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Vibrio vulnificus, a naturally occurring bacterium that thrives in warm seawater, is absorbed by filter-feeding oysters and is most often associated with severe illness and death in individuals with certain medical conditions, such as liver disease or cancer, who eat raw oysters. This is the leading cause of death from seafood consumption in the U.S. LINK

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MADRID (AP) — It was a short story, then a Hollywood movie. Now the tragic tale of cowboys in love is being reinvented again: Brokeback Mountain — the opera. LINK

Thieves broke into a small church in the mountains east of Rome over the weekend and stole a reliquary with the blood of the late Pope John Paul II. A custodian, Franca Corrieri, said she had discovered a broken window early on Sunday morning and had called the police. LINK

The gay and straight weddings were officiated by Queen Latifah (‘Whatever god you come from, we come from the same one’) while the hit song about equality was performed by the rap duo with Madonna hitting the stage with them, along with Mary Lambert and jazz artist Trombone Shorty. LINK

To millions of Christians, they are a symbol of peace. But to a pair of larger birds, the two doves released in the Vatican yesterday were nothing more than a chance for a bit of Sunday morning sport.  No sooner had the birds been set free in St Peter’s Square – as a symbolic gesture of peace for Ukraine – than they were set upon by a seagull and a crow. LINK

Our country finds herself on the brink of chaos. We are witnessing an escalation of confrontation and violence, which encompasses wider and wider circles of our citizens. We mourn and pray for the repose of the people who were killed during clashes or perished of illegal actions. There can be no excuse for murder, violence, LINK

“Thirty-five million Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed. Who was the instigator? Who was the troublemaker? It is all too clear.” LINK

It was a vast boat that saved two of each animal and a handful of humans from a catastrophic flood. But forget all those images of a long vessel with a pointy bow – the original Noah’s Ark, new research suggests, was round LINK

Never let it be said that Pope Francis doesn’t know how to bring the battle to the battleground. In an address to the CEOs and assorted financial hangers-on gathered this week in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual World Economic Forum, he admonished that “modern business activity,” for all its virtues, often has led to “a widespread social exclusion.”LINK

A Jesuit parish priest who marched in a homosexual parade is now citing Pope Francis to protest the dismissal of an Eastside Catholic High School vice principal following his same-sex marriage, according to the priest’s Facebook site. LINK

Father John Whitney, S.J., wrote in his piece entitled “The Acts of the Orange and Blue Apostles”

Pope Francis has declared war on those who aspire to provide a better life for themselves and their families, expressing the misguided snobbery of a man for whom money has never been an issue. In the first week of his papacy, when briefing the media, the pope exclaimed: “Oh how I long for a poor Church for the poor!” LINK

Sarah Silverman is a champion of abortion rights, but that hardly makes her a bigot. What makes her an anti-Christian bigot is her video that features her talking to a Jesus character about abortion. The language she uses is so vulgar—she ends with the “c” word about women—that it cannot be repeated on broadcast television, or republished in any respectable newspaper. LINK