'MARRIAGE' In The NEWS- April 2008: The REAL Proposal For Marriage magazine

Young, gay marrieds: BENJAMIN & JOSHUA In their living room in Boston. Each 25, they were sweethearts in college and married soon after

Young, gay, married GetReligion.org, Posted by Mollie, April 28, 2008
When I saw the cover of the New York Times Sunday Magazine this week, I groaned. Beaming out from the pages in ridiculously campy, 1950s-style photos reminiscent of June and Ward Cleaver were two perfectly domestic gay men. The Newlywed Gays! the text read and I just knew that we were going to get yet another installment about how perfectly normal gay marriage is. I’ve complained before about the “We’re perfectly normal and boring” meme that all reporters use when describing, say, polygamous families or gay parents and their genetic material donors forming multi-parent families. I don’t want sensational coverage, but it always smacks of advocacy. It also subtly denigrates others’ views as opposing, say, polygamy only because it’s not “normal.” Well, Benoit Denizet-Lewis’ story might be advocacy, but it completely surprised me. It’s long, but really interesting and it feels no need to present readers with 5,000 words claiming that young gay marrieds aren’t just normal, they’re better than normal. Not that I would expect him to, having read his rather provocative pieces on men on the down low and the teen hook-up culture. Instead, Denizet-Lewis used the piece to satisfy a curiosity. He’d heard about a bunch of young gay men getting married in Boston and he was curious how they might choose to construct and maintain their unions, particularly with no model for how to build a gay marriage. Much of the article deals with whether young gay men expect monogamy, as is a normal expectation (even if not always the reality) with straight couples who marry. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: The 'Real' New Gay Marriage GayWired.com, By Ross von Metzke, May 7, 2008
What we aren’t, however, is Norman f*****g Rockwell… we’re not Ivy League, bucking for country club membership or any other idealistic relationship stereotype—which is probably what bothered me so much about a recent cover story in The New York Times Magazine, documenting what writer Benoit Denizet-Lewis dubs “the new gay marriage.” . . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: The New Face of Gay Marriage The Christian Post, By R. Albert Mohler, Jr., April 28, 2008
Denizet-Lewis's article raises at least one final thought. If the legalization of same-sex marriage is changing homosexual culture, is it also changing heterosexual marriage? We can only wonder how long it will take for some heterosexual couples to decide that "emotional fidelity" and "sexual fidelity" can be separated. . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Young Gay Rites New York Times, By Benoit Denizet-Lewis, April 27, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Comparing the Lifestyles of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples Family Research Council, By Timothy J. Dailey, Ph. D. (Posted March 2008)
The “I’m boring.” down-home portrayals of homosexual couples are meant to provoke the question: Since gay couples really differ only in that both partners are of the same sex, what rational basis exists for denying them full marriage rights? Are homosexual households, as the article suggests, simply another variant of human relationships that should be considered, along with marriage, as “part of mainstream American society”? On the contrary, the evidence indicates that “committed” homosexual relationships are radically different from married couples in several key respects:

· relationship duration
· monogamy vs. promiscuity
· relationship commitment
· number of children being raised
· health risks
· rates of intimate partner violence . . . .

Tightening the Belt and the Return of the Vegetable Garden

Tightening the Belt and the Return of the Vegetable Garden Townhall.com, By Jackie Gingrich Cushman, April 27, 2008
The AP article title “Sam's Club, Costco limit rice purchases as prices rise,” by Marcus Kabel, caught my eye. Just last night, as my mother fixed rice for my children’s dinner, she mentioned the increase in its price. At the time, I did not pay much attention, and certainly did not expect to read about U.S. rice rationing in the headlines the next day. And it’s not just rice. The average price of gas is at an all-time high of more than $3.50 per gallon; this year, rice prices have risen 70 percent. Total food costs are projected to rise 5 percent this year. Based on the recent price stickers I have seen in the grocery store, my guess is that it will be higher. In a recent CNN article, “Mom’s new battle: The food price bulge,” cancer researcher, mother and wife Amanda Richardson noted that the price squeeze has taught her an important lesson, while she has managed to lower total food costs while prices have climbed. "Before, we were incredibly wasteful. We'd let food go bad. I am more conscientious now," she said. "If prices go back down, I won't return to my wasteful ways.". . . . Maybe as a counter to higher oil prices and food prices, we can begin to tighten our belts a bit – and I mean literally. Following are a few ideas:
1. Drive less, walk and bike more. . . . . . 2. Eat less and better at home. . . 3. Reduce the size of portions in restaurants. . . . 4. Plant a garden. . .

Did Georgia judge and Cosby go to far? ABC 7-KABC Los Angeles- AP, April 25, 2008
-- Bill Cosby says apathy among some black Americans about violence, drugs, profanity and teenage sex has sunk to a level of asking someone to "pass the salt." The comedian, who has made waves by criticizing the black community in the past, appeared Thursday night with a Georgia judge who kicked whites out of his courtroom while he lectured black defendants. Cosby and Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington spoke at a forum for at-risk youths from the Atlanta area. Both men are black. "Our children are trying to tell us something," Cosby said to the predominantly black audience at Benjamin Mays High School as he talked about the importance of education and family. He amused the invitation-only crowd of about 600, which included teenagers identified as "at-risk" by juvenile authorities, with a lament about nonchalant reactions to common problems. "Well, the mother's on crack cocaine. Pass the salt." "That girl's baby has no father. Pass the salt." "Oh, he shot him in the head? Pass the salt." Cosby, dressed casually in sneakers and a Morehouse College T-shirt, said there are examples of success, and there are examples of failure. "We look at failure and we're like, pass the salt." He dismissed critics of his approach who have said that he is airing dirty laundry in the black community. "That's crazy," he said. "There are black people who have to walk around this dirty laundry.". .

FOX Plans Reality-TV 'Bad Dads' Colosseum 'Lynching' of Poor Men

FOX Plans Reality-TV “Bad Dads” Colosseum "Lynching" of Poor Men Men's News Daily, By David R. Usher, April 24, 2008
I was astonished to see that FOX Television, in its nauseating quest for ever tawdry reality-TV shows, plans to turn the problems of poor fathers into an extermination in the Fox Colosseum. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fox tagged Jim Durham, Director of the “National Child Support Center”, as the leading lion of the event. Interestingly, this organization does not exist. The real name of the company Durham runs is named "National Child Support" (NCS). The NCS is not a national or official organization — it is a private for-profit fee-based collections agency located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their website cannily does not identify Durham on its website, but Zoominfo tagged the truth. Both Fox and Durham lied about the name of the company, appending "agency" to the name apparently to confer a false appearance of governmental authority upon Fox's assault on poor or underemployed fathers. When folks start out lying about who they are, the future is predicable. . . . For those unaware of the dynamics of the child support problem, understand the following truths now. Approximately 80% to 85% of men behind on support are poor or involuntarily under-employed men unable to earn what some bureaucrat ordered them to earn. Court orders commonly include “imputed income” to reflect what a judge thinks the father should earn (which most often is equal to or more than what the State was giving her in welfare). Child support orders are rigid, and do not change with economic downturns. . . . The systemic problem is this: states hand out large sums of welfare entitlements under TANF and other programs. This stimulates women to have children out of wedlock or get a divorce because they think that government will be a better provider. Very quickly women find out that her "baby daddy" cannot support two households, and that she has to work full time and "do it all" on less money. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Anne Heche: I Can't Afford Child Support People magazine, By Mike Fleeman, May 14, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: "Bad Dads" a Bad Idea Townhall.com, By Kathleen Parker, May 2, 2008
"Bad Dads" is just the latest insult to men and especially fathers who feel, appropriately, that they've been maligned and minimized through television programming and advertising. In sitcoms, men are typically buffoons. And fathers, if they exist, are inept and unreliable, while Mom is a paragon of virtue and competence. Television executives and advertisers may profit from such "entertainment," but who's having fun? Apparently, women are. . . . The more accurate picture of a deadbeat dad is an unemployed or underemployed bloke who sees more jail cells than golf courses. A common sequence of events for the poorest deadbeat dads goes something like this: Fall behind in child support, get arrested and put in jail, lose your job, fall further behind in child support. Not exactly a formula for rehabilitation or future employment. . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Fox zeroes in on 'Bad Dads': Unscripted series focuses on making deadbeat fathers pay The Hollywood Reporter, By James Hibberd, April 24, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Welfare 'reform' threatens to leave dads behind USA Today, April 24, 2002

How the web stole our children: Chilling report reveals under-16s spend more than 20 hours a week online

Parenting Issues: How the web stole our children
Chilling report reveals under-16s spend more than 20 hours a week online The Daily Mail- UK, By Winifred Robinson, April 24, 2008
The other day my eight-year-old son asked: 'Mum, what was your favourite website when you were little?' The question illustrates the yawning gulf dividing today's parents and their children. We were raised in an age when the sum total of what could be viewed on screen was four television channels with content strictly controlled. Spool forward just 25 years and our children can choose from scores of channels and - via the internet - visit thousands of uncensored virtual worlds at the click of a mouse. Such is the influence of these worlds on young minds and such is the lack of understanding among parents, that a report from the think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research - "Behind The Screen: The Hidden Life Of Youth Online" - describes a generation of teenagers effectively being raised by the internet. They spend all of their free time on websites such as Facebook and MySpace which offer free and easy access to videos posted by other users including, on occasion, real scenes of rape and violence plus links to websites advocating anorexia and even suicide. Parents worried about these developments are often dismissed as hysterical participants in something sneeringly termed "moral panic". But the simple fact is that we lack the knowledge to take charge when it comes to how our children use the internet. Our ignorance is eroding our confidence to act. And so children, rather than their parents, are winning the battles over computer use, battles being fought out daily in thousands of caring middle-class homes. . . .The report from the IPPR is the first to seek to answer some of the basic questions troubling parents like the Joneses and Graysons about children's internet use and in particular about the social networking sites which have grown massively in popularity in the past two years. It examines how long our children are spending online, what exactly they are experiencing there, how the facts square with what parents believe is going on, and how sustained exposure to this new world of virtual friendships and experiences might influence the moral, social and intellectual development of a child. . . .

As teenage pregnancies soar, meet the thirtysomething grandmothers The Daily Mail- UK, By Daniel Bates, April 24, 2008
It wasn't the life Tara Bailee had in mind. Pregnant at 20, she had to resign herself to growing up quickly and learning about motherhood. Then, at 36, she became a grandmother. Her story may sound surprising, but Miss Bailee's is not an isolated case. As a result of Britain's high teenage pregnancy rate - the worst in Europe - many women are becoming accustomed to looking after their grandchildren while still in their thirties - and without any sign of a husband. The new phenomenon raises questions about the social consequences of generations of children being brought up without fathers. The majority of the women involved don't regret having babies but some who became parents in their teens told a BBC documentary they wished they had done things differently. Miss Bailee, whose daughter became pregnant at 15, and has an eight-month-old daughter, said: "I put Rickeita on the Pill as soon as she started her periods at 12 or 13. . . . The trend for young grandmothers looks likely to continue. There were 39,000 pregnancies among under-18s in 2006, compared with 39,800 in 2005. More than 20 girls between 13 and 15 become pregnant every day. Norman Wells, of Family and Youth Concern, said: "In previous generations it was not unusual for girls to marry and start having children in their late teens and early twenties, and for women to become grandparents in their late thirties."The key difference now is that most teenage pregnancies occur outside marriage and their children frequently lack the involvement of a committed father." . . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: The teenage mums who become nightclubbing, 30-something grannies The Daily Mail- UK, By Jenny Johnston, April 25, 2008

As teenage pregnancies soar, meet the thirtysomething grandmothers:From left, Rickeita, her daughter Lexie, and grandmother Tara Bailee, 36

RELATED ARTICLE: The High Cost of Immorality Crosswalk.com, By Michael Craven, April 21, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Continued Good News on Teen Pregnancy and Abortion Townhall.com, By Janice Shaw Crouse, April 17, 2008
In a study released this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports record declines in the rates of teen pregnancies and abortions. The drop in teenage pregnancy rates continues a long trend: the decline of 38 percent is a fall from an all-time high in 1990 to an historic low in 2004. Significantly, the CDC, the nation’s largest public health agency, stated that their report is the most comprehensive study of this decade. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Meet the families where no one's worked for THREE generations - and they don't care The Daily Mail- UK, By Sadie Nicholas and Diana Appleyard, March 21, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: The Collapse of Marriage and the Rise of Welfare Dependence The Heritage Foundation, By Jennifer A. Marshall, Robert Lerman, Ph.D., Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, Ph.D., Hon. Wade Horn, Ph.D., Robert Rector- Heritage Lecture #959, August 15, 2006 (Delivered May 22, 2006)

RELATED ARTICLE: Mothers' and Children's Poverty and Material Hardship in the Years Following a Non-Marital Birth FRAGILE FAMILIES RESEARCH BRIEF- Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing- Princeton University, Social Indicators Survey Center, Columbia University, January 2008

Why I wish we'd kiss goodbye to this plague of PDAs (Public Displays of Affection, that is)

Why I wish we'd kiss goodbye to this plague of PDAs (Public Displays of Affection, that is) The Daily Mail- Uk, By Carol Sander, April 23, 2008
At an Eastbourne pub, quaintly - and perhaps appropriately - called the Nuthouse, the landlord has got himself into hot water. Faced with a couple heatedly kissing, apparently unable to keep their hands off each other, he ordered them to stop their canoodling, sit still and behave themselves. Unfortunately for him, they happen to be lesbians so, with tedious predictability, they have accused him of discrimination. This, he says robustly, is "c**p" - it's not the sexuality that bothers him, it's the sex. He thinks that his customers ought to be able to come in for a quiet pint without being distracted by other people's intimacy. No matter who or what they are. And so do I. Further, I think that his customers should buy him a drink. And make it a large one. Public displays of affection, which in my schooldays we sniggeringly shortened to "PDAs", have changed from what was then a spot of hand-holding bravado to increasingly flamboyant, grotesque displays of sexual activity that nobody should have to put up with, but which most of us - except, it seems, especially plucky publicans - do. It's not all late-night smooching on a darkened dance-floor or the traditional back row of a cinema, either - for some couples, any hour and any excuse is fine by them. . . .Whatever the pantomime is about, it isn't about anything resembling love or desire as either is genuinely experienced. For some people, male and female alike, it's a personal statement: look at me, it begs; you might have thought I'm a dull little loser - but no! I can attract a gorgeous creature like this one, who is all over my body, day and night! Well, bully for you and your insecurities: I still don't see why they need to involve me, a stranger who honestly couldn't care less. . . .

