Ferrari's secret weapon: the papal blessing. No wonder Schumacher was unbeatable in '04.


anews.bbc.co.uk_media_images_40731000_jpg__40731309_ferrari_afp300.jpg
 
I believe...if I can jog around the outside borders of your entire country in less than 20 minutes,... you are not a real country.....
 
Motokid said:
There was a lady on talk radio yesterday complaining that the US Presidents (both Georges and Bill) that were going to the Popes funeral were using tax payer dollars to pay for trip. She argued that this was not right since the Pope was not a dignitary of a specific country and as such the Presidents should have to pay for this trip out of their own pocket.

I totally agree with her. Why should I be helping to pay for them to go to Popes funeral? There are no grounds that I can think of that would make this kind of expense worthy of using tax dollars.

Can somebody out there in TBF help me understand why I should have to help pay for this trip?

I also noticed the flags where I work are at half staff. Is this for the Pope? Is America in a National state of mourning for the Pope?
Click to expand...

And just think about how many of the 1.1 BILLION catholics in the world live in America.It wouldnt do for GW to piss them all off at once would it!!?
 
Edit- *snip*

Heh heh...I've been kind of irritable again today! And I think that was reflected in my post. Sorry guys! Gotta stop this hanging out online when I'm feeling crabby! >_<

Has anyone watched any of the funeral on TV? I hear it was a lovely ceremony. I kind of agree with Gallagher on this one...the Pope was a leader of sorts and I think they're just trying to show him respect and pay their respects just as they would if any other leader or person in high standing passed away.
 
Motokid said:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/vt.html

Based on what I just read here I return to my original comments....

Any "country" that's not even the size of a shopping mall in America, and is home to less than 1000 people is not a real country. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it...
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Alas, your opinion on the subject cannot in the least affect Vatican existing as a real country. I imagine that dimensions in this case bear little importance - Vatican had been a valid country for a long time and will remain so, nevermind what somebody may think about it.

By the way, they have their own money - Euros now, I have a full set of them, - and I imagine these Vatican coins will get quite expensive soon with a new Papa to appear on new coins, and the ones with the deceased one to became rare...
 
No matter what their goofy-ass status might be on paper, I don't consider a church, or a religion to be a country. That's basically what they've done. That would be like some college declaring itself a country and building a wall around it. Only most colleges would require a larger wall. Not in my little world of reality. No sir.

I don't care who goes to pay respects, I just don't think our tax dollars should have to pay for it. The three US Presidents that went are all millionaires. They can afford to pay their own way, and they should. How many homeless people could be fed with the money that paid for that trip????

Today is the first day I could pick up our local newspaper and not be smacked in the face with some picture of the pope. Not even a picture of the dead pope. Finally, is all I can say...the unbelievable tsunami deaths did not get this much attention did it?
 
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