My perceptive grandson Rap-Rap, when he was seven, said I talk like a scrambled egg, or something like that—a combo of onions, tomatoes, garlic, and of course, eggs. Talk? Prattle would be more like it when words gush from the mouth of the sermonizing, yet doting grandma. Expect then this potpourri of a column from one who has not quite left bereavement. The "love of my life," (who else but Rudy) exited to Shakespeare's undiscovered country last February. I'm still wearing black.

The Departed, a Hollywood blockbuster, gives us the undying lesson: Crime does not pay. Jack Nicholson, The Departed gangland chief, shoots right on target the truism that crime does not pay. The movie's excellent cast — Leonardo Di Caprio (Titanic), Jack Nicholson (One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest), Matt Damon (Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen) pit acting prowess against acting prowess. Watched all these movies with the hubby and were both convinced that young Di Caprio and Damon will soon be in the league of veteran multi-awarded Nicholson.

Rudy's departure speaks of uprightness in the discharge of duties. Ask his friends, relatives, and co-employees, even his enemies to back me up. In court, I would be dubbed a biased witness. So be it. He didn't depart from office via impeachment unlike Chief Justice Renato Corona. Rudy lumbered on until full retirement and got full retirement pay, a partner until death who worked his butt off sending our four children to college. Uprightness, honesty by any other name, does pay: the respect of one's fellow being. Respect that lives on after death.

Whether in film or in real life, crime does not pay. Be it committed with a shotgun that kills or a harmless paper with figures falsely declared. Inflict physical harm and the law will catch up with you, except if the act is done in self-defense. (Legalese talk can bring up the ramifications of self-defense, but I leave that to the experts, the lawyers.) "Doctoring" documents or intentionally keeping data for personal gain is an entirely different matter. Declaration of "doctored" SALN (statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth) is no fun. It can get you unemployed like the highest magistrate of the land.

Now that the Senator-Judges have dispatched with the alloyed, adulterated, shameful crown of the impeached Chief Justice, can they move on to an investigation of politicians and people in government in addition to a soul-searching examination of their own selves, their soaring bank accounts, their bulging wallets? We commend those who signed the waiver on the investigation of their wealth. Further, it would be most praiseworthy of them to reveal how they were able to amass such riches.

Like The Departed, the film Dead Man Walking bolsters the timeless maxim that crime does not pay. The murderer, played by Sean Penn, was meted the death penalty. Coincidentally, Dead Man Walking casts two activists in real life: Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Strong advocates for human rights, both are anti-war protesters against the US invasion of Vietnam and Iraq. Sarandon has been UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, fighting to end hunger and poverty. Also a fighter for social justice, Penn was introduced by Robert De Niro in the Oscar night when he got the award for Best Actor in Milk: "Tonight it's great to be an actor; in life it's great to be a good human being and that is Sean Penn."

Susan Sarandon romped away with the Academy Awards statuette for Best Actress in her portrayal of the nun who helped the criminal regain his humanity. A morally challenging movie, Dead Man Walking opposes capital punishment which up to now is still the bone of contention whether or not it deters crime. And whether or not it is a deterrent, the death penalty buttresses the lesson that crime does not pay. In the book of the same title where the movie was based, activist-author Sister Helen Prejean wrote persuasively against punishment by death.

Scientific tools were no contest against Rudy's overpowering illness. Chief Justice Corona went through extreme mental, emotional, and physical punishment (picture him appearing in a wheel chair) in the halls of Congress. Medical interventions can bring him back to health physically. He has millions (dollars, not pesos) to bank on. But the trauma of his crown being wrested away will torture him to his deathbed. Crime or misdeed in whatever form returns karma-like to the perpetrator.

In his haunting song Honesty, Billy Joel can lull the innocent to sound sleep. As for the guilty, let Billy Joel toss him in bed: Honesty is such a lonely word./Everyone is so untrue./Honesty is hardly ever heard./And mostly what I need from you.*( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )