Friday, April 25, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Boston Marathon Recap
What can I say about experiencing the Boston Marathon as a spectator? What a class act!
Everything, from the amazing, HUGE expo, the pasta party, the bus queue, and finish area was very well organized, considering the crowds (about 25,000 people, not including tens of thousands of spectators).
Yes, it was zoo-ish at times, as is to be expected, but I never saw anyone or anything get out of control. The only thing I didn't like (and this has nothing to do with the marathon) is the Boston subway system. You call that a subway system? I will never again complain about the NYC subway system as long as I live. Think of a Manhattan subway platform at rush hour. Then shrink the E train to about one-tenth its size but imagine the same number of people trying to cram into it. Ugh. And Lord help you if you're not fortunate enough to be holding onto something when the train stops (or should I say, lurches). Not for sissies!
Gotta say, though, that the people of Boston--citizens, police and subway workers--were very patient and courteous in my experience. I am sure they must have heard the same questions all day long: "Where is this street? Where is that street? How do I work this machine? How do I get there?" My hat is off to them.
It was nice catching up at the pasta party with Mick, Phil, Laura and Glenn. At first the organizers direct you under a Big Apple Circus big top, complete with clowns and merrymakers. You think you are being taken to some sort of show but the food and tables are actually further away, outside the comfort of the tent. We literally sat in Siberia (it was about that cold!) but it was fun. We dined on two types of pasta, salad, bread sticks and brown ale.
The next morning, we got up at the crack of dawn, checked out of our hotel and parked in a garage downtown. We never discovered the urban myth of "free parking" but we parked all day and only paid $20. That's where Boston has New York beat.
I walked with Tom over to Boston Commons where thousands were queued up for yellow school buses that would take them to the start. If I were writing a poem about it, I would describe the scene as a "sea of red bags," as everyone had their Boston Marathon clothing bag slung over their shoulder.
The runners had great weather: sunny, 50s, not too breezy.
I kissed Tom goodbye, wished him luck and then headed back into the downtown area. On the way out of Boston Commons, a man who sounded remarkably like Borat stopped me and asked, "Excuse my ignorance, but what is this gathering?" I could not believe that someone in Boston, let alone on the planet, would A. not know it's Patriot Day and B. not know it's the Boston Marathon. I told him and he was all taken aback. Glad I could set his world back on its axis.
So, I had a few hours to kill. It was only around 7 AM and Lynne wouldn't be calling me until around 10:30 so that we could watch the marathon together. I stopped at Starbucks, had my coffee, and then, based on Mick's advice, decided to tour Newbury Street. What cool street! Lots of unique stores and restaurants, all unfortunately not open until later but still, it was a nice walk and I got some good photos.
I walked over to the family reunion area on Stuart Street to familiarize myself with it and then later checked out the mall. Lynne called me around 10:30 so made my way outside and was amazed how in just a few hours, the crowds had swelled to around three deep at the finish line on Boylston. Lynne, myself and Sally got a great spot where we were able to see the first male and female winners come in. We saw Robert Cheruiyot fly by with no one else anywhere near him for about two minutes, with a finishing time of 2:07. The two top women battled it out for the finish with the winner, Dire Tune of Ethiopia, finishing in 2:25:25, just 2 seconds ahead of Russian Alevtina Biktimorova!
It was exciting when we spotted ERC members Glenn and Mick finishing. Sally was waiting for her boyfriend to come in and both Lynne and Sally also knew some people from North Jersey Masters, Sneaker Factory and the Jersey Shore Runners. We screamed at the top of our lungs when we saw Tom but unfortunately, he was on the other side of the street and couldn't hear us. He looked good, though!
Later, I was able to catch up with Mick and Tom over on Stuart Street under the "E" for Essex sign. Good idea, Mick! I got to hear about the course from Mick's perspective, someone who's done the course a few times, and Tom, a newbie to Boston. Many veteran Boston runners have told me that most of Boston is downhill and this can actually be tougher on the quads than the hills. Something to remember if you're training for it.
A special shout out to Andy K.! This Boston marks his 600th marathon, finishing in a very respectable time of 4:15. Way to go, Andy! I only have 596 more to do to catch up to ya.
Everything, from the amazing, HUGE expo, the pasta party, the bus queue, and finish area was very well organized, considering the crowds (about 25,000 people, not including tens of thousands of spectators).
Yes, it was zoo-ish at times, as is to be expected, but I never saw anyone or anything get out of control. The only thing I didn't like (and this has nothing to do with the marathon) is the Boston subway system. You call that a subway system? I will never again complain about the NYC subway system as long as I live. Think of a Manhattan subway platform at rush hour. Then shrink the E train to about one-tenth its size but imagine the same number of people trying to cram into it. Ugh. And Lord help you if you're not fortunate enough to be holding onto something when the train stops (or should I say, lurches). Not for sissies!
Gotta say, though, that the people of Boston--citizens, police and subway workers--were very patient and courteous in my experience. I am sure they must have heard the same questions all day long: "Where is this street? Where is that street? How do I work this machine? How do I get there?" My hat is off to them.
