Read an interesting column in the USA today editorial section on Monday written by a fellow atheist.  I read this blurb and it summed up my feelings precisely:

"It isn't that I am not angry at some believers.  These days, many atheists are angry.  And we should be.  We are not liked by most people in our own country, and we couldn't win an election unless the other guy was a child molester.  We are regarded as threatening, unethical and downright evil. ..."

It's not your irrational beliefs that make me mad.  It's when you think you can shove them down my throat or have the gall to judge me for not sharing them that my hackles get raised.  Discrimination based on someone's rational reliance on evidence and reason instead of superstition and tradition is just as wrong as discrimination based on skin color or gender or national origin, etc.  C'mon now, is this the first century or the twenty-first century?

I don't watch a lot of TV, but Rock of Love, a reality show on VH1 similar to the Bachelor featuring Poison (80's Metal band) frontman Bret Michaels was one of my few guilty pleasures this past few months.  They aired the 'reunion' show this week and it was pretty entertaining. 

Hardball is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month.  Chris Matthews (or Tweety, as he's known to progressives) stopped being relevant when 9/11 happened and really has never regained his footing.  Yes, it would have taken superhuman courage for a talking head shortly after 9/11 to speak out against George Bush and his nutty and dangerous ideas, but is it too much to expect an apology from these guys 6 years later?  The mainstream press (with few exceptions, such as Olbermann) continues to ignore, or even worse, distort, the critical issues of the day, and Chris Matthews continues to be one of the worst offenders.

Another show that used to be great was good ole South Park.  But now every other episode seems to be devoted to smearing progressives.  Not one, but two of South Park's episodes have been devoted to the private parts of prominent female Democrats, Oprah and Hillary.  A third show has ridiculed Al Gore's stance on global warming, comparing it to believing in 'ManBearPig', a creature similar to Sasquatch.  Yes, it's just parody, but parody should target the powerful and corrupt, not the good guys who are fighting the good fight against the powerful and corrupt.  The first show of the new season goes after Bono (U2's frontman,) comparing him to (or more than that actually, in the episode he is depicted as actually being) a giant piece of fecal matter.

Lynne Cheney was on the Daily Show this week and Jon Stewart was awful.  She kept him off-balance and unsure of how to proceed the whole interview.  Opportunity lost (and a good demonstration of why I prefer folks who tell it like it is, like Olbermann, to comedians who broadcast 'fake news' and try to win their audience over with humor, like Stewart.)  It's hard to strike the appropriate tone when a politician sends his wife to do interviews, but you can still ask pointed questions without coming off as a bully.

Yankees are out again.  Couldn't be happier about that.  I thought this would be their year, though, as they were clearly the best team in baseball for the last 3/4 of the season.  Hopefully they'll fire Joe Torre after 7 years of failing to get the job done and give someone else a chance to buy the World Series championship with a $200 million salary budget.

The USA 1 Venice Cup team held up a sign on the podium at the awards banquet that read "We Did Not Vote for Bush" during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner.  There's an interesting discussion in BBO Forums on that issue here.

Congratulations to USA's Venice Cup and Seniors bowl winners.  Looking forward to the trifecta tonight.