Gay Marriage
While I tend to shy away from politics, the following good news was reported on MSNBC today:
"A judge ruled Monday that California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional — a legal milestone that, if upheld on appeal, would open the way for the most populous state to follow Massachusetts in allowing same-sex couples to wed.
Judge Richard Kramer of San Francisco County's trial-level Superior Court likened the ban to laws requiring racial segregation in schools, and said there appears to be "no rational purpose" for denying marriage to gay couples.
Two groups opposed to gay marriage rights, The Campaign for California Families and the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund, argued that the state has a legitimate interest in restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples as a way of encouraging procreation."
You know, I must have missed the news conference which alerted us that we humans are in grave danger of becoming extinct. Strange, because last I heard, there were quite a few humans on this dear Earth. Approximately 6,424,453,462 of us, actually. And in case you're thinking that other nations are responsible for this titanic breeding program, the US currently weighs in with roughly 295,663,139 consuming bodies.
A few more facts to consider:
* The world is growing by more than 76 million people a year. At the current rate of growth, even accounting for a continual decrease in the growth rate, the world population is headed for double digits within 50 years.
* Every 20 minutes, the world adds another 3,500 human lives but loses one or more entire species of animal or plant life - at least 27,000 species per year.
* The world population has doubled in the last 40 years. It took just 12 years to leap from 5 billion to 6 billion. It took about 18 centuries for the earth to reach its first one billion inhabitants.
* The world is adding a city the size of Los Angeles every two weeks.
* Birth rates are falling worldwide but death rates are declining even faster. A tiny fraction - only 7 percent - of the world's people live in countries where population is not growing.
* If fertility remained at current levels, the population would reach the absurd figure of 296 billion in just 150 years. Even if it dropped to 2.5 children per woman and then stopped falling, the population would still reach 28 billion.
* 1.2 billion people worldwide are living on $1.00 a day or less.
* The United Nations estimates the Dec. 26, 2004, Asian tsunami has left about 1.5 million children homeless, most of whom may be orphaned.
Enough facts, here's my two cents: if two people wish to legalize their promise to love, honor, and cherish each other for the rest of their lives, power and blessings to them.
"A judge ruled Monday that California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional — a legal milestone that, if upheld on appeal, would open the way for the most populous state to follow Massachusetts in allowing same-sex couples to wed.
Judge Richard Kramer of San Francisco County's trial-level Superior Court likened the ban to laws requiring racial segregation in schools, and said there appears to be "no rational purpose" for denying marriage to gay couples.
Two groups opposed to gay marriage rights, The Campaign for California Families and the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund, argued that the state has a legitimate interest in restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples as a way of encouraging procreation."
You know, I must have missed the news conference which alerted us that we humans are in grave danger of becoming extinct. Strange, because last I heard, there were quite a few humans on this dear Earth. Approximately 6,424,453,462 of us, actually. And in case you're thinking that other nations are responsible for this titanic breeding program, the US currently weighs in with roughly 295,663,139 consuming bodies.
A few more facts to consider:
* The world is growing by more than 76 million people a year. At the current rate of growth, even accounting for a continual decrease in the growth rate, the world population is headed for double digits within 50 years.
* Every 20 minutes, the world adds another 3,500 human lives but loses one or more entire species of animal or plant life - at least 27,000 species per year.
* The world population has doubled in the last 40 years. It took just 12 years to leap from 5 billion to 6 billion. It took about 18 centuries for the earth to reach its first one billion inhabitants.
* The world is adding a city the size of Los Angeles every two weeks.
* Birth rates are falling worldwide but death rates are declining even faster. A tiny fraction - only 7 percent - of the world's people live in countries where population is not growing.
* If fertility remained at current levels, the population would reach the absurd figure of 296 billion in just 150 years. Even if it dropped to 2.5 children per woman and then stopped falling, the population would still reach 28 billion.
* 1.2 billion people worldwide are living on $1.00 a day or less.
* The United Nations estimates the Dec. 26, 2004, Asian tsunami has left about 1.5 million children homeless, most of whom may be orphaned.
Enough facts, here's my two cents: if two people wish to legalize their promise to love, honor, and cherish each other for the rest of their lives, power and blessings to them.
posted by Rhoda Harley at Monday, March 14, 2005
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home