And all the breath that I own.

[reddragdiva]

• Oh, wow. Polyamorous marriage is now all but legal in the Netherlands (courtesy angharad). You can't marry, but you can have three people in a civil union. So what were the rules on recognition of marriages and civil unions in other EU countries? Lookit all the gibbering 'Merkin trackbacks too. WE'RE GOING TO HELL AND TAKING THE U.S. WITH US!

I am going to die of kitten-induced hay fever. They have also scent-marked (ahem) the spare room, giving me tremendous incentive to clean it up tomorrow. This evening we cruelly trained them not to come near our food when we're eating. I did not throw them across the room, I gently picked them up and put them down on the other side of the room. They got the idea eventually. This weekend we should probably teach them that rats are sharp and not to be crossed.

redcountess has gone *splat* again, so Frida Kahlo is getting less likely. However, that gives us lots of time to catch up on domesticity.

Comments

[octopusgrrl.livejournal.com]

Ach, cat-allergies are No Fun At All, 'specially when you love the dear wee things. One of ours likes sleeping on my pillow during the day - I wonder why I wake up in the night sneezing my ring out? :(

btw, kitaens are very cute and are making me want to get another one!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nicolai_/]

Hmm. Are the rats not well-armed enough to train the cats themselves?

[reddragdiva]

Well, yes. With supervision.

[untermensch.livejournal.com]

Is it just my flawed logic, or does the phrase "X is all but Y" actually literally mean "X is everything except Y" as in, "X could be absolutely *anything*, but not Y"?

Hmm, one of those quirks of English which really bugs me.

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

The merkins are catching on. Apart from some brief setbacks in their mutant country, year by year, decade by decade, the forces of pluralism and tolerance are kicking their fundie arses across most of Western civilisation.

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Not really. In the context you're referring to ("this is marriage in all but name"), it means "in every other respect" (so, "In every other respect than being called marriage, civil union and marriage are the same thing").

[untermensch.livejournal.com]

That's easy to live with, but when I hear people on the news going "50 people are all but dead in a grammar-rage related mass stabbing", it pisses me off when you know they mean "50 people ARE fucking well dead"

[reddragdiva]

I am now cautious about that sort of thinking, having thought we were on a roll through the '80s and '90s and then coming down with a bad case of John Howard. People are crap and have been forever, and I can't see this changing.

[reddragdiva]

It's like being back in Melbourne again. *hack* *wheeze* *sniffle*

[reddragdiva]

Shoot them, eat them and leave them!

[themadcatlady.livejournal.com]

Heh, it probably be a while till other countries let you do that.... however, if you know of any gay couples that want to get married legally, you can now do that in Lanzarote (under Spanish law it´s just been made legal a couple of months ago). So send all the pretty gay boys my way please. ;)

As for the kittens..... fuckin handfulls ey?! There´s gonna be a lot of training involved I guess. Something I was fortunately (or unfortunately?) spared with my "boys", cause they were already 8 months old and came from another household before mine (but they had a baby that turned out violently allergic to cats - their loss, my gain!). But Spider & Lugosi had been trained and had learnt well it seemed and I never had a problem with them ever whatsoever. Me = Proud Mum. :)))

[reddragdiva]

I have raised plenty of kittens before :-)

[themadcatlady.livejournal.com]

Heh. At least you know what to expect then... Bliss!!!! I want kittens too. It´s not fair. ;(

[arkady.livejournal.com]

So that's yet another reason why I ought to get my arse in gear and get my passport, huh? Because I can now forsee large numbers of our friends trooping over to Holland to get hitched....

[reddragdiva]

It may take us a while to get that far ;-) But the question of recognition in other EU countries is an interesting one. I can't imagine another country refusing to recognise a marriage in another EU country ...

[reddragdiva]

For a further example, check your Liberty newsletter: the lesbian couple who were married in Canada and now live here and the British government refuses to recognise it.

[arkady.livejournal.com]

I was thinking more in terms of the quad with ergotia et al, or nitoda's paramours. I should have clarified: I shall have to get a passport so I can attend friends' weddings overseas when they all troop over to the Netherlands to get hitched.

A civil union in Canada, I can see why it wouldn't be recognised here. But one taking place in an EU country will be a different matter, because it will be enforced in the EU I think.

[arkady.livejournal.com]

See above. Canada is not the EU.

[reddragdiva]

Check the article. "For an overseas marriage to be recognised in the UK it must be shown that the marriage was legal, recognised in the country in which it was executed, and that nothing in the country’s law restricted their freedom to marry. Celia and Sue will argue that their marriage fulfils these requirements even though people cannot legally enter into same sex marriages in the UK. "

[narnee.livejournal.com]

Although the UK has to recognise marriages which took place in other EU countries IIRC, they don't have to recognise civil unions which took place in other EU countries.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

Canada's the opposite - during the 80s and early 90s we had a bad case of Brian Mulroney sucking up to Reagan and Thatcher.

Now we have a government that's more than able to stand up to Dubya, and even homophobic Canadians like my parents are in support of gay marriage as an equality issue and as a way to piss off US fundies.

[shamus9999.livejournal.com]

I read that the Chinese character for "trouble" is a combination of the one for "house" plus two of the one for "woman".

That being said, I'm rather looking forward to hell, if the typical fake-pubic-hair view of heaven is anything to go by.

[reddragdiva]

Polygyny is forbidden by the Bible: "No man can serve two masters."