When I first moved to South Carolina, I was distressed and amazed at how much religious material - let me clarify, Christian material - there was displayed in places like doctor and dentist offices. After living in Atlanta for many, many years, I never saw such public displays of Christian faith in professional areas. I know that Atlanta is in the South, where proselytizing is akin to breathing, but as the "international city" it prides itself in being, such passive proselytizing in a professional atmosphere would never fly.

I've been a bit shaken up today after my partner came home and told me that she narrowly escaped would could have been a deadly traffic accident last night. Construction had traffic stopped on the interstate around 10 p.m. when a tractor-trailer crested the hill at a high rate of speed heading right for my partner's car. She said she watched in horror as the truck slammed on his brakes and fish-tailed down the hill before finally coming to a stop off the road right beside her car.

I held her a little tighter after she told me this - terrified that my night could have been very different with police showing up at my door instead of my love.

I've had trouble letting it go today, running the scene over and over in my head of how devastated I would be today if that trucker had been unable to avoid a collision. Surely she would have died or been seriously injured.

For the fifth time in as many years, couples here in South Carolina made the trek to the courthouse here in Columbia to try to apply for marriage licenses. My partner Wanda and I have participated four of those year, including this year. The result is always the same. They let us fill out the paperwork so the cameras can get their shots and then they politely tell us to get lost.

Wow, the Holy Crap has been cascading today. First, I read an interview with conservative Bishop N.T. Wright who tells us that whole heaven thing is just a fig newton of our imaginations:

The Good Christian President(TM) George W. Bush has put out his latest budget and not surprisingly, the winners are, well, not anyone reading this blog.

The more than $3 trillion budget includes lots and lots of spending for the military industrial complex - all in the name of our "national security." It also calls for making the Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy permanent - entrenching the haves and the have mores as the real winners from here on out.

Where will all the money come from to pay for more guns and real butter on the fat cats dinner table? Wait for it ...

Amazing. There is an endless war going on that is sucking our economy dry. Homeless veterans, millions without health care insurance, millions more falling into poverty every single day and what are the most important issues in this election to evangelicals?

I can't believe we have another year of political hoohah coming. I used to listen to NPR religiously on my way to work. Now, I can barely stand it. Instead, I'm grooving to Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews and even some Jethro Tull in the car these days. I can't stand the hypocrisy and downright stupidity of the political races these days.

So, a retired gay general who favors Hillary asked the Republicans a question about Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the world explodes. Let me get this straight (so to speak), only Republicans can ask Republicans questions? Democrats aren't allowed to ask questions? People who ask questions must be thoroughly vetted to make sure they support the party in question before they can ask a legitimate question - or even a stupid question? What the ...? Then CNN apologizes for letting him ask a question? CNN should grow a spine and say, "Hey, he's an American asking potential presidents a question - that's all the credential he needs." Stupid CNN - yet another reason to be glad I don't work there anymore.