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"MARRIAGE" In The News
(May 2007) |
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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.
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- eHarmony sued for
excluding gays
Matchmaking site founded by evangelical Christian Dr. Neil Clark
Warren REUTERS, By Jill Serjeant, May 31, 2007
- The popular online
dating service eHarmony was sued on Thursday for refusing to offer
its services to gays, lesbians and bisexuals. A lawsuit
alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation was filed in
Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of Linda Carlson, who was
denied access to eHarmony because she is gay. Lawyers
bringing the action said they believed it was the first lawsuit of
its kind against eHarmony, which has long rankled the gay community
with its failure to offer a “men seeking men” or “women seeking
women” option. They were seeking to make it a class action lawsuit
on behalf of gays and lesbians denied access to the dating service.
eHarmony was founded in 2000 by evangelical Christian Dr. Neil
Clark Warren and had strong early ties with the influential
religious conservative group Focus on the Family. It has more than
12 million registered users, and heavy television advertising has
made it one of the nation’s biggest Internet dating sites. .
RELATED ARTICLE: Gay couple barred from adoption site settle
lawsuit SAN
FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, By Henry K. Lee, May 22, 2007
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- Book Review: Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in
the Lives of American Teenagers
Even Evangelical Teens Do It: How religious beliefs
do, and don't, influence sexual
behavior SLATE, By Hanna Rosin, May 30, 2007
A 19-year-old virgin walks
into a bar. He's got his lucky cross in his pocket and his best
jersey on. Please God, he says to himself, let this be the night.
He spies a girl sitting at a table--blonde, wholesome-looking, just
his type. He sidles up closer to the girl, who is chatting with
some friends. Over the din, he can make out snippets of her
conversation: at Bible study the other night...Pastor Ted
says...saving it for marriage. Discouraged, he walks away in search
of a more promising target. Did he make the correct decision?
Or did he make a hasty judgment and miss a chance for a possible
love connection? The answer to such a question can be found in
Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American
Teenagers by Mark Regnerus, a professor of sociology at the
University of Texas at Austin. The book is a serious work of
sociology based on several comprehensive surveys of young adults,
coupled with in-depth interviews. But it could also double as a
guide for teenage boys on the prowl (who's easier, a Catholic girl
or a Jew?) or for parents of teenage girls worrying about what will
happen if their daughters keep skipping church. . . . Teenagers who
identify as "evangelical" or "born again" are highly likely to
sound like the girl at the bar; 80 percent think sex should be
saved for marriage. But thinking is not the same as doing. . .
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Parenting Issues: Alpha mums: The
backlash The Daily Mail-
UK, By Lauren Booth, May 30, 2007Battle lines are being
drawn between mums who hothouse children - and the Beta mums who
don't. So whose side are you on? . . . . A new Mummy War has broken
out over the "best" way to bring up children - and it's causing a
deep and rancorous gulf between two tribes of women who regard each
other with disdain and dislike. But this time the battle for school
gate superiority has less to do with whether or not women work
full-time or stay at home, and everything to do with time
management versus tree climbing. Step forward the Alpha and Beta
mothers. The Alpha mother has reigned supreme for more than a
decade. Held up as an aspirational role model for the rest of us,
she never has a hair out of place and can be spotted tapping
urgently into her Blackberry on the school run. This sort of woman
treats parenthood as a project to be managed down to the last
second. Fiercely organised, she's likely to be highpowered and
well-educated. Aren't you feeling inferior already? But there's
more to an Alpha mum than that. . . . But now, at last, there is a
Beta backlash from the millions of mothers who cannot and will not
see their children turned into little automatons with no aim in
life but to strive relentlessly for as many accolades and
achievements as possible. The battle has burst into life in the
U.S. with the publication of a series of books aimed at persuading
mothers that less is more when it comes to organising your family's
lives. . .
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- Orphanage friends find love after 45 years
apart Daily Mail- UK, By PAUL SIMS, May 30, 2007
From their first shy
glances across the orphanage, Alan Brogan and Irene Kinnair knew
they would be friends.
But forced apart by the authorities, who feared a budding romance,
it has taken them almost 45 years to find each other again. This
time, though, there won't be any more enforced separations. They
married earlier this month. A chance meeting in a city street three
years ago finally began the romance that was nipped in the bud. "I
know it sounds strange, but I just knew it was her. I could never
forget that smile," said Mr Brogan, 54. "And she was exactly the
same. "She said she knew it was me the minute she saw me standing
in the street." . . . . Both went on to brief marriages but
divorced many years ago. Miss Kinnair, in fact, used to look out
for Mr Brogan every time she visited Whitby. He was however, living
a few streets from her in Sunderland. So perhaps it was merely a
matter of time before they met up again. When she recognised him in
the city centre in March 2004, she didn't hesitate to call out. "It
was crazy," she said. "Staring back at me was the little boy I used
to know. "He just held me in his arms and I thought he was never
going to let go. He told the friend I was with: 'I've loved this
lady all my life'. . . . . .
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- Don't teach that marriage is best
say academics The
Evening Standard- This is London, May 30, 2007
Academics are calling for teachers to be banned from
promoting marriage in the classroom. They say homosexuality must be
given equal status to stop the spread of "bigoted" attitudes in
schools and university campuses. Current Government guidance on sex
education says children must be taught "the importance of marriage
for family life". Teachers are also permitted to voice their
opposition to homosexuality if it stems from personal or religious
conviction. This allows faith schools to teach that same- sex
relationships are at odds with their religion. But members of the
University and College Union - representing 120,000 lecturers - are
calling for a change in the law to stop teachers telling children
that marriage is superior to gay partnerships. . . The call is
certain to infuriate religious groups. The Church of England is
among faiths which lobbied the Government for gay rights laws to
continue to allow Anglican schools to teach that the Bible forbids
homosexuality. But Stephen Desmond, from Thames Valley University,
told delegates: "We must never allow freedom of religion to be
hijacked and used as a pretext to discriminate against gay and
lesbian teenagers in schools." . . . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: UK: Religious Schools May Not Teach Christian Sexual Morals "As if They Were Objectively True" LifeSiteNews.com, By Hilary White, March 5, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Prominent scholars release "Ten Principles on Marriage and the Public Good" The Witherspoon Institute, June 9, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Meaning of Marriage (Part 2): Interview With Princeton's Robert George Zenit News Agency- Italy, Mar 22, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Meaning of Marriage (Part 1): Interview with Princeton's Robert George Zenit News Agency- Italy, Mar 20, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Love, Marriage, and the Baby Carriage: Revisiting the Channelling Function of Family Law Social Science Research Network, By Linda C. McClain, Hofstra University School of Law, CARDOZO LAW REVIEW, Vol. 28, No. 101, 2007
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Book Review: Forbidden Fruit:
Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers
Hormonographics: Red states, blue states, and sex
before marriage WEEKLY STANDARD, By W. Bradford Wilcox, May 28,
2007
Discussions and debates about teenage
sex in America tend to generate more heat than light. Religious
conservatives protest sex education programs that do not begin to
influence our young people as much as the pornification of popular
culture, even as secular progressives promote a Swedish-style model
of adolescent "sexual health" that does not begin to reckon with
the emotional import of teen sex, particularly for girls. Rarely do
advocates on both sides of the issue--not to mention observers in
the media--take a sober, honest look at what is really happening on
the ground to our nation's teens in this domain of life.
Thankfully, Forbidden Fruit is that rare book that casts
more light than heat. Indeed, Mark D. Regnerus's commitment to
telling the truth about teenage sex in all of its gritty complexity
leads him to a number of intriguing and surprising conclusions. In
particular, his findings about religion, region, and sex are bound
to surprise partisans, experts, and journalists alike. . .
. Forbidden Fruit offers a number of
sobering conclusions: The vast majority of teens engage in sex
before they turn 20; most teens (including evangelicals from the
South) who support virginity in theory don't manage to practice it
in real life; and teenage sex seems to exact a serious emotional
toll on a significant number of girls. . .
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- Health Issues: The Survivor Monologues: Life on the
other side of (Cancer)
diagnosis New York magazine, May 28, 2007 Issue
Elizabeth Edwards. Tony
Snow. Fred Thompson. The sudden commonplaceness of cancer in the
political landscape—and the extent to which it is discussed as
something to live with, rather than to succumb to—illustrates the
degree to which our attitudes about cancer have changed in the past
few years, helped along by a vast and growing medical
armamentarium. Two decades ago, cancer was a sentence, with a
period at the end. Now it’s rambling—discursive, ending uncertain.
What follows are stories that attempt to convey the blunt reality
of “living with cancer,” a phrase already ubiquitous and in danger
of losing its specificity. No two cancers are alike; neither, as
the following pages show, are the experiences of the diagnosed. . .
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- Don't dare sneer at your wife's cooking (and other
marriage tips from 1913)
Daily Mail-UK, By SIMON CABLE, May 28,
2007
They are words of wisdom for a happy marriage from
nearly a century ago. Husbands hoping for a quiet life are told not
to sneer at their spouse's cooking or leave things lying around the
house, while wives are warned never to utter the sanctimonious
words "I told you so". The advice comes from a set of guidebooks on
marriage written on the eve of the First World War which are about
to be republished and are predicted to shoot to the top of the
bestseller list. The somewhat old-fashioned "Don'ts for Husbands
and Wives", penned by Blanche Ebbutt in 1913, were first published
at a time when women stayed at home while their husbands went out
to work. Times have changed since then, but the advice could be
considered as relevant today as ever. . . . .The guides are being
reprinted by A&C Black as part of the publisher's bicentenary
celebrations. And in them, Ebbutt also offers readers a glimpse of
her own marital struggles in the preface to "Don'ts for Wives".
"Art is a hard mistress," she explains. "And there is no art quite
so hard as that of being a wife. . . .
