Free Republic

Every little girl dreams of her wedding day. So when a Chicago bridal shop burned to the ground yesterday, it was sheer mayhem. Every dress was lost, leaving mothers and daughters alike in tears. Chicago Breaking News Center reports one family's devastation: "I promised my daughter this wasn't going to happen to her wedding," Val Kuhl said as she held back sobs near the burned-out store. "I promised her her wedding would go off without a hitch." Some of the brides have enough time to scramble and find another one. But we feel pretty awful for the brides getting married...

-then obviously you're a reactionary bigot. RIGHT, Barack...? Below I translate a TV interview following the mass wedding of 450 child-brides... all to adult males, and organized by Hamas in Gaza [video] This is all explained in unambiguous terms by the Palestinian Imam: "There is no minimum age for entering marriage. You can have a marriage contract even with a one-year-old girl, not to mention a girl of five, seven, or eight. This is merely a contract indicating consent. The guardian in such case must be the father, because the father's approval is obligatory. Thus the girl becomes a wife....

An Arab ambassador has called off his wedding after discovering his wife-to-be who wears a face-covering veil is bearded and cross-eyed. The envoy had only met the woman a few times, during which she had hidden her face behind a niqab, the Gulf News reported. After the marriage contract was signed, the ambassador attempted to kiss his bride-to-be. It was only then that he discovered her facial hair and eyes. The ambassador told an Islamic Sharia court in the United Arab Emirates he was tricked into the marriage as the woman's mother had shown his own mother pictures of her...

Two decades ago, when young girls wondered how brides were supposed to look and behave, they'd most likely conclude—with some prompting from Cinderella—that on their big day they'd be a princess. They'd be blushing, virginal and wrapped from head to toe in tulle and lace.

Fox news just had a cute story about a brides'parade in Rumania. The purpose of the parade seems to be a promotion of marriage and family values. Wouldn't this be a cute and fun way to promote marriage in our communities?

Dozens of residents of Arab countries appeal to Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem in search of 'smart and beautiful' women "I'm asking for your help. I would like to meet an Israeli woman for marriage purposes," Abdullah, a resident of Saudi Arabia, said in a recent letter to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. "I have heard that the Israeli women are very smart and beautiful," he added. "I'm ready to pay a dowry of camels, herds or even money. Please help me." Dozens of such appeals are received every year by the Foreign Ministry's department for Arab media. Emails have been...

Dressed in their finest clothes and gold jewellery, thousands of teenage Roma girls were paraded around by their parents this weekend - at an open-air brides market. Wearing lots of make-up, the teenagers came to the traditional annual market in Bulgaria, hoping to find a husband - and preferably one willing to pay a large amount of money for his future spouse. 'We take our daughters to this gathering so they could get acquainted with boys, for we do not allow our children to go to discos,' explains Elena from Kapitan Andreevo. At the market in the village of Mogila...

CHINA will be short of 30 million brides within 15 years, according to an official report into the country's burgeoning population. About one in every 10 men aged between 20 and 45 - equivalent to almost the entire population of Canada - will be unable to find a wife. The findings, from the State Population and Family Planning Commission, outline bleak prospects - and not only for bachelors. The report says the gender imbalance could result in social instability - a threat that the Communist Party regards as the greatest risk to its grip on power. It is almost three...

Starving Afghans sell girls of eight as brides Villagers whose crops have failed after a second devastating drought are giving their young daughters in marriage to raise money for food Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor Sunday January 7, 2007 The Observer (UK) Azizgul is 10 years old, from the village of Houscha in western Afghanistan. This year the wheat crop failed again following a devastating drought. Her family was hungry. So, a little before Christmas, Azizgul's mother 'sold' her to be married to a 13-year-old boy. 'I need to sell my daughters because of the drought,' said her mother Sahatgul,...

