In Soc of Family today we discussed how there is strong agreement in US society that divorce should be harder to get but the lip service doesn't bear out in actual practice.

There is almost universal agreement (>90%) that divorce is a serious national problem.
Somewhere between 1/2-2/3 agree society would be better off if divorce were harder to get.
A supermajority (about 2/3) agree that long waiting periods help people get over anger and work through problems, and that couples should be required to wait a year after filing before the divorce is granted.
About the same disagree that any spouse should be able to divorce at any time for any reason.
An overwhelming majority (about 80%) agree it is at least somewhat important that couples have counseling before the wedding, and about 50% agree it should be required by law.
Very close to universal agreement (about 90%) that it is at least somewhat important that couples seek counseling if they are unable to resolve problems in their marriage.
Put those all together and you've basically got covenant marriage. About 30-40% "support" covenant marriage, 45-50% have "mixed" feelings about it, and about 10-20% "oppose" covenant marriage.

In 49 states no-fault divorce (any spouse, any time, any reason) is allowed. In one other state mutual consent no-fault is allowed.
29 states have no waiting period.
10 states (including DC) have a waiting period of 7 months or less.
7 states have a waiting period of 6 months or less under certain circumstances (consent, no children, etc).
5 states have a waiting period of at least a year even with consent.
Half of states have reconciliation counseling laws but they are pretty much unenforced/optional.
No state requires all couples to receive premarital counseling.
3 states - AR, AZ, & LA - allow covenant marriages as an option (required counseling prep; mutual disclosure of financial info and such; limited divorce grounds such as abuse, adultery, addiction, felony imprisonment, or separation for 2 years; marital counseling for problems threatening marriage).
Only 2% of marriages in LA are covenant and only 1/2% of marriages in AR & AZ are covenant.

The American Foundation for Equal Rights said, in response to the Maine referendum outcome:

“Our founding fathers did not intend for people’s Constitutional rights to be determined by political campaigns. The results in Maine underscore exactly why we are challenging California’s same sex marriage ban in federal court. When the Supreme Court ruled in Loving v. Virginia, more than 70 percent of Americans disapproved of interracial marriage. The U.S. Constitution guarantees equal rights to every American, and when those rights are violated, it is the role of our courts to protect us, regardless of what the polls say.”

(via Box Turtle Bulletin)

I voted today. Did you?

Let the full implications of this map sink in.

Have you seen the Axe "get girl-approved hair" hetero/sexist, protest-tactic-appropriating marketing campaign? Basically, men with "bad hair" of some sort are shown walking along minding their own business when they are rushed by a mini-mob of women who shampoo their hair and redo it using Axe hair products while a woman with a bull horn provides pithy commentary in the background.

They've invaded our campus. They're not filming commercials, and as far as I know no men are actually being mobbed to have their hair re-done. However, I've seen mini-mobs of women carrying bull horns and protest signs and handing out free samples of hair product at least three times in the last few weeks. This morning there were about twenty women gathered in front of the library planning out their morning's "protest" and as I walked towards my office I could hear them start shouting marketing slogans through the bull horn.

Another sign that the end of civilization approaches.

Interesting story here

"...homophobia in any form, as far as I can tell, stems from a lower level of human development - but it is a level, it exists, and one has to make room in one's awareness for those lower levels as well, just as one has to include third grade in any school curriculum. Just don't, you know, put those people in charge of anything important."

- Ken Wilber in the Foreword to Soulfully Gay by Joe Perez

From Daily Kos:

It seems unremarkable to say that yes, the insurance industry would be willing to scrap preexisting condition denials -- in exchange for mandating that every single American in the nation purchase their product. That seems more than a fair trade, for an industry that values profits above all else. AHIP has been broadcasting television commercials touting that very point -- "if everyone is covered, we can make healthcare affordable" -- for at least the last month. And it seems obvious that our Senators, who are so beholden to the whims of lobbyists that they will do nothing, absolutely nothing, that it is not first proposed by those very same lobbyists, would eagerly go for such a thing.

Mark my words -- we are at the point where no legislation can be passed unless it benefits an American corporate sector more than it benefits anyone else. We are that corrupt, and our government is that beholden. No matter how hated an industry may be, or how many citizens of a nation it may have hurt, it will always receive the kind graces of the government that it has paid for.

The White House is all but explicitly saying that the public option is off the table. Leak after leak indicates that it is no longer the "focus" of the White House; Reid and others continue to minimalize its importance compared to the much less controversial task of trading away responsibility for American healthcare reform to the very groups that have gutted it in the first place.

Bolding mine.

EDIT: Here's an open letter to President Obama published by the LA Times urging him not to go this route.

Write the President and echo these sentiments.

The University of Arizona is hiring for an LGBTQ Affairs Program Director:
http://www.uacareertrack.com/applicants/Central?quickFind=195189

The box of Dwarven Forge stuff I ordered showed up yesterday, and when Kara saw it she told me it looked like a dollhouse for boys. I laughed and explained that it was actually tactical terrain for building utilizable dioramas.

This afternoon as I was placing the tiny mugs of ale in the tavern I had built, my mind drifted back to her words from yesterday. I shook my head to clear the thought. Come on, this is clearly not a dollhouse. I chuckled softly to myself as I placed the miniature basket of butter-horns on one of the wooden tables. Dollhouses are for girls.