Word: rites
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...That may sound obsessive, but sorting trash, Japanese-style, has become a rite of passage for responsible Tokyo citizenry. Gaggles of housewives think that being environmentally conscious is a trendy way to care for their families. Once Japanese people embrace an idea, they do so wholeheartedly. Environmental consciousness is no exception. Over the past 34 years, Japan has renewed a 25-yen ($0.25) per liter gasoline tax - anathema in the U.S. - four times. A decade after hosting the conference that led to the Kyoto Protocol, Japan will host the G-8 Summit on Hokkaido this year, which will focus...
...memory of Woods' victory in 1997 was the bear hug he gave his waiting father behind the 18th green. And, of course, at the award ceremony, the winner is not given a trophy but instead is presented with a green jacket by the previous year's champion - more a rite of initiation than an accolade. (Even at Augusta, however, there are limits to the old-fashioned quaintness: the jacket also comes with the very modern sweetener of around $1.3 million in prize money...
...recurring topic of Allam's articles were cases of Muslims who were threatened with death for seeking to convert to Christianity. And now, Allam has himself become a Roman Catholic, converting in a baptism rite inside St. Peter's Basilica, a ceremony conducted by no less than Pope Benedict XVI. Allam has held a unique public role as the most prominent Muslim commentator - and critic of Islam - right in the Vatican's backyard. Church officials may be pleased that Allam has so publicly joined the Catholic flock, but he is unlikely to become any kind of mediator in the Vatican...
...culture as well. The official Church line is that the decision for the Pope to perform the baptism himself was not extraordinary. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi emphasized that Allam was just one of seven adults baptized Saturday during an Easter vigil mass, saying that the Pope performed the rite "without making any 'difference of people,' that is, considering all equally important before the love of God and welcoming all in the community of the Church." Nonetheless, Allam's public conversion is another reminder that the Vatican is not shying away from the more prickly questions in its complicated relations...
...equation - and though the medical drawbacks are significant, they are not serious enough to become a real deterrent to expectant mothers. As surgical techniques improve and costs decrease, perhaps the reasons for preferring natural delivery will one day be intangible. It may become something akin to a rite of passage - the choice of a romantic, affluent minority. In fact, some already see it that way. When his patients choose to give birth naturally, even to the extent of refusing painkillers, "it's like they're climbing Everest without oxygen," says Dr. Paul Tseng, a gynecologist at Singapore's Thomson Medical...