National Day of Prayer

National Day of Prayer, a response that has disappointed both Christian conservatives and an atheist group that wants to end the tradition. Congress established the day in 1952 and in 1988 set the first Thursday in May as the day for presidents to issue proclamations asking Americans to pray. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama would issue such a proclamation Thursday but not hold any public events with religious leaders as President George W. Bush did.

Obama's decision drew a rebuke from the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a private group that promotes prayer events around the country. The task force estimates 2 million Americans attended more than 40,000 events marking the day last year. "We are disappointed in the lack of participation by the Obama administration," said task force chairwoman Shirley Dobson, wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. "At this time in our country's history, we would hope our President would recognize more fully the importance of prayer."

The debate over the day has landed in federal court in Wisconsin. The Obama administration has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which claims the day violates the separation of church and state. In a rare alliance, 31 mostly Republican members of Congress and a prominent Christian legal group are joining the administration to fight the lawsuit. Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-Director Annie Laurie Gaylor welcomed Obama's more scaled back observance but said she has been shocked by his administration's strong defense of the day in court.

Odd Day

Today is “odd day” - one of only six days this century that feature three consecutive odd numbers in the date: 05/07/09. Of course, the year is actually 2009, so it isn’t really consecutive. A “real” odd day would have been January 3rd, in the year five. But math geeks don’t have a lot to get excited about, so we’ll let ‘em have the day today. Another major local employer is on the ropes, with word that Crucible Steel is filing for Chapter 11.

Let’s hear it for Senator Ben Nelson (DINO-NE), who says he’ll oppose giving people the option of public healthcare, because it would be so much better than private insurance, that it would hurt the insurance companies. Yes, Senator, we must protect the sacred insurance institution at all costs. This is why we needed to have Arlen Specter jump ship and swim over to the Democrat’s big tent, because when Repubicans act like scumbags, it sucks, but when Democrats do it, it’s a good thing. Or something.

Speaking of romance - or lack thereof - Granny leaves for Minnesota today, to go visit the kids and grandkids. Since I started a new job back in February (same place, but in a bit of an odd technicality involving working for the State vs. the SUNY Research Foundation, I was considered an “off the street” new employee, forcing a criminal background check and piss test - both of which I found highly insulting), I lost all my vacation time (got paid for it, at least), and don’t have enough built back up to make it past next Wednesday. So, the critters and I will be spending the next couple of weeks alone, which I, frankly, am not looking forward to.

Clayton Homes

Clayton Homes' new industrial-chic "i-house" is about as far removed from a mobile home as an iPod from a record player. Architects at the country's largest manufactured home company embraced the basic rectangular form of what began as housing on wheels and gave it a postmodern turn with a distinctive v-shaped roofline, energy efficiency and luxury appointments.

Stylistically, the "i-house" might be more at home in the pages of a cutting-edge architectural magazine like Dwell - an inspirational source - than among the Cape Cods and ranchers in the suburbs. The layout of the long main "core" house and a separate box-shaped guestroom-office "flex room" resemble the letter "i" and its dot. Yet Clayton CEO and President Kevin Clayton said "i-house" stands for more than its footprint.

With a nod to the iPod and iPhone, Clayton said, "We love what it represents. We are fans of Apple and all that they have done. But the 'I' stands for innovation, inspiration, intelligence and integration." Clayton's "i-house" was conceived as a moderately priced "plug and play" dwelling for environmentally conscious homebuyers. It went on sale nationwide Saturday with its presentation at the annual shareholders' meeting of investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire-Hathaway Inc. in Omaha, Neb.