|
|
"MARRIAGE" In The News
(December 2007) |
 |
The news articles and features presented below are simply an indication of how topical, controversial, and all-encompassing the issues surrounding marriage are throughout our society--and the world-- today. Some of the views and opinions expressed, and their respective web sites, do NOT reflect the views or opinions of The Real Proposal™ magazine. Many are highlighted largely to reiterate that the alarming statistical trends on the chaotic state of "Marriage" and "Family"--outlined in "A Mere Glimpse"--will continue unabated without a fundamental grasp and purposeful dissemination of TRUTH on the issues.
|
|
|
- New Hampshire quietly ushers in civil unions: Celebrations planned as clock hits midnight The Boston Globe, By Stephanie Ebbert, December 31, 2007
When gay marriage came to Massachusetts, throngs of people filled the streets in Cambridge, applauding the same-sex couples emerging from City Hall with their first-in-the-nation marriage licenses. That is not exactly the plan in New Hampshire. A more subdued celebration is expected after the clock hits midnight tonight, when civil unions become legal in the Granite State. Twenty or so couples, who had to register beforehand, will gather outside the State House for ceremonies in which they will be united with their partners in a manageable, personable celebration. "It's a much more scaled-down and smaller version, more intimate, meaningful," said Jen Major, who helped organize the event and will be united with her partner, Kelley Morris, that morning. Of course, it was a major development when gay marriage came to Massachusetts nearly four years ago. In Cambridge, 227 gay couples applied to marry on the first night they had the opportunity, and 6,121 couples statewide wed that first year. In all of New Hampshire, just 109 couples have registered their intentions to unite so far. . .
|
 |
RELATED ARTICLE: Gay 'marriage' legislation finds few '07 victories The Washington Times, By Cheryl Wetzstein, December 31, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Despite rulings, 'Gay marriage' debate not over in Md., Wash. Baptist Press, By Michael Foust, December 28, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: The Quiet Gay Revolution Time magazine, By Michael Kinsley, June 14, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Gay Marriage Advocates Don’t Want Tolerance, They Want Their Lifestyles to Become Mainstream BlackAmericaWeb.com, By Joseph C. Phillips, November 07, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Gay "Marriage" Townhall.com, By Thomas Sowell, August 15, 2006
|
- Book Review: 'Don't You Dare Get Married Until You Read This'
Marriage guru's own wedded bliss amiss, so he writes book on divorce The Salt Lake Tribune, By Ellen Fagg, December 31, 2007
Corey Donaldson first mined his life experience 10 years ago with Don't You Dare Get Married Until You Read This, a self-published book that helped the Melbourne, Australia, native prepare to move across the world and marry his Utah-born fiancee. "I was 23 years old, coming to a country I've never been to, don't know anyone, don't know what I'm going to do for money, and marrying a woman I just barely met," he recalls. "So I wanted to know what the questions were that were beyond my experience - which was just about everything." Donaldson's list - and the backstory of his whirlwind, pen-pal courtship with his wife-to-be - became the focus of scores of radio and newspaper stories, ranging from The St. Paul Pioneer Press to The Wall Street Journal. In 2000, after the list had expanded to more than 1,500 questions, Donaldson's book was published nationally by Random House, eventually selling some 100,000 copies. It doesn't take an advice guru to guess what happened next: In 2006, Donaldson and his wife divorced. And naturally, the Utah transplant has jumped back up on the soapbox provided by his life experience. In more than 75 radio interviews over the past two months, Donaldson has launched his latest common-sense salvo, Stay Married or Get Divorced: The Rules and Questions to Consider Before, During and After Divorce. The perils of advising: In the self-help genre, the irony of an author's personal life catching up to his or her professional life isn't just the stuff of TV sit-coms, such as ABC's "Men in Trees," which stars Anne Heche as a relationship coach whose fiancé cheated on her. Every few years there's another headline-grabbing incident, such as this month's announcement of a publication hold on a Christian parenting handbook penned by Lynne Spears, mother of Britney and Jamie Lynn, the Nickelodean TV star who confessed her unplanned pregnancy at age 16. . . .
