MSNBC News has set up what appears to be an all things Pope related jump off page. From this page one can easily find access to an enormous amount of information; ranging from information on the Pope’s Funeral to a full text translation of the Pope’s last will and testament. Other articles, such as, this one on President Bush being the first U.S. president to attend a papal funeral can also be found. Other information includes a list of potential successors with some information on each of them, and a PDF file containing a lot of details on “Laying the Church’s leader to rest.”

That’s how many bottles of Keith’s beer were on a truck that flipped according to this article in the Halifax Daily News.

“It is sad,” said Capt. Scott Logan of the Halifax Regional Fire Service. “Chances are they won’t recover any of the beer.”
“I had a tear in my eye, actually, when I was watching it,” said Halifax Regional Police Const. Mark Hobeck. “It was full of beer. We were hoping a Hostess truck full of pretzels would come by, but no such luck.”

That is simultaneously the saddest beer news I have heard, and the greatest quote about beer to come out of a police constables mouth ever.

The BBC News has an interesting article about “a revolutionary piece of technology” that has the potential to help the blind see.

A bionic eye “designed by Professor Gislin Dagnelie at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore” was unveiled “at a Royal National Institute for the Blind conference in London on Monday.” The device is comprised of “a computer chip that sits in the back of the individual’s eye, linked up to a mini video camera built into glasses that they wear.”

The breakthrough is likely to benefit patients with the most common cause of blindness, macular degeneration, which affects 500,000 people in the UK.

This occurs when there is damage to the macular, which is in the central part of the retina where light is focused and changed into nerve signals in the middle of the brain.

The implant bypasses the diseased cells in the retina and stimulates the remaining viable cells.

Currently the images produced by the device are far from perfect and the technology has a long way to go, but Professor Dagnelie said:

We are hoping this will be enough for the person to be able to make their way through a building, find a door or window and avoid obstacles for example.

To us, the images look very basic but for someone who was previously blind they are a massive step forward.

This is a great example of technology advancing and bettering society. As a person with bad eyes myself, I know how precious vision is. It would be great if technology were able to help let those who have gone blind see again.

Former Archbishop Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, better known to the world as Pope John Paul II, has passed away. Now I am not a very religious person, I don’t attend church other than for weddings or funerals, and the only way one would know I am even Christian is from the Cross I wear or the one that hangs in my truck, but even I feel the loss. Karol Wojtyla “was elevated to the papacy on Oct. 16, 1978” thus becoming Pope John Paul II, and his reign was marked with compassion and service to the world. John Paul II has been the Pope my entire life, and though I am sure others feel this great loss more than I, yet, even I feel that something great has come to an end. This article over on MSNBC tells of the sorrowful news, and there are many others as well (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

As the days go on there will be even more news, as all eyes turn to Rome as the College of Cardinals gather to elect a new Pope. This is a process that will begin 15 to 20 days after the death of the Pope. I found this article that describes the process and those involved in the election of a new Pope. Although John Paul II was a great leader, the Catholic Church is not as strong as it could be, and as such times may be hard in the near future. With any luck the process for electing a new Pope will not be a long one. However, even in death John Paul II will have an influence as to who his successor will be, and for a number of reasons:

John Paul II, appointed all but three of the 117 voting cardinals who will gather beneath the frescoed ceiling of the Sistine Chapel to choose his successor.
When they write the names of candidates by hand on rectangular cards for the balloting, it will be under rules that John Paul set nearly a decade ago.
John Paul’s influence was so strong in every corner of the church that almost everyone in the emerging set of papabili — men who could be pope — shares his basic views.

Needless to say, over the course of the next month, and until a new Pope is elected, the news will undoubtedly be focusing on the events unfolding in Rome.

Rest In Peace
Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II
May 18, 1920 – April 2, 2005