This week California became just the second state to legally recognize same-sex marriages, joining Massachusetts. The Golden State’s Supreme Court overturned the ban on same-sex marriage (Proposition 22) last month by a narrow 4-3 margin; and the ruling went into effect this week. You’ve probably seen television coverage of George Takei, perhaps better known as Mr. Sulu, and his partner of 21-years, Brad Altman, amongst the first to their marriage license. They plan to marry one another this September.

Here is a summary of the ruling:

Relevant Constitutional Text:

Section 7 of the California State Constitution, which reads in part:

(a) A person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or denied equal protection of the laws ...

(b) A citizen or class of citizens may not be granted privileges or immunities not granted on the same terms to all citizens.

The Verdict:

In a 4-3 ruling, the California Supreme Court held that the terminology of marriage contains within itself many intangible benefits. To intentionally deny one class of citizens these benefits without meeting a strict scrutiny standards violates Section 7's equal protection guarantees.

My reaction to all of this: It’s about fucking time! And quite frankly, it’s an abomination that in these United States of America there are only two states with high courts that have the courage enough to uphold the ideals of Freedom and Liberty that this country was supposedly founded upon. This ruling explains that it is not enough to simply allow for civil-unions, but that “the terminology of marriage contains within itself many intangible benefits.” And therein lays the crux of the issue: No matter how similar marriages are to civil-unions in the eyes of the law, the very act of separation creates an unfair distinction. The concept of marriage is as ubiquitous to the human experience as, oh, say, drinking from a water fountain when you are thirsty. Creating this type of distinct between what type of marriage two people can enter into, and disallowing one group of people, a minority group, from entering into the well established version, is absolutely akin to the “separate but equal” Jim Crow laws that were abolished in 1965.

I’m sorry to inform the people who feel that this latest ruling has somehow encroached upon their rights, but this country is not beholden to the Bible; it is beholden to the Constitution. This country was founded on the separation of church and state. People are actually talking about amending their state’s, and even our nation’s, Constitution to ban certain people from doing something that the majority of the world has been allowed to do for thousands of years. This is an anathema to everything the United States, or any free society, stands for.

And unless you adhere to a rigid, archaic interpretation of the Bible, cherry-picking certain passages, a ban on same-sex marriage is patently un-Christian and contradicts the teachings of Jesus Christ that the greatest of all virtues is to love and be just towards one’s fellow man.

You will hear opponents to same-sex marriage saying that this decision somehow invalidates their marriage; or that it is contributing to the erosion of the moral fabric of our society. You will hear them say that marriage between a man and woman is the only way because that is how we perpetuate our species.

I will say that, after seeing people travel across the country to get married, and after seeing the joy on George and Brad’s faces, after seeing lesbian couple Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, both in their 80s and together for 55 years, tie the knot, the value of and the appreciation for my marriage has only increased. I will say that hypocritical leaders and politicians who self-righteously preach family-values in order to win elections, and then find themselves standing before a press conference having to admit that they cheated on their wives, do far more to tear away at our moral fabric. I will say that the fact that two members of the same sex can love one another, the fact that love is not simply a biological process meant for procreation, does more to prove the existence of a beneficent God than all the scriptures combined.

Whatever personal views you may have on this subject are of course well within your rights. But what no one has the right to do in this country, or any country for that matter, is to let those personal views infringe on the way another person chooses to live his or her life.

Upon receiving his marriage license, George Takei, in his charmingly corny way, split his fingers into the Vulcan hand salute and said, “I see before me people who personify love and commitment. We are first and foremost delighted. It's a landmark day. It's going to be the only day like this in our lives and it is the only day like this in the history of America. I think it's a glorious California morning to make history. Congratulations to all of us. May equality live long and prosper." Well said, Mr. Sulu. Mr. Spock would be proud.

Arbitrary Commentary

• Upon leaving the moving public memorial services for Tim Russert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., minutes after Somewhere Over the Rainbow played on a eukalaly, this is what greeted the roughly one thousand people in attendance:

A rare double rainbow. Wow. I'm not saying, I'm just saying...

