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Sept 1 - The First Campaign Today we campaigned for traditional marriage at the Cal Expo in Sacramento. It was the busiest day of the fair. We made several “Honk for Traditional Marriage” signs and displayed them at the fair entrance. Honks of all types filled the air. The issue of same-sex “marriage” has divided the state down the middle. Even within the same vehicle, we got both thumbs up and thumbs down. Very few people are undecided or unsure where they stand. But don’t expect civility from same-sex advocates. One woman approached a TFP volunteer and bluntly stated: “You...

Marriage should be protected as a relationship between a man and a woman, affirm Jewish and Catholic leaders. Rabbis and bishops joined in affirming their common beliefs regarding marriage in a joint statement titled "Created in the Divine Image." The statement was signed by Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld of Young Israel Synagogue in Kew Gardens Hills, New York, and Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, with other Catholic and Jewish leaders The bishops and rabbis affirm "our shared commitment to the ordinance of God, the Almighty One, who created man and woman in the divine image so that they might share...

Though many are likely unaware that the law permits it, customers of a Northern California public utility that donated $250,000 toward the defeat of Proposition 8 can change providers in protest if they want. [[PGElogo.jpg]]After San Francisco based Pacific Gas & Electric made the large donation to the No on 8 campaign, thousands of the company’s frustrated customers expressed their outrage in the form of emails, letters and comments on various blogs. But a California public interest law firm that fights for conservative causes put its legal researchers to work and found another way for pro-marriage customers of PG&E to...

San Francisco’s “Catholic” mayor will join tomorrow in the official launching of the “No on 8 – Equality for All Campaign” at the old Tower Records store on Market Street. In early January, on the occasion of his inauguration to a second term, Mayor Gavin Newsom and his family attended a Mass at the historic Mission Dolores Basilica. And to this day he continues to describe himself as Catholic. Newsom, said to have his eyes on the governorship, will be acting in open defiance of California’s bishops, who have officially endorsed Proposition 8 and have urged Catholics to support it....

Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld / Bishop of Rockville Centre William Murphy New York, Sep 4, 2008 / 09:44 pm (CNA).- A joint statement on marriage has been issued by a group of Orthodox Jewish and Catholic leaders, affirming their faiths’ “shared commitment” to God’s design of marriage between one man and one woman. Challenging efforts to create a “new definition” of marriage, the statement reaffirms the duty of the state to safeguard the traditional place of marriage.Representing Catholics, the Bishop of Rockville Centre William Murphy signed the statement. He was joined by consulting members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic...

[I]t is teenage marriage today, not teenage pregnancy, that is the rarity. And, statistics show, teenage marriages tend not to endure. ... The median marrying age for women in the late 1950s was about 19, according to David Popenoe, co-director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University and an emeritus professor of sociology there. But a marriage between 19-year-olds — or even 17- or 18-year-olds — then would not have been described as a “teenage marriage,” he said. It was too routine to be given a special label. There is no way to know how many of those unions...

Now it seems variations in a section of the gene coding for a vasopressin receptor in people help to determine whether men are serial commitment-phobes or devoted husbands.

The same gene that affects a rodent's ability to mate for life may affect human marriages, Swedish and U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday. Men carrying a common variation of gene involved in brain signaling were more likely to be in unhappy marriages than men with the other version, the team at the Karolinska Institute found. Although they are not sure what the genetic changes do to a man's behavior, some other research suggests it has to do with the ability to communicate and empathize, the team reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We never looked at...

Maggie Scarf, an American journalist [] has written a succession of books on family and marriage. In this one, she turns her attention to couples in their 50s and 60s, and finds older marriage is full of unexpected pleasures. ... [T]he clearest message, both from the research and from the couples, is upbeat. Those later years are, of course, a time of adjustments. The nest empties. Retirement approaches. The body may start to hint that it is not immortal. ... This time around, however, the answers are more manageable. The popular image of these late years may be of crusty...

Orange County, CA – During a court hearing yesterday, federal district court Judge David O. Carter announced that he is dismissing a last-ditch effort by "same-sex marriage" proponents to overturn the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The case is Smelt v. Orange County, and it is one of the last remaining challenges to DOMA. Liberty Counsel intervened in this case on behalf of Campaign for California Families in 2004, in order to protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman and to defend DOMA. [[Staver082808.jpg]]The federal DOMA allows states to reject same-sex marriages from other states....

