Grill

Photo: Tony Cenicola
A stainless steel mini grill is $115 at mxyplyzyk.com or (800) 243-9810.

Manhattan

Photo: Tony Cenicola

Reading

California

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The California Supreme Court overturned a voter-approved gay marriage ban Thursday in a ruling that would make the nation's largest state the second one to allow gay and lesbian weddings.The justices released the 4-3 decision, saying that domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage in an opinion written by Chief Justice Ron George. Justices Joyce Kennard, Kathryn Werdegar and Carlos Moreno joined the majority. Outside the courthouse, gay marriage supporters cried and cheered as news spread of the decision.

In striking down the ban, the court said, "In contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual's sexual orientation -- like a person's race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he will support the decision. "I respect the Court's decision and as Governor, I will uphold its ruling," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "Also, as I have said in the past, I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling."

Illustrator: Leif Parsons

Click on image to enlarge

Robert Rauschenberg

Photo: Art © Rauschenberg Estate/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
"Canyon" 1959

Hudson

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
May the rain fall soft upon your field.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Celtic blessing

Bathe

The handmade Madera Ovales M4 tub is made to measure to fit a room and comes in woods like walnut ($41,000), shown; beech ($32,000); and teak or wenge ($52,000); (610) 831-0214 or wsbathcollections.com for information and retailers.

Illustrator: Christophe Vorlet

Lebanon

Photo: Mohammed Zaatari/Associated Press
Tires burned to block the highway linking Beirut with the coastal village of Jiyeh, Lebanon, on Thursday.

NYTimes:
The decision by the Lebanese government to shut down a private telephone network operated by the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah was an act of war and Hezbollah would defend itself, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, said on Thursday.

Chile

Photo: UPI (click on image)
An electrical storm in the gigantic ash column that rises from Chaitén volcano, reaching a height of 14 kilometers.

http://megagalerias.terra.cl/galerias/index.cfm?id_galeria=30734

Moscow

Photo: Pool photograph by Vladimir Rodionov

Dimitri A. Medvedev, the Kremlin insider and unprepossessing lawyer who had never held elected office before, was sworn in as Russia’s president on Wednesday inside the Grand Kremlin Palace. The ceremony, mixing czarist splendor with renewed Russian confidence, marked the passing of formal power from departing President Vladimir V. Putin to his young and untested protégé.

But the events also served as a tribute to the enduring stature and popularity of Mr. Putin, who Mr. Medvedev nominated as prime minister within hours of taking office.

Wolfgang Sirch

Flix Car
Available at greenergrassdesign.com

Athens

Photo: Yannis Kontos/Polaris for The New York Times
NYTimes:
In the last five years, the Gazi district — once the site of the city's gasworks, which blanketed much of the area with soot — has turned into the hottest area in Athens. A central square where a new metro stop opened last year is lined with bars, restaurants and cafes.

Most Unpopular President in History

From ThinkProgress:

A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll finds that 71 percent of the American public disapproves of the job President Bush is doing:

“No president has ever had a higher disapproval rating in any CNN or Gallup poll; in fact, this is the first time that any president’s disapproval rating has cracked the 70 percent mark,” said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

“Bush’s approval rating, which stands at 28 percent in our new poll, remains better than the all-time lows set by Harry Truman and Richard Nixon (22 percent and 24 percent, respectively) but even those two presidents never got a disapproval rating in the 70s,” Holland added. “The previous all-time record in CNN or Gallup polling was set by Truman, 67 percent disapproval in January 1952.”

Public support for the Iraq war has also dropped to 30 percent, an all-time low.