Note: I read this article in my school's newspaper, and I felt it would be great thing to talk about here on Xanga.

Last year, Californians voted and passed Proposition 8, which added a new section to the state constitution, defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. With its passing, homosexuals were no longer allowed the right to marry in the state. Proponents claimed that marriage is a fundamental part of society, and that allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry would demean and defile its meaning. They said that a marriage represented a sacred bond between two people, a bond that should only be shared between a male and female. John McCain, who was obviously running for president at the time, even released this statement in support of it.

Now, a website has been launched (http://rescuemarriage.org/) proposing the 2010 California Marriage Protection Act, which in a nutshell says that divorce is a threat to the santity and sacredness of marriage, and that it is unnacceptable in any case where the two parties are still alive. Now, anyone who visits the website or looks at the various PSA's in support of it on Youtube, can obviously see that the whole campaign is somewhat satirical in nature. In fact, I am almost sure that the website was created by people who were opposing Prop. 8. But the idea did get me thinking.

Which is a bigger threat to the sanctity of marriage? Gay marriage or divorce? In my opinion, Proposition 8 passed so easily because gay marriage was an issue that did not directly involve the majority of people, aka heterosexuals. No heterosexual was ever going to get a gay marriage, so voting yes on Prop 8 was an easy thing to do. But now this new bill, The 2010 California Marriage protection act, real or not, directly affects heterosexuals. Would the people of California fight so passionately to protect the sanctity of marriage this time around?

Another question that popped into my head was if people who voted yes on Prop 8 really wanted to protect marriage, or if they actually wanted to limit the rights of homosexuals. And if people simply wanted to limit the rights of California's gay community, that is just plain wrong in my opinion, and in direct violation of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

I also understand that making gay marriage illegal doesn't cover as many underlying issues as divorce. What about abusive marriages? Should any man or woman in an abusive relationship have the option for divorce? I was reading an article in Awake! (you know, that little magazine that Jehovah's Witnesses are always giving out) and it said that any and all problems within a marriage aren't excuses for divorce, they are rather tests that a couple must go through and endure in order to make their relationship stronger. In the end however, marriage is marriage, and divorce is divorce, which breaks that bond between a man and a woman, a bond that is supposedley sacred and needs to be protected.

What do you think? Is someone a hypocrite if they vote yes on Prop 8 and vote no on the 2010 California Marriage Protection Act?

Its not often that I actually have time to sit, organize my thoughts, and then take the time to make a post about it. Luckily now is one of those times. The class I usually have at this time is about 2 hours long, but we had an exam today, and it only took an hour. So now I'm sitting here in the library with some apple cider, trying to use up the time left until my next class at 3:00. Where to start?

I guess I'll start with my personal life. Unfortunately I'm still looking for a job, and it doesn't help that I live in the county in Florida with the highest unemployment rate. On top of that, employers aren't really looking to hire students because that means having awkward availability and hours. They'd much rather hire that high school graduate who decided to not go to college, because its steady, and comes at a low price. Those are the kinds of jobs I'm fighting for, the kinds that don't really require any higher thinking skills or college education. If I stay in this place, the best I'll do is middle management at an Office Depot or something. To tell you the truth, that actually sounds kind of nice, but in the back of my mind, deep down, I feel like I was meant to do more than that.

I've also learned that having a girlfriend is a lot like having a job in some ways. They take a massive amount of time and dedication, and you always have to be careful not to do or say anything stupid. I'm not complaining or anything, the good far outweighs anything that would be considered "bad", its just something that I've noticed.

Classes have been complicated and frustrating at times. Radical Political Economy is easy when it comes to getting an A, I pretty much control my own destiny and what grade I get. However there is a large amount of work involved. The work itself is actually pretty easy, but its going to take up a shitload of time. But at least I'll get a guaranteed A. I wish I could say that about my other Economics class, Regional Economics. I'm just confused and lost in that class. Its a bunch of hypothetical theory from old German economists about things that could happen, but probably never will. I can get the basic concepts and ideas, but once it comes to calculus and insane looking graphs, I'm lost. So far cramming the night before the exam has worked, so I plan to continue doing that.

Life after Death is just a bunch of bullshit in my opinion, but at least it should be an easy A or B. The professor just rambles on and on about his views on death and how it relates to various religions . Its interesting sometimes, but some of it just seems like common sense, and I'm kind of surprised the University commisioned an entire class about it. I can see a lengthy amount of time being dedicated to death in a general religion course, but having an entire semester's worth of it seems boring and pointless. The worst part is that of our required reading is a book that the professor himself had a part in writing. So of course we all had to go out and buy it, contributing to the money he makes from book sales. There really needs to be laws preventing that kind of thing.

The final class I'm taking is a World Lit class that meets for 3 hours, once a week. The material is pretty interesting, but the professor just seems a little off. The guy is a professional author/poet, and you can tell he's very passionate. Its just that maybe he's a little too passionate, assigning entire books plus additional readings for us to read and analyze in short amounts of time. Hey man, I know you love the stuff and actually enjoy it, but I have a midterm to study for.

Pretty much that's it in a nutshell. My life has been as bland as ever. Well, at least I have under 2 hours worth of sitting around remaining until my next class.

Just because you can interrupt the president and disrespect him on live tv doesn't mean you should. For the most part I felt the other Republicans' silent protest of holding up copies of the health bill during the speech was way more effective than Wilson making an ass out of himself. The vibe I got from the bill-raising was "Hey President, we have ideas too, and we want you to hear them instead of ignoring us". Even though I lean towards the liberal side of the spectrum, I felt it was not innapropriate at all, and actually kind of tasteful. Wilson brought the same attitudes with him as many of the other people at the town hall meetings, that its OK to just interrupt, shout, and demean people as you see fit. That isn't how you get things done, America. Yes, you have the right to protest when you disagree with something, both conservatives and liberals have done it before, and will do it again. But that doesn't give you the right to ignore facts, statistics, and actual print that you all have the ability to download, print, and read for yourselves. The truth is the truth, and its simply childish when you disregard it because you don't like it.

Now I move on to Kanye, and I actually feel bad giving him attention because I feel that's what he's after in the first place. For those who did not watch or haven't found out yet, country artist Taylor Swift won the award for Best Female Video at tonight's VMA's. As she was making her acceptance speech, rapper Kanye West walked onto the stage uninvited, grabbed her mic, and said:

 “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!”

...then walked back to his seat, where MTV officials eventually asked him to leave. What a fucking asshole. Taylor Swift is a teenager and Kanye is a grown ass man who should have some common sense. Here is this girl who is having one of the best moments of her life, and some jerk ruins it for her and makes her cry backstage. He's done this before too, and whenever he comes out with a new album, it still sells like hotcakes. I'm all for people speaking their minds, but sometimes there is an appropriate time and place. Like I said before, I feel like I walked right into a trap because I'm giving him the attention that he wants, but I feel its safe to say Kanye West and any of his protoge artists will never get another dime from me.