I'm not big on predeterminism and Fate, but even less so for parlor tricks of Faith. Coincidences may not be coincidences -- it's tempting to think along these lines at times, sure. Movies and so on. I should have been born in Missouri, probably, a stubborn but accessible skeptic, happy to learn... a curmudgeonly agnostic with curiosity to burn.
So, it is with a sense of skewed (if not skewered) aplomb, that I had a run-in with a berserk ATM, then managed to also have an allied discussion run equally amok. Here's what happened...
The other day, at the (in)convenience store, I was in for a pop and some cash. The ATM's in the back in the corner, after the magazines. So, I'm feeding in my card and waiting to twitch out the appropriate finger-dance on the key pad, to let my fingers do the high-kick walking, prime the machine-pump, and get the money flowing.
The ATM spat my card back out. No message on screen -- just URP, and card's back in the slot. I check out the card. Nothing wrong with the card, so far as I could see. I try again -- and URP, here we go again.
The first amendment guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. It will have little meaning...
On Monday, August 6, 1945, after six months of intense firebombing of 67 other Japanese cities,...
Later this month, on the holiday of Purim, Jewish people will dress in silly costumes, eat...
