'MARRIAGE' NEWS- January 2007: The REAL Proposal For Marriage magazine

"Marriage In The News" is not a representation of The Real Proposal magazine...

The news articles and features presented below are simply an indication of how topical, controversial, and all-encompassing the issues surrounding marriage are throughout our society--and the world-- today. Some of the views and opinions expressed, and their respective web sites, do NOT reflect the views or opinions of The Real Proposal™ magazine. Many are highlighted largely to reiterate that the alarming statistical trends on the chaotic state of "Marriage" and "Family"--outlined in "A Mere Glimpse"--will continue unabated without a fundamental grasp and purposeful dissemination of TRUTH on the issues.

U.S. Women May See Independence in Singlehood Women's Enews, By Rivers and Barnett- WeNews commentators, January 31, 2007
Recent headlines have noted the growing singlehood of U.S. women, and the stories haven't all been celebratory. But Caryl Rivers and Rosalind Barnett say that single women no longer have the cards stacked against them and their status is sticking. . . . . . . Manipulating Census Bureau numbers and selectively interviewing anti-marriage academics, the Times created the story it wanted to report: marriage is dying in the U.S." . . . . But though the 51 percent figure that got the story on Page 1 seems shaky, we are indeed seeing a historic trend as more and more women remain single and do not rely on a husband for financial support. While class issues deserve attention, there is no denying that we're seeing a national phenomenon that is unlikely to fade away. . . . .We are still very much a marrying country; some 61 percent of women above the age of 30 are currently married. But there is no question that women--at least those with good incomes--are getting choosier. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? International Herald Tribune, By Kate Zernike, January 21, 2007

U.S. Women May See Independence in Singlehood.

Mary J. Blige Turns Her Life Around After Periods of Addiction, Promiscuity, Abuse and Thoughts of Suicide: Parade magazine, Feb 4, 2007 Issue

Mary J. Blige Turns Her Life Around After Periods of Addiction, Promiscuity, Abuse and Thoughts of Suicide Parade magazine, January 31, 2007
. . . . Mary credits her current husband, Kendu Issacs, with saving her life. “We met when I hated men,” she says. “He’s a great man—very smart and full of love, because his parents gave him love. I treated him so badly for a while, because I’d never experienced real love before. I was suspicious. It seemed too good to be true.” After Mary met Issacs, everything seemed to change in her life. “He was the first person to ever challenge what I did: ‘Why are you drinking? Why do you hate yourself? You don’t need to be around people who tear you down. You’re beautiful, Mary.’ He was the first man to ever tell me that.” . . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: BLIGE ADDRESSES MARRIAGE RUMORS IN JET MAGAZINE: Couple was vacationing in Mexico when they heard about the drama. EURweb.com, January 22, 2007

The Disastrous Effects of Match.com and What Women Can Do About It WASHINGTON POST, January 28, 2007
Jennifer Aniston. Christie Brinkley. Sheryl Crow. Teri Hatcher. Either dumped or cheated on in a most humiliating and public way. Every woman in the dating world has thought, "If it can happen to her, it can happen to me." While he's snoring away, we think quietly at night about what we can do to make sure it doesn't happen to us. We respond by trying to make our stomachs flatter, our boobs bigger, our faces prettier, and our clothes tighter and more revealing. We do everything possible to please our man. You prefer French cooking? Mais oui, mon cher! You want my hair long? No problem, I'll get a hair extension. Spending part of your vacation with buddies? Go have a good time. You don't want to be with my family on Christmas? I'll see you on New Year's Eve. Is that OK or would you prefer some other time? Do you like my mani-pedi'd, spray on tanned, liposuctioned, Pilates body? Can't commit? Oh, that's right. You're just not that into me. Or her. Or her. Or her. What the hell has happened? Three words. Match dot com. . . .

Domestic chimp, runaway bride Concord Monitor, By HILLARY NELSON , January 28, 2007
. . . . The same week Judy the Chimp was in the news, a splashy headline hit the front page of The New York Times: "51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse." The article, by Sam Roberts, analyzed the latest census data on marriage. For the first time in American history, more women are unmarried than married, 51 percent in 2005, compared with 35 percent in 1950. Pundits have gone nuts over this statistic, bemoaning it as a symptom of our decadent/uncaring/fractured (fill in the blank) society. It is true that there are troubling nuances in these statistics (for example, that 70 percent of black women are unmarried) that merit careful scrutiny by all of us. But you know, isn't it just possible that there are some people in the world (men included - there are almost as many unmarried men in this country as women) who, when the door unexpectedly opens, decide not to clean that metaphorical toilet? Isn't it possible some people are happier single?. . . . .

Catholic Church Out of U.K. Adoption Biz? Blair to unveil new plans in gay adoption row.

