Pope Benedict XVI has approved canonization of Canada’s soon-to-be first aboriginal saint - Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha -

Pope Benedict XVI has approved canonization of Canada’s soon-to-be first aboriginal saint - Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha - 


Pope Benedict XVI has approved the canonization of Canada’s soon-to-be first aboriginal saint — Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.


On Dec. 19, the Pope met with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, and signed decrees recognizing the miracles needed for the canonization of Tekakwitha and Blessed Marianne Cope of Molokai.


He has also advanced the canonization causes of 18 other men and women, and formally recognized the martyrdom of 64 Spanish Civil War victims.


A public canonization ceremony has not yet been set because there must be an “ordinary public consistory.”


This is a formal ceremony attended by cardinals in Rome to show their support for the papal decision canonizing the new saints.




Tekakwitha was known as the “Lily of the Mohawks.”


Born in 1656 to a Roman Catholic Algonquin mother and a Mohawk father in Upstate New York, Tekakwitha later converted to Catholicism in her teens. She was baptized in 1676 at the age of 20.


She died in Canada four years later.


She is entombed inside the St. Francis-Xavier Church in Kahnawake, a Mohawk community near Montreal.


Tekakwitha became the first Native American to be beatified in 1980.


Read more -
http://life.nationalpost.com/2011/12/19/kateri-tekakwitha-set-to-become-canadas-first-aboriginal-saint/

Could your Facebook Friends actually affect your CREDIT rating? -

Could your Facebook Friends actually affect your CREDIT rating? - 




Traditionally, your credit score is determined by things like steady employment, paying bills on time, outstanding loans and number of inquiries into your credit history. But one lending firm is adding Facebook friends to the list.


How can your Facebook friends affect you’re ability to get a loan? Lenddo, a microlending firm based in Hong Kong, believes that the likelihood of your friends to pay back loans or not could be indicative of your habits as well.


The New York Observer’s Beta Beat has more on what the company says is “the world’s first credit scoring service that uses your online social network to assess credit”:


The company’s algorithm is proprietary and secret, said CEO Jeff Stewart, but the primary metric is what Lenddo knows about the people you’re friends with. “We think that in the age of the internet you should be able to establish your reputation and your identity through your social graph, through your on- and offline community, and use that to get access to financial products and information,” he said.
If Lenddo sees one of your best Facebook buddies took out a loan and paid it back, there’s a good chance you will too. “Our backgrounds are in machine learning and pattern recognition,” Mr. Stewart said. “It’s some serious math.
Beta Beat tested out getting a loan and was asked for its Facebook account, as well as Gmail, Twitter, Yahoo and Windows Live. It was then given a credit score. To apply for an actual loan, it would need to have at least three friends with connections to Lenddo and a decent credit history themselves.


Read more -
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/could-your-facebook-friends-actually-affect-your-credit/

HO HO: Widespread Obesity Forces Coast Guard to Lower Maximum Number of People Allowed on Ferries... -

HO HO: Widespread Obesity Forces Coast Guard to Lower Maximum Number of People Allowed on Ferries... - 




The United States Coast Guard has scaled back the maximum number of passengers allowed on a given ferry, resulting in a lower maximum capacity rate for commercial vessels such as the Savannah Belles Ferry.


According to documents provided to CBS Atlanta by the U.S. Coast Guard, the final rule for the “Passenger Weight and Inspected Vessel Stability Requirements” amendment goes into effect in March of 2012.


All companies in ownership of such vessels must make all applicable mandatory alterations before that time.


The aforementioned documents state that the final rule was passed to avoid any potential safety issues caused by the excessive strain of larger human cargo.


“The Coast Guard amends its regulations governing the maximum weight and number of passengers that may safely be permitted on board a vessel and other stability regulations, including increasing the Assumed Average Weight per Person … to 185 lb.,” the document states. “Updating regulations to more accurately reflect today’s average weight per person will maintain intended safety levels by accounting for this weight increase.”


This legislation has been several years in the making, starting when the U.S. Coast Guard proposed the amendment in 2008.


“A number of different design factors, including stability, limit the total number of persons permitted on a passenger vessel,” the final rule documents state.


These rules only apply to commercial vehicles. There are no such regulations in place for privately owned boats or other recreational water vehicles.


Read more -
http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2011/12/19/larger-waistlines-equals-smaller-capacity-for-commercial-water-transit/