So of course I googled it and there are apparently a lot of iPhone songs.  So I went to YouTube.  Again, a lot of commercials for the iPhone.  Then i remembered it was the iPhone touch!  And there it was!  Fifth from the top.  So I watched the commercial again to confirm this was the song I was looking for.  Ok, now it's time to read the comments so I can find out who sings this song:

"Around the Bend" by "The Asteroids Galaxy Tour"

WHAT??! HUH??! WHO??!  That's it.  I'm not looking up anymore songs I hear on commercials.

I could write about the financial crisis in this country, "My" country.  I could write about the Presidential race and election in "My" country.  Why should I??  Everybody else is writing about that. 

I was watching this documentary on HBO called "Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery".  I actually thought it was going to be one of those documentaries where you hear a narrator speaking and telling the viewers about the cemetery and its history, maybe giving statistics and numbers.  So the first scene is a woman at a grave, her son's grave, and all that is heard is natural sounds.  No music, no narrator, no horns blowing in the background.  Just the birds, wind and trees.  She starts to speak about her son, who was only 19 and was killed by a sniper a few months after his birthday.  Next woman, her son called her at 4am (her time) and asked her what she was doing.  She said sleeping.  He told her he would let her get back to sleep and that he loved her, and that was the last time she spoke to him alive, he was killed later that day.  You get the idea.  So I couldn't watch the whole thing because it was just too sad.  After seeing some of the mothers, brothers, wives, kids, and husbands, it was just too sad to watch.  Reality.  I had to turn the channel. 

All that kept repeating in my mind was "Why are we fighting this war again?"  I say "we", but I'm not fighting anything.  I'm sitting at home, fresh out of the shower, watching TV and typing on my computer.   I couldn't imagine what those men (and kids) are going through over there, day by day, and night by night.   I've been away from my family, but never as a foot soldier, with men & women dying all around them, waking up on a day that could be the last.  I was on a ship working on airplanes.  Still a danger factor, but not even a close comparison.  I never was shot at or had to shoot at anybody.  So I'd like to thank those in the military and their families for serving the country.  Thoughts and prayers are always with them and their families.

Grade: A

The sixth episode of True Blood brings us the saddest scene of a cute girl eating pie to ever air on TV and swims in all sorts of emotionally murky waters in a similarly daring and unrestrained fashion. This show about vampires is always walking hand-in-hand with death, but the fallout from Gran's murder is the blackest moment yet, and like Sookie may leave you feeling uncomfortably numb.

The south is a place where manners and smiles are plastered on with duct tape and Elmer's glue, which is to say they're very obviously fake. While some people will tell you like it is to your face, Southerners prefer to gossip and slander behind your back, or, in Sookie's case, in their thoughts. Usually so composed, Sookie is finding it hard to deal with her Gran's death and even harder to block out all the thoughts firing at her from every supposedly supportive member of the community. They're baking casseroles and feigning sympathy, but she can hear their thoughts, about how they wished it was her dead and not her Gran or, worse, that she had something to do with the death. It's enough to make her snap when the very nosy Maxine takes out a pie from the Frigidaire that Sookie's Gran had baked shortly before passing. It's not the pie, of course, that sends her over the edge, but the idea settling in that it's the last pie ever to be baked by the woman she describes as her grandmother, her parent and her best friend.

She's pushed even further at the funeral when she again can't ward off the nasty thoughts of all the people, and she ends what could have been a very touching speech by telling each and every one in attendance that they can F*** off. It's not only the people who have been saying one thing and thinking another, but our heroine has been trying to maintain a smile all this time as well. Sure, she's had outbursts of emotion, but for the most Part Sookie has retained a certain level of optimism and cheer. Right after she finds Gran dead, she doesn't show any emotion. The next day, she admits to feeling numb--not knowing what to feel. She tries to put on a show for the town and to hide her grief. As she finally unwraps the last fourth of Gran's pecan pie, she lets herself grieve a little bit more with every bite, until the tin is empty and she's filling it back up with tears. It's good to see her really let go of all the grief stuck inside and hopefully try and figure out how to live in a world where she and her brother are the only two Stackhouses (with exception to the creepy Uncle introduced this hour, who has some unexplained bad blood with the family).