SPECIAL: Catholic Church Out of U.K. Adoption Biz?
Blair to unveil new plans in gay adoption row THE TELEGRAPH- UK, By Graeme Wilson, January 26, 2007
Tony Blair said this morning that he will announce proposals to resolve the gay adoption row next week after a Cabinet revolt forced him into a climbdown. In an unexpected move, the Prime Minister issued a brief statement which all but confirmed that he had bowed to his Cabinet ministers and ruled out giving Catholic adoption agencies an opt-out from new laws that would make it illegal for them to refuse to deal with gay couples. Instead, he is expected to introduce proposals - which will be voted on by Parliament next month - for a “transition” period of around a year to allow the agencies adapt to the new gay rights laws. . . . . Faced with a full-blown revolt, Mr Blair adopted a more conciliatory tone in today’s statement. “I have always personally been in favour of the right of gay couples to adopt. Our priority will always be the welfare of the child,” he said. “How do we protect the principle of ending discrimination against gay people and at the same time protect those vulnerable children who at the present time are being placed through, and after-care provided by, Catholic agencies, who everyone accepts do a great job with some of the most disturbed youngsters?” . . . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Cardinal writes to the Prime Minister and Members of the Cabinet re. Catholic Adoption Agencies The Catholic Church- England & Wales, January 22, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Letter from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Prime Minister Anglican Communion News Service, January 24, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Rise in Adopted Children Living With Gay Couples THE EVENING STANDARD- This is London-UK, January 19, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: 'Gay designer Gabbana is against same sex parents' THE EVENING STANDARD- This is London-UK, January 19, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Banned in Boston:The Coming Conflict Between Same Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty Cover Story- The Weekly Standard, By Maggie Gallagher, May 15, 2006 Issue

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Parenting Issues: Love of Learning: Which Children Have It Most NEW YORK TIMES, By Sam Roberts, January 24, 2007
Which children like school the most? Asians and girls and the children of parents who are married, make the most money, have advanced academic degrees and live in the suburbs of the Northeast. Those are also likely to be the same students who say they are most interested in their schoolwork and often work hard in school. Which are most likely to be enrolled in programs for gifted students? Children of better-educated parents. If one imagined a category combining the leading factors, it would be the daughters of married couples from the suburbs in the South whose parents’ income was above the poverty level. Those are some of the findings in the Census Bureau’s analysis, “A Child’s Day,” released this month. The report surveyed parents nationwide to analyze benchmarks of well-being for 73 million children under 18 from a 2003 review of income and participation in various government assistance programs. . . .

Love of Learning: Which Children Have It Most

Why Are There So Many Single Americans? International Herald Tribune, By Kate Zernike, January 21, 2007
THE news that 51 percent of all women live without a spouse might be enough to make you invest in cat futures. But consider, too, the flip side: about half of all men find themselves in the same situation. As the number of people marrying has dropped off in the last 45 years, the marriage rate has declined equally for men and for women. . . . . But when it comes to marriage, the two Americas aren’t divided by gender. And it’s not the career girls on the losing end. It’s their less educated manicurists or housekeepers, women who might arguably be less able to live on their own. The emerging gulf is instead one of class — what demographers, sociologists and those who study the often depressing statistics about the wedded state call a “marriage gap” between the well-off and the less so. Statistics show that college educated women are more likely to marry than non-college educated women — although they marry, on average, two years later. . . . Women with more education also are becoming less likely to divorce, or inclined to divorce, than those with less education. They are even less likely to be widowed all in all, less likely to end up alone. . . .

Women don't want men? Ha! Chicago Tribune, By Jeffery M. Leving and Glenn Sacks, January 21, 2007
The recent census data finding that for the first time the majority of American women are unmarried is being greeted in a largely celebratory tone. One newspaper explains, "Who needs a man? Not most women." MSNBC warns, "Watch out, men! More women opt to live alone." CBS says, "More women saying `I don't.'". . . . The message is clear--men don't measure up, and are no longer needed nor often even wanted. Since women have careers now, we are told, men's traditional contribution--financial support--has become largely irrelevant, and men do not now nor did they ever contribute much more than that. In reality, men give a lot to their families--as much as women do. The current trend away from marriage and toward divorce and/or remaining single has more to do with overcritical women and their excessive expectations than it does with unsuitable men. . . .