|
 |
- 'I'm pregnant' says delighted Nicole Kidman The Daily Mail- UK, December 29, 2007
Nicole Kidman and her husband of 18 months are expecting their first baby, the Daily Mail can reveal. The Oscar-winning actress and Keith Urban, the country and western singer she calls the "love of my life", broke the news to their families over the Christmas holiday. The 40-year-old Australian star had already spoken of "winding down" her film-making activities as much as possible next year. The baby, whose expected arrival date has not yet been revealed, will be the actress's first natural child. She adopted Isabella, 14, and twelve-year-old Conor during her first marriage to Tom Cruise. Miss Kidman was stunned when he filed for divorce in 2001. Shortly after they split, she revealed that she had suffered an ectopic pregnanacy and a miscarriage during the marriage. . . . She is due to film The Reader with Ralph Fiennes and British director Stephen Daldry in Berlin next month, but has no more cinema work planned after that. "I just want to spend as much time as possible with my husband," she told the Daily Mail. . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: The risks - and rewards - when motherhood begins at 40 The Sydney Morning Herald- Life & Style, By Kate Benson Medical Reporter, January 9, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: Nicole Kidman Is Pregnant People magazine, January 7, 2008
|
RELATED ARTICLE: Why Nicole IS pregnant and why she's asked her mum and dad to deliver the baby The Daily Mail- UK, By Paul Scott, January 4, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: Nicole Kidman is keeping quiet over pregnancy The HeraldSun- Australia, December 31, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Oh, the agony of hearing your child calling another woman Mummy The Daily Mail- UK, By Sonia Poulton, December 27, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Katie Holmes Opens Up InStyle magazine, January 2008 Issue
|
Send Page To a Friend
|
- Sean Penn and Robin Wright divorcing
Hollywood couple has been together 11 years; they have 2 teenage children MSNBC.com- AP, December 28, 2007
- Sean Penn and Robin Wright are splitting up. Their publicist tells People magazine’s Web site that Penn and Wright are divorcing after 11 years of marriage. She didn’t say why. Penn and Wright have two children. Hopper Jack is 14 and Dylan Frances is 16. . . .
- Married ... With Children's David Faustino Divorce Is Final People magazine, By Karen Salkin, December 28, 2007
The 3-year marriage of Married ... With Children star David Faustino and his wife, Andrea, is officially over. After filing divorce papers in Feb., their petition was granted Friday on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. In the original papers, Faustino stated that he did not want to pay spousal support. Court papers released Friday reveal that a settlement has been agreed to between the parties, but was "not being attached to the judgment for privacy purposes.". . . . .
- Brendan Fraser, wife end nine-year marriage USA Today, December 26, 2007
— Brendan Fraser will begin 2008 as a single man. The 39-year-old actor announced Wednesday that he and his wife, Afton, are ending their nine-year marriage. "They continue to maintain a close and caring friendship," Fraser's publicist, Ina Treciokas, said in a statement. The couple wed in 1998 and have three children. . . . .
|
- Island I-Do's for Murphy & Edmonds? E! Online- Planet Gossip Blog, By Marc Malkin, December 27, 2007
Will Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds be married by the end of the year? It sure sounds like it. I’m told the Hollywood power couple will wed any minute now in the South Pacific. A source tells me guests and members of the wedding party are expected to arrive in Tahiti sometime today. "It’s a small, private affair," the source says. Last-minute preparations took place earlier this week. "The bridesmaid dresses are all custom from somewhere in Beverly Hills," my source reports. "They just had their final fittings." Edmonds, 40, hinted at the holiday-season nuptials back in the fall. "I’ll say it’ll be before the end of the year," she told People magazine in October. "And someplace far away and fun." This is the second marriage for both. Edmonds and music impresario Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds divorced after 13 years of marriage. They have two sons. Murphy, 46, has five children with his ex-wife, Nicole, and one with former girlfriend Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown. . .
|
 |
 |
- Despite rulings, 'Gay marriage' debate not over in Md., Wash. Baptist Press, By Michael Foust, December 28, 2007
--Conservatives in Maryland and Washington state are learning that the battle about "gay marriage" is far from over, despite court rulings in their favor in the past 18 months. In both states homosexual leaders are hoping their respective legislatures will do what the courts would not do -- legalize "marriage" for same-sex couples. Both courts said the issue was for the legislative branch, and not the judicial branch, to decide. . . The Maryland Court of Appeals -- the highest court in the state -- issued a ruling in September refusing to legalize "gay marriage.". . . . In Washington state, where that state's Supreme Court ruled against "gay marriage" in July 2006, homosexual activists are pushing for additional legislation a mere five months after a new same-sex domestic partnerships law went into effect. The law grants homosexual couples some of the legal benefits of marriage. . . . . New Hampshire's civil unions law takes effect Jan. 1, and same-sex couples -- including Democratic state Rep. Gail Morrison and her partner -- are planning to have a group ceremony on the steps of the state capitol at midnight. The law will grant couples the legal benefits of marriage, minus the name. . . . Christian conservatives worried about the collapse of the natural family found another reason in mid-December to have concern when the Los Angeles Times reported the birth of a baby born essentially with two mothers and two fathers. . .
|
 |
- A Santa Claus proposes marriage WKYC, December 24, 2007
AKRON -- A local man switches places with a mall Santa Claus and surprises his girlfriend with a marriage proposal. This afternoon our news desk got a call from a viewer named Shawn Bammer telling us to send a camera to Chapel Hill Mall, here's why. Shawn dressed up like Santa Claus because he knew his girlfriend would be waiting in line to sit on Santa?s lap.Before Bethany Moneypenny got up to the front of the line, Shawn and the "real" Santa switched places. Bethany unaware of the switch was surprised by Bammer asking for her hand in marriage. She said yes. . . .
