Anti-Christian Nuttiness

Over at Gizmodo.

Hey, numbnutz. I have Christmas lights up. Last night we decorated a tree. I don’t believe in God.

[Early afternoon update]

I think that this encapsulates the problem:

I believe that the objections to “Merry Christmas” stem from a misunderstanding of the phrase. While you and I mean “Please share my joy in this wonderful season,” some interpret it to mean “Honor Christmas, you infidel!”

Some people are just wrapped too tight.

[Another update a few minutes later]

Santa’s not pagan:

While it’s absolutely true that there are sincere and committed Christophobes and joyless atheistic boobs out there, one of the major culprits is capitalism itself. I like capitalism — a lot. Heck, the best Christmas present I could get would be a Scrooge-like conversion on the part of the president after a visit from the Ghost of Socialism Past. But the downside of capitalism is that it will, eventually, encourage the commercialization of everything sacred. For instance, there’s an online “dating” company dedicated entirely to facilitating adultery. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that a holiday symbolized by a man who gives presents would be exploited. That doesn’t mean we have to surrender to the trend, but we should recognize all of the trend’s sources, not just the convenient ones.

On a different note, the supposed champions of making Christmas more “inclusive” should at least ponder the irony that they are being intolerant. If you take offense when someone says “Merry Christmas,” you, quite simply, are the jerk.

Yup.

Another Soyuz Failure

And it was (again) in the third stage, but it doesn’t seem to be common with the failure a few weeks ago. There is one common cause, though — it is a product of the Russian space program, which seems to be having ongoing problems, and Congress continues to fiddle with SLS while it burns, while underfunding the only program that can eliminate our dependence on it.

[UPdate late morning]

A combustion-chamber burn through? If so, was this a manufacturing, or processing problem?

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!