End of ADS-L Digest - 14 Aug 1997 to 15 Aug 1997 ************************************************ Subject: ADS-L Digest - 15 Aug 1997 to 16 Aug 1997 There is one message totalling 48 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. "Covenant Marriages" in today's Wash. Post ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 16 Aug 1997 01:57:25 -0400 From: "Barry A. Popik" Subject: "Covenant Marriages" in today's Wash. Post COVENANT MARRIAGES This has been a slow year for new words and phrases, but add "covenant marriages." This is from the Washington Post, 15 August 1997, pg. 1, cols. 1-2, also pg. A18 Cols. 1-6 and pg. A19 cols. 1-2: "Covenant Marriages" Ties the Knot Tightly Louisiana Begins Experiment in Commitment By Jon Jeter (...) As America grows increasingly preoccupied with the nation's high divorce rate and the troubled children it often produces, communities across the country are searching for solutions. Louisiana officials think they have the answer--a novel experiment called 'covenant marriage" that lawmakers hope will make wedding vows more meaningful and divorce more difficult. Beginning today, Louisiana will require couples to choose between two marital contracts, traditional or covenant, before tying the knot. Supporters of the new law contend that the mere offer by the state of a covenant marriage is tantamount to throwing a gauntlet at the couple's feet. They will have no obligation to pick it up, but the decision whether or not to do so should produce some intensified soul searching and serious discussions about commitment and compatability that could help families avoid breakups down the road. (This story is copyrighted, but the Washington Post is on the web.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------- YES, WE HAVE NO "HOAGIES" TODAY I went to Washington, DC today. I didn't realize it, but there are busts of both Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci (Vespucci artwork is rare!) in the Blue Room of the White House. I have piles about Columbus and Vespucci statues in my "America Papers" that I'll discuss later. I had planned to throughly research "hoagie" at the Library of Congress, but I sat next to an attractive Argentine, Jewish law student on the bus. It was her first trip to Washington. I was just so darned kind.