The California Supreme Court released just now their decision upholding Proposition 8, which re-defines the word marriage as only between a man and a
woman.

I just did a quick read through the decision (Click here for the readable version I have posted online, click here for the official PDF) and the salient bit is this:

Contrary to petitioners’ assertion, Proposition 8 does not entirely repeal or abrogate the aspect of a same-sex couple’s state constitutional right of privacy and due process… that is, the constitutional right of same-sex couples to “choose one’s life partner and enter with that person into a committed, officially recognized, and protected family relationship that enjoys all of the constitutionally based incidents of marriage”

Nor does Proposition 8 fundamentally alter the meaning and substance of state constitutional equal protection principles as articulated in that opinion. Instead, the measure carves out a narrow and limited exception to these state constitutional rights, reserving the official designation of the term “marriage” for the union of opposite-sex couples as a matter of state constitutional law, but leaving undisturbed all of the other extremely significant substantive aspects of a same-sex couple’s state constitutional right to establish an officially recognized and protected family relationship and the guarantee of equal protection of the laws.

So, dignity aside – and that’s a big aside – the decision only changes the word ‘marriage.’ It does not affect the rights of gays and lesbians in California, who retain all the rights of marriage – except the name.

This reminds me of the story of how Indiana once tried to refine pi as PI =3 as a failed attempt at rewriting existence.

The Vancouver Courier has an interesting feature story on the changing nature of Canadian media. Near the end is a short interview with me about being an online publisher.

Two thoughts on this: 1) When you read the story, remember that Only is a commune. It took a lot more people than just me to launch it. 2) This article was published three weeks ago – not a soul mentioned it to me. I looked it up today, online, when I was thinking “What happened with that interview I did last month?”

Former US Secretary of Defense used to put bible quotes on his briefings to George W. Bush as a suck-up maneuver.

The briefing’s cover sheet generally featured triumphant, color images from the previous days’ war efforts: On this particular morning, it showed the statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down in Firdos Square, a grateful Iraqi child kissing an American soldier, and jubilant crowds thronging the streets of newly liberated Baghdad. And above these images, and just below the headline SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, was a quote that may have raised some eyebrows. It came from the Bible, from the book of Psalms: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him…To deliver their soul from death.”

This is from a terrific piece in GQ, which also quotes Rumsfeld as saying ‘I’m going to tell the president we don’t need any more than the National Guard’ regarding rescuers for Hurrican Katrina victims.

Paul Scheer went to the the auction of the contents on Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. Very weird.

Behold, the pizza box of the future. It seems so obvious now.

How to sum up a life in a headline: Venetia Phair Dies at 90; as a Girl, She Named Pluto

If you have ever wondered, ‘What the hell is that crown-y thing that Jughead wears?’, this article has all the answers.

Clark on the production quality of now-cancelled soap Guiding Light: ‘some of the clumsiest scripted drama this side of the Canadian network CTV (or the dialogue scenes on “Skinemax” late-night cable shows).’ Burn.

Quimby The Mouse from This American Life on Vimeo.

It’s a Chris Ware animation.

There have been a lot of people comparing US president Barack Obama’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner performance with Stephen Colbert’s in 2006.

What I find interesting is how people forget that Colbert’s tour de force was ignored by the mainstream media or, if mentioned at all, vilified. Here’s the Washington Post review: So Not Funny Or the New York Times which doesn’t even mention Colbert’s act at all. (Here is where they backpedal and say it was so funny that we had to wait four days.)

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