The International Atomic Energy Agency has released a new universal radiation warning symbol. While the old one was pretty abstract, this one incorporates the old symbol, along with "death" and the idea that you should run away. However, from the symbol it is unclear if the radiation will get you anyway....

[link]

eta: This is the best quote:

"We can´t teach the world about radiation," said Carolyn Mac Kenzie, an IAEA radiation specialist who helped develop the symbol, "but we can warn people about dangerous sources for the price of sticker."

sarameg , i hope it helps that I understand exactly what you are saying. I told DH a long time ago that I don't rant , and I don't lecture, I ask questions- and it is amazing how people that seem to have very different views than I do , actually don't really think that differently . ( helps that I believe that a pragmatic approach is often a good place to start)

Dad was kicked out of catechism(?) in the Lutheran chruch when he got in a theological argument with the priest which he was winning.

What is it with the Lutheran church? that is the church DH left in a very dramatic way.

You'd think priests following in Martin Luther's tradition might be a little more open to people voicing dissenting opinions about doctrine...

A friend D had a discussion with his daughter. D is an athiest, so is his daughter. But M asked D why he was so sure there was no god. His answer surprised him, but also clarified his own thinking . I have faith that there is no god. Knowing that he was speaking from a postion that he believed made him understand more of how others were speaking.

I end up in the more neutral corner because, although I do not have a belief in god, I figure it doesn't really matter. A belief in god will not change my behavior now, so if I find out later I'm wrong, well, I still wouldn't have done anything different because of god. ( and ETA: I don't see people behaveing better just because they do believe)

You'd think priests following in Martin Luther's tradition might be a little more open to people voicing dissenting opinions about doctrine...

But that was a long time ago. Like, ancient times. All that stuff is settled now....

I feel kinda weird for mentioning PMS in that context, but that's the only thing I can really compare, experiencewise. It's a certainty of emotion based on nothing else I know that drives me. It seems like comparing it to "being under the influence" but that's not my point. My point is that it is inherent. A drive you can't deny.

Mine is temporary, in PMS. But I can't explain the certainty of belief as some hormonal derivation. If I'm being my unspoken part, it's a possible part of being human, a part I don't share.

Goodness, I don't like speaking for fear of saying something that could end the dialogue.

IOGodN,

Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope are to be published this year, The Times has learnt.

The proposals have been agreed by senior bishops of both churches.

[link]

This is the coolest part:

As the Anglicans’ squabbles over the fundamentals of Christian doctrine continue — with seven of the conservative primates twice refusing to share Communion with the other Anglican leaders at their meeting in Tanzania — the Church’s credibility is being increasingly undermined in a world that is looking for strong witness from its international religious leaders.

They let primates in their church? Awesome!

but do the primates do the code monkey dance?

David, the Catholic Church no longer makes the non-Catholic convert in order to marry a Catholic in the church. One doesn't even have to be baptized these days.

I don't care so much about the ceremony mass and jazz, but all the pre-wedding counseling and stuff-- are there any non-catholics who have gone through it and can advise? Is anyone familiar with doing it with a foreign parish?

My DH was baptized Methodist and is basically non-religious. Me, Italian Catholic with old-school Italian father and that meant a church wedding. We had to do the Pre-Cana counseling, but we got it over with in a weekend (Engaged Encounter) versus meeting one-on-one with a mentor couple for 6-8 weeks. It was good in that it forced us to talk about some things that we had tiptoed around, and very eyerolly overall because the majority of the discussion was stuff that had already been hashed out. Oh, and you will get the requisite lecture on Natural Family Planning AKA "Why Birth Control is the Work of the Devil."

We live in the Metro DC area but got married in PA, in the church I attended while growing up. Because my parents are still members (and since I was baptized and confirmed there), it wasn't difficult to obtain permission to marry there.

He's Catholic, and I think his big thing is the whole formal ceremony and everything. I don't care either way, so if it's the one thing he wants, I'm inclined to go along with it. Not sure it'll be possible to get counseling in NY for a Phoenix wedding when his parish is in Dayton...and is Eastern Rite.

The counseling can be done anywhere. It was just easier to get in on the Engaged Encounter schedule for the Diocese of Harrisburg than it was for the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. We would have preferred to do it locally, but it was not to be. You should be able to obtain permission to get married in a Phoenix church (Eastern Rite or otherwise), as long as his parish in Dayton is willing to vouch for him, but you may not get your first crack at the prime dates/times.

bon, you are not going 'zilla too early. This is often the most difficult thing to figure out, and it determines what options are available for the reception. DH and I were engaged in June 2004, I had the church thing figured out by August, after getting my 4th choice of dates, and we were married in Oct. 2005.

Oh, and one thing you'll want to keep in mind is that most Catholic Churches will not hold weddings later than 2 or 3 in the afternoon, so it's either going to be an early reception or there's going to be a 2 hour lull in between. We had a 2 pm wedding with a 5 pm cocktail/6 pm dinner reception.

Feel free to email me if you've got other questions. My profile addy is good.

The Engaged Encounter website: [link]

One thing about the TAR all-stars: it's been suggested that some teams weren't asked back because they were a PITA for the crew to deal with.