RELATED VIDEO: A Santa Claus proposes marriage
|
 |
- The constant in Christmas is the message
Family groups, traditions are altered through the years Kentucky.com, By Paul Prather, December 22, 2007
My son, John, has announced his engagement to a sweet-natured, pretty young woman named Cassie. This time last year I didn't even know Cassie, and long before next year's Christmas, she'll be my daughter-in-law. My sister's son, Will, is about to become a father. Will's more like a second son to me than a nephew; he and John practically were raised as brothers. . . . . My late wife loved Christmas. Renee sent out scores of cards, shopped months in advance, bought gifts for everyone with whom we were remotely acquainted. Just after Thanksgiving, she'd put Christmas carols on the stereo, then she and John would spend hours trimming our tree, decorating our house's windows and stringing lights from its gutters. I'd sip custard as I watched the spectacle from the sofa. After the decorations were finished, Renee would stack and wedge wrapped presents halfway across the den floor. She passed away. John and I still share the same home, but we've never been able to work up much enthusiasm about preparing for the holidays. . . . Christmas, like most things in this world, changes. That in itself is neither good nor bad. It just is. Some of the changes tear your heart out. Others are joyous -- new marriages, new babies, new friendships. You mourn the old faces that will appear no more. But you also love the new faces you never expected to see. They are bright, wonderful gifts. And all the while, you try to focus on the only constant, that child born in a Bethlehem stable . . . .
|
- Not receiving desired gift is not grounds for divorce MyWestTexas, By Mary Dearen-Midland Reporter-Telegram, December 22, 2007
I rarely choose to wrote about things that I find unbelievable, amazing or preposterous. But I am going to climb on my soapbox today in response to the Family Matters column on Dec. 16. There probably are as many reasons for seeking a divorce as there are couples seeking those divorces. But the reason posed by "Married to Scrooge" takes the cake. In her letter to Jim May she said "divorce is beginning to look good" because her husband never gives her what she wants for Christmas. She said her husband is successful and a good provider, but doesn't "know if I can stand another year like the last 12." There may be other reasons this "Mrs. Scrooge" is contemplating ending her marriage, but her letter doesn't specify any. So based on what I read, I have come to the conclusion that this woman is one of the most shallow people I ever have come across. . . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Secret santas brought joy to a dark Christmas Nevada Appeal, By Sue Jones- Virginia City resident, December 22, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Looking for Christmas Magic? It’s in People Stoking the Fires of Love, Laughter BlackAmericaWeb.com, By Joseph C. Phillips, Dec 12, 2005
|
A: How can you leave us hanging like this? We demand details! Does your preferred technique involve major food groups? Audience participation? Not that the specifics would change this answer, we’re just curious. It's lucky for you, I guess, that we are now in the giving season, that time of year when wishes are said to come true. So here’s hoping that your scroogey husband regards this, and the coming of the New Year, as special occasions. And he is certainly being a scrooge. . . . .
RELATED ARTICLES: More Sexploration Columns MSNBC.com
|
|
 |
- The Bride Wore Two-Ply New York Times Blog- City Room, By Jennifer 8. Lee, December 19, 2007
With the expectations and costs of weddings skyrocketing these days, both richer and poorer couples find with debt do they start. The Vows column can often feel like the adult version of My Super Sweet Sixteen. Then again, couples can buck the trend and go to Cheap Chic Weddings, a Web site that aggregates money-saving tips on catering, gowns, wedding music, flowers, among other things. Started by a cost-conscious mother and two daughters, the Web site has held a wedding dress design contest for the last three years with interesting rules: toilet paper, glue and tape only. City Room wonders, how do they 1) get, and 2) keep the dresses on without buttons and zippers? (The answer is that they tend to be single-use dresses, which at first seemed odd, but then again, in theory why would you wear a wedding dress more than once?). . . . .This year, the winner of the $500 first prize was Hanah Kim, who works in the fashion business. Ms. Kim was then commissioned to design another toilet-paper wedding dress, which was worn by Jennifer Cannon in her wedding to Doy Nichols of Lexington, Ky., on Wednesday in Times Square at the Charmin public restrooms. . .
|
- Losing that loving feeling?
