1. He's not a complete stranger to you. You don't see each other in person, really, but you have some tenuous connection.


2. When you post something substantive about your life -- fears, worries, hopes, dreams -- he doesn't say jackshit.


3. When you post something random, once in a while he jumps in and shits all over everything.

1. RASNTs hate their targets, and they exercise their hatred by taking dumps on them.


2. RASNTs are sad, bored muthafuckas, and they pick targets based on the reaction they get out of them (I assume they test the water with multiple targets). It's like bear-baiting for them.


3. RASNTs are so socially retarded that they somehow think it's normal behavior to act like this.

flamingophoenix

flamingophoenix

• M1, E1, C1, and L, who require psychopharmacological treatment for depression.


• My mother-in-law, who became a Type 1 diabetic when she was a teenager, and has had numerous cardiovascular complications over the years.


• E2's wife, who fell ill with MS a few years ago.


• My mother, who was born with a congenital aortic defect that has needed two repairs in her life.


• S, who was hit by a car while -- wait for it -- OUT BIKING. S also has needed knee surgery due to -- OH MAN -- excessive competitive sport participation!


• A and J1, who have severe allergies that require constant monitoring and treatment.


• My father-in-law, who has progressive hearing loss that requires hearing aids.


• My father, who survived prostate cancer way before he was "rocking chair" age (fuck yooooouuuuu, MMM). Oh, and then he fell down some stairs and needed rehabilitation.


• J2, who survived childhood abuse and has needed weekly counseling for years.


• M2, who had painful fibroids that needed surgical removal.


• H, who was born with a heart defect that required insane amounts of surgery through the years.


• K, whose daughter needed surgery to correct an off-kilter hip joint.


• R1, who, thanks to bad genes, is pre-diabetic despite the fact that he BIKES EVERY DAY, OMG IT'S LIKE BIKING ISN'T THE CURE-ALL YOU SAY IT IS, MMM.


• R2's wife, who has been a Type 1 diabetic since she was a little girl.


• W, who has Addison's disease.


• B, who has messed-up knees, thanks (again) to excessive participation in competitive sports.


• C2, whose sister has lupus.

1. What sort of poly marriage will be legal: one person may marry as many other people as xe likes, implying no bond between xyr spouses? Or a group marriage in which everyone is married to each other? (This answer will affect all other questions, but most questions apply to both versions.)


2. Will there be a limit as to how many people an individual may marry?


3. Must an individual designate a "primary" spouse?
   
   • If yes: How will this arrangement differ legally from xyr legal responsibilities to "secondary" spouses? Must the choice of primary spouse be reciprocal? (N.B.: if "yes," and you chose group marriage in the first question, odd-numbered groups are now out.) How often will an individual be allowed to switch designation of primary spouse? Are secondary spouses more or less legally important than family? (Example: a pair of primary spouses is killed in an accident. Who decides if their bodies are donated to science: secondary spouses, or the decedents' parents/children/siblings/etc.?)
   
   
   • If no: How will conflicts be resolved when different, equally important spouses disagree? For instance, Person A is married to B and C and is injured in an accident. B wants to let A die naturally; C wants extraordinary measures to be taken to keep A alive.


4. Who are a child's parents? (Small legal aside: when two people are married to each other, any child born to the marriage is legally theirs, regardless of biological parentage.) Does the law expand the concept of parenthood so that a child may have any number of parents? Or must a second parent be selected by the person giving birth? N.B. the issues only get stickier around adoption, but I don't have all night here.
   
   • If changing parenthood: If parental consent is needed for an event, how many parents must give consent? (Example: are you aware that girls seeking abortions sometimes have to have both parents' consent? What happens if you have more than two parents?) If the group of parents divorces (for whatever that means), how is custody split? How does it differ if N parents divorce themselves from a marriage of significantly more than N spouses, versus when a group disbands entirely? How is child support calculated?
   
   
   • If selecting two parents: What are the other spouses' rights to the child, and responsibilities to it? What is their relationship to the child? Is the birth-parent restricted to choosing the biological parent, if that parent is one of xyr spouses? If the birth-parent selects another co-parent, does the biological parent have any rights? Do those rights change if xe is in or out of the marriage?


5. How does divorce work? May one person leave a group marriage? May a subgroup split off from a group without divorcing each other? How is alimony calculated? How is the splitting of assets performed?


6. What benefits are spouses entitled to? If Person A is married to Persons B through Z, and Person A has health care provided by xyr workplace, may Person A elect a group plan that covers all xyr spouses? If Person A is being relocated for xyr work, is xyr workplace obligated to move Persons B-Z? If Person A is in the military, must Persons B-Z be provided housing on base? If Persons B-Z are not American citizens, can Person A marry them all and obtain a green card for each of them? May Persons A-Z file joint income tax?


7. How does death work? Who inherits? (Small legal aside: if you're married without children, and you just want your spouse to get everything, that's what happens now anyway, will or no. In fact, you may not write your spouse out of your will.) If the decedent's property is liquid, is it split equally amongst all spouses? If it is not (e.g. a car, a house, jewelry), to whom does it go? If the decedent paid into Social Security, to whom does the Social Security money go?

I hope some day being married to someone is as fluid as say, being best friends with someone, and the traditional strictures have become so undermined that it's impossible for the government or church to even regulate it anymore.

I am not totally convinced that the government has a right to determine what marriage is and I am not even sure that the government should be in the marriage business.

The idea of scrapping institutional support for marriage is more something I consider an ideal, because I think it would maximize personal freedom.

1. The house is in Flame's name, though we've lived here together since he bought the place. If something happens to him, I want to know I'll have a place to live.


2. We plan on having kids, and we'll save a lot of money by having a family health insurance plan (versus one single and one family).


3. As my husband, he'll have authority to make decisions about my medical care, particularly surrounding childbirth. Additionally, as my husband, the doctors and hospital have to provide interpreters for the whole pregnancy/birth process.


4. If something happens to him, I'll be entitled to his life insurance, retirement savings, etc., to ameliorate the loss of income.


5. If either of us elects to take a work assignment in another state or country, our employer has to relocate both of us.