Superstar Justin Timberlake announced as Shriners' new poster boy

Please note: This article contains one of the late George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television," as well of a photo showing a nearly bare female breast.

Despite the negative Masonic publicity from the Michael Richards racial flap and the failure of the Scottish Rite's NASCAR publicity, the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, or Shriners, seem as ready to tie themselves to celebrities as the Scottish Rite has.

Today the fez-heads announced that former Mouseketeer and current Las Vegas pretty-boy Justin Timberlake, the man who allegedly popped Britney Spears' cherry back around the turn of the century, has agreed to be the front man for the Shrine's Las Vegas Professional Golfers Association (PGA) event.

The golf tournament has been renamed the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Part of the PGA tour, the event will take place in Vegas Oct. 13-19, 2008. Timberlake will play in the tournament, as well as perform a concert on Oct. 17 at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino for the event.

"We couldn't be happier that Justin Timberlake will be a part of the tournament beginning in 2008," said Ralph W. Semb, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Shriners Hospitals for Children. "Justin's involvement will bring an unprecedented amount of attention and interest to the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which will assist us in our work to help young people receive the quality medical treatment they deserve, at no cost. We look forward to the bright future of this event."

Last month The Burning Taper wrote about a story that appeared in The New York Times that discussed a 23-page internal report issued by a committee formed by the joint boards of the Shriners of North America fraternal organization and the Shriners Hospitals for Children, which found that Bro. Ralph Semb, chairman of the Shriners Hospitals Board of Trustees, and Bro. Gene Bracewell, the Imperial Treasurer of the fraternal Shriner organization, violated both organizations' conflict of interest policies as well as their ethics codes and recommended that they be "reprimanded."

Timberlake appeared on stage with his pal Madonna in March, where he took a swipe at his former girlfriend Britney, and Madonna called her fans "motherfuckers."

Timberlake, of course, was the man who exposed Janet Jackson's star-studded breast to a world-wide audience during a Super Bowl a few years ago. Imagine the publicity had he been wearing a red fez.

Yes, I'm sure Timberlake being the new celebrity endorser of the Shriners charity hospitals will do great things "for the children" and enrich the organization (though reports since the 1980s indicate that only two to 25% of the donations the Shrine receives ever makes it to the hospitals).

But even discounting the weird conspiracy tie-ins of Disney and Freemasonry and the destructive personalities of many former Disney kids, something seems out of kilter having Timberlake as a front man of a Masonic-related organization such as the Shriners. While blue lodge Masons attempt to maintain a "squeaky-clean" image of "morality" and hold as heroes legendary "founding fathers," the Shrine seems eager to tie us all in (by inference, at least, since many people think the Shriners and the Masons are the same organization) with ultra-cool sex symbols.

Hardly a good role model for "the children," huh?

Check out the lyrics to this song, and then tell me you would want your daughter to dance with Justin Timberlake.

"(And She Said) Take Me Now" (featuring Janet Jackson)

Uh...
Uh...
Uh...
What you waiting for?
I know you're watching me
Hey boy, come on and take me now

What you waiting for?
I know you're watching me
Hey boy, come on and take me now

Can I talk to you for a minute
You've been looking all night for your shining star
Well baby here I am, so why you waiting?
Step on over, let me show you how bad you are

Just let me take the lead
All you gotta do is let your mind be free
Lets hit the floor and cause a scene
Get real wet if you know what I mean
What you say baby?

(And she said)
Take me now
I'm hungry for your loving
(And she said)
Show me how
You got me working, honey
(And she said)
Right now
I'm hot just like an oven
(And she said)
So take me now
Boy you make me feel like I gotta dance

I gotta dance, gotta dance baby, I gotta dance...

I feel good to you, you try to hide it
And I can tell by the way you push up close to me
Your body temperature, is arising
Something's going down as far as I can see

Just let me take the lead
All you gotta do is let your mind be free
Lets hit the floor and cause a scene
Get real wet if you know what I mean
What you say baby?

(And she said)
Take me now
I'm hungry for your loving
(And she said)
Show me how
You got me working, honey
(And she said)
Right now
I'm hot just like an oven
(And she said)
So take me now
Boy make me feel like I gotta dance

You know
Don't I
Say don't I make you feel like you gotta dance

Once I get to know ya
(No)
I'm gonna show ya
(No)
That there's no better way
(Yeah)
Lets dance the night away
(Yeah)
I wanna control ya
(No)
Just wanna hold ya
(No)
Dance the night away
So what you say baby, what you say
(What you saying to me)

(And she said)
Take me now
(Oh)
I'm hungry for your loving
(Hungry for you)
(And she said)
Show me how
(Oh)
You got me working, honey
(Got me working)
(And she said)
Right now
(Oh)
I'm hot just like an oven
(Hot just like an oven)
(And she said)
So take me now
Boy you make me feel like I gotta dance

(And she said)
Take me now
(Oh)
I'm hungry for your loving
(Hungry for you)
(And she said)
Show me how
(Oh)
You got me working, honey
(Got me working)
(And she said)
Right now
(Oh)
I'm hot just like an oven
(And she said)
So take me now
Boy you make me feel like I gotta dance

Like you gotta dance, like you gotta dance, like you gotta dance, no...
Like you gotta dance, like you gotta dance, like you gotta dance, no...

