Year: 2005

$58 a barrel. When will it end?

In my neck-of-the-woods, gas costs $2.40 a gallon. It costs $75 to fill up my KIA Sedona and Toyota Pickup (not mine, but it looks like mine). That’s SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS, and my drive into work is 50 miles round trip Monday through Friday.

Trying to feel better about it all, I found this little nugget:

In real terms, prices were still higher in the 1980s when they peaked at roughly $90 a barrel in today’s money for U.S. crude, according to calculations by the International Energy Agency, using the U.S. Consumer Price Index as an inflation adjuster.

It didn’t make me feel better.

There will be no royal wedding on Friday, as originally planned.

Royal wedding postponed

The Prince of Wales’s wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles is to be postponed to Saturday, Clarence House announced today. Charles will be representing the Queen at the funeral of Pope John Paul II on Friday instead. A spokesman said the Prince took the decision with Mrs Parker Bowles after returning today from his skiing trip. Camilla will not be accompanying the Prince to the funeral.

After Charles announced his decision about the date switch, some amongst the staff swear they heard him mutter, “Bloody Catholics!”.

And as for Camilla, she misses being the queen-in-waiting by one day and suffers an 11th hour diplomatic snub.

Priceless.

Who are you now Al?

This is the ultimate geek post of the day.

Pope’s would-be assassin mourns natural death.

Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who seriously wounded the pope during a 1981 assassination attempt, is mourning the pope’s death from his Turkish prison cell, his brother said Sunday. 

Adnan Agca said his brother told him Wednesday in Istanbul’s Kartal prison that he hoped the pope lived a bit longer.

Yeah, so he could get out and give the job another try. Weird.

That’s “More Good News from Afghanistan”, and Chrenkoff delivers the positive information.

But wait, there’s still more.

Arthur discovers something else.

A new study has supposedly overturned the Western experts’ perceptions and common stereotypes by finding that – shock! – Al Qaeda terrorists are not poor but come from comfortable middle-to-upper class backgrounds.

Keep reading.

A “star-studded” blog…hah.

In a move unlikely only because it’s taken this long to happen, pundit-about-town Arianna Huffington is extending her hosting largess to the blogosphere.

This month the wannabe California governor is launching a Slate-like Web site where a cast of bigwigs, including Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), David Geffen, Barry Diller, Larry David, Tom Freston, Ari Emanuel, Jim Wiatt, Tina Brown and Harold Evans will each have their own blog from which to spout Big Thoughts about politics.

Huffington wouldn’t comment, but it was confirmed that a soft-launch of the Huffington Report would be up and running before the end of April.

Something tells me this “blog” will be nothing but a bunch of “posts” that you’d normally call “columns” or “editorials” you’d find in a typical newspaper or magazine any day of the week. I find it funny that (with few exceptions), most “stars” who have their own “blog” don’t have a blog at all. They have a website with articles on it (mostly republished stuff). They have no comment section, not trackback. One post, every other day or so. That’s hardly a blog. Will Arianna’s be any different? We’ll see. 

Pope’s Body Lies in State at Vatican

Mourners Pack St. Peter’s Square

Who’s the next Pope?

Final images of Pope stir deep emotions

Thousands mourn in Poland
Polish faithful pray during a special mass for the late Pope John Paul II at Pilsudski Square in Warsaw April 3, 2005. More than 100,000 worshippers packed the central square in the capital Warsaw, while 60,000 gathered in Krakow, where Wojtyla was archbishop from 1964 until he became Pope in 1978, to hear John Paul’s last message to his homeland.

What happens next?

NEW POPE ELECTED

11:37 AM PST – AP, Reuters / Flash from the Vatican

Pope John Paul II is dead.

The news was conveyed in an e-mail to the world’s media by papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls. The message was simple, “The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. (2:37 p.m. EST) in his private apartment.”

The Pope — known for his energy, intellectualism and activism on the global stage — died Saturday night at his apartments in the Vatican. His health had been deteriorating severely for several weeks and he had battled Parkinson’s disease and crippling arthritis for years.

The Vatican said Saturday morning that John Paul II had slipped in and out of consciousness after his heart and kidneys started to fail after a urinary tract infection.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said that despite his precarious health, the pope had decided to remain in his residence at the Vatican, rather than returning to Gemelli hospital in Rome, where he had been hospitalized twice since February.

Associated Press report

ABCNews Obit
CBSNEWS Obit
FOXNews Obit
MSNBC Obit
CNN Obit
News.Yahoo.com Obit

President’s Statement (video)
World Leaders React
Millions mourn after historic 26-year reign
Pope’s Final Moments
Don’t Weep For Me

________________________________________

Pope Related Blogs

Chrenkoff – “My Pope“
Malkin – “The Angles Welcome You”
Powerline – NYT criticism
The Pope Blog
Don Singleton
Talking Points Memo
Stephen Bainbridge
Accidental Verbosity
The Anchoress

________________________________________

12:00 AM PST / 10 AM in Vatican City

Vatican press office reopens after being closed for a few hours. Rumors continue that a statement will be coming from the office at any time. There is no indication at this time that the statement will be an announcement of the death of Pope John Paul II.

12:08 AM PST: Pope conscious, sources say

A Polish priest, citing Vatican sources says the pope is in stable condition and has not lost consciousness.

“I have information from the Vatican from a half an hour ago. The Pope is in serious, but stable condition. The Pope has not lost consciousness,” Father Konrad Hejmo, a close friend of the Pope’s, told Reuters.

Vatican Press Office announces a press briefing which will get underway @ 1:30 AM PST / 11:30 AM in Vatican City

(12:26 AM PST: That’s it for me. It’s bed time. I’ll pick this up again in a few hours. More later.)

9:29 PST: Pope weakens as world braces for his death

Pope gravely ill; losing consciousness

Bush: Pope an “Inspiration”

President Bush calls Pope John Paul II was “a faithful servant of God and a champion of human dignity and freedom.”

“He is an inspiration to us all,” Bush says in his weekly radio address. “Laura and I join millions of Americans and so many around the world who are praying for the Holy Father.”

The president has received regular briefings about the pontiff’s condition since the pope’s health began deteriorating Thursday.

Vatican Update

In a written statement, the Vatican says Pope John Paul II remains in very grave condition with a high fever, but that he continues to respond “correctly” when addressed by aides.

Funeral Planning

New signs that a major funeral is imminent are being seen in Rome, as the city makes plans to accommodate tens of thousands of pilgrims expected to descend on the Vatican in the coming days.

Portable toilets and extra ambulances appeared in greater numbers near the Vatican during the day Saturday and the city transport system said it was increasing service on bus and subway lines which stop at St. Peter’s, the Associated Press reported.

City officials also lined up fairground pavilions and sport stadiums to house the faithful, and the Italian state railway said it would add additional trains to bring pilgrims to Rome.

10:44 AM PST: Condition may not be worsening

Dr. Peter Salgo, associate director of the intensive care unit at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, tells the Associated Press that the reference to fever in the latest Vatican statement doesn’t necessarily indicate that the pope’s condition is worsening.

“This is not a turn for the better, but it doesn’t mean he’s getting worse,” he is quoted as saying. “Fevers come and go and it is often the last thing to go away when you get over an infection. You can still have a fever in response to antibiotics.”

How does the Catholic Church verify the Pope’s death?

John Paul II: A Life Well Lived

Wikipedia entry – Pope John Paul II