Informative Round-up

This past weekend was a long one in London owing to a civic holiday, and my time was spent on less internautical things like hot air balloon watching and rib festivals. And, also, on helping my aunt move. Some parts of the weekend were better than others.

Anyhow, we're fresh and ready and looking to move forward, so here's your round-up for the day.

==

First up, Pope Benedict XVI has consented to be interviewed by German newsmen - the first such interview a Pope has ever given. The interview will be broadcast/published on Aug. 13, and Gerald at Closed Cafeteria promises to provide a translation. This is certainly something to keep an eye out for.

==

Next, via the novelty of YouTube, comes this 1941 video of a traditional Latin Easter Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows church in Chicago. The video is about an hour long (some parts have sadly been truncated because of YouTube's size requirements), and is narrated helpfully throughout by then-Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen.

==

Victor Davis Hanson of the National Review draws parallels between the current times and the world just prior to the Second World War. Of course, contra the angry mutterings of certain pundits, wags and rabble-rousers, Israel isn't the one playing the part of Germany.

Our present generation too is on the brink of moral insanity. That has never been more evident than in the last three weeks, as the West has proven utterly unable to distinguish between an attacked democracy that seeks to strike back at terrorist combatants, and terrorist aggressors who seek to kill civilians.

==

In another move likely to incense Gilbert, were he present to voice his protest, firefighter officials in England have begun the process of banning the traditional firehouse pole on the grounds that it's "too dangerous" to the firemen.

Firefighters could suffer repetitive stress injuries, bad backs, sprained ankles and even chaffing to their hands and thighs, health and safety bosses claimed. Now a new £2.4million station has been built MINUS the traditional pole, forcing firemen to run down stairs instead.

[. . .]

Plymouth’s Fire Brigades Union spokesman Trevor French said: “Firemen are more likely to get hurt tripping down the stair than sliding down a pole.”

One firefighter at Greenbank said: “It’s crazy — they pay you to plunge into burning buildings but won’t risk you on a pole.”

That last statement is pretty much the essence of modern culture.