Best Pixar Movies

So NY Entertainment is listing the "best" Pixar movies in order. Unfortunately, they get the order all wrong.

Here's the right order:

8. A Bug's Life(1998)
7. Toy Story (1995)
6. Toy Story 2 (1999)
5. Ratatouille (2007)
4. Cars (2006)
3. The Incredibles (2004)
2. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
1. Finding Nemo (2003)

On Waking Up

From Anthony deMello:

Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, and they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence.

All mystics, Catholic, Christian, non-Christian, they are all unanimous, no matter what their theology, on one thing, and that is that “all is well.” All is well--everything is in a mess--and all is well. Strange paradox. But tragically, most people never get to see that. Because they are asleep….

Most people tell you that they want to get out of kindergarten, but don’t believe them. All that they want for you to do is to mend their broken toys. Give me back my wife. Give me back my job. Give me back my money. Give me back my reputation, my success. This is what they want—they want their toys repaired.

Even the best psychologists will tell you that. They will tell you that people really do not want to be cured. What they want is relief. A cure is painful. Waking up is unpleasant, you know. It is nice and comfortable in bed. And as long as you are asleep, it is irritating to be woken up.

It is said that the wise guru will not attempt to wake people up. I hope that I will make no attempt to wake you up if you are asleep. None of my business. My business is to do my thing. To dance my dance. If you profit from it, fine. If you don’t, too bad. As the Arabs say, “the nature of the rain is the same, but it grows thorns in the marshes, and flowers in the garden.”

"Torture Team" on Fresh Air

Been catching up on my favorite NPR shows. Here is one from 6/19 about Guantanamo.

Here are two things that are most jaw-dropping for me:

(1) the guy who is said to be the "20th" hijacker, in the face of the recent Supreme Court ruling stating that detainees had a right to access to the courts, has had all charges against him dropped, so that the government would not have to reveal in court how they tortured him.

(2) in the first year, the guards at Guantanamo realized that most of the detainees there are useless individuals--people who were simply swept up in the chaos, sold for money by Saudis and others, and have no military value and are not threats to the U.S. The guards went to the Pentagon to tell them that they need to release these detainees to free up resources for the real criminals. The Pentagon told them that to free them would mean admitting a mistake, and that the guards could go take a hike.

And that is where we remain to this day, with some 600+ detainees in Guantanamo, most of whom have nothing to do with this war so that the administration can save face, and the people who DID have something to do with this war, will soon be let go, so that the administration can save face.

Un. be. lievable. This sums up the Bush Administration for me. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER admit a mistake, NEVER back down, ALWAYS strike first. On an enneagram, I think he's a classic 8. Others think he's a 6. I could see it go either way. Here are two articles:

http://www.9types.com/writeup/enneagram_bush.html
http://www.lessons4living.com/enneagram6.htm

Here's the summary of an 8.

The Gut Center: Moves against others - Over Does Anger
Original Loss: "I was too weak."
Problem Emotion: Anger
Basic Decision: Being strong and in control allows you to survive and be loved.
False Claim: "I am always powerful and in charge."
Four Adjectives: Self-confident and decisive, but aggressive and combative.

Self-image: I am invincible.
Compulsion: To always be powerful and in charge.
Avoidance: Weakness.
Sin: Lust - Take what you want.
Gift: Strength, protection, and leadership
Seven Wing: More extroverted, enterprising, energetic, quick, and egocentric..
Nine Wing: More mild-mannered, gentle, receptive, and quietly strong.
Stress Point: 5 - Withdraws, avoids people, observes and thinks, consolidates plans.
Security Point: 2 -Protector of the weak, generous, helpful, charming .

God save us from this nightmare.

Glenn Beck, Conservative

Glenn Beck's article defines conservative. I give you a helpful interpretation of his bullshit.