On the Conduct and Procedure of the Intimate and Personal Relationships of the Marriage State for the Greater Spiritual Sanctity of this Blessed Sacrament and the Glory of God by Ruth Smythers, beloved wife of The Reverend L.D. Smythers, Pastor of the Arcadian Methodist Church of the Eastern Regional Conference Published in the year of our Lord 1894, Spiritual Guidance Press -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To the sensitive young woman who has had the benefits of proper upbringing, the wedding day is, ironically, both the happiest and most terrifying day of her life. On the positive side, there is the wedding itself, in...

See for example this thread first. The news is surprising to me These men rent their wives for a fee! If you're destitute Make your beau prostitute? ...'cause at home you can have her for FREE!

Brides Hired By The Month Updated: 13:46, Monday June 19, 2006 Husbands in India are cashing in on a lack of single women - by renting out their wives. Men unwilling to find a bride of their own pay a monthly fee to hire someone else's. One farm worker in Gujarat state leases his Mrs to a wealthy landowner for 8,000 rupees (£71) a month, the Times of India reported. He could expect to earn a monthly minimum wage of around 1,050 rupees (£12). The wife is expected to live with the landowner, look after him and his house, and...

Having developed Anti-Scam program we intend to warn you about phenomenon of International dating scam and will do our best try to help you to avoid scamming. We launch our anti-scam campaign and appeal to all people who are in the sphere of Internet dating and international marriage - Foreign men, Russian women and International marriage agencies - as we ALL suffer from scam. MEN scammed by dishonest women stop to believe that it is possible to find a good, loving Russian wife and quit. Less interested men - less opportunities for honest WOMEN to find the right guy for...

MAKKAH, 19 July 2005 — Competition between two Asian sisters for the heart of a young Saudi man who had proposed to the family for the older sister turned into a bloody wrestling match, reported Okaz daily. In the wake of the suitor’s proposal and after he left the prospective bride’s house, the spark of jealousy flared up in the heart of the younger sister and led to a verbal fight between the two. The flare of verbal exchange changed into a physical fight with the younger sister landing blows to the older sister who screamed for help amid the...

THE woman marrying Bobby Fischer, the chess legend threatened with deportation to the United States, reacted with shock yesterday to the news that he already has a common-law wife and a four-year-old daughter in the Philippines.Miyoko Watai, 59, acting president of the Japan Chess Association, said: "I didn’t know. Bobby has never told me this. "I have asked him in the past if he had a child and he never said anything. He told me that he is single." Fischer, 61, was arrested at Tokyo’s Narita Airport in July and is being held pending deportation for travelling on an expired...

Calling all returning soldiers from Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo and/or their fiances and fiancees.Henri's Cloud Nine Bridal Shoppe in Minerva, [OHIO] is among 14 independent bridal stores nationwide trying to put finishing touches on some unfinished love stories.``For brides-to-be and grooms-to-be who have been on active duty, their wedding day has been snatched away,'' insists Henri's owner Meg Kopp Walters.``We just want to thank them; we are so proud of their service to our country. We're so hoping they can have their special day now that they have returned home... We have watched these men and women put on...

India's young brides rebel against the dowry demand By Phil Reeves in Delhi 10 October 2003 A new and unlikely front has been opened in the battle by young Indian women against illegal dowry demands, this time within a bastion of religious and cultural conservatism, Varanasi on the Ganges. The ancient holy city, where devout Hindus traditionally go to die, has become the venue of a high-profile and decidedly contemporary confrontation between a media-savvy young woman and a man whose family she accuses of illegally demanding money for her hand. In May, Nisha Sharma, a 21-year-old computer software engineer, became...

More than 1,000 Russian would-be "cyber-brides" are lobbying the US Congress to halt laws aimed at protecting them from exploitation. The women, who are members of the biggest American-owned dating agency that recruits in the former Soviet Union, claim that the new laws would destroy their hopes of finding husbands over the internet. A bill passing through Congress would force American matchmaking agencies - mostly run from websites - to give foreign women details of the marital history and any criminal record of suitors. Supporters say that the move - inspired by the death of Anastasia King, 20, who was...