• In case you haven't been following the latest political news of the day, our government , in passing the FISA bill that President Bush has been pushing for, continues to wipe its ass with our Constitution, as they shred the 4th Amendment. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/opinion/18wed1.html

Actually, I just realized that you can see me in the french blue polo on the right side of the image jockeying for a place with my video camera over the heads of other media folks in front of me.  That's highly entertaining.

In fact, here I am too, filming the opening press conference (blurred, sitting down, french blue polo again, left side): 

I have no idea why I find these photos so amusing. 

Really all I wanted to say was that it was incredibly exciting being present at such a historic moment - and that the media are kind of like man-eating piranhas (whom I apparently fit in too well with, because I forcibly ejected from the main room after disobeying the "no filming" policy).  Oh - and that I never want forget the sound of the small tinkling bells mingled with applause inside the gym everytime someone's number was called to go up and get their marriage license. 

I'm not a big proponent of marriage, at least not marriage in an assimilationist way (unless that's what you want); however, it was nonetheless an incredibly moving event to witness.  Also, have I mentioned that I was paid to be at this event?  How cool is my job!     

For more photos of the media circus that occurred at the park when WeHo started handing out marriage licenses on Tuesday, check out the West Hollywood Gets Married photostream on the City of West Hollywood's official Flickr account.

(Photo credits: Brett White) 

Takei recibió su licencia para casarse el martes , seguido de muchas otras parejas homosexuales que ahora podrán contraer matrimonio en California. La pareja se casará en septiembre y después visitarán Buenos Aires, las cataratas de Iguazú en Argentina y Lima, Machu Pichu y Cuzco en Perú.

El actor reveló que su padrino sería Walter Koenig, quien interpretaba a Chekov, y que su madrina será la actriz Nichelle Nichols, que hacía de Uhura. El actor que personificaba al Dr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy, estará entre los invitados.

Takei, de 71 años, eligió Sudamérica ya que habla español, idioma que aprendió en el colegio.

O ator George Takei, o capitão Sulu da série Jornadas nas Estrelas, conseguiu nesta terça-feira [17.06.2008] em West Hollywood, licença para se casar com seu parceiro, Brad Altman.

Takei é a primeira celebridade gay a conseguir licença para se casar desde que a Suprema Corte do Estado da Califórnia aprovou no mês passado o casamento civil entre pessoas do mesmo sexo.

O ator, de 71 anos, planeja se casar com Altam, de 54 anos, no dia 14 de setembro de 2008.

George Takei, que recentemente estrelou a série Heroes, anunciou publicamente que era gay em outubro de 2005, em uma entrevista a revista Frontiers.

O estado da Califórnia é governado pelo ex-ator Arnold Schwarzenegger. Na foto, George Takei (à direita) e Brad Altman.

Leia mais clicando aqui.

UPDATE - 20.06.2008, 16h08min - Segundo o TerraSeries, George Takei e Brad Altman pretendem passar a lua-de-mel na América do Sul, e a viagem vai incluir as Cataratas do Iguaçu, no Brasil.

and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

*Listen: A piece from NPR's "All Things Considered" on rocking CEOs. And I do mean "rocking." With the "g." [whyifailed]

*How high gas prices crush touring bands: "Covering the 635 miles to San Francisco takes about 37 gallons of gas each way. With gas well over $4, that's more than $300 for a round trip." [idolator]

*Games: JamsMatch is like playing online concentration, but with album covers. [mefi]

*Play: Rock Band through Facebook. NOTHING gets you further away from the experience of actually rocking. Or your money back. (But not your private data.)

*Read: Method Man wrote a graphic novel: "If you're trying to appeal to 13-year-olds and 12-year-olds, that's cool — make a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie! Which they did, and I liked that movie." [pop candy]

*Now playing: Watch music videos from Universal Music Group artists on Last.fm.

*Festivals: The full Lollapalooza lineup here.

*Off topic: George Takei is getting gay married.

*I don't know why, but the fact that the Olsen Twins like Cat Power brings me pleasure.

*Goodbye.

Let's be clear; opponents of same-sex marriage are homophobic. There's no reason to oppose lesbian and gays having the legal right to marry, but the belief that it's wrong for LGBT people to have the same civil rights as heterosexuals: and that is a homophobic belief.