Ban on Gay Marriage Trails -- Voters Split on Teen Abortion Constraints, Redistricting SAN FRANCISCO, California, August 27, 2008 — A majority of California’s likely voters oppose Proposition 8, the November ballot measure that would eliminate gay marriage, according to a statewide survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) with funding from The James Irvine Foundation. Likely voters are divided on two other closely watched measures – one that would require a parent to be notified before a teenager has an abortion and one that would take the power to draw legislative district lines away from...

The group that has led opposition to gay marriage says it will not participate in a petition drive to block out-of-state, same-sex couples from being married in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Family Institute said "there is no winning on this issue" because thousands of marriages will have taken place before the proposed ballot question could go to voters in November 2010. A group called MassResistance is organizing the petition drive to reinstate a 1913 law that bars the state from marrying a couple if the marriage is illegal in their home state. First, organizers must collect 33,297 signatures from registered voters...

I contemplate divorce every day. It tugs on my sleeve each morning when my husband, Will, greets me in his chipper, smug morning-person voice, because after 16 years of waking up together, he still hasn't quite pieced out that I'm not viable before 10 a.m. ..snip.. Maybe one day, marriage -- like the human appendix, male nipples, or your pinky toes -- will become a vestigial structure that will, in a millennium or two, be obsolete. Our great-great-great-grandchildren's grandchildren will ask each other in passing, "Remember marriage? What was its function again? Was it that maladaptive organ that intermittently produced...

AP article, follow link.

The effort to make marriage defined as between a man and woman a constitution amendment, took place in Fresno. Proposition 8 supporters held a town hall rally hoping to mobilize valley opposition to gay marriage. The valley effort to pass Prop 8 got underway Thursday night at Pardini's in Northwest Fresno.

Researchers from the U.K.'s University of Sheffield looked at men older than 60 from 140 countries that practice polygamy and found that they lived an average of 12 percent longer than men from 49 monogamous nations, according to a report from the Times of India. ... Scientists believe women, who live considerably longer post-menopause than other mammals, do so because the longer they live the more grandchildren they have to dote on. Caring for grandchildren, it seems, gives women a reason to live long after they're no longer able to reproduce.

Proposition 8, the ballot initiative to protect marriage, has announced that it has received a $1 million contribution from the Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic family fraternal service organization. In a press release, spokesman for the Knights of Columbus, Patrick Korten said that the donation from the Knights "is both an indication of how important we believe this referendum to be, and an encouragement to other groups and individuals of all faiths to lend their support as well.” “From the day the organization was founded 126 years ago, strengthening and protecting the family has always been central to...

This week, Barack Obama's challenge is to select a running mate who's young, hip, and whose accomplishments in life don't overshadow Obama's. Allow me to suggest Kevin Federline. The only thing we can be sure of is that Obama will choose someone who is the polar opposite of all his advisers until now. In other words, it will be a very, very white male who was probably proud of his country even before being chosen as Obama's running mate. Obama's got a lot of ground to make up following that performance last weekend at the Saddleback presidential forum with pastor...

The same California Supreme Court that created a "right" to homosexual "marriage" earlier this year has now ruled that the state may force healthcare professionals to provide services that support an immoral and physically dangerous lifestyle. California's highest court was unanimous in its decision on Monday that Christian doctors may not refuse to perform artificial insemination for homosexual patients. (See "California court says no religious exemption for doctors") Attorney Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), reacts to the ruling. "This is a clear violation of the fundamental rights of individuals to live and practice their faith," he...

Here's your Fact Sheet on Amendment 2 Print copies, forward this important message to family and friends August 19, 2008 Dear Friend, We have just finished our final “Fact Sheet” on Amendment 2, the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment. This will now be “THE” most used and most recommend all purpose hand out or flyer in the campaign. This also contains most of our talking points for media also. It is really important they we stay on message and use these points when talking about the marriage amendment. Please feel free to mass produce these Fact Sheet flyers and distribute to...

Values voters should look closely at what the presidential candidates had to say on the issues that matter. Leading up to Saturday's Civil Forum on the Presidency at Saddleback Church, the Rev. Rick Warren said he would address "issues that are bridging divides in our nation, such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights.”Family advocates wondered if Warren also would ask Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain about abortion and marriage. He did.Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family Action, said he was fascinated by the forum."To have the two candidates in a public forum address those...