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When Stay-at-home Moms Go Back to Work: Trying to Opt
Back In
After decades of debating whether mothers should go
back to work, now women are asking—can
they? Newsweek- MSNBC.com, By Eve Conant, May 28, 2007
Isssue
- Renee Blasko, 33, is at loose ends. "I have been
having an extremely difficult time finding a job after being at
home with my children the past six years. My particular dilemma is
that I hold a college degree and have years of managerial
experience." She e-mailed her concerns to Leslie Morgan Steiner,
who on her Washington Post parenting blog had asked moms to e-mail
her their stories about getting back to work. "I think I am in some
sort of 'job limbo'—too qualified for an entry-level position, but
not able to work full time at a management-level position either,"
Blasko added. With two kids, ages 5 and 3, Blaskois is trying for a
part-time job—and failing. Another mother, Ann Brandewiede of
Cincinnati, took 12 years off. She's now divorced and hitting the
pavement: "I am having the worst time finding a job that is more
than answering the phone or data entry. And they don't pay well
enough to live on." . . . . It has been one of the most contested
questions of the feminist movement of the 1970s and '80s—should
mothers work? But now, on blogs, in op-eds and a host of new books
out this spring, women are arguing about the next question—can
mothers get back to work if they want to? The debate has shifted
from opting out to opting back in. . . .
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Parenting Issues: America's Best High Schools: Why
They Are the Best
How we developed our own unique method for ranking
America's top schools Newsweek- MSNBC.com, By Jay Mathews, May 28, 2007
Issue- NEWSWEEK's list of
America's best high schools, this year with a record 1,258 names,
began as a tale of just two schools. They were Garfield High
School, full of children of Hispanic immigrants in East Los
Angeles, and Mamaroneck High School, a much smaller campus serving
very affluent families in Westchester County, N.Y. I had written a
book about Garfield, and the success of its teachers like Jaime
Escalante in giving low-income students the encouragement and extra
time they needed to master college-level Advanced Placement courses
and tests. . I was finishing a book about Mamaroneck, and was
stunned to find it was barring from AP many middle-class students
who were much better prepared for those classes than the
impoverished students who were welcomed into AP at Garfield. That
turns out to be the rule in most U.S. schools—average students are
considered not ready for, or not deserving of, AP, even though many
studies show that they need the challenge and that success in AP
can lead to success in college. . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: The Top of
the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S.
schools Newsweek-MSNBC.com, May 28, 2007
Issue
RELATED
ARTICLE: How to
Fix No Child Left Behind Time
magazine, By Claudia Wallis, Sonja Steptoe, May 24, 2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: Young,
Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard New York
Times, By Michael Winerip, April 29, 2007
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- Home wrecker or harmless fun? The Daily Journal, By Antonio Young, May 26,
2007
Jennifer will never forget the sunny Sunday
afternoon in 1987 when she walked in on her husband looking at
pornography. She had just finished making lunch, and walked
downstairs to tell him to come up and eat. But what she walked in
on made her stomach churn. She opened the door and found him with
an open magazine, masturbating. "I walked out instantly. I was so
angry," said Jennifer, 50. When she later confronted her husband,
he turned it around on her. "He said, 'You're lucky I'm not having
an affair' -- that I did everything to push him away," said
Jennifer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Jennifer admits
her marriage had been on the rocks for years, and the couple had
sought counseling prior to the incident. But more trouble to her
than her husband's controlling nature was his penchance for
pornography. . . . Healthy or harmful? For years,
relationship experts and sex counselors have tried to determine the
impact that X-rated materials have on relationships. Supporters of
porn widely believe that it can add "variety and spice" to love
lives. Others, like Jennifer, claim that when a partner watches
erotica, it is damaging and should be viewed as cheating. So far,
research mostly supports the latter opinion. . . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: Austrailia: Record numbers visiting porn sites Brisbane Times- Austrailia, By Adele Horin, May 26, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: How porn is wrecking relationships Sydney Morning Herald, By Adele Horin, May 26 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: The Girls Next Door are anything but reality! Crosswalk.com, By David Burchett, May 21, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Porn in the pews - Churchmen wrestle with addiction The Jamaica Gleaner, By Dale McNish, November 25, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Bottling Up Smut-- Cleaning Up the Public Square Breakpoint.org- By Chuck Colson, June 27, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: The Porn Factor TIME magazine, By Pamela Paul, January 11, 2004
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- Parenting Issues: Pregnancy
Schools Townhall.com,
By Mona Charen, May 25, 2007
"Schools for Pregnant
Girls, Relic of 1960s New York, Will Close." So announced a
front-page headline in The New York Times. Well, if it's a relic,
obviously it must be bad, right? Right, says the Times.
"Created in the 1960s, when pregnant girls were such pariahs that
they were forced to leave school until their babies were born, the
city school system's four pregnancy schools . . . have lived on . .
." Until now. They will close at the end of the school year "in
recognition of their failure." The Times paints a grim picture of
these schools, virtual warehouses where pregnant teens are given
busy work like sewing quilts instead of studying the Pythagorean
theorem or biology. "It's a separate but unequal program," says
Cami Anderson, superintendent in charge of the pregnancy schools,
which cost taxpayers $33,670 per pupil per year. There it is, in
paragraph seven, the inevitable civil rights reference -- the most
overused and misused comparison in American life. "Separate but
equal" was delegitimized because it made invidious distinctions
based upon nothing more than skin tone. But not every distinction
is unlawful or even unfair. Schools used to separate pregnant girls
from their classmates because it was deemed unseemly to have a
pregnant high school student in the regular classroom. These days,
we've largely removed the stigma. Which system was better? . . .
.
RELATED
ARTICLE: New
York's Schools for Pregnant Girls Will
Close New
York Times, By Julie Bosman, May 24, 2007
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Parenting
Issues: Here are Two Little Words That Need to Be
Reintroduced to Folks of Every Race: Home
Training BlackAmericaWeb, By Gregory Kane, May 24,
2007It isn’t about race; it’s
about “home training.” I suspect any black person over the
age of 40 is familiar with the phrase “home training.” Or, to be
more specific, “no home training.” Black kids would say it all the
time when I was growing up: Whenever somebody cut the fool, acted
up or gave a display of inappropriate conduct, we’d look at that
person, shake our heads and come to one conclusion. “No home
training,” we’d say. Elizabeth Kandrac, a white teacher who taught
at a predominantly black middle school in South Carolina several
years ago, found out the hard way why a lot of American teachers of
all races don’t want to teach in middle schools: Too many students
who don’t seem to have any home training. Kandrac has been in the
news lately. A federal judge ruled that school officials in the
Charleston County school district created a racially hostile work
environment for her by not disciplining the black students who
assaulted her, cursed her and called her racial epithets.
Conservative Web sites and bloggers had a field day with the news,
of course. Kathleen Parker, a syndicated columnist, felt Kandrac’s
saga was all about race. . .
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- Readers respond to
hand in marriage question: What did you think about
it? MSNBC,
By Gail Saltz, May 24, 2007
Dr. Gail Saltz shares
letters she received. . . . My column, “Is asking for her
hand in marriage outdated?” drew so many interesting letters that I
would like to share some here. . . . From Jane in
Illinois: I disagree that nobody believes that a future
husband must ask the bride's father for her hand in marriage. Some
of us still believe in tradition, and the fact that my husband
asked my father without my prompting made me even more sure he was
the right guy for me. You may be speaking for some when you say
nobody believes in asking for a hand in marriage, but you don't
speak for all!. . . From Kristin in New York: I
strongly disagree with your response. There are some fathers who
see this tradition as their one contribution as a father, and
therefore treasure the chance to honor their daughters’ union by
keeping this secret. I think you did this mother a disservice by
not offering alternative viewpoints such as this one. . .
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- Baby Cheney, Weighed on Political Scale,
Too Washington Post, By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts,
May 24, 2007
Mary Cheney gave birth
yesterday to perhaps the most anticipated baby in contemporary U.S.
politics -- her first child, Samuel David Cheney, whom she will
raise with her longtime partner, Heather Poe. The 8-pound 6-ounce
boy is the sixth grandchild for Dick Cheney. The vice president and
his wife, Lynne, both beaming, posed for a photo with him just
hours after his 9:46 a.m. birth at Washington's Sibley Hospital.
And that, it seems, will be that for now in terms of public comment
from the family about the baby, who launched a lively debate when
Cheney, 38, first discussed her pregnancy in December. . . . At an
N.Y.C. forum sponsored by Glamour magazine last winter, Mary Cheney
responded to questions, saying: "This is a baby. This is a blessing
from God. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be
used in a debate by people on either side of an issue. It is my
child." But she also went on to declare that "every piece of
remotely responsible research" had demonstrated "no difference
between children who are raised by same-sex parents and children
raised by opposite-sex parents.". . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: Mary
Cheney’s pregnancy is, indeed,
political PopMatters, By Andrea Lewis-Progressive Media Project,
February 11, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Mary
Cheney makes big news at Glamour’s event Glamour magazine, February 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Mary
Cheney defends same-sex parenthood: Vice president's lesbian
daughter says baby not 'prop' San Francisco Chronicle, By Katharine Q. Seelye- New York
Times, February 2, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Who's
Your Daddy? My Father Was an Anonymous Sperm Donor The Washington Post, By Katrina Clark, December 17,
2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Two
Mommies Is One Too Many. Mary Cheney is starting a family. Let's
hope she doesn't start a trend Time magazine, By JAMES C. DOBSON, December 10, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: It's a
Cheney! Reality Is a Blessed Event The Washington Post,
By Ruth Marcus, December 8, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Revolution in Parenthood: The Emerging Global
Clash Between Adult Rights and Children's Needs AmericanValues.org
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- New
York Assembly Considers Legalizing Gay “Marriage”
LifesiteNews, May 24, 2007
– The New York State
Assembly will soon consider a bill that would legalize same-sex
“marriage” in the Empire State. The state legislature has seen such
bills for 5 years now. This time, however, backed by Democratic
Gov. Eliot Spitzer and a record number of 53 cosponsors in the
Assembly, homosexual activists have never been closer to imposing
same-sex “marriage” on the state. Daniel O'Donnell, one of three
openly homosexual lawmakers in the Assembly, introduced Gov.