The justifications for why it's "wrong" are all illogical. Maggie begins her argument with "Gay men are promiscuous!" (Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon points out that if consensual promiscuity were a reason for banning marriage for all, straight marriage has to be banned too.) In part of course Maggie is just presenting a naively homophobic argument - it's okay for straights to get married even though some of them will be openly polyamorous within marriage, but gays have all got to behave far better than straights if they want to be "permitted" the right. But mostly, I think Maggie begins her argument with this because she wants to summon the familiar prejudices against gay men, and "they're all promiscuous!" is certainly one of them.

Moving on to Maggie's next "point", she mentions:

Same-sex marriages are tailing off rapidly, after what the New York Times describes as “an initial euphoric rush to the altar.” In Massachusetts, that rush included residents of other states — as indicated by the New York Times headline of May 18, 2004: “Despite Uncertainties, Out-of-Staters Line Up to Marry.” The latest data indicate that 867 gay weddings took place in Massachusetts in the first eight months of 2007, down from 6,121 gay weddings in the first six months of 2004.

This is the same pattern seen in other jurisdictions where same-sex marriage has been allowed.

Yes, Maggie, it is. And a little thought - or even a little examination of the marriages taking place in the first few months - would tell you why this pattern is common to all countries and states where same-sex marriage, or civil union equal to marriage. Because couples who have been together for decades, who have committed their lives to each other, who are given the chance to marry, will do so. Immediately.

Once all the couples who have been waiting for ten, twenty, forty years to be able to marry are married, of course there's an apparent fall in the marriage rate. There is no more backlog, so the marriage rate steadies to a normal rate.

I noted in a post I just recently republished from GJ that opposing same-sex marriage is in general tied in with racism and sexism (Why do people get so panicky about falling birthrates?), so it shouldn't surprise anyone that Maggie Gallagher is dismissive of Mildred Loving (Mildred: "I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people civil rights." Maggie, dismissively: "if the word 'marriage' can be redefined as a civil-rights imperative").

By the end of her rant, though, Maggie has moved on to the Christian platform: not the platform of this kind of evangelical Christian, but the Christianity of the Gay Hatin' Gospel, that believes homophobia is central to Christianity and asserts that anti-gay discrimination, persecution, and bullying are Christian activities: therefore interference with a Christian's discrimination against LGBT people is a threat to religious freedom.

That's what Maggie means when she writes:

Many of the harshest legal conflicts could be alleviated with religious-exemption legislation. But gay-marriage advocates will fight those religious exemptions tooth and nail (as they did in Massachusetts when the Catholic Church asked for one for Catholic Charities) because, they will say, it’s the principle of the thing: We wouldn’t give a religious-liberty exemption to a racist, so why should someone who opposes gay marriage get one?

Conservative gay-marriage advocates like Andrew Sullivan may well tut tut that they don’t really agree with, say, kicking Catholic Charities out of the adoption business. If it were left it up to guys like them, they probably would not do it. But it won’t be left up to them (and they can hardly be expected to fall on their swords to prevent it either.)

No "gay marriage advocates" agreed with "kicking Catholic Charities out of the adoption business". None whatsoever. It wasn't any gay marriage advocate that ordered Catholic Charities out of the adoption business: it was Sean Cardinal O'Malley, who considered that promoting Catholic doctrine that same-sex couples can't be good parents was more important that allowing Catholic Charities to continue to find good parents - gay or straight - to care for children in need.

Maggie appears to lay blame for the closure of Catholic Charities, not where it rightly belongs, but on the anti-discrimination laws that the Catholic Church decided they did not want Catholic Charities to obey. This is a fairly standard way of thinking for bigots: they see as the "problem" the anti-discrimination laws that check what they find "natural", discrimination against their object of bigotry. A bigot who can self-identify as a bigot is at least halfway to being able to quit bigotry: the nature of bigotry is the conviction that the negative feelings the bigot has for X (black people, women, LGBT people) are the natural and normal way to feel.