And the bride's mother wore white...or how to avoid wrecking your child's wedding The Daily Mail- UK, By Helena Frith Powell, April 23, 2008
They say your wedding day is the most important day of your life. Preparation often starts a year or more before the big day with dress fittings, gym memberships and debates about whether or not to risk falling up the aisle in your the seven-inch stilettos in order to be taller than the bridegroom's infuriatingly tall and slim younger sister. Weeks before the event you stop living a normal life: eating and sleeping become a thing of the past. No single day will cause you such angst and trauma - until your daughter announces she is going to get married. I am now at the age when I am no longer going to the weddings of friends, but rather the weddings of children of friends. I have been through several weddings with girlfriends and although the stress was palpable, it is nowhere near as bad as it is for the mother of the bride. . . .The problem for the mother of the bride is that she has a double whammy to contend with. First, people are going to be checking her out to see how well-preserved and well-dressed she is and second, they want to see what the bride is going to look like in a few years' time. . . .

And the bride's mother wore white... Or, how to avoid wrecking your child's wedding

RELATED ARTICLE: 20 hot wedding trends for 2008: How to make your wedding one to remember The Sunday Times, By Deborah Joseph, January 20, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Paris Wedding Trends 2008: The Black Wedding Dress Parisian Party, Posted by Kim, November 23, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Top Wedding Trends for 2008 The Knot.com
What's hot now? This year, bigger is definitely better, from luxe place settings to statement-making gowns and hairstyles.

RELATED ARTICLE: 2008 Wedding Trends About.com, By Nina Callaway
A Guide to the Hottest Wedding Trends of 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding AlterNet, By Emily Wilson, June 15, 2007
Pre-World War II, many couples got married in clothes they already owned. Today, they spend thousands. In her new book, One Perfect Day, Rebecca Mead shows how the wedding industry became so powerful and who it has exploited in the process.

WEDDING PLANNING RESOURCES: Big City Bride Colin Cowie Preston Bailey

Star Jones Files For Divorce From Husband Al Reynolds

Star Jones Files For Divorce Entertainment Tonight Online, April 23, 2008
Entertainment Tonight breaks news that Star Jones (46) has filed for divorce from husband of three-and-a-half years Al Reynolds (39). The filing took place on March 26 in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan. Starlet M. Jones versus Al S. Reynolds was marked as an "Uncontested Matrimonial" case by the court and the records were sealed. In a statement released exclusively to Entertainment Tonight, the former "View" co-host says: "Several years ago I made an error in judgment by inviting the media into the most intimate area of my life. A month ago I filed for divorce. The dissolution of a marriage is a difficult time in anyone's life that requires privacy with one's thoughts. I have committed myself to handling this situation with dignity and grace and look forward to emerging from this period as a stronger and wiser woman." Yesterday, New York divorce attorney Stanford Lotwin (who represents Reynolds and worked on the high profile divorces of Howard Stern, Donald Trump, and Diana Ross) filed a notice of appearance with the courts. Upon learning of the filing, Entertainment Tonight producers discovered the original divorce decree. . . .

Is Planned Parenthood Above The Law? Townhall.com, By Maggie Gallagher, April 22, 2008
Planned Parenthood likes to think of itself as above all reproach -- a champion of women's rights and also (as its annual report claims) the nation's "social justice movement." But this week, in front of Planned Parenthood offices at 1108 16th St. NW in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, a group of black pastors and pro-life activists (joined by two GOP congressmen) will demand a congressional audit of what the group alleges are a pattern of racist practices, funded by taxpayers, at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics. Planned Parenthood's latest trouble began when a feisty pro-life student magazine called Planned Parenthood offices in seven states, posing as an openly racist donor seeking to make sure his check could be earmarked to abort "a black baby." The resulting phone conversations are horrifying listening. . . . According to the group, Planned Parenthood officers in at least four states agreed not only to accept the racists' check, but to actually earmark the donation for that purpose. "The less black kids the better," the caller tells one Planned Parenthood employee. "For whatever reason we'll accept the money," was one typical response. . . .The current racism charge can't help but revive memories of a similar sting operation that revealed many Planned Parenthood clinic employees were willing to tell a caller posing as a 13-year-old girl with a 22-year-old boyfriend how she could avoid triggering mandatory child sex abuse reporting requirements at the clinic. In each case, Planned Parenthood's national leaders have responded poorly, seeking to deflect attention away from the behavior of its own employees to the motivations of those who made the phone calls. . . .

RELATED VIDEO: PART I: Planned Parenthood Racism Investigation

RELATED VIDEO: PART II: Planned Parenthood Racism Investigation

Parenting Issues: Who’s Better Equipped to Love and Raise Kids in America -- The State or Their Parents? BlackAmericaWeb.com, By Joseph C. Phillips, April 22, 2008
California State Assemblywoman Nancy Lieber has reintroduced her anti-spanking bill to the California state assembly. The bill amends the current child abuse statute to now define as child abuse spanking with an implement such as “a stick, a rod, a switch, an electrical cord, an extension cord, a belt, a broom or a shoe.” There are more than a few grandmas that will find themselves on the way to the pokey if this bill passes. My knee-jerk response was that this is but more liberal, narcissistic nosiness, an appeal to protect children as a pretense to supplant individual rights with state dictates. The current law already makes it a crime for any person to “willfully cause harm … or inflict upon a child unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering.” What can be gained by amending this language, other than to have social workers and police officers second-guessing parents when they choose to use corporal punishment to discipline their children? . . . . . .There are among my neighbors those that would disagree with my methods. I would encourage them to observe that my children, while spirited, are well-behaved, honest and respectful. Where my sons are concerned, they need not fear for their safety or their property. I would also note that while they are free to privately disagree with my methods and free to raise their children as they choose, they are not and should not be free to use the power of government to determine how I raise mine. The bill introduced by Lieber (and no doubt coming to a state assembly near you) suggests something very different. This bill suggests that children do not belong to parents; they belong to the state. . .

Who's Better Equipped to Love and Raise Kids in America -- The State or Their Parents?

RELATED ARTICLE: In Praise of Spanking Townhall.com, By Doug Giles, December 1, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Approaches to Discipline Family.org, By Focus on the Family

RELATED ARTICLE: Does Spanking Work for All Kids? There are other explanations   Family.org, Answered by Dr. James Dobson

RELATED ARTICLE: Child Abuse Worsens as Families Change Townhall.com, By Michael Reagan, November 28, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Disciplining Someone Else's Chid?? Scripps Howard News Service, By BETSY HART, September 26, 2006
I've been taking note of how I interact with other people's kids for a few months now. Ever since Jeffrey Zaslow wrote a column in the Wall Street Journal, "Why Don't We Reprimand Other People's Children?"

RELATED ARTICLE: Hate other people's kids? Here's what to do  MSNBC.com— TODAY, By Ruth A Peters, Ph.D., April 19, 2006
What do you do when kids are ruining your restaurant meal, wrecking your movie, or taunting your child? Dr. Ruth Peters offers this advice. . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Tennessee Mother Makes Daughter Stand on Street Corner Wearing Sign Listing Bad Behavior FOX News- AP, June 25, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Dishing out some Hart-felt wisdom Townhall.com, By Rebecca Hagelin, September 20, 2005

RELATED ARTICLE: The politics of the Supernanny   Boston Globe, By Ellen Goodman, May 15, 2005

RELATED ARTICLE: Is Spanking a Religious Duty?   ABC News, May 3, 2005

Sports great Deion Sanders and wife Pilar bask poolside at their mansion in the Oxygen reality series 'Deion & Pilar: Prime Time Love.'

Deion and Pilar Sanders: How To Keep Your Marriage 'Spicy' AOL Black Voices, By Cheryl Thompson, April 21, 2008
What happens when a former flashy athlete, his model perfect wife and their five children, live in a hot 40,000-square-foot mansion and have their lives videotaped to find out what happens when black families get real? 'Prime Time' gold. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Oxygen's 'Deion & Pilar: Prime Time Love' set network records in its premiere airing, becoming the channel's most-watched original series premiere ever. Following the lives of sports star Deion Sanders and his family, the reality show scored big in the desirable demos of women ages 18-34 and 18-49 and men and women 18-49. While a plethora of reality shows focus on the booty hookup (read: 'Flavor of Love,' 'I Love New York,' 'Rock of Love' .... sensing a trend?), Deion and Pilar strive to produce a show based on genuine love and togetherness. So what keeps a marriage hot and sexy (and more importantly, out of divorce court)? Losing the granny panties, for one. What else? In the ~~above~~ exclusive video segment for Blackvoices.com, Deion and Pilar share how they've kept the flame burning in their marriage. (Feel free to take notes.). . . .

RELATED TV REVIEW:    Deion & Pilar: Prime Time Love Variety magazine, By Brian Lowry, April 14, 2008
Deion Sanders and his wife Pilar, a onetime model, are a gorgeous couple, and they have three adorable kids together plus Deion's two teenagers who live with them. What they cannot do, unfortunately, is convincingly play themselves in this virtual sitcom crafted around their lives. Instead, they find themselves at the center of a bad reality-based sitcom, complete with Looney Tunes-type music and carefully scripted situations, such as "Deion's daughter goes on a date" or "Pilar challenges Deion by saying she can (handicap) football games." The show is many things, but ready for primetime isn't one of them. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: No sex and the City: As a survey reveals that 75 per cent of women would marry for money, our correspondent describes the pitfalls of life with a busy big earner   The Times Online- UK, By Karen Barichievy, January 11, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE:   The hardest job in the world: It may look like the ultimate cushy number, but the life of the celebrity wife is not for the faint hearted TimesOnline-UK, By Wendy Holden, June 24, 2007

How Gay Activism Shapes U.S. Politics CBN News, By Heather Sells-CBN News Reporter, April 22, 2008
He's considered to be America's biggest gay donor. And his out-of-the-box political strategies are reshaping public policy in the areas of marriage, family and gay rights. You probably haven't heard the name Tim Gill. And that's just the way he wants it. . . . . He ties the money to so-called "non-discrimination" policies and establishes himself as a community pillar. But it's in the area of politics where his giving is starting to get the most attention. . . . . Today, Gill's no secret in the gay world. Out magazine just named him the fifth most influential gay in the country. But Gill, his spokesperson, and big-time gay rights organizations all refused requests from CBN News to talk about Gill. Perhaps it's because Gill fears the spotlight could hurt his current plans. Gill did tell Atlantic Monthly that he has an even "larger target list in 2008." CBN News found that the New York statehouse is one of those targets. . . . . Why did Gill pick New York? For starters, the Empire state teeters on the brink of legalizing same-sex marriage. The state assembly has already passed a bill and lawmakers agree: If Democrats can pick up one more Senate seat and take control of that chamber - same-sex marriage will pass. . . . But for many pro-family advocates, Gill's multi-millions make it a David-and-Goliath fight. Matt Barber with Concerned Women for America says "we don't have an evangelical Christian Tim Gill that has stepped forward." It's ironic that Gill himself uses spiritual language to define his detractors. In Atlantic Monthly he called his opponents "the forces of darkness." It's a warning, say his observers. . .

How gay rights activists like Tim Gill are shaping US politics

"Gay" Sex Kills Townhall.com, By Matt Barber, Monday, April 21, 2008
. . . By recently admitting that “HIV is a gay disease,” Matt Foreman, outgoing Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, acknowledged what the medical community has known for decades: the homosexual lifestyle is extremely high-risk and often leads to disease and even death. . . . . . On April 25, 2008, the pro-homosexual indoctrination of your children comes to a boil. Homosexual activists and like-minded liberal educators will be pushing the so-called “Day of Silence” on kids in thousands of schools across the country. . . . To be sure, bullying and harassment should not be tolerated against anyone, anywhere for any reason, and those who engage in such activities should be firmly disciplined. However, DOS has very little to do with “bullying” and has everything to do with propaganda. During DOS, children and teachers are encouraged to disrupt the school day by refusing to speak, in a show of support to self-described “gay,” “lesbian,” “bisexual” and “transgender” students. Kids are additionally taught that Biblical truth, which holds that human sexuality is a gift from God shared between husband and wife within the bonds of marriage, is “homophobic,” “hateful” and “discriminatory.” Our schools are supposed to be places of learning, not places of political indoctrination. It’s the height of impropriety and cynicism for “gay” activists and school officials to use good-hearted but misguided children as pawns in their attempt to further a deceptive, highly controversial and polarizing political agenda. . . .