RELATED BLOG: If 'Marriage' is dead, America's got a real problem! The Real Proposal magazine, January 22, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Married people are happier than unmarried people... so this country's got a problem Kennebec Journal- Morning Sentinel, By Joseph R. Reisert, January 19, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Journalistic Malpractice in "Marriage is Dead" Report The Michael Medved Show, Posted by: Michael Medved, January 17, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: 51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse International Herald Tribune- NEW YORK TIMES, By SAM ROBERTS, January 16, 2007

Gay marriage support growing among young adults: Survey
(Gay) Study shows ‘Generation Next’ more open minded than older Americans Washington Blade, By JOSHUA LYNSEN, January 19, 2007
In the five years he’s lectured on same-sex marriage, Michael Ryan has detected a trend. After each lecture, a handful of students tell him the class forced them to rethink their position on the issue. And in many cases, he said, those students go on to say they now support marriage equality. “I would love to take credit for that,” said Ryan, who is gay and gives guest lectures regularly on same-sex marriage at the University of Maryland and elsewhere. “But it really belongs to the information itself, not my presentation of it.” The apparent growing acceptance of same-sex marriage among young adults is reflected in a new Pew Research Center study. According to the study released last week, an estimated 47 percent of adults ages 18-25 support allowing gays and lesbians to marry. By comparison, an estimated 30 percent of adults age 26 and older back marriage equality. . . . .

RELATED STUDY: A Portrait of "Generation Next": How Young People View Their Lives, Futures and Politics The Pew Research Center, January 9, 2007

Married people are happier than unmarried people... so this country's got a problem.

Married people are happier than unmarried people... so this country's got a problem Kennebec Journal- Morning Sentinel, By Joseph R. Reisert, January 19, 2007
The New York Times reported this week that, according to the U.S. Census, married women living with their spouse are now a minority of all women. The Times presented these results in a generally upbeat front-page story full of anecdotes about happily single, divorced, and widowed women who love the freedom that comes from being unattached. . . . Although we probably all know some woman or some man who is happy to be single -- who, like the women quoted in the Times, delights in not having to share the remote control or to pick up someone else's dirty socks -- there is reason to believe that such people are the exception, not the rule. . . . The results of the happiness survey provide good reason to be concerned about the trends reported by the Census Bureau. . . . . Such large-scale societal trends as these are typically the product of large-scale social forces, which create short-term incentives for doing what is not in our long-term best interest. Rather than celebrate the increasing number of single-person households, policymakers should recognize instead the fragility of marriage as a social institution and seek ways to encourage women and men to embrace it once more.

RELATED ARTICLE: Are We Happy Yet? Pew Research Center, February 13, 2006

Canada gay-wedding central
More and more same-sex foreigners are flocking to Canada to tie the knot THE CALGARY SUN, By Kathleen Harris, January 18, 2007
-- Foreigners are flocking to Canada to have legal same-sex marriages, according to a new report that shows more than half of recorded gay weddings were couples from abroad. StatsCan data on 2003 nuptials, which included gay couples for the first time in Canadian history, found 3.5% of the 22,000 marriages in B.C. were between people of the same sex. And nearly 56% of those were non-residents of Canada. . . . When the data was collected, Canada was the only country in the world that allowed same-sex marriages between people who weren't residents. While the marriage is often not legally recognized in the couple's home country, Hasselriis said it is symbolically important for them. . . . But, Brian Rushfeldt, executive director of the Canadian Family Action Coalition, called it a "misuse of a system" for foreign gay couples to use Canada in a bid to shape their own country's laws. "To me, it's unconscionable, he said. "Why, why is Canada issuing marriage licences to people from another country? "We wouldn't issue a business licence to a company that had no intention of staying in the country." . . . .

SEE RELATED STATISTICS: STATISTICS CANADA

Reforming No Fault Divorce (Part 2) Ethics & Religion, By Michael J. McManus, January 17, 2007
"For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one," reported The New York Times this week on page 1. "In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000." These numbers are somewhat misleading. Oddly, Census data includes all females over the age of 15. If only adults over 18 are counted, 52% of women are married. However, the increase of women without husbands is indisputable. Why? It's not due to an increase of widows, who were 11.8 percent of women in 1950 but only 9.4 percent in 2005. Divorce is the major reason fewer have husbands. . . . Secondly, there has been an alarming increase of never-married people. . . . What is not widely recognized is that these trends feed upon each other. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: DIVORCE LAW: Foundation Wants Stricter Rules for Splits Washington Post, By Tim Craig, January 5, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Mutual Consent: A Major Divorce Reform Ethics & Religion, By Michael J. McManus, January 10, 2007

Journalistic Malpractice in "Marriage is Dead" Report The Michael Medved Show, Posted by: Michael Medved, January 17, 2007
On Tuesday, January 16th, 2007, the American people awoke to startling and disturbing news: for the first time ever, the majority of women in the country were living without a husband. All the TV networks, radio news broadcasts, pundits, talk show hosts and leading newspapers reported on the devastating milestone, and saw it as yet another indication of the ongoing collapse of the traditional family. Some commentators hailed this development as an encouraging sign of newfound freedom, while others decried it as a reflection of decadence and dysfunction. With all the debate and pontification about the new minority status of married women, it’s just too bad that no significant media outlet (beyond this writer, on my nationally syndicated radio show) made the single most important and salient observation about the big news--- That is, it’s not true. . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Focus Calls New York Times on Anti-Marriage Bias; Paper Distorted Census Data to Report That Marriage No Longer Matters in the U.S. PR Newswire, Jauary 17, 2007

Journalistic Malpractice in Marriage is Dead Report.

