Happy Sunday, everyone! Welcome to the Six.
We have a new Pope! Sometime Thursday, white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling the conclave had made its choice.
And what a choice it was.
Welcome Pope Leo XIV, the first Pope of the Catholic Church to be an American. And we discovered as news broke Thursday afternoon… a Chicagoan! He grew up in south suburban Dolton before attending Villanova University.
Knowing Pope Leo’s background, the big question remains: Cubs or Sox? One joke circulating on the internet was about how cardinals would never elect a Cubs fan as pope. The Cubs beg to differ, putting down an early stake on his fandom. The press tracked down the pope’s brother, John Prevost, who claimed Robert Francis Prevost (his real name) is a Sox fan. Naturally, the Sox took credit. We won’t know for sure until the new pope speaks for himself. We certainly know what the first question will be from the Chicago press corps.
There are more days than not the internet is truly a maddening place to spend time. Not Thursday. It can still be fun.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
WHAT THE NAME “LEO” SAYS ABOUT THE NEW POPE
So once the honeymoon phase with Pope Leo XIV subsides…what’s next? What can the church and Catholics around the world expect from Robert Francis Prevost as a leader? Politically, records show he’s been all over the map, swinging back from Republican to Democrat over the decades. I thought this was an interesting article from The Independent on the selection of the name “Leo” and what it says about his papacy. One Catholic writes, “The papal name Leo unsurprisingly shows a Pope who is going to be strong during a time of crisis, historically.” The last pope to choose the name Leo was more than a century ago, when Pope Leo XIII led the Church from 1878 to 1903.
TEXAS VOTES FOR SCHOOL CHOICE
It took quite a bit of hand-wringing, twisting, and in the end, billions of dollars, but Texas lawmakers finally got school choice legislation past the goal line. Estimates are that families in Texas will receive an allowance of around $10,000 per child to use on whatever school they choose. School choice was a campaign promise by Governor Paul Abbott and he got it past the finish line, barely. Democrats and union hacks were, of course, against the initiative, arguing that those billions directed into education savings accounts would not be used to finance government-backed schools. They don’t grasp the concept of free markets and that competition “increases the quality of education” throughout the state.
NEW POLL: COVID LOCKDOWNS SWUNG PEOPLE RIGHT
Five years removed from the origins of Covid Hysteria and more data comes pouring in. It’s shameful—although predictable—to witness the history being rewritten by the lockdown establishment. They still cling to the “we saved lives” narrative (sure, but they were an already sick group of elderly folks), yet the data just doesn’t quite support their claims. This past fall, we saw a shift in young people’s voting habits. New polling is revealing how the youngest voters—18 to 21—voted 12 percentage points more Republican than the last election cycle. The writer of a new book on school closings argues the Covid response had much to do with the shift in voting habits as “childhood is achingly brief, and they stole time from these kids, and they stole experiences.”
THE MYSTERIOUS SINKING OF THE BAYESIAN
Shifting away from popes and politics… the deaths of British tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter and five others aboard the megayacht Bayesian are an unsolved mystery. Apparently, a storm erupted in a placid corner of the Sicilian Gulf, sinking the “unsinkable” yacht with advanced safety systems in minutes. A smaller, older sailing vessel 100 yards away suffered no damage. Making the story more bizarre is Lynch was celebrating his acquittal after a year of house arrest for fraud.
A MAGICIAN CAN REVEAL HIS TRICKS
Thought this was kinda cool… an interview with a magician who reveals his tricks. The best way to learn to do magic is by reading books and then practicing in front of a mirror. With a mastery of the fundamentals, you can create your own novel tricks, according to a magician named Siegfried Tieber. Magicians keep their methods secret "for the audience’s benefit, not for our own.” Most of the time, the explanation is "confoundingly simple" and kills the fun, thus best to keep up the wonder and secrecy.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY
Finally… a happy Mother’s Day to all mom TKR readers! Television has featured many great moms over the years from Carol Brady to (my favorite) Peg Bundy to Livia Soprano. But the best scene involving a mom comes from the 1990 film “Goodfellas.” Great classic stuff from Joe Pesci and his movie mother, played by Catherine Scorsese, who just happens to be the mom of the film’s director, Martin Scorsese.
ICYMI… THIS WEEK IN TKR
*A live streamed recruiting announcement from a Chicagoland football recruit got weird and blew up the internet. What the episode says about the continued professionalization of amateur sports.
Have a suggestion for The Kerr Report? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com.
Good morning Jon, enjoyed the Kerr Report and updates and wishing all mothers a wonderful and healthy a Happy Mothers Day.
Mothers Day was yesterday in 🇲🇽 for my wife and mother in law.
Enjoying a coffee right here in Chicago.
Leave tomorrow after some surgery follow-up.
Debating on going to the Sox game?
Cheers Jon and hope your enjoying your cups of ☕️ ☕️.