RELATED STUDY (PDF): Modelling the Impact of HIV Disease on Mortality in Gay and Bisexual Men International Journal of Epidemiology Vol 6, No.3

RELATED SITE: Coalition Opposes Pro-Homosexual 'Day of Silence"
At DOS-participating schools all over the country, parents are joining with dozens of pro-family organizations, such as Concerned Women for America (CWA), in a “Day of Silence Walkout.” They’re keeping their kids home from school on DOS as a show of protest.

RELATED SITE: Day of Truth: The Truth Cannot Be Silenced
Parents and children are also strongly encouraged to participate in the Alliance Defense Fund’s non-disruptive “Day of Truth,” which will follow DOS on Monday, April 28, 2008.

RELATED ARTICLE: Till Death Do Them Part: The Deadly Consequences Of Homosexual Unions Catholic Citizens.org, By Dr. Brian Kopp, December 5, 2003
According to Dr. Kopp, "The best scientific evidence suggests that putting society's stamp of approval on homosexual partnerships would harm society in general and homosexuals in particular, the very individuals some contend would be helped. A large body of scientific evidence suggests that homosexual marriage is a defective counterfeit of traditional marriage and that it poses a clear and present danger to the health of the community. . .

RELATED ARTICLES & INFO: HIV/AIDS and Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) Centers For Disease Control and Prevention

RELATED ARTICLE: The Health Risks of Gay Sex Catholic Education Resource Center, By John R. Diggs, Jr. M.D.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Negative Health Effects of Homosexuality Family Research Council- Issue No.: 232, By Timothy J. Dailey, Ph. D.
Homosexual activists attempt to portray their lifestyle as normal and healthy, and insist that homosexual relationships are the equivalent in every way to their heterosexual counterparts. Hollywood and the media relentlessly propagate the image of the fit, healthy, and well-adjusted homosexual. The reality is quite opposite to this caricature which was recently conceded by the homosexual newspaper New York Blade News. . . .

Giants' Eli Manning married in Mexico New York Daily News, By Jo Piazza, April 20th 2008
Giants quarterback Eli Manning wed his college sweetheart Abby McGrew during a beachfront ceremony at sunset Saturday. About 60 loved ones flew to Mexico to join Manning and his bride for the intimate ceremony at the One & Only Palmilla, a swank resort along the Sea of Cortez on the Baja Peninsula. Manning, 27, and McGrew, 24, exchanged vows while standing on a platform in the sand as waves crashed over rocks behind them. The bride, carrying a bouquet of white roses, made her entrance through a wrought-iron gate and walked down the aisle to an altar covered in pink wildflowers. McGrew looked splendid in a strapless white gown with gold embroidering and a large bow and short train in the back. . . . . Some guests estimated the wedding cost Manning around $500,000, a modest sum compared to most celebrity weddings. . . . . Manning and McGrew met when they were students at Ole Miss. He proposed last March during a quiet date in Hoboken. The couple is famously low-key and kept their wedding plans under wraps until just last week. Wedding guests remarked all weekend about how relaxed Manning had made the celebration for all of them. The bride and groom chose the ultra exclusive resort to celebrate their wedding after vacationing here several times. . . .

JAMAICA: The Manley Memoirs (Part I) The Jamaica Gleaner, By Sacha Walters, April 20, 2008
She is not afraid of taking a second look at life and, if necessary, shaking everything up and rearranging it. Beverley Anderson Manley, journalist and former wife of late Prime Minister Michael Manley, created waves when she married a man 17 years her senior, and with three other marriages behind him. This dark-skin Jamaican, who proudly wore an afro, came from humble beginnings and would marry a man who, on the surface, was completely different from her. He was of mixed race, the son of Norman Manley, former premier, and a member of the upper class. Beverley and Michael were very similar, with a love for life, a zeal to initiate political change in their country and, at that time, an insecurity about their race. For some, they became the John F. Kennedy and Jackie Onasis of Jamaica. They brought youth, glamour and transformational politics to the country. Anderson-Manley would confront head-on the politics of change in the country, playing an integral part in campaigning and connecting with the people. She believed strongly in her husband's democratic socialist stance. They made it through wins and defeats at the polls. But there came a time when they too drifted apart. Anderson-Manley has hosted the 'Breakfast Club', was a Gleaner columnist and has written about her experiences in The Manley Memoirs, which will soon hit the shelves of bookshops. To launch the serialisation of the book in The Gleaner, Flair sat with her to discuss this revealing book. . . .

Beverley Anderson Manley, wife of late Jamaican prime minister Michael Manley, gears to release her memoirs

RUSSIA: Paper Closes After Tabloid 'Marriage' Story Involving Russian Premier Vladimir Putin And Former Olympian Gymnast Alina Kabayeva

RUSSIA: Paper Closes After Putin Marriage Story The Moscow Times, By Anatoly Medetsky and Matt Siegel -Staff Writers, April 21, 2008
A Russian tabloid that published a story claiming that President Vladimir Putin had left his wife to marry a 24-year-old former Olympic gymnast suspended operations on Friday, sparking fresh criticism about withering press freedoms in Russia. "We proved that Russia is not a democracy," Igor Dudinsky, first deputy editor of Moskovsky Korrespondent, which ran the story earlier this month, said Sunday. On Friday, Putin categorically denied claims made by the tabloid that he was planning to marry former rhythmic gymnast and current State Duma Deputy Alina Kabayeva at a news conference in Sardinia with Italian Prime Minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi. "There is not one word of truth in what you have said," he told reporters. "I have always reacted negatively to those who, with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies, prowl into others' lives." Artyom Artyomov, head of billionaire Alexander Lebedev's National Media Company, which publishes the paper, denied that the decision to suspend publication of the magazine was made on political grounds, Interfax reported. . . Dudinsky, a veteran tabloid journalist and former dissident who spent two years in internal exile in Magadan for angering the Soviet government, disagrees. . .

The High Cost of Immorality Crosswalk.com, By Michael Craven, April 21, 2008
For more than five decades, self-proclaimed experts and so-called sexual reformers, beginning with Alfred Kinsey, have worked to advance the belief that there are no public consequences to private sexual behavior. And Americans, for the most part, have bought into this notion, proving what Lenin said, “A lie told often enough becomes the truth!” This ideological offensive, which gained traction during the sexual revolution of the 1960s, led to the erosion of all prior social and legal boundaries, which restrained sex to monogamous marriage. This exclusive union—which strictly limited the acceptable relationship for sex and esteemed the traditional family—was reinforced through the stigmatization of sex outside of marriage and the criminalization of certain acts. . . . While only a handful of states maintain fornication and adultery laws on the book, none actually enforce these statutes and most people today would likely regard any attempt to do so as ridiculous. But are they right? Are there, in fact, no public consequences to any private sexual behavior? If there are, does the individual’s right to privacy trump the greater good of society? . . . . First, our right to privacy does not extend to any and every consensual behavior. . . . . Secondly, contrary to the propaganda of the last five decades; there is recent data which demonstrates there is in fact a public consequence to certain private sexual behaviors. In first-ever research, a scholarly study, entitled The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and All 50 States quantifies a minimum $112 billion annual taxpayer cost from high rates of divorce and unmarried childbearing. This amounts to more than $1 trillion in taxpayer expense over the last decade that is directly attributable to marital breakdown and out-of-wedlock births. . . . . Add to this, the highest rates of sexually transmitted disease among all other industrialized nations, the highest rates of teen pregnancies, the largest producing and consuming nation of pornography, the highest rape rates, and more than 40 million abortions since 1972 and one must be willfully blind to suggest that there are no public consequences to any private sexual behavior. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: The $112 Billion Annual Taxpayer Cost for Family Fragmentation Townhall.com, By Thor Tolo, April 17, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Study: Cost of divorce to taxpayers high The Washington Times, By Cheryl Wetzstein, April 15, 2008
The breakdown of marriage in America costs at least $112 billion a year, owing to costs of health care, criminal justice, welfare programs and lost income-tax revenue, according to a study released today. . .

RELATED STUDY: The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and for All Fifty States AmericanValues.org, By Benjamin Scafidi, Principal Investigator, April 15, 2008

The Divorce Generation Grows Up: These are their stories-in their words.

The Divorce Generation Grows Up:
Grant High School's class of '82 were raised on 'The Brady Bunch'-while their own families were falling apart. These are their stories-in their words. Newsweek, By David J. Jefferson, April 21, 2008 Issue
. . . It's been more than a quarter century since the Grant High class of '82 donned tuxes and taffeta and danced to Styx's "Come Sail Away" at the senior prom, and nearly four decades have passed since no-fault divorce laws began spreading across the country. In our parents' generation, marriage was still the most powerful social force. In ours, it was divorce. My 44-year-old classmates and I have watched divorce morph from something shocking, even shameful, into a routine fact of American life. But while it may be a common occurrence, divorce remains a profound experience for those who've lived through it. Researchers have churned out all sorts of depressing statistics about the impact of divorce. . . . Yet all these statistics fail to show the very personal impact of divorce on the individual, or how those effects can change over a lifetime as children of divorce start families of their own. When we were growing up, divorce loomed as the ultimate threat to innocence, but what were my peers' feelings about it now that they were adults? What I wanted to know was how divorce had affected our class president and Miss Congeniality, the stoners and the valedictorian. Did it leave them with emotional scars that never healed, or did they go on to lead "normal" lives? Did they wind up in divorce court, or did they achieve the domestic bliss their parents had sought in suburbia? I decided to open my yearbook, pick up the phone and find out. These are their stories—or at least their side of their stories, since each breakup is perceived so differently by every family member. . . . But my generation was trained in the art of having to move from relationship to relationship. It begins when the judge determines custody and the children start shuttling between parents. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Study: Cost of divorce to taxpayers high The Washington Times, By Cheryl Wetzstein, April 15, 2008
The breakdown of marriage in America costs at least $112 billion a year, owing to costs of health care, criminal justice, welfare programs and lost income-tax revenue, according to a study released today. . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Divorce Family.org, By Glenn T. Stanton
According to Divorce Magazine, "Statistics tell us that about half of all marriages now end in divorce."1 It's a statistic we hear regularly, but is it true? Here's how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for Health Statistics measure this question:. . .

Broadway Divorce Becomes YouTube Drama People magazine, By Stephen M. Silverman, April 16, 2008
Heather Mills, move over. An actress in the middle of a nasty breakup with her Broadway mogul husband is not only taking her case to court but to the entire audience of YouTube in what is considered a first. In her six-minute video (which as of Wednesday morning had received more than 287,000 hits), British actress and playwright Tricia Walsh-Smith lashes out at husband Phil Smith, president of the Shubert Organization, the largest theater owner on Broadway – and the man who now wants her out of his life. On camera in the Park Avenue apartment from which she says she is being forcibly evicted by him, Walsh-Smith (who is 25 years her spouse's junior) reveals candid facts about the marriage and at one point gets on speaker phone and calls Smith's assistant to ask what she should do with her estranged husband's Viagra and porn collection. "This is absolutely a new step, and I think it's scary," Bonnie Rabin, a divorce lawyer who has handled high-profile cases, tells the Associated Press. "It brings the concept of humiliation to a whole new level.". . .

Broadway divorce of Philip Smith, president of the Shubert Organization, and his estranged wife Tricia Walsh Smith become a YouTube drama (Click For Related Video)

RELATED VIDEO: Tricia Walsh Smith You Tube.com

Nojud Mohammed Ali, an 8 year-old Yemen girl who got a divorce from her 28 year-old husband who beat her for sex

Forced to marry 28-year-old who beat her for sex
Yemen annuls 8-year-old girl's forced marriage Al Arabiya News Channel, April 16, 2008
A Yemeni court on Tuesday granted a divorce to an eight-year-old girl on the grounds that she had not yet reached puberty after her unemployed father forced her into an arranged marriage this year. The girl's lawyer and human rights activist Shatha Nasser said the minor had filed a suit in April asking for a divorce and told the court that her husband had been physically abusing her and forcing her to have "sex with him after hitting her". "I am happy that I am divorced now. I will be able to go back to school," the young Nojud Mohammed Ali said, after a public hearing in Sanaa's court of first instance. Her former husband, 28-year-old Faez Ali Thameur, said he married the child "with her consent and that of her parents" but that he did not object to her divorce petition. In response to a question from Judge Mohammed al-Qadhi, he acknowledged that the "marriage was consummated, but I did not beat her." Nojud was a second grader in primary school when the marriage took place two and a half months ago. . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Yemeni child bride gets divorce BBC News- BBC Arabic.com, By Rachid Sekkai, April 16, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Scourge of child sexual abuse takes toll on girls in sub-Saharan Africa International Herald Tribune, By Sharon LaFraniere, December 1, 2006

RELATED ARTICLE: Health Consequences of Child Marriage in Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, By Nawal M. Nour— Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachussetts, USA, Volume 12, Number 11–November 2006
Abstract:
Despite international agreements and national laws, marriage of girls <18 years of age is common worldwide and affects millions. Child marriage is a human rights violation that prevents girls from obtaining an education, enjoying optimal health, bonding with others their own age, maturing, and ultimately choosing their own life partners. Child marriage is driven by poverty and has many effects on girls' health: increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases, cervical cancer, malaria, death during childbirth, and obstetric fistulas. Girls' offspring are at increased risk for premature birth and death as neonates, infants, or children. To stop child marriage, policies and programs must educate communities, raise awareness, engage local and religious leaders, involve parents, and empower girls through education and employment. . .