Religious belief is no excuse for extra-religious persecution. The Catholic Church has a right to decree that no Catholic priest is allowed to be openly gay - that from now on they will ordain self-hating complete closet cases only, because they want no more priests like Mychal Judge, they only want priests like these men. That's religious business. The Catholic Church has a right to order their priests not to marry in church two people who aren't able to conceive children together: that's religious business. (Catholics may well argue that they want their Church to change, to cease to persecute even on religious grounds, but they have the right.)

In the Torah, in the same book and chapter as the Mosaic law against a man lying down with another man, the law says that a devout Jew may not eat meat cooked in the milk of its mother (the law that became the rule against mixing dairy and meat at meals); may not eat meat from a pig, or shellfish, or crustaceans. All of these things are abominations. A school which provides lunches for children would be engaging in (as Maggie says) "the official harassment and repression of traditional religious faiths" if it required all children to eat a set meal which included beef and cheese, or bacon. The solution is not to require the school to provide kosher food for all children, Jewish and gentile: nor to demand that Jewish parents send their children to school with a packed lunch if they want their children to respect religious dietary restrictions. The obvious, practical, respectful solution is to provide food choices, clearly labeled, so that all children can have a decent meal without offending against their family's religious traditions.

Maggie Gallagher's argument, like many another anti-marriage nutter's, is that it is "harassment and repression" not only to have the kosher options available in the canteen, but to ensure that the kids who choose the kosher options aren't then discriminated against for their choices.

She's oddly open about it:

The architects of this strategy have targeted marriage because it stands in the way of the America they want to create: They hope to use the law to reshape the culture in exactly the same way that the law was used to reshape the culture of the old racist south.

Exactly. Just as legislation forcing bigots to refrain from racist discrimination and persecution reshaped American culture: just as the legal right for couples like Richard and Mildred Loving to marry and have their marriage recognised reshaped personal and social reactions to "interracial marriage": so too will legislation forcing bigots to refrain from homophobic discrimination and persecution reshape American culture, so too will the legal right of George Takei and Brad Altman to marry, along with so many other happy couples who have been together for years and decades, reshape personal and social reactions to "homosexual marriage".

And Maggie Gallagher thinks this is a bad thing. Maggie argues that homophobia is a necessary, essential part of US culture: that if same-sex couples get married, this will do a great deal to reshape US culture away from homophobia: and that therefore same-sex marriage must be opposed. (No wonder Maggie dismisses the Loving arguments so contemptuously: her side lost the racist argument in the old south - the law changed, and America culture changed with it and because of it.)

"The meaning of marriage" to Maggie Gallagher is not loving or human: she sees marriage as an instrument to enforce bigotry, to oppose equality. She really is redefining marriage.

The location and date of each ceremony are under wraps, but Popsquire will keep you posted!

In the meantime, watch this coverage of the San Francisco wedding between Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 84, who have been a couple for over 55 years years. Enjoy!

UPDATE: George Takei and his partner, who have been together for 21 years, obtained a marriage license today and intend to wed on Sept. 14, according to E!Online.

Image stolen from Wikipedia!

About a month ago, California's state Supreme Court ruled that banning gay marriage, while allowing gays to have a civil union that is marriage in all but name, violated the state's constitution.

Well, begining at 5:01pm, PDT, gay and lesbian couples in California will be allowed to get married. Among those tying the knot will be George "Sulu" Takei. He had this to say on his site:

Brad and I have shared our lives together for over 21 years. We've worked in partnership; he manages the business side of my career and I do the performing. We've traveled the world together from Europe to Asia to Australia. We've shared the good times as well as struggled through the bad. He helped me care for my ailing mother who lived with us for the last years of her life. He is my love and I can't imagine life without him. Now, we can have the dignity, as well as all the responsibilities, of marriage. We embrace it all heartily.

I think that sums it up very nicely. It's not about special rights, or wanting to destroy heterosexual unions or bringing down our nation by wrecking Christian values. It's about love, pure and simple. It's about equality. It's about realizing that gay couples are couples just like straight ones, and deserve the same rights, freedoms and responsibilities as anyone else.

So congratulations to George Takei and his husband, Brad. Congrats to all those in California who are getting married today and in the future. Hopefully the rest of us will be able to join you soon.