This all leads to the end, where Anna Paquin gives America a glimpse of her naked body while Sookie gives Bill a lot more than just a peek. She lets him taste her, quite literally, by allowing him to feast on her neck. And girl must have a pretty high threshold for pain or kinky enough to turn that pain into pleasure because day-um, if that doesn't look like it hurt something terrible.

Sookie's not the only one toting around a big pile of emotional baggage though, and her BFF Tara gets a chance to be both the strong, supportive friend as well as deal with inner demons of her own. Or I should say, the inner demons of her mother, because that's exactly what she's trying to exorcise. At the funeral, Tara's mom shows up surprisingly sober and gives a speech that's touching to everyone except her daughter, whom it just pisses off. She talks about how she didn't know Ms. Stackhouse well, but knew when Tara was over at her house that she was taken care of. Tara claims Gran was more of a mother to her than her real one, but mommy dearest still wants to try and be that mother figure for her. The only problem standing in the way is that she's possessed by a demon. Tara laughs, we laugh, and everyone except mama laughs, who is dead serious about it. Well to deal with this, Tara goes to be with Sookie again--to help her with her pain so as to bury hers--but she finds Sam instead, and they find themselves in bed together.

But all this fakeness going around has gotten to Sam and he demands of Tara that if they hook up again it has to be real. It can't be something to forget about or deny happened, but something substantial and, well, real. She agrees, but in the post-coital sweaty kissing stage, her lost baggage is delivered and she has the sudden urge to leave and see her mother. Sam seems so dejected in this moment it's almost easy to forget he was rolling around in a dead girl's sheets a few weeks ago like a world class pervert. Meanwhile, Tara cuddles with drunken mama on the couch, all thoughts of bottles to the head forgotten for the moment. Tara has played the wise-cracking, tough as nails best friend of the series thus far, but she finally cracked, no doubt brought upon by the loss of her friend's mother figure. She reveals to Sam before they have the not so real sex again that she's always being sarcastic to hide her true feelings. She says afterward it's a joke, but it seems the "jk" is only a rushed addendum so as not to seem vulnerable or weak. No matter how horrible alcohol (or demons) have made her mother, she realizes that with the passing of Gran anyone can be taken from this life at any time.

Family is very important in True Blood and the loss of family members is possibly the hardest thing to cope with. This is a town obsessed with their Civil War Ancestors, still somewhat mourning and probing at the lives of long-dead members of family they might never have even known in the flesh. So when close, living family dies, it hits hard. It hits Jason so hard that he smacks Sookie right across the face, and you almost hate him for it until you realize just how torn up he is inside, too. Sure, hitting his sister isn't anywhere near the right way to handle the situation, but its clearly a way of passing from palm to face the guilt he's feeling over not being there for Gran: Instead out hooking up with a girl whose number and name he can't even recall. When he's questioned yet again over the murder, he hits his breaking point as well. He can't remember who he was with exactly because it was another one night stand, and the fact that such a meaningless experience caused him to be one of the last people in town to find out about Gran's death really leaves him in a messed up state (on top of still getting high on V). Later, after Gran's funeral and being told by Sookie she wants nothing to do with him, he finds another tramp to get it on with. She's into it while he is clearly trying his hardest not to cry during sex. It's almost as sad as Sookie and her piece of pie, but not quite.

True Blood didn't hold back any emotional gut punches in "Cold Ground" and is a truly raw and heartbreaking episode because of it. It's still proving that it's unlike any other show in its genre and that when it comes to stories about death, Alan Ball is still King (Well, maybe he shares a throne with Bryan Fuller, now that I think about it...)