Like friendship, love can die. And sometimes the cause is just boredom and benign neglect. Malaysia Star, By Sumiko Tan, December 21, 2007
If divorces are on the rise, what does it say about society and that crazy little thing called love? That “I love you” doesn’t mean that much anymore? That values like faithfulness, commitment, loyalty and patience are in short supply? That the belief that the family is the building block of society – and marriage the foundation of the family – is being chipped away? That love is no guarantee a marriage will last? That marriage is no guarantee love will last? And that even if love doesn’t last, marriage is no longer the glue that holds couples and families together? That love between a couple can actually die? A recent study of the United States, Russia and the Scandinavian countries suggested that the traditional “seven-year itch” has been replaced by the five-year itch. In the 1950s, the rule of thumb was that amber lights would flash when a marriage hit the seven-year mark. Today, couples are at their greatest risk of divorcing just before their fifth wedding anniversary. . .
|
 |
RELATED ARTICLE: Reflections On The First Decade Of Marriage Seattle Post Intelligencer Blog, Posted by Christina Hyun, December 31, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Death and Resurrection of a Marriage, a follow up The American Daily, By John David Powell, December 20, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: MARRIAGE SAVERS: Report Card 2007 Virtue Online, By Mike McManus, December 19, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Eyes Wide Open: Deranged Marriages Sify.com, By Mainak Dhar, December 18, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: The science of love: What goes on in the brain during attraction, bonding MSNBC.com, By Brian Alexander, February 14, 2006
|
|
JOKE OF THE DAY: The Lighter Side
THE SILENT TREATMENT:
A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly the man realized that the next day he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and lose), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she would find it. The next morning the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go to see why his wife hadn't wakened him when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM Wake up."
(Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.)
|
- Niger: Where Childhood Ends On the Marriage Bed All Africa, By Niamey, December 19, 2007
Fifteen-year-old Hadjo Garbo's child-like features belie a history more tragic and life-altering than many adults four times her age will have experienced. Two years ago this petite girl, who likes to fiddle with her elaborately braided hair and once dreamed of being a housewife, was married to one of the older men in her village in the Dosso region of southwest Niger. She was just 13 years old. The marriage was consummated, and by 14 she was pregnant with her first child. But before her 15th birthday she had lost the baby - and her husband. Hadjo's anatomy proved unready for the task of delivering a baby and after an excruciating three-day labour, the unborn foetus was cut out of her, stillborn. The horrific labour left the girl with what gynaecologists call an obstetric fistula, a tearing of the tissue that develops when blood supply to the tissues of the vagina and bladder and/or rectum is cut off during prolonged obstructed labour. The condition mostly affects child victims of underage marriage. Hadjo was ostracised by her husband and his family, and forced to secrete herself away from the prying eyes and laughter of her former school friends. . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Clergy failing women on forced marriage, bride price The New Vision- Uganda, By Atuki Turner, December 20, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Early marriage increases poverty, study finds Yemen Times, By Fatima Al-Ajel, December 17, 2007
|
 |
- Bishop Weeks claims he was abused by wife
In a one-on-one interview with the AJC, Weeks says he is suiting up for spiritual war The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, By D. Aileen Dodd, December 19, 2007
. . . . Weeks, who says he is innocent, recently shared his story with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Bynum, who is developing a domestic violence ministry, has held local news conferences on TV and radio to discuss her accounts of the marriage. She has said through a spokesperson that she will consider an AJC request for a one-on-one interview but she has not set a date. Weeks maintains that publications and broadcasts about his stormy marriage do not paint a complete and accurate picture. . . . Q: How did you meet Juanita Bynum? A: She came and spoke at a conference in 1998, one of my father's conferences ... Praise Power Celebration. Q: How long did you date before you got married? A: We dated sincerely about six weeks. Both of us had been through a number of things in our prior relationships ...We thought it would be best per her request, to go ahead and get married ... My family history was very clear, solid. She said out of her own mouth it's like marrying a pedigree of legacy. . . . .Q: You said she asked you to marry her. How did she pop the question? A: It was over a telephone call one afternoon. She was sharing her heart ... We got married in July [July 21, 2002] ... in Las Vegas at the courthouse ... The major TV wedding that was on TBN was in April 2003. It was Juanita's desire to do it that way. . . . .
|
RELATED ARTICLE: Bishop Weeks yanks tell-all book on Bynum, apologizes in online video: "She Wanted To Be the Next Oprah at Any Cost," he notes The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, By D. Aileen Dodd, December 13, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Juanita Bynum: On Her Own Essence magazine, By Denene Millner, January 2008 Issue
Read excerpts from the conclusion of her two-part exclusive interview in the January 2008 issue of Essence magazine.