Law is going to be passed today that will enable same sex couples the same opportunities as heterosexual couples to marry in the State of California. The law will permit same sex couples to wed as soon as today at 5pm. Most clerk offices close at that time but some are staying open later so that people who have been waiting for this law to be passed can marry!

The applications will be changed from "Bride and Groom" to "Partner A and Partner B".

"Our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation," wrote Chief Justice Ronald M. George. "An individual’s sexual orientation—like a person’s race or gender—does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."

Congrats!

1. His father named him after King George VI. That's awesome.
2. He spent much of his childhood in a Japanese American internment camp. That isn't awesome, of course, but despite the fact that such an experiment would make most people bitter and angry at the United States, Mr. Takei and his family continued to participate in public policy after they were released. George himself served as student council president in junior high, and later served for eleven years on the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit Direct. That is awesome.
3. He recently announced that he will be marrying his partner in September. George Takei has long been active in fighting for gay rights, and now that California has acknowledged the right for gay people to get married, he will be able to enjoy some of those hard-won rights by marrying his boyfriend, Brad Altman. That's awesome.

If you still doubt that George Takei is awesome, check out the Wikipedia article in his name, and his official website. Also check out this humorous public service announcement, clearly from a comedy variety show, though my efforts to find out which have been thwarted.

You can't tell me that isn't awesome.

Yesterday I went to see Adams Sandler's newest movie "You Don't Mess With The Zohan". Adam plays a counter terrorist for Israel. His dream is to to style hair. So he comes to the United States to live out his dream. I thought this movie would be very corny, but I was very wrong it was hilarious. This movie is a must see.

• Star Trek alum George Takei speaks to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on his interment experience. Want more news on the soon-to-be-wed Takei? Check out Wednesday's post on him here.

• Clint Eastwood, director of Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, responds to fellow director Spike Lee's criticism that Eastwood failed to include a single black soldier in the two WWII films: "A guy like him should shut his face."

• What does a $6,100 Densuke watermelon taste like? wonders the Daily Dish blog from the Los Angeles Times. Or better yet, what IS a Densuke watermelon? From said blog: "The 17-pound black melon is considered the cream of the crop, one of only 65 from the first harvest of the season. The fruit is only grown on the northern island of Hokkaido, adding to its value."

If you're expecting William Shatner to attend George Takei's and Brad Altman's gay wedding for the Shat to witness them get hitched in person, don't count on it. It's very unlikely that George Takei is going to invite the Shat to the wedding. Takei explained many times in interviews on TV that he had a fallen out with the Shat, in other words, not getting along with each other. The Shat still supports Takei by sending him wedding wishes even though he knows he won't be invited.

More on it here:

http://www.accesshollywood.com/article/9808/william-shatner-sends-wedding-wishes-to-george-takei/

It's good to see Shat still being supportive of George.

If you think William Shatner is a super nice guy with a wild sense of humor, in reality, I'm sure he is a complicated and difficult guy to get along with.

After Shat whining about not being in "Star Trek XI" for months and months, just shows it.

Kev

As reported earlier actor George Takei best known for his role as Mr. Sulu on Star Trek is getting married in a same sex marriage very soon. Unfortunately there are only 200 seats available for the ceremony and as Takei's partner, Brad Altman put it, "Our contact list has, like, 3,500 names, so we have to whittle it down and I don't know if William Shatner is going to make the cut."

It has been well publicized Takei's less than stellar opinion of Shatner over the years.

Takei says that the event will be a star-studded affair, with Walter Koenig, who played Chekhov on Star Trek, serving as best man and Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on the series, will be the matron of honor. Also in attendance will be Leonard Nimoy, who is famous for his Spock character. William Shatner, however, looks like he will be left off the guest list at the 200-seat affair.

If you, like Shatner, are one of the many who will not be attendance at the wedding, fear not, you can still catch the 71-year-old Takei in the new Adam Sandler movie You Don't Mess with the Zohan.

Vi här på nördredaktionen hittade den här lilla nyhetsnotisen: George Takei, som spelade Mr Sulu i den klassiska gamla Star Trek-serien, får sent omsider gifta sig med sin partner sedan 20 år efter att Kalifornien beslutat att tillåta homoäktenskap.