R.I.P. Gran.

Readers of this blog know that I'm a big fan of HBO's new series True Blood.  I first expressed excitement for the storyline and cast way back in July, months before the show premiered in the fall.  

Now through 6 episodes True Blood is getting better and better each week and I'm noticing that more and more of the popular blogs I read are referencing it in a positive light.  

Case in point: today Michael K named True Blood's Nelsan Ellis his "Hot Slut of the Day," and the comments section on DListed was soon flooded with praise for both Ellis' Lafayette character and the show in general.  

And then over at Egotastic! this afternoon they featured Anna Paquin's Sookie Stackhouse (warning, nudity, NSFW), and Mr. Egotastic! said he was on episode three of the series so far. 

So far True Blood hasn't done big things in the ratings department and reviews have been mixed, but I believe the combination of good writing, great acting, and Vampires, give the series serious growth potential.  Do any of you watch it? 

The clip above is great TV.  Lafayette, the gay drug dealer / short order cook, reacts to a bunch of rednecks who won't eat the food he's prepared for them because they said "it might have AIDS."  

Watch Lafayette take off his earrings and put those dial tones in their place.  Ellis is quite talented and steals many-a-scenes from week to week.  

And be sure to tune in to True Blood Sunday nights at 9PM on HBO.

[h/t: DListed]

Who do they think enjoyed last night's episode?  Resentful assistants and women over 40?  The A plot, B Plot and C Plot were all absolutely terrible.  TERRIBLE.  The writers are so maddeningly out of ideas that they had to bring back guest stars from Season 3 to fill the episode!  Really?!  Let's break down each, quickly, before I get really angry and throw my laptop against a wall.

C PLOT -- The strongest of the 3 plots, this minor storyline followed Ari, studio head Alan Gray, his golf pro (literally) Phil Mickelson, and the always talented Martin Landau as Bob, the old school agent, playing golf.  I think there was also some talking.  Yeah, that was it.  Golf and talking.  Oh, and after an anti-climactic bet that we all knew Ari would lose, Alan Gray died of a heart attack.  Way to fabricate an out for yourselves, writers!  You know how writers, actors, etc. always talk about something feeling organic?  Yeah, this was not organic.  Not in the least.

B PLOT -- Turtle and Drama bitching at each other about nothing for 10 minutes.  Drama makes cliche impossible demands, Turtle clichely (made that word up) can't get them done, then does get them done, then quits his job!  You go, Turtle!  You show Drama who's boss!  Now you can go back to doing what you usually do during an episode-- smoke weed and wear hats!

A PLOT -- The worst A Plot in the history of the show.  Can anyone think of a main story that was worse than this one?  It was already shaping up to be awful when E and Vince's day hinged on a meeting with Bow Wow, but then we got a useless storyline involving a domesticated Dom and his young family?  Did I accidentally change the channel to Lifetime?  I'm honestly miffed -- I can't understand how the producers, writers, story editors, network suits, etc. all signed off on this episode.  This is so far from Entourage's modus operandi that it can't even be viewed as a laudable try to do something new-- this was flat out wrong.  They should not have done this to us.  

Entourage, you've got 2 episodes to make it up to me.  The season is already halfway over and so far, absolutely nothing has happened.  Seasons that are 50% terrible usually become 100% terrible.  Just look at Season 2 of Heroes, Season 3 of Weeds, or Season 3 of Prison Break.  Those seasons started off poorly, and no matter how many times I said to myself "It could get better!", those shows kept firmly to their paths of horribleness.  I stopped watching that season of P.B. (great call!), didn't stop watching Heroes (horrible call!), and didn't stop watching Weeds (a wash!).  So I'm going for the compromise here-- improve, or you're done til next summer, Entourage.  It's time to put a little substance behind that flash.

Grade: F

I was over in the U.S. a few weeks back and saw this really interesting and impressive documentary on HBO.

