OK...so he arrives in California around 1998 and determines that California is the next big thing for the next 50 years??? The next Chicago? Pleeeeeezee...
Where has this guy been?
California has been the next instant source of wealth since well before the gold rush! The bubble wasn't the first time silicon valley became the center of the universe - take a look at the first PC boom/bust of the 80's.
Sorry to be so provincial here, but being a California native I have a bone to pick about the characterization of California. Sure, we are all totally super nice out here and polite and all of that (um - yeah right) - but keep in mind, most of the people from here ARE transplants.
I'm a native of the Bay Area and have lived here all my life - I can count the number of people on maybe one hand who I know can say the same. So the attitude has little to do California or Silicon Valley.
I took a detour to New York for a year and a half in the mid-nineties. While I found that most New Yorkers did have a rough crusty exterior, once you get passed that they are as warm as anyone from CA. Not only that - but friendships (like startup ventures), have a tendency to be somewhat transitory in California. I found the opposite on the other coast.
That said I wouldn't live anywhere else - but to each their own.
...and that's just the point. Government DOES define marriage and DOES give certain rights based on that type of a union. Civil unions DO NOT give equal rights to those provided under a marriage.
Marriage was never about "romantic love" until the Victorian Era. It was an institution created to perpetuate land ownership and money - in order to "keep it in the family". Marriage institution was co-opted by religion to promote a certain type of behavior and control that the church was trying to achieve.
There was also a very good article about how "romantic love" has change the way we view marriage in the last 100+ years in The New Yorker a few months ago.
My wife and I have rights (and obligations, for that matter), that my cousin and her partner do not - even though they have made the same life commitment as us as well as pay their taxes. And the two of them even served in the armed forces!
The child-rearing argument is tired. Fewer and fewer couples in the US and other educated countries are even having children. Many married couples are specifically deciding NOT to have children. I have gay couples who have taken responsibilty for rearing disabled and foster children who would otherwise not had caring parents. These couples are certainly much more responsible with their children than many of the middle aged BoBo's who have had children in order to check another item off on their life's to do list.
If you want to have the religion/separation-of-church-and-state argument, then you should be prepared to pull your religous influence out of things like "Right to choose", the words "Under God" in the pledge of allegiance, and "In God We Trust" on the dollar bill (just to name a few!)
The most depressing thing about this whole thread is that people need to cloak their homophobia in "righteous arguments".
We had a variation on this for PC systems:
"Looks like the keyboard driver is malfunctioning."
Most people didn't realize they were driving the keyboard...
They made exactly the same mistake as USA Today (of course, USA Today probably rehashed the same press release as Wired to write their article).
DROIDS was the first Star Wars cartoon, not this new one.
When I read it in Wired, it just reinforced my feelings that Wired is just a "Poser-Geek/Nerd" mag. What self-respecting Star Wars/LOTR/The Matrix-Laptop/PDA-Carrying-Nerd wouldn't know that?
When I discussed this with my wife, she suggested I send a "Letter to the Editor" to Wired pointing out their mistake - but I replied that I didn't want to be "The Comic Book Guy" from the Simpsons.
Her reply..."Too late..."
Having been the target of a/. DOS Attack ("This account has exceeded it's bandwidth quota and has been temporarily disabled."), do you think backfire security will retaliate agains CowboyNeal?
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OK...so he arrives in California around 1998 and determines that California is the next big thing for the next 50 years??? The next Chicago? Pleeeeeezee...
Where has this guy been?
California has been the next instant source of wealth since well before the gold rush! The bubble wasn't the first time silicon valley became the center of the universe - take a look at the first PC boom/bust of the 80's.
Sorry to be so provincial here, but being a California native I have a bone to pick about the characterization of California. Sure, we are all totally super nice out here and polite and all of that (um - yeah right) - but keep in mind, most of the people from here ARE transplants.
I'm a native of the Bay Area and have lived here all my life - I can count the number of people on maybe one hand who I know can say the same. So the attitude has little to do California or Silicon Valley.
I took a detour to New York for a year and a half in the mid-nineties. While I found that most New Yorkers did have a rough crusty exterior, once you get passed that they are as warm as anyone from CA. Not only that - but friendships (like startup ventures), have a tendency to be somewhat transitory in California. I found the opposite on the other coast.
That said I wouldn't live anywhere else - but to each their own.
...and that's just the point. Government DOES define marriage and DOES give certain rights based on that type of a union. Civil unions DO NOT give equal rights to those provided under a marriage.
a rriage.htm
h ronicle/archive/2004/02/27/MNGSK59NGM1.DTL
For one such comparison, go here:
http://lesbianlife.about.com/cs/wedding/a/unionvm
Marriage was never about "romantic love" until the Victorian Era. It was an institution created to perpetuate land ownership and money - in order to "keep it in the family". Marriage institution was co-opted by religion to promote a certain type of behavior and control that the church was trying to achieve.
For a scientific view on this see:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c
There was also a very good article about how "romantic love" has change the way we view marriage in the last 100+ years in The New Yorker a few months ago.
My wife and I have rights (and obligations, for that matter), that my cousin and her partner do not - even though they have made the same life commitment as us as well as pay their taxes. And the two of them even served in the armed forces!
The child-rearing argument is tired. Fewer and fewer couples in the US and other educated countries are even having children. Many married couples are specifically deciding NOT to have children. I have gay couples who have taken responsibilty for rearing disabled and foster children who would otherwise not had caring parents. These couples are certainly much more responsible with their children than many of the middle aged BoBo's who have had children in order to check another item off on their life's to do list.
If you want to have the religion/separation-of-church-and-state argument, then you should be prepared to pull your religous influence out of things like "Right to choose", the words "Under God" in the pledge of allegiance, and "In God We Trust" on the dollar bill (just to name a few!)
The most depressing thing about this whole thread is that people need to cloak their homophobia in "righteous arguments".
We had a variation on this for PC systems: "Looks like the keyboard driver is malfunctioning." Most people didn't realize they were driving the keyboard...
They made exactly the same mistake as USA Today (of course, USA Today probably rehashed the same press release as Wired to write their article). DROIDS was the first Star Wars cartoon, not this new one. When I read it in Wired, it just reinforced my feelings that Wired is just a "Poser-Geek/Nerd" mag. What self-respecting Star Wars/LOTR/The Matrix-Laptop/PDA-Carrying-Nerd wouldn't know that? When I discussed this with my wife, she suggested I send a "Letter to the Editor" to Wired pointing out their mistake - but I replied that I didn't want to be "The Comic Book Guy" from the Simpsons. Her reply..."Too late..."
Having been the target of a /. DOS Attack ("This account has exceeded it's bandwidth quota and has been temporarily disabled."), do you think backfire security will retaliate agains CowboyNeal?