Now, normally, I’m a to-each-their-own kind of guy, but in this case, and because of my public stance in the matter of the 9/11 victims, I thought I should at least state my reasons.

I’ll start by saying I love the sentiment behind the idea of making 9/11 a national holiday. I appreciate the thoughts of anyone who cares enough about remembering nearly 3,000 of our own civilians to campaign for a special day to remember them, but I have several objections to making 9/11 a national holiday.

But the only objection that really matters to me, is that I don’t think I can stomach the free market turning 9/11 into another reason for a car sale, or a furniture clearance event. And that’s what it it will become. Memorial Day is supposed to be a day to remember those who have given their lives in the military service of this country. But over the years it has become a day to celebrate the beginning of summer…a day for the mall to hold a slew of sales, and the opening day for half of the pools in America. But who really takes more than a moment to remember our military heroes?

If 9/11 becomes a holiday if will just become the day that businesses will end their week long Labor Day Sales Events, and I can’t think to a worse way to remember 2,996 unwitting heroes.

World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic.

Between 1981 and 2007, AIDS has killed more than 25 million people, and an estimated 33 million people worldwide live with HIV, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history.

Maybe it seems a little stange to call it an awareness day. Chances are, if you’ve got a computer—and since you’re reading this blog, you have one—you already know at least a little about AIDS. So I’m sure you are aware of the disease. In fact, chances are better than 50% that you know someone who has AIDS or had died because of it.

But are you aware that there are things that you can do to help stop it?

1. Ok, it’s obvious, but Make A Donation. You’d be surprised how far even a small donation can go. From buying drugs for those affected, to funding the fight for a cure or a vaccine even a few dollars can help.
2. Get Involved. Again, obvious, but no less important. A vital part of beating a disease is stopping it’s spread. So get involved in education, or any other aspect that’s important to you.
3. OK, I get it. Not only is it hard to make ends meet right now, but doing so takes a a lot of time, so right now you don’t have the time or funds to help out. OK, here’s a free way for you to help out that won;t take more than a couple of minutes. Fight AIDS at Home is a distributed computing program. That means that once you sign up, the power of your computer becomes part of a network that runs computations to help breakdown potential ways to fight HIV. And it won’t slow you down—since it works as a screensaver, it only uses your computer when you’re not using it. Do you really not have time for that?
   
   
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