I know this has been kicked around DU for a couple of weeks. It's a hoax. But here it is, in Newsweek, on the front page of MSN.com. Evidently there are cretins out there taking it seriously. What fucking country do I live in again?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20781129/site/newsweek/?GT1=10357A paragraph from the article:
"It's impossible to know how many of the proposals are real. But sifting through the Gmail account where they've all been directed, it's hard to believe there aren't at least a couple hopeful grooms—or parents of hopeful brides. The site’s creator, John Ordover, a viral-marketing consultant based in Brooklyn, N.Y., gave NEWSWEEK access to that account, and we sorted through hundreds of e-mails—some outraged, others, well, creepy. “Darling Makayla, Seeing your bright smile among the other girls on this site was a joy among joys—to see someone so obviously full of life and laughter made me keep coming back to your profile,” writes one suitor, who identifies himself as Mark B. “I want to provide you with everything you need, I want to have a partnership that will last a lifetime. You love to laugh, and I would love to make you laugh for the rest of our lives ... Please consider me as a husband"
And another one:
But what about a real site? Mail-order-bride sites are legal under international law, as long as the bride is of age, says Andrea Bertone, the director of HumanTrafficking.org. And depending on state laws, requiring a specific dowry for an underage girl—with parental approval—would appear to be just fine. But at some point, dowry crosses over to bride price crosses over into selling—which crosses over into trafficking. “It's complicated, because child marriage is quite common around the world," says Bertone, whose research center is based at the Academy for Educational Development in Washington. “It might be interpreted under the U.N. Trafficking Protocol to be illegal (although there is nothing in the U.N. Trafficking Protocol or the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child that mentions anything about marriage or brides), but there is little that can be done if countries do not outlaw it and then enforce their own laws.”
What fucking YEAR is it again?