Spitzer's same-sex “marriage” bill in the chamber Monday. The
proposed law would change standing marriage laws by removing gender
from the legal definition of marriage and make denying a marriage
license to homosexual couples illegal. Sources say Assemblyman
O’Donnell hopes for a vote on the governor’s bill in the next few
weeks, although he will not push for a vote until he is confident
the measure has a chance of success. Spitzer’s bill needs 76 votes
to pass in the Democrat-controlled Assembly. That cuts it close for
pro-marriage advocates, since 69 members indicate some support for
same-sex “marriage” while 48 remain undecided and 33 are opposed,
according to a legislative scorecard kept by the Empire State Pride
Agenda. . . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: Defining
marriage Washington Times, By Cheryl Wetzstein, May 10,
2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Gay-Wed Bid Splits NY
Dems NEW
YORK POST, By Fredric U. Dicker, May 7, 2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: The Meaning of Marriage (Part
2): Interview With Princeton's Robert George Zenit News
Agency- Italy, Mar 22, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Meaning of Marriage (Part 1): Interview
with Princeton's Robert George Zenit News
Agency- Italy, Mar 20, 2006
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- Marriage showdown looms in
Massachusetts Bay Area Reporter, By Lisa Keen, May 24,
2007
Massachusetts is just
three weeks away from a critical showdown over marriage in its
state legislature. On June 14, the state Senate and House will meet
to take a second and final vote on whether to put on the November
2008 ballot a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Opponents of
equal marriage rights for gay couples need just 50 votes – 25
percent of the legislature's 200 votes – to succeed. In January,
following a surprise decision by the Senate president to vote on
the measure, they got 62. But there's a new Senate president, a new
Democratic governor, and fewer. Depending on who's talking and
when, gay activists say they have changed the minds of between five
and 10 of the 13 legislators they need to change their votes to
vote "no" this time around. Supporters of the constitutional ban
swear they have a rock solid 53 votes in favor. . . .
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- A Helping Hand: Which One is Too Easy - Marriage or
Divorce? Blogcritics, By Diana Hartman, May 22, 2007
The state of families in America today has me concerned
about the future. Is divorce just too easy or is it that marriage
is too easy? The only people who think divorce is easy have
never been divorced. The process itself can take anywhere from 24
hours to many years. Even then, it isn't the process that's
particularly difficult - it's the aftermath. An 18-month waiting
time for a marriage license is a good idea, and doing away with
common law marriage is one step better. Studies of human biology
back this up as it takes an average of 18 months from the time a
(heterosexual and fertile) couple meets until they bring a child
into the world. For many, it is at this point that the
marriage/relationship begins to break down - not because a child
has entered the picture, but because the attraction that brought
them together in the first place has cooled. . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: The return of marriage The Sunday Times- UK, January 14, 2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: Mr and Mrs: the marriage report The Sunday Times-
UK, By Deirdre Fernand, January 14, 2007
TO SEE RELATED SURVEY RESULTS: Click here
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- Depression risk higher for divorced men: Statistics
Canada CBC- Canada, May 22, 2007
When a man's marriage breaks down, he may be at
higher risk of depression than people who remain together and women
who divorce or separate, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday. The
study looked at the link between marriages that break down in
separation or divorce and their effects on emotional health, using
data from the National Population Health Survey. Overall, when a
couple's marriage or common-law relationship ended, depression
occurred in about 12 per cent of cases, compared with three per
cent among people who remained in a relationship, two years after
participants were first interviewed in 1994-1995. Men aged 20 to 64
who had divorced or separated were six times more likely to report
an episode of depression than were men who remained married. The
comparable depression figure for women left alone after broken
marriages was 3.5 times more likely. . . . Considering that nearly
71,000 married couples divorced and thousands more separated in
2003 and the link between divorce and mental health problems,
"these findings are relevant to population health," the study
concluded. . . .
RELATED STUDY
REPORT: Marital
breakdown and subsequent
depression Statistics Canada, By Michelle Rotermann, May 22,
2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: In Depth:
Depression: An illness, not a
weakness CBC- Canada, January 12, 2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: In depth: Marriage: Marriage
by the numbers CBC- Canada, March 9, 2005
RELATED
ARTICLE: Fewer
Canadian marriages end in divorce
CBC- Canada, May 4, 2004
RELATED
ARTICLE: Splitting Up:
Canadians Get Divorced
CBC- Canada
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- 'Bachelor' Andy Baldwin proposes to Tessa Horst, rejects
Bevin Powers RealityWorld, By Christopher Rocchio, May 22,
2007
Tessa Horst, a 26-year-old
San Francisco social worker, accepted the final rose -- and a
marriage proposal -- from U.S. Navy Lieutenant Andy Baldwin during
the final Rose Ceremony at the conclusion of last night's finale of
ABC's The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman. Baldwin's
proposal to Horst and her acceptance of it marked the first time in
four seasons and only the second in its last seven editions that
The Bachelor ended with its bachelor proposing to his final
bachelorette. . . . .
RELATED SITE: The
Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman ABC
TV- Shows
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- ABC to premiere new 'Ex-Wives Club'
reality series on May 28
RealityWorld, By Christopher Rocchio, May 21,
2007
ABC has
announced that it will premiere Ex-Wives Club, a new reality series
that will help recent divorcees rid themselves of everything
reminiscent of their former significant other in an effort to move
forward with their lives, on Monday, May 28 at 9PM ET/PT. Each
one-hour episode of Ex-Wives Club will feature one man and one
woman, with the only commonality being that each recently went
through a difficult divorce, although not from one another. . . .
.The five-episode series is hosted by three women who, according to
ABC, "know all about breaking up" -- Angie Everhart,
Shar Jackson and Marla Maples. Everhart, a model and actress, is no
stranger reality TV. In addition to participating in the
second season of TBS' The Real Gilligan's Island reality show,
Everhart, the former wife of Ashley Hamilton, also served as the
secret saboteur of ABC's Celebrity Mole Yucatan. Jackson, an
actress who is also working on her debut solo album, is the former
Mrs. Kevin Federline. Maples is the former wife of The
Apprentice star Donald Trump. . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: The
nightmare of marrying a man with a bitter ex wife: Join The Second
Wives Club The Daily Mail- UK, By DIANA APPLEYARD, May 11,
2007
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- The Girls Next Door are anything
but reality! Crosswalk.com, By David Burchett, May 21, 2007
. . .
I rarely open the regret lock-box these days. But a recent news
story about a reality TV show on the E! Network sent me there. The
show is called the Girls Next Door and the premise is to look
inside life at the Playboy mansion. Another sign of the apocalypse
is that this is the third season of this show. I was blissfully
unaware of the show until just recently. Here is why I opened the
regret box. I am unlocking a personal regret to plead with any
young man who might read this to not get hooked by the “playboy”
lure. I did. I regret that. I used to read (?) the magazine on a
regular basis when I was single. It is easy to rationalize that
Playboy is “classier” than other men’s magazines. . . . Playboy may
not be as graphic as other magazines. But it is just as insidious
in creating an unrealistic expectation for men. Reality is not
perfect bodies and insatiable sexual appetites. I wrote an article
defending Baylor University for not allowing students to pose in
the magazine. Here is a snippet of that post.
I have “read” the magazine. I do know why men read the
magazine. Incredibly, it is not for the articles! Any many who
tries to rationalize that is disingenous at best and a liar at
worst. . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: Not-so-naked truth: Indonesian Playboy's
lingerie-clad freedom fighters strike a blow for T&A over
Muslim hard-liners Chicago Sun Times, BY ANDREW HERRMANN AND RUMMANA
HUSSAIN, April 6, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Husbands and
Wife CBS4.com, By Ileana Varela November 15,
2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: Polyamory: A Twist On Polygamy
KUTV.com- Salt Lake City, Mark Koelbel reporting, April 30,
2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Pandora and
Polygamy The Washington Post- By Charles
Krauthammer, March 17, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: Fanatical Swedish Feminists National Review Online, By Stanley
Kurtz, February 22, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: The New Monogamy: Until death do us part—except every
other Friday New York magazine, By Em & Lo,
2005
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- USA's new 'Starter Wife' pokes fun at
Hollywood divorce Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS, By
Mike Hughes, May 19, 2007
It's time now for Hollywood to do what it's good at
- making fun of itself. That's The Starter Wife, a six-hour cable
miniseries. Alongside the beauty and glamour are layers of satire.
Deborah Messing, who stars, says that's what drew her to the script
about a woman who marries a Hollywood insider, only to be dumped
and suddenly find herself on the outside looking in. "The comedy
was subversive, a little perverse, a little mocking of the
Hollywood culture." That can be expected when adapting a Gigi
Levangie Grazer novel. . . . Co-starring is Joe Mantegna, a Chicago
guy who says he stays distant from the Hollywood life. "Starter and
'trophy' (wife) were never (words) I used," Mantegna says "I've
been on my starter wife for 32 years." . . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: USA
shows love for 'Wife'
Variety magazine, By John Dempsey, May 7,
2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: Questions Couples Should Ask (Or Wish They Had) Before
Marrying The
New York Times (Free Online Subscription), December 17, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: Marriage Is Not Built on Surprises The
New York Times (Free Online Subscription), By Eric V. Copage,
December 17, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Postnuptial depression: from white to
blue The Independent- UK, By Maxine Frith, August 29,
2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: For 'better' marriage, deal with its
'worse' Arizona
Republic- AZ, By Lauri Githens, Aug 10,
2005
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- Signs He'll Be Good in Bed, Wow Your Folks and
More! ivillage, By Sherry Amatenstein
. . . . You don't need to read tea leaves or see a
psychic to gauge whether Mr. Looks Promising is a dream come true.