It was nice catching up at the pasta party with Mick, Phil, Laura and Glenn. At first the organizers direct you under a Big Apple Circus big top, complete with clowns and merrymakers. You think you are being taken to some sort of show but the food and tables are actually further away, outside the comfort of the tent. We literally sat in Siberia (it was about that cold!) but it was fun. We dined on two types of pasta, salad, bread sticks and brown ale.
The next morning, we got up at the crack of dawn, checked out of our hotel and parked in a garage downtown. We never discovered the urban myth of "free parking" but we parked all day and only paid $20. That's where Boston has New York beat.
I walked with Tom over to Boston Commons where thousands were queued up for yellow school buses that would take them to the start. If I were writing a poem about it, I would describe the scene as a "sea of red bags," as everyone had their Boston Marathon clothing bag slung over their shoulder.
The runners had great weather: sunny, 50s, not too breezy.
I kissed Tom goodbye, wished him luck and then headed back into the downtown area. On the way out of Boston Commons, a man who sounded remarkably like Borat stopped me and asked, "Excuse my ignorance, but what is this gathering?" I could not believe that someone in Boston, let alone on the planet, would A. not know it's Patriot Day and B. not know it's the Boston Marathon. I told him and he was all taken aback. Glad I could set his world back on its axis.
So, I had a few hours to kill. It was only around 7 AM and Lynne wouldn't be calling me until around 10:30 so that we could watch the marathon together. I stopped at Starbucks, had my coffee, and then, based on Mick's advice, decided to tour Newbury Street. What cool street! Lots of unique stores and restaurants, all unfortunately not open until later but still, it was a nice walk and I got some good photos.
I walked over to the family reunion area on Stuart Street to familiarize myself with it and then later checked out the mall. Lynne called me around 10:30 so made my way outside and was amazed how in just a few hours, the crowds had swelled to around three deep at the finish line on Boylston. Lynne, myself and Sally got a great spot where we were able to see the first male and female winners come in. We saw Robert Cheruiyot fly by with no one else anywhere near him for about two minutes, with a finishing time of 2:07. The two top women battled it out for the finish with the winner, Dire Tune of Ethiopia, finishing in 2:25:25, just 2 seconds ahead of Russian Alevtina Biktimorova!
It was exciting when we spotted ERC members Glenn and Mick finishing. Sally was waiting for her boyfriend to come in and both Lynne and Sally also knew some people from North Jersey Masters, Sneaker Factory and the Jersey Shore Runners. We screamed at the top of our lungs when we saw Tom but unfortunately, he was on the other side of the street and couldn't hear us. He looked good, though!
Later, I was able to catch up with Mick and Tom over on Stuart Street under the "E" for Essex sign. Good idea, Mick! I got to hear about the course from Mick's perspective, someone who's done the course a few times, and Tom, a newbie to Boston. Many veteran Boston runners have told me that most of Boston is downhill and this can actually be tougher on the quads than the hills. Something to remember if you're training for it.
A special shout out to Andy K.! This Boston marks his 600th marathon, finishing in a very respectable time of 4:15. Way to go, Andy! I only have 596 more to do to catch up to ya.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Same Ol' Same Ol'
So what else is new? (Italics mine)
Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer
Sam Zuckerman, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The harder Tina Flores works, the more it seems like she falls behind.
The Oakland woman is a full-time secretary at Kaiser Permanente, where her husband David holds a job as a records clerk. Together the two of them earn about $75,000. But, with three kids in the family, a $2,300 mortgage payment due each month and the $150 a week it takes to fill the tank on the Flores' Honda van, that's not enough to pay the bills. Their income is not that bad but their family planning skills are.
So she recently cut her monthly contribution to her retirement plan to $140 from $30o.. And she's selling homemade cakes and pies on the side to bring in something extra. Everyone I know is looking for additional ways to earn income, including moi. That's what you do in a recession.
"My whole motto is self-sufficiency," Flores, 41, said. "But what are we working for? We're not prospering from all the work we're doing." I feel the same way.
Flores is not alone. Economic data show that a huge swath of low- and middle-income families, both in California and across the nation, are barely scraping by. By many measures, their living standards are stagnating or declining as the prices of such necessities as food, fuel and medicine rise faster than wages.
Today, two liberal Washington research groups are set to issue reports on income trends in the 50 states showing that the gap between those at the bottom and middle of the income scale and those at the top is widening at an accelerating pace.
In California, the poorest 20 percent of families saw their incomes rise 1.4 percent in the 2004-06 period compared with 1998-2000, after adjusting for inflation, according to the study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute. The income of the middle 20 percent of families rose 3.8 percent. By contrast, the top 20 percent gained 13 percent after inflation, while the income of the top 5 percent jumped 20.8 percent.
Nationwide, families at the bottom and middle of the income scale fared even more poorly than their counterparts in California.
Across the country, average incomes fell 2.5 percent from 1998-2000 with 2004-06 for the bottom fifth of families, while edging up 1.3 percent for those in the middle. The top fifth registered a 9.1 percent gain.
No shared prosperity
"We are not seeing shared prosperity," said Jean Ross, director of the California Budget Project, a liberal research group in Sacramento that is helping distribute the report. "There's a pulling away at the top that's leaving the bottom 80 percent of families behind." Shared prosperity? What the hell is that? Sounds like socialism to me. Anyway, I haven't seen any of that 'shared prosperity,' either. Certainly not from the gubmint. Oh wait, sorry, forgot about the $600 I'm getting back! I promise not to spend it all in one place.
