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Web sites give valuable tips

Looking for help drawing up a will? Need advice on estate planning? Looking to stay fit after 50 or spend more time with grandchildren? The World Wide Web offers a plethora of resources to help seniors and their loved ones answer those and many other questions related to aging.

Boy Scouts reunite after 45-plus years

Neil Lupton traveled from his home in Boston in early February to attend the Immaculate Conception, Towson, Boy Scout 50th Anniversary Celebration. It was there that he met up with four of his fellow troop members, Robert Carter, David Duley, Ed Bollinger and Michael Topper, whom he hadn’t seen for more than 45 years. The last time the whole group had been together in one place was when they were 11- years-old. Mr. Lupton, 61, said the anniversary celebration was well attended, well put together and an all around great time. He said the men sat around and reminisced about their days in the Scouts and their hiking and camping adventures.

Arlington bishop leads prayer service for Virginia Tech victims

ANNANDALE, Va. – Hundreds of parishioners gathered with Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde at Holy Spirit Church in Annandale April 22 for an evening prayer service for the Virginia Tech victims and their families. Many of those in attendance sported the Blacksburg university’s familiar colors of maroon and orange as a sign of solidarity with the community in the neighboring Diocese of Richmond. A university banner hung in the church vestibule and to the side of the altar.

Court hears arguments over issue ads in campaign season

WASHINGTON – A campaign finance reform law that limits certain types of “issue” advertising shortly before elections should not preclude ads that specifically mention a politician facing a tight election, the Supreme Court was told April 25 by the attorney representing Wisconsin Right to Life. In oral arguments on the court’s last day to hear new cases this term, attorneys for the federal government countered that ads placed by Wisconsin Right to Life about Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., were intended to persuade voters to vote against him, not simply to pressure the senator to end a filibuster against judicial nominees. That violates the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, said Solicitor General Paul Clement.

Religious groups band together to call for farm bill reforms

WASHINGTON – The U.S. bishops, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA, the National Catholic Rural Life Conference and Network, a Catholic social justice lobby, are joining more than a dozen other religious groups in advocating reforms in federal farm policy that could be implemented through the farm bill now working its way through Congress. The organizations have coalesced into a body called the Religious Working Group on the Farm Bill to propose changes in the legislation that they say would benefit farmers, rural communities and Americans’ nutritional needs.

Immigration 101: A Lesson in Compassion and Mercy Values

As the nation and Congress prepare for another round of debates about comprehensive immigration reform, I have been reflecting lately on the intersection between how we embrace immigrants in the United States and the Catholic values that I learned at Mercy High School, Baltimore. Leviticus 19:33-34 says “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be the same to you as the citizen among you.” So what does this mean for me and why should I care?

Making sense out of tragedy

Anyone who has faced trauma in his or her life can speak quite clearly about all of those feelings, because it is the living reality of any traumatic event. I would imagine that for many in Blacksburg, Va., and on the campus of Virginia Tech, many people have experienced if not all at least one of those feelings, and without a doubt before getting through the grieving process, will experience all of them.

To prosecute the rich and powerful

While lawmakers in Washington wrangle over the controversial firings of eight U.S. attorneys, the former U.S. Attorney for Maryland said he thinks public servants are being torn down just for doing their jobs. Thomas M. DiBiagio, the former U.S. attorney appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001, said he knows from first-hand experience what it’s like. He underwent stinging criticism for his high-profile, dogged pursuit of crime and corruption. And the high officials he confronted “pushed back,” he said, before he abruptly resigned in 2005.

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