Word: stoning
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...blessed perks of absolute monarchy. Pope Benedict XVI is one who knows them well. The 265th successor of St. Peter is the unchallenged head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, with the last word on everything from the naming of bishops to his regular rewritings in stone of the church's opposition to abortion, euthanasia and women priests. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, also carries a big spiritual stick as the leader of the world's 70 million strong Anglican Church. But his rule is neither monarchical nor absolute, since he is appointed by the Queen (or King...
...first had qualms about diamonds when I was about 10 or so. I remember holding my grandmother's hand and noticing that her wedding ring did not look like what I thought a ring should be. It was a large light blue stone. She couldn't even recall what kind and didn't seem to care. I asked her why she didn't have a diamond ring, and she replied that when she married my grandfather, people didn't give each other diamonds...
...When I was little, I remember holding my mom's hand and admiring her diamond engagement ring. I thought it was the prettiest stone I had ever seen and I really liked the way it sparkled in the sun. My mother loved it, and she often recounted how my father gave it to her. I guess he had bought into the marketing push because he had spent the two months' salary on the Tiffany setting. It was hard on them financially at the time but my dad said when he got down on one knee and my mom lovingly said...
...wasn't until hours later that we realized what happened to the ring. Sally had found it on the sink and had brought it to the beach with us during our walk. She confessed that she was wearing it with the stone turned down - sneaking peeks when no one was looking at the sparkle I liked so much. We did not notice. And we did not notice when she dropped the 1.5 carat diamond in the sand where it was never to be found again...
...about to wrap a string of organic hemp around my finger and call it a ring, I do sometimes wonder if a couple about to be married could better spend that money elsewhere. Interestingly, as Tom Zoellner writes in his book on the diamond industry The Heartless Stone, American men are expected to spend two months' salary, but for British men, it's only one month. Japanese men have an even worse deal: they're expected to spend three months of their hard-earned...