CANADA: The error that dare not speak its name National Post, By Michael Coren, April 16, 2008
What makes the national mistake of legalizing same-sex marriage unique in Canadian history is that to even discuss the issue is considered by many, particularly our elites, to be at the very least in extraordinarily bad taste. Although this is a valid and vital debate about social policy, anyone critiquing the status quo is likely to be marginalized as hateful, extreme or simply mad. Social conservatives aren't just wrong, they're evil. The discussion, we are told, is over. Which is what triumphalist bullies have said for centuries after they win a battle. In this case, the intention is to marginalize anyone who dares to still speak out. In other words, to silence them. It's important to emphasize that this is not really about homosexuality at all, and has nothing to do with homosexual people living together. Opponents of same-sex marriage may have ethical and religious objections to homosexuality, but they are irrelevant to the central argument. Which is not about the rights of a sexual minority but the status and meaning of marriage. Indeed, the deconstruction of marriage began not with the gay community asking for the right to marry but with the heterosexual world rejecting it. The term "common-law marriage" said it all. Marriage is many things, but it is never common. Yet with this semantic and legal revolution, desire and convenience replaced commitment and dedication. The qualifications, so to speak, were lowered. And one does indeed have to qualify for marriage; just as one has, for example, to qualify for a pension or a military medal. People who have not reached the age of retirement don't qualify for a pension, people who don't serve in the Armed Forces don't qualify for a military medal. It's not a question of equality but requirement. A human right is intrinsic, a social institution is not. . . .

Canada Same-Sex Marriage: The error that dare not speak its name

RELATED ARTICLE: Some gay couples are having trouble obtaining divorces Washington Post- AP, By Ray Henry, April 15, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: An Overview of the Same-Sex Marriage Debate Pew Research Center, By David Masci, Senior Research Fellow, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, April 10, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: The "Gay Gene" Controlling The Media The Real Proposal magazine, April 1, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Responding to Homosexuality & Gay Marriage: “Love the Sinner. Hate the Sin”   The Real Proposal magazine, March 21, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Comparing the Lifestyles of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples Family Research Council, By Timothy J. Dailey, Ph. D. (Posted March 2008)

RELATED ARTICLE:   APOLOGY MANIA: Canadians apologize for all 'gay' marriages
'Our warning is to avoid repeating our mistakes'    WorldNetDaily, By Bob Unruh, April 13, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Selling Homosexuality to America From Regent University Law review, By Paul E. Rondeau
This article explores how gay rights activists use rhetoric, psychology, social psychology, and the media—all the elements of modern marketing—to position homosexuality in order to frame what is discussed in the public arena and how it is discussed. . . . The economics and education of homosexuals makes them prime players in a capitalistic society. Money means power, and education means the knowledge to use that power to gain more. Homosexuals have demonstrated they have access to the leadership in media, government, education, business and other centers of influence as well as access to capital. These are hardly traits of an oppressed minority. . .

RELATED ARTICLE (PDF): Fairness, Accuracy and Honesty in Discussing Homosexuality and Marriage Regent University School of Law- Law Review, By Lynne Marie Kohm & Mark A. Yarhouse
This article is an introduction to this issue and ties in the social science articles with the law.

Olympic journal: 'Gay nights' underground

Olympic journal: 'Gay nights' underground CNN.com, By Steven Jiang, April 16, 2008
• Old dance hall one of few underground gay clubs in Shanghai for older generation
• Caters for a different generation who enjoy ballroom dancing and drag acts
• Homosexuality is not illegal in China, but culturally difficult for older men to come out
• Many fear a crackdown on gay clubs in the lead up to the Olympics
-- In between selling tickets and greeting customers, Min Min turned his curvy 6-feet-tall frame to survey the spacious dance hall and revealed he is no ordinary doorman at this extraordinary place. "When I first started this, it was only a dozen or so of us," reminisced the former factory worker-turned-drag queen. "Now 300 people or more come each night." Welcome to Lai Lai Dance Hall, arguably the only entertainment venue for older gay men in Shanghai, if not the whole of China. Tucked away in a rundown neighborhood in the city's northeast, Lai Lai sits atop a public bathhouse, and features cracked wooden floors and a primitive sound system. Its location and facilities, however, belie its prominence in a community that thrives almost entirely underground. . .

Study: Cost of divorce to taxpayers high The Washington Times, By Cheryl Wetzstein, April 15, 2008
The breakdown of marriage in America costs at least $112 billion a year, owing to costs of health care, criminal justice, welfare programs and lost income-tax revenue, according to a study released today. "This study documents for the first time that divorce and unwed childbearing — besides being bad for children — are also costing taxpayers a ton of money," says David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values (IAV), one of four sponsors of today's study. Even a small improvement in marriage rates — for example, a 1 percent reduction in the rate of "fragmented families" — would save more than $1 billion, Mr. Blankenhorn says. The $112 billion — which is equivalent to the state budget for New York — stems from "increased taxpayer expenditures" for anti-poverty, criminal justice and education programs, and lower levels of taxes paid by people whose "adult productivity has been negatively affected by increased childhood poverty caused by family fragmentation," says Benjamin Scafidi, an economics professor at Georgia College & State University and principal investigator of the report. . . . . . Americans "fight problems like racism, poverty and domestic violence because we understand that the stakes are high," says Mr. Hicks. "And while we'll never eliminate divorce and unwed childbearing entirely, we can certainly be doing more to help marriages and families succeed.". . . .

Christians promoting holy hot sex in marriage

Christians Promote Holy, Hot Sex in Marriage
People of Faith Have Better Sex Than 'Swingers,' Says Pastor ABC News, By Susan Donaldson James, April 15, 2008
More evangelical couples -- once embarrassed and prudish about sex -- are now leaving their Christian inhibitions at the bedroom door. For this growing group of younger, more progressive Christians, guilt is out and pleasure is in. "We discovered that God's word is holy and hot … filled with invaluable wisdom for our sexual relationship," says intimateissues.com, one of the most popular Christian Web sites. It is based on a 1999 book by the same name. The Christian wife has come a long way, baby, as a variety of sex advice books with titles like "Intimacy Ignited," "Gift-Wrapped by God" and "Satisfy My Thirsty Soul" are emphasizing the earthly as well as the heavenly side of love. Pastors are sermonizing and sexologists are offering conferences to help couples overcome their guilt about a once-touchy subject. And, they offer new translations of scripture to give biblical clout to their message. . . . . "Sex is a gift, a good thing," said the Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of the 14,000-member United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan. "God allows you to have pleasure," Hamilton told ABCNEWS.com. "That's how he designed your body. Once you learn it's a gift from God, you embrace it and lay aside the shame." After conducting an anonymous survey of 2,400 of his parishioners, Hamilton wrote "Making Love Last a Lifetime," concluding that marriage suffers when couples lack sexual intimacy. . . . .

RELATED ARTICLE:  Two parents minus passion equals an unhealthy marriage for the whole family Seattle Post-Intelligencer, By Paul Nyhan, April 17, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Pastor Prescribes 30-Day Sex Challenge For Married Couples: Author Hopes To Help Combat Divorce Rates   NBC6.net, February 19, 2008

RELATED SITES: 30daysexchallenge.com    The Marriage Bed.com    Intimate Issues.com

RELATED BLOG & COMMENTS: Relevant Church- Where Culture Meets Christ

RELATED ARTICLE: Holy inappropriate! Britain's first Christian sex shop The Daily Mail, By Jenny Johnston, February 2, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: One preacher's message: Have hotter sex MSNBC.com- America Unzipped,  By Brian Alexander, December 4, 2006
Minister Joe Beam says good Christian marriages walk on the wild side.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Passionate Marriage Family.org, By Al Janssen
It's the inspiration for every great love story ever written. And it's a reflection of what God intends for your marriage.

RELATED ARTICLE: Romance and Lifelong Intimacy Family.org, By James Dobson, PhD,
Dr. Dobson offers helpful advice to couples who've lost the wind in their romantic sails.

RELATED SITE: WhollyLove: Products and resources celebrating God's fantastic gift of sex within marriage

Forget Tantra. My mantra is '13 minutes or less' (Click For Related Video)

Forget Tantra. My mantra is ‘13 minutes or less'
Whenever I read one of those 'We made love all night long!' kiss'n'tell scoops, the logistics of it terrify me Times Online- UK, Caitlin Moran, April 14, 2008
Big news from what we could refer to as “the sexual realm”. Despite decades of insistence that all the best sex lasts 15 hours, spans a minimum of nine positions and has both parties hammering dementedly away at each other's nether regions like a pair of autistic woodpeckers, it seems the truth is a little different. Well, totally different. According to a poll of 50 sex therapists, the most desirable sex lasts, in actual fact, mere minutes. Between 3 and 13, optimally. . . . Barely enough time to toast a muffin. It should be made clear that, apparently, this paradigmatic shag snack does not include foreplay. Nor does it include the enigmatically named “afterplay” - something that, presumably, in some manner of sexual paradise, would consist of snuggling, reverential caressing and pleasingly stupefied recitation of love poetry, but which, in actuality, comprises three minutes of lying flat on your back, going “Arrrr, that was smashing”, then a sleepy exchange vis-à-vis the location of the cat, and whether the central heating has been left on or not. . . . . What was once achieved with the minimum of bother, for little or no expense - and, often, with one or more of the participants restfully asleep - has in recent decades become a gigantically hectic palaver. Sex now has accessories: wands, pads, magic vibrating eggs. Oxymoronically for something fairly reliant on nakedness, it has outfits. And on top of all the new-found, rampant consumerism - this need for extraneous sex stuff - what was once fairly famously some pleasing animal dumbness now seems to require as much planning, thought and self-expression as two retired architects building a modernist glass cube on Grand Designs. . . .

RELATED VIDEO: Let's Talk About Sex MSNBC- TODAY

Men's mag win-a-divorce competition News.com.au, By Katherine Field, April 14, 2008

• Zoo Weekly offers all expenses paid split
• Men must explain why they deserve free divorce
• Mag also offering introductions to new women

First it ran a breast augmentation competition, now a men's magazine is set to cause outrage again by giving its readers the chance to score a divorce. Zoo Weekly is inviting men to explain why they deserve an all-expenses-paid split from their partner, promising to take care of it for the winner - from the legal costs to hooking up the "lucky" bloke with new women. "The idea is we're going to try to get this guy out back on the scene and try to set him up with some more suitable girlfriends to have a good time,'' the Australian magazine's editor Paul Merrill said. "When a marriage fails it's always sad but what's even sadder is being stuck under the same roof as someone who's shagged your best mate or something. "This is hopefully going to encourage people to see the error of their ways and get out rather than put up with 40 years of misery.'' Asked if the competition could be viewed as encouraging divorce, Merrill said: "You'd have to be pretty nutty to enter a competition to win a divorce if you're happily married." . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: 'Life's Short. Get A Divorce' Billboard Yanked: Lawyers Complain There Wasn't Due Process NBC San Diego, May 9, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Divorce attorney defends racy billboard ABC 7, By Theresa Gutierrez, May 7, 2007

"Pope Benedict XVI on Marriage: A Compendium" April 2005 — March 2008 Institute for Marriage & Public Policy, By Maggie Gallagher and Joshua Baker, April 14, 2008
A new analysis published by the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy on the eve of Benedict's historic U.S. visit, finds that in less than three years of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI has spoken publicly about marriage on 111 occasions, connecting marriage to such overarching themes as human rights, world peace, and the conversation between faith and reason. "Over and over again he has made it clear that the marriage and family debate is central--not peripheral--to understanding the human person, and defending our human dignity," says Maggie Gallagher, president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy. For example, when receiving the credentials of the new U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his appreciation for America's recognition of the important of a dialogue of faith and faiths in the public square and linked this to respect not only for religious freedom but for marriage as the union of husband and wife:. . . . . Pope Benedict devoted about half of his message for the January 1 World Day of Peace to the significance of marriage in developing a culture of peace:. . . . . Marriage essential to world peace? This may strike American ears as an oddity. If so Benedict has made clear it is not an unintentional one. On September21, 2007, in an address to participants in a conference of the Executive Committee of Centrist Democratic International, Pope Benedict prefigured the same theme: . . . . "The short pontificate of Benedict XVI is already a standing rebuke to those voices of our time who seek to make us ashamed or embarrassed of caring about marriage and sexual issues, who try to get us to view the contemporary marriage debate as merely a distraction from more important issues," notes Gallagher, "Pope Benedict clearly connects life and marriage, the human person in the human family, with the most fundamental international issues of peace and human rights facing our times.". . . .