According to author Howard Schiffer (HeartfulLoving.com), first
impressions offer ample information. "If you're watching for the
signs, you'll find out a lot right away. Will he be a good kisser
or should you give him the kiss-off? All you need to do is pay
attention." Your gut always knows which way to go -- it's ignoring
the truth you feel deep down that can get you into trouble. . . .
Body Language Leads: He may say one thing, but if his eyes or
actions say another, don't disregard that disconnect. Laurie
Bernstein, a 28-year-old physical therapist from New York City
offers a cautionary tale. . . . Want more eye-opening truths to
help you discern whether a new guy is worth your while? Caroline
Presno, psychotherapist and author of Profiling Your Date: A
Smart Woman's Guide to Evaluating a Man, says, "When he talks
about his history, can he meet your eyes? If not, he might be
lying. And be wary if he smiles with his lips and not with his
eyes," . . . .
RELATED
ARTICLE: Body
Language: 10 Celeb Couples
Decoded ivillage, By Tracey Cox
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Do men cheat
for the thrill? Or the sex?
If your partner has an affair, that doesn’t mean the
end of your relationship MSNBC.com, Dr. Gail Saltz, May 15,
2007When men have affairs,
they tend to be motivated by sex — new sex, more sex, different
sex. Women cheat for many reasons: companionship, romance, more
security, and, of course, sex. But are men’s motivations really
that simple? No. Even for men, cheating is far more complex.
Studies show most men who cheat want to experiment sexually and
experience the rush associated with “new sex.” This is their way of
prolonging indefinitely the early and intoxicating phase of
infatuation in a relationship. But men also have affairs to either
avoid intimacy, recover their lost youth, or escape an unhappy
marriage. . . Adultery need not be the end of a marriage, though it
certainly is one heck of a wake up call. If you are contemplating
an affair, then there is no question you will be SORRY! Affairs
hurt everyone, including you. You cannot keep both women, so you
will be distressed at some point. Don’t leave yourself in
susceptible situations, such as when alcohol is
involved. How to save your marriage: . . . .
For the cheater: . . . For the betrayed: . . .
. Women can be cheaters too. Men have not cornered the market
when it comes to philandering. Women tend to be motivated to cheat
by more emotional factors than men. . .
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- Dr. Phil Was Once My Guilty
Pleasure, But He's Lost Me and His Moral
Ground AlterNet, By Elaine Corden, The Tyee, May 15,
2007.
If there is any guilty
pleasure more delightfully mundane than the double-dip of playing
hooky from work and taking in an afternoon episode of Dr. Phil, I
have yet to discover it. Truly, the man is all things too all
people -- broad shouldered and overtly manly, charmingly southern
yet somehow affably patrician, shockingly blunt yet delightfully
helpful. Yes, the "tell-it-like-it-is," "get real" Doc is my
favourite talking head, dropped in our living rooms by the golden
talons of Oprah herself, his ring of receding hair a crown
signifying both wisdom and omnipotence. . . . It would seem this
doctor who earned a nation's trust with honesty and pragmatism has
waded hip-deep into the mire of exploitation, and has become, in
some ways, a symbol of the entire authoritative structure of
Dubya-era America -- laying claim to righteousness without any
demonstrated authority to do so. . . . .
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- 1.5 Million
Italians Turn Out in Massive Rome Protest Against Homosexual Civil
Unions- Organizers Were Expecting Only
100,000 Lifesite News, By Gudrun Schultz, LifeSiteNews.com, May
14, 2007
- Italians from across the country poured into Rome
May 12 to join in a demonstration against a law that would give
legal recognition to homosexual couples--reports showed up to 1.7
million people overflowed the St. John Lateran piazza. Organizers
initially expected to draw about 100,000. The proposed legislation
would give homosexual couples--and unmarried heterosexual
couples--similar rights to those of married couples, stopping just
short of legalizing homosexual marriage. . . . . "The
importance of this event is not merely that when left to their own
devices the Italian people will support traditional values in great
numbers, giving the lie to the script presented by the
intellectuals in the press. It also means in concrete terms that
the traditional values laity can organize and achieve results.""The
success of "Family Day" also highlights a now deeply entrenched
trend not only in Italy, but in the West: the marginalization of
the Church from the public square," Fr. Zuhlsdorf said. "Nearly
everywhere the Church's is being denied its right to speak freely.
Committed Catholic and other religious politicians and public
figures and are pressured never to make reference to their
religious convictions. The constant mantra is that religion should
be a purely private matter than has no influence on public policy.
Be religious, fine. But you may never act outwardly on your
interior opinions.". .
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- GRRR! Joey Buttafuoco and Amy Fisher's Reality
Show FOX NEWS, By Mike Straka, May 14, 2007
It's like deja vu all over
again. The world's first reality TV couple, "Long Island
Lolita" Amy Fisher and the seriously questionable object of her
desire, Joey Buttafuoco, captivated America with their sordid tale
of statutory rape and attempted murder in the early 1990s. It
was "Blind Date" (teenage Amy meets middle-age Joey) meets "The
Bachelor" (Joey promises to love her forever) meets "Survivor"
(Joey's wife Mary Jo lives after being shot in the face by
Amy). Talk about a match made in hell. . . . . I can't
even believe I'm writing a column about these two losers. No, Amy
Fisher and Joey Buttafuoco will not have their own reality show.
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline's didn't survive a full season;
I can't imagine this one would go beyond the pilot episode.
Besides, what with so many shock-and-awe type shows already come
and gone, like "Jackass," "Fear Factor" and countless others, even
shooting each other in the face on their third date won't do
anything to boost the ratings on this dud. There's nothing left to
shock us. . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: GRRR!
Buttafuoco-Fisher Producer Another Hollywood Role
Model FOX
NEWS, By Mike Straka, May 21, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Fisher
and Buttafuoco dating The Daily Telegraph, May 21, 2007 RELATED ARTICLE &
PHOTOS: Joey
and Amy Get Mushy. Talk of Marriage & Giggle: 'WE'RE
FUN!' NY
Post, By Cathy Burke, May 20, 2007 RELATED ARTICLE &
PHOTOS: KI$$
OFF, JOEY. LECHER LOOKING TO CASH IN: MARY
JO NY Post,
By Chuck Bennett, May 18, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Amy & Joey Set Date For Love: Will Wine &
Dine in Tryst Overlooking Central Park NY
Post, By James Fanelli and David K. Li, May 13, 2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: I'd Do
Anything for You, or to You:They Clicked, Then She
Snapped Washington Post, By Jennifer Frey, February 13, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Marriage problem? Yes, but it's not same-sex
unions The Hook, By John W. Whitehead (Rutherford Institute),
June 22, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: Face
it: Marriage is in trouble Townhall.com- By Mike
Gallagher, June 2, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: Mary Kay's crime pays Townhall.com, By Brent
Bozell, May 27, 2006
|
- Unwed
births for cohabiting couples on the
rise Washington
Times, By Cheryl Wetzstein, May 14, 2007
The number of children
born to parents who are unmarried but cohabiting is at a record
level, says a study released today by a nonprofit research group.
About one-third of all U.S. births in 2001 were out of wedlock,
Child Trends researchers said in their new paper. Upon closer
examination of National Center for Education Statistics data on
more than 10,000 children and their parents, researchers found that
more than half the children who were born outside marriage had both
parents in the home. This marks a significant change in
childbearing patterns: In the early 1980s, only about 30 percent of
unwed births were to cohabiting couples. In the early 1990s, this
jumped to about 40 percent, and in 2001, it reached 52 percent.
. . . ."The good news," said Jennifer Manlove, one of the
authors of the Child Trends paper, is that more than half of
children born to unwed parents are starting their lives with both
of their biological parents. This also means that, in general,
these children are better off economically than children born into
single-mother households, she noted. "The bad news," she
said, is that these children still face greater risks for poverty,
poor health and problems in school than children in married-couple
households. "Also, cohabiting relationships have high rates of
dissolution, and if that happens, the children can be hurt, both
emotionally and financially." . . . .
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- MARRIAGE PROPOSALS: All For The
Child NY
Post, By Eve Tushnet, May 13, 2007
. . . . QUESTION: But
when people get married, they don't say, "I want to bridge the
male-female divide." They talk about falling in love, which isn't
unique to heterosexual couples. ANSWER.: Sure, the
individual, subjective view is different from "why do we have this
institution in the first place, and why do laws take notice of it?"
To some degree, also, our society has already accepted the
definition of marriage that the proponents of gay marriage would
have us accept. In 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote to an engaged
couple: "From this day on, it won't be your love that keeps your
marriage alive. It will be the marriage that keeps your love
alive." The vow shapes the couple, the vow creates the couple; the
couple doesn't create the vow. Today, we have so drifted away from
this understanding that younger people have no idea what that even
means. And this has all been done by heterosexuals. So gay people
say, "Look, the heterosexual supermajority has already redefined
marriage; we just want to play by the same rules." But I don't
accept that marriage is dead and all we can do is allow equal
access to the rubble. . . . . Q: How should we
approach use of third parties in procreation - surrogates and
donors?. . . . Q: What are people doing to shore up marriage?