Doug and Annie Brown became a hot topic of conversation in June when his book came out, called “Just Do It." The married couple from Denver made a decision to do something dramatic to their marriage and have sex for 101 days in a row. They called it a “sexpedition." They expressed surprise at how much closer they became, relishing conversations, holding hands and strengthening their marital bond. They felt like courting each other the way they did when they first met in their twenties. On the jokey surface of our popular culture, we consistently encounter the idea that marriage...

BOSTON -- The gay marriage fight in Massachusetts might not be over after all. Opponents of same-sex marriages are seeking a ballot question that would prevent gay and lesbian couples from getting married here if their union wouldn't be legal in their home state. Brian Camenker of the group Mass Resistance said Friday lawmakers and Gov. Deval Patrick bowed to the will of the "gay lobby" last month by approving the repeal of a 1913 statute that banned such marriages. Patrick, the state's first black governor and the father of a daughter who recently announced she's a lesbian, said the...

An appeals court ruling has trashed the right of Oregon residents to vote on issues in their state by affirming the state's refusal to count referendum signatures even when they were verified in person by the voter. "In America, every citizen's vote should count. The court has tossed aside one of the most important rights we have as Americans," Austin R. Nimocks, a senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said. "Oregon voters deserve to be heard on this referendum. More than enough Oregonians signed the petitions for it. The people didn't thwart this effort; government bureaucracy did. That...

DALLAS (ABP)—Men are disappearing from the church. According to the Barna Research Group, there are 11 million to 13 million more American women who are born again than there are born-again men. While nine out of 10 senior pastors are men, a majority of regular church attenders are women. Not only are women the majority of born-again American Christians, the Barna Group reports, “Women are the backbone of the Christian congregations in America.” Perhaps indicative of women’s sense of spirituality, 41 percent of women said they have set specific spiritual goals they hope to accomplish in the coming year or...

In a poll conducted this spring by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy research group, 7 percent of adults said someone in their household had married in the past year to gain access to insurance. The foundation cautions that the number should not be taken literally, but rather as an intriguing indicator that some Americans “are making major life decisions on the basis of health care concerns.” Stephen L. J. Hoffman, an officiant at a wedding chapel in Covington, Ky., said he was no longer shocked that one of 10 couples cite health insurance as the reason they stand...

TORONTO — A little over a week ago, the literary world was lauding novelist Stephenie Meyer, a Mormon stay-at-home mother, as the new J.K. Rowling amid the excitement surrounding the release of the fourth instalment in her "Twilight" teen fiction series, "Breaking Dawn." Today, the bestselling book is the subject of a backlash that's prompted a group in the United States to organize a "return your book" protest. On Amazon's U.S. website, a group of readers, led by a one-time bookstore employee, is urging former fans to return their copies of "Breaking Dawn" in order to deprive Meyer of royalties...

"As citizens of California,” Catholics need “to avail ourselves of the opportunity” to overturn the the California Supreme Court’s May 15 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, said the California Catholic Conference in a statement issued last week. The California Catholic Conference is the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops.

This morning, I read the magazine What Is Enlightenment that Glenn picked up for me from a local health food store because the cover had a number of articles about men including "Constructing the New Man," "19 Powerful Women Tell the Truth about Men," and "A Scandalous Look at Scandinavia: Where women are women and men are too." Uh, okay, I thought, this can't be good, it's a magazine from a crunchy organic healthfood store with what I assumed would be a somewhat biased picture of the male gender complete with articles describing how men should be more like women....

Malin Alexandersson and Leif Lundgren celebrated 08-08-08 day by climbing on to the roof of the Stockholm Globe arena to tie the knot. The happy couple had to climb to the top of the 80 metre higher Stockholm landmark with the help of safety harnesses while their guests instead followed the wedding ceremony from a nearby balcony. The heavy rain that hit Stockholm on Friday was close to throwing a spanner in the works - but the rain ceased just prior to the beginning of the ceremony. The couple won the right to matrimony on the Globe's roof in a...

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who has studiously avoided coming out in full support of same-sex marriage, may have finally tipped his hand on how he really feels. In recent letters written to homosexual activist groups, the presumed Democratic nominee said he supports homosexual couples adopting babies. Further, he said, he wants to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as being between one man and one woman – and forbids states from being forced to accept any other definition of marriage under the U.S. Constitution’s Full Faith and Credit Clause. In an Aug. 1 letter to...

