Freedom to marry coming to Massachusetts

From the NY Times, the Massachusetts supreme court has struck a blow for marriage rights:

Massachusetts' highest court ruled 4-3 Tuesday that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and gave lawmakers 180 days to fix the problem.

I’m pretty sure it’s the state constitution they’re referring to.

Vermont-style civil unions would not be enough, [Attorney Mary Bonauto] said, because that would fall short of marriage. A constitutional ban on gay marriage could not be enacted in Massachusetts until 2006 because it takes seveal years to change the state's constitution. [...]

But the issue may find a hostile audience in the Massachusetts Legislature, which has been considering a constitutional amendment that would legally define a marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The state's powerful Speaker of the House, Tom Finneran of Boston, has endorsed this proposal. [...]

A key group of state lawmakers also has recently been working behind the scenes to craft civil union legislation similar to the law passed in Vermont.

BFL: cardio

Y’know what’s cool? Ordering new checks on a Thursday, being told they’ll arrive in two to three weeks, and getting them the following Tuesday, that’s cool. Also waking up in the morning able to feel the new muscular solidity of my chest, that’s pretty cool. And eating not just one but two pieces of the delicious strawberry birthday cake batyatoon made for ladymondegreen, and losing two pounds anyway, that rocks pretty hard too.

( Cardio numbers )

Thoth tarot quiz

Damn, that Thoth tarot has pretty cards!

( My Thoth tarot card )

Taken literally (“extraordinary gifts working with people”), this could not be more wrong. I expect more accurate insights from Perl CGIs! Looking at the more abstract qualities (“synthetical abilities dealing with the concept of paradox, polarity, and opposition”), yeah, I suppose.

It ain't what you don't know that hurts you...

OK, here’s something to be annoyed about. (We could all use more of that, right?) Thanks to kathrynt, I looked up this MSNBC story about a recent poll on American attitudes towards gays and the freedom to marry, and then looked up the poll report itself. (This is always a good idea, if you can manage it. Newspapers often leave out important details; television always does.) On page two I found the following information:

Why are people homosexual?	1985	2003
Something born with	20%	30%
Way people are brought up	22%	14%
Way some prefer to live	42%	42%
Don’t know	16%	14%

Only 14% knew the right answer, and that’s down from 16% in 1985!