. . . . Q: What is the most troubling development? . . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Defining
marriage Washington
Times, By Cheryl Wetzstein, May 10, 2007
|
- While We Women Rail Against Disrespect, Let’s Not Forgot
the Many Good Men Out There BlackAmericaWeb.com, By Deborah Mathis, May 13,
2007
At a time when we are
focused on the degrading, abusive language waged against black
girls and women -- hopefully with a renewed commitment to scuttle
the stuff -- this may be a good time to remember the many men who
have treated our women with unfailing respect. My father was
one. My son is another. My daughters’ boyfriends and my
own love are examples too. But my former father-in-law was in a
league of his own. Six decades ago, he wrapped himself around a
young girl named Alma who was left afraid and lonely when her
mother died and he promised to never let go. . . . .When Alma got
sick a few years ago, Bill Sr. became her nursemaid even though his
own health was declining. It got so bad that Alma could only
leave the house for dialysis treatments and, on rare occasion, a
light dinner out. Most of her days were spent either in bed
or a big overstuffed chair, listening to classical music --
cherished by a minimally educated woman who proved that, for some,
class is natural, not acquired. “I told her if she never got out of
that chair, she was still my queen,” Bill Sr. told me the other
day. .
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- The Bachelor: One Of the Bachelorettes Says She's the
Winner Buddy TV, May 12, 2007
Now that The Bachelor: An
Officer and a Gentleman is down to just three bachelorettes, Bevin
Powers, Tessa Horst, and Danielle Imwalle, tabloid newspapers and
spoiler websites are reporting that one of the remaining women has
let slip that she’s the winner of the show and received not only
the final rose but a marriage proposal from Andy Baldwin. Want to
know who it was? Read on! According to the rather dubious sources,
it’s Tessa. A New York Post “Page Six” article claims that
bachelorette Tessa Horst “had a few drinks the other night and
spilled the beans to a Page Six spy,” saying that she received the
final rose on this season of The Bachelor. The Post article also
claims that Andy proposed in the final episode (as Andy and reps
from the show have been saying for some time) but that she turned
down his marriage proposal, although they were “still very much
together.”. . . .
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- Robert Downey Jr: My marriage saved my life
New love put a stop to drug-fuelled
antics Now magazine-
UK, May 12, 2007
Troubled
actor Robert Downey Jr reckons that second wife Susan is
responsible for turning his life around.
'I was lucky, I found someone who was much smarter than me,' he
tells Live magazine. 'I like the way marriage has changed me. It's
helped me grow up. 'Doesn't mean I've checked my nuts in at the
door, but it's made me more formidable.' Robert, 42, married film
producer Susan Levin, in 2005 and turned his back on an extremely
'crazy' and colourful past. In 1996 he was arrested for driving his
Porsche down LA's Sunset Strip completely naked while throwing
'imaginary rats' out the window. . . .
RELATED
ARTICLE: Downey Jr
marries film producer BBC
News, UK, August 30, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: Robert
Downey Jr. Marries Girlfriend People Magazine, By Katy Hall, AUGUST 27,
2005
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- Parenting Issues: Celebrity Media, Heal
Thyself Townhall.com, By Brent Bozell III, May 11,
2007
Anyone whose remote
control wandered past an ABC, CBS or NBC morning "news" show on May
5 probably found the "news" hounds barking enthusiastically over
this supposed "news" scoop: Paris Hilton was sentenced to Los
Angeles County jail for 45 days. She violated parole after repeated
episodes of reckless driving. This was news of national concern.
The morning anchors interviewed legal experts and professional
Hollywood celebrity-stalkers to lament this heiress being brought
low, complete with bad jokes about the jail being a "one-star
Hilton." But they all wondered out loud: Who is to blame for this
human train wreck? Paris, being the thoughtless egotist that she
is, blamed her publicist for telling her she could drive to work.
That's baloney. You don't assign the "help" to read your legal
documents for you. Some blame the mother for botching the
upbringing. No one's denying that Mama Hilton is a disgraceful
figure in her own right, but that's still baloney. Paris is 26
years old and perfectly capable of messing up her own life. . . .
The media won't stop, and neither will Paris Hilton. Just watch.
She'll want to play this sordid game until she's the next Anna
Nicole Smith. . . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: Jail
bad? It’s just another way to get publicity. It will boost
Paris’ cred; there are a few more stars who could
benefit MSNBC.com, By Michael Ventre, June
4, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: If My Parents had Raised Paris
Hilton National Ledger, By Alan Burkhart, May 11, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Prosecutors’ Motion To Revoke Paris Hilton’s
Probation: People of the State of Calif. v. Paris Whitney
Hilton FindLaw.com, April 30, 2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: I (don't) want to be a
Hilton Townhall.com, By Kathleen Parker, June 1,
2005
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- The nightmare of marrying a man with a bitter ex wife: Join The Second Wives Club The Daily Mail- UK, By DIANA APPLEYARD, May 11, 2007
Blackmail and poison pen letters. As a new book reveals the nightmare of marrying a man with a bitter ex-wife, three women describe the hell of joining The Second Wives Club. . . . Sandra James had every reason to feel happy and contented when an envelope arrived through the post. Blessed with an adored baby girl from her marriage to second husband Tom, and enjoying every moment of her maternity leave, life seemed sweet indeed. She recalls smiling as she opened the envelope and started to read the letter inside - but the memory of what came next still leaves her shaking with emotion. There, in scrawled handwriting, screamed the word "Slut". . . . . "I could understand it if we'd had a year-long affair and I was the reason for the break-up, but that's not the case. She doesn't want him back, but she doesn't want him to be happy with anyone else. "Poor Tom is mentally exhausted by it all - he longs to see his children and that separation is like a physical pain. The past three years have been absolute hell and I think that second families are like a black sheep to the Government - there's no protection for us in law, and no set rules in place to protect me or my family. . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: How Do You Manage? Second marriage, trickier merger International Herald Tribune, By Michael J. Martinez, Sept 2, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: Sex the Second Time Around: For remarried couples, intimacy has a whole new set of expectations and issues ChristianityToday.com, By Ginger Kolbaba, Summer 2006 Edition
RELATED ARTICLE: Make marriage No. 2 -- and the finances -- work MSN Money- Moneycentral.com, By Janine Latus Musick, Aug 11, 2005 |
Angelina Jolie: Why I Decided to Have a
Baby People
magazine, By Stephen Silverman, May 10, 2007
Angelina
Jolie has always said she wanted to adopt children from all over
the world – but she opened up to the idea of having a biological
child after she met Brad Pitt, she says in a revealing new
interview. Jolie already had two kids, son Maddox, now 5, adopted
from Cambodia, and daughter Zahara, 2, from Ethiopia, when she
became pregnant with daughter Shiloh, who turns 1 on May 27. Asked
in the June issue of Reader's Digest if the pregnancy was
intentional, Jolie, 31, says: "It was. "Before I met Brad, I always
said I was happy never to have a child biologically. He told me he
hadn't given up that thought. Then, a few months after Z came home,
I saw Brad with her and Mad, and I realized how much he loved him,
that a biological child would not in any way be a threat. So I
said, 'I want to try.' " . . . .
RELATED INTERVIEW: Face to
Face With Angelina Jolie: The actress opens up about her four
adorable kids, and a family going global. Reader's Digest, By Sara Davidson, May 11,
2007
RELATED AUDIO: Listen
to Angelina Jolie interview Reader's Digest
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RELATED ARTICLE: When we devalue marriage Capitol Hill Blue, By Betsy Hart, December 16, 2006
 RELATED BLOG: Brangelina Triangle Tragedy: Marriage Vows Don't Count The Real Proposal™ magazine BlogSpot, December 22, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: More from Camille Paglia: White Middle-Class Women Identify with Aniston's Humiliation Us magazine, December 13, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Angelina Jolie Says Cheating Is "One Of Worst Things" All Headline News, By Maira Oliveira, December 20, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: ANGELINA: I Tried Not to Steal Jen's 'Best Friend' NY POST.com, By David K. Li, December 12, 2006 |
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- Sting and Trudie are rocked as chef wins sacking
case The Daily Mail-UK, By GORDON
RAYNER, May 10, 2007
Even though they have many millions in the bank,
this is one setback that is sure to sting. For the celebrity couple
formally known as Mr and Mrs Sumner face having to pay record
damages to their former chef for unfair dismissal after a tribunal
found them guilty of "shameful conduct". The husband and wife in
question - better known as Sting and Trudie Styler - broke
employment law by sacking Jane Martin, 41, after she became
pregnant, the panel has ruled. In a devastating judgment obtained
by the Daily Mail - due to made public today - Miss Styler is
accused of using "subterfuge" to get rid of Miss Martin, and of
using "minions" to do her "dirty work". . . .
.
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- TRAVOLTA FAMILY TRAVESTY: Wild Hogs
Star Gives own Autistic Son the Silent
Treatment Hollywood Interrupted, By Mark Ebner, May 10, 2007
Hollywood's
latest global warming expert John Travolta recently sent a chill
through the Florida neighborhood where he parks his beloved private
jets. Tim and Patricia Kenny, proud parents of a 4 year-old
autistic girl, believe that it might be time for Child Protective
Services to look into John Travolta and wife Kelly's negligence in
acknowledging their son Jett's reported autism. "I don't think it's
a stretch to call their treatment of Jett child abuse," Ocala,
Florida restaurant manager Tim Kenny tells Hollywood, Interrupted.
Kenny claims he met Travolta at his restaurant in February, and,
after "comping" the movie star and his daughter a meal per
restaurant policy for celebrities, he asked him, "as one autistic
child's father to another," if he "was doing anything special in
terms of therapy" for Jett. Aghast, Travolta responded, "Well, we
involve him in the arts." Then, he offered to send Kenny a book,
and high-tailed it out of the restaurant. "If I ever received a
Scientology book from him [Travolta], I'd find him, and throw it
back at him," says Kenny. "Scientology is keeping him from
acknowledging his son's autism. They see it as a weakness. That's
what the space aliens are telling him I guess.". . . . .
