Heading into the weekend; October 7'th.

First a bit of fun: there is a chalk artist, Julian Beever who makes some rather interesting chalk drawings on sidewalks. Yes, the photo is of the artist next two a two dimensional drawing! To see how it is done, take a look at a drawing (the woman in the pool) as viewed from a "bad' angle and a "good" angle. For more of his stuff, see
http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm

Or, to see a different type of, uh, "artistic deception", see a previous blog entry:
http://blueollie.blogspot.com/2005/08/funny-fashions-leave-it-to-japanese.html

Today saw some interesting articles at the Huffington Post. One, by Sherman Yellen, speculated on whether or not "a man could win the next presidential election". No, he doesn't think that Hillary Clinton is a shoe-in. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sherman-yellen/can-a-man-become-presiden_b_8470.html

Another article by Sam Harris talks about atheism:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-harris/there-is-no-god-and-you-_b_8459.html

which spawned off several diaries on the Daily Kos; among these are:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/7/122441/220
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/7/14442/8833
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/7/9618/47873

Of course, since I am a Unitarian Universalist (i. e., an agnostic who misses going to church), I had to jump in on these discussions.

But participating in these discussions has lead me to ponder an interesting point. In the circles that I hang out in (that is, the social groups in which I actually discuss matters like core beliefs), "believers" (that is, those who believe in some supernatural deity or deities or "deity-like" things) tend to be in the minority. Many would be uneasy letting it be known that they believe in this manner, though there are a few (namely the Goddess-vocal-feminists types) who openly profess with some attitude; the idea being that such professions identifies them as "strong, feisty womyn" (or something like that).

On the other hand, in the vast majority of America, "believing in God", in and of itself, is considered to be a good thing! Many people get downright upset with you if you are a "disbeliever". Many associate "being moral" with believing in the correct superstition.

I've never quite figured that out; perhaps this is the old superstition that some deity will punish everyone if that society tolerates disbelievers in their midst.

My main point: when I talk to my closest friends (most of them, anyway), or when I chat over in places like the Daily Kos, I am NOT talking to those in mainstream America. Consequently, I am pretty much clueless when it comes to figuring out what ideas are going to "sell well" in America, especially in rural, "red" areas.

That is why I'll never be a politician, and why most of my political contributions will be of the "grunt work" variety.