Page 1 of Michael Ramzy's writing

1. The Debt Ceiling (Yawn) In A Nutshell Another hot one here in Austin, the 43rd in a row with temperatures over 100 degrees. I'm not complaining, of course, since I'm used to it. Just the other day, in fact, I saw a cow try to jump into a McDonald's because the grill would be cooler... (posted by Michael 303 days 16 hours ago.)

2. I Don't Know, Officer: How Fast Were You Going? I sat in my truck on the shoulder waiting for the officer to dismount from his motorcycle. The truck swayed a little as the traffic zipped past, oblivious to the 65mph speed-limit. I watched the officer get off his bike and had a strange thought:... (posted by Michael 319 days 11 hours ago.)

3. I Would Walk A Mile To Get Another Point Of View I would walk a mile for a chance to meet my neighbors. Not necessarily those who live next door, but those who live a few block down the road. It's easy for all of us to remain in our little bubbles of life: work, home, shopping, etc. We have... (posted by Michael 321 days 19 hours ago.)

4. Hostility Is Overrated Anyway: What's The Big Deal? Another beautiful night in Texas and I am unable to remember the last time I arrived home before dark. I leave before it's light, return after dark . . . it's almost as though I am living the life of a vampire. Of course, without the blood and... (posted by Michael 324 days 10 hours ago.)

5. Things We'll Never See Or Hear Another steamy day on tap here in Texas, which makes me wonder where the rain is. I mean, there is flooding to the east in Louisiana (where they don't need the water), tornados and storms to the north (where they don't need the water or the... (posted by Michael 357 days 22 hours ago.)

6. Reality Or Real Reality, Take Your Pick Every now and then I wonder what other people think about on a daily basis. Not often, not even sometimes, but every now and then. I think I must be crazy since I don't have the addiction to reality television or trivialities many seem to. For... (posted by Michael 1 year 30 days ago.)

7. We Have Three Choices Another beautiful day sweeps over America, and I am thrilled to be off for a week so I can catch up on SearchWarp and sleep (although not in that order!). I have noticed our government employees are still entrenched in the Blame Game in Washington... (posted by Michael 1 year 33 days ago.)

8. And The Answer Is . . . Another beautiful day in America and I have realized something: I have the answer. And no, it isn't '42' (for you universal hitchhikers). The answer, or rather 'THE ANSWER', is something that is so simple I am truly surprised I haven't come across... (posted by Michael 1 year 121 days ago.)

9. Do You Really Need All Of That Money? Another beautiful night sweeps across America, and here in Texas the sky is clear and the Harvest moon is out and the vampires are . . . not in Texas. I remember watching Twilight at the behest (order) of my girlfriend and I thought it was all... (posted by Michael 1 year 247 days ago.)

10. You Can't Say That! America sure has changed in the past few decades. Many lament about the 'good ol' days', not realizing those days weren't really all that 'good'. Simpler, perhaps, but not necessarily better. The American spirit was alive and well, though, and the... (posted by Michael 1 year 249 days ago.)

11. They're Out To Get You, Aren't They? Last week we had a pretty severe storm that passed through Austin. Power lines went down, power went out, and the city came to a virtual standstill for hours. I remember driving home from work through the storm and was glad to see the police had... (posted by Michael 1 year 255 days ago.)

12. Burning Flags, Burning Books and Burning Desire I had a dream once where I stood in my front yard and burned an American flag. In this dream, no one stopped me and my flag burned to ashes in a remarkably short period of time. I remember waking from this dream and wondering what I could possibly... (posted by Michael 1 year 262 days ago.)

13. How Did Jack And Jill Ever Fetch That Pail Of Water? I walked into the coffee shop for my weekly coffee and noticed an old friend of mine sitting in the corner, writing. He wasn't really a writer, more of a poser, yet I always try to give him the benefit of the doubt. He had a habit of overthinking... (posted by Michael 1 year 269 days ago.)

14. The New Economy: What If Everything Was Free? Another hot one here in Texas, but I'm not worried: when global warming hits I'm already prepared! Of course, if we have another ice age I'm pretty much out of luck, but c'est la vivre. I was driving home from the paint store this morning... (posted by Michael 1 year 276 days ago.)

15. Of Course You Have Freedom Of Speech . . . Now Be Quiet Another humid and hot day in Texas and lately it seems there are more and more stories in the news about someone's (or some group's) right to speak being threatened. It seems to come in waves, actually, but lately there has been a lot said about a... (posted by Michael 1 year 280 days ago.)

16. The Lies You Believe (And Some You Might Not) Another steamy day here in Texas and I gotta tell ya, this heat is really getting old. If global warming is going to be like this, then I'm moving to another planet! I was thinking of the things we take for granted as truth and how often we... (posted by Michael 1 year 288 days ago.)

17. First Do No Harm A great day in America beckons and here we are, one and all, going about our lives without harming anyone or anything. In other words, by and large we just want to be left alone without intrusion or interference to do what we wish. Well, not... (posted by Michael 1 year 308 days ago.)

18. Why Destroy Yourself? It never ceases to amaze me the looks people get when they hear the term 'suicide bomber'. It used to be a look of shock and dismay, yet these days it seems to be a look of simple boredom - you know, 'here we go again'. Suicide bombers have been... (posted by Michael 1 year 317 days ago.)

19. A Wing And A Prayer . . . And A Can Opener Another beautiful day in America and those in the northeast are sweltering from the heat. My heart goes out to them, of course, even though I live in Texas and triple-digit temperatures are the norm. The heat to them might be as snow is to us:... (posted by Michael 1 year 324 days ago.)

20. War On Drugs? Not If We Can Help It Another beautiful day in the land of the free and as Greece starts the Great European Slide of 2010, I was thinking of ways we as a nation could save some money. I'm not talking about saving a couple of millions that are used for bridges to... (posted by Michael 2 years 14 days ago.)

21. How To Pacify A Suicide Bomber This should be rather interesting. Be aware this is completely tongue-in-cheek . . . A beautiful day in America and those in New York City are breathing a sigh of relief after a near-miss in Times Square last night. Of course, right away many... (posted by Michael 2 years 25 days ago.)

22. Is Government The New Religion? A wonderful day in America and I am wondering how many of us truly believe. We are told, from when we are young, to take things on faith. Our parents told us, our schools told us, and we believed. Why? Because we had no reason to question. At... (posted by Michael 2 years 26 days ago.)

23. Dear Arizona, Chicago and Washington: Quick Fixes Don't Work Another beautiful day in America, and yet there are some parts of our country where the sun is shining a little dimmer these days. I wonder if people in this country need to take stock in what we have and realize things might seem bad and hopeless... (posted by Michael 2 years 29 days ago.)

24. Things That Should Not Happen For some reason this morning I started thinking of some other things that shouldn't happen which, sadly, happen all of the time. These are in no particular order, yet these things happen without fail and we the American people either allow it, or... (posted by Michael 2 years 51 days ago.)

25. Socialism And Capitalism: Where Are We Heading? A beautiful night in America and here in Austin the wind is so strong I wonder if the city itself is getting ready to launch itself into the sky to land somewhere . . . else. There has been so much political vitriol lately and I've found it... (posted by Michael 2 years 56 days ago.)