RELATED
ARTICLE: Travolta Pressed On Teen
Son NY
Post- Page Six, June 1, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Travolta son's diagnosis: Science vs.
Scientology? Free
Republic- NY Daily News, By Rush and Malloy, April 12,
2006
RELATED ARTICLE: A PLEA FROM HOLLYWOOD: JOHN TRAVOLTA - OPEN
YOUR HEART! Hollywood
Interrupted, By Mark Ebner, April 10, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: With five private jets, Travolta still
lectures on global warming This is
London, March 30, 2007
|
- When
she has a past Atlanta Journal Constitution (Free Subscription) blog-
Misadventures in Atlanta, By Wise Diva, May 10, 2007
Last year, I discovered that
someone I know was in the adult entertainment industry. I had no
idea she was involved in that sort of thing, so I was really
shocked when I found out. When I asked her about it, she assured me
she was happy with her choices. I couldn’t help but wonder how she
would feel about this in a couple of years. Will she be able to
deal with this when she is dating someone new? How does she bring
this part of her past up? What about when she was ready to marry
and have a family? So guys, let me give you a scenario: You
meet a great girl and you like everything about her. Soon after,
you discover she has a few “skeletons” in the closet, a checkered
past. How would you react if she a) was a former stripper or worked
in the adult entertainment industry b) had many partners - both
genders. Would you be willing to deal with it? Would it make a
difference if she was forthcoming about everything? What if you
found out from somebody else and had to confront her about it?. . .
. .
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- Divorcees may have assets taken to fund an ex-spouse’s
debts TimesOnline-UK, By Frances Gibb, May 10, 2007
Thousands of
divorcees risk seeing their assets plundered to meet their former
spouses’ debts after a landmark ruling that they are no longer
protected from his or her creditors when they split. A High Court
ruling released yesterday has closed the loophole protection that
spouses enjoy over their share of assets ordered on divorce. In
future if a husband — or wife — goes bankrupt, their spouse will be
exposed to creditors over assets won in a contested divorce.
Bankruptcy trustees will be able to pursue the nonbankrupt spouse
for up to five years. The ruling also applies retrospectively to
divorce orders within the past five years. . . . . In 2003 the wife
petitioned for divorce and in a court settlement her husband was
ordered to transfer the house to her. She was not granted a lump
sum because of the risk, the judge said, that the husband might
become bankrupt in the near future. In March 2005 the husband
petitioned to be declared bankrupt with total liabilities estimated
at £132,000. The bankruptcy trustees sought to set aside the
divorce order at Birmingham County Court but their challenge
failed. Yesterday’s decision was their appeal against that ruling.
. . . .
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- What Bruce, Demi and her toyboy can teach us all about
divorce The
Daily Mail- UK, By HELENA FIRTH POWELL, May 10, 2007
There was uproar among my divorced friends last week
when Demi Moore was seen canoodling with her new husband Ashton
Kutcher in front of her old husband Bruce Willis on a boat. Most
older (and balder) former husbands would have thrown the young
whippersnapper off the boat, along with the ex-wife, or, at least,
chosen to do a spot of deep-sea fishing with someone they weren't
related to by divorce. "It's outrageous," said a friend who would
no sooner go fishing with her former husband than jump in the
Thames (actually, I think she'd probably prefer the latter). "What
on earth are they thinking about? They're divorced, why are they
hanging out together? They may as well have stayed married." When I
saw the picture, my first thought was: if they're kissing and Bruce
is fishing, who's driving the boat? But after that I thought:
good on them. As a child, I watched my mother get divorced
acrimoniously three times and, frankly, it's not much fun. . .
.
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- Defining marriage Washington Times, By Cheryl Wetzstein, May 10,
2007
"How long must the tail
wag the dog?" With these words, Institute for American Values
President David Blankenhorn issues a plea for cultural literacy and
intellectual honesty in the debate over marriage -- an institution,
he says, that will be irreparably harmed if homosexual couples are
allowed to "wed." Marriage is more than just a legal
commitment between two persons in love, Mr. Blankenhorn writes in
his new book, "The Future of Marriage." It is an ancient, universal
social institution, rooted in biology and supported by religion,
which guides men and women to bridge their differences, form
exclusive unions, create families and kinship networks, and live in
a way that best benefits themselves, their children and those
around them. Marriage is also the institution that bestows public
approval on a man and a woman's sexual intercourse and urges
couples to work out their problems so they will stay together and
give their children the two things they want and need most: their
own father and mother who love each other and who love them, says
Mr. Blankenhorn. However, the same-sex "marriage" debate tends to
ignore these powerful "institutional" aspects of marriage and
fixates on the "personal commitment" part of marriage, he says in
his book, where he calls such a focus "the tail wagging the dog."
This is why the press keeps repeating the rhetorical question of
how does the marriage of a loving homosexual couple threaten the
heterosexual couple down the street -- it's as if this were the
paramount question and its answer settles the matter. . .
.
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- US divorce rate falls to lowest level since 1970, but
why? Boston
Globe, May 10, 2007
Despite the
common notion that America remains plagued by a divorce epidemic,
the national per capita divorce rate has declined steadily since
its peak in 1981 and is now at its lowest level since 1970. Yet
Americans aren't necessarily making better choices about their
long-term relationships. Even those who study marriage and work to
make it more successful can't decide whether the trend is grounds
for celebration or cynicism. . . . America's divorce rate began
climbing in the late 1960s and skyrocketed during the '70s and
early '80s, as virtually every state adopted no-fault divorce laws.
The rate peaked at 5.3 divorces per 1,000 people in 1981. But
since then it's dropped by one-third, to 3.6. That's the lowest
rate since 1970. What's fueling that decline? . . . .
.
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- 'Life's Short. Get A Divorce'
Billboard Yanked
Lawyers Complain There Wasn't Due Process NBC San Diego, May
9, 2007
City workers have stripped the sign from its perch after a
week of complaints from neighbors and from other attorneys who said
it reflected poorly on their profession. A city alderman Burton
Natarus, who lives near the sign, said he called the building
inspector, and that the law firm's ad was taken down because the
firm didn't have a permit, and not because of what it said -- or
because of the scantily clad man and woman on it. The two lawyers
who had the sign put up said they're upset that it was removed.
They also said the calls to their law firm have gone up
dramatically since the billboard went up last week. . .
.
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- I donated eggs to friends... now I've been left
infertile The Daily Mail- UK, By CHRIS BROOKE, May 9,
2007
A woman who gave her eggs
to help two childless friends fears she has been left infertile by
her act of kindness. Donna Stickels, 26, revealed her personal
ordeal to warn other women about the potential dangers of egg
donation. Her story began seven years ago when she offered to help
a married friend who was desperate to start a family after years of
failed fertility treatment. Donna's generosity resulted in the
delighted woman giving birth to twin boys and she later became
their godmother. A second donation of eggs to another friend failed
to result in a pregnancy, but the woman later conceived naturally.
Although both childless women realised their dream of becoming
mothers, the fertility treatment appears to have had tragic
implications for Donna. . . .
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- Parenting & Health Issues: The proof food
additives ARE as bad as we feared The Daily Mail-UK, By SEAN POULTER, May 9, 2007
Parents have been warned to avoid artificial
additives used in drinks, sweets and processed foods amid a link to
behaviour problems in children. A study funded by the government's
Food Standards Agency(FSA) is understood to have drawn a link with
temper tantrums and poor concentration. There are also concerns
about allergic reactions such as asthma and rashes. The findings
are potentially explosive for the entire food industry, which faces
the need to reformulate a vast array of children's products. . . .
. The research, carried out by a team from Southampton University,
appears to confirm earlier studies suggesting additives can cause
reactions, either individually or as a cocktail. The colours,
tested on groups of three-year-olds and eight-to-nine year olds,
were tartrazine (E102), ponceau 4R (E124), sunset yellow (E110),
carmoisine (E122), quinoline yellow (E104) and allura red AC
(E129). The team also looked at the effect of the preservative
sodium benzoate (E211), which is commonly used in soft drinks.
.
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- Parenting & Health Issues: How a pint of milk a
day can give you acne The Daily Mail, By FIONA MacRAE, May 9, 2007
Many a
spotty teenager has been told to lay off the chips and chocolate if
they want clear skin. But research suggests they would do much
better to cut down on drinking milk. Teenagers who drink a pint or
more of milk a day are almost 50 per cent more likely to develop
spots and pimples than those who rarely or never drink milk. Whole
and semi-skimmed milk also raise the risk of acne - but to a lesser
extent, the research carried out at the respected Harvard School of
Public Health, showed. It is thought that hormones that occur
naturally in milk and other dairy products nourish spots by making
skin greasy and blocking pores. Processing milk to make low-fat
versions may raise levels of the hormones, making the situation
worse. . . .
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- Judges 6:36-40
Townhall.com, By Mike S. Adams May 9,
2007
Some years ago, I knew a
young man who drove some 700 miles to give a speech at his alma
mater. When he arrived he saw a few old friends including an old
girlfriend he dated in school. She was going through a divorce and
she had recently been unfaithful to her husband. They talked for
hours that weekend and after all was said and done he got back in
his car to drive home. He had a lot to think about on the twelve
hour drive. Mostly, he thought about how miserable the lives of so
many of the girls he had dated turned out to be. When he finally
went to bed that tired Sunday evening he said a little prayer. He
told God he was tired of his life and wanted to settle down. "Dear
Lord," he said, "I'm ready for you to send me a wife. I've waited
36 years so could you please hurry up? I need her in 36 hours." He
often joked that way with God. . . . It would be a few weeks before
he would realize that he first saw her eyes just 36 hours after he
uttered his tired prayer. By then they were dating. . . .
