Unconfirmed news reports swirled yesterday that Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad was shot and possibly killed by a member of his bodyguard. A few hours later, Russian and Israeli news services issued similar reports stating that Assad has been shot and died on the operating table.
If all this is confirmed, it will result in a near de-facto victory for the Syrian rebels and be the latest Arab strongman to be removed. This also means that that the region will continue to destabilize, especially as the various rebel factions start squabbling in their attempts to seize Syrian chemical weapons and then decide what to do with them.
Expect Israel to strengthen their northern border quickly.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Game of Thrones - 1995 ed.
This is pretty funny. Someone put together an opening credits for Game of Thrones in the vein of Hercules and Xena:
Pope Time for Francis
So it appears that I was incorrect, but not by much. I had been thinking that the papal conclave would pick an Italian to be the next pope. Instead they pick an Argentinian who is the son of Italian immegrants. Sort of Italian-Not Italian (mmmm... Procaccini's).
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has taken the papal name of Francis (in honor of Francis of Assisi). The lack of a Peter in either his given name or his papal name will throw the St. Malachy folks for a loop, although they seem to be gloming on pretty hard to the fact that he is of Italian heritage, even if he is not Italian himself.
It is unlikely that Francis will change much of anything other than appearance. In Benedict XVI, the church had the equivalent of an ivory tower egghead; someone who enjoyed theology and debate. Francis has given the impression that he is interested in getting out to the people (a doer rather than a thinker). We shall see if anything comes of that.
At the very least, Francis has a lot of firsts going for him. In addition to the first pope named Francis, he is the first from the western hemisphere and obviously the first from South America. He is also the first Jesiut pope, which should give the anti-Catholic conspiracy folks a field day. Should be fun to watch.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has taken the papal name of Francis (in honor of Francis of Assisi). The lack of a Peter in either his given name or his papal name will throw the St. Malachy folks for a loop, although they seem to be gloming on pretty hard to the fact that he is of Italian heritage, even if he is not Italian himself.
It is unlikely that Francis will change much of anything other than appearance. In Benedict XVI, the church had the equivalent of an ivory tower egghead; someone who enjoyed theology and debate. Francis has given the impression that he is interested in getting out to the people (a doer rather than a thinker). We shall see if anything comes of that.
At the very least, Francis has a lot of firsts going for him. In addition to the first pope named Francis, he is the first from the western hemisphere and obviously the first from South America. He is also the first Jesiut pope, which should give the anti-Catholic conspiracy folks a field day. Should be fun to watch.
Friday, March 08, 2013
Pope Watch 2013
The countdown to the next pope (Petros Romanos?) will hit the next stage on Tuesday. The College of Cardinals (not Louisville) announced today that the will open the conclave on Tuesday, March 12th.
The general speculation has been that the Vatican wanted to have the new pope crowned by about St. Patrick's Day so that he would have a few days to get accustomed to the office before kicking things in to high gear for the Easter season. Given the amount of time for back room deal making even before the conclave, I think it likely that a new pope will be chosen well within the speculated time frame.
The general speculation has been that the Vatican wanted to have the new pope crowned by about St. Patrick's Day so that he would have a few days to get accustomed to the office before kicking things in to high gear for the Easter season. Given the amount of time for back room deal making even before the conclave, I think it likely that a new pope will be chosen well within the speculated time frame.
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