Scrolling around...March 11, 2013

The Vatican's 'Room of Tears' is ready for next Pope

Cardinals Arrive at Vatican Before Papal Conclave
Catholic cardinals at the Vatican gathered for their last pre-conclave talks Monday morning before shutting themselves into the Sistine Chapel to elect a successor to Pope Benedict...

Obama’s Approval Crumbles in…New York
...President Barack Obama’s approval rating in New York fell precipitously in the last month, according to a poll released Monday, and three-fifths of the state’s registered voters now believe the country is heading in the wrong direction...

In the beginning, 'The Bible' off to commanding ratings lead
...The sprawling series — a Greatest Hits of sorts, spanning from Genesis through Revelation — attracted more eyeballs that night than any other show on television. It ranks as cable’s most-watched entertainment program this year. Network executives reported unprecedented traffic on History’s website last Sunday, when #TheBible was a top trend on Twitter...

BBC lent talk compares Jesus' suffering with that of homosexuals
The BBC has broadcast a message by the founder of a gay news website comparing Jesus' abandonment by the Jewish people and God the Father with his own fear of abandonment by Jewish people and God for pursuing a homosexual lifestyle....

When We Lie about Praying for Others: Seven Thoughts
...It is not my intention to lie. It is not my intention to fail to pray for that person. I simply forget after I tell them...

Swordsman Shortage May Halt Saudi Beheadings
...A joint Saudi committee composed of representatives of the ministries of interior, justice and health is mulling the replacement of beheading with firing squads for capital sentences due to shortages in government swordsmen, Saudi daily Al-Youm reported on Sunday....

CDC Data Shows Alarming 16,000% HIV Risk Increase in the Homosexual Population
...The rate of HIV diagnosis in homosexual men is 6.67 higher than in heterosexual men. (78.7% / 11.8%). Using the higher CDC population estimate of 4% for homosexual men, there are 24X more heterosexual men. That means that homosexual men are 160X more likely to contract HIV then heterosexual men (6.67 x 24). The same analysis using the lower population estimate of 2% homosexual men yields a 327 fold increase in risk. Restated on a percentage basis, homosexual men have a 16,000% to 32,700% increased likelihood of contracting HIV over a heterosexual man...

Sitting is the new smoking
"What you're doing right now, this very moment, is killing you," she told the thousands of TED attendees seated in the Long Beach Convention Center. "Sitting is so incredibly prevalent, we don't even question it. Sitting has become the smoking of our generation."

‘Toaster Pastry Gun Freedom Act’ proposed in Maryland
A Maryland state senator has crafted a bill to curb the zeal of public school officials who are tempted to suspend students as young as kindergarten for having things — or talking about things, or eating things — that represent guns, but aren’t actually anything like real guns...

Women's falling life spans
A study published Monday in the journal Health Affairs suggests life span for women in some parts of the country is actually falling, a finding that generated a lively discussion among Wall Street Journal readers. On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal spoke with the authors of the study—David Kindig, a health-sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute, and Erika Cheng, a Ph.D candidate at the university—about what factors may be behind the result. Here is an edited excerpt...    [Of course, I never see abortion mentioned as a factor in the mainstream media.]