The groups responsible for today's study issued a similar report two years ago. And government data show income inequality has been rising for more than 25 years. So you can't place all the blame on the Repubs for this one.
The trend reflects a range of factors, according to the report's authors, including stagnant wages at the bottom of the income scale, robust pay increases at the top, and a hollowing out of jobs in the middle as manufacturing employment drops. In addition, investment income has grown faster than wages, benefiting those with large stock and bond portfolios. Government tax, trade and labor policies also contribute, the report contends. In other words, business as usual.
Liberal groups are pressing for policies to reduce income inequality, (Of course!) including increasing minimum wages and strengthening unemployment insurance. Free-market advocates warn against such measures and, in some cases, question the reliability of inequality data.
Robert Higgs, a senior fellow in political economy with the libertarian Independent Institute in Oakland, argues that living standards have risen for all income groups.
Much better off
"The lowest-income people are much better off than they used to be," he said. "If you just look at the baskets of consumer goods that people are acquiring, it's just not consistent with data that shows people are not better off." This is true more or less in urban areas, not so much in remote rural ones.
Even if inequality were increasing, it doesn't follow that society should do anything about it, Higgs said.
"Journalists almost invariable accept as a fundamental premise that making distribution of income more equal is a good thing," he said. "But distribution of income is in a sense irrelevant to any issue of policy."
Today's report is based on U.S. census income data through 2006. It counts wages and unearned income ranging from interest and dividends to food stamps and welfare benefits. Because of faulty data, it doesn't calculate capital gains on sales of stock and other assets, which add to inequality.
Recent data suggest that the economic downturn is intensifying income differences and disproportionately harming low- and middle-income families.
For example, the most recent Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers showed that 38 percent of low-income participants said inflation was a problem for them compared with 18 percent of high income respondents with similar complaints. That's the widest disparity ever found between low and high income survey participants on inflation, reflecting that prices of food and fuel and other essentials have climbed sharply, according to survey director Richard Curtin. But this is true for everyone. EVERYONE has to pay higher food and fuel prices.
Middle of the pack
Tina Flores is squarely in the middle of the income pack in the Bay Area. Even though she and her husband earn more money today than they did at the beginning of the decade, their family isn't living as well. Not to be a bitch, but then why did they have 3 kids?
"It doesn't seem like I'm gaining anything," she said, interviewed as she sat next to her mother, Joetta Fitzpatrick, who had business at the East Bay Community Law Center in Berkeley. "It seems the more I make, the more somebody takes it. I feel the same way and I don't have kids.
"I like to make a decent meal for the kids, but as the kids grow older they eat more. Everything is going up. Milk used to cost $2 something a gallon and now it's $6," she added. "We're eating a lot of noodles and leftovers." Same here. Going out to eat is pretty much for special occasions only. We all have to bite the bullet here, Ms. Flores!
In order to boost the family's income, Flores is preparing for nursing school by going to microbiology class two days a week. Her husband takes a four-hour course in electronic record keeping every day.
"I want my kids to do well and go to college," she said. "So we work and have to struggle."
Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Economic Policy Institute
E-mail Sam Zuckerman at szuckerman@sfchronicle.com
Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer
Sam Zuckerman, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The harder Tina Flores works, the more it seems like she falls behind.
The Oakland woman is a full-time secretary at Kaiser Permanente, where her husband David holds a job as a records clerk. Together the two of them earn about $75,000. But, with three kids in the family, a $2,300 mortgage payment due each month and the $150 a week it takes to fill the tank on the Flores' Honda van, that's not enough to pay the bills. Their income is not that bad but their family planning skills are.
So she recently cut her monthly contribution to her retirement plan to $140 from $30o.. And she's selling homemade cakes and pies on the side to bring in something extra. Everyone I know is looking for additional ways to earn income, including moi. That's what you do in a recession.
"My whole motto is self-sufficiency," Flores, 41, said. "But what are we working for? We're not prospering from all the work we're doing." I feel the same way.
Flores is not alone. Economic data show that a huge swath of low- and middle-income families, both in California and across the nation, are barely scraping by. By many measures, their living standards are stagnating or declining as the prices of such necessities as food, fuel and medicine rise faster than wages.
Today, two liberal Washington research groups are set to issue reports on income trends in the 50 states showing that the gap between those at the bottom and middle of the income scale and those at the top is widening at an accelerating pace.
In California, the poorest 20 percent of families saw their incomes rise 1.4 percent in the 2004-06 period compared with 1998-2000, after adjusting for inflation, according to the study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute. The income of the middle 20 percent of families rose 3.8 percent. By contrast, the top 20 percent gained 13 percent after inflation, while the income of the top 5 percent jumped 20.8 percent.
Nationwide, families at the bottom and middle of the income scale fared even more poorly than their counterparts in California.
Across the country, average incomes fell 2.5 percent from 1998-2000 with 2004-06 for the bottom fifth of families, while edging up 1.3 percent for those in the middle. The top fifth registered a 9.1 percent gain.
