The Daily Dose/May 9, 2025
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
GO IN PEACE, SERVE THE LORD: An American was elected pope Thursday, the first time this has happened in the church’s 2,000 year history, though it should be noted America has been around for roughly a quarter of that time. Your feelings on the pope, of course, depend on whether or not you’re an adherent.
Bless You, My Son: On the one hand, a papal election is one of humanity’s most enduring institutions carrying on a 2,000 year tradition in selecting God’s representative here on Earth.
Or Not: If you are not an adherent, and you’re pretty feisty about the matter, it’s a bunch of men who don’t get laid who believe there is an invisible man in the sky keeping tabs on us deciding who gets to live down the ages while the rest of them return to sorting communion wafers and hearing confessions.
Broad, Historical Context: Either way, you have a cardinal who began the day as another working stiff reporting for duty going from obscurity to eminence in fairly short order
Dry, Technical Matter: Leo XIV is originally from Chicago and also holds Peruvian citizenship from his time working there. He is the first pope born after World War II and the first Pope Leo since the turn of the 20th century. Robert Prevost until yesterday, he is an exciting mix of Italian, French, Dominican, Creole, and Spanish blood.
The Bottom Line: Even though only about 12% of humanity is Catholic, this week’s conclave took center stage worldwide. Since time immemorial, we humans have required spiritual aid and comfort, and that will never change, and the Catholic Church has done a masterful job of dispensing this over the centuries. It has conquered, among other things, Charles Darwin and its own sex abuse scandal to maintain its preeminence over the centuries. Maintaining this is what a pope is hired to do.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow does not have time for a proper walk. Today’s Diary.
…we did not have time for 4.2 miles (two laps in each lane) but we did have time for one lap in each lane and that’s good for a 4.6 mile walk, a fine walk in anyone’s book.
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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1941 – The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy southeast of Greenland. After attacking elements of a North Atlantic convoy, U-110 was found via sonar by the Royal Navy, which used depth charges to force her to surface. Among the items found were code books and an Enigma coding machine that, after some effort, allied the Allies to decode German radio traffic.
In 1901 – Earl Moore of the Cleveland Blues – now the Guardians – becomes the first major league pitcher to pitch nine no-hit innings and give up a hit in extra innings in a 4-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox. The game was tied 2-2 after nine innings and the feat has been duplicated many times since. The Blues made two errors and Moore only gave up one earned run. The announced attendance was 400 on an overcast, wet day.
In 1970 – Dave Dudley is at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot Country Singles chart – for the only week with The Pool Shark. It was the ninth of eleven Top 10 country songs for Dudley and remains his only #1 hit. Tom T Hall wrote the song and it also went #4 country in Canada.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Men are much more attracted by immediate than by remote events; when they find things going well in the here and now, they are pleased, and think of nothing else.
Niccolo Machiavelli
The Prince
Answer To The Last Trivia Questions
Knowledge is power.
The world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat is the US Navy’s USS Constitution, commissioned in 1797. It is homeported near Boston.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Who was the first major league pitcher to lose a perfect game in extra innings? – Answer next time!
