Free Republic

The U.S. Defense Department announced on Wednesday that it will make "spousal and family benefits" available no later than Sept. 3, 2013, regardless of sexual orientation, for all service members who can provide a valid marriage certificate. And what about same-sex military couples who live in a state where same-sex marriage is not allowed? No problem. "We recognize that same-sex military couples who are not stationed in a jurisdiction that permits same-sex marriage would have to travel to another jurisdiction to marry. That is why the department will implement policies to allow military personnel in such a relationship non-chargeable leave...

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- You could say Annie the calico cat is a bit more adventurous than the ordinary cat. She hitched a ride for nearly 1,000 miles in the back of a 100-degree moving van from the Green Bay area to Virginia last month, only to go roaming the woods in a strange area for 18 days. The 10-year-old cat normally lives with Ann Roskam and her family in New Franken. But she hopped into the moving truck of neighbors Michael and Christina Blackley at the end of July. "She's definitely a pretty darn independent cat," Roskam said. "She...

Wondering about that muffled howl you’ve been hearing the last couple weeks? It’s the sound and fury of feminists reacting to Michael Noer’s latest exegesis, Don’t Marry a Career Woman. Noer’s column, which ran at Forbes.com, surveyed marriages in which the wives doggedly pursue a high-powered career, all the while neglecting family and home. The research shows these women are more likely to be unhappy if she earns more than the guy, or if she quits her job and stays home. Either way, she’s going to be a grump. Her husband is more prone to be discontented if she is...

Hookworms hitched rides with nomads Ben Harder Horseback-riding herders known as Scythians or Scythes once traveled far and wide across Eurasia. Their dead have the parasites to prove it. FEEDING THE WORMS. Researchers found hookworm eggs in the remains of two nomads buried in Central Asia 2,300 years ago. Lancet A man and a woman who were buried separately about 2,300 years ago and recently excavated in Berel, Kazakhstan, were infected with hookworms during their lifetimes, researchers have determined. Hookworms weren't then and still aren't typically found in the steppes of central Asia. "This finding demonstrated that Scythes, a nomadic...

Ditched bride gets hitched after finding late stand-in A bride-to-be ditched four days before her wedding found another groom in time and married him instead. Alison Innes, 20, from Arbroath, Scotland, was eight months pregnant when her fiance Peter Knight, 28, texted her to tell her he had got cold feet. But the ceremony went ahead almost as planned on February 20 after her ex-boyfriend Daniel Innes, 18, stepped in to take Mr Knight's place. This is not the first time true love has gone off its course for Mrs Innes. Last year she hit the headlines when her mother,...

Gay Marriage! What, Are You NUTS? Posted by Doc Farmer Saturday, June 21, 2003 Our neighbours to the North--the Canadians (or, as Robin Williams described them, ''a loft apartment above a really great party'')--have come up with a new touchy-feely (Ick!) concept to make the world a better, if more bizarre place. State-recognised same-sex marriages. Now, I want to talk to all of the homosexuals out there reading this article. As a male lesbian, I can sympathize with you. Well, somewhat. And I want to ask you all a very important question. HAVE YOU LOST YOUR TINY LITTLE MINDS? I’m...

Social-services advocates pooh-pooh the idea of promoting marriage among the poor. New research demolishes their arguments. Social-services advocates usually make two arguments against the idea of promoting marriage among poor single-parent families. First, they charge, poor urban communities, where such families disproportionately reside, suffer from a chronic shortage of “marriageable” males—the men are usually young, feckless, and hostile to the idea of marriage. Even those who are potential “husband” material in such communities are chronically unemployed, making so little money that they wouldn’t raise the economic status of the mothers of their children even if they were to marry them....