RELATED ARTICLE: Juanita Bynum: I've Come This Far by Faith Essence magazine, By Denene Millner, December 2007 Issue
RELATED ARTICLE: Christian Divorce Trends Fuel Debates Christian Post, By Lillian Kwon, November 28, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Evangelicals shift toward acceptance on divorce USA Today, By Adelle M. Banks, November 22, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: An Evangelical Rethink on Divorce? Time magazine, By David Van Biema, November 5, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Tragically Widening the Grounds of Legitimate Divorce DesiringGod.org, By John Piper, October 17, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: What God Has Joined: What does the Bible really teach about divorce? Christianity Today, By David Instone-Brewer, October 5, 2007
|
- Baby Drama: Jamie-Lynn and a Study in Statutory Rape
America's Jailbait Sweetie Radar Online- Fresh Intelligence, December 19, 2007
Life's pretty sweet when you're teen TV princess Jamie-Lynn Spears, even if you get knocked up just after your sweet 16. It could be a hell of a lot worse, anyway. Just ask Genarlow Wilson, an African American honor student, who, at 17, got a consensual BJ from a 15-year-old during a motel room party. Wilson was convicted of aggravated child molestation and had to lobby the legislature and courts to avoid a decade in prison and a spot on the national sex offenders registry. Zoey 101 star Jamie-Lynn, the youngest sibling of Britney, not only got freak nasty with Casey Aldridge, the 19-year-old son of a Cleveland, Tennessee, paper mill worker she's been dating since she was 14—she got pregnant. The response? A comforting hug from her employer Nickelodeon, the cover of OK! magazine, and a portrayal of the events framed in the soft light of an after-school special. . . . .
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLE: Mother and Manager Lynne Spears "Sees Her Girls as a Piggy Bank" Us Weekly magazine, December 26, 2007 RELATED ARTICLE: Who Is Casey Aldridge? People magazine, By Steve Helling, December 24, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Shock, Disappointment Over Jamie Lynn's Pregnancy People magazine, By Tim Nudd, December 19, 2007 RELATED ARTICLE: Jamie Lynn's Parents 'Adore' Father-to-Be Casey Aldridge People magazine, By Mike Fleeman, December 19, 2007 RELATED ARTICLE: Jamie Lynn Spears Pregnant At 16: Is Lynne Spears An Even Worse Mother Than Britney? Huffington Post, By Bonnie Fuller, December 19, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Celebrity: Moms Gone Wild: Sure, mothers always get blamed for everything. But—as a look at the women behind Paris, Lindsay, and Britney reveals—if your child is your meal ticket and career booster, it's hard to be the parent she needs Vanity Fair, By Judith Newman, November 2007 Issue
|
RELATED ARTICLE: Innocence Lost: The Sexualization of Youth—From physical appearance to wanton behavior, sex dominates the thinking of young people. How did we get here? Is it too late to turn the tide? The Real Truth magazine, By Bradford G. Schleifer, November 29, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Dying to Date TownHall.com, By Kathleen Parker, November 16, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Sex and Schoolkids Townhall.com, By Jeff Jacoby, Oct 24, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: Teen Pregnancy: Overview, Health Risks to the Baby and Other Consequences of Teenage Pregnancy Womens Health Channel, November 1, 2000
RELATED ARTICLE: Mom, I'm Pregnant Family Life Today, By Leslie Barner
RELATED ARTICLE: Q & A: What is the answer to curbing teenage sexual activity? Family.org
RELATED ARTICLE: What Your Teens Need to Know about Sex Family.org, By Linda Klepacki, R.N., M.P.H.
RELATED ARTICLE: Adolescence—Are You Ready for the Tough Questions? Family Life Today, By Dennis Rainey
|
|
- Italian court changes baby's name Parent Dish, By Sandy Maple, December 18, 2007
As far as unusual baby names go, "Friday" is not too bad. It is short, means something, and is easy to spell. All in all, I kind of like it. Unfortunately for this couple, the Italian courts do not and have ruled that they cannot name their son "Friday." Little Friday was already five months old when his name was noticed by a city clerk. The clerk brought the matter to the attention of a tribunal, which decided the name fell into the category of "ridiculous or shameful." Claiming the name would hinder the boy from developing "serene interpersonal relationships", the tribunal moved to protect this child from a lifetime of days-of-the-week jokes. . . . . The court ordered his name be changed, but the parents refused. So, the court did it for them, renaming the child Gregory, after the saint whose feast day he was born on. "My son was born Friday, baptised Friday, will call himself Friday, we will call him Friday but when he gets older he will have to sign his name Gregory," she said. Take that, Italian courts!. . . . .
|
 |
- Yuletide Cleanup TownHall.com, By Rich Galen, December 17, 2007
Spring Cleaning is supposed to be a big deal in America. There is a mythology about opening the windows and airing out the house as the weather warms. I do not personally know a single person who, upon the arrival of the vernal equinox, feels the stirrings of their Clean-Up gene becoming active. In ancient civilizations there were rites celebrating the end of Winter and the coming of the Spring planting season. In modern America we engage in the Rite-Of-The-Changing-Of-The-Furnace-Filters in celebration of moving the little switch under the thermostat on living room wall from HEAT to COOL. Spring cleaning, it turns out, has nothing on the tumult of tidying which occurs as Christmas approaches. A visitor from a future time might think this activity was to make the home neat and orderly should Jesus decide to do a drop-by. Or, for those with a more secular bent, so that Santa would think "nice" (not "naughty") when he dropped down the chimney and picked out presents to leave under the tree. Nothing could be further from the truth. It all has to do with MY MOTHER IS COMING TO MY HOUSE FOR CHRISTMAS! Substitute BROTHER, SISTER, NEIGHBOR, BOSS, or any of the many flavors of IN-LAW and the theory works equally well. . . .
