Thinking about the word “marriage”

With Friday’s ruling from the US Supreme Court that made same-sex marriage the law of the land there has been a lot of blowback, with a lot of it saying they were either changing the definition of the word “marriage,” something that’s been with us since time began, and/or saying the Bible says marriage is between a man and a woman. Except as I heard the ongoing coverage this morning it got  me to wondering about the etymology of the word “marriage.” And the more I look into it the more I realize that some of the claims about that word simply don’t hold water.

(Updated at 1350 ET to include the sources I used to write this, as I meant to do before I published it.)

Please note: I’m not looking at whether same-sex marriage is right or wrong. That’s a rabbit hole that I’m staying away from because of the passion on either side of the debate. I’m looking at the word itself and I hope we can have an adult, rational discussion on that level. more “Thinking about the word “marriage””

Should Congress be penalized for possibly closing a part of our government?

Should we penalize Congress if DHS has to shut down because there's no budget?Unless you’ve been off spending a very cold and snowy winter and avoiding all news about what’s going on where we’re cold and sick of snow you’ve probably heard that unless something happens very soon a very important part of the U.S. Government, the Department of Homeland Security could be forced to close at the end of the day Friday. This comes because while most of the government got a budget for the current fiscal year, The Powers That Be up on Capital Hill have decided to fight one of the president’s actions on undocumented immigrants. While I won’t pick sides (there’s enough mud to go around) I find myself wondering if perhaps we need a way to penalize our elected officials for wanting to force federal employees to work while the rest of DHS has to turn off their lights and lock their doors. more “Should Congress be penalized for possibly closing a part of our government?”

It’s time for another CR on Capital Hill. Is it time to dock our lawmakers’ paychecks?

Buy "No Budget, No Pay" todayI just got an email update from my congressman, Michael E. Capuano (D-MA 7th) about a bill coming up for a vote tomorrow. There’s no federal budget passed yet for the new fiscal year that will begin on 1 October and they want to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open. My readers may recall that I’ve suggested that if our elected officials in Washington DC can’t pass a budget by the start of a fiscal year they should get their pay docked. Is it time to let our elected officials find out that their paychecks will get a little lighter? more “It’s time for another CR on Capital Hill. Is it time to dock our lawmakers’ paychecks?”