I have expressed nervousness over the coming Da Vinci Code movie but when I read Roger Ebert’s review of National Treasure, my hopes are renewed:

That I have read the book [The Da Vinci Code] is not a cause for celebration. It is inelegant, pedestrian writing in service of a plot that sets up cliff-hangers like clockwork, resolves them with improbable escapes and leads us breathlessly to a disappointing anticlimax. I should read a potboiler like The Da Vinci Code every once in a while, just to remind myself that life is too short to read books like The Da Vinci Code.

Then again, Ebert is a critic who is trained to thing critically and recognizes a snow job when he sees it. John and Jane A. Merican are trained (by TV and advertisers) specifically NOT to think critically and buy snow jobs on a regular basis.

Now, about National Treasure he has a classic comment: “‘National Treasure’ is so silly that the Monty Python version could use the same screenplay, line for line.” That is saying a lot about the movie.

Some have taken it upon themselves to apologize for America’s recent election. May I just point out that no one, not even a narrow majority, elected these people to speak on our behalf. Many of them insult the intelligence of the other half of America. Some of them are asking if they can sleep on another country’s couch till the current term is over. Very funny but not very American. We are still a democracy after all. A divided one, but a democracy none the less.

Here’s what we SHOULD be sorry about:
i repent of my pursuit of America’s dream
i repent of living like i deserve anything
my house, my fence, my kids, and my wife
in our suburb where we’re safe and white
i am wrong and of these things i repent
i repent of parading my liberty
i repent of paying for what i get for free
the way i believe that i am living right
by trading sins for others that are easier to hide
i am wrong and of these things i repent

i repent judging by a law that even i can’t keep
wearin’ righteousness like a disguise to see through
the planks in my own eyes

i repent of trading truth for false unity
i repent of confusing peace and idolatry
of caring more of what they think than what i know of what they need
and domesticating You until You look just like me
i am wrong and of these things i repent – I Repent, Derek Webb

On the other hand, no one authorized these folks to represent us either! Just because their side won is not reason to be smug about it. This election shows how deeply divided this country is. Whoever gets in office next is going to have a very tough job pulling it all back together again.

Strike another pose
Power politics
Swallow their conventions
Get your power fix
We love to mud wrestle
We love to be politically Koreshed
Practice that smug
Post it like a man
One part Master Limbaugh
Two parts Madame Streisand
Now pretend you’re in a band
My, my, we’re looking smug
Very very very very – Smug, Steve Taylor

Doesn’t ANYONE understand what democracy means any more?

I find it interesting that Merck is being sued for Vioxx. It was supposed to be a drug for arthritis pain but it turns out that it causes strokes and heart attacks. Now there are lawyers gathering to start the litigation.

At first I was miffed at the lawyers. Blood suckers. But then I thought about the cycle. The drug company spends millions developing a drug that is supposed to do something great. They spend millions more marketing it (Vioxx had more money spent on its marketing than did Pepsi). The public decides that they need it. The insurance companies start paying for it. Millions of dollars move from the insurance companies to the drug companies and millions of doses move to the ailing public. Then something goes wrong. Someone dies or get sick. The lawyers move in and start suing. Millions (maybe billions) move from the drug company to the lawyers and insurance companies and a small portion goes back into the pockets of the injured public.

The money swirls around. It originates with the public who pay the insurance premiums and by the medicine. In the end, insurance companies and lawyers get a big chunk or it remains with the drug companies who largely produce medicines that cover our pain or the symptoms but mostly do not cure anything. They just make the disease manageable and the people dependent on the drug. I just found the entire process fascinating.

I loved Star Wars, thought Empire Strikes Back was okay, was sadly disappointed by Return of the Jedi, hated Phantom Menace and groaned through Clone War. My major beef with Lucas was the way he collapsed the entire universe into Anakin Skywalker. The entropy began when Vader turned out to be Luke’s dad, it continued when he also turned out to be Leia’s dad and it accelerated when it turned out that he was from Tatooine and he built C3P0. In my opinion, the plot line annunciated by Obi Wan in Star Wars would have been fine: Vader betrayed and murdered Anakin.