No shared prosperity
"We are not seeing shared prosperity," said Jean Ross, director of the California Budget Project, a liberal research group in Sacramento that is helping distribute the report. "There's a pulling away at the top that's leaving the bottom 80 percent of families behind." Shared prosperity? What the hell is that? Sounds like socialism to me. Anyway, I haven't seen any of that 'shared prosperity,' either. Certainly not from the gubmint. Oh wait, sorry, forgot about the $600 I'm getting back! I promise not to spend it all in one place.
The groups responsible for today's study issued a similar report two years ago. And government data show income inequality has been rising for more than 25 years. So you can't place all the blame on the Repubs for this one.
The trend reflects a range of factors, according to the report's authors, including stagnant wages at the bottom of the income scale, robust pay increases at the top, and a hollowing out of jobs in the middle as manufacturing employment drops. In addition, investment income has grown faster than wages, benefiting those with large stock and bond portfolios. Government tax, trade and labor policies also contribute, the report contends. In other words, business as usual.
Liberal groups are pressing for policies to reduce income inequality, (Of course!) including increasing minimum wages and strengthening unemployment insurance. Free-market advocates warn against such measures and, in some cases, question the reliability of inequality data.
Robert Higgs, a senior fellow in political economy with the libertarian Independent Institute in Oakland, argues that living standards have risen for all income groups.
Much better off
"The lowest-income people are much better off than they used to be," he said. "If you just look at the baskets of consumer goods that people are acquiring, it's just not consistent with data that shows people are not better off." This is true more or less in urban areas, not so much in remote rural ones.
Even if inequality were increasing, it doesn't follow that society should do anything about it, Higgs said.
"Journalists almost invariable accept as a fundamental premise that making distribution of income more equal is a good thing," he said. "But distribution of income is in a sense irrelevant to any issue of policy."
Today's report is based on U.S. census income data through 2006. It counts wages and unearned income ranging from interest and dividends to food stamps and welfare benefits. Because of faulty data, it doesn't calculate capital gains on sales of stock and other assets, which add to inequality.
Recent data suggest that the economic downturn is intensifying income differences and disproportionately harming low- and middle-income families.
For example, the most recent Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers showed that 38 percent of low-income participants said inflation was a problem for them compared with 18 percent of high income respondents with similar complaints. That's the widest disparity ever found between low and high income survey participants on inflation, reflecting that prices of food and fuel and other essentials have climbed sharply, according to survey director Richard Curtin. But this is true for everyone. EVERYONE has to pay higher food and fuel prices.
Middle of the pack
Tina Flores is squarely in the middle of the income pack in the Bay Area. Even though she and her husband earn more money today than they did at the beginning of the decade, their family isn't living as well. Not to be a bitch, but then why did they have 3 kids?
"It doesn't seem like I'm gaining anything," she said, interviewed as she sat next to her mother, Joetta Fitzpatrick, who had business at the East Bay Community Law Center in Berkeley. "It seems the more I make, the more somebody takes it. I feel the same way and I don't have kids.
"I like to make a decent meal for the kids, but as the kids grow older they eat more. Everything is going up. Milk used to cost $2 something a gallon and now it's $6," she added. "We're eating a lot of noodles and leftovers." Same here. Going out to eat is pretty much for special occasions only. We all have to bite the bullet here, Ms. Flores!
In order to boost the family's income, Flores is preparing for nursing school by going to microbiology class two days a week. Her husband takes a four-hour course in electronic record keeping every day.
"I want my kids to do well and go to college," she said. "So we work and have to struggle."
Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Economic Policy Institute
E-mail Sam Zuckerman at szuckerman@sfchronicle.com
Sunday, April 13, 2008
She’s Neglected Her Garden
She’s neglected her garden:
The flower beds are blanketed with leaves
dating back two years ago.
Wild onions, that scourge of the suburbs,
grow in places once reserved for grass.
Rocks embedded in the soil
make it unsuitable for living things, except slugs.
If this garden was a book,
it would be titled, “Failure to Thrive.”
But once upon a time,
She was full of piss and vinegar,
Attacking the crabgrass with impunity,
rooting out all evil
in the form of burdock and thorny stalks
No dandelion puff was safe from her wrath.
Then arthritis took hold,
burrowing into her joints like bulbs
in her gnarled, purplish hands.
She no longer took pleasure in her garden,
Memories of sun-drenched leaves, perfect blooms,
and dew-dipped stems were replaced,
by pain and morning stiffness.
It would be early afternoon
until she could even make it downstairs,
to look out upon the sanctuary she once loved.
I’ve inherited her garden,
With its never-ending weeds,
leaves and pests.
It’s a work in progress but with no end in sight.
One day, though, it will come back
and, like the old woman, I will take much pride in it.
I will have sunflowers with heads bigger than my own,
pumpkin patches with huge vines,
snaking their way down under the fence.
Blue bachelor’s buttons, pink flox, yellow daffodils,
all shouting their names.
I will usher friends and loved ones into the backyard
Before they’ve had their tea.
But I know that one day, too,
something will prevent me from going out back,
and my garden will wither once again,
until some ambitious person with a rake and a dowel
will remark to her friends, “She’s neglected her garden.”
The flower beds are blanketed with leaves
dating back two years ago.
Wild onions, that scourge of the suburbs,
grow in places once reserved for grass.
Rocks embedded in the soil
make it unsuitable for living things, except slugs.
