The media has grabbed this story because the wife is 12-years-old, never minding the fact that the husband is only 15-years-old. They also press as fact that she has no choice in the matter, when actually she does. They also forego the fact that this is a Western-Middle East affair (Western-Middle East being a location, not a cultural comparison between West and Middle East) that has little, if anything, to do with the West -- other than the romanticized Western stories of Gypsies and Gypsy lifestyles.

Today, Netscape was pushing yesterday's story "again" -- as I predicted -- and with a lead-in stating "Probe Conducted Into 12-Year-Old's Marriage", which simply links to CNN’s "Romanians Protest 12-Year-Old's Marriage" story I posted in this thread yesterday. Netscape (in partnership with CNN.com) and Reuters. Ltd., seem to want something to happen here, and are invoking some personal desire.

Arranged marriages, btw, have been going on for hundreds of years, and I have been in attendance at such weddings in Italy involving Gypsies -- who are considered outcasts in Italy. My opinion is that we really have no business imposing.

Is the practice backward and archaic? Sometimes.

Sometimes the parents look more to family profit than what a child might desire of life, and the imposition of the family is not merely directed to the daughter. It takes two to marry, so the groom-to-be gets an equal dose of family desires for what is best. Such impositions, however, are true anywhere, in just about any circumstance. 9 times out 0f 10, I would say Gypsy marriages last at least as long as those in the mighty West.

The West will, however, probably get further involved with Gypsy beliefs and practices, until the culture is completely stamped out. Sad, but of this I'm pretty sure. After all, the West does greatly outnumber Western-Middle Easterners, so it‘s really just a matter of time.

We'll see.

Dan