An explosive article appeared Wednesday in the London Times entitled “Rowan Williams: Gay relationships 'comparable to marriage'”. Ruth Gledhill, the Religion Correspondent of the Times may have blown the lid off of the perceived pause in the internal battles threatening the the Church of England after the Lambeth Conference. Ms. Gledhill wrote: “Rowan Williams believes that gay sexual relationships can “reflect the love of God” in a way that is comparable to marriage, The Times has learnt. Gay partnerships pose the same ethical questions as those between a man and woman and the key issue for Christians is that they...

House Speaker Pelosi Vows to Kill Defense of Marriage Act and Still Receive Communion Pelosi relieved no bishop has had the courage to call her to account for her strong abortion advocacy By Peter J. Smith SAN FRANCISCO, August 5, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has vowed to join Barack Obama's new crusade to kill the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and promises to continue to fortify herself with Holy Communion from the Catholic Church for the campaign. Pelosi told reporters at a press conference last Thursday that she plans to support Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in...

Over the past 35 years we have been waiting longer and playing the field more before settling down. According to the Office for National Statistics, men are getting married for the first time seven years later and women six years later. This means that the average man is aged 32 when he asks “Will you marry me?” and the average woman is 29 when she says “Yes”. But is this trend towards the thirtysomething marriage making us happier and more satisfied? And when it comes to the fortysomething crunch - the most common age for divorce - who is most...

(LifeWire) -- "What do you do all day?" is a question Anne Marie Davis, 34, says she gets a lot. Davis, who lives in Louisville, Texas, isn't a mother, nor does she telecommute. She is a stay-at-home wife, which makes her something of a pioneer in the post-feminist world. Ten years ago, she was an "overwhelmed" high school English teacher. "I didn't have time for my husband, " she says, "and I didn't have a life." She presented the idea of staying home to her husband, a Web engineer. "I told him it was something I wanted to do, and...

According to local pastor Wiley Drake, the 5.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Southern California on Tuesday was not just one of those typical seismic events that take place with some regularity in these parts, but it was "[a]nother queer quake trying to get California's attention." Apparently, the Lord is mad about the legalization of gay marriage in this state. He can't be that mad, given that the quake didn't cause any death or much destruction, but Rev. Drake offers a warning: "We had better listen. 5.4 this time what is next!?" Drake is something of a caricature of a religious-right...

In his encyclical letter entitled, "The Splendor of Truth" the late Servant of God John Paul II referred to the Sermon on the Mount as the "Magna Carta" of the Christian life. When the history of his Pontificate is written, another one of his wonderful letters, entitled, "The Christian Family in the Modern World" will be referred to as the "Magna Carta" of Christian Family life. The wealth of teaching and practical foundations set forth in that letter could help immensely in the needed recovery of the Christian family, and, through the Christian Family, the renewal of the Church, which...

Much difficulty arises from not asking that, he said. "Look at all the troubles we have because of relations between men and women. It would have been so much simpler if we had all been one sex. But there was a reason for it. And if you stop and think what the reason is for this division, you see that you’ve got to bring procreation into it all the time." Modern science is based on evolution, he said. "And evolution is based on the idea of the survival of the fittest, and that we’re sexual because that can assist in...

A 60-year old Saudi man has agreed to postpone his marriage to a 10-year old girl after protests from a human rights group. The elderly man decided to take a second wife in a challenge with the girl’s father, who said he was afraid of his first wife and dared him to take a second one. But the man agreed to postpone his marriage after the Saudi National Human Rights Association sent a letter to the Emir of Hail, a city in northwestern Saudi Arabia, AlArabiya.net reported on Sunday, citing Saudi newspaper Al-Madina. The report did not say for how...

Surrounded by cheering, clapping gay-rights activists and legislators, Governor Deval Patrick today signed a bill repealing a 95-year-old statute that had prevented gay and lesbian couples from most other states from marrying in Massachusetts. "It's a good day," said Patrick, declaring that the repeal will "confirm a simple truth: that is, in Massachusetts, equal means equal." Massachusetts will "continue to lead the way as a national leader" and affirm "all people come before their government as equals," Patrick said in a bill-signing ceremony at the State House's Grand Staircase. Gay marriage "is still troubling for some of our citizens," he...