Glenn Beck’s Version of Conservatism	My Interpretation of Glenn Beck
A conservative believes that our inalienable rights do not include housing, healthcare or Hummers.	The poor have a right to be homeless, sick, and walk to work. Conservatives have the inalienable right to destroy the environment with gas-guzzling Hummers if they want to.
A conservative believes that our inalienable rights DO include the pursuit of happiness. That means it is guaranteed to no one.	A conservative has the right to be greedy.
A conservative believes that those who pursue happiness and find it have a right to not be penalized for that success.	A conservative believes in selfishness and the right to screw the poor out of the little they have.
A conservative believes that there are no protections against the hardship and heartache of failure. We believe that the right to fail is just as important as the chance to succeed and that those who do fail learn essential lessons that will help them the next time around.	A conservative believes that there are no protections against failure, unless you are rich or have connections, in which case, you can hire a good lawyer.
A conservative believes in personal responsibility and accepts the consequences for his or her words and actions.	A conservative only believes in personal responsibility for others. If you are Glenn Beck (who failed to be responsible for his own sickness), or Rush Limbaugh (who failed to be responsible for his own drug abuse), you get a pass.
A conservative believes that real compassion can't be found in any government program.	A conservative believes that there ought to be no such thing as compassion because it is weak.
A conservative believes that each of us has a duty to take care of our neighbors. It was private individuals, companies and congregations that sent water, blankets and supplies to New Orleans far before the government ever set foot there.	Conservatives believe only in helping neighbors if helping them also helps you (c.f. Barbara Bush’s Katrina donation that went directly to her son’s business of which she was on the board).
A conservative believes that family is the cornerstone of our society and that people have a right to manage their family any way they see fit, so long as it's not criminal. We are far more attuned to our family's needs than some faceless, soulless government program.	Conservatives believe that people have a right to manage their family as long as they are not gay or working single mothers. Oh, and conservatives believe in the right to beat their children as long as nobody notices.
A conservative believes that people have a right to worship the God of their understanding. We also believe that people do not have the right to jam their version of God (or no God) down anybody else's throat.	Conservatives believe in a Christian nation, state-sponsored prayer in public school, and destroying the separation of Church and State, and lie about it too.
A conservative believes that people go to the movies to be entertained and to church to be preached to, not the other way around.	Conservatives believe that preaching belongs only to the pastor and to conservative media pundits like Glenn Beck.
A conservative believes that debt creates unhealthy relationships. Everyone, from the government on down, should live within their means and strive for financial independence.	Conservatives believe in corporate instead of individual welfare. They also believe in owning a house on a ranch to get farm subsidies, a personal hobby of playing golf so that they can take corporate right-offs, and the best off-shore tax shelters money can buy.
A conservative believes that a child's education is the responsibility of the parents, not the government.	Conservatives believe that only rich children should be educated.
A conservative believes that every human being has a right to life, from conception to death.	Conservatives believe that fetuses have a right to life, but not to health care, shelter, food, or healthy parents.
A conservative believes in the smallest government you can get without anarchy. We know our history: The larger a government gets, the harder it will fall.	Conservatives believe in the largest corporations you can get, with or without anarchy. We know our history. The larger corporations get, the richer conservatives get.
Those are the things a conservative believes in, and they're the things that I believe in. Now, if only I could find a candidate to match.	Those are the things Glenn Beck believes in. He should run for President.

George W. Bush Sewage Plant

Man I love this idea:

...a group going by the regal-sounding name of the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco is planning to ask voters here to change the name of a prize-winning water treatment plant on the shoreline to the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.


Rest of story

Two political stories

Two very different political stories today, with an underlying commonality:

Story 1: Obama and other Democrats cave on FISA (telecom immunity), in order to keep the issue off of the general election radar and look "tough" on terrorism. So Obama and the Dems do the WRONG thing, for the political expediency.

Story 2: The Justice Dept. Inspector General released the first of a series of reports investigating the politicization of the Justice Dept. He pulls no punches in the report and says that two of the government officials, in regards to one of the Justice Dept. programs that deliberately chose Republican over Democratic lawyers, not only broke Justice Department policy, but also broke the law. So Inspector General Fine does the RIGHT thing, despite the political pressure to cave and give Justice Department officials a pass.

P.S. Obama's excuse for voting for FISA this time because, "the phone issue doesn't override the security interests of the American people" is simply despicable.

P.P.S. Feingold and Dodd did the right thing.

American Oil

So the next time you're tempted to open up Alaska for oil drilling, just come back to this article.

America's untapped oil

Lawmakers lay into big oil for leaving million of acres untouched while at the same time asking to drill in Alaska and off the coasts.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil companies and many lawmakers are pressing to open up more U.S. land for drilling. But the industry is drilling on just a fraction of offshore areas it already has access to.

Of the 90 million offshore acres the industry has leases to, it is estimated that upwards of 70 million are not producing oil, according to both Democrats and oil-industry sources.

If all these areas were being drilled, U.S. oil production could be boosted by nearly 5 million barrels a day, up from about 8 million barrels a day currently.

That compares to an increase of maybe 2 million barrels a day experts say opening up other coastal areas and the Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge might yield.

Rest of article:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/23/news/economy/oil_drilling/index.htm?cnn=yes

I'm Baaack

So I'm back from Souljourner's. Unfortunately, it was such a busy week, an the Internet access was spotty, so I wasn't able to blog as much as I wanted to. No matter.

