And in the voting booth

I gave my second and last exam today. Grading should be rather swift tomorrow. I’m pretty sure my student passed both classes. My first day back is January 14, which means the break is a week longer than what I usually get.

I had an appointment with the physiologist of the weight-loss program of my traditional medical center. I'm down three pounds since I saw her five weeks ago. Since I'm having a lot more success with the diet from my Ann Arbor nutritionist we agreed my work with the physiologist is concluded. That may change a couple months from now if my insurance company mandated weigh-in still shows me as borderline obese rather than merely overweight.

While with the nutritionist I asked her about the success rate of those on her program (the one that didn't work for me). She said they don't have hard numbers, though that is changing. Those who are successful (there are some) are the ones who put in the effort. To me that sounded like saying if you don't lose weight in our program it's your own fault, not the fault of our diet. She went on to say not all diets work for all people and she's pleased I found one that works for me.



Time has designated Pope Francis as their Person of the Year. In just a few months he has started to change the conversation from doctrine to love.

I'm pleased to see that Edie Windsor ended up #3 on the list. She's the one behind the case that prompted the Supremes to overturn part of the Defense of Marriage Act.



Last week I had written that the Australia Capital Territory had claimed that their "same sex marriage" was not "marriage" as the federal gov't defined it, so was legal. The High Court didn't buy that argument and ruled only the Federal Parliament can expand marriage law to include same-sex couples. As part of their ruling the High Court said that in the constitution "marriage" means "any two natural people." So when the Parliament does get around to marriage equality (sigh), it can't be challenged as being unconstitutional.

There were five days between the time the ACT same-sex marriage law went into effect and the High Court struck it down. Yup, about 30 couples took advantage of the time. And this ruling dissolved those marriages.



Marriage equality will be on the ballot in Oregon next November! They collected over 116,000 signatures in 4 months. The enacted their constitutional ban in 2004 (the same time Michigan did, and they were the only state with a lower percentage of yes votes than Michigan). They're likely to be the first state to repeal a ban by citizen vote.

The prospect of a vote is not greeted by everyone on our side, as I see from the comments. The largest objection is that rights should not be put up for a vote. Another is that the stream of nasty campaign ads will damage the psyches of gay youth. There are also those who say it is a waste of time and money. We should wait for one of the many lawsuits heading to the Supremes that will bring marriage equality nationwide.

Others respond by saying the only way to get equality in Oregon, other than waiting for the Supremes, is by this vote. And if Oregon votes it in, our chances with the Supremes are that much better. We can show the Supremes "we've had wins in the state legislatures, in the state courts, in the Federal courts, by Federal proclamation, AND in the voting booths."