Pope Benedict XVI on Marriage: A Compendium' April 2005 - March 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: A Hard Icon for a Soft Age: Pope Benedict Comes With an Ancient Rebuke Townhall.com, By Suzanne Fields, April 14, 2008
. . . Pope Benedict is a tough icon for a soft age, unapologetic for defending the ancient code of morality, virtue and rectitude by which everyone can measure himself or herself. Religious faith has become a subject for fun and derision, and books promoting atheism as some sort of pseudo-faith are bestsellers. But large majorities of Americans say they believe in God, and the three remaining presidential candidates are open about their Christian beliefs. The Seven Deadly Sins -- pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony and lust -- are first transgressions against Catholic dogma, but continue to resonate with skeptics as well. The sins are far more powerful as the diagnosis of wayward human behavior than a sinner saying "my genes, the environment or my toilet training made me do it." . . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Bill Maher Slanders Pope Benedict XVI Townhall.com, By Kristen Fyfe, April 14, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Searching for Truth Townhall.com, By Ken Blackwell, April 14, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Why the Pope Is Here NewsMax.com, By: Philip V. Brennan, April 15, 2008

UK Scientists: 'Now we have the technology that can make a cloned child'

'Now we have the technology that can make a cloned child' The Independent- UK, By Steve Connor, April 14, 2008
A new form of cloning has been developed that is easier to carry out than the technique used to create Dolly the sheep, raising fears that it may one day be used on human embryos to produce "designer" babies. Scientists who used the procedure to create baby mice from the skin cells of adult animals have found it to be far more efficient than the Dolly technique, with fewer side effects, which makes it more acceptable for human use. The mice were made by inserting skin cells of an adult animal into early embryos produced by in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Some of the resulting offspring were partial clones but some were full clones – just like Dolly. Unlike the Dolly technique, however, the procedure is so simple and efficient that it has raised fears that it will be seized on by IVF doctors to help infertile couples who are eager to have their own biological children. One scientist said this weekend that a maverick attempt to perform the technique on humans is now too real to ignore. "It's unethical and unsafe, but someone may be doing it today," said Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of American biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology. . . . . . The technique involves the genetic reprogramming of skin cells so they revert to an embryonic-like state. Last year, when the breakthrough was used on human skin cells for the first time, it was lauded by the Catholic Church and President George Bush as a morally acceptable way of producing embryonic stem cells without having to create or destroy human embryos. However, the same technique has already been used in another way to reproduce offspring of laboratory mice that are either full clones or genetic "chimeras" of the adult mouse whose skin cells were reprogrammed. The experiments on mice demonstrated that it is now possible in principle to take a human skin cell, reprogramme it back to its embryonic state and then insert it into an early human embryo. The resulting child would share some of the genes of the person who supplied the skin tissue, as well as the genes of the embryo's two parents. These offspring are chimeras – a genetic mix of two or more individuals – because some of their cells derive from the embryo and some from the skin cell. Technically, such a child would have three biological parents. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Scientists win public support on embryo research Times Online- UK, By Mark Henderson and Greg Hurst, April 10, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: First British human-animal hybrid embryos created by scientists The Guardian- UK, By Alok Jha, April 2, 2008
· Breakthrough could pave way for stem cell supply
· Move will aid research into untreatable conditions

RELATED ARTICLE: We have created human-animal embryos already, say British team The Times Online- UK, BY Mark Henderson- Science Editor, April 2, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Miracle in a test tube as human skin is turned into heart and brain cells The Independent- UK, By Steve Connor, November 21, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: I’ve found God, says man who cracked the genome Times Online, By Steven Swinford, June 11, 2006
His book, The Language of God, to be published in September, will reopen the age-old debate about the relationship between science and faith. “One of the great tragedies of our time is this impression that has been created that science and religion have to be at war,” said Collins, 56. “I don’t see that as necessary at all and I think it is deeply disappointing that the shrill voices that occupy the extremes of this spectrum have dominated the stage for the past 20 years.” For Collins, unravelling the human genome did not create a conflict in his mind. Instead, it allowed him to “glimpse at the workings of God”. . . .

Why Does Obama Hate Marriage? Townhall.com, By Kevin McCullough, April 13, 2008
Barack Obama despises the institution of marriage. This assumption can be made on sound reasoning and easy logic. Anytime someone works to oppose something - it is assumed. But what causes such disdain for the union that gave he and Michelle their life together, and the precious gift of their two baby girls? This week Barack Obama demonstrated his most recent opposition, some would even classify as hatred, of an institution that he benefits mightily from. His three most prominent family policy positions all speak to this. Each of them focused at punishing the definition of how a family is even constructed. Never before has the national political stage entertained such hostility towards a family's survival yet hardly a word is spoken of it. Specifically Barack Obama wishes to pass "ENDA" the employment non-discrimination act. Or so it's called. What it really consists of is the most diabolical way ever conceived to punish every voice in America, who under present law, have every right, to speak to their houses of worship, family, and spouse as to the scientific, mental health, and diseased ridden drawbacks of engaging in homosexual behavior. . . By far the most disturbing family policy position that Barack Obama holds as it relates to advancing the radical sexual activist agenda, (as quickly as possible) has to do with repealing the only law in place that every overfed liberal Senator always cites as the primary reason why marriage must never be defined in the Constitution - DOMA. . .

Columnist Kevin McCullough: Why does Obama Hate Marriage?

FIRST LOOK: Photo from Ivana Trump's Wedding (Courtesy: People magazine)

Inside Secrets of the Ivana Trump Wedding Las Vegas magazine— Robin Leach's Vegas Luxe Life blog, April 14, 2008
Vegas was well represented at the multi-million-dollar wedding of the year and even billionaire real-estate mogul Donald Trump left his MISS USA beauty pageant so he could attend! After a six-year stormy off-again and on-again tumultuous romance Ivana Trump has married her 23-year-younger Italian stallion Rossano Rubicondi and they are now enroute—via Dubai—to a honeymoon in the Maldives Islands of the Indian Ocean. Ivana, 59, first met Rossano, 36 in the South of France. He’s been described as an Italian entrepreneur, restaurateur and part-time singer and actor. He had the theme music of Rocky played for his entrance! Ivana was attended by 25 bridesmaids, led by her daughter Ivanka as maid of honor. She was divorced from “The Donald” in 1990 and turned her $21 million settlement into a business empire of jewelry, books, fragrances and real estate. Ivana was once linked to a Strip condominium project opposite the Sahara that eventually was not built but she’s flying to Dubai to oversee it now under construction there. The wedding was literally a TV production in its own right. . . . .

Serial seducers: Simone de Beauvoir and lover Jean-Paul Sartre, whose writing paved the way for our Godless permissive times, lived private lives of utter depravity

Dangerous liaisons and sex with teens: The story of Sartre and de Beauvoir as never told before
The Daily Mail- UK, By Glenys Roberts, April 12, 2008
He was one of the most brilliant minds. She was his lifelong companion who pioneered feminism. Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir were perhaps the most influential couple of the 20th century. Their legendary love pact - they never married but swore mutual devotion to each other with the freedom to have affairs - was an attempt to overthrow the stifling hypocrisy that, for so long, had dictated most people's lives. Always pushing new boundaries, they explored their thoughts in novels, plays and philosophical works. It earned Sartre the world's greatest literary accolade, the Nobel Prize. Yet he refused to accept it because he thought it would make him an establishment figure and thus silence his inquiring mind. Their private lives were wildly experimental. Simone de Beauvoir had affairs with both men and women, while Sartre, despite his stunted stature and ugly squint, was always surrounded by adoring muses happy to pamper his genius. When he died in 1980, 50,000 people turned out on to the Paris streets. But that was not the end of the story. For their influence continues to this day - often with disastrous consequences. For this luminous pair, who were at the peak of their fame just after World War II, arguably legitimised the Godless and permissive society in which we now live. On the other hand, de Beauvoir to her credit became an iconic figure for feminism and the battle for equality between the sexes. Yet a fascinating new book paints this supposedly high-minded duo as serial seducers bent on their own gratification and as a couple who used their apparently lofty philosophy as a springboard to excuse their multiple liaisons, often with under-age teenagers who were broken by the experience. . . .

Parenting Issues: Who’s the boss? Chris Rock’s mom
The comedian’s mother on her son’s fame and how to raise kids MSNBC.com April 10, 2008
Rose Rock definitely knows a thing or two about parenting. The mother of comedian Chris Rock says that one key to keeping kids in line is to declare: “I’m the boss. I’m not your friend.” All hail Mama Rock. Although she’s done raising her 10 kids and caring for 17 foster children, this mom has never stopped giving advice. And she spreads her lessons far and wide through her radio show, “The Mom Show,” and in her new book “Mama Rock’s Rules: Ten Lessons for Raising a Household of Successful Children.” “People kept asking me over and over, ‘How did you raise that many children?’ ” Mama Rock said in a phone interview with TODAYshow.com. “Or they tell me, ‘I listened when you talked to your kids about the work ethic.’ ” In fact, this feedback was one of the main reasons she wrote the book. So did Mama Rock always know her son would become a household name? “I knew Chris would be famous,” she says. “I just thought it would be because of his writing. Inside him he has a book, maybe even a Pulitzer.” And her feelings of adulation don't apply just to Chris; they apply to all her children. “I raised them to be great. Great doesn’t mean to be movie stars or artists. Great means to be wonderful people.” It’s clear why Mama Rock made a career out of being an educator. She is constantly teaching, supporting and helping others. . . .

Who's the Boss? Chris Rock's Mom. (Click For Related Video)

RELATED VIDEO: Mama Rock's Rules For Parents MSNBC.com, April 10, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Why your daughter needs you to be her mother, not her best friend The Daily Mail- UK, By Maeve Haran, April 16, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Excerpt: ‘Mama Rock’s Rules’: The comedian’s mother learned a lot raising 17 children and foster kids MSNBC.com, April 10, 2008
In “Mama Rock’s Rules: Ten Lessons for Raising a Houseful of Successful Children,” Rose Rock, comedian Chris Rock’s mother, shares her no-nonsense philosophy of responsible parenting. Drawing on her wealth of child-rearing experience, she demonstrates why parents need to be consistent, even when it means being unpopular, for their children's own good. Here’s an excerpt:

I am your mama, not your friend
I never felt the need to be friends with my children — not when they were eight or ten. Not even when they were sixteen years old. My kids had their own friends and I had mine. I never set out to win any popularity contests on the home front. Like my mother, I know my kids don’t have to like me — neither do yours. My mother’s overall message was a good one; I finally understand it: being a parent is not about being right, it’s about doing right. It’s about serving as a steadfast role model for your children, no matter what. . . .

The Mayor and Mirthala Los Angeles magazine, By Shawn Hubler, April 10, 2008
She went from rising Spanish-language TV anchor to “the other woman,” hiding out in her condo. Now that their relationship is over, Mirthala Salinas speaks about Antonio Villaraigosa and moving on . . . . . Salinas, scorned in headlines last summer as the mayor’s “other woman,” settles into her plush brown couch. Her English is touched with a slight Spanish accent. So much has changed, she says, that the woman in those headlines could be another person. “I think people will always judge me. They have the right to do that,” she says. “I respect that.” Her hand rises to her neck, to a silver pendant that contains her mother’s ashes. She cannot help but relate her six-month affair with Antonio Villaraigosa to her own vulnerability after the loss, a few months before, of her mother to cancer. It’s no justification, though, she says. “I don’t want to come across as ‘Oh, now she excuses herself.’?” She reaches again for the dove-shaped pendant. “Because at the end of the day, maybe there were no excuses. “If I hurt someone, it was never my intention. I apologize.”. . . On this sunny afternoon at her Studio City condominium, Mirthala Salinas, 35 and a year older and wiser, has agreed to speak for the first time about her present, her future, and—as much as she can without hurting anyone else—the scandal last year with Villaraigosa, who is 55. He was one of the most charismatic politicians in California. She was one of the most popular Latina journalists in Los An-geles. During their affair, Villaraigosa announced that he and his wife, Corina, were separating. “I had a tough summer. I got divorced. It wasn’t pretty,” the mayor told PBS interviewer Charlie Rose in February, four months after his affair with Salinas ended. . . .

She went from rising Spanish-language TV anchor to âthe other woman,â hiding out in her condo. Now that their relationship is over, Mirthala Salinas speaks about Antonio Villaraigosa and moving on.

Informant: Men had sex with underage girls in FLDS temple

Informant: Men had sex with underage girls in FLDS temple
Judge rules sect can challenge massive search The Salt Lake Tribune, By Brooke Adams, April 9, 2008
SAN ANGELO, Tex. - Adult FLDS men were having sex with underage brides inside the massive limestone temple at the polygamous sect's Texas ranch, a confidential informant told authorities. According to a request for a search warrant unsealed today by a Texas judge, Schliecher County Sheriff David Doran has been working with a confidential informant who has shared information about the ranch over several years. On Saturday, as a sweeping raid was underway at the YFZ Ranch, the informant spoke to Doran and made the allegation about the temple, the court filing said. The affidavit was from Texas Ranger Leslie Brooks Long, who reported being at the ranch and observing a bed inside the temple with disturbed linens and a long hair, apparently from a female. The document was filed in support of the state's request for a second warrant to search the ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That warrant was signed Sunday; an earlier warrant had been signed on Thursday, the day the raid began. Since then, authorities have removed 419 children, accompanied by 139 women. . . .

