New American Dark Ages
Amid the noise and bellowing of the day, recall quietly that our nation was founded by the best-educated people of their day, who drew from a deep well of learning. Today, our nation’s greatest threat is ignorance and our defenders include teachers, lawyers, and judges.
As Memorial Day and Veterans Day honor fighters, Independence Day honors thinkers and planners. Think and be free. peace, mjh
The following letter is a cogent and thorough argument for marriage rights for all adults. Marriage is a contract. Indeed, Merri has made this argument for 25+ years. Kudos to David Paul Blacher.
A different letter insists Americans bow to Leviticus as the law. Not in America, bub. We have the Constitution. You are free to let the Bible rule your life, but not to force that rule on the rest of us. Amen. peace, mjh
Contract Law Applies To Marriage Licenses
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER’S comments (“The Same-Sex Marriage Dilemma,” May 19) are interesting, but he misses the fundamental issue— marriage is a contract. In fact, in America, it is most often actually two contracts: one civil and one religious. I absolutely support the right and obligation of religious organizations to define, pursuant to their own doctrines, who may enter into a contract that they validate and recognize.
However, the civil contract — usually in the form of a “marriage license” — automatically provides the individuals who sign and register the document with several unique and valuable government- issued and -sanctioned advantages. First and foremost is a significantly lower income tax rate, both federal and state. Add to this the way married couples may choose to own real property — usually as community property — and the inheritance advantages which are thereto attached.
Also, married couples have access to a capital gains deduction upon sale of the primary residence that is double that of a single owner. Add to this the general inheritance rights and tax levels provided by governments to married couples but not single couples.
Furthermore, the ability for hospital visitation, treatment and health-decision participation are treated differently for married and unmarried couples. The list of civil rights available only to married couples is extensive. … Most, if not all, governmental entities have laws that disallow discrimination on the basis of sex in the fulfillment contracts — both oral and especially written. The most significant contract that most people will ever sign is their civil marriage contract.
To abrogate a contract based on the sex of the signatories goes totally against the grain of the history of the United States as to the sacrosanct nature of contracts — see Article I, section 10, clause lof the U.S. Constitution that forbids the states from passing any “Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts.”
DAVID PAUL BLACHER
Albuquerque
[Curiously, this letter is not available on-line. What’s up with that, abqjournal.com?]
Amen to that. A majority of Democrats and Republicans support reducing money to the War Department, but our representatives vote for it. Why? Follow the money. Who gets rich from war?
Democracy for New Mexico: $642,000,000,000 (billion) for the War Machine "Ike was Right"
This kind of obscene money spent on war and defense has got to stop. 88 billion still going over to Afghanistan for 2013, that is $1.5 bill every week. Think of what this Country could do with $1.5 bil every week. The bill funds a missile defense site to be built on the east coast, that the military itself opposes, old star-wars garbage, and even Russian cold war garbage. We have gone insane, when we will fund things the military does not even want and threaten drastic cuts to social security for our seniors which is desperately needed now, we have gone insane.
Democracy for New Mexico: $642,000,000,000 (billion) for the War Machine "Ike was Right"
Big Gulp Nation: We really are getting dumber and fatter for someone’s profit.
While earlier research has revealed how fructose harms the body through its role in diabetes, obesity and fatty liver, this study is the first to uncover how the sweetener influences the brain.
The UCLA team zeroed in on high-fructose corn syrup, an inexpensive liquid six times sweeter than cane sugar, that is commonly added to processed foods, including soft drinks, condiments, applesauce and baby food. The average American consumes more than 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"We’re not talking about naturally occurring fructose in fruits, which also contain important antioxidants," explained Gomez-Pinilla, who is also a member of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute and Brain Injury Research Center. "We’re concerned about high-fructose corn syrup that is added to manufactured food products as a sweetener and preservative."
I think Michael Wiener is an insensitive boor, surely sexist, possibly racist (who isn’t). His bumper sticker: Guns don’t kill people, husbands who come home early kill people. Why didn’t his mindset die in the Sixties? Still, I agree with him: let the people decide. I hope the voters in his district kick his ass to the curb. If they don’t, well, that will say a lot about those voters. But electing the fool in the first place did that.
Wiener rejects calls for his resignation | NMPolitics.net
“There’s an election in 37 days and if the people at that time want to pick somebody else to represent them on the county commission, that’s certainly the way a democracy works that we all belong to,” KOB-TV quoted him as saying. “And I’m going to let the voters in my district speak rather than a few elected officials.”
I no longer support efforts to restore the lobo to its rightful habitat in the wildlands of New Mexico. Yes, the blood-thirsty, cold-hearted sons-of-bitches can have their way, just like well-armed babies. Yes, the late-comers who claim they own all public lands can deny the majority its will. Yes, a small number of cowardly dimwits can determine the fate of the ecosystem.
Now and then, ugly, stupid, mean, and wrong triumph. I’m tired of the slaughter of decent animals by indecent ones.
Sex, lies and GOP extremism – Leonard Pitts Jr. – MiamiHerald.com
The problem is not a conservative talk show host, but conservatism itself as presently construed. It has become a landfill. Limbaugh is just a seagull circling the top.
Sex, lies and GOP extremism – Leonard Pitts Jr. – MiamiHerald.com