|
- Pamela Anderson Divorcing Rick Salomon? People magazine, By Tim Nudd and Ken Lee, December 17, 2007
Pamela Anderson filed for divorce from Rick Salomon after two months of marriage last week, but a reconciliation may already be in the works. Anderson, 40, filed for divorce Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences. The actress says she and Salomon separated the day before, on Thursday. She is seeking to have Salomon pay spousal support and attorney's fees. But two days later, she was spotted shopping with Salomon, and on Monday she posted this brief note on her Web site: "P.S. We're working things out." The former Baywatch star married Salomon, 39, at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas on Oct. 6 – during an hour-and-a-half break between two magic shows Anderson was performing. . . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Pamela Anderson Appears to Move Ahead with Divorce People magazine, By Ken Lee and Stephen M. Silverman, January 3, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: Pam Anderson Divorcing Rick Salomon Celeb TV, December 17, 2007
|
 |
RELATED ARTICLE: Who’s doing the most to attack marriage? The Clinton Herald, By Scott T. Holland, November 29, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Will This Marriage Last? Time magazine, By Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, Posted June 30, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Short Shelf Life of Celebrity Marriage BBC News.com, September 16, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: The Biggest Lies About Marriage ABC News.com, May 24, 2006
RELATED BOOK: 'Lies At The Altar' By Dr. Robin L. Smith
|
|
RELATED ARTICLE: Marriage as learned behavior: Can divorce be foretold? Seattle Times- US, By Kyung M. Song, July 27, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: When the Honeymoon is Over: How to Nurture Marriage Breakpoint.org, By Chuck Colson, July 1, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: Brides get the blues as the magic wanes: Post-nuptial syndrome rocks one in 10 marriages The Observer, By Amelia Hill, September 14, 2003 RELATED ARTICLE: Postnuptial blues: After the wedding bells stopped ringing, she wanted nothing but sleep Salon.com, By Ellie Forgotson, June 30, 1999
RELATED ARTICLE: The Top 10 Marriage Myths Rutgers University- The Marriage Project, By David Popenoe
|
 |
- Let's keep the marriage counsellors out of the office Financial Times- UK, By Lucy Kellaway, December 17 2007
Here is a game to play with your spouse one chilly evening. Sit yourselves down with some paper, Sellotape, string and a pair of scissors. Working together, construct a paper tower that is strong and beautiful. You have 30 minutes to do it. This fun little game has been devised by the most famous marriage counsellor in the world. John Gottman has seen 3,000 couples pass through his "Love Labs" in the US and has set many of them to work on the towers. He has found that couples who co-operate well over the scissors and glue tend to have good marriages that stick. Ones that can't share the glue nicely are likely to fall apart. . . . The reason that I'm suddenly taking such a keen interest in the health of my marriage is the fault of the Harvard Business Review, which has decided that understanding how marriages work is important to the study of management. Its reasoning goes like this: being successful in business means having good relationships with people. The most important relationship is a marriage. Therefore people who have good marriages are likely to have good relationships with their colleagues too. And by understanding why marriages go wrong we get some understanding of why work relationships go wrong - which is why it went out to interview Dr Gottman for some tips. . . . . And so are there any parallels at all between marriages and work relationships? There may be a negative one: success at work may go hand in hand with failure in matrimony. Successful people have bigger egos, are in the office all the time and have lots of money and opportunity to stray. . . . .