If this garden was a book,
it would be titled, “Failure to Thrive.”
But once upon a time,
She was full of piss and vinegar,
Attacking the crabgrass with impunity,
rooting out all evil
in the form of burdock and thorny stalks
No dandelion puff was safe from her wrath.
Then arthritis took hold,
burrowing into her joints like bulbs
in her gnarled, purplish hands.
She no longer took pleasure in her garden,
Memories of sun-drenched leaves, perfect blooms,
and dew-dipped stems were replaced,
by pain and morning stiffness.
It would be early afternoon
until she could even make it downstairs,
to look out upon the sanctuary she once loved.
I’ve inherited her garden,
With its never-ending weeds,
leaves and pests.
It’s a work in progress but with no end in sight.
One day, though, it will come back
and, like the old woman, I will take much pride in it.
I will have sunflowers with heads bigger than my own,
pumpkin patches with huge vines,
snaking their way down under the fence.
Blue bachelor’s buttons, pink flox, yellow daffodils,
all shouting their names.
I will usher friends and loved ones into the backyard
Before they’ve had their tea.
But I know that one day, too,
something will prevent me from going out back,
and my garden will wither once again,
until some ambitious person with a rake and a dowel
will remark to her friends, “She’s neglected her garden.”
Friday, April 11, 2008
Is It Open Season on Atheists?
What is it lately with attacking atheists? If these barbs were directed at any other group, the sheeple would be up in arms. This latest comes from violentacres.com, a mysterious web site with an even more mysterious author. The italics are mine, as per usual.
Atheists are Snobs
April 10th, 2008
The problem with Atheists is most of them are snobs.
Atheists think they’re being clever with their spaghetti monster analogies and fairy tale rhetoric, but at the end of the day, they come off sound like condescending pricks. And religious fundies sound like what? Music to your ears?
Furthermore, any group of people claiming superior intelligence that willingly engages in the fight of a losing battle automatically loses credibility. Hmmm. Sounds a LOT like religious fundies to me.
However, Atheists are too dumb to realize they’re fighting a losing battle, so they persist with the lecturing and the withering stares. Atheists have singled handedly ruined coffee shops with this crap. Say wha? The atheists that I know are anything but preachy. In fact, they tend to preach against preachiness. And please, direct me to the atheist coffee shop now!
I, myself, have not been able to claim belief in a higher power for many, many years. However, I can still see the value in Religion. I am just the opposite. I DO believe in a higher power but I think most religions are silly and tend to make people divisive.
Perhaps growing up without a strong parental figure in my life made me recognize the possible value of a loving Father figure up in the sky watching out for me. And hey, I try my best not forget that sometimes we all need something to believe in.
Most Atheists have the tendency to thumb their noses at Jesus, and then log onto World of Warcraft so they can pretend to be an orc for a couple of hours. They sneer at the Bible, but have no problem playing endless hours of vampire role playing games. The message is clear. Fantasies are OK as long as they include gratuitous violence and some sort of porn. Last time I checked, I didn't see hordes of WoW fans passing out literature at airports and bus stations trying to convert me to their belief system. Or picketing abortion clinics.
It’s no wonder Religious folks don’t take them too seriously. Even the Quiet Intellectual Atheist comes across as if he’s only denying belief to be aversive. That's YOUR projection there, Dearie. It’s hard not to pity the guy addicted to nonconformity like an addict to a needle.
Personally, I don’t mind Religion. Religious leaders, on the other hand, really get my goat. But in my experience, when you approach someone by saying, “Hey. I don’t mind Catholicism. It’s just the creepy priests fucking altar boys that gross me out,” members of the congregation are more apt to listen.
My only real issue with Religion (and ultimately, it’s a fairly small issue) is that it teaches people to be good for all the wrong reasons. Whether it’s the fear of a vengeful God and eternal life spent in the flames of Hell or the possibility of winning a ticket into Heaven accompanied by a boat load of virgins, people are still behaving well to escape punishment or to win everlasting life. Uh, that's kinda the point, ain't it? Controlling the masses by promising pie in the sky or eternal damnation.
Ideally, people would be good because it’s the right thing to do. Not because they want good Karma to come back on them and not because they’re hoping for a personal cloud to lounge on in the sky, but because doing the right thing is its own reward. I’d like to live in a world where people aren’t secretly hoping for a payoff for every single good dead they’ve ever done. In a perfect world, yes.
But then again, most of society today seems almost completely lacking in any moral compass whatsoever. So if ‘God’ does his part to scare some little bastard out of stealing my fucking car, I guess I can’t complain too much. Again with the generalizations! I've known plenty of atheists who could run circles around many religious folk, morally and ethically speaking.
Any Atheist who does seriously needs to reevaluate his priorities.
Atheists are Snobs
April 10th, 2008
The problem with Atheists is most of them are snobs.
Atheists think they’re being clever with their spaghetti monster analogies and fairy tale rhetoric, but at the end of the day, they come off sound like condescending pricks. And religious fundies sound like what? Music to your ears?
Furthermore, any group of people claiming superior intelligence that willingly engages in the fight of a losing battle automatically loses credibility. Hmmm. Sounds a LOT like religious fundies to me.
