marriage

Every afternoon, seven days a week, Ed Epley has a 5 p.m. appointment with the war. He pulls a protest sign from his maroon 1961 Volkswagen van - he has 30 to 40 stashed inside - and joins a one-hour peace vigil at the Benton County courthouse in Corvallis, Ore. Epley has been doing this, day in and day out, since the U.S. launched its first air strikes on Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001. "I really don't look at it as a job, it's just part of the daily task of being a citizen," says the 73-year-old retiree.

what ideas he would have brought back from Afghanistan.   -David Abraham

 

Archbishop Rowan Williams said he came away convinced there was no "dawn raid" on his church by Rome, telling Vatican Radio he wishes "every blessing" for those who want to become Catholics. Williams and Benedict met privately for 20 minutes in what the Vatican called "cordial discussions," as part of what has clearly been a difficult visit by the Anglican leader. The Vatican said in a brief statement that the two leaders "turned to the challenges facing all Christian communities" and the need "to promote forms of collaboration and shared witness in facing these challenges."

in an awkward position for a time. Not the contents so much, as some of the messages that were given out. So I needed to share with the pope some of those concerns and I think they were expressed and heard in a very friendly spirit.   -Rowan Williams

 

Right wing pundits are howling over my claim that a 2005 Texas constitutional amendment didn't ban gay marriage; it bans all marriage. The Constitution provides, in very clear language, that Texas "may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage." In our justice system, when language is clear, the courts are not permitted to go behind the clear language to consider intent.  

A man who calls himself SAL9000 is set to marry his virtual girlfriend from a video game called Love Plus this weekend. Web site Boing Boing reports that the man fell in love with one of the virtual girls named Nene Anegasaki and decided to marry her and take her on a honeymoon to Guam. He took photos of the trip to Guam and livecast the vacation on Japanese video-sharing site Nico Nico Douga . The man now plans to hold a public wedding reception in Tokyo this weekend which will also be livecast on Nico Nico Douga.  

About 150 young women will compete in the Miss California USA pageant today as they vie for a spot in the finals at the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage. The competition at the casino at 32250 Bob Hope Drive starts at 4 p.m. Katie Polos, representing Palm Springs, said she thought she had a good shot at winning the title on Sunday, but first she has to make it through today's preliminary round. "I think I have a lot to offer this pageant," she said.  

Hundreds of Muslim villagers in Egypt's south threw stones at a police station where a Christian was being held on suspicion of assault, and they later burned and looted Christian-owned shops, witnesses said. Police fired tear gas and pursued the villagers through the streets of Farshout in Qena province and arrested 30 Muslims after the violence, security sources said. The Christian man was being held on suspicion of indecently assaulting a Muslim female.  

Dakotah Rose Lemme blends faith and truth into the storytelling sculptures that adorn the land around her country home. Driving down a rural road dusty as a chalkboard, still figures appear in a grove. Sculptures, round and organic in form, grace the green grass beneath a gathering of pecan trees.  

The decision to exit your stock holdings is never easy. But it is important to keep profit-booking for better returns. Ankita, a software professional, saw her equity portfolio bought for a value of Rs 200,000 in May 2009 rise to Rs 240,000 in mid-October 2009, a return of 20 per cent in five months.  

To take God's name in vain is forbidden in almost every religion, and forcefully proscribed by the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions. But what happens when the Lord's name is uttered during craven acts, such as the phrase that allegedly tumbled from the mouth of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, before he gunned down 13 fellow soldiers on Nov. 5 in Fort Hood, Texas? Or when a headline in the Advance refers to a wife arrested in a marriage dispute, implying her alleged act of attempted murder was committed in the name of Allah?

At the Catholic League we feel like Catholics are attacked on a regular basis; we don't see it happening when it comes to Judaism or Islam   -Susan Fani