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The mistakes of each generation will just fade like a radio station if you drive out of range – Ani DiFranco

Buried Face Down

This morning the news is full of stories about the sale of the burial vault above the remains of Hollywood film star Marilyn Monroe has been sold for more than $4.6m (£2.8m).

What I find disturbing is.

The space was auctioned by the widow of the man buried – face down – above Monroe, to raise enough cash to pay off the mortgage on her Beverly Hills home, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month. BBC.

You know if I was the man’s widow I’d have sold the plot long ago – I mean how do you attend your spouse’s funeral knowing he wishes to be buried face down above Marilyn Monroe? It’s not just me is it?

Forced Marriages Act Upset

Adam Wallis and Rochelle Roberts

Adam Wallis and Rochelle Roberts

The case of 28-year-old Adam Wallis and 19-year-old Canadian Rochelle Roberts is taxing the minds of our great-and-good. The couple who met two-years ago and recently married face separation.

Adam Wallis and Canadian Rochelle Roberts, who married in the UK a week after her visa ran out, face an enforced year and a half of separation until she is 21.

Their plight is the result of the Forced Marriages Act, which has increased the minimum age for spousal visas to 21 in an attempt to reduce the possibility of forced marriages. Mark Tran, The Guardian.

On of those great-and-good:

Keith Vaz, the chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, said last night the case could prompt a change in the law, adding: “This is clearly a case which needs to be looked at by a minister.” Mark Tran, The Guardian.

The Home Office responds

“Rochelle Roberts was refused permission to remain as a spouse because she came as a visitor and remained here illegally after her visa expired.

“The immigration rules are clear that those people who arrive as visitors and those that remain here illegally cannot remain in the United Kingdom as a spouse. Rochelle Roberts’s age was not the reason her application was refused.

“As a measure to protect young people from being pressurised into sponsoring a spouse from overseas, we have raised the age for sponsorship for a marriage visa from 18 to 21 … overall, we believe there are various benefits outweighing the drawbacks.” Mark Tran, The Guardian.

Personally I find a 26-year-old man dicking around with a 17-year-old teenager pretty creepy, but hey maybe that’s just me. And anyway what’s wrong with applying for another visa and then getting married?

Twins Parted-at-Birth Get Married

The story of two twins parted-at-birth, then meet later in life, marry without realising they’re twins and then getting the marriage annulled in the courts has done the rounds of all the papers it was even reported on Radio 4’s today program. I thought at the time it had to be absolute rubbish. And John Henley of The Guardian agrees with me.

Here’s the thing: it all came from a single remark more than a month ago by the vehemently anti-abortion Roman Catholic peer and father of four, Lord Alton, in favour of all children having the right to know the identity of their biological parents. He had heard about this particular case, he said, from the judge who handled the annulment. Or perhaps (he later admitted) a judge who was “familiar with the case”. Britain’s top family judge, Sir Mark Potter, has never heard of the story.

The whole thing is completely unlikely – think about it.

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