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The women's short program and the pairs free were the events of the day at the 2008 ISU world figure skating championships in Gothenburg, Sweden on Wednesday.

New this year is the fact that there are no longer qualifying rounds for the women and men to determine the ranking and skating order for the short program. The ISU has reverted to a system whereby all of the competitors skate their short program and the top 24 go on to skate the free.

In total, 53 women performed their short programs and there were some real standouts. The leader is Italian Carolina Kostner, the European champion, who took the top spot with higher levels of difficulty in her spiral sequence and her spins than her next closest rival, Mao Asada of Japan. Teammate Yukari Nakano is in third and skated a very strong and sophisticated short program. She is followed in the standings by Finland's Kiira Korpi, South Korea's Yu-Na Kim and Canada's Joannie Rochette.

Interesting to note there is less than five points separating first from sixth place and only 0.18 separating the top two, which will We Buy Broken Cell Phones Ovw 19 for a very exciting event free skate final Thursday.

Who was St. Valentine? Was he someone that the Catholic Church acknowledged as a miracle worker and therefore bestowed sainthood upon him? Or was he a rabble-rouser who used love as a tool to offset injustice in a land of oppression? What does he mean to us?

Legends and opinion abound. Some believe Valentine was a priest during the third century A.D. living under the autocracy of Roman rule. As the story goes, when Emperor Claudius II decreed that young men must remain single in order to become good fighting soldiers, Valentine married lovers in secret and was eventually put to death for doing so.

Legends differ in the details of his actions yet agree that Valentine spent some time in a Roman prison and, perhaps, sent the first Valentine. He is reported to have fallen in love with a young woman who visited him in the Roman dungeon. Supposedly, before his death, he sent her a letter and signed it "From your Valentine." Hence, we have our present custom of sending cards and notes of love on February 14th with similar wording.

There are many additional stories surrounding the history of Valentine. His name's attachment to February 14th involves the Christian Church's desire to merge a religious holiday with a pagan ritual that occurred in mid-February. This holiday was called Lupercalia. It was celebrated on February 15th and involved a rite of purification prefacing a fertility festival in honor of the god, Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture. Valentine's theme of love and compassion merged easily with a pagan fertility celebration. Though the death of Valentine was most likely on a different date, we now celebrate his sainthood on February 14th as a day for romance.

No matter what the truth may be, all of the stories recognize the love, compassion, heroism and romantic nature of Valentine. He paid with his life for the love that he gave so selflessly. He is a model, an example, of how love exhibits itself. His recognition of the heart's desire to unite with another overcame an abusive and cruel law.

No matter which version of the Valentine story we decide to believe and make real for our own life, Valentine remains a model of altruistic love that can easily be seen as unconditional. When love contains conditions, it is not Free Web Domain Hostin And Websites Por Ww Then, it becomes something else. Valentine's love had to be unconditional if he was going to stand steady under the oppression of the times. He mirrors for us the demonstration of love in First Class Discount Airline Tickets Lik 58 finest form. It is the absolute and true giving of oneself with no conditions or restraints.

My bounty is as boundless as the sea,

My love as deep; the more I give to thee,

The more I have, for both are infinite.

-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Toni Elizabeth Sar'h Petrinovich, Ph.D. is a visionary, weaver of grace, quantum physicist and multidimensional traveler. She is the owner of Sacred Spaces in the beautiful San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State where she conducts personal sessions, retreats and etheric readings for all those drawn to the authentic Self. First and foremost, Toni challenges you to face the fears that are keeping you from living life. She is the author of The Call - Awakening the Angelic Human and its accompanying CD, DNA Re-Awakening. She does long distance healing, spiritual counseling, soul readings, light orb readings and chakra readings by appointment. For more information regarding Toni's work or to contact her by telephone or email, please see her websites: http://www.sacredspaceswa.com and http://www.angelichuman.com