Po(pe/st)

(I did the legwork on this post yesterday, but didn't get it posted. Hope it's not too old!)

+No Italians!

That's what I said back to the radio saturday when they were talking about the possibility of the next pope being Italian. It's nothing personal. We've simply had enough Italian popes - enough European popes, too, for that matter. Personally, I'm pulling for Columbian I'm pulling for Lopez Trujillo.

Anyway, when I said 'No Italians!', Bethy piped up from the back seat, adapting part of our Edna Mode 'No capes!' routine. 'No Italians! I refuse Italians!' Funny girl.

+ New documents found in the files of the former East German intelligence services confirm the 1981 assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II was ordered by the Soviet KGB and assigned to Bulgarian agents [source].

+ Handling Tom's light work.

Some guy says the next pope should fight free-market globalization, assuming it is inimical to 'human rights and equitable development'.

Wrong. Not that globalization can be allowed to tear forward unsupervised - I would never say that. However, free-market globalization is actually the best way to raise the living standard of poor people in developing nations.

Thanks for the inspiration, Brad.