He spent a chilly night near Blackfriars Bridge last week with Seyi Obakin, the chief executive of British homeless charity Centrepoint. William has been the charity's patron since 2005.

"I cannot, after one night, even begin to imagine what it must be like to sleep rough on London's streets night after night," William said Tuesday.

Obakin said they found a secluded spot - tucked away behind some garbage bins - and settled in for a restless night.

"But there was no shielding from the bitter cold, or the hard concrete floor, or the fear of being accosted by drug dealers, pimps or those out to give homeless people a 'good' kicking," Obakin said.

Has anybody else noticed the disappearance in the past year of the "anti-war protesters" who flocked to the Circle in "Old Orange" and other street corners in Southern California?

Even though our soldiers are still fighting in Iraq and the current president announced an increase of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, these self-righteous humanitarians have slunk back into their corners until the next time the Democratic Party summons them out to do their political bidding. Next election, just bring out your political candidate signs and spare us the sanctimonious hand-wringing.

Human exploitation of the Earth's resources has pushed it "to the brink" and the planet has reached a point of crisis that can only be resolved with global action, Prince Charles warned Tuesday.

In a speech to the UN climate conference in Copenhagen, Britain's heir to the throne -- a committed environmentalist -- warned world leaders gathering here that they must agree a "comprehensive" deal on climate change.

"The grim reality is that our planet has reached a point of crisis," he said, according to an advance copy of his speech released by his office.

Chester Johnson told WBZ-TV that his son made the drawing on Dec. 2 after his second-grade teacher asked children to sketch something that reminded them of the holiday.

Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross.

Johnson, who is black, told WBZ he suspects racism is involved.

He said he thinks the school overreacted and wants an apology.

An educational consultant working with the Johnson family said the teacher was also alarmed when the boy drew Xs for Jesus' eyes.

The boy was cleared to return to school on Dec. 7 after the evaluation found nothing to indicate that he posed a threat to himself or others.

In June 2008, a Taunton fifth-grade student was suspended for a day for a stick figure drawing that appeared to depict him shooting his teacher and a classmate.

"It's a question of visibility," said David Cato, who became an activist after he was beaten up four times, arrested twice, fired from his teaching job and outed in the press because he is gay.

The measure was proposed in Uganda following a visit by leaders of U.S. conservative Christian ministries that promote therapy for gays to become heterosexual.

However, at least one of those leaders has denounced the bill, as have some other conservative and liberal Christians in the United States.

The Ugandan legislation in its current form would mandate a death sentence for active homosexuals living with HIV or in cases of same-sex rape.

Anyone convicted of a homosexual act faces life imprisonment.

Anyone who "aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage of acts of homosexuality" faces seven years in prison if convicted.

Landlords who rent rooms or homes to homosexuals also could get seven years and anyone with "religious, political, economic or social authority" who fails to report anyone violating the act faces three years.

A protest against the bill is planned for Thursday in London; protests were held last month in New York and Washington.

Uganda's ethics minister, James Nsaba Buturo, said the death sentence clause would probably be reviewed but maintained the law was necessary to counter foreign influence.

"I feel that the bill is good and necessary, but I don't think gays should be killed. They should be imprisoned for about a year and warned never to do it again. The family is in danger in Uganda because the rate at which vice is spreading is appalling," said shopkeeper John Muwanguzi.

In South Africa, the only African nation to recognize [brideless or groomless] marriage, gangs carry out so-called "corrective" rapes on lesbians.

The Obama administration asked Congress today to give the federal government power to oversee the safety of subways, light rail and other urban train systems.

Currently there are no nationwide minimum standards for rail transit safety, only voluntary standards produced by industry groups.

LaHood also announced the formation of an advisory committee to help develop new safety regulations. The bill would allow states to receive federal transit assistance to staff and train safety inspectors to enforce regulations.

State agencies conducting oversight would be required to be fully financially independent from the transit systems they oversee. At some transit agencies, safety inspectors rely on the systems they oversee for their salaries.

The bill would also give the secretary of transportation the option to establish a safety program for public bus systems.

Transit systems carry 14 million passengers daily. That's more than airlines or long-distance passenger railroads, which both get federal safety oversight.

Nine people were killed and 70 injured in a subway accident in Washington in June. There have also been recent high-profile accidents on rail transit systems in San Francisco, Boston and Chicago.

One concern is the more than $50-billion maintenance and repair backlog at the nation's seven largest systems, which carry over 80% of rail transit passengers.

Rogoff held up a fist-sized, 65-year-old screw that he said was common in Chicago's transit system, forcing trains to travel no more than 6 mph in some locations or risk an accident.

Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) warned against “a tombstone mentality.” He said that if the government doesn't act until “people die, then it's too late.”

But I agree that children are better off being raised by a mother and father who are monogamous with each other. (By the way - if they aren't haven't sex with each other, that's not monogamy.) Monogamy reduces the possibilities of conflicts of interests between the parents and between parent and child, keeps loyalties and resources within the family, avoids paternity fraud and "illegitimate" half-siblings causing situational instability, and avoids STIs. It promotes bonding between the parents and keeps the parents focused on each other and in-tune with each other.

I'm confused...an organization whose purpose is to shepherd its followers in the way of the lord as revealed in the bible is choosing to elect "shepherds" who openly defy those teachings? Wouldn't that be like the democracy of the United States electing communists and fascists as its leaders? I have nothing against gays or even, in some cases, communists or fascists, but they should not seek to infiltrate and, eventually, pervert, the meaning of organizations whose beliefs are opposed to theirs. They could start their own religions, governments, etc. based on what they believe. That is, of course, what they would do if they were honest in their desire to worship God in their own way and not just activists trying to mess with the system. But what can you expect from a religion formed on a king's wish to divorce his wife?

I have nothing against intolerant so-called christians who prostrate themselves in idolatry before a BOOK written by men for men (Christ's message can be found therein but mostly in spite, rather than because, of its many writers and later-to-come manipulators/translators), but they should not have perverted the teachings of the original teacher: love one another.

It amazes me how the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles can get so much media attention. They barely have 70,000 members - with probably close to 20,000 attending each Sunday.

I am so sick of this "pick and choose" christianity.

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles today elected the first openly gay bishop since the national church lifted a ban that sought to bar gays and lesbians from the church's highest ordained ministry.

It appears that the Episcopal Church is capable of evaluating a person based on their qualifications, not their gender or sexual orientation.