In "The Black List"  22 prominet Afro-Americans tell their own story and reveal insights into the struggles, triumphs and joys of black life in the United States. Each of them speaks for approx. 4-5 minutes and is filmed in front of a simple grey screen.

Video: HBO - "The Black List - Making of" - 2:36 min

Renowned portrait photographer and filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, directed, and award winning journalist Elvis Mitchell interviewed the following complete list of people and put the piece together:

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball legend
• Sean Combs, musician
• Mahlon Duckett, Negro Leagues baseball star
• Thelma Golden, museum curator
• Lou Gossett, Jr., actor
• Bill T. Jones, choreographer
• Vernon Jordan, attorney
• Marc Morial, former New Orleans mayor
• Toni Morrison, author
• Suzan-Lori Parks, playwright
• Richard Parsons, executive
• Colin Powell, former Secretary of State
• Susan Rice, political strategist
• Chris Rock, comedian
• Al Sharpton, activist
• Lorna Simpson, artist
• Slash, musician
• Dawn Staley, basketball star
• Faye Wattleton, former Planned Parenthood president
• Keenen Ivory Wayans, actor
• Serena Williams, tennis star
• Zane, author

If you click on the links they will take you to some of the video pieces. In addition here is the trailer.

Video: HBO - "The Black List - Trailer" - 0:57 min

The documentary also is the hub of the "The Black List Project":

"The project celebrates the diverse experiences of being black in America and maximizes the power of these stories through a range of activities, including: a traveling museum exhibition of photographic portraits, organized by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; an upcoming book of photographs and interviews, published by Atria, a division of Simon & Schuster, New York; and a national interactive, curriculum-based educational program. “The Black List Project” is produced by Freemind Ventures, a New York-based media collective, and is the pilot program to the larger Freemind initiative “One Million Stories.”

I really like this documentary as it covers members of the Afro-American community from so many different lines of work. From what I understand HBO is working on a Volume two that will have more political and also social leaders in it. Looking forward to that!

Check out: http://www.blacklistproject.com/

(Source: HBO.com)

- O ator argentino Pablo Bellini, 34, interpretará na minissérie "Maysa" o empresário espanhol Miguel Azanza, com quem a cantora Maysa foi casada durante quase dez anos. Miguel era casado com uma socialite espanhola quando se apaixonou pela musa da música de fossa brasileira. Pablo foi escolhido pelo diretor Jayme Monjardim, filho de Maysa com o brasileiro André Matarazzo, por causa da semelhança física e pelo sotaque. No programa, ele falará portunhol propositalmente. No Brasil, Pablo fez participações em "Páginas da Vida" e "Alice" (HBO). Até agora, "Maysa", que a Globo exibe em janeiro, é seu trabalho mais relevante na TV brasileira.

- O canal GNT vai comemorar seu aniversário, em novembro, com a série "Eternas", de documentários inéditos sobre grandes mulheres, como Claudia Cardinale, Sophia Loren, Isabel Allende e Brigitte Bardot. A atriz Maitê Proença fará a narração de dois programas: "Belezas Francesas" e "E Brigitte Criou Bardot".

A foto foi encontrada no diário de produção da minisérie Maysa, clicando aqui.

Un toton de vampire parce que l'halloween approche pis que je suis siiiiiiiii festive. En fait, il s'agit de la boule d'Anna Paquin dans la série True Blood. (Cliquez sur la pic pour la version NSFW)

source

The Post-Graduation Survival Kit is a compilation of items necessary for a remotely tolerable post-collegiate existence. We were cranking these out pretty regularly in June, but we got bored of doing them. So in the true spirit of America, we found a newcomer to our site and gave him the work we didn't want to do. So ladies and gentlemen, the ninth installment of the Post-Graduation Survival Kit, brought to you by "The DJ."

