The "Ground Zero" Cross

This is a re-post of a comment I left on Atheists.org.
I am appalled that instead of truly speaking out for "free thinking," atheists insist on reducing the choices of others. I've been an atheist for over 40 years and it makes me laugh to see people who supposedly believe "nothing" turning atheism into an us-against-them substitute religion. How sad. Christmas, with its silly traditions makes me smile as long as it's just one day out of the year. No wonder it's difficult to get believers to take atheists seriously. Atheists apparently have just as much of an inflexible agenda as any born-again idiot. This entire exercise just makes atheists like myself, who take some solace in being right, just want to hide in shame. Of course it was just an accident that the two girders happened to make a cross. Only a cretin who sees the Virgin Mary in a piece of toast would think otherwise. But filing a law suit to prevent it's being part of a government-owned museum makes atheists appear to be small-minded and ridiculous. Count me out.

Fiscal (Ir)responsibility

I get it. Nobody wants or needs any tax increases. We have spent ourselves to the brink of the precipice and we are looking over the edge. This scares me. As someone who, through my own brand of irresponsibility, has come close to disaster, I know there is only one way to get back to a place where the smallest misstep won't be fatal. Pay it all back and save some up for that "rainy day" our parents told us of. I had the benefit of a government program that allowed a judge to arrange for me to pay back my creditors. The United States has no such benefit for itself.

In 1898 the federal bankruptcy program was set up to allow debtors to repay their creditors in full or in part and allow them to restart their financial lives. Congress is now in the unenviable position of having to do this for the government. What makes this difficult is twofold. One, the entire population is involved in whatever austerity measures Congress enacts. Two, there will be an election next year for the entire House, one-third of the Senate, and for the President and Vice-President. The posturing and gamesmanship is in full spate. Whatever is done, people will be unhappy with both parties. The only certainty is that, if the debt ceiling is not raised, unhappy doesn't enter into it. Our country will be well on the way to becoming a third-world country. I know many think that is already the case. I understand that without this Damocles's sword over our heads we may well be unable to make the cuts and tax increases necessary to avert a disaster even worse than the one we feared three years ago. But there is insufficient time to do the job properly. August 2 is too close. I urge a single resolution: raise the debt ceiling immediately. Then have the guts to admit we won't get out of this awful hole we've dug through cuts alone.

Once again into the breach, dear friends...

It seems as though I have little to say to the world at large, based upon my previous record at keeping a blog. I have several fragments floating about the internet with one or two posts to my credit (or debit, depending upon how you like my writing). But every once in a while I get this itch to try and put something down about what I feel day to day. So this is it. Again.

I have learned from podcasting how important it is to laugh every day. Prior to my lobbying my employer to permit iPods and mp3 players, my days were spent trying to alleviate the boredom of the work I do. I would chat with my coworkers, laugh at the occasional joke, and wish I were elsewhere. Sometime in 2005, I got permission to listen to my iPod at work. At first, music, my first love, filled my days. But after several years I began to want something a bit different from my listening. I found podcasts on iTunes. I don't remember the first one I listened to, probably something informative. Then I discovered comedy. I had no idea the riches available and it seems I caught the tide on the rise. Adam Carolla was one of my first, and still my favorite. But since I've found Jim Jefferies and Eddie Ifft, Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier, Foul Mouth Radio, Kevin & Bean, and more. I spend a good part of my day laughing and thinking about the insane things my fellow homo sapiens get up to. I'm sure I'm healthier for it and maybe, if only marginally, better informed. Try it yourself and see if you don't agree.