Having suffered through many years of a horrendous marriage, I finally had had enough and divorced my ex. To my horror, I found that the nightmare was only beginning, as I entered into the wonderful world of divorce lawyers and "Family Court". If the marriage didn't kill you, the divorce surely will.

However, I refused to die. I have had many years now to reflect upon the institution of marriage in its current form. As such, I offer the following proposal:

To get a driver's license, one must study the rules of the road and pass a test. Even then, that license must be periodically renewed. To get a marriage license, though, one must merely have a pulse -- and this license has no expiration date, baby.

This obviously makes very little sense.

I propose (no pun intended) that, like driver's (and other) types of licenses, marriage licenses be issued for specified periods of time only (say, 6 months to 2 years). In order to get the license, the couple would have to pass a test indicating that they fully understood the "rules of the road". Binding legal agreements would be signed up front (a la prenups) as to division of assets, custody of any children, responsibility for jointly-incurred debt, etc., should the happy couple opt to not renew their license.

This process in and of itself would significantly reduce the number of marriages as people would be forced to haggle up front over the very real issues marriage raises. My guess is that even those who pass through this formidable gauntlet would not opt to renew their licenses. The "6 month" option would become the most popular.

The above would at once help to unclog the legal system by dispensing with the horrendous circus that is "Family Court" and disposing with the thousands of attorney-vultures who practice divorce law and psychologist-vultures who hover around this system feeding on the scraps of people's lives.

re: "What Neo-Cons were ever communists or even Socialists? they're all pro big business and anti-government in the Frediman vein."

David Horowitz (ex-Marxist)

Horowitz was an activist in the New Left movement in the 1960's and claims to have been "a lifelong civil rights activist". He was editor of an anti-Vietnam war magazine: Ramparts. However, currently, Horowitz is known to side with corporate interests and conservative ideals, and is best described as a neo-con. He is now a "lapsed leftist". In the 1990s, Horowitz hosted several Second Thinkers conferences where ex-leftists who recanted or underwent epiphanies could network with fellow travelers. Several of these second thinkers are now neo-cons. Christopher Hitchens was a regular participant at these conferences, and today co-organizes events with Horowitz, e.g., tour of the UK where he features as a speaker. (MORE)

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_Horowitz_(ex-Marxist)

P.S.

The Real Aggressor

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13285

F William Engdahl: There are far bigger stakes being played out in Georgia than a territorial dispute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLcFeVz8yRM

On April 17, Scorpio said:

Unless the convention itself comes up with a thoroughly vetted, nationally viable candidate (like Al Gore), you'd better practice saying "President McCain".

http://tinyurl.com/55dfvh

Now we read:

McCain takes lead over Obama: poll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a sharp turnaround, Republican John McCain has opened a 5-point lead on Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential race and is seen as a stronger manager of the economy, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

The dip in support for Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, cut across demographic and ideological lines. He slipped among Catholics, born-again Christians, women, independents and younger voters. He retained the support of more than 90 percent of black voters.

"There were no wild swings, there isn't one group that is radically different than last month or even two months ago. It was just a steady decline for Obama across the board," Zogby said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080820/pl_nm/usa_poll_politics_dc_4