RI Supreme Court Sends Gay Marriage Case Back To Lower Court WCSH6.com, January 17, 2007
The Rhode Island Supreme Court has questions about what is believed to be that state's first gay divorce case. Margaret Chambers and Cassandra Ormiston were married in Massachusetts. They filed for divorce last year in Rhode Island, where the law is silent on gay marriage. . . . An attorney for Chambers says he believes the court wants to make sure the case is legitimate, and isn't being used as a way to legalize same-sex marriage in Rhode Island. . . .
Madison OKs swearing-in statement protesting gay marriage ban Pioneer Press- AP, By RYAN J. FOLEY, January 17, 2007
MADISON, Wis. - In the first protest of its kind in the U.S., Madison leaders will be able to denounce the state's new constitutional ban on gay marriage when they take their oath of office. The city council voted 14-4 on Tuesday night to allow hundreds of elected and appointed officials to add a statement saying they are taking the oath under protest because the amendment "besmirches our constitution." The statement also includes a promise to work to overturn the gay marriage ban and prevent discrimination resulting from its passage. . . . . But critics said adding a statement to the oath sends a dangerous signal that city officials will only uphold the parts of the constitution that they support. Council member Jed Sanborn said he voted against the gay marriage ban but found it inappropriate to tinker with the oath. "You take an oath to affirm a system of government where elected leaders follow the law and not their own personal whims. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Don't tamper with oath of office Wisconsin State Journal- Editorial, January 14, 2007

Brown's Will Preceded Wedding, Son's Birth: Godfather Of Soul's Estate Leaves Out 5-Year-Old, Divided Among His Other Six Children.

Brown's Will Preceded Wedding, Son's Birth
Godfather Of Soul's Estate Leaves Out 5-Year-Old, Divided Among His Other Six Children ShowBuzz- CBS News-AP, January 16, 2007
James Brown's will, which was read last week, excludes his partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, and their 5-year-old son. It was drawn up 10 months before the child's birth and more than a year before their marriage, a newspaper reported Tuesday. The will was signed Aug. 1, 2000, Strom Thurmond Jr., Brown's probate attorney in Aiken, S.C., told The Augusta Chronicle. Brown, who died last month in Atlanta at age 73, married Hynie in December 2001. James Brown Jr. had been born six months earlier, on June 11. . . .

NY Times Study On Women 'Living Without Spouse' Included 15-Year-Olds Newsbusters.org, Posted by Dave Pierre, January 16, 2007
This morning, NewsBusters' Mark Finkelstein reported (here) how CBS anchors yucked it up over a front-page story in today's New York Times that blared, "51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse." This study is nothing to laugh at. It's incredibly misleading, if not dishonest. The Times got their numbers from the Census Bureau's new American Community Survey, which surveyed "117 million women over the age of 15." Wait a minute. "Over the age of 15"? Is it really a surprise that millions of 15-20 year-olds are "living without spouse"? It shouldn't be. . . . . . for what it's worth, 1996 census report on marriage and divorce (pdf file) stated that "nearly everyone marries" (at least once during their lifetime). . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: 51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse International Herald Tribune- NEW YORK TIMES, By SAM ROBERTS, January 16, 2007

RELATED SURVEY: 2005 American Community Survey Data Profile Highlights

NY Times Study On Women 'Living Without Spouse' Included 15-Year-Olds.

51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse International Herald Tribune- NEW YORK TIMES, By SAM ROBERTS, January 16, 2007
For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results. In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000. . . . In addition, marriage rates among black women remain low. Only about 30 percent of black women are living with a spouse, according to the Census Bureau, compared with about 49 percent of Hispanic women, 55 percent of non-Hispanic white women and more than 60 percent of Asian women. . . .

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Author Blames 9/11 On 'Cultural Left' Newsmax.com, By Paul Crespo, January 16, 2007
When it comes to laying blame for Sept. 11 – the greatest attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor – one of America's foremost thinkers says it doesn't lay with the terrorists. Instead, America's enemies are right beneath our noses. Dinesh D'Souza identifies them as our "cultural left.". . . . While D'Souza admits many Muslims irrationally hate Israel and some specific aspects of U.S. foreign policy, he argues that the growing anti-Americanism abroad is directed more at the global spread of our debased pop culture and the leftist political ideas that liberals so proudly defend. Family collapse, "gay marriage," licentiousness, pornography, abortion on demand, the war against religion in the public square – are all threats to traditional values in the West, as well as in the Muslim world. Though many Muslims believe their fight is against "America" and the West, they are really fighting the secular left. . . . .So far some in America's cultural left have gone into pre-emptive apoplectic rage based solely on the publisher's introduction letter. For example, James Wolcott of Vanity Fair, who seems not to have read the book, admitted he took an "instant animus" against it. . . .

