Author: Paul

The Bible On Marriage

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Mr. Speaker, the President’s presidential prayer team is urging us to “pray for the President as he seeks wisdom on how to legally codify the definition of marriage. Pray that it will be according to Biblical principles.”

With that in mind, I thought I would remind the body of the biblical principles they are talking about.

Marriage shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. That is from Genesis 29:17-28.

Secondly, marriage shall not impede a man’s right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. That is II Samuel 5:13 and II Chronicles 11:21.

A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. That is Deuteronomy 22:13.

Marriage of a believer and a nonbeliever shall be forbidden. That is Genesis 24:3.

Finally, it says that since there is no law that can change things, divorce is not possible, and finally, if a married man dies, his brother has to marry his sister-in-law. Gen. 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10

Congressman Jim McDermott addressing the House of Representatives

(Of course this is if you believe in the bible in the first place..which I don’t. That’s a post for another time.)

Fuck Bush!

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I would like to spend the time to give my opinion and express my outrage at what Bush has done lately but I’ll simply share these two pictures for now and express my opinion later. Also, enjoy the 12 reasons why Homosexuals shouldn’t marry…thanks to Sam and Mark!

Top 12 Reasons Why Homosexuals Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Marry

1. Homosexuality is not natural, much like left handedness. Of course, many children were punished over the years for not using the right hand.
2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people can’t legally get married because the world needs more children.
3. Obviously, gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
4. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if Gay marriage is allowed — as if Britney Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage was meaningful.
5. Heterosexual marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all. Other matrimonial truths to consider: women are property, blacks can’t marry whites, and divorce is illegal.
6. Gay marriage should be decided by people, not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of the minorities.
7. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.
8. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
9. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
10. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why single parents are forbidden to raise children.
11. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven’t adapted to things like cars, computers or longer lifespans.
12. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name, are better, because a “separate but equal” institution is always ethical and constitutional. Separate schools for African-Americans worked just as well as separate marriages for gays and lesbians will.

Dean Is Out…Nader Is In

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Dean is out. What a shame. I was a supporter of Deans since the beginning. But just before Iowa, when he was dubbed the front runner by the press and many poles, I felt his head had gotten too big and his demise was inevitable. I supported Dean’s stance against the war in Iraq. I supported his ideas for healthcare in America. I was with him all the way. But his head just got too big. He was full of himself. His speech after the Iowa caucus clinched it for me. He looked like an idiot. I have to give him credit though. He did have a strong grassroots following. He took advantage of the internet. And I believe he has changed the way politicians do business. The internet can’t be ignored anymore in terms of getting your message out and gaining followers. That’s the one thing Dean did well. I’m sure politicians in the future will take advantage of the internet the same way Dean was able to. What Dean needs to do now is pick a candidate and encourage all his supporters to get behind that candidate to guarantee a win in November.

I’m mad as hell with Ralph Nader. I can’t believe he is going to do this again. What is he thinking? Does he want to loose again? We all know it’s his fault for loosing in 2000, no matter what he says about other votes. If he wasn’t in the race in 2000 surely those votes would have gone to Gore and he would have easily won. What Ralph should do is wait until the convention and THEN suggest his supporters back whomever is nominated. That would show that the democratic party is together and all in it for change. There are enough non-democrats out there who are furious with what Bush has done to make the democratic party strong. We don’t need Ralph stirring things up and giving voters another option to waste their votes. I don’t think Ralph will get the support he had in 2000. I heard on Good Morning America this morning that his own supporters are against his getting into the race. I hope he is unable to get his name on the ballot in all 50 states. Believe it or not, there was a decent article on MTV news about Nader joining the race. It was an interesting read and included all the statistics about the 2000 election and how it would have been different had he not run. It’s worth a read. It pointed out how strong supporters of his in 2000, like controversial Michael Moore, won’t be supporting him this time around. I just hope people have matured and come around enough to know they shouldn’t waste their votes on Nader. There isn’t a chance in hell he’ll win AND if they truly want change, they MUST vote for the democratic candidate in November. It’s the only way.

