Obvious et rectum, there is a new Pope on the beat. His name is NOT Gregory the Sumpthinth, as I had hoped. He is, instead, Bennie 16.

And he is German.

The Germans are, of course, all thrilled about this. Birgit, for example, said "Ach, du Scheisse!" before turning back to the papers she is grading. What she means is that this is a great day for Germany. One reason is that the economy is going to get a big push from all the Papal pork that is on its way. Another reason is that priests throughout the country can now expect that, on this coming Sunday, they may have as many as 1/4 to 1/3 capacity in their churches.

Yep, I'll have the streets to myself this Sunday, relatively speaking. Just me, Birgit, and the 80 million or so other residents of Germany who don't go to church. Everyone else will be having a pope-dango.