RELATED ARTICLES & UPDATES: Polygamy Salt Lake Tribune

RELATED ARTICLE: Ginnifer Goodwin: Big Love Is 'Sugar-Coated' Polygamy People magazine, By Jeffrey Slonim, April 22, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Forced to marry a 50-year-old with six wives when just 18 ... One woman's harrowing tale of escaping the Texas polygamist sect The Daily Mail- UK, By Carolyn Jessop, April 12, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: "I Grew Up in a Polygamist Family." My fundamentalist Mormon background taught me to "keep sweet," but my heart longed for something more Christianity Today, By Kathy as told to Jan Brown, November/December 2006

RELATED ARTICLE: Life After Polygamy AOL Body- Healthy Living, By Mary Kearl
The polygamy-practicing Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) branch has come to the forefront of American attention with a media frenzy of inquiry over the rights and guardianship of the 416 children who were seized from the 1,700-acre FLDS compound in Eldorado, Texas. Along with them, 139 women left willingly. Should the children be returned to their parents? Will these women survive in mainstream society? What marks will polygamy leave on their lives? We discuss these and other burning questions with Carolyn Jessop, author of 'Escape,' a first-person account of Jessop's break from the FLDS -- her religion, family and way of life.

RELATED ARTICLE: Pandora and Polygamy The Washington Post- By Charles Krauthammer, March 17, 2006

RELATED ARTICLE: CANADA: Study proposes legalizing polygamy Today's Family News- CANADA, January 18, 2006

When your marriage is falling apart, should you stay or should you go? The Daily Mail- UK, April 9, 2008
When a marriage is falling apart, should you stay or should you go? Will life be better alone, even if that means single motherhood? Or is every marriage worth sticking with, however troubled? This is the subject of a new book being written by two women who have faced this question themselves and come to entirely different conclusions. So who do you agree with?

STAY says Lauren Booth: This time last year, my husband Craig and I nearly split up. We've been married for seven years, but together for almost 20, and we have two daughters, Alex, seven, and Holly, five. It seemed that everything had become a row. It had got to the stage where one of us would say "good morning" and the other would start snapping that it wasn't said in the right tone of voice. We would compete in the overworked stakes, constantly making lists of what we'd done each day, both insisting we had done the most. . . .There are reasons why I wouldn't stay in a marriage - adultery, or if I was emotionally or physically abused, for example. But being grateful for the option of divorce doesn't mean you have to take it.We live in such a disposable society, and marriage seems to have become a victim of that. . . .

Opposing views: Lauren Booth (left) chose to stay with her husband after they nearly split, whereas Lowri Turner does not regret her two failed marriages

GO says Lowri Turner: My seven-year-old son asked me if I was going to marry Daddy again the other day. When I said a firm "no" he added a hopeful "engaged?". Even my five-year-old is apt to wade in with a wail of: "Why can't we all live together as a family?" Thank goodness my 11-month-old can't talk yet, or I'd be looking for a train to throw myself under. This might sound flippant, but the weight of worry and guilt carried by divorced parents is immense. You can't open a newspaper without reading that children from divorced families do less well at school, are less likely to get married, and are generally traumatised by an event they didn't choose - their parents' split. Of course, I worry about all of this. However much I tell myself the kids are fine, I know my sons would prefer it if their mum and dad were still together. They tell me so. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: My husband had an 'emotional affair' The Guardian- UK, April 10, 2008
I bugged my husband's office and caught him flirting with his secretary. I demanded he sack her, but he claims they didn't have a physical relationship. I can't decide whether to forgive him or walk away. . .

Davis and Danyelle Draheims might still be unmarried if it weren't for the Family Formation Project (Click for Related Video)

Promoting Marriage By Supporting Unmarried Parents WCCO.com, April 8, 2008
Remember the old playground rhyme, "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage." Experts say fewer people are doing things in that order. Case in point: Davis and Danyelle Draheim. The high school sweethearts from Crosby, Minn. were partners then parents. They didn't become husband and wife until last summer, with their young sons Wiley and Elliot at the wedding. Why did they wait so long to marry? "I honestly had no interest in being married. Ever," said Danyelle. She's not exaggerating. "I told him when we were very young, 'If you propose to me, I'm going to say no. Things are gonna get weird, and it's just gonna ruin a good thing,'" she said. Davis didn't need the warning. He was gun-shy too. "We both came from divorced parents," he said. "And I didn't want to follow suit." The Draheims might still be unmarried if it weren't for the Family Formation Project. The government-funded initiative is led by Dr. Bill Doherty, a University of Minnesota Family Social Science professor. Married since 1971, he has seen attitudes about marriage change dramatically. . . . Danyelle and Davis are now leaders in the project. While they don't push anyone to take the plunge, they are willing to share what they've learned through their marriage. "You do feel more of a connection, as a family, as a whole," said Davis. . . .

RELATED VIDEO: Promoting Marriage By Supporting Unmarried Parents Wcco.com, April 8, 2008

Strictly a solo act: Who needs a husband? Not these girls.
Samantha Brett chronicles the rise of the Hollywood Freemale. Sydney Morning Herald- Life & Style, By Samantha Brett, April 7, 2008
What do Cameron Diaz, Paris Hilton and the Pussycat Dolls have in common? Aside from their killer abs, thighs to die for and penchant for leather, it seems these women aren't succumbing to the "it" Hollywood trend presently sweeping Tinseltown. They aren't walking down the aisle in Vera Wang's latest white frock, shacking up in domestic bliss or sporting a baby bump underneath trendy maternity jeans. Oh no. Instead of adhering to the moral of romantic comedies, where we're led to believe a woman needs a man to "complete" her, these femmes are singing a whole different girl-power-inspired tune. . . . Historically, things were a little different. Women of a certain age would have rather eaten their toenails than flaunted their not-married-yet status for fear of being dubbed left-on-the-shelf, spinsters, old maids and, more recently, desperate Bridget Jones-types who spend their weekends singing to Celine Dion and weeping into their chardonnay alone. Yet nowadays there's a whole new set of positive buzzwords that are putting solo-femme status on the hot Hollywood map. Quirkyalones, un-marrieds and proud singletons are making a sassy comeback with cocktails in their hands and expensive stilettos on their feet. . . . . Yet author Lori Gottlieb has a different idea. She reckons that no matter how refreshing it may seem for modern women to be able to put off finding a man to pursue higher ideals (education! career!), women essentially still need a man, especially when the biological clock begins to click. . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Lights, Cameron, Action: After a year of soul-searching, Hollywood's most gorgeous goof gets her groove back W magazine, By Jenny Comita, May 2008 Issue

Strictly a solo act: Who needs a husband? Not girls like Cameron Diaz it would appear.

Bromances aren't uncommon as guys delay marriage The Seattle Times, By Katherine Bindley- Columbia News Service, April 7, 2008
— In a 2007 episode of NBC's hospital-based comedy "Scrubs," the show's two main characters, J.D. and Turk, break into a musical duet proclaiming their mutual affection. "Guy love. That's all it is," the song goes. "Guy love, he's mine, I'm his. There's nothing gay about it in our eyes." Turk and J.D. are two straight male doctors who are, without a doubt, in a bromance, a relationship defined as "the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males," according to urbandictionary.com. From "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" to "Good Will Hunting," popular culture is filled with examples of straight guy love. The sitcom "Friends" often crafted jokes around the ultratight nature of Joey and Chandler's relationship, and in the 2005 film "Wedding Crashers," Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson seemed to have something more like a tortured love affair than a friendship. But close male friendship isn't just a quirky television fantasy or a running gag in the movies. Real-life bromances are everywhere. . . . Experts say the prevalence of these friendships can in part be explained by the delay in major life milestones. Fifty years ago, a man could graduate from college, get a job and get married all within a couple of months. But today's men are drifting, as opposed to jumping, into the traditional notion of adulthood. . . .

Becoming Kate Fair Lady, May 2008 Issue
She has a promising acting career, a beautiful daughter and has managed to bag herself an A-list actor husband. So where to now for the inimitable Katie Holmes? Katie Holmes entered the public consciousness as 16-year-old Joey Potter, the angst-filled, wide-eyed innocent patiently waiting to be saved by Dawson Leery. Somewhere along the line, though, the world forgot to let go of the Potter persona. Now 29, the former Dawson's Creek star juggles a family and a career. But to call Katie a normal mom would be completely misleading. After all, her marriage to film star Tom Cruise catapulted her into the A-list celebrity stratosphere and brought with it unprecedented media scrutiny. As one half of TomKat, Katie's name has launched a million gossip rag rumours. A lesser starlet would have cracked under the pressure, but, amid the speculation and 'Free Katie' T-shirts, level-headed Katie maintains that her life is everything she's ever wanted. . . . Behind all the Suri-watch urban legends, the public lost the plot and Katie felt attacked. 'I do know what's being said in the press,' she says. 'This is my future. This is my family and I care so much about them. The stories are not okay. It eats away at me because it's just not okay.' Her positive approach is anchored in the fact that she has no regrets about her life. 'I feel I really lived my 20s and I'm happy about that.' Kate went from being sweet little Katie Holmes to Kate Cruise,' close friend Jada Pinkett-Smith told American People magazine. 'That's a really huge leap from one world into another.' It certainly was. . . .

Celebrity Photo Agency Apologizes to Tony Parker People magazine, By Pete Norman, April 7, 2008
In a humbling apology buried on its Web site, celebrity photo agency X17online.com has finally admitted that nearly a dozen stories about Eva Longoria Parker's husband were fabricated. "In December 2007, X17online.com published over ten articles concerning Tony Parker and a woman named Alexandra Paressant. Various of the articles asserted that, after Mr. Parker was introduced to Ms. Paressant by Thierry Henry at this wedding to Eva Longoria, Mr. Parker engaged in sexual relations with Ms. Paressant. Since the publication of these articles, X17online.com and X17, Inc. have discovered that Mr. Parker has never met with, or spoken to, Ms. Paressant nor has he ever had sexual relations with her. X17online.com and X17, Inc. regret having been misled by Ms. Paressant and her representatives and apologize to Mr. Parker for any damage or inconvenience this may have caused him or his wife," the statement read. . . .

READ APOLOGY STATEMENT: X-17 Online

Celebrity Photo Agency X-17 Apologizes to Tony Parker and Eva Longoria

Lexington superindendent threatened by radio host with force and violence over the school's curriculum, which includes books like 'King & King' that support a LGBT agenda

Lexington superintendent threatened by radio host The MetroWest Daily News, April 7, 2008
— Lexington superintendent Paul Ash of Newton has been threatened by a New Jersey radio host urging listeners to “use threats and violence” against Ash for the school district's new diversity curriculum. The radio host says “I advocate parents using FORCE AND VIOLENCE against superintendent Paul B. Ash as a method of defending the health and safety of school children presently being endangered through his politically-correct indoctrination into deadly, disease-ridden sodomite lifestyles.” The site lists Ash’s last known addresses, a phone number, and a birth date. Ash is in meetings this afternoon and could not be immediately reached for comment. . . . Ash gave a presentation on the curriculum last month, and it will be implemented next school year. The curriculum comes from a committee of parents, teachers and administrators in Lexington who were charged to develop a set of teaching that fostered “a safe and welcoming place for all children.” The goal of the curriculum was to “serve students from different racial, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds,” and to “serve students from [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered] families.” The Lexington school administration developed the diversity curriculum to address topical classroom issues highlighted by an ongoing lawsuit filed in 2006. The suit was filed by two families, the Parkers and Wirthlins, after the Parkers’ son, Jacob, brought home a book as part of the diversity book bag from his Estabrook Elementary kindergarten class in 2005. . . .