No More Sex…For Now

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It has ended. Sex and The City ended last night on HBO. The final episode ended rather predictably. All the story lines were buttoned up nicely. Samantha fell in love with Smith and decided she wanted to have a monogamous relationship. Charlotte finally heard word that she would get a baby from China after finding out the country couple decided to keep their baby. Miranda will have Steve’s mother move in with them after she had a little stroke. She will be happy in Brooklyn. And lastly, Carrie tired of Aleksandr and was ready to leave Paris when she ran into Big in the lobby of the posh hotel she was staying in. Big came to her rescue and took her back to New York, where she belongs.

The episode ends with Carrie walking down the streets of New York when she gets a cell phone call. She answers it and we see the name John on the display. This is when we finally find out that Big’s real name is John. All these years of watching the show, we have never known Big’s name. We now know. We have placed a name with a face. It was a good ending. Some say Carrie should have stayed single. I think the show left that open. It’s not like Big purposed to her. It’s not like they got married. Big just said she’s the one. I think this means that Carrie is back in New York, back to her writing, back to her friends and the possibility of a long lasting relationship with Big is there.

There has also been talk of a movie in the works. If so, I think they can pick up right where the final episode left off. We can see how Miranda makes out with Steve’s mom living with them. We can find out how Charlotte fairs with a child in her life. We can also find out if Samantha and Smith make it in the long run. And of course, we can find out if Big and Carrie get married and life happily ever after. I think there is plenty of material here to create a feature film. Or even bring the series back some time in the future (doubt that would happen though).

I read it on web sites and heard it on different news shows that HBO filmed three different endings to the series. I certainly hope they include those alternate endings in the DVD release that is sure to come. I would like to find out what those other endings might be. I would hope one wouldn’t be Carrie staying in Paris and being with Aleksandr. That would be criminal.

All in all it was a wonderful series that gave us a relatively realistic (for some I suppose) look at single women in New York. Some of the things were out there and unrealistic but the friendships and relationships portrayed in the series were real enough. We connected with these women like we would with our own friends.

“The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you find someone to love the you you love, well, that’s just fabulous.”

Dinner With David

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I’m sitting here at the reliable iMac on a lazy Sunday afternoon, listening to Norah Jones’ “Come Away With Me” (on iTunes) reflecting on my Saturday night. Time to record the happenings no matter how trivial they may seem to others.

Brad and I were meeting my friend David for dinner tonight. We decided to go shopping first. I picked Brad up at 4:00 and we drove the back roads from his house to Landmark Mall. Now, I’ve lived here for 38 of my 39 years and I could not tell you the way Brad directed me to get to Landmark Mall from his house. It’s so strange that I have lived here so long and don’t know the back roads to get to places without having to go on the beltway. Brad is amazing that way. He’s been here half the time I have and knows so many more ways to get places. I guess I should get out more. Anyway, we get to Landmark Mall and begin looking for a store called “As Seen On TV”. I have been looking for this goofy product that puts lotion on your back for you. I can never reach the center of my back and never have anyone around to do it for me. So I end up having an itchy back often. For years I’ve been looking for something to put the lotion on my back for me. My friend David found such a product and sent me the link to it. I thought about ordering it but he told me that there is an ‚”As Seen On TV” store in Landmark Mall. So Brad and I went there looking for the Lotion Applicator. We breeze through the Mall and find the store and I go ahead and buy one, not knowing if it will work or not. I’ll give it a try. We then cruise the rest of the mall looking at other stores and seeing what all they have there. A few things come to mind while walking the halls of Landmark. First, there are very few national chain stores in this mall. It seems like the mall has gone down hill. Most of the stores are junk shops. It’s like all the good stores up and left. Second, Brad and I were two of maybe 10 white people in this mall. I couldn’t get over how many nationalities were represented in the mall. If you have a liking for ethnic men, you would have a field day at this mall. And not only is the mall now filled with foreigners, but the only other white people in the mall had to be transplanted white trash. This is not the mall for people watching. Everyone was ugly or fat or ugly AND fat. Not that I’m a prize or anything but I know good looking people when I see them. These people were not. With our little bit of shopping over, we left the united nations mall and went to the Wal-mart in Kingstowne. Yet another place filled with white trash and foreigners. When I first began going to Wal-mart at Kingstowne a good 6 years ago, there wasn’t anyone there and the traffic and parking were acceptable. Now you have to fight for a spot and wait in long lines at the traffic lights. I can’t believe how much that area has changed. I go there so rarely. Usually my friend David, who lives over there, usually comes by my place or picks me when we do something together. I rarely go to his place. After our adventures in shopping, Brad and I decided to head over to David’s house and pick him up for dinner.

