Gay Marriage in NJ

For those of you who didnt see this today, and interesting article on the legal fight in NJ

Traditional Marriage

So today in a horrid class that I am taking, the professor told us that people who say that tradition is a reason for preventing same sex marriage dont understand history. He told us that in the past, if my brother married a woman I would be prevented from marrying her sister, or if my sister married a man I would be prevented from marrying her sister. Since these are allowed now, obviously same sex marriage should be allowed. This seems a fallacy to me because in neither of these examples was anyone marrying a person of the same sex. The way I understood the traditional marriage argument was not that marriage hasn't changed in the last 6000 years, but that while same sex relationship have existed for a long time, same sex marriage has never been permitted. Now my understanding may be flawed because I dont argue in favor of same sex marriage and so never hear the arguments against it (other than my own obviously and I dont use the traditional marraige argument). So I ask you my liberal readership, do people actually argue that marriage has not changed ever and so we shouldnt change it now, or is my professor a quack?

The Answer

A booger is born in your nose.

A comparison

So I am a large guy. I know this, everyone who sees me knows this, it is just a fact of life. This last week, I had the experience of urinating in two different airport bathrooms. I know this sounds like a dirty joke, but bear with me. First, Las Vegas. Las Vegas has a newer airport. I went into the bathroom, did my business and walked out. (Of course I washed my hands, that is included in doing my business.) St. Louis on the other hand, has an older airport. I went in there and was sadly disappointed. Now for the female readership who has never been in a men's room, the urinals typically have little wall barriers to prevent peaking. In St. Louis these walls were so close together that my shoulders were touching the walls. My options were either wedge myself in, or stand back and se how good I was at long distance shooting. Now if you are like me you tend to try to touch as little as possible in a public bathroom, but despite the temptation, I decided it best if I didnt whip out willy in the middle of the room and see what I could hit. To prevent this story from getting more graphic, lets just sum up with, I am by far not the largest person on the planet, and while I am a big guy, if I have trouble fitting in at a urinal, there are a lot of people that just dont have the option of urinating in St. Louis. All in all, I give the St. Louis airport bathroom a 0 out of 5, and Las Vegas gets a 5 out of 5.

funny video

how superman should have ended

Catch-22

So on my days off, I like to do a little light reading. Lately I have been reading Catch-22 again and came across this dialogue between a pilot and a doctor that seemed relevant to conversations we have had here in the past. Here it is.

"Turn on the light,' Dunbar said.

'There is no light. I dont feel like starting my generator. I used to get a big kick out of saving people's lives. Now I wonder what the hell's the point, since they all have to die anyway.'

'Oh, there's a point all right', Dunbar assured him.

'Is there? What is the point?'

'The point is to keep them from dying as long as you can.'

'Yeah, but what's the point, since they all have to die anyway?'

'The trick is not to think about that.'

'Never mind the trick. What the hell's the point.'

Dunbar pondered in silence for a few moments, 'Who the hell knows."

Happy Halloween

I know it is early but this should make you as excited as foley at a page convention.

Follow up to Roswell

Recently I passed on an email I had recieved that many leaders of the democratic party were born exactly 9 months after the spaceship crashed in Roswell. It was pointed out that this information was wrong. But it got me thinking. After further research I want to be the first to report that Alex Rogriguez, Derek Jeter, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui, Bobby Abreu, and Johnny Damon were all born exactly nine months after the partial meltdown at three mile island. Coincedence? I think not.

Avs

So the NHL season has started. My beloved Avs blew a 2 goal third period lead and lost in overtime. If this is indicative of the rest of the season, I am going to be unhappy for the next f months.

My simple life

Are you ready? This is my confessional post. I don't want to be a lawyer. I don't want to be a doctor. I don't want to be an engineer, architect, accountant, computer scientist, mailman, soldier, or politician. I want to be a farmer.

At the end of this summer, I had about two weeks in which I spent most of the time sitting and thinking about the different issues in the world. I spent a day on abortion, a day on government, a day on stem cells, etc. At the end of the day, I felt that I had defined in my own head the problem better and come to a solution that I felt comfortable with. My solution, I felt, took into account the strongest and weakest arguments of both sides. I don't mean that each side would be happy with my conclusion, but no matter what argument I was presented with, I felt I had considered it and had an answer ready.

These last two paragraphs probably seem disjointed to you, so I am going to join them. If I were a farmer, I could contribute something to society by growing food. I would be helping others, and at the same time it is a lifestyle that does not require constant mental effort the way many of today's popular careers do. The two weeks this summer, I felt my mind opening up, and I felt I could see, comprehend, and analyze more deeply all of the great conundrums of human existence. That made me feel more alive.

Now I am back at school and while I still think, now it is about mootness and ripeness and other legal falsehoods that matter to less than 1% of the people in the world. I miss thinking about great things and I feel that it is a sign of the rest of my life. I fear that in choosing a profession which needs thought, I have relegated myself to a life of thinking little thoughts.

Hi Matt

I often sit next to Matt in class. He often checks my blog during class and I feel bad if there is nothing new for him to read. Since I have my computer today I thought I would say hi. Maybe to get a laugh I will quote a riddle I got from Calvin and Hobbes. "What is the difference between a slug and a two inch long living booger?"

Codeine

is my new favorite treatment for a sore throat. It works wonders.

Sick

So the last two days I have not been feeling well. I am planning on going to the clinic tomorrow just to check if it is strep because my throat really hurts and I am very susceptible to strep. I dont tell you this to garner sympathy, no. I tell you this because tomorrow I will have one of my least favorite conversations with a doctor. It goes something like this.

Doctor: "Let's take your temperature. 99.3, a little high, but within normal range."

Me: "Doctor, my normal temperature is 96.8"

Doctor: "Uh-huh." Said as though I couldnt tell the difference between my head and my...you know what.

Why they gotta be such jerks about it? I am going to make sure to cough really hard in his/her face just so they can take their own temperature and then talk to me about normal range.