Here we go now
Oh, oh
Oh
Oh
Oh
Oh
Oh
Oh

I'm like a hurricane
Just coasting along
You better grab me girl
I hope you take me now

I'm like a hurricane
Just coasting along
You better grab me girl
I hope you take me now

I'm like a hurricane
Just coasting along
You better grab me girl
I hope you take me now

I'm like a hurricane
Just coasting along
You better grab me girl
Ttttttake me now

Take me now
I'm hungry for you loving
Show me how
You got me working, honey
Right now
I'm hot just like an oven
So take me now

Take me now
Take me now

Take me now
I'm hungry for you loving
Show me how
You got me working, honey
Right now
I'm hot just like an oven
So take me now
Boy you make me feel like I gotta dance

Masons | Justin Timberlake | Shriners | Freemasonry | PGA | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

'I will not wrong, cheat or defraud...': Internal Shrine report finds conflict of interest, ethics violations

The New York Times reported on Friday that a 23-page internal report issued by a committee formed by the joint boards of the Shriners of North America fraternal organization and the Shriners Hospitals for Children found that Bro. Ralph Semb, chairman of the Shriners Hospitals Board of Trustees, and Bro. Gene Bracewell, the Imperial Treasurer of the fraternal Shriner organization, violated both organizations' conflict of interest policies as well as their ethics codes and recommended that they be "reprimanded."

The committee's recommendation was ignored. No punitive action was taken against Semb or Bracewell, both of whom deny any wrongdoing.

Bro. Bernard J. Lemieux, a medical doctor, who headed the joint boards at the time the investigative panel was formed, defended the boards' decision not to punish Semb and Bracewell. He said in an email messages the boards had concluded no reprimand "was warranted or necessary."

The Shriners Hospital board controls an eight billion dollar ($8,000,000,000) endowment.

A fundraising program which operated from 1999 to 2003 netted $46.2 million. Of that amount, only $2.5 million made it to the hospitals.

Investigations as far back as the 1980's have shown that only two to 25 percent of all that spare change you toss into the buckets at intersections manned by fez-headed Masons makes it to the children's hospitals. It seems someone else is pocketing all that cash. Who could it be?

The interim report said that a "comprehensive continuing investigation" was needed. The boards of the Shrine and its hospitals, which share members, voted to disband the panel before it had finished its investigations.

When Bro. Mahlon Hessey, one of the members of the investigating committee, tried to present the committee's findings at the annual Shrine meeting last month in St. Louis, he was booed and heckled off the stage. Some Masons picked to be on the committee when it was formed refused to accept the appointment due to fear of reprisals by those being investigated.

Read the "Interim Report of the Special Investigative Committee of the Joint Boards of Shriners Hospitals for Children."

The collected works of Sandy Frost over the past two years helped lead to the recent article by NY Times reporter Stephanie Strom.

Image 1: Bernard J. Lemieux, immediate Past Potentate of the Shrine and past chairman of the board of trustees of the Shiners Hospitals

Image 2: Ralph Semb, chairman of the Shriners Hospitals Board of Trustees

Masons | Shriners | Shrine Hospitals | Freemasonry | Sandy Frost | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

There's a 24-hour Blogathon going on for charity

This morning at 6 a.m. Pacific Time, a Blogathon began. A Blogathon is a charity event, where bloggers sign up ahead of time, and promise to blog for 24 hours, making a new post approximately every 30 minutes.

I stumbled upon this about half an hour ago at a site called Philly Transplant because he'd just posted something about Masons and the Shrine.

While I was reading that, a new article popped up with a trivia question, so I answered that.

No way I'm gonna sit up the next 10 1/2 hours and watch him add new posts every 30 minutes, but I will drop by again from time to time to see what's shakin'.

Somehow in all this they're raising money for charity. Philly Transplant's charity is Shrine Children's Hospitals. Sparky Duck chose the Shriners Hospitals as his charity because his wife benefited from a Shrine hospital's care when she was a child. Read her story here.

Masons | Masonic Charity | Shrine Children's Hospitals | Freemasonry | Blogathon | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com