My interest has flagged since he got into the whole Boston Tea Party and American Revolution thing, but it’s still pretty interesting.

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Infamous-Scribblers-Founding-Beginnings-Journalism/dp/B000MV8HMA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243520849&sr=8-1

And thanks for including the power-of-attorney argument. I find it galling that a (hypothetical) person I love and cherishe, and who loves and cherishes me, someone who knows me better than anyone else, might not be able to have any input into my medical care or even be present to offer support or comfort, whereas people I don’t particularly care for, don’t have much in common with, and do NOT share my thoughts and personal wishes with, WOULD be given those rights, simply because the latter group are “family” and the former person is a “legally unrecognized partner.” Especially when the lack of legal recognition is not just because we didn’t get around to it, or didn’t want to, or had personal reasons for not wanting to, but were legally PREVENTED from doing so.

That is a HIDEOUSLY constructed group of sentences, and I apologize for it/them, but hopefully you get the point. And I perhaps should add that I’m not gay, so the hypothetical doesn’t really apply to me, but… nevertheless. Basic human rights should be of interest to ALL humans, IMO, and I don’t have to “have a dog in that fight” to know that people should be treated equally and decently.

Could you please share the name and author of the book you are reading?

Thanks,

KMJ

Oh, and Amy my Archangel – Thank you for the compliments. You have a way of making me feel less brain dead with your kind comments to my incessant ramblings.

There are many other reasons people get married – let’s start with power of attorney. Most of the gay people I know who wish to be “married” do so because they have not been accepted by their families, yet if one of them were to be ill, in the hospital, the parter, unless “married” would have absolutely no say in making certain the ill partners wishes were handled.

Power of attorney would belong to the family.

Personally, I wish there were two different kinds of legal pairing – traditional marriage for those who want to do it, and a “civil union” for those who want the legalities that go along with traditional marriage, but are not interested in procreating.

I have been with my opposite sex partner for over ten years, and we are not interested in getting married. However, we may have to do it one day to secure the legalities of privilege, power of attorney, ect. I would choose a civil union over marriage vows any day.

But that is just me.

Your post is very eloquent, and goes back to the origins of the reasons for marriage, but those origins do not really fully fit into todays society. With marriage so easily dissolved, and over half of United States first marriages ending in divorce, where, exactly, is the ‘sanctity’ anymore? Heterosexuals burned that effigy years before gay people were even remotely comfortable admitting they were gay.

I’m just sayin’……

Reading some of the material that was printed in those days by people who considered themselves upright, moral, decent, rational-thought-driven individuals (such as a minister posting an advertisement offering a “comely Negro girl, 9 or 10 years of Age, well trained in all Household duties, and biddable” for sale) gives me hope and a firm belief that in the future – may it not be too far off – people will look at some of the legislation and rhetoric going around today and wonder how we lived with ourselves.

If ANYONE, ANYWHERE, could show me how giving a same-sex couple the right to marry would adversely effect, or impinge upon the rights of, anyone else, I would be willing to listen and consider. I have had this discussion with dozens of people, and the closest anyone can get to a valid reason is “retirement/death benefits and insurance costs,” but that argument falls apart quickly when confronted with numbers, and essentially boils down to “I don’t want my tax money to go to those creepy gays.”

As it stands, the arguments are largely “It gives me the creeps,” “It’s a sin,” or “It’s not necessary from a biological-imperative standpoint.” The first two are not even worthy of discussion; as for the last, there are a LOT of things that are “not necessary from a biological-imperative standpoint” that we endorse and protect anyway.

Also, considering that prop 8 affirms marriage, and it is not condemning homosexuality, I would say it is unfair to call its supporters homophobic. Prop 8 supports a defined institution as opposed to a loose one, in a civic sense this makes sense as marriage on a civic level is designed to secure relatioship that can be capable of creating a child. It originates from the only undeniable authority structure, that of a mother over a child, and the woman having an inherent interest to only breed with men who will assist in caring for their child… hence marriage. It is a mistake to simply apply the label of marriage to any two person adult relationship as it is more specific than that.

Back to the courts, they interpreted law, which is what they are supposed to do regardless of individual opinion. I think they made the right decision with this ruling.

Your site is a refreshing mixture of celebrity facts and other news interests

Thank you for the support, I knew you’d get it. I’ve always had broad interests and in the interest of stopping the site going stale, I am not afraid of throwing odd things in the mix and trying things out. How else will I know what the audience actually like…

I cannot imagine casting a vote saying that other people cannot be happy.

So brilliantly and succinctly put and I could not agree more!

As an erstwnile native Los Angelino, the only reason I started voting years ago was because a gay marriage proposal was on the table, and being naive, I was certain that it would pass. I registered, I voted, and I guess I forgot all about south of LA, Orange County and San Diego, and middle north, Sacramento and Modesto and the like – I believed the State of California was two cities – LA and San Francisco.

Talk about a shock of a reality check when it did not pass.

I was no longer in LA this round with Prop 8, but I was hounding everyone I knew to vote against Prop 8 – and to my shock, again, it passed.

I am so tired of this being an issue. If people want to get married, they should be able to get married, period. Nobody is getting hurt, and it is beyond my scope to understand a person or group of people that would vote against other people being happy when it is not hurting them one iota.

I really do not understand this world of intolerance we live in. Everyone just wants to have a little happiness, a little peace, someone to love.

I cannot imagine casting a vote saying that other people cannot be happy.

It is just sad and confusing.

I agree, the crowd deserve appreciation and they are always going to be discriminated against under the radar no matter what the legislature.

The smartest thing for nonstraights and their supporters to do is to move elsewhere. Do NOT dump $ into the pockets of admen and lawyers in futile retaliation! Take your money and livelihood to a place that appreciates it.