Cash Infusion for 'Protect Marriage' Group Thursday, July 31, 2008 By Susan Jones, Senior Editor (CNSNews.com) - A conservative advocacy group is giving half-a-million dollars to the organization that is leading the fight to protect marriage in California. The American Family Association said the $500,000 donation comes from "years of savings." In a message to supporters, AFA acknowledged its "obligation to be good stewards of the gifts given to this ministry. We don’t buy anything on credit. We have no debt. We are careful to make sure your gifts are used wisely. We are very frugal with your gifts." AFA...

MODERATOR: THIS IS MY THIRD POSTING OF AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT. THE "SOLICITATION" LANGUAGE WAS REMOVED BEFORE I POSTED IT THE SECOND TIME, AND IT IS REMOVED IN THIS POST. AFA gives $500,000 to help the fight for marriage in California Years of savings go to fight the battle July 30, 2008 AFA has given $500,000 to ProtectMarriage.org, the organization leading the fight for the passage of Proposition 8 in California. Proposition 8 defines marriage as being between a man and a woman.Where did this money come from?AFA works on the premise that we have an obligation to be good stewards...

July 30, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As the California Marriage Amendment debate heats up Barack Obama and John McCain have made clear their respective positions on the issue. Two weeks after the California Supreme Court announced its decision to allow same-sex couples to "marry", opponents of same-sex marriage succeeded in placing on the November ballot a proposed constitutional amendment which states: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." If passed, the measure would reverse the recent court decision. Mr. Obama recently made his position public in a letter sent to a San Francisco homosexual...

When California legalized same-sex marriage a little more than a month ago, the state left things vague for one segment of the population: prison inmates. What happens when same-sex inmates want to marry each other? It's a problem California prison officials are now trying to figure out. In the past month, more than 1,500 same-sex marriages have been certified by the county of San Francisco alone. Just north of the city is San Quentin State Prison.

A friend recently asked: “How long do we have left as a society?” In answer to that question I informed her about an interesting and comprehensive study that a renowned British anthropologist, Joseph Unwin, PhD., presented to the British Psychological Society in 1935. Unwin sought to prove that the traditional monogamous model for marriage was not essential to the maintenance of a healthy society. After studying 86 different cultures, across time and continents –and much to his surprise — he came to the inescapable conclusion that the traditional male-female monogamous model for marriage was indeed the best foundation for a...

The first and greatest threat from court decisions in California and Massachusetts, giving legal recognition to "gay marriage," is that it marks the end of democracy in America. These judges are making new law without any democratic process; in fact, their decisions are striking down laws enacted by majority vote. The pretext is that state constitutions require it -- but it is absurd to claim that these constitutions require marriage to be defined in ways that were unthinkable through all of human history until the past 15 years. And it is offensive to expect us to believe this obvious...

My wife and I agree to disagree on many topics like finances, parenting, the in-laws, toothpaste tubes and even dining out. Can you imagine, “She doesn’t like Chinese food!” But do I hate her? No. Am I bothered? Yes. Kobe Bryant of the Lakers really upset me when he cheated on his wife and in the playoffs, after losing one of the games, he suggested “drinking a bunch of shots.” Sorry, Laker fans, but Kobe bugs me. Do I hate the Lakers? No, I like Phil Jackson, Derek Fisher, Luke Walton and many others. I will root for the Lakers...

OK - The poll is a multi-step poll. You vote on the first page, then it gives you "food for thought" - AKA propaganda, and you go through it and vote like 5 times before the final counting of your vote. Should Gays be allowed to marry? Right now, the vote is: Yes 71% No 29% And since this is a Public Broadcast station, the poll is funded by "Citizens for Public Broadcast"

The House today voted 118 to 35 to repeal a 1913 state law that prevents gay and lesbian couples from most other states from marrying in Massachusetts. The measure, which the Senate passed earlier this month, will head to the desk of Governor Deval Patrick, who is expected to sign it into law. The move will clear the way for out-of-state couples to marry in Massachusetts, making it the second state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry regardless of their place of residence. "I'm glad we finally did it," said Representative Byron Rushing, a Boston Democrat, who described...

"What if a presidential candidate took a position on gay marriage that was different from your own? Would you still consider voting for him because of his position on other issues, or would you not vote for him under any circumstances?" . Still Consider Not Vote For No Answer/ Unsure % % % 6/18-25/08 72 22 6