I wanted two things from the College of Cardinals but got only one.

The Cardinals selected Joseph Ratzinger, a German, and not one of the Italians I was hoping for like Angelo, Cardinal Scola, or Tarsicio, Cardinal Bertone. I’ll never understand why the Italians let go of the papacy. What else do they have?

But I am delighted that the Pope Benedict XVI is considerably more than a decade older than me.

I am not ready to be older than the Pope.

Congratulations to William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration, who appears to have been instrumental in disrupting an effort to subsidize college tuition for illegals in North Carolina.

The publicity has triggered as fine a rats-leaving-sinking-ship scramble among state politicians as it has been my pleasure to see in many years [More State Lawmakers Withdrawing Their Name From Controversial Tuition Bill – WRAL.com April 19 2005]. (The poll embedded in this story is running 92% against as I write!)

And Gheen’s ALI-PAC appears to have won high praise from Raleigh NC neighbor El Pueblo:

“…the Hispanic advocacy group in Raleigh…director Andrea Bazan-Manson… thinks the backlash against illegal immigrants is still primarily among fringe groups, albeit vocal ones. ‘In the 12 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve seen anti-immigrant groups become more active, but I believe it’s a small group of folks,’ Bazan-Manson said.” – [nbc17.com April 18 2005]

Hat tip American Renaissance