There are several places on the planet where gay marriages or civil unions are legal. Are they collapsing in disarray? Are there any indications, now that several years have gone by, that anything is amiss?

I have a low opinion of marriage, but if gay people want to do it, let them. It doesn't hurt anybody.

But isn't there a line at about the same section of Romeo and Juliet in which somebody mentions that young girls getting pregnant often suffer serious consequences, so it's best to stall a little? It's something about how they are "marred" for being "so early made [mothers.]"

Yeah, others have mentioned that, in some places in America, this kind of thing is the norm.

There's something else I was thinking, before this recent newsflash. Am I the only one who find Sarah Palin irresponsible for having five kids, period? How willingly blind and ignorant do you have to be? There are too many people on this planet as it is, and this kind of thing isn't helping. It makes matters worse when a woman cluelessly plays with fire (with her man's participation, of course) by getting pregnant so late.

This is so ridiculous, especially when, yes, the fuzz arrested Amy Goodman!

They apparently have women strutting the catwalk, and a big indie-rock scene, and whatnot. Give people just a modicum of education and modernity and whatnot, and the superstition decreases, along with the behaviors that stem from it. Unfortunately, it doesn't go away, look at the US, but the point is, there's hope.

Religion poisons everything.

And growth has been considerable and poverty has dropped, as a population that suffers from fewer preventable diseases and lower illiteracy performs better economically. These simple measures are taboo to Washington/IMF/World Bank.

I have a similar problem. I don't make excuses, and I don't blame anything/anybody but myself. I don't understand why this happens, and I hate it.

I'm very often (though not always) *marginally* late. Like 1-3 minutes. This started, I think, when I was a senior in high school (1999-2000) and it doesn't just occur at things I might not want to do. I'm late to movies. I was late to band practice. A few years ago, I my bosses talked about this with me, and I adjusted my watch and improved my performance. Lately, I'm late again. I open on Saturday. That means I have to be there at seven. I hate showing up at work and feeling like I've been punched in the face. I think I'll set out my clothes ahead of time.

I can do this! At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Does anybody else have this problem?

That sounds like a punk band.

That's an astute observation, and a great movie.

Does it really? If so, great. I'm surprised. I thought they considered "those people" the enemy. (I do, but for different reasons, and I have different solutions!)

I swear I once saw this on a church sign while driving home:

"www.[name of church].orgasm"

How can you have a mass shooting with a musket, or even a Colt revolver? I don't necessarily blame firearms, but my point still stands.

Oh, and Double Helix: "Antisocial" means destructive. Bullies are antisocial, as are shooters. The word you're looking for is "asocial."

This sort of thing didn't happen to me much at all in high school. In 11th-12th grade I was part of the largest graduating class in the country, so if you didn't want to know who the jocks were, you didn't have to. In any event, I get the impression that sort of thing would have been considered really childish and pathetic. The last time I was bullied was by one kid in tenth grade (he was slightly smaller than me, but I wouldn't/couldn't fight back.)

Now that I think about it, for all the awful things I saw people do to each other in school, I saw a lot of real kindness and friendship.

Please, somebody... what's the best way to make these *issues* resonate and get some publicity?

I think I would have heard about it by now if every rape victim in Illinois (a much more populous state than Alaska) was charged for the kit... but not necessarily. Where did you see this?

Let's focus on what Lynda Carter actually said, because it bears repetition: Sarah Palin is a theocrat and should be treated accordingly.

How about Quality of Life? Shall I bring Peter Singer into this?

Am I the only fan of hers here?

Only one kind of sex can get you pregnant, though apparently something can *possibly* go wrong during anal sex, resulting in indirect impregnation.

To a point, the heavy consumers/polluters are doing their part to reduce birth rates. The only reason that the U.S. population grows at all is due to immigration. For Europe, it's even more true, and no, the Muslims are not going to take over. Japan is apparently shrinking already, and Russia has been shrinking for about fifteen or more years now, and so on. Speaking of immigration, that's usually a process that brings people from poor countries to rich ones. That reduces the burden in their country of origin and tends to reduce their birth rates in their new home, after a generation or so.

The upshot of all of this is that we're on the right track, but we're not there yet. We have to reduce the world's population, by any means necessary, because the consequences otherwise will be far worse. I have nothing but contempt for those institutions (Ehrlich euphemistically avoided saying "religions") that stand in the way.