Lecei Wright: Daring to reveal the truth about bisexuality in the church Jamaica Observer- JAMAICA, By Ingrid Brown, April 7, 2008
When Lecei Wright married the man of her dreams, a music minister in her church, she expected to live with him happily forever and to raise their children in the strong Christian principle, she had committed to at the young age of seven. But as ready as she was to deal with all the intricacies of marriage, nothing could have prepared her for learning the shocking truth, that her husband had not only left their marriage bed, but had done so to engage in sexual activities with a man. "I was in denial for the fact that I saw my husband kissing this man. I would leave out of town and these men would answer my phone and be in my bed, but I stayed in the marriage and that was only after five years of being married," said Wright, an African American who has now made Jamaica her home. That was 13 years ago, and even though her husband died after contracting AIDS, it took several years for Wright to get over this devastation. Today as she thanks God for that healing which she said only came through her relationship with Jesus Christ, Wright says she wants to ensure that other women do not fall prey to this situation and also that leaders in the churches who are engaging in this practice can find a way out before it destroys their marriages, families and eventually their lives. Through her first book, Man's Best Kept Secret in the Church - On the down low very down low which she said took over 10 years to be completed, Wright said she was willing to bare it all if it meant that the church would begin to address this issue which it has been silent on for far too long. . . . . . Wright, who has been living in Jamaica for the past 13 years, said she discovered while researching material for the book, that bisexuality while not as prevalent here as in the United States, had found its way into the Jamaican churches and also among its leadership. . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Double Lives On The Down Low The New York Times, By Benoit Denizet- Lewis, August 3, 2003

Professor Pausch's life, 'Lecture' go from Web to book USA Today, April 7, 2008
Randy Pausch is lying on his bed, his head propped up by pillows, his hands interlocked on his chest. In his pressed khakis, red polo shirt and bare feet, he looks the stereotypical suburban dad, which he is. And with his rosy cheeks and dark hair still wet from the shower, he also looks the picture of health, which he is not. He's dying. Pausch, 47, has pancreatic cancer, a terminal disease. So far he has defied the odds, but the cancer has spread to his liver. His prognosis is poor. Pausch, a professor at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, isn't about dying, however. He's about living. Living for his wife and their three young children. Living a good life as long as he can. A now-famous lecture he gave at Carnegie in September has inspired millions who have viewed it on YouTube to follow his example. He hopes his new book, The Last Lecture (Hyperion, $21.95), in stores today, will do the same. His publisher is banking on Lecture to become the next Tuesdays With Morrie, the mega-best-seller about another dying professor. Written with Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow, The Last Lecture expands on Pausch's speech, in which he spoke of the importance of having fun and dreams. It was delivered with good humor. Hyperion, in a bidding war, paid $6.7 million to publish it. The first printing is 400,000 copies, and it's being translated into at least 17 languages. The lecture, Pausch now says, was never meant for public consumption, nor was it for his colleagues or students. It was for his two sons and daughter: Dylan, 6, Logan, 3, and Chloe, 22 months. . . .

Randy Pausch's speech, 'The Last Lecture' has had a dramatic effect on people. It is now available as a book (Click for Related Video)

RELATED VIDEO: 'Last Lecture' Inspires...
ABC News, April 9, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: The Last Lecture: A Love Story for Your Life ABC News, April 9, 2008
Diane Sawyer Talks to Randy Pausch and His Family Seven Months After Inspiring Lecture. . .

RELATED VIDEO: The Last Lecture: A Love Story for Your Life ABC News, April 9, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: A Beloved Professor Delivers The Lecture of a Lifetime Wall Street Journal, By Jeff Zaslow, September 20, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Pancreatic Cancer Mayo Clinic
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most serious of cancers. It develops when cancerous cells form in the tissues of your pancreas — a large organ that lies horizontally behind the lower part of your stomach. Your pancreas secretes enzymes that aid digestion and hormones that help regulate the metabolism of carbohydrates. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Low survival rates for pancreatic cancer Times Online- UK, March 6, 2008

Austrailian man John Deaves, 61, fathers child with daughter, Jenny, 39 (Click for Related Video)

Australian man fathers child with daughter Times Online- UK, By Alexi Mostrous, April 7, 2008
An Australian man and his adult daughter went public about their incestuous relationship after having a baby together, as it emerged that a previous child of the couple died a few days after birth. John Deaves, 61, and his daughter Jenny, 39, have a 9-month-old daughter but have been banned from having sex after a court convicted the pair on two counts of incest. “The couple are being monitored by the relevant authorities,” a South Australia state police spokesman told Reuters today.The case provoked international media attention when the couple appeared on Australia’s 60 Minutes programme to explain their relationship, which began when the two were re-united eight years ago. John Deaves left the family home when his daughter was one-year-old and did not see her again for 30 years. When they were reunited, she had already married and had two children. But within weeks, the couple had started a sexual relationship. “We’re normal intellectual adults who have had careers, had a normal life like everybody else but fallen in love with each other when we are biologically related,” Ms Deaves told the Nine network. “We are just asking for a little bit of respect and understanding.”. . .

RELATED ARTICLE & VIDEO: Father, daughter incest pair 'lived under same roof' Nine-MSN, April 7,2008
John and Jenny claimed in an interview broadcast on 60 Minutes that they began a sexual relationship after Jenny tracked down the father she had never known. John and Jenny Deaves were found guilty last month of a single charge of performing an act of incest with the other. Court documents show that the first child the pair conceived in 2001 died soon after being born from a congenital disease. They now have an apparently healthy nine-month-old baby girl.

RELATED ARTICLE: Incest couple condemned by family The Herald Sun- AUSTRAILIA, April 7, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: How a child prodigy at Oxford became a £130-an-hour prostitute The Daily Mail- UK, By Andy Dolan, April 5, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: German court upholds incest law BBC News, March 13, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: The night Julie Andrews's stepfather said: I'll show you how I cuddle Mummy The Daily Mail- UK, By Vanessa Allen, March 12, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Lawful incest may be on its way The Boston Globe, By Jeff Jacoby, May 2, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Should Incest Be Legal? Time magazine, By Michael Lindenberger, April 5, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Incest: an age-old taboo BBC News, March 12, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Couple stand by forbidden love BBC News- UK, By Tristana Moore, March 7, 2007

RELATED ARTICLE: Hypocrisy on adult consent The Boston Globe, By Jeff Jacoby- Globe Columnist, August 28, 2005

RELATED ARTICLE: Of human bonding Psychology Today, By Joan Ullman, May/June 1993
Discusses the child custody battle currently being waged in the courts by actor/director Woody Allen and actress Mia Farrow. Assertion that Mia Farrow looked like Murphy Brown incarnate; Other paternity cases involving famous people; Women who now depend on the law to compel the bonding that is no longer forthcoming in today's new family structures; Additional observations.

RELATED ARTICLE: "Incest / Sexual Abuse of Children" Clinical Social Work.com, By Patricia D. McClendon, MSSW candidate, November 23, 1991

RELATED ARTICLE: Oedipus Wrecked: Was Freud wrong about boys and their mothers? Psychology Today, August 2004
. . . "The typical story line in poems, novels, and plays in which incest is a theme is one of separation in infancy with later incestuous reunion.". . .

RELATED RESOURCE: Incest or Sexual Abuse Office For Victims Of Crime- US Department of Justice

RELATED ARTICLE: Tenfold increase in IVF for over-40s The Daily Mail-UK, By Daniel Martin, June 6, 2007

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

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: To Patricia, aged 62, a baby son - and a controversy The Independent- UK, By Andrew Johnson, July 9, 2006
Britain's oldest mother is overjoyed after the birth of her fourth child. . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Mother-to-be, 63, defends decision to have a baby The Independent- UK, By Maxine Frith, May 5, 2006

RELATED ARTICLE: Doctor defends IVF for woman, 62 BBC News- UK, May 4, 2006
A controversial fertility doctor has defended his decision to give IVF to a 62-year-old woman who is set to become Britain's oldest mother. . .

Menace of the Internet sites urging teenagers to starve

Parenting Issues: Menace of the internet sites urging teenagers to starve The Daily Mail-UK, By Vanessa Allen and Dean Herbert, April 7, 2008
Children surfing the internet are being targeted by thousands of websites encouraging them to develop potentially fatal eating disorders. They display pictures of ultra-slim women along with tips on how to starve for days while convincing your parents that you are still eating. Campaigners compare them to prosuicide sites and are calling for them to be shut down. The video-sharing site YouTube hosts more than 2,500 such examples while the social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo have hundreds more. Users boast that eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are a "lifestyle choice" and not diseases. Videos with titles including "40 reasons not to eat" and "how to be bulimic" are all too easily accessible by the website's millions of users. One, entitled "thinspiration", has attracted 112,000 hits and carries messages from users including: "You will be FAT if you eat today. Just put it off one more day." There are also messages from adolescent girls desperate to emulate the figures of stick-thin celebrities and models. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: One mother attacks Miss Bimbo: The game teaching young girls about anorexia and breast implants The Daily Mail- UK, By Winifred Robinson, March 31, 2008

Wisconsin schools cross-dressing event causes a stir

Parenting Issues: School’s cross-dressing event causes a stir
Conservative radio outraged; officials say it was just ‘a bit of silliness’ MSNBC.com- AP, April 6, 2008
REEDSBURG, Wis. - An elementary-school event in which kids were encouraged to dress as members of the opposite gender drew the ire of a Christian radio group, whose angry broadcast prompted outraged calls to the district office. Students at Pineview Elementary in Reedsburg had been dressing in costume all last week as part of an annual school tradition called Wacky Week. On Friday, students were encouraged to dress either as senior citizens or as members of the opposite sex. A local resident informed the Voice of Christian Youth America on Friday. The Milwaukee-based radio network responded by interrupting its morning programming for a special broadcast that aired on nine radio stations throughout Wisconsin. The broadcast criticized the dress-up day and accused the district of promoting alternative lifestyles. . . .The dress-up day was not an attempt to promote cross-dressing, homosexuality or alternative gender roles, district administrator Tom Benson said. "The promotion of transgenderism — that was not our purpose," Benson told the Baraboo News Republic. "Our purpose was to have a Wacky Week, mixing in a bit of silliness with our reading, writing and arithmetic.". . .

Parenting Issues: Children of the Damned: When Third Graders Attack Townhall.com, By Doug Giles, April 5, 2008
Nine angelic third graders in a Waycross, Georgia elementary school were harassed by the police this week for plotting their teacher’s bloody demise. It seems as if these tiny sweethearts had their day ruined when some judgmental kid snitched on them and they were caught—innocently enough—with a steak knife, duct tape, handcuffs, and a to-do list for each of the pre-pubescent playmates. I’m sure they meant no harm. The industrious wee little honeys were so meticulous in their plans to proactively adjust their instructor’s bellicose behavior that they even had detailed arrangements to scrub the crime scene of any trace of evidence. Those little rascals. Brings a tear to your eye, eh? Now, why were these darlings so righteously indignant that they were compelled to act in such a way that, possibly, might not positively release their full potential in a self-esteem enhancing manner? Well, it appears that their repressive, anachronistic, locked in a 1950s time warp where the teacher in fact ran the class, educator actually crossed the line by correcting one of the honeys who was simply trying to entertain the class by standing in his chair while the instructor was attempting to teach. What a witch. What was that nazi chick thinking? . . .

Photo from the Waycross, Georgia police department shows the various weapons 9 year-olds from the Center Elementary School brought to school in a plot to injure their teacher.

RELATED VIDEO:
Elementary Students Plot to Kill Teacher ABC News

Fay Weldon: The novelist was described as 'having it all' in the 1987 book, 'The Compleat Woman: Marriage, Motherhood, Career - Can She Have It All?'

Yes, women had it all - but can they STILL have a career, husband and children? The Daily Mail- UK, By Becky Sheaves, April 4, 2008
Twenty years ago, when journalist Valerie Grove set out to discover whether women really could have it all, she turned to some of the nation's most successful females in a bid to find answers. Among them were Fay Weldon, Sheila Kitzinger and Shirley Hughes - all held up as models of successful womanhood in Grove's (now long out of print) book The Compleat Woman: Marriage, Motherhood, Career - Can She Have It All?' To qualify for the description "compleat" (the title is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler), they had to have been married for more than 25 years and have had three or more children, as well as a brilliant career. Novelist Fay, childbirth campaigner Sheila and award-winning children's author Shirley were more than qualified for their space on the page among dozens of other well-known, happily-married working mothers. But back in 1987, these three women were rare specimens. Divorce rates were booming, the birth rate was plummeting and women were still establishing themselves in the workplace. Grove's point was that the "compleat woman" was a rarity. Plenty of women were sacrificing motherhood and marriage for careers, but not so many were managing to achieve all three. The bad news is that two decades on, and armed with wisdom, experience and hindsight, all three women believe it is harder than ever for women to "have it all". Sheila Kitzinger, now 80, who lives in Oxfordshire with her husband Uwe, an academic and former diplomat, and has five grown-up daughters, says: "There's a lot of pressure on women today. Life seems much more complicated. "Women seem very tired - partly because they are under so much pressure. .

RELATED ARTICLE: What do husbands bring to a marriage? More housework for wives! News-Medical.net, April 7, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Women wedded to work and needing a wife at home International Herald Tribune, By Shira Boss, August 13, 2007

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RELATED ARTICLE: "Desperate Feminist Wives": Does the Quest for Marital Equality Doom Marital Happiness?   FindLaw.com- By Joanna Grossman and Linda McClain, Apr 4, 2006

RELATED ARTICLE:  Desperate Feminist Wives: Why wanting equality makes women unhappy   Slate.com- By Meghan O'Rourke, Mar 6, 2006

RELATED STUDY: What's Love got to do with it? Equality, Equity, Commitment, and Women's Marital Quality By W. Bradford Wilcox, University of Virginia, Steven L. Nock, University of Virginia

RELATED ARTICLE: 'Happy' housewives finally get their due   USA Today, By Carol Memmott, Oct 19, 2005

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Is your ex in bed with you? If your ex is overshadowing your new romance, it's time for an exorcism

Is your ex in bed with you?
If your ex is overshadowing your new romance, it's time for an exorcism Times Online- UK, By Andrew G. Marshall, April 4, 2008
It's an inescapable fact that when we fall in love, we bring all our previous sexual experience and conquests into the new relationship. However much we want to make a fresh start, and in the words of Madonna approach our new partner “like a virgin”, it's hard to throw off the past. For many people, the legacy is a positive one, especially if the ex has helped them to feel safe and secure. However, if he or she was possessive, abusive or unfaithful, the past can cast a shadow over subsequent relationships. Surprisingly, the ghosts of ex-lovers is less of a problem at the very start of a relationship. This confuses many of the couples in my marital therapy office. . . .So how can things change so quickly? When we first make love, we are very aware of past lovers and how we measure up. As intercourse is all about possession and surrender, casting out the ex is part of the excitement, drive and passion. However, once lust, the other ally at the beginning of a sexual relationship, has begun to wear off, ghosts can creep back into the bedroom. If the sexual honeymoon has been a short one, I normally discover that the problems are as much rooted in a past relationship as the current one. . . .

