I WAS A junior in college when John Paul I was elected pope. Thirty-four days later, I found a news clipping taped to my girlfriend's door; her housemate, who knew Alexandra and I had both been raised Catholic, figured we'd get a laugh. The story announced the sudden and untimely death of the newly named pontiff. The note scrawled on top read, "I guess it wasn't unanimous."

And then we got J.P. II. When he came to San Francisco in 1987, I cadged myself a special (and hard-to-get) papal press pass by finding the right monsignor and offering tales of my Catholic school days and a bottle of nice scotch. (Priests drink bourbon, my father always told me; monsignors drink scotch.) So I saw all of the festivities, the hugging of the boy with AIDS, the fancy Popemobile and helicopter, the smiling guy who this week was lionized by the national media as nearly a saint.

And yeah, I learned in Latin class de mortuis nil nisi bonum (of the dead, say nothing but good), but I have to chime in for one second here with a modest reality check.

J.P. II was a disaster. This is a guy who, to his dying day, said homosexuality was a sin and same-sex marriage was "evil." He subverted and crushed liberation theology (about the only remotely good thing to come out of the Catholic Church this century) in Latin America. He continued the oppression of women, promoted right-wing political causes, and ducked the pedophilia scandal. I could even argue that, with his moronic opposition to condoms and honest AIDS education, he helped ensure the death of many, many people.

I know the whole world is supposed to be mourning, but I'm sorry: it isn't unanimous.

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As Rachel Brahinsky reports on page 18, last year was the year everyone in state politics was talking about workers' compensation insurance. It was part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign. The state Chamber of Commerce kept pushing "reform" as a pro-business mandate. The Democrats went along with much of the governor's plan, and now we have a new system.

Here's how it works: Injured employees lose critical benefits (pain is no longer covered – think about that for a second). Businesses, especially small businesses, still pay exorbitant rates. Everybody is worse off – except for the insurance companies, which are making a killing. What a deal.

Tim Redmond