By now you should have your suit on, a BlackBerry to your ear, a glass of scotch in one hand and your TV turned to either HBO or Showtime. Congratulations, you are now living the basic post college life. Unfortunately this is not enough. To truly survive as a post-grad you must start upping the ante.

You might be asking what more do you need to do to up the ante and I'll give you a hint, it involves that delicious glass of scotch in your hand. Well, not the scotch exactly but it does involve alcohol, which everyone loves.

What I'm talking about is procuring the proper tools to prepare cocktails in that amazing apartment you are living in. I'm sure your asking yourself when exactly you would be preparing these drinks but the answer is simple, all the time. A cocktail is appropriate for all occasions. Tough day at work, fix yourself a drink and enjoy. Having friends over, cocktails are a perfect way to start the evening.

So what tools do you exactly need?  First up, a Boston Tumbler.  This is the most essential part of your bar tools.  A Boston Tumbler is a big, metal glass that is used to shake and mix ingredients for your drinks.  Want to make a perfect martini for you and your guest? Well you need a tumbler to do that.

Next, you need a strainer for your tumbler. I would explain what a strainer is and why you need one but if you can't figure that out then I ask you to get up from your computer and walk into traffic. I know this will cost us some readership but I feel like it will only improve America. [ed. Note: Tell your friends about our blog before you commit suicide, please]

Alright, with that out of the way it is onto the next important piece of equipment, a bottle opener. Seems simple enough, but you would be surprised at how often a bottle opener would come in handy. Be sure to get a sturdy one, one that is preferably metal and provides a lot of leverage.

Now you have your tumbler, strainer and bottle opener, a perfect start to your in house bar. If you want more, feel free to go a place like Bed, Bath and Beyond and look at the bar equipment they have. It will give you a good idea of what you need and gives you the opportunity to purchase some of it at reasonable prices.

Well that's all for today, I'm off to live a better post graduate life than you.

In the episode, Ari was on the Golf course with some people and one of the guys (Warner Brothers Studio head) he was golfing with was a lunatic.  He loved to scream, typical Type-A.  Well after his blood began to boil, the poor guy had a heart attack right there on the green.

It really put things in perspective.

This episode got me thinking...

I often watch a coach on the sidelines and observe the behavior.

I often wonder why some scream their heads off and some are cool, calm and collected.

In the past, I was a screamer; both during games and practices.

I have learned to tone it down, and down and down and down.

It's almost to a point now where I'm like, "These kids don't want to be yelled at."

When I was younger, I hated to be yelled at.  It scared the living daylights out of me when a coach, parent or even teacher screamed at me for making a mistake.

I have made a commitment to myself to stop screaming, stop yelling and taking that energy and using it in a more positive way.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

Well, I saw Bill Maher & Larry Charles' Religulous yesterday afternoon... and while it was the third weekend in theaters, there were more people in attendance than the opening weekend of Expelled (same theater in Eugene, same time of day).  Hmmm...

Anyway, funny funny funny movie.  Of course, considering the subject matter, there's a wealth of comedic opportunity.  While it is primarily making fun of religion by talking down at its followers; well, there are some good points made.  Obviously, I'm biased, though... I like Bill Maher, and I tend to side with him in many areas.  Meh... sue me.

Check it out if it's playing near you, or when it hits the DVD shelves.

If you like Bill Maher, you can get his HBO show Real Time for free as a podcast... check it out here (iTunes link).

~Dan - np: Goddamn Electric Bill - Topics for Gossip

PS- sidenote / unrelated...

Fox News has nothing better to talk about than magazine touch-ups, as they are effectively on the wrong side on the issues when it comes to the constituents... might as well talk about magazine close-ups of former beauty queens:

We are now half way through the season, and I was waiting for a bit of a slow episode, and we got it. It was just too good for the first five.
So what do you think so far? Are you still as avid a fan as you were in the beginning of the season? Please comment!

Para el Artefacto de Radio Universidad, octubre de 2008.