Parenting Issues: Programs just produce `trophy child' Akron Beach Journal, By John Rosemond, January 16, 2007
Q: In my hometown, various enrichment programs for children under 3 are proliferating. A 2-year-old can take ballet, music or yoga, or join a soccer team, among other options. Even newborns can be signed up for Kindermusik or Gymboree classes. I've always considered these classes a waste of money, but worry that I might be setting my toddler up for a lifetime of failure (which is the implication in the literature of many of these programs) if I don't put her in an expensive class right now. Is there any real benefit to these programs, or are they a general waste of money? Are parents denying their toddlers important developmental skills by not forking out the big bucks for ballet or music classes? . . . .

A: . . . . Personally, I admire Tiger more for his grace, manners, apparent humility, and that he seems to have formed a stable marriage, than I do for his golfing skills. . . . .

Newlywed know-how: Young couples flocking to magazines and message boards to find answers.

Newlywed know-how
Young couples flocking to magazines and message boards to find answers Lawrence Journal-World, By Tanya Barrientos - The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 15, 2007
The honeymoon’s over. Now what? There’s the daunting task of living life as a couple, real life, as in: he takes money out of the ATM and doesn’t tell her, while she leaves wet clothes in the washer. Life with compromises on everything, from what to watch after Entertainment Tonight to agreeing what to hang on the walls as art. Call these the adult version of the ’tween years — when men and women are no longer single, but not yet parents. When they’ve moved out of the bridal magazine set, but aren’t quite ready for the backyard swing set. . . . . But chiefly because of the Internet, it has become a prime target for Web site chatter, advice books, and at least two new magazines — the Nest and Tango — offering young lovers how-to, don’t-ever, and oh-no-you-didn’t advice on making the heart grow fonder. . . . Psychologist and relationship therapist Karen Sherman of New York says she thinks "committed couples" magazines will be successful because the market is big and very needy. . . .

Gays and lesbians put their own stamp on the wedding industry St. Petersburg Times- AP, January 15, 2007
He's no celebrity, but when Phillip McKee III tied the knot in September, he did it with all the pomp and circumstance of an A-lister: Custom-designed gold rings, a $2,000 kilt and a caviar-and-crepe reception at a five-star hotel. McKee, 34, sank about $60,000 into his Scottish-themed nuptials, worth it he says for the chance to stand before a minister and be pronounced husband - and husband. Even as lawmakers across the nation debate legislation banning same-sex marriage, couples are uniting in weddings, fueling a growing industry peddling everything from pink triangle invitations to same-sex cake toppers. . . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Rainbow Wedding Network and Out In America Create Alliance to Target Same-sex Wedding Market ClickPress (Press Release), January 10, 2007

Gays and lesbians put their own stamp on the wedding industry.

Don't tamper with oath of office Wisconsin State Journal- Editorial, January 14, 2007
It's anti-democratic, arrogant and shortsighted. That's why the City Council should unequivocally reject a proposal to permit city officials to modify their oath of office so they can protest Wisconsin's new constitutional ban against gay marriage. UW-Madison political science professor Howard Schweber correctly warned that the proposed anti-oath would allow officials to "come perilously close to saying (that) in their duties they will ignore the law or alter the law when it conflicts with their personal principles. "That is a fundamental breach of the duty of office." . . . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Madison Wisc. Approves Gay Marriage Protest Oath 365Gay.com, January 17, 2007

Dr. Laura is in:
HER OLD-FASHIONED VIEWS APPEAL TO LEGIONS OF LISTENERS, READERS MercuryNews.com, By Brad Kava, January 15, 2007
Radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger is on the phone, about to do a book signing in El Cajon, when she gets the news that in its first week out, her book ``The Proper Care & Feeding of Marriage,'' is No. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list. ``Boy, how cool is that?'' says Schlessinger giddily, showing off the laugh, timing and humor that have made her one of the top talk show hosts in the country. . . . And her latest book, which castigates feminism with an Old Testament-like wrath and suggests that women should do more to honor their husbands and men should do more to support their wives, is her ninth bestseller, despite the fact that publisher Harper Collins releases her books in January when many readers are honoring New Year's diet resolutions. . . .