My gay husband: why it took so long for me to leave him Times Online, By Gail Fielding , April 3, 2008
In a 1988 article that appeared in The Times, a reader revealed her anguish at discovering that her husband was gay. She has remained in the marriage since then. Now, in an open letter to her spouse, she explains why she is ending it:

Dear Peter
I didn't intend sending you this letter, but to use it only as a means of catharsis and, possibly, a justification to myself for the leap in the not-so-dark I'll take once the house is sold and we start to live totally separately.What made me change my mind was recalling that you said you were a little “confused” about my motives and reasons for such a serious step, radically changing a relationship that has spanned 40 years. You became angry and upset; yet you have often said in the past that you wouldn't be able to tolerate our situation, were the roles reversed. So may I plead a little confusion also? Maybe the simplest way of looking at the separation is to think of it as part of an evolving process. First there was your revelation that you were gay (which took me many years to accept), then, later, our decision to combine your need for liberty and a degree of licence with your determination to remain at the core of the family. This led to your move away to live in London during the week and our children and friends accepted the explanation that you were under pressure at work. But the truth of course left me with all kinds of imaginings: what were you doing, who had you been with when you came home to me on a Friday night?. . . .

My gay husband: why it took so long for me to leave him

RELATED LETTER: My gay husband: why it took so long for me to leave him Times Online, By Gail Fielding , April 3, 2008
Here is the article written by Gail Fielding and published in The Times in 1988: About eight years ago, while holding me close, my husband told me that he was gay. For days after this revelation I wrestled with its implications, trying to recall looks or observations that should have sparked more than a suspicion. Our three children involved us, our sex life continued, and my husband seemed unaltered: no horns or cloven hoofs. But one cannot always bury a timebomb of this magnitude for ever, although I am told there are “hundreds and hundreds” of gay husbands whose wives do not know of, or will not acknowledge, their husbands' homosexuality. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: My Spouse Struggles with Homosexuality Family.org, By Amy Tracy

RELATED ARTICLE: Confronting Your Spouse: After spending considerable time in prayer and perhaps with trusted friends and family, you need to present the evidence and express your feelings openly with your spouse. Family.org, By Amy Tracy

Huge âRally for Sallyâ as 1,000-1,500 Turn Out for Rep. Sally Kern at OK Statehouse. Homosexual smear campaign backfires; some cry out 'Sally for Governor!'

Huge ‘Rally for Sally’ as 1,000-1,500 Turn Out for Rep. Kern at OK Statehouse
Homosexual smear campaign backfires; some cry out “Sally for Governor!” Americans for Truth, By Peter LaBarbera, April 3, 2008
Yesterday’s “Rally for Sally” at the Oklahoma statehouse to support State Rep. Sally Kern (R) was an amazing success, and we will have several reports on it. By all accounts, more than a thousand people turned out — the Daily Oklahoman newspaper reports 1,500 — and people were turned away from the building once the rally began. It appears as though the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund’s smear campaign against Kern — their YouTube video left out the part of her speech where she said she tries to “love everybody,” even as they charged her with contributing to hate-violence — has only made her one of the most popular politicians in Oklahoma. Although Sally disavowed any interest in running for statewide office, the calls for “Sally for Governor” and “Governor Kern” were heard repeatedly yesterday from her enthusiastic backers. Sally was moved to tears by the tremendous show of support. Earlier, in the morning, as I met with her and her pastor husband Steve (haters falsely accused Steve, who pastors Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, of being a former KKK member), they had no idea how many people would turn up — perhaps just 50 or 100. But as we arrived at the statehouse two hours early for the event only to see capitol parking lots jammed with cars, it became apparent that something big was about to occur. . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Speech by Stephen Black, Former Homosexual, at ‘Rally for Sally’ Supporting OK Rep. Sally Kern Americans For Truth.org, April 3, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE:   More than a 'gay gene' controlling the media: It's New Age heresy The Real Proposal magazine, April 12, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: What a freak show, 'men' having babies The Belfast Telegraph, By Kevin Myers, April 11, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE & COMMENTS: Pregnant men: hard to stomach?   The Telegraph- UK, By William Leith, April 10, 2008
Medically, it's do-able. Morally, it's debatable. But on a purely emotional level, the very idea of male pregnancy s difficult to accept. . . . Is a man an elephant because deep inside he feels mentally and emotionally like an elephant? Of course not - every one of the billions of cells in his body has human DNA, and XY chromosones. He's a man! This individual is a woman. Posted by Dom on April 10, 2008 1:10 PM. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Church of Oprah? Thomasville Times- Enterprise, By Randy Young, April 8, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Woman Becomes Pregnant - Alert the Press! Townhall.com, By Jessica Cantelon, April 3, 2008
“I’m a person,” she whines to Oprah. “And I have the right to have my own biological child.” And she’s right. Nobody is telling Tracy that she can’t have her child. Unlike women in China fighting against government-forced abortion, Tracy enjoys complete reproductive freedom. But she isn’t satisfied at the freedom to have a baby; she wants freedom from strangers’ odd looks and natural bewilderment at a bearded pregnant lady. . .

RELATED ARTICLE: The "Gay Gene" Controlling The Media The Real Proposal magazine, April 1, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Labor of Love   The Advocate- The Award-winning LGBT News Site, By Thomas Beatie, March 26, 2008
Labor of Love: Thomas Beatie gives The Advocate a first-person account of how it feels to be pregnant and carrying a child for his wife and himself. . . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Questions that Bother Oprah and Today's New Age Thinkers Townhall.com, By Frank Pastore, March 31, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Wanted: Someone to Play God Time magazine, By Nancy Gibbs, February 21, 2008

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RELATED ARTICLE: Two Brothers Share How They Coped With Their Dad's Decision To Become A Woman St. Petersburg Times, By Lane DeGregory, May 1, 2007

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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: Surgical Sex   First Things.com, By Paul McHugh, November 2004
Mental health professionals like Paul McHugh at Johns Hopkins University believe that all the social, medical and psychiatric resources employed in turning men into women are “a misdirection of psychiatry.” and partly at the his urging, Johns Hopkins no longer performs sex reassignment surgery. He became convinced that to provide a surgical alteration to the body of these unfortunate people was to collaborate with a mental disorder rather than to treat it.

RELATED ARTICLE: Psychiatric Misadventures By Paul R. McHugh— Henry Phipps Professor and Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

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Solving the Puzzle of Paying Off Your Debt

Solving the Puzzle of Paying Off Your Debt: How to Pay Down Debt Money- AOL
Sure, we all want to get out of debt. But once you've made that decision, and have unlocked a source of cash (big hurdles, to be sure), there is a question of just what is the best way to pay it off? That, depends on your goals. Whether you are afraid of losing your home, are closing in on retirement or want to get a big loan in the near future, WalletPop shares 6 common reasons people want to reduce their debt load and the best strategy for each.. . . The Round Robin Plan: Big Loan in Your Future? Thinking about buying a home, but you need to improve your credit score in order to get the best interest rate? Paying down debt using the round robin strategy can get you there the fastest. People with the best credit score only use 10% to 20% of their available credit, so the faster you can pay down your debt on each card, the better your credit score will be. . . Learn Details of Round Robin Strategy. . . . Next: The Snowball Effect: To use this strategy you start by paying the minimum amount on all but your highest interest credit card. Then use every extra cent you can find to pay the greatest amount you can on your highest interest credit card. When you get that card paid off then continue paying the minimum amount you were paying on your second highest credit card plus the larger amount you were paying on the highest interest credit card. . . Next: Win Back Friends & Family. . .

First wedding dress shop for pregnant brides ONLY opens The Daily Mail- UK, By Luke Salked, April 1, 2008,
Squeezing into a wedding dress can be a concern for any blushing bride-to-be. So when you are getting noticeably bigger by the day, it might seem like you will never find the perfect fit. But a very modern solution has now arrived with the launch of a new bridal shop specifically aimed at pregnant women. Expectant Bride offers personal consultations with women by expert designers who are able to predict how big a bump will be on the customer's special day, and design the dresses accordingly. The maternity wedding dresses are designed to be longer at the front so they do not rise up over an increasingly rounded stomach. They are also pulled in at the back to give a flattering shape as well as featuring hems along the sides so they can be taken in or let out. Expectant mothers can chose from a range of gowns before undergoing an expert fitting four weeks before the big day. Most of the women who visit the shop are said to be career women in their late 20s and early 30s. Some have fallen pregnant after setting a wedding date, while others have decided to get married quickly after finding out they are with child. . . . "Times are definitely changing and I felt there was a gap in the market." She continued: "Most women these days are working into their mid-30s and are living with their partners before marriage. "They find themselves not having time to arrange a wedding and only think about it properly when they accidentally fall pregnant. . . . However some have not welcomed the success that has stemmed from Mrs Wilkinson's timely business acumen. A Conservative MP said: "I think this shop is an extremely sad sign of the times. "I'm not surprised to hear it is quite popular, which is also a very sad comment indeed.". . .

UK: First wedding dress shop for pregnant brides ONLY opens

Celebs such as Miley Cyrus, Jessica Simpson, model Adriana Lima and boy band the Jonas Brothers have all at one point taken vows to stay celibate until marriage.

Celibate Celebs Reclaim Their Innocence
Are Celebs Vowing Celibacy to Make Money or Stay True to Their Beliefs? ABC News, By Emily Friedman, April 1, 2008
They're young, they're hot and have the world at their fingertips – but there's one thing they say they're not interested in. Sex. The newest crop of teen celebrities – Disney's Miley Cyrus and boy band The Jonas Brothers – as well as slightly older stars such as Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima, are all toting the same accessory: their virginity. In a September 2007 interview with Extra!, Cyrus, now 15, defended herself against rumors that she's pregnant, citing her vow to stay celibate until marriage. "It's given me the street cred to say that would be impossible, because I'm living my life the way I believe is right and that is to stay pure," she said. Lima, 26, told GQ magazine in April 2006 that she's saving herself for marriage, despite those who may raise their eyebrows at her sexy runway outfits and her nude photo shoots. "Sex is for after marriage," she told GQ. "They [men] have to respect that this is my choice. If there's no respect, that means they don't want me." And current teen heartthrobs, the Jonas brothers, aged 15 to 20, wear purity rings to signify their devotion to remaining virgins until they get hitched – and reminding them to resist the tempting hoards of teenage girls who show up wherever they go. But celebrity insiders and sex experts told ABCNews.com that the branding of young celebrities as pure and innocent isn't exactly innovative and just how influential these teen role models may be to their younger fans is questionable. . . . . . . Sex Sells, But So Does Virginity. . . But How Pure Are They, Really? . . .

RELATED VIDEO: Miley and Mandy Show! QUESTIONS You Tube Video

RELATED ARTICLE: Elissa Sursara: No Sex Before Marriage Blog Critics.org, April 11, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Students of Virginity New York Times, By Randall Patterson, March 30, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Miley Cyrus Dedicates Web Video to Jesus People magazine, March 24, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Adriana Lima nude photo shoot News.com.au March 20, 2008
Lima told the magazine [GQ] back in April 2006 that she is a devoted Catholic who attends church every Sunday. "Sex is for after marriage," she explained. "They (men) have to respect that this is my choice. If there's no respect, that means they don't want me.". . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Julianne Hough: No Sex Before Marriage People magazine, March 5, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE: Singers Turn 'American Idol' into Platform for Abstinence Christian Post, By Elena Garcia, January 24, 2008

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Source: Beyoncé and Jay-Z Take Out Marriage License People magazine, By Kathy Ehrich Dowd and Tiffany McGee, April 1, 2008
Beyoncé Knowles and longtime beau Jay-Z have taken out a marriage license in Scarsdale, N.Y., PEOPLE has learned. According to a source, the pair obtained a license Tuesday morning. The document is valid for 60 days. A rep for Beyoncé told PEOPLE, "No comment." Jay-Z's spokesperson could not be reached. Beyoncé, 26, and Jay-Z, 38, have been dating since 2002, though the couple have stood reluctant to discuss their relationship publicly. Rumors about their romance began circulating after the singer appeared on Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde," followed by collaborations on Beyoncé's solo hit "Crazy in Love," in 2003. While the two have remained tight-lipped about the state of their romance, by no means has Beyoné brushed off talk of marriage. In December 2006, the singer told InStyle, "You can't rush a man into anything – whether it's a relationship, marriage or having children.". . .

RELATED ARTICLE: Source: Beyoncé and Jay-Z Are Married People magazine, By Jennifer Garcia and Mike Fleeman, April 04, 2008

People magazine: Beyonce and Jay-Z take out marriage license

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