Just a bunch of stuff that happened.

John McCain's 2007 tax return shows Social Security benefits of $23,157 for the year, an average of $1,929.75 a month. McCain reported a total income of $405,409 in 2007. As a senator, he is paid $169,300 a year. Last year, he donated $105,467 to charity, his return shows.

My mother is 84 and receives the same $1,929.75 a month as McCain, but unfortunately, she doesn't earn $400,000 a year working like he does. First of all, I have a problem with millionaires helping to bankrupt a bad system. Second, I thought there was a limit to how much a person could earn working while still collecting a Social Security check. In fact, I know there is. "How does McCain manage to collect a check?," I ask myself.

Facial acupuncture treatment, dubbed "nonsurgical face-lift" has grown in popularity over the past few years.
"Ten years ago, the alternative was Botox, fillers and all that stuff. Now, 10 years after, people are looking for alternatives to Botox and fillers. This is the only treatment that would be as effective," said Shali Rassouli, a licensed practitioner of Chinese medicine and a specialist in cosmetic acupuncture. Rassouli, the first acupuncturist to practice the technique in Canada, charges C$125 per one-hour session for the treatment, which usually requires 10 to 12 visits.

Nobody ever lost money selling a way to make people appear (or think they appear) younger. By the way, 125 Canadian dollars is $124.25, which shows you how piss-poor the dollar is these days - but I digress.

In 12 visits, the typical vain human would spend $1,491 or roughly one month's Social Security check, on a series of pokes in the face designed to make them look 50 instead of 60. My guess is that it's along the lines of those TV ads that tell you that you can make a fortune buying real estate with no money down or trade stocks like a pro with some fancy software. They interview four people who succeeded and make you think there's easy money waiting for you.

Here's a piece of advice: Act your age. Chances are people won't know how old you are anyway, so tell them. Either you're younger than you look and you'll get a compliment or you look like Methuselah and they won't say anything. Either way, you're up about fifteen-hundred bucks.

SYDNEY, Australia - Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday that mankind's "insatiable consumption" has scarred the Earth and squandered its resources, telling followers that taking care of the planet is vital to humanity. "Perhaps reluctantly we come to acknowledge that there are also scars which mark the surface of our Earth: erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world's mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption," he said.

Generally, when the Pope speaks (regardless of who it is) my eyes roll and I wish that the guy had a sense of what was happening in the world before he opened his mouth. This time, however, he's spot-on. As I've said, we're a fat, lazy country of convenience and we make more trash than we consume. It's a throw-away society full of disposable products sold in bags we don't need and transported by vehicles that are either too big or traveling too short a distance to be economical. But we believe we are entitled, and as such we'll consume, spend and waste because our time here is short and we figure that we'll leave our trash for future generations to clean up, much as we leave trash at the movie theater or sports arena. Roll on, Pope ...

Seeking to inspire a new generation, he warned the young Roman Catholics that a society without unwavering values is bound to suffer confusion and despair. He decried alcohol and drug abuse and condemned "the exaltation of violence and sexual degradation, often presented through television and the Internet as entertainment."

OK, now you've gone too far. You had me there for a while.