Det är ju bara att gratulera George så mycket. Och det råder ju ingen tvekan om att det här lär bli årets rymdbröllop nummer ett: Walter Koenig, alias Chekov i Star Trek och Bester i B5, ska vara best man och Nichelle Nichols (Uhura i Trek) ska vara "matron of honour". Och naturligtvis är Spock (Leonard Nimoy) bjuden.

Live long and prosper.

Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om tv, star trek, science fiction, george takei

This podcast boasts over a million downloads.  Hosted out of Chicago, it has one of the largest audiences of any comedy show out of there. It truly is one of the best things that Chicago has to offer.

The show  has won several awards including the People’s Choice Podcasting Award for “Best GLBT Podcast”  the first two years the award has been given out. It was one of ITune's 48 pioneering podcasting shows.  The accolades go on and on for this wonderful gem.

The show is the brain child of Puerto Rican born Fausto Fernos and his boyfriend & co-host,  Marc Felion. Produced out of their home, it offers a variety of comedy, music, gossip, interviews, commentary, pop culture, and other topics. There are a cast of regulars like  the ever so straight Amanda Steinstein offering her own brand of high pitch nasal comedic punch. John Q Sanchez comes in with his ever so patronizing opinions. While Sal-E energizes the group with his neo drag performing personality.

The podcast  is unlike anything out there. This is especially credited to Fernos who is the heart and creative force behind it. Feast of Fools is topical and intimate.  It is also over the top funny. They have had the likes of  George Takei, Kathy Griffin,  and Teri Garr on the show.  Every hot topic from the War in Iraq to Clay Aiken's sexuality has been discussed. It makes the Hot Topics on the View seem mundane. 

I discovered "FOF"  about four years ago.  It was a difficult period of my life. My partner had just gone through a bout with cancer and  a close family member had attempted suicide.  I just got an iPod.

 I remember finding the podcast on iTunes and downloading a show and listening to it during my long commute on the train to work.  I remember the looks I got from my fellow passengers when I busted out laughing.  It was that kind of laughing that cleared the mind and took all the grey out of the soul.   I have been a fan ever since then.

Feast of Fools has been more than an entertainment show. It has been a life line for many LGBT people ( especially young people) in many communities across the world, who are isolated, from any support resources. They also provide a unique voice within the LGBT community in examining itself on its own direction and morays.  It also acts a voice for the LGBTcommunity to the rest of the world.

FOF is not exclusively for the gay audience. It's humor and message is universal. It has a significant straight audience.  

Fernos and Felion make a great team.   In an age where Entertainment has become so corporate, the Feast of Fools is home grown but is first rate.

It is supported by donations or through the sale of their tee shirts.  There is no membership fee.  

You can download their podcasts for free at their web site at http://www.feastoffools.net/  and of course, you can also  download them from iTunes.  

The Big News this week - Hillary Clinton mentioned Robert Kennedy's 1968 campaign as an example to stay in the race for the Democratic presidential candidacy. We here at Big News enjoy Clinton's persistence, as it is the comedic foot-in-the-mouth that keeps giving. To salute Clinton, Big News wants to keep giving as well, so here's a group of bonus jokes! To join us in our salute to Teddy Kennedy, come on down to IOWest on Sunday night at 10 pm to catch Big News, and tip a few cocktails with the rest of the audience.

Barack Obama will stand in for Senator Ted Kennedy in a commencement speech at Wesleyan University. However, Obama plans to keep the spirit of Kennedy's speech alive by starting the day with 15 mimosas.

Israel and Syria announced Wednesday that they were holding indirect peace talks through Turkish mediators, the first official confirmation of contacts between the longtime enemies. Thanks Turkish Facebook!

South Africa's police chief said Monday that "anti-foreigner" violence in Johannesburg had killed 22 people over the past week. Death tolls from "Anti-Van Halen" violence remain in the hundreds.

In China, a 60-year old woman was pulled out from rubble caused by the Sichuan earthquake after 195 hours. Next week, the record will be challenged by David Blaine.

Fifteen women accused of witchcraft in Kenya were burnt to death by a mob of villagers. The women were accused of witchcraft after running a marathon in under 2 hours.

