| ChiTrib Blogger: Should Catholics Go Vegetarian on Fridays?
Yesterday my colleague Noel Sheppard noted that some Anglican bishops are urging their flocks to go "carbon" free during Lent. Along the same eco-insanity line, Chicago Tribune's religion blogger Manya Brachear submitted a post on Tuesday wondering if there's a "moral obligation" that Catholic priests have to urge their parishioners to go "fishless" or vegetarian on Fridays given concerns about mercury contamination: Roman Catholic bishops once urged parishioners to observe meatless Fridays as a year-round act of penance. Since Vatican II, bishops have upheld meatless Fridays only during Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter. The only exception is fish, prompting an annual run on seafood markets and a slew of fish fries in place of church potlucks. But the dangers of eating tuna and swordfish, which scientists say is loaded with mercury, might be more flagellation than bishops had in mind.
Plan to insure working poor stalls
John's spokeswoman Cora Scott said St. John's, along with other Missouri hospitals, will continue to work with lawmakers "to address the problem of the state's uninsured." "Because of organizations like St. John's and our mission in the community, the good news is we take care of people regardless of their insurance status," Scott said. "The problem is they end up receiving it in a fragmented way, in the most costly location the hospital emergency department. That impacts the whole community because those costs are shifted to the whole community." Through 2007, uninsured patient care in the emergency trauma center cost St. John's an extra $500,000 every month, St. John's administrators have said. As lawmakers address ways to expand coverage to low-income Missourians, Scott said, "...we will also continue to collaborate with others in the community to work on solutions that expand access to care for uninsured and working poor people." Under Blunt's initial Insure Missouri plan, coverage was expected to be available in March to working parents and caregivers with children who live at or below the poverty level $20,650 for a family of four.
Train woes ease in snow-wary China
A young boy holds his father's hand as they wait to buy tickets at the railway station in Beijing Sunday Feb. 3, 2007. Millions of Chinese are attempting to return home to their families in time for Chinese New Year celebrations in the coming week, but many have been stranded after snow storms disrupted transport networks in the central and southern parts of the country. (AP Photo/Greg Baker) .
Dramatic Plan for Language Programs
He portrayed the ideal mission of these programs as providing new professors (or other professionals) with a deep understanding of culture and current societies that goes far beyond the literary tradition. "Narrative isn’t an end in itself," he said. For an association where members have historically been more focused on the meaning of Cervantes or Pirandello than that of the Euro or a united Germany, these are potentially fighting words. And Geisler stressed that the changes needed couldn’t be accomplished with a smattering of film or media studies. In fact he said he was not impressed with the "audiovisual creep" already seen in some programs. Rather he said that the "nice and cuddly" study of literature had to be revised based on "a re-evaluation of the entire content." Specifically, he said that the Ph.D.
2 held, cops ‘unearth’ court blasts plot
The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force on Saturday claimed to have unearthed the plot behind the serial court blasts in Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi after the arrest of two alleged members of the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami. The two — Mohammad Tariq Kasmi of Rani Sarai in Azamgarh, and Khalid Mujahid of Madiyahun, Jaunpur — were caught near Barabanki station, 30 km from Lucknow, around 6.20 am. The cops claimed to have seized 1.25 kg of RDX and three detonators from Tariq and ammonium nitrate and three more detonators from Mujahid. Additional Director-General (law and order) Brij Lal said Tariq, who has been an active member of HuJI since 2003, was part of its administrative wing while Mujahid used to execute the assignments, which included planting bombs.
Heidi On Seal's Bits
Not literally, of course. That would be way to rudey-roo, even for us. But don't go thinking that makes this story all innocent. Heidi has been a-chatting about what it is that first attracted her to hubby Seal. Apparently it was a cheeky glance at his meat and two veg, all nicely packaged and on display in a rather lovely pair of hotpants. She told Oprah Winfrey: "I met him in a hotel lobby in New York City and he came in just from the gym and I was sitting there and I was, like, 'Wow.' "He was wearing bicycle shorts and I pretty much saw everything. The whole package." Well, oo-er, the very thought of it is sending us into a fluster. Still, we're sure she also loves him for his mind and soul as well as his body.
Jupiter-Saturn-like Planets Discovered In Faraway Solar System Like ...
Most theorists think that the biggest planet in our solar system formed at Jupiter's location because that is the closest to the sun that ice can form. Saturn is the next biggest because it is in the next location further away, where there is less primordial material available to form planets." "Theorists have wondered whether gas giants in other solar systems would form in the same way as ours did. This system seems to answer in the affirmative." The fact that astronomers found the planets during the first event that allowed such a detection suggests that these scaled-down versions of our solar system are very common, he added. Previously, astronomers had found four planets using microlensing; two of those were found by the Ohio State University-based MicroFUN group.
VOOM portraits bring Brad Pitt to Iowa City
Iowa City, Ia. - On an ordinary day in 1970, Sue Sheehy was working at Henry's, a burger joint across from the Old Capitol, when a customer stopped in and caught her eye.
"The boss wasn't around, so I was trying to impress him," she recalled. "I was carrying a tray of grease - very regally, I thought - when he asked me to be in his play."
Then a pause.
"I thought he was stark raving mad."
The customer, as it turned out, was a quiet man named Robert Wilson. .
NBA Celtics rally dooms Blazers
The low point came in Friday's 99-87 loss against the lowly Seattle Supersonics in which Portland shot just 37 percent from the field. "We're upset that we are losing, but we've been in this situation before at the beginning of the year when we were losing tons of games," Blazers guard Steve Blake said. "We just have to find a way to fight through it." In the first quarter Portland looked like it had broken out of its slump as the starting lineup of Blake, Jarrett Jack, Joel Przybilla, LaMarcus Aldridge and Roy seemed to gel. Right off the opening tip, Aldridge and Jack each drained jump shots. Roy scored twice, including on a 3-pointer to give Portland a quick 12-6 lead. Portland shot 3 of 6 from three-point range in the quarter. And the offense looked crisp, with Aldridge and Jack each scoring six points and Roy and Przybilla each scoring five.
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