Careful Thought

FoxNews has a piece here on the New York Supreme Court’s decision to disallow homosexual marriage in that state. It’s a rare victory for the family. The interesting point came later in the article when Chief Judge Judith Kay gave vent to the dissenting opinion:

[Kaye] said the court failed to uphold its responsibility to correct inequalities when it decided to simply leave the issue to lawmakers. She noted that a number of bills
allowing same-sex marriage have been introduced in the Legislature over the past several years, but none has ever made it out of committee.”It is uniquely the function of the Judicial Branch to safeguard individual liberties guaranteed by the New York State Constitution, and to order redress for their violation,” she wrote. “The court’s duty to protect constitutional rights is an imperative of the separation of powers, not its enemy. I am confident that future generations will look back on today’s decision as an unfortunate misstep.”

No, they will probably see a case where judges opted to rule in light of the law, rather than an extra-Constitutional perceived duty to “correct inequalities.”

Score that two for the good guys: the right decision and the right process.

By your left hook they shall know you…

In the NZ Herald:

Peace activist hit rocker in spat over girl, say UK policeA New Zealand peace activist is facing serious assault charges after he allegedly punched a rock singer in London, leaving the man in a coma.

Christiaan Briggs, 30, who spent three weeks in Iraq with the Truth Justice Peace Human Shield Action Group in 2003, appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to face a charge of grievous bodily harm.

Police say the incident occurred on June 22 when Briggs allegedly punched 19-year-old Billy Leeson, causing the rising rock star to hit his head on the ground.

Leeson, the lead singer with rock band Les Incompetents - who have supported Pete Doherty’s group Babyshambles - was ’still very ill’, said Scotland Yard spokesman James Nadin.

His condition was described as ‘critical but stable’.

So it’s late on a Saturday and I’m scrambling to finish up the Sunday School lesson for tomorrow when Son #1 pops this one on me:

S#1: “Dad, can I watch Lemony Snickett? It has thematic elements. What are those?”

Me: “Uh… Go to bed, it’s late. We’ll discuss it tomorrow.”

I did a quick search on the movie rating and sure enough, it was rated “PG for thematic elements, scary situations and brief language”. I’ve got a handle on the “scary situations” part and I figure that “brief language” must mean a lot of contractions. No?

“Thematic elements” had me stumped, so I consulted the ever-handy Alberta [as in Canada] Community Development site. It provides a nifty guide to film rating terms. They define it as “the attitude, tone, and intention of the film”. (Okay… Can we be a little more specific here? Are there films that don’t have attitude, tone or intention?)

It turns out there’s not much standardization (or logic) among MPAA ratings warnings. Pick up three different PG-13 movies with similar content and you’ll likely find three different comments.

Jim Emerson at scanners:blog, on the other hand, knows his thematic elements. He’s done some digging and culled some of the finest ratings blurbs known to man. Here’s a sample:

Gummo: ‘Rated R for pervasive depiction of anti-social behavior of juveniles,including violence, substance abuse,sexuality and language.’ (I didn’t know that anti-social behavior was restricted to those over 17 years of age.)The Day After Tomorrow: ‘Rated PG-13 for intense situations of peril. (Straight, to the point, and most importantly, meaningless.)”

Jonathan Walker extolls a particularly atmospheric rating for the disastrous 1996 movie Twister: “Rated PG-13 for intense depiction of very bad weather.”

And Dan Maloney and Eric Mees write separately regarding the masterful blurb for 2004’s Team America: World Police: “Rated R for graphic crude and sexual humor, violent images and strong language - all involving puppets.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Or at least that really ticked it off?

Israel Hits Palestinian PM’s Gaza Office:

“Israeli aircraft attacked the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas in Gaza City early Sunday, witnesses said, setting the building on fire.The Israeli army confirmed it attacked Haniyeh’s office. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Witnesses said two missiles hit the south side of the building at about 1:45 a.m. local time, setting it ablaze. Because of the late hour, the building was empty, they said.”