An American soldier used a Quran, the Islamic holy book, for target practice in an area west of Baghdad, prompting an apology from the U.S. military late Sunday. The soldier said he had wanted to use a copy of the US Constitution, but the current adminitration had already shot it full of holes.

A German mail company has accidentally processed a custom order for stamps bearing the likeness of Hitler's former deputy. The company apologized, but the stamps have already been delivered to Mel Gibson.

A car thief in Germany was caught when he became cornered by a family of boars. No word yet as to what Al Gore and his family were doing in Germany in the first place.

According to a new survey, the average Canadian is more likely to be a victim of crime on the Internet than crime on the street. This is especially threatening to Canadian lumberjacks who use wi-fi enabled chainsaws.

A French official on Monday said that France is considering a ban on happy hours in bars as part of efforts to curb binge drinking among young people. As a result, French bars will switch to having smug, rude, or condescending hours.

A Mexican housewife was sentenced to more than nine years in jail after she pleaded guilty to using two children to smuggle cocaine into Britain. Authorities became suspicious when Amy Winehouse screamed, "My little coke pinatas are here" and began beating the children with a broom stick.

In exit polls conducted at the Kentucky Democratic primaries, forty-one percent of Hillary Clinton supporters said they would cast their vote for John McCain if Barack Obama were the Democratic nominee and twenty-three percent said they would not vote at all. The remaining thirty-six percent decided to stay sober that day.

On Monday, Barack Obama ripped into a Republican ad that targets Michelle Obama, telling Republicans to "lay off" his wife. A spokesman for the Republican party said they don't "lay off" people, they "outsource" them.

According to John McCain's doctor, there's no medical reason to prevent McCain from being president as he displays, "excellent health and displays extraordinary energy." The doctor said the proof of extraordinary energy was that Senator McCain always changes his own diaper.

On Tuesday, New York Governor David Paterson was hospitalized after experiencing "migraine-like symptoms" and was diagnosed with acute glaucoma in his left eye. Paterson reportedly didn't see it coming.

A state appeals court in Texas said authorities had no right to seize the more than 440 children in their raid on the West Texas polygamist sect last month because the children were not shown to be in immediate danger. The children were actually found to be in more danger after the raid, when they were sent to live with Michael Jackson.

New research suggests that stress a mother feels while pregnant may affect their children's immune system, making them a greater risk to develop asthma. To deal with the stress, doctors recommend that pregnant mothers smoke weed.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday warned women not to use or purchase Mommy's Bliss Nipple Cream because it contains ingredients that may cause respiratory distress, vomiting and diarrhea in infants. Instead of Nipple Cream, the FDA is encouraging women to purchase one of the other 30 flavors available at Baskin-Robbins.

McDonald's french fries are now trans-fat-free in all its restaurants in the United States and Canada. However, McDonald’s food is still being made with all nutrition-free ingredients.

Australia's Tasmanian devil will be listed as an endangered species this week as a result of a deadly and disfiguring cancer outbreak and not -- as previously reported -- due to wascally wabbits.

A trailer truck loaded with 14 tons of double-stuffed Oreos overturned in Illinois early Monday morning, spilling the cookies over the median and roadway of Interstate 80. The Oreos will be turned over to Dairy Queen for their new "Oreo Cookie and Motor Oil" Blizzard.

A trailer truck loaded with 14 tons of double-stuffed Oreos overturned in Illinois early Monday morning, spilling the cookies over the median and roadway of Interstate 80. The cleanup was performed by Rosie O’Donnell and a whole lotta milk.

A California biotech company has announced that it will clone dogs. The company will start by making a clone of Sarah Jessica Parker.

In Sports News, cancer survivor Jon Lester pitched a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals on Monday, while cancer survivor Lance Armstrong is reportedly dating Kate Hudson. The summer's biggest retail seller is expected to be cancer.

The NFL awarded the hosting rights of the 2012 Super Bowl to Indianapolis this past Tuesday. The NFL had awarded the hosting rights to Baltimore, but then the hosting rights snuck off in the middle of the night.

Saudi Arabia is hosting its first-ever film festival this week, despite protests from conservative Muslims. Films being screened include Iron Sheik Man, Speed Camel Racer, and Indiana Jones and the Respectful Studying of the Koran.

