Gay Marriage and its haters

From International Herald Tribune: This time, gay marriage won't galvanize voters... The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, seems to have little interest in trying to take advantage of the ruling; he opposes gay marriage, yet has no inclination to demagogue the issue and knows this is a big-stakes, big-issues election, not one for focusing on peripheral matters.

The author of the letter, Albert R Hunt, also takes the opportunity to deflate the arguments against gay marriage:

1) There is no evidence for gay marriage destroying the institute of marriage; in Massachusetts, there isn't a reported case of straight marriages leading to divorce because of this issue (DUH!)

2) No place of worship will be forced to perform or recognise gay unions

3) If marriage is between a man and a woman for the reason of procreation, what about married couples who choose not to have children or are infertile?

4) It is more offensive to ban marriage for same sex couples, than to accept such unions. More people are tolerant these days, and can compare the discrimination in this area against a single group similar to that fought against in the civil rights era

Please excuse my poor summation and go straight to reading the letter. What Hurt's words don't do is explain how to vigorously support same sex marriages to those who are religious without alienating those who believe in god. You know what I mean, there's always an irate Atheist who groups everyone who believes the same as the very scary ones who live their lives by hatred. Or maybe there's no need, since surely those who love all equally will support the same sex couples hoping to marry this autumn?

Illicit:The Dark Trade

An amazing piece on the illicit trade (promo here) - from its beginnings to its far-reaching consequences. I had no idea how insidious the networks of counterfeit goods were. But according to the National Geographic special, the trade involves human trafficking, government corruption, and organised crime! It makes me queasy thinking of all the pirated software and VCDs I had bought as a little kid; never made a link between the illegality of my actions and the possible crimes it may have spawned. Even worse is the abundance of counterfeit medicine, and not just the ones for erectile dysfunction.

Remember the case of tainted toothpaste last year? Using poisonous ingredients to doctor goods and sell it at lower costs leads to the loss of many lives. The scary thing is that very few of the perpetrators are ever prosecuted. The factories implicated in the supply chain and their shipping companies are hardly held accountable for their goods. It's only time, some believe, before the components of a dirty bomb are easily traded as that of counterfeit handbags.

The programme is based on Dr. Moisés Naím's book Illicit, and effectively illustrates the global reaches of the black market. According to Naim, what makes this situation so conducive for the black traders is the technology and the reduced barriers between countries. For the tainted medicine, the raw materials are often from China and shipped to Portugal, where it is sold to brokers in South America. Counterfeit goods such as DVDs can lose a step and be directly sent to buyers who will then arrange to have street vendors make the sales. In Naples, the street vendors are trafficked migrants from Senegal who have paid huge sums to the smugglers and sacrificed their lives to make the journey.

Additionally, governments are wary of working together against the traders for whatever reason. This lack of cooperation hinders whatever progress can be made against traffickers, who skip through checkpoints and borders with ease. Money laundering, for instance, can be traced but is held up by laws in certain countries. A global organisation like Interpol for illicit trade might turn the tide.

But in the end, this is a black market depending on the buyers and sellers. We as consumers need to make the decision not to support the illegal trade in any way. Lives are depending on it.