.
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- Sour facial expressions lead to divorce:
Cutting out criticism and contempt SunValleyonline, By
Alison Poulsen, May 9, 2007
John Gottman, who wrote
Why Marriages Succeed or Fail after studying 2000 married couples
over two decades, found that contempt, criticism, and defensiveness
ultimately lead to divorce. Yet, we shouldn’t go through
relationships ignoring problems and complaints. The key is to make
specific requests with a neutral tone of voice, instead of making
broad negative judgments, such as “you’re always complaining.” You
can state specific needs or feelings without exaggerating the
facts.
Specific Requests versus negative judgment:
Here are a few examples of how to change a negative judgment into a
constructive request. Note that the most important part of the
message is tone of voice.
E.g., Negative criticism: “You never help me with the dishes.”
Specific request: “It would be great if you’d help me do the dishes
tonight.”. . . . .
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- Dating Service Helps Millionaires Meet Match
Exclusive Dating Club Opens Office In Palm
Beach ABC- Local10.com, FL - May 8, 2007
-- A national matchmaking
service is opening a new office to help South Florida singles find
loving millionaires. Reality shows such as "The Bachelor" are just
one example of the lengths people will go to find love these days.
But Local 10's Jen Herrera reported that for men who want to make a
connection with this service, dating is worth a million bucks,
literally. Nearly 25,000 women were recruited to date the men of
The Millionaire's Club, and more will be coming out of Palm Beach,
said CEO Julia Julia Erikson. Erickson said the men's requirements
to join the exclusive club are simple. "First of all they must be
successful. We are the Millionaire's Club so they must have a net
worth of a $1 million and they must be serious looking for a real
relationship," said Erikson. If that sounds superficial, Erikson
said don't be fooled, there are no gold diggers allowed. . . .
RELATED VIDEO: Millionaires
Club Opens Local Matchmaking Service
RELATED SITE: Millionaire's
Club
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- Brides of Color Magazine Fills Gap and Goes Beyond the
Wedding Black PR.com, May 7, 2007
- Bliss The Magazine, one
of the first-ever complimentary bridal magazines for women of color
has launched in Houston, Texas. Bliss fills the gap and addresses a
unique and viable niche. It features current, fresh, informative
content relative to diverse backgrounds, creating a vital
connection to an underserved market. "In the face of the
prevailing presence, purchasing power and rare beauty reflected in
tones from ebony to ivory--women of color, specifically
African-American, are consistently underrepresented in mainstream
bridal publications," said K. Broussard, Founder and
Editor-in-Chief. As one of the first-ever complimentary bridal
magazines for women of color, Bliss is considered a cross between
Modern Bride and Essence. Fusing the before and after of a wedding,
the Houston-based magazine presents an exquisite preview of wedding
possibilities for the diverse bride and guides her into the journey
of marriage. "Bliss is tapping into a market, which has not been
actively addressed nor included in the Houston area, much less
nationwide, on a consistent basis. . . . . Bliss, which debuted
last month, is published quarterly by SaJhan Publishing, LLC.
Complimentary copies are available at various locales in Houston. .
. . .
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- Divorce attorney defends racy
billboard ABC 7, By Theresa Gutierrez, May 7, 2007
- A large billboard in Chicago is getting all
the attention it was hoping to attract, but some say it's in bad
taste.The ad shows the well-toned torsos of a man and a woman with
the caption: 'Life is short. Get a divorce.' A divorce
attorney paid for the ad. The sign on Rush Street is three times
the size of a regular billboard, and features a scantily clad woman
and man. It's causing a great deal of attention on the busy
restaurant street.. . . . On the surface, it's saying, 'Hey, let's
all break the Seventh Commandment. And, if you do break the Seventh
Commandment and get caught, then come see me'," said Jim Schmidt,
advertising creative director for Downtown Partners. "I don't think
it's promoting anything wholesome at all." . . . . Fetman says her
billboard is already paying off because of all the publicity she is
receiving. She says she's planning to put up an ad that's even more
racy next month. . . . .
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- Sifting Through the Ruins of
Infidelity New York Times, By MIREYA NAVARRO, May 6,
2007
THE client said all he got
was a massage, the kind that comes from an escort service and costs
about $300. The owner of the escort service maintains all she
offered was sexual fantasy, the kind that prompts a federal
prosecution for running a prostitution ring. In the latest
sex scandal from the nation’s capital, the efforts to gloss over a
sexual encounter failed to spare one of the first exposed: Randall
L. Tobias, 65, who is married. Mr. Tobias, a top foreign aid
adviser in the State Department, was listed on the phone records of
Deborah Jeane Palfrey’s “high-end erotic fantasy service.” He
denied he had sex with prostitutes, and then he quit his job, which
entailed requiring foreign recipients of AIDS funds to condemn
prostitution. As more names in Ms. Palfrey’s circle begin to
trickle out (she says she needs her powerful clients to prove she
did nothing illegal), she may cause more shame and may ruin more
careers. But outside the public glare, what about all the wives and
girlfriends of those receiving massages? In that case, is an erotic
massage, or sex with a prostitute, as much of a threat to a
marriage or relationship?. . . . .
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- VERY
CLOSE MARRIAGES: Keeping it in the family The Japan Times, By MARK SCHREIBER, May 5,
2007
"My wife and I are not
related. But my parents were cousins." So says 84-year-old
Shigeyoshi Saito (a pseudonym), resident of an isolated fishing
village in southern Hokkaido. "In the old days, those sort of
marriages were pretty common around here." This, according to
Article 734, Item 1 of Japan's Civil Code ("Marriage cannot take
place between lineal relatives by blood, or between collateral
relatives by blood within three degrees of relationship"), happens
to be illegal. Yet it appears this practice still persists. In the
latest installment of its ongoing series on taboos in Japan,
Jitsuwa Knuckles delves into the topic of incestuous family
relationships. Actually, says the magazine, the practice has
existed since ancient times, and was particularly widespread among
members of aristocracy and samurai. But with the imposition of
codes promulgated following the Meiji Restoration of 1868,
marriages between blood relations rapidly declined, the one main
exception apparently being isolated parts of Hokkaido. . . .
Inbreeding is generally believed to carry a greater risk of birth
defects due to genetic damage. A study conducted in the United
States found that 1.69 percent of the offspring of marriages
between cousins showed genetic-related disorders, compared to a
rate of 1.02 percent for offspring of ordinary marriages. . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Lawful
incest may be on its way
BOSTON GLOBE, By Jeff Jacoby, May 2,
2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: Excerpt
from Santorum interview USA Today -AP, April 23, 2003
RELATED
ARTICLE: Should
Incest Be Legal? Time magazine, By MICHAEL LINDENBERGER, April 5,
2007
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- Television Review | 'Grey’s Anatomy'
The New Modern Woman, Ambitious and Feeble
New York Times, By ALESSANDRA STANLEY, May 5,
2007
It’s time to play the
blame game. Everything wrong with “Grey’s Anatomy” and its
soon-to-be spun spinoff is the fault of “Ally McBeal.” Mary Tyler
Moore and Marlo Thomas were early prototypes of the quirky but
lovable career girl. David E. Kelley’s hit series about a deeply
neurotic lawyer named Ally McBeal marked a turning point in the
devolution of women’s roles in television comedy — the moment when
competent-but-flaky hardened into basket case. . . . . . Shonda
Rhimes, who created “Grey’s Anatomy,” also came up with the
spinoff. Somehow, even in the hands of a woman, a show about female
doctors finds humor and solace in their distress. Self-deprecation
has been replaced with self-denigration. People complain that
hip-hop stars use obscene lyrics and lewd music videos to demean
women. Sometimes, so do even the most bourgeois women’s television
shows. . . .
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- New Video Features Actor David Hasselhoff, Drunk Voice of America, By Ray McDonald, May 4, 2007
David Hasselhoff's two daughters videotaped the actor after a bout of drinking. The video, which aired May 3 on TV tabloid programs, shows the actor appearing inebriated. Clad only in blue jeans, he clumsily eats a hamburger while daughter Taylor-Ann, 16, reproves him for drinking. In a May 3 statement, the 54-year-old Hasselhoff says "I am a recovering alcoholic. Despite that I have been going through a painful divorce and I have recently been separated from my children due to my work, I have been successfully dealing with my issue. Unfortunately, one evening I did have a brief relapse, but part of recovery is relapse. Because of my honest and positive relationship with my daughters, who were concerned for my well-being, there was a tape made that night to show me what I was like. I have seen the tape. I have learned from it and am back on my game." . . . . .
RELATED ARTICLE & VIDEO INTERVIEW Pamela Bach: Drinking Made Hasselhoff 'Jekyll & Hyde' Access Hollywood, May 3, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: HASSELHOFF: 'An amicable divorce is c**p' PR inside- World Entertainment News Network, Nov 1, 2006
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- Q & A: Is asking for her hand in marriage
outdated? MSNBC, By Dr. Gail Saltz, May 3, 2007
Dear Dr. Gail: My
future son-in-law, with what I assume were only good intentions,
approached my husband about plans to become engaged to my daughter.
He made the traditional advance of asking my husband for his
daughter’s hand in marriage. I knew nothing of the plans and feel
very left out. My daughter and I are very close, and I have learned
that her fiancé felt I might slip and tell her of the engagement. I
would have never ruined the surprise for her in any way. She did
pick out a ring, however, so she was well aware of the plan — just
not the timing. . . . . Needless to say, I feel insulted, left out,
and betrayed by my husband. It is causing me to view both him and
this young man in a negative light. My daughter and her father are
not emotionally close, and I feel my husband should have advised
the boyfriend to include me in their private meeting. I am so hurt
over this. How can I put this behind me so I can be as excited as I
should be? — Betrayed and dismayed. . . . .