What should have happened then was for Luke to become a Jedi like his father and settle the vendetta: Hello. My name is Luke Skywalker. You killed my father. Prepare to die. Return of the Jedi could have been the actual return of the Jedi Order; Obi Wan via Luke could have rescued a bunch of beings Vader kidnapped who were strong in the Force (he was trying to turn them to the dark side) and the Jedi could have come back. Picture Vader and a bunch of Stormtroopers turning around when a blast door opens and there is Luke and 15 or so others with lightsabers drawn. Return of the Jedi (plural) instead of Return of the Jedi (singular).

So when I saw the trailer for Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, I found it very interesting the way they edited Obi Wan’s speech from Star Wars. When he is telling Luke about his father, in this trailer, they omit the part about him being killed by Vader. Humm. I wonder if Lucas is trying to get himself out of this corner? I have heard that Lucas claims to have had this plot line laid out from the beginning. I doubt it. Why did he have Luke kiss his sister in Empire Strikes Back? Why did Obi Wan lie so badly about Vader? I mean really, it would have made more sense for him to say that Luke’s father was a pupil of his and that Vader murdered him rather than claim that Vader was the pupil. Why didn’t C3P0 recognize Tatooine since he was built there?

Still, there is at least one concept that seems to have been there from the beginning. I remember reading back in the 70s that the reason Vader wears a suit and has to have a machine breath for him is because he and Obi Wan were fighting and he fell into a lava pit. That seems to be born out by the trailer so we shall see.

Will I see Episode III? I don’t know. Probably. The kids will want to see it and I would be interested to see how Lucas connects the dots from Episodes I through IV. I’m just afraid that we’re going to see Anakin build the Millennium Falcon and sell it to Lando, introduce Chewie to Han Solo and get Boba Fett started in bounty hunting. The universe may continue to collapse.

I downloaded and installed Firefox on my Wintel machine at work. It is pretty fast at rendering but it still has some “issues”.

When I installed it in Win98 on my VirtualPC it choked like Chicago traffic at 5PM, like Martha Stewart when she found no window treatments in her cell. In other words, it was very slow.

Is it better than IE? It renders faster than IE but it still has some bugs to work out. It has tabbed browsing which is a real winner and the reason I was an early Safari adopter. It also inherently blocks pop ups which is always a big plus.

So the verdict is: eh.

My worst fears are realized. What’s next? Open Theism?

You Are a Conservative Democrat

Frankly, the way most other Democrats behave embarasses you greatly. You pride yourself on a high level of morals, and you have a good grasp on right and wrong. It’s likely you think America needs to get back to its conservative, Juedo-Christian values. Why aren’t you a Republican then? Because you believe the goverment helps more than hurts.

The line went extremely fast. I was impressed. Heard on NPR about some people waiting hours in other places. What stinks is that we vote for judges here. Like I have a CLUE how these judges are doing!

The graphic looks just like the sticker I’m wearing.

Whoever wins has a tough road ahead of them. The vote will be very close and so no one can claim a mandate from the people. The hard part will be pulling this polarized country together and move us ahead.

He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding; – Dan. 2:21

No, we didn’t go out Trick or Treating nor did we pass out tracts instead of candy. My kids and I went and saw Sky Captain (which is an excellent movie made on Macs). The night before, we carved pumpkins. The digital camera-ette’s batteries died so I don’t have a picture of what we did.

Likewise, our church didn’t have a Reformation Day celebration or a Harvest Festival or anything like it. I had hoped that the church was going to do something to recognize the Reformation until I read this from The Dane. The Reformation was wonderful in that it moved the doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone to the forefront (where it belongs) and for that we should be grateful. What we forget in the celebration of this is the sad division that it brought. Wouldn’t it have been better for a) Rome to agree with Luther or b) Luther and Rome to not anathamatize each other and continue as a united body to discuss and debate? Rome was too drunk on power and authority and Luther recognized the importance of the doctrine and wouldn’t back down. In the end Rome did the wrong thing for the wrong reasons and it kicked Luther out. They brought the division, not the Protestants.

So while we may rejoice that the gospel was made central again, we should be saddened that it divided the church. Oddly enough, the typical Protestant answer is the same as the Roman one: we’re the true church, they departed. And neither side seems to be too upset that the body of Christ has been divided.