|
- Homo erectus extinctus The Times Online, By Lois Rogers, December 16, 2007
Is nature determined to make men extinct? Senior scientists believe that women may evolve as humanity’s sole representatives — and social and political trends are lending weight to their theories. . . . . By the extrovert standards of our parliament, it is a surprisingly quiet debate, but one that will have all manner of implications. The Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, which is expected to become law next summer, says controversially that the fathers of artificially conceived children need not necessarily be recognised by the state. Are fathers destined to become redundant? The bill is a reflection of much wider scientific and social changes. The technology to produce artificial sperm, or even create offspring from two females, is already in the pipeline; in addition, genetic evidence has shown that the Y chromosome, the only one that confers maleness, is in a long-term evolutionary decline. And if that were not humiliating enough for men, in sizable communities across the country lesbians are not only forming partnerships, but they are openly bearing and raising children together, secure in the knowledge that British society now accepts such a lifestyle choice. Do men have a future at all? . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Father or sperm donor? Court says donor 49 NEWS-ABC news.com, By Kendall Jones, October 26, 2007
|
- The motherhood myth: The misery of being a mother The Daily Mail- UK, By WINIFRED ROBINSON, December 14, 2007
So at last the biggest secret of motherhood is out. For every woman who gives birth then sinks back blissfully into the pillows, there are scores like me who sit bolt upright, eyes wide with fear and think: "Oh my God, what have I done?" Lest you assume that I just didn't bond with my baby, let me say from the outset that I loved my son Tony from the top of his down-covered head to the tip of his tiny little toes. I loved him before he was born, before he was even conceived. I loved the idea of him, and I never lost touch with that love throughout the many miserable years of infertility and the IVF treatment that finally resulted in his birth on August 20, 1999, when I was 41. By then, as one of the doctors so tactlessly put it, I was "in the last chance saloon when it came to having kids". But however much he was loved and wanted, my baby's arrival waved no magic wand of satisfaction over my life. And as a study this week by the Institute for Social and Economic Research in Colchester attests, I am not so much the exception as the rule. The survey questioned four thousand couples and discovered that children, until the age of five - the point where most start school - make mothers less satisfied with their lives. . . . The irony of my situation wasn't lost on me: that after all those years of trying for a baby and finally achieving my goal, his arrival made me somehow unhappier than I had been before. Because what no one can convey before your own little bundle arrives is just how hellishly hard it is to be a Mum - by far the most difficult challenge most of us face in life. So why wasn't maternal love the harbinger of happiness?. . . . .
|
 |
RELATED ARTICLE: 'My joy at finally becoming a mother after losing eight babies' The Daily Mail- UK, By Lucy Laing, December 26, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Parenthood Ended Hudson and Robinson's Marriage San Francisco Chronicle- The Daily Dish, December 18, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Deciding When To Have A Child, If Ever: The Impacts Later In Life Science Daily, May 13, 2007
— How does having children or not having them affect a woman's happiness in later life? A new study examining nearly 6,000 women provides an unexpected answer —it's not so much whether you have children as when you have them.
RELATED ARTICLE: Beyond Babies: Why More Married Couples Are going Childless Newsweek International, By Stefan Theil, Sept. 4, 2006 issue
RELATED ARTICLE: Sorry, but my children bore me to death! The Daily Mail, By Helen Kirwan-Taylor, July 6, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: 'And Baby Makes Three': Realize We're All in the Same Soup AOL Coaches- Love and Sex, By John M. Gottman, PH.D., and Julie Schwartz Gottman, PH.D
RELATED ARTICLE: REPORT: Life Without Children The State of Our Unions: The Social Health of Marriage in America 2006 National Marriage Project-Rutgers University, By Barbara Dafoe Whitehead & David Popenoe
|
- Rhode Island: Despite ruling, woman asks court for same-sex divorce Providence Journal, By Edward Fitzpatrick, December 14, 2007
Less than a week after the Rhode Island Supreme Court said a same-sex couple could not get divorced in Family Court, one of the Providence women involved in the groundbreaking case filed for divorce yesterday in Superior Court, the main state trial court. Margaret R. Chambers and Cassandra B. Ormiston married in Fall River in May 2004 shortly after Massachusetts became the first state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. And last year, the couple filed for divorce in Rhode Island Family Court. But in a 3-to-2 decision issued last Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that Family Court lacked jurisdiction to grant the divorce because under the 1961 law that created Family Court, the word "marriage" means the union of a man and a woman. Chambers' lawyer, Louis M. Pulner, filed a complaint for divorce in Superior Court shortly after noon yesterday. "The Supreme Court is telling us Family Court lacks jurisdiction, but they did not say Superior Court lacks jurisdiction," Pulner said in an interview. "They did not say this couple could not get divorced in Rhode Island. They just said they could not get divorced in Family Court because of their interpretation of statutory language from 1961.". . . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: R.I. high court rules against divorce in same-sex marriages Providence Journal, By Edward Fitzpatrick, December 8, 2007 RELATED ARTICLE: Mass. Gay Marriages Lead To Increase In IVF 365Gay.com, December 7, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: For Some Gays, a Right They Can Forsake New York Times, By Anemona Hartocollis, July 30, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Myth of Monogamy: Why Gay marriage Won't Work Political Gateway, By Bud Beck, May 19, 2006
|
 |
- Florida Marriage Protection Amendment Makes Historic Petition Goal for 2008 Ballot EarnedMedia, December 13, 2007
Florida4Marriage.org representatives in Tallahassee today announced that the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment has exceeded the number of verified petitions to qualify to be on the November 4, 2008 ballot. "Today, the people of Florida have spoken. And they will speak again in November of 2008. Their message will be timeless and clear--Marriage is the union of one man and one woman," said Orlando Attorney John Stemberger, State Chairman of the Florida4Marriage.org Campaign. "This is the next critical milestone in the effort to protect the institution of marriage in Florida," he commented. "A super majority of Floridians believe, and the research clearly indicates, that children do best when raised by a mom and a dad." On December 12, 2007, the Florida Division of Elections Website indicated that marriage amendment petitions had been verified throughout the 67 counties of Florida. This accomplishes the final legal requirement to place the marriage amendment on the 2008 ballot so Floridians can decide how marriage will be defined in their state. Opponents of the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment have already begun to disseminate false and misleading information about the amendment. The primary group opposing the amendment is the so-called "Florida Red and Blue" committee. In a recent interview on Tampa's Fox 13 "Your Turn" show, Campaign Manager, Derrick Newton disingenuously stated with a straight face, "We do not have an opinion on gay marriage." Masked as a bi-partisan coalition, Red and Blue's board and donors are actually made up almost exclusively of democrats, left wing groups and gay rights activists. . . . .
