Calhouns Can(n)ons

Aw, What’s In A Word, Anyway?

Lori Anderson of Los Osos had a letter in the Nov 2 Tribune that’s an indication of how muddled people are concerning Proposition 8. Lori states that he was first opposed to the passing of Pro. 8 until she saw a political sign that said “Vote no on 8 protect our civil liberties.” She wasn’t sure if marriage was a civil liberty but checked a bit and according to her, it wasn’t. So she’s decided to vote for Prop 8, thereby supporting unequal civil rights for a group of people here in Calif.

What Ms. Anderson overlooked is something that the supporters of Prop 8 keep overlooking: Marriage in the state of California is only an official marriage IF the couples have an official marriage license issued and processed by civil authorities, not by a church or synagogue, but by CIVIL, SECULAR, NON-RELIGIOUS authorities and registered by same. Religion has nothing to do with it. A couple can go on to have a religious ceremony wherever they want, if they wish, but it’s not necessary. The ceremony can be done at the county clerk’s office, but before anything can be declared a “marriage” you first need that piece of CIVIL paper properly filled out. It’s a secular, legal, civil document that has to do with property, inheritance, taxes, offspring, and other civil matters. (A priest, minister, rabbi can “marry” a gazillion people but none of them are “married” unless they have that civil-issued piece of paper in the first place.)

So, no, Ms. Anderson, “marriage” may be an “institution and tradition,” but it sure as heck IS a civil operation and as such needs to adhere to our evolving notion that in this country all citizens should be treated equally in all matters CIVIL, while leaving private religious matters up to personal choice.

This Prop is also really odd since a good chunk of funding is coming in from Mormons, which, considering their own “alternative marriage traditions,” shall we say, is rather funny, when you think of it.

There’s an excellent editorial in the L.A. Times Sunday that refutes all the lies that have been promulgated by the supporters of this measure. It concludes thusly: “Californians must cast a clear eye on Proposition 8’s real intentions. It seeks to change the state Constitution in a rare and terrible way, to impose a single moral belief on everyone and to deprive a targeted group of people of civil rights that are now guaranteed. This is something that no Californian, of any religious belief, should accept. . . . “

I hope the good people of California are paying attention. When you fail to examine the meaning of words you often get into trouble. But it never pays to underestimate the power of old fashioned bigotry when it combines with religion. And when those two uglies combine with the power and might of the civil state, then it’s a sure way to make sure that some citizens will go into the barrel and we will end up with a two-tiered state – Us and . . . them, those second class citizens that we . . . tolerate . . . but. . . eeeeuuuuuuu….. .

Wait, Wait, Comic Strips Are Now Whaaaaattt???

Nov 1 L.A. Times again, “Comic strip jumps the gun; ‘Doonesbury’ predicts an Obama win, leaving newspapers across the U.S. split on whether to run the installment.”

Seems newspapers are all in a dither whether to run the panel in their funny papers because they’re concerned about the “accuracy” of the strip. “At the Chicago Tribune, ‘we are reserving the option of running the strip on Wednesday, but we of course would not typeset until we confirmed the result of the election,’ said Tim Bannon, one of the paper’s feature editors.” . . . The L.A. . . “Times editors have decided that in the interest of accuracy it would be best to wait to see the results of the election. If Obama wins, the comic will run on Thrusday. If not, the paper will run repeats until the story line ends on Friday.”

“The possibility of inaccuracy is not something [Trudeau’s] syndicate is concerned about. ‘If he’s wrong about this, then he’s wrong about it,’ Kerr said. ‘It’s a comic strip.”

It’s a comic strip? Apparently not. Apparently, comic strips are now expected to be factually accurate? Which mean, Rex Morgan, M.D. actually was a real doctor! Who knew?

How do you spell “N. U. T. S.”

Sail on! Sail On!

And finally, the Department of Life Is Sure Amazing, from the AP: As many as one in 17 Mediterranean men might be related to the ancient Phoenicians. Yep, by tracing the markers on the male-only Y chromosome, it seems that those amazing sailors were busy leaving behind little Phoenicians in every port and after their kingdom was defeated by Rome at Carthage, the survivors likely scattered throughout the Mediterranean.

Well, DNA markers are turning up some amazing muddlements in what we think we know about countries and races. So it’s always wise to be careful who you hate because he likely will turn out to be your cousin.

Election Day Tomorrow

In a word, go vote, if you already haven’t.

Garbage Can’s Back!

For regular readers and posters on this blog, the website burped somewhere along the line (I didn’t change it and Greg the web master didn’t change it so who knows? Gremlins. ) and it became open to all anonymous posters and the little “garbage can” icon disappeared and some of you wanted it back so you could dump your own postings (which, considering some of the “Anonymous” uglies who log on and “comment,” who might then sober up and reread what they posed and think, “Eeeuuuu, I’d like to remove that posting because it was particularly stupid,” and so forth. Well, make a long story short, Greg, the site master, has re-configured the blog back to where it was (I hope, will check now) which means you have to sign up for a free account and log on before leaving a comment. You can still be “anonymous” by making up a “handle,” but the little garbage can icon should be back so if you post something really stupid and ugly, you can go back and remove it yourself since only you have access to your “account” and your own postings with this exception: I can dump any comments on this site and have and will if some of you people start threatening people or get beyond stupid.

So, we’re back to the log-on system. Comments welcome, but remember: ANONYMOUS posters have no credibility, so caveat emptor. And all opinions belong to those who make them and may have absolutely no relation to facts or truth, so more caveat emptor. And try to mind your manners or Mother Calhoun will spank.

Thank you.