Married couples want divorce to be harder The Sunday Times Online- UK, By Jack Grimston, January 14, 2007
BRITONS have turned against four decades of liberalisation in the divorce laws by calling for break–up to be made harder. In a poll published in today’s Sunday Times Magazine, a majority of two to one married people backed the statement “divorce in Britain should be made more difficult” — 45% were in favour and 21% against. There were smaller majorities among single divorced people and those cohabiting. The results suggest a hardening of attitudes since a similar poll in 1983, with a significant increase in the numbers believing divorce should be made harder. The poll also suggests that, despite the decline in the numbers marrying, it remains the “gold standard” of relationships. . .

Married couples want divorce to be harder.

Senior divorce rate rises, causing unsettling problems Northwest Herald- CT, By Korky Vann - The Hartford Courant, January 14, 2007
A couple in their 90s who had decided to divorce sought the advice of a lawyer. “You’ve been married so long,” said the lawyer. “Why on earth would you split up now?” “We were waiting for the kids to die,” came the reply. Call it “late-life divorce black humor.” And in a surprising number of cases, call it not so far from the truth, says author Deirdre Blair, who says she heard variations on the story from lawyers, family members and divorcing seniors themselves while researching her book, “Calling It Quits: Late Life Divorce and Starting Over,” . . . . The book explores what an AARP Magazine survey referred to as the “groundbreaking” and growing trend of late-life divorce and provides an insider look at life in the years after the end of a long-term union. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Longstanding couples give up on marriage The Age, Australia, By Sarah Price, Sept 9, 2006

RELATED STUDY: Gender, the Marital Life Course, and Cardiovascular Disease in Late Midlife JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY- Volume 68 Page 639- August 2006, By Zhenmei Zhang and Mark D. Hayward

Former Miss World and leading Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai and fellow star Abhishek Bachchan are engaged to be married.

Aishwarya Rai engaged to Bachchan BBC News.com, By Monica Chadha, January 14, 2007
Former Miss World and leading Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai and fellow star Abhishek Bachchan are engaged to be married, it has been confirmed. Ms Rai's secretary Hari Singh confirmed to the BBC a ceremony had taken place on Sunday evening at her home in the city of Mumbai (Bombay). The confirmation ends frenzied speculation in the Indian media about the couple. Rumours were sparked when the stars visited a Hindu temple in November. . . . She was featured on the cover of Time magazine in 2003 as Bollywood's leading lady and was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and David Letterman. . . .

Patrick Dempsey's marriage counselling SoFeminine.co.uk, January 12, 2007
He plays a dreamy doctor with plenty of adoring female patients in Grey's Anatomy, but in real life, actor Patrick Dempsey's number one priority is his young family. "Fatherhood is the most important thing. Everything else is a joke," says the actor during an interview at his home. Patrick and his wife Jillian, a makeup artist, are the parents of a four year-old daughter, Talula, and are awaiting the birth of twins. "Now, making money is about providing for my children. And being a father makes you look at yourself. You look at your marriage and go 'How do I improve this? How do I keep growing and create a stable environment for my children?' . . . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Patrick Dempsey: "I've Come A Long Way" Life magazine, By Margy Rochlin, February 2007 Issue

RELATED ARTICLE: What's it like to be married to McDreamy? Jillian Dempsey tells all. Life magazine, By Margy Rochlin, February 2007 Issue

'Married With Children' Mom Katey Sagal, 49, Has Baby Girl FOX News-AP, January 13, 2007
— It's a girl for former "Married With Children" TV mom Katey Sagal. The 49-year-old actress and her writer-producer husband Kurt Sutter, 43, welcomed their first child together on Wednesday, Sagal's publicist Cara Tripicchio said. Daughter Esme Louise Sutter was born via a surrogate in Los Angeles, Tripicchio said. Sagal also has a 12-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son from a previous marriage. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: The fertility lottery Sunday Business Post- Ireland, By Jennifer O'Connell, January 14, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: 'Embryo Bank' Stirs Ethics Fears: Firm Lets Clients Pick Among Fertilized Eggs The Washington Post, By Rob Stein, January 6, 2007

'Married With Children' Mom Katey Sagal, 49, Has Baby Girl.

RELATED ARTICLE: Grappling with the Moral Dimensions of Advances in Assisted Reproduction University of British Columbia, By Prof. Judith Daniluk (Dept. of Education and Counselling Psychology and Special Education, Faculty of Education), January 4, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: The Parent Hood: How technology and social progress are turning procreation into self-actualization. The Daily Standard, By Claudia Anderson, December 4, 2006

RELATED ARTICLE: The Revolution in Parenthood: The Emerging Global Clash Between Adult Rights and Children's Needs AmericanValues.org