|
RELATED SITE: Florida4Marriage.org Contact Michelle McKinnie: 407-251-1957 RELATED ARTICLE: Flood of 'Friend-of-Court' Briefs Slows California Gay Marriage Decision GayWired, By Bryan Ochalla, December 13, 2007 RELATED ARTICLE: Bill Won't Cover Attacks Against Gays: Expanded Hate Crime Legislation Dropped From Defense Policy Bill CBS News, December 6, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Why gays are losing on marriage TownHall.com, By Kevin McCullough, July 31, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Opposition to Gay Marriage is Not Discrimination Human Events Online, By Rabbi Aryeh Spero, June 8, 2006 RELATED ARTICLE: There's nothing Hateful About Protecting Marriage Human Events Online, By Michael Lewis, June 7, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Dangers of Same-sex "Marriage" BreakPoint.org, By Regis Nicoll, May 26, 2006
|
- Q & A: Family tradition? When a marriage is on the rocks, put your happiness first Seattle Post-Intelligencer, By Dr. Joyce Brothers- Syndicated Columnist, December 13, 2007
DEAR DR. BROTHERS: I'm in a marriage that is impossibly terrible. Both of us know it, and we're aware every morning, every hour of the day, that we've made a terrible mistake. We were just out of high school when we got married. We thought we were in love, but really it was the first sex either of us had experienced. I realize this might sound stupid and unreal in today's world. We come from a small town, a very religious community, and I think we both had parents who'd probably made the same mistake we made, but they got through it -- not happily, I might add, but neither of our parents would ever dream of divorce. It isn't and wasn't done. But we want OUT! We even went to therapy without telling our parents, and nothing's worked. -- D.K.
DEAR D.K.: If you both feel as you do -- if you believe you've tried all the other avenues that might solve your problems and they failed -- then you're going to need to be brave and break with family tradition in order to be able to have another chance at finding happiness. . . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Marital vows mean commitment no matter what Scripps Howard News Service, By Betsy Hart December 14, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Covenant Marriage: How serious are marriage vows? If they are anything like an Old Testament covenant, they're very serious Family.org, By Al Janssen
|
- US soul musician Ike Turner dies BBC News, December 13, 2007
US soul legend Ike Turner, the former husband of Tina Turner, has died at the age of 76. He died at his home near San Diego, California. There was no immediate word on the cause of death. He rose to fame in the 1960s, and is best remembered for his musical partnership and stormy marriage with Tina Turner, who said he abused her. In later years he rehabilitated his image and won his second Grammy in February for Risin' with the Blues. He shared his only other Grammy with Tina Turner in 1972 for their cover of Proud Mary. "Ike Turner passed away this morning. He was at his home," said Scott Hanover, an official at the performer's management company. 'Demonised': Michele Schweitzer, a spokeswoman for his former wife, said: "Tina is aware that Ike passed away earlier today. "She has not had any contact with him in 35 years. No further comment will be made.". . . . . Turner, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is credited by many music historians with making the first rock 'n' roll record, Rocket 88, in 1951. Broadcaster Paul Gambaccini told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "In musical terms [he was] very important. "Rocket 88 is one of the two records that can claim to be the first rock 'n' roll record, being the other being The Fat Man by Fats Domino from 1949," he said. He said the track was an "indisputable claim to fame" for Turner. "To critics he will be known as a great founder, unfortunately to the general public he will always be known as a brutal man," he added. . .
|
 |
 |
- Longoria's Marriage Tested by Model's Claims PR Inside, December 13, 2007
EVA LONGORIA's five-month-old marriage to basketball player TONY PARKER is facing its first major test -thanks to a French model who claims the sportsman is a love rat. Alexandra Paressant claims Parker slipped her his telephone number at his July (07) wedding reception and the couple embarked on a two-month affair behind the Desperate Housewives star's back. The 26-year-old, who briefly dated Brazilian soccer star Ronaldhino, reveals she was at Parker and Longoria's French nuptials as the date of another soccer hero, Thierry Henry. Paressant tells X17online Parker romanced her because, "Eva, sexually speaking, does not want to do certain things." The model explains,
| | | | |
