In Other News...

Since we've been busy lately but don't want to neglect our blogly responsibilities, we thought we'd just give you a nice, neat list of some interesting news. Click the links for further details. Enjoy!


-The Pope is coming to America! Okay, so that's not the newest of news, but it's pretty exciting.


-Controversy! The Washington, D.C. Metro aired this ad in anticipation of heavy traffic during the papal visit to the U.S. Lots of people were pretty miffed. We love Pope BXVI and we think it's kind of clever.

-In this day and age, there are a lot of new ways to be sinful. Many new....creative....ways....to be sinful. For example....unnecessarily driving a Hummer is now a "deadly sin!" Okay, not in so many words, but the Vatican has reminded the faithful that with new technology and new global problems, there are new things that we need to keep in mind to avoid sin. Among these is the idea that being environmentally unfriendly is un-Godly. It's God's earth....be nice to it.

-(Disclaimer: the following is purely a Kristin moment.) I love coffee. I want to try this coffee. It's called Kopi Luwak, and the process is basically this:
Step 1: The luwak, a cat-like Indonesian animal, eats coffee cherries.

Step 2: The luwak....er....processes the coffee cherries.
Step 3: Nature runs its course, and brave people collect the luwak's droppings and make coffee out of them.
Apparently the luwak's digestive system makes the coffee taste really good.

-Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, was received into the Church back in December! Yay! (We know we're a little behind the curve as far as our timing is concerned. Give us a break, it's still cool. We promised you news, not necessarily up-to-date news.) This just goes to show that environmentally friendly political leaders can find a place in their hearts for Jesus and His Church.

-Okay, here's something a little more timely. Scientists have recently developed a new map that can pinpoint biodiversity hotspots. This is very good news for conservationists, because it can lead to new information about species that need protecting and the areas that will best support them.

-China's environmental activists are becoming more vocal, but facing the government is a dangerous prospect. Greenpeace has a Beijing branch that is hopeful about Chinese ingenuity starting an energy revolution worldwide.

-On the personal side of things: Audrey is spending the fall semester studying environmental-type things in SWEDEN, and Kristin spent this morning catching cute little birds (it was bird banding with a federally licensed individual, it was legit, seriously). Cool, ja!


That's all for now!!