Louise Brown: World's 1st test tube baby gives birth

First test-tube baby becomes a mother The Daily Mail- UK, January 12, 2007
Louise Brown, the world's first test-tube baby, has given birth to a child of her own, it was reported last night. The baby was said to be a boy. Louise, 28, an administrative assistant, and her husband Wesley Mullinder, 37, were said to be delighted at his safe arrival. A family friend said last night: 'She and Wesley are over the moon. It's what they've always wanted.' The birth of Louise on July 25, 1978 made headlines around the world. It was the culmination of 12 years' research by a British team headed by Dr Robert Edwards and Dr Patrick Steptoe. . . . . Unlike her parents, Louise was able to conceive naturally and did not need IVF treatment. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: First test-tube baby has baby The Sun- UK, By JOHN COLES, January 12, 2007

Man who wants wife’s last name files lawsuit
Husband sues California for discrimination because of complex process MSNBC.com- AP, January 12, 2007
- Mike Buday isn’t married to his last name. In fact, he and his fiancée decided before they wed that he would take hers. But Buday was stunned to learn that he couldn’t simply become Mike Bijon when they married in 2005. As in most other states, that would require some bureaucratic paperwork well beyond what a woman must go through to change her name when marrying. . . . Bijon, 28, approached Buday about the idea when they were dating. She had no brothers but wanted to prolong the family name. Buday, a 29-year-old developer of interactive advertising, was estranged from his own father and was not attached to his own last name. “I knew immediately it was pretty important to her or else she wouldn’t have brought it up,” Buday said. . . .
New Jersey Civil Unions & Discrimination Law iMAP- marriagedebate.com, Posted by William Duncan, January 11, 2007
Yesterday, the New Jersey attorney general issued an opinion titled “Whether Public Officials and Religious Figures May Decline to Exercise Their Authority to Solemnize Civil Unions.” For public officials, the opinion says they may decline to solemnize both marriages and civil unions but if they are “available generally” to solemnize marriages they must also be available to solemnize civil unions. If they solemnize marriages but not civil unions, they will be in violation of the state Law Against Discrimination. The reasoning is that “the availability of a public official to solemnize a marriage or civil union” is a public accommodation. The attorney general will bring an action against a public official who violates this law. The opinion also says that the LAD “does not apply to the administration of religious rites by members of the clergy.” Religious organizations are not places of public accommodation under New Jersey law. The opinion also says that clergy refusal to solemnize civil unions does not raise any constitutional issues. Thus, clergy can still solemnize marriages without also solemnizing civil unions. . . .

RELATED DOCUMENT: NJ Attorney General opinion

Editor's notebook: Thanks, but I'm resolved not to change a thing Rocky Mountain News, January 12, 2007
Most new year's resolutions have the shelf life of an overripe banana - which is why I make a conscious effort every January to leave myself just the way I am. It isn't easy, mind you. This month, as every January, brings a glut of self-improvement books determined to make me a better person. They implore me, for example, to "Eat Right, Stay Young, Feel Great and Look FABULOUS," when I'd just as soon devour a Hostess cupcake, ignore my age and plop myself onto a couch that looks FABULOUS! . . . . I could solve marital difficulties without saying one word to my spouse - all by taking the advice of Dr. Patricia Love. Love has been married "a total of 36 years" spread over 3 divorces, which, admittedly, might make one doubt her expertise. . . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: If You’re Battling the New Year’s Blues, Remember Your Many Blessings – and Be Grateful Black America Web.com, By Joseph C. Phillips, January 02, 2007

RELATED BLOG: Battling The New Year's Blues? The Real Proposal™ magazine BlogSpot, Posted by Donna Kassin, January 11, 2007

Editor's notebook: Thanks, but I'm resolved not to change a thing.

Parenting Issues: With stronger home lives, more students are 'on track' The Washington Times, By Cheryl Wetzstein, January 11, 2007
More American children are "on track" academically and live in homes where parents set rules on television viewing than a decade ago, according to a new federal snapshot on the well-being of children. The Census Bureau report -- the third of its kind -- also shows that most children younger than 18 still eat dinner every day with their parents . . . . "Family meals are still the norm in the American family," said Brett Brown, a researcher at Child Trends Inc., which recently issued a paper on the importance of eating together. Teens who eat regularly with their families are more likely to do well in school, delay sexual activity, have better mental health and are less likely to get into fights, think about suicide or smoke, drink or use drugs, he said. . . .

Parenting Issues: Growing Up Without Siblings May Not Be the Ideal The Ledger- FL, By ADRIENNE JOHNSON MARTIN- Raleigh News & Observer, Jan 11, 2007
- When in 2002, Deborah Siegel and Daphne Uviller met through a mutual friend they bonded easily. They were both writers, and women of about the same age. But there was something less tangible to tie them, too: They were "onlies," adults who had grown up without siblings. Siegel, who grew up in Chicago, had mixed feelings about being an only child, sometimes feeling smothered by her parents, other times fearing leaving them behind. Uviller, a New Yorker, reveled in her status; her nightmare was that her mother might get pregnant. The dueling characteristics of the only child - lonely or independent? precocious or smart-mouthed? clingy or loyal? - and the women's divergent perspectives, they decided, had the makings of a book. . .

