You're forgetting the Alouettes of the CFL. And they're pretty damned passionate about them, too.

That is pretty awesome. *nods*

It's abuse. Plain and simple. Verbal abuse.

Yeah, I'm not into little kids in beauty pageants, either. Why can't we (in general) just let kids be kids? Meanwhile? I still think someone in the Ramsey family or very close to them was involved.

Homophobic and -- maybe in some cases -- heterosexist. But also quite hypocritical. (Interracial marriage becoming legal, anyone?) I agree, though. You want to protect the "institution of marriage", outlaw divorce, plus: discourage quickie marriages and start setting examples of how a good marriage SHOULD be. (Even more ironic considering that the divorce rate among Christians is about the same as it is among non-Christians.)

I don't doubt that Samantha's sexual assault at 13 by Polanski (I'm glad you're not touting her as "a child" as I've seen in other pieces about this; 13 years old = prepubescent teen, not child!) is totally heinous and that he needs to face the music for that and for fleeing. That said, I do have to question why her mother would leave her young teen daughter alone with a grown man, even if she did trust him. (Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned like that.) I also have to wonder, "Why now? Why wasn't he extradited years ago when other countries had the chance, and when justice would've been better served?" Not to mention what about all the rapists that have gone and continue to go scot-free NOW? Wouldn't resources be better directed toward that? On the other hand, I do nod about the hypocrisy regarding the outrage, though, especially when -- in both the 1970s and now, in the "noughties" -- young teenagers were and are highly sexualised and objectified. This whole thing is all sorts of convoluted, methinks.