However, Atheists are too dumb to realize they’re fighting a losing battle, so they persist with the lecturing and the withering stares. Atheists have singled handedly ruined coffee shops with this crap. Say wha? The atheists that I know are anything but preachy. In fact, they tend to preach against preachiness. And please, direct me to the atheist coffee shop now!
I, myself, have not been able to claim belief in a higher power for many, many years. However, I can still see the value in Religion. I am just the opposite. I DO believe in a higher power but I think most religions are silly and tend to make people divisive.
Perhaps growing up without a strong parental figure in my life made me recognize the possible value of a loving Father figure up in the sky watching out for me. And hey, I try my best not forget that sometimes we all need something to believe in.
Most Atheists have the tendency to thumb their noses at Jesus, and then log onto World of Warcraft so they can pretend to be an orc for a couple of hours. They sneer at the Bible, but have no problem playing endless hours of vampire role playing games. The message is clear. Fantasies are OK as long as they include gratuitous violence and some sort of porn. Last time I checked, I didn't see hordes of WoW fans passing out literature at airports and bus stations trying to convert me to their belief system. Or picketing abortion clinics.
It’s no wonder Religious folks don’t take them too seriously. Even the Quiet Intellectual Atheist comes across as if he’s only denying belief to be aversive. That's YOUR projection there, Dearie. It’s hard not to pity the guy addicted to nonconformity like an addict to a needle.
Personally, I don’t mind Religion. Religious leaders, on the other hand, really get my goat. But in my experience, when you approach someone by saying, “Hey. I don’t mind Catholicism. It’s just the creepy priests fucking altar boys that gross me out,” members of the congregation are more apt to listen.
My only real issue with Religion (and ultimately, it’s a fairly small issue) is that it teaches people to be good for all the wrong reasons. Whether it’s the fear of a vengeful God and eternal life spent in the flames of Hell or the possibility of winning a ticket into Heaven accompanied by a boat load of virgins, people are still behaving well to escape punishment or to win everlasting life. Uh, that's kinda the point, ain't it? Controlling the masses by promising pie in the sky or eternal damnation.
Ideally, people would be good because it’s the right thing to do. Not because they want good Karma to come back on them and not because they’re hoping for a personal cloud to lounge on in the sky, but because doing the right thing is its own reward. I’d like to live in a world where people aren’t secretly hoping for a payoff for every single good dead they’ve ever done. In a perfect world, yes.
But then again, most of society today seems almost completely lacking in any moral compass whatsoever. So if ‘God’ does his part to scare some little bastard out of stealing my fucking car, I guess I can’t complain too much. Again with the generalizations! I've known plenty of atheists who could run circles around many religious folk, morally and ethically speaking.
Any Atheist who does seriously needs to reevaluate his priorities.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
More from the "Party of Tolerance"
From the Chicago Tribune:
Representative tries to put the fear of God in atheist
By Eric Zorn
Change of Subject
April 6, 2008
Did you hear about the state legislator who last week blasted a Lutheran minister during a committee hearing for spewing dangerous religious superstitions, and then attempted to order the minister out of the witness chair on the grounds that his Christian beliefs are "destroying what this state was built upon"?
Of course you didn't, because it didn't happen and would never happen. Not to a Christian, not to a Jew, not to a Muslim or to anyone who subscribes to any faith.
Such an attack would rightly be considered scandalously out of bounds in contemporary society.
But you probably also didn't hear about what actually did happen:
Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) interrupted atheist activist Rob Sherman during his testimony Wednesday afternoon before the House State Government Administration Committee in Springfield and told him, "What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous . . . it's dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists!
"This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God," Davis said. "Get out of that seat . . . You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon."
Apparently it's still open season on some views of God.
Outside of Change of Subject, where I posted a transcript and the audio, Davis' repellent, un-American outburst received no attention whatsoever.
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
Representative tries to put the fear of God in atheist
By Eric Zorn
Change of Subject
April 6, 2008
Did you hear about the state legislator who last week blasted a Lutheran minister during a committee hearing for spewing dangerous religious superstitions, and then attempted to order the minister out of the witness chair on the grounds that his Christian beliefs are "destroying what this state was built upon"?
Of course you didn't, because it didn't happen and would never happen. Not to a Christian, not to a Jew, not to a Muslim or to anyone who subscribes to any faith.
Such an attack would rightly be considered scandalously out of bounds in contemporary society.
But you probably also didn't hear about what actually did happen:
Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) interrupted atheist activist Rob Sherman during his testimony Wednesday afternoon before the House State Government Administration Committee in Springfield and told him, "What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous . . . it's dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists!
"This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God," Davis said. "Get out of that seat . . . You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon."
Apparently it's still open season on some views of God.
Outside of Change of Subject, where I posted a transcript and the audio, Davis' repellent, un-American outburst received no attention whatsoever.
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
Talking Trash
Liberals love meetings and focus groups about "being green," global warming, solar panels, you name it, but the reality is that most humans have little if any control over climactic change, can't afford solar panels and just plain don't have the time to attend another meeting.
Here's a news flash for you: Yes, you CAN make a difference. Round up some friends, grab a few huge trash bags and pick up the trash! Just like Mojo Nixon singing that "Elvis is everywhere," so is the trash: on the side of the road (especially exit ramps), in the woods, in parking lots, in parks. How it got there is a another blog entry, another time, but the important thing is that we can make it disappear.
