here we go!

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 — President Bush said today he supported a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, declaring that such a measure was the only way to protect the status of marriage between man and woman, which he called "the most fundamental institution of civilization."

In an announcement fraught with social, legal and political implications, Mr. Bush urged Congress to act on the amendment quickly and send it on to the state legislatures. Quick action is essential, he said, to bring clarity to the law and protect husband-and-wife marriages from a few "activist judges." — The New York Times, today.

The first ten amendments specify the rights and privileges we consider universal. The following seventeen amendments clarify the functioning of the government (election of the president and vice president, the voting age, presidential term limits and succession, election of senators, income tax, etc), forbid and then allow the consumption of alcohol, end slavery, and establish women's suffrage.

President Bush would have a 28th amendment that would explicitly deny equal rights to a specific, targeted group. I hope everybody sees that this is serious business.

( check out this rhetoric! )

141a midterm

solid state midterm went suckily.. too bad I didn't know more about `structure factors.' I also hate it when everyone else somehow got the message that a `cheat sheet' was allowed. I'm accustomed to exams with no cheat sheet, no calculator, blah blah. I wish we could have oral exams like in Sweden. And omtenta, of course. (-:

Happy Mardi Gras everyone! Especially to Michelle.