Un par de orates se abre paso en el mercado musical estadounidense. Eso de abrirse paso es puro cuento para conocer las absurdas situaciones de la vida de dos neozelandeses en Nueva York, llamados a sí mismos como Flight of the Conchords. Una serie que primero fue programa de radio, de la BBC, y terminó con una excelente temporada para la HBO.

Be orate. Be composta...

Escúchanos:

• Para escucharlo en línea da clic aquí

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The best thing about the song is that they lyrics *and* the music pretty perfectly convey the atmosphere of the show. You can hear it on the artist's myspace profile.

Bad Things - Jace Everett

When you came in the air went out.
And every shadow filled up with doubt.
I don’t know who you think you are,
But before the night is through,
I wanna do bad things with you.

I’m the kind to sit up in his room.
Heart sick an’ eyes filled up with blue.
I don’t know what you’ve done to me,
But I know this much is true:
I wanna do bad things with you.

When you came in the air went out.
And all those shadows there are filled up with doubt.
I don’t know who you think you are,
But before the night is through,
I wanna do bad things with you.
I wanna do real bad things with you.
Ow, ooh.

I don’t know what you’ve done to me,
But I know this much is true:
I wanna do bad things with you.
I wanna do real bad things with you.

He likes Jesus?!

A few weeks ago I received a link to an NPR story about Bill Maher and what he thinks about Jesus. You may know Bill from his HBO show Real Time or his new film Religulous (Did you catch the insinuation of this new term? It seems to be a mix between the term “religious” and “ridiculous.”) And that’s right where Maher seems to land when it comes to religion.

The article states… “In his new film, Religulous — a satirical documentary in which Maher travels to religious sites around the world, ranging from the Vatican and Jerusalem to a Muslim gay bar in Amsterdam and a Christian theme park in Orlando, Fla. — he describes religion as "dangerous." He goes on to say that… “the idea of a personal god who responds to prayer, who performs miracles and battles evil in an active way, is the result of "a long, 2,000-year-old game of Telephone."

Sounds like Bill has a problem with all belief systems that have God in their ideology, including Christianity. But does he? The article continues… "The message of Jesus," on the other hand, "is not only beautiful but revolutionary," Maher stresses. "The idea that the meek shall inherit the earth, and that the poor and the powerless have just as much dignity as the powerful and the rich, that was a very new idea at the time — and it has not gone out of style."

The article goes on… “The shame, Maher argues, is that that message gets lost amid what he describes as "the magic tricks and the bells and whistles and the nonsense" of organized religion.”

I want to ask you a question. Do you think most people who are hesitant about church and/or joining a small group have the same concerns as Bill Maher? If so, why do you think they are so disturbed by “organized religion?” I would really like to hear your comments.

It looks like the girls are back in town as well, thanks to our beloved Turtle! Should be an action-packed episode so check back for my review.

Band of Brothers, deja huella seguro, molt bono dirigida per Steven Spielberg.

Mad Men estic seguint la primera tempora subtitula i es prou bono, la recomane.

This has come from a number of different directions — I've been watching HBO's Big Love via the On Demand service that comes with our cable TV.

The series is about a polygamist family of fundamentalist Mormons living secretly in a suburb of Salt Lake City, and the various troubles and difficulties it brings to them, both personally, professionally and in terms of their religion.

The series takes an even-handed look at the issues raised, not judging in favour of or against the practice. Of course, it also makes for good television; conflict is the root of all storytelling, and the conflicts between the public personas and private lives of the family create a lot of conflict.

Another source of inspiration has been the interwebs, as usual: in a recent comment to a post on my wife's blog, for example, Truthwalker posited the following in regards to governmental influence and involvement in the subject of marriage:

I personally think that civil union should be the law. For everybody. Any two people, male, female, straight, gay, or sexually inactive, should be able to enter a legal relationship with the consenting person of their choosing where one person is the primary bread winner and the other does more non-monetary work.