Parenting Issues: A Portrait of "Generation Next"
How Young People View Their Lives, Futures and Politics The Pew Research Center, January 9, 2007
A new generation has come of age, shaped by an unprecedented revolution in technology and dramatic events both at home and abroad. They are Generation Next, the cohort of young adults who have grown up with personal computers, cell phones and the internet and are now taking their place in a world where the only constant is rapid change. . . . . More than two-thirds see their generation as unique and distinct, yet not all self-evaluations are positive. A majority says that "getting rich" is the main goal of most people in their age group, and large majorities believe that casual sex, binge drinking, illegal drug use and violence are more prevalent among young people today than was the case 20 years ago. About half of Gen Nexters say the growing number of immigrants to the U.S. strengthens the country more than any generation. And they also lead the way in their support for gay marriage and acceptance of interracial dating. . . . .

Navajo on the war path over gay rights charter The Sunday Telegraph, By David Harrison, January 8, 2007
The days of smoke signals and beating drums may be long gone, but the ancient Navajo nation is incensed with a collection of bureaucrats 5,000 miles away in Britain. Councils, police, health trusts and the probation service are all using the tribe's name to promote the "well-being" of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals. More than 100 organisations have obtained the Navajo charter mark under a scheme set up to ensure that they are "gay-friendly". The project's supporters say the name was chosen because the Navajo traditionally believed that homosexuals had "special spiritual powers", and afforded them a "unique" status in society, where they were "admired and honoured for their sexuality". The native Americans, however, are furious. . . . . The 300,000 Navajo live on a huge reservation in north-eastern Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, and enjoy considerable independence from Washington. They make many of their own laws, including one passed overwhelmingly in 2005, banning homosexual marriages. . . .

Navajo on the war path over gay rights charter.

NY Judge Voids Mass. Gay Marriage But Upholds $780K Post-Nup.

NY Judge Voids Mass. Gay Marriage But Upholds $780K Post-Nup 365Gay.com, By Newscenter Staff, January 8, 2007
New York City judge has ruled that the marriage of a city couple in Massachusetts was never valid in New York State but their separation agreement is. The case involved David Gonzalez and Steven Green who were married in Massachusetts on Valentine's Day 2005. But the marriage did not last and Gonzalez filed for divorce. Green in turn petitioned for a ruling that the pair was never married. In a ruling published Monday State Supreme Court Justice Phyllis Gangel-Jacob said the marriage was never legal. . . . . But on the issue of a separation agreement between the two men, Justice Gangel-Jacob said there is nothing preventing two unmarried people who live together from making an agreement under the rules of contract law. . . .

POPPING THE QUESTION AS EVERYBODY WATCHES
With public marriage proposals, the surprise isn't always on the bride Chicago Tribune, By Nara Schoenberg, January 8, 2007
Forget candlelight dinners. In the 21st Century, nothing says romance like an intimate moment shared with millions of perfect strangers. Just ask J.P., the anonymous blogger who says he has raised more than $70,000 in his quest to obtain Super Bowl ad time to propose to his girlfriend. Or Ian Johnson, the Boise State University running back who proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend on national television, shortly after scoring the game-winning two-point conversion against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Or the six men popping the question in the February issue of Essence magazine. . . . Public proposals aren't for everyone -- some women aren't interested in, say, a particular sports event or they may just want an intimate evening for two. But Bratten at Brides magazine says that, in an age when 60 percent of couples live together before marrying, it makes sense that men are seeking a dramatic way to mark the beginning of a new stage of life. . . .

Popping The Question As Everybody Watches: with public marriage proposals, the surprise isn't always on the bride.

Another homosexual activist cuts bisexuals out of wedding march.

Another homosexual activist cuts bisexuals out of wedding march Townhall.com, By Janet M. LaRue, January 8, 2007
It turns out that some are more equal than others. Another nationally-known homosexual activist, Michaelangelo Signorile, dismissed the prospect of legalized polygamy as a scare tactic and went on record against a “married” ménage-a-trois, which is the topic of my recent column. Even so, I’m guessing that Signorile and friends are applauding Wednesday’s ruling by a Canadian appeals court that a five-year-old boy has a legal right to two mommies and a daddy. If the ruling isn’t the Tour de Luge to polygamy, what is?. . . . Signorile, like other homosexuals, tried to equate a ban on “same-sex marriage” with laws that prohibited interracial marriage, which was the subject of the U.S. Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967). It’s not a valid comparison because interracial marriage doesn’t change the very nature of marriage — one man and one woman. . . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Three parents for Canadian boy TV NZ.co.nz, January 4, 2007