My running club, for example, holds two clean ups, in the spring and fall, at the trail that runs from Verona through Little Falls. We actually have fun doing this. We're doing something good for the environment, we get to run on the trail afterwards and then go our for breakfast. Personally, I would like to see these held more often, possibly once a month. The trash that accumulates is staggering.
We hear about liberals being the only ones concerned with the environment. Talk about trash! There is soooo much hypocrisy there. How many of these folks actually use public transportation? Sure they ride their bikes to BlueWaveNJ meetings and whatnot but big whoop. That's a drop in the bucket. What do they drive the rest of time?
My brother who lives out west is a big ol' liberal but at least he's not a hypocrit. He actually rides his bicycle to work and back every day. So I give him props. When he does drive a car, it's not a big gas guzzler but a Toyota Camry.
I am stuck with public transportation as I live in NJ and work in NYC. If I rode my bike to work, I might not make it there alive.
So, next time you come unhinged about the environment, remember the Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."
Picking up the trash is time and effort well spent. Sitting in a focus group or meeting on a beautiful day is not.
Here's a news flash for you: Yes, you CAN make a difference. Round up some friends, grab a few huge trash bags and pick up the trash! Just like Mojo Nixon singing that "Elvis is everywhere," so is the trash: on the side of the road (especially exit ramps), in the woods, in parking lots, in parks. How it got there is a another blog entry, another time, but the important thing is that we can make it disappear.
My running club, for example, holds two clean ups, in the spring and fall, at the trail that runs from Verona through Little Falls. We actually have fun doing this. We're doing something good for the environment, we get to run on the trail afterwards and then go our for breakfast. Personally, I would like to see these held more often, possibly once a month. The trash that accumulates is staggering.
We hear about liberals being the only ones concerned with the environment. Talk about trash! There is soooo much hypocrisy there. How many of these folks actually use public transportation? Sure they ride their bikes to BlueWaveNJ meetings and whatnot but big whoop. That's a drop in the bucket. What do they drive the rest of time?
My brother who lives out west is a big ol' liberal but at least he's not a hypocrit. He actually rides his bicycle to work and back every day. So I give him props. When he does drive a car, it's not a big gas guzzler but a Toyota Camry.
I am stuck with public transportation as I live in NJ and work in NYC. If I rode my bike to work, I might not make it there alive.
So, next time you come unhinged about the environment, remember the Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."
Picking up the trash is time and effort well spent. Sitting in a focus group or meeting on a beautiful day is not.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Random Stuff
I realize that I haven't been posting a lot lately (that's an understatement) but I have been busy, with work, planning a wedding, getting the house and yard in order, and running, of course.
Tomorrow I am doing the MORE Half-Marathon in Central Park, really more for fun than anything else. It's a good cause, with the money going towards women's charities (you have to be a woman to run in it!) There's also a MORE Marathon taking place at the same time. That's a lot of bitches in the park...:-) A bunch of women from my running club are doing it. Kewl.
Some updates:
I was in rehab for a month. No, not the Amy Winehouse kind, the physical therapy kind. From time to time, you may have seen me write about this annoying pain in my hip upon getting out of bed in the morning. It would only bother me in the AM but once I got moving and took my shower, I was fine. Or so I thought.
It didn't hurt me while I ran but I knew that something wasn't quite up to snuff. I felt an imbalance of sorts, as if I was off-kilter. There was a heaviness in my left hip and leg that wasn't there before. I told Tom that I was going to get the hip x-rayed. His reaction was that little aches and pains are part of getting older. I disagree. Little aches and pains can become big ones and can also be indicative of something more serious going on, like arthritis. To me, getting older does not have to equal living in pain.
I looked in my insurance plan and found a sports doc at Lenox Hill Hospital. I waited in his office about 30 minuntes which I realize is the norm for a big NYC doctor, he saw me all of 5 minutes and sent me for a x-ray in the same building. It was then that I realized that, with the exception of my teeth, I have never had an x-ray in my 50 years on this earth. I was expecting a big production but that, too, took all of 5 minutes.
The good news: I don't have arthritis, thank God. In fact, my bones were in pretty good shape for some who's taken as many falls as I have on the trail. After doing some manipulations of my hips and legs, he determined that I had tendonitis in the glute area, which is a fancy way of saying pain in the ass. I also had a very tight iliotibial (IT) band. All from overuse.
The treatment consisted of PT 2 times a week for 4-6 weeks, daily doses of Advil and icing the affected area 10 minutes at a time.
To make a long story short, I found a wonderful PT guy literally right across the street from my office. He had me doing exercises to strengthen my ankles and IT band plus we worked on balance. I emabrrassed to tell you how off-balance I was.
My problem was cleared up within a month and I fell like a new person. No nagging pain when I get out of bed. I ran a 10-mile race last week in Freehold and finished in 1:25:24, my second best time ever for that distance. (My best was in 2005with a 1:25:02).
You see, I had gone to a chiro and massage therapist. Now while those treatments are good things, they are temporary fixes, in my opinion. If you have a problem that's not going away, you need to pull out the big guns. Glad I did.
