March 12, 2013
Rest up for tomorrow, cardinals. No candidate received the two-thirds majority to be elected pope today.

Rest up for tomorrow, cardinals. No candidate received the two-thirds majority to be elected pope today.

2:56pm
  
Filed under: News World News Religion Vatican GIF Pope 
January 25, 2013
"Why parents are afraid to talk to their kids about sexual orientation: They’re either religious (in which case they should get over themselves about the whole thing) or stupid (in which case their wishes regarding the education of their children should be ignored). Why parents are afraid to talk to their kids about sex: They follow an absurd system of morality that claims that being human should be a source of shame. Advice to all of the above: Get over it. You live in a society that is moving forward, and you’re stuck in the 1950s. Re-examine your morality, because if you seriously think that two consenting adults being in love is somehow wrong, you are the problem. And if you’re the kind of person who thinks that it’s better to have abstinence-only education or none at all, thereby causing massive teen pregnancy rates, then you’re not the kind of genetic line that should be continued."

New York Times writer John Schwartz’s Son, Joe, on Growing Up Gay in 2013

January 24, 2013

theatlanticvideo:

The Artist Who Made a Career Out of Forgery - Dressed as a Priest

Directed by Terri Timely and produced by Brady Welch and Sophie Harris, the documentary above profiles an ingenious oddity, a man who has managed to dupe nearly 50 regional art institutions into accepting forged artwork.

January 14, 2013

Kumbh Mela: The Largest Gathering on Earth

Tens of millions of Hindu pilgrims are now descending on Allahabad, India, joining an estimated 8 million already there for the Maha Kumbh Mela. Held every 12 years at one of four places in India, the Kumbh Mela lasts nearly two months and is considered to be an especially auspicious time to bathe in the holy river for purification from sin. In 2001, the last time the festival took place, more than 40 million people gathered in an area smaller than 20 sq km (7.7 sq mi). This year, the predicted number of visitors tops 100 million. Collected here are images from the preparation and first days of the Maha Kumbh Mela, with possibly more to come in the next few weeks.

Read more. [Images: AP, Getty, Reuters]

3:33pm
  
Filed under: India Religion Photography 
December 12, 2012

Christmas Time Is Here

We’re about halfway through December, a time when many city streets start looking like they’re culled straight from a fairyland. Above, a smattering of sparkly, glistening, holiday decorations from around the world.

[Images: Reuters]

November 19, 2012

In Focus: Israel Steps Up Attacks, Gaza Returns Fire

Over the weekend, Israeli air strikes pounded dozens more targets in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas militants launched rockets into southern Israel and toward Tel Aviv. Israel’s recent air barrage has targeted individuals and buildings in more densely populated areas, and the civilian death toll is mounting. Local officials in Gaza have placed the death toll at more than 90 since Wednesday. International mediators are working hard to forge a deal that would lead to a truce. However, Israeli forces are still massing on Gaza’s border, and Hamas refuses to negotiate while Israel continues its air strikes. Gathered here are images from a weekend of violent exchanges between Israel and Gaza, with no clear indication whether the situation will worsen or reach a cease-fire any time soon.

November 17, 2012

See More from In Focus: Rockets Over Israel and Gaza

[Images: Reuters, AP]

November 16, 2012

In Focus: Rockets Over Israel and Gaza

Over the past few weeks, a slowly growing series of rocket attacks by Hamas on Israel, and retaliatory strikes by Israeli forces, has sharply escalated into a crisis. The skies over the Gaza Strip and southern Israel have filled with hundreds of rockets, missiles, and warplanes since Wednesday, bringing varying levels of destruction to the populations below. Tensions are growing as Israel’s military has called up thousands of reservists and deployed troops along the border. At the same time, Egypt’s new Prime Minister Hisham Kandil made an official visit to Gaza today. Meanwhile rocket attacks continued, setting off air raid sirens as far north as Tel Aviv.

Read more. [Images: AP, Reuters, Getty]

November 16, 2012
At Its Core, the ‘Twilight’ Saga Is a Story About ________

TO THE NAKED EYE, IT MAY APPEAR THAT: The Twilight saga is a story about love. And vampires. And family. And abstinence. And racism. And the founding of the Mormon faith. And orphans, in a really weird way.
BUT ACCORDING TO SOME EXPERTS WHO THOUGHT REALLY HARD ABOUT THIS: Twilight is a story about all of these things. And more things.

Read more. [Image: Summit Entertainment]

At Its Core, the ‘Twilight’ Saga Is a Story About ________

TO THE NAKED EYE, IT MAY APPEAR THAT: The Twilight saga is a story about love. And vampires. And family. And abstinence. And racism. And the founding of the Mormon faith. And orphans, in a really weird way.

BUT ACCORDING TO SOME EXPERTS WHO THOUGHT REALLY HARD ABOUT THIS: Twilight is a story about all of these things. And more things.

Read more. [Image: Summit Entertainment]

November 15, 2012

In Focus: Polygamists in the Rock

A small community of fundamentalist Mormons, about 15 polygamist and monogamist families, have established a unique home for themselves, living in modern homes literally carved into the side of a massive sandstone rock in the desert south of Moab, Utah. Rockland Ranch, informally called “The Rock,” was founded about 35 years ago by Robert Dean Foster, who set out to create a safe, remote space for a Christian community that embraced plural marriage. Large houses were built by using dynamite to blast caves into the sandstone cliff, then finished into relatively modern homes complete with running water, electricity, internet access, and more. Reuters photographer Jimmy Urquhart was recently invited to visit and photograph The Rock, and returned with these images, a rare glimpse into a unique Utah community.

Read more. [Images: Reuters/Jim Urquhart]

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