Leaving aside the problematic assertion regarding one partner being the breadwinner and the other the housekeeper¹, this also brings up another question: why should it only be two people involved?

The final source of inspiration, of course, has been the recent decision by the Supreme Court of Connecticut regarding the civil rights of gay couples. In a divided opinion given on the 10th October, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that the State's Constitution required that the government extend marriage rights to gay couples, by virtue of the State Constitution's equal protection clause in Article 1, Section 20.

One of the commonest tropes used against gay marriage is the assertion that it will lead to all kinds of horribleness, like polygamy, bestiality and even child marriage.

Leaving aside the fact that the slippery slope is a logical fallacy, let's take a look at some of the countries which have created gay marriage rights in the past decade or so. The Netherlands enacted same-sex marriage rights into law in 2001, Belgium in 2003, followed by Canada and Spain in 2005, South Africa in 2006. Norway is due to follow in 2009, after 16 years of civil partnerships. The following countries have created civil partnerships: Andorra, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Uruguay. The status of civil partnerships in these countries varies somewhat, with some having only partial rights while others are identical in all but legal name to marriage, with entirely identical rights, such as the UK, where people routinely refer to civil partnerships as gay marriage, legal titles notwithstanding.

Opponents of gay marriage have, as we've said, predicted all kinds of social doom and gloom as a result of various court rulings and laws creating the appropriate rights in law; various groups are trying busily to reverse them, as in California Proposition 8, all of which efforts are happily meeting with fierce opposition.

No such terrible consequences have occurred in any of the countries which have enacted gay marriage or civil partnership laws. You still cannot marry your dog, three of your friends, or children; . It's almost insulting, really, to think that opponents of gay marriage think that people will fall for this kind of stuff, and none of these mooted dire consequences are likely to occur; child marriage and bestiality both fall under the heading of cruelty and meaningful consent, to a degree that most people find the very idea respulsive.

Likelihood of its occurrence aside, how do we object to new concepts of marriage like polygamy while freely assenting to the concept of gay marriage? Isn't that contradictory and even hypocritical?

I would argue that it is not. While the institution of marriage is by no means perfect and acts in some ways as discriminatory towards single people, it does perform a useful social function: it provides for at least minimally stable homes for children; allows for people to express a solemn commitment to one another socially with a formal commitment; allows for the pooling of financial resources and shared prosperity; allows for partners to make legally binding decisions on behalf of children and loved-ones in the event of need; allows for partners to provide for each other in the event that they die intestate, and so on.

The extension of marriage rights to gay people simply broadens the categories of people who may marry each other, in much the same way that extension of interracial and interreligious marriage did. It provides for more stable families and couples, and as such, carries benefits to both the individuals involved and the society in which they live.

Polygamy, however, does not do this. While gay marriage simplifies, polygamy complicates. All the benefits of marriage, such as stability, combined financial responsibility, power of attorney in difficult situations, simplified inheritance and so on, all of these are unneccesarily complicated by the addition of extra members. What if the wives² disagree over who should have power of attorney when their husband is in hospital? Who decides who inherits what in the event of a death? While these are not insoluble problems, they represent a big enough sphere of difficulties to argue against enshrining officially recognised polygamy into law; they would create monstrous legal headaches, and the alleged benefits of polygamy would be far, far outweighed by the problems caused. That's even leaving aside the issue, frequent enough in the past to remain a possible future concern, of young people entering polygamous marriages before the age of consent or even too soon afterwards.

While I'm concerned for the right of people to live as they wish, I can also see a valid point of distinction between leaving others alone to conduct their private affairs as they see fit and making them into legal entities. I cannot in all honesty see that the enshrinement of polygamy into law serves individuals or the society they reside in, practically or otherwise.

Local Time Warner Cable customers remain without an NBC station despite a week of negotiations between the cable provider and TV operator, LIN TV Corp. Read more...