The Recording Academy has set Feb. 8th, 2009, as the date of the next Grammy Awards, to be held once again at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Academy announced the date of the Grammys this early so that people can plan ahead to ignore it.

On Wednesday, David Cook became the winner of this season of "American Idol." The loser, once again, was heterosexuality.

George Takei, best known as Mr. Sulu on "Star Trek," said he will wed his longtime partner and business manager, Brad Altman, now that the California Supreme Court has legalized same-sex marriage. This means Takei will soon have one more spouse than any of Star Trek's fans.

Directed by William Shatner

Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols

I'm a trekkie.

There I said it. But this film questioned my faith in the franchise, almost as much as Insurrection, but at least 9 had some decent effects. After watching this film in the theater, I immediately repressed it from my memory, and there it lay in dormancy, until today. Today, I dug up the smelly bloated corpse of a memory that remained of this film, dusted it off, and realized, maybe some things should just stay buried.

STV was the culimnation of Shatner's bruised ego getting him a feature film directorial debut in the wake of Nimoy's success on III and IV. While the inital screenplay was supposed to have a much darker tone according to Shatner, Paramount demanded the injection of shitty shitty humor to mimic The Voyage Home's box-office appeal. In the framework of this film though, most of the jokes come at the expense of the ancillary characters and completely bomb when they involve the main cast.  Unless you consider the farcical scene where Kirk free climbs El Capitan, that was funny...but I wasn't laughing with them.

The plot is weak and contrived, a hijacked Enterprise sent to the center of universe to save God, the acting is tired and forced, and the effects were shotty. Usually done by ILM who was busy with Indy 3, the special effects were passed off to a smaller house who did a substandard job, removing the last possible reason for rewatching this movie.  Interesting to note, the budget had to exclude a scene where Kirk fights a giant rock monster, which later got inserted into the excellent satire movie Galaxy Quest.

Having intially repressed the memory of this film, I was channel surfing one day and came across V playing on cable and stopped to watch a scene where a middle-aged, out of shape Uhura does a dance of seduction and woos a crowd of men, topping it off with a shitty joke. Then I went back to Divorce Court.

Thankfully, Shatner's director legacy did not live long and prosper and Nicholas Meyer, scribe for the famous even movies (2, 4, and 6), came back to breath decency back into the series on the next one. It's best you just warp by this one.

Not content with the first ever interracial screen kiss between Kirk and Uhuru, now Star Trek's Mr Sulu, the veteran actor, George Takei, is to marry his partner of 20 years. Takei also appears in the current hit TV show Heroes.

Contrast this with the hypocritical stance of Iran which countenances sex change surgery but not gay partnerships. Just today, the British Home office ruled that a gay Iranian teenager who might have been executed if he had been sent home, could be granted asylum in the UK. Mehdi Kazemi, 19, came to London as a student in 2005, but subsequently discovered his boyfriend back in Iran had been arrested for being homosexual, charged with sodomy and hanged. Over the last 30 years, it has been estimated that some 4000+ gay people have been executed in Iran.

In the UK and elsewhere transsexual people formerly had to divorce before being allowed a sex change as otherwise their gender reassignment would have led to a same sex marriage. Perhaps now gay partnerships and trans marriages will be allowed to stay together.

Marriage is part legal contract and part social construct. In some churches and religions it is also a sacred covenant or even sacrament. Biblically, however, the earliest marriages were simpler affairs. Adam and Eve were thrown together, their children obliged to marry their siblings. Abraham took his maid as a second wife, Isaac married Rebecca by just entering his tent. King David and Solomon had multiple wives and concubines. God married, divorced and remarried, Israel many times in the language and writings of the biblical prophets.

At the end of the day all human interaction involves relating and hence relationships. Not all relationships are sexual, and not all those that are sexual involve penetration (sex can be defined by many means). Similarly, not all partnerships are exclusive in business, social or romantic contexts.

If marriage is essentially legal and social only then it should be available to all. If there are religious objections they should be dealt within their communities, it is no business of the state. If relationships and partnerships, married or otherwise, are about love rather than procreation then what has gender to do with it?