David and Brad waiting to be seated.We got to David’s place a little early but that’s okay because David knows I’m always 10 minutes early. He met Brad and gave us a tour of his house and told of the latest projects he’s been working on. We then decided to go to Macaroni Grill for dinner. We drove over to Macaroni Grill and parked. The lot was packed and it didn’t look good for an easy seating. We checked and sure enough it was going to be a 55 minute wait. I was already hungry and didn’t want to wait. We decided to cross the street and walk over to Uno’s. We got there and there was only a 15 minute wait. I put my name on the list and we sat and talked while waiting. I took a few pictures of Brad and David waiting to be seated. They both hate having their pictures taken. I think Brad hates it more though. In just a few minutes we were seated and ordering. We had a very cute waiter. A very young blond thing that couldn’t have been more then 22 or so. I didn’t comment on the waiter at the time but I am now. Brad and I shared a pizza and David had some salmon. The meal was good and we enjoyed some nice conversation. Brad got to know David and David got to know Brad. Since this was their first meeting, Brad was very nervous to begin with. Approving of a new boyfriend is what good friends are for. They will also tell you if you are making a mistake. Luckily David hasn’t had to tell me too often of my mistakes but I know he’d be honest and tell me if he thought I was making a mistake. After paying the check, we settled on going to Dairy Queen for ice cream (how appropriate for 3 gay guys to go to Dairy Queen, even though we are not queens at all). We drove the short trip to DQ and went inside. Brad and David had blizzards and I just had some chocolate ice cream with caramel topping. We sat and enjoy the ice cream even with the chilly wind blowing outside. Brad asked me to help him finish his and I agreed. Ha Ha Ha. While Brad went to the restroom after we finished, David and I went outside and he informed me that he approved of Brad and thought he was a very nice guy. I knew he’d approve. After the ice cream we went back to David’s house. He showed us some fun things on his computer and all his new gadgets. I also wanted him to show Brad my web page and blog on his computer. Brad still has dial up at home with an older computer and things don’t look as clear or load as fast as they do on other computers. Brad and Paul at dinner.It was getting late, for Brad and I, so we thanked David for getting together with us and for the ice cream and we left. Going home I took the beltway to get back to Brad’s house. The traffic was nothing at that time and I knew the way. Back at Brad’s house I wasn’t going to spend the night because Brad was very tired and really needed a good night’s sleep without me in the bed kicking him or snoring and keeping him awake. But he talked me into staying over. Again, I slept well and Brad didn’t. I told him I felt so bad that he wasn’t sleeping when I stay over. He said it would get better with time. I hope so. I hate I’m keeping him from getting a good night’s sleep. I mean, it’s wonderful holding each other and chatting before falling asleep and then again when we wake up but if he doesn’t sleep in between, he’ll be tired all day. So after dressing and putting a hat on my bed head, I left Brad to attend his long standing breakfast group and to do his taxes. I’ll call him later to check on how his day is going. Brad gives me a good feeling. I like it.