Dear Betrayed: It is understandable that you are upset. It is 2007,
and nobody believes that a future husband must ask his bride’s father for her hand in
marriage. It sounds that both your husband and your son-in-law went
along with this chauvinistic stance. . . .
.
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- Evangelical
leaders promote 'orphan care'
Idea is to take positive steps beyond opposing
abortion, same-sex adoption
MSNBC- AP, May 3, 2007
- Prominent evangelical
Christians are urging churchgoers to strongly consider adoption or
foster care, not just out of kindness or biblical calling but also
to answer criticism that their movement, while condemning abortion
and same-sex adoption, doesn't do enough for children without
parents. With backing from Focus on the Family and best-selling
author Rick Warren, the effort to promote "orphan care" among the
nation's estimated 65 million evangelicals could drastically reduce
foster care rolls if successful. Yet sensitive issues lie ahead:
about evangelizing, religious attitudes on corporal punishment, gay
and lesbian foster children, racially mixed families, and resolving
long-standing tensions between religious groups and the government.
. . ."In some people's minds, the church has been very pro-life up
until the point of birth," said Michael Monroe, who co-founded an
adoption and foster care ministry at Irving Bible Church outside
Dallas. "I don't know if that's a completely fair observation. But
a lot of people are saying it's not enough to be pro-life, we need
to be pro-children, as well.". . . .
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- R. Kelly's Wife Speaks: 'I Will Love That Man To The Day I Die' MTV.com, By Jennifer Vineyard, May 3, 2007
In the nearly five years since R. Kelly was charged with several criminal counts of child pornography, his wife, Andrea Lee Kelly, has remained silent. She has been so far removed from family members, in fact, that they've resorted to asking the police to check in with her to make sure she's all right. "We know her not calling us is sending a signal that something is wrong," her mother, Gerri Cruze, told the Chicago Sun-Times. Even after Andrea Lee Kelly asked for an emergency protective order to keep the singer away from her — amid claims of physical abuse — and after she separated from her husband and moved out of their home in fall 2005, she didn't reach out publicly. Until now. . . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Notes on a Scandal Essence.com, By Natalie Y. Moore, May 2007 Issue
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- Is your marriage adrift? Baptist Press, By Ray
E. Sanders, May 3, 2007
What's going on? I recently came to the realization that I
have nearly as many close friends and family who have been divorced
as I do those who are still married to their original spouse.
Surely these wonderful people didn't just wake up one day and
decide to call it quits. I don't believe their marriages broke up.
I believe they slowly went adrift. Marriages that end in divorce
often do so quietly, one subtle conflict at a time. Emotional and
physical needs go unmet. Hearts begin to harden as they turn
brittle and break. With love and intimacy unfulfilled at home,
yearnings to be cherished and admired cause many to seek
companionship from a lonely soul outside the bounds of marriage.
With clouded judgment and compromised convictions, the love
lost between once happy newlyweds ends in an ugly,
public legal battle over kids, cars and collateral. . .
.
RELATED ARTICLE: Marriage- The Secret Of Good
Communication American Chronicle, By C.D. Mohatta, May 3,
2007
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- Melanie
Brown: 'Eddie Is A Poor Role Model For Black Fathers'.
Femailfirst-UK, May 3,
2007
Melanie Brown: 'Eddie Is A
Poor Role Model For Black Fathers'.... Singer Melanie Brown has
again hit out at her ex-boyfriend Eddie Murphy for refusing to take
a Dna test to prove if he's the father of her baby daughter -
calling the actor a poor role model as a black dad. The former
Spice Girl was stunned when Murphy publicly ended their romance on
a Dutch TV show in December (06) - when she was five months
pregnant - and claimed he didn't know if he was the dad of her
then-unborn baby. Brown's daughter Angel Iris Murphy Brown was born
last month (Apr07). The British star now wants Murphy to face up to
his responsibilities. . .
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Lawful incest may be on its
way BOSTON GLOBE, By Jeff Jacoby, May 2, 2007
WHEN THE BBC
invited me onto one of its talk shows recently to talk about the
day's hot topic -- legalizing adult incest -- I thought of Rick
Santorum. Back in 2003, as the Supreme Court was preparing to rule
in Lawrence v. Texas, a case challenging the constitutionality of
laws criminalizing homosexual sodomy, then-Senator Santorum caught
holy hell for warning out that if the law were struck down, there
would be no avoiding the slippery slope. "If the Supreme Court says
you have the right to consensual sex within your home," he told a
reporter, "then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to
polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to
adultery. You have the right to anything." It was a common-sensical
observation, though you wouldn't have known it from the
nail-spitting it triggered in some quarters. When the
justices, voting 6-3, did in fact declare it unconstitutional for
any state to punish consensual gay sex, the dissenters echoed
Santorum's point. "State laws against bigamy, same-sex marriage,
adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, adultery, fornication,
bestiality, and obscenity are . . . called into question by today's
decision," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the minority. Now, Time
magazine acknowledges: "It turns out the critics were right.". .
.
RELATED
ARTICLE: Excerpt
from Santorum interview USA Today -AP, April 23, 2003
RELATED
ARTICLE: Should
Incest Be Legal? Time magazine, By MICHAEL LINDENBERGER, April 5, 2007
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- MIXED MARRIAGES: INTER-FACIAL
COUPLES By Jaclyn Levin, May 2,
2007
You may have seen the story this morning on
"inter-facial" mixed marriages -- couples who aren’t on the same
level of attractiveness -- as defined by Belinda Luscombe the Arts
Editor at Time Magazine. She's written a humorous essay about
being married to a much more attractive man (see their wedding
photo to the right). In our phone conversation she compared him to
Brad Pitt, while rating herself a 6 ½. Personally, I think she's
short-changing herself. For the taped story we interviewed Belinda
and talked to an expert on relationships, Dr. Drew Pinsky who
confessed that he, too, married up on the attractiveness scale when
he married a model 15 years ago. (Judge for yourself by
the photo right.). . . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: When Your Spouse is Hotter than You Time magazine, By BELINDA LUSCOMBE, April 26,
2007
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- Bruce Buddies Up with Demi and Ashton
Entertainment Tonight, May 1, 2007
Movie star
Bruce Willis gets up close and personal in the latest issue of
Vanity Fair, on stands this week. The mag shows exclusive photos of
Bruce on holiday ... with Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher! The
photos, taken just off the shores of Bruce's Caribbean home, reveal
the chummy relationship between the trio, despite the fact that
Demi is Bruce's ex-wife, and Ashton is her hubby! In the interview
with the mag, Bruce explains their unique family set-up: "It's hard
for people to understand, but we go on holidays together. We still
raise our kids together. We still have that bond.". . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Bruce Willis:
I Still Love Demi Moore People magazine, By Stephen Silverman, April 30,
2007
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- Federal Judge Rules Against Policy of Denying
Marriage License on Basis of Immigration Status ACLU.org Press Release, May 1,
2007
SCRANTON, PA - A federal judge today ruled that a
county official cannot deny a marriage license to a couple simply
because an applicant does not have a current visa or green card.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Pennsylvania
brought the case against Dorothy Stankovic, the Register of Wills
for Luzerne County, on behalf of Pennsylvania native and U.S.
citizen Heather Buck, and Jose Arias-Maravilla, a citizen of
Mexico. “This is great news,” said Mary Catherine Roper, staff
attorney with the ACLU and counsel to Ms. Buck and Mr. Arias.
“Our clients are committed to making a family, and this marriage is
an important step toward that goal.” . . . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: Immigrant, fiancée get license
After winning initial court battle, couple plan to marry before
heading to Mexico. TimesLeader, By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER, May 3,
2007
RELATED ARTICLE: ACLU sues official over license denial
Register of wills won’t give license for illegal immigrant to marry
area woman. TimesLeader.com, By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER, April 19,
2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: Illegal alien denied marriage
license (no duh)…SURPRISE!…ACLU sues Stop
the ACLU, PA, By Glib Fortuna, April 18,
2007
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- 'Survivor' Producer Weds
'Angel' Downey
Reality TV Producer Mark Burnett Marries 'Touched By
An Angel' Actress Roma Downey 7Online.com, NY - May 1,
2007
- "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett and "Angel" Roma
Downey have tied the knot. The couple were married Saturday in a
private ceremony at their home. The ceremony was officiated by
Downey's "Touched by an Angel" co-star Della Reese, an ordained
minister, the couple's publicist, Jim Dowd, confirmed Monday. "It
was wonderful to have shared our big day with our family, Roma,
myself, our children and our parents," Burnett, 46, told People
magazine in an interview. "It was so meaningful and so intimate." A
small plane hired by Downey, 47, towed a banner that read: "...and
they lived happily ever after.".
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- Two Brothers Share How They Coped With Their Dad's
Decision To Become A Woman
ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, By Lane DeGregory, May
1, 2007
You're 13 years old, and you love your dad. You love
fishing with him, scuba diving with him, riding in his Jeep. Sure,
sometimes your dad gets annoying, and distant. So do you. You're
13. Almost a man. Like your dad. One day after school, he drags you
away from your computer game and says he has something to tell you.
He looks you in the eye and says: "I want to be a woman." Largo
City Manager Steve Stanton told the whole world about those plans
in February and ended up losing his job. During the hearings about
his fate at City Hall, many people expressed concern for his son,
Travis. What would this be like for Travis, especially at the
tricky age of 13? Travis' parents have kept him out of the
spotlight, so nobody knows what he is going through. Except maybe
two young men who went through a similar situation when they were
about the same age. . . Jonathan's story: . . . . David's
story: . . .
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