Other stuff. Something weird is going on in the deli where I buy my lunch. No, I don't mean the increase in prices--that's everywhere. Most of the time, I eat salads for lunch, because they're cheap and I like them. I get either egg whites or grilled chicken on romaine lettuce with broccoli, black beans, corn, peas and walnuts. You're supposed to get a small slice of pita bread with your salad. One to a customer. There's one guy, however, who always shoves a second piece of bread into my salad. At first I thought it was just an oversight. But I asked my co-workers and they don't get extra slices of bread. Is that weird or what? Do I look that forlorn that perfect strangers are slipping me extra slices of bread? Please, I don't need the extra calories, thank you very much.
My oldest brother is very sick but he's in denial just how sick he is. Without going into tremendous detail, my brother has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF). Plus, he has to have an operation to repair a faulty valve in his heart. Needless to say, he is NOT an excellent candidate for surgery. He's 65, a former smoker (when I say former, I mean he just quit this year upon threat that he will most certainly die if he continues to smoke), and he has CHF. So, I am worried, yes. His attitude is "at least I don't have cancer." I don't know if he's trying to be funny or not, but neither one is a great hand.
Most of these problems are due to bad lifestyle choices on his part: the smoking, bad diet (which has now improved due to the wonderful woman he's married to), lack of exercise (he's golfs but that's about it). And I can't even pray for him because he's an atheist. So, I just tell him I love him and leave it at that.
Tomorrow I am doing the MORE Half-Marathon in Central Park, really more for fun than anything else. It's a good cause, with the money going towards women's charities (you have to be a woman to run in it!) There's also a MORE Marathon taking place at the same time. That's a lot of bitches in the park...:-) A bunch of women from my running club are doing it. Kewl.
Some updates:
I was in rehab for a month. No, not the Amy Winehouse kind, the physical therapy kind. From time to time, you may have seen me write about this annoying pain in my hip upon getting out of bed in the morning. It would only bother me in the AM but once I got moving and took my shower, I was fine. Or so I thought.
It didn't hurt me while I ran but I knew that something wasn't quite up to snuff. I felt an imbalance of sorts, as if I was off-kilter. There was a heaviness in my left hip and leg that wasn't there before. I told Tom that I was going to get the hip x-rayed. His reaction was that little aches and pains are part of getting older. I disagree. Little aches and pains can become big ones and can also be indicative of something more serious going on, like arthritis. To me, getting older does not have to equal living in pain.
I looked in my insurance plan and found a sports doc at Lenox Hill Hospital. I waited in his office about 30 minuntes which I realize is the norm for a big NYC doctor, he saw me all of 5 minutes and sent me for a x-ray in the same building. It was then that I realized that, with the exception of my teeth, I have never had an x-ray in my 50 years on this earth. I was expecting a big production but that, too, took all of 5 minutes.
The good news: I don't have arthritis, thank God. In fact, my bones were in pretty good shape for some who's taken as many falls as I have on the trail. After doing some manipulations of my hips and legs, he determined that I had tendonitis in the glute area, which is a fancy way of saying pain in the ass. I also had a very tight iliotibial (IT) band. All from overuse.
The treatment consisted of PT 2 times a week for 4-6 weeks, daily doses of Advil and icing the affected area 10 minutes at a time.
To make a long story short, I found a wonderful PT guy literally right across the street from my office. He had me doing exercises to strengthen my ankles and IT band plus we worked on balance. I emabrrassed to tell you how off-balance I was.
My problem was cleared up within a month and I fell like a new person. No nagging pain when I get out of bed. I ran a 10-mile race last week in Freehold and finished in 1:25:24, my second best time ever for that distance. (My best was in 2005with a 1:25:02).
You see, I had gone to a chiro and massage therapist. Now while those treatments are good things, they are temporary fixes, in my opinion. If you have a problem that's not going away, you need to pull out the big guns. Glad I did.
Other stuff. Something weird is going on in the deli where I buy my lunch. No, I don't mean the increase in prices--that's everywhere. Most of the time, I eat salads for lunch, because they're cheap and I like them. I get either egg whites or grilled chicken on romaine lettuce with broccoli, black beans, corn, peas and walnuts. You're supposed to get a small slice of pita bread with your salad. One to a customer. There's one guy, however, who always shoves a second piece of bread into my salad. At first I thought it was just an oversight. But I asked my co-workers and they don't get extra slices of bread. Is that weird or what? Do I look that forlorn that perfect strangers are slipping me extra slices of bread? Please, I don't need the extra calories, thank you very much.
My oldest brother is very sick but he's in denial just how sick he is. Without going into tremendous detail, my brother has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF). Plus, he has to have an operation to repair a faulty valve in his heart. Needless to say, he is NOT an excellent candidate for surgery. He's 65, a former smoker (when I say former, I mean he just quit this year upon threat that he will most certainly die if he continues to smoke), and he has CHF. So, I am worried, yes. His attitude is "at least I don't have cancer." I don't know if he's trying to be funny or not, but neither one is a great hand.
Most of these problems are due to bad lifestyle choices on his part: the smoking, bad diet (which has now improved due to the wonderful woman he's married to), lack of exercise (he's golfs but that's about it). And I can't even pray for him because he's an atheist. So, I just tell him I love him and leave it at that.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
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