Souljourner's Day 2

Yesterday, we began the day at 6:30am with morning prayer. After breakfast, we had a great lecture from Margaret Guenther on Jesus as Spiritual Director. She took us through a variety of scriptures (Samuel & Eli, Story of the Rich Young Man, Story of Zaccheaus, Beggar at Pool of Bethsaida, Woman at the Well, and Blind Bartimaeus) and reflected on how Jesus acted as a spiritual director in those contexts.

Then we broke up into our small groups and practiced spiritual direction in our dyads and shared feedback. It was a very emotional time. For midday prayer, we had a "this is holy ground" kind of meditation. It was okay, but I was tired from the lecture and the emotional small group and had trouble focusing. My advisor had his laptop stolen from his car in the parking lot over night. That was a real bummer.

For lunch we had grilled chicken alfredo with a salad. After lunch, I met with my advisor, and then we listened to another lecture, this one on the Practice & Pitfalls of Spiritual Direction.

After vespers, we had dinner (ham salad sandwiches with potato salad), and then we broke up into an "enrichment" experience. We had the choice of any one of: clay, energy medicine, or sacred beads. Since I took the clay class last year (and I'm taking a pottery class at the Lawrence Arts Center), I skipped clay, and instead went to sacred beads. We talked a little about the history of sacred beads and the use of sacred beads in many religions of the world (hinduism, islam, orthodoxy, catholicism, anglicanism, buddhism, zoroastrianism, etc.). I made a set of anglican prayer beads. Dean would be proud! :)

It took a while to get those beads done! By the time I was done, the building was closed for the evening (but I wasn't the only one there, in fact others stayed long after I left), and I was hungry. So I took a quick trip to McDonald's for an apple pie dessert.

After I got back to my room, I had a quick chat with Dean and then went to bed at about 11:00pm, exhausted. Just before I went to bed, I remembered about my advisor's laptop, and got dressed again and ran out to the car to get my wallet--I have this bad habit of leaving my wallet in my car--and took off the stereo faceplate and brought it inside. Then I went to bed.

P.S. Just came across this great quote from Gerald May:
"Wondering how you can get out of the situation you are in, is the realm of psychological counseling.
Wondering what God would have you learn from this experience, is the realm of pastoral care.
Wondering how to remain in relationship with God in the midst of whatever is going on (difficult or joyful alike), is the realm of spiritual direction."

Souljourner's Day 1

Yesterday was the first full day of my second Souljourner's residency. The day began at 6:30am with morning prayer in the monastery chapel. After breakfast, we listened to a lecture on three images of spiritual direction: hospitality, teaching and midwifery. After that, we got into small groups and practiced. Just before lunch we had midday prayer, which was a body-oriented meditation/blessing led by a woman from India who does justice work for women in India. After lunch, we had a brief sabbath time followed by a lecture from another person on energy medicine (most of which I am skeptical about...but I'm practical too--if it works, do it!).

Just before dinner we prayed vespers at the monastery chapel, then had a large group session in which we shared stories about our favorite saint (which may have been a real saint, or just someone you really admired). Many of the participants chose their grandmothers. That would have been hard for me! I never met my grandmother on my dad's side, and my grandmother on my mother's side doesn't speak English, so we have never really gotten to know each other. Anyway, I chose Sts. Brennan Manning and Henri Nouwen for their work on the Beloved and the false/true self.

After that, we had a brief social, and went off to bed early. I was exhausted and was in bed and asleep by 9:45.

More tomorrow.

14 Precepts

Here is an excerpt from Thich Nhat Hanh's 14 precepts from the book, Peace Is Every Step:

1. Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory or ideology. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.

2. Do not think that the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views.

3. Do not force others to adopt your views. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness.

4. Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Find ways to be with those who are suffering.

5. Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure.

6. Do not maintain anger or hatred.

7. Do not lose yourself in your surroundings. Be in touch with what is wondrous, refreshing and healing, both inside and around yourself.

8. Do not utter words that can create discord and cause the community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all conflicts.

9. Do not say untruthful things for the sake of personal interest or to impress people.

10. Do not use the religious community for personal gain or profit or transform your community into a political party.

11. Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature.

12. Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and prevent war.

13. Possess nothing that should belong to others.

14. Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it with respect.

The Girl Gets Banned Again

Joan Chittister has a new article up on NCR, written before Clinton ended her campaign. I have to say, it is the only occasion in which I have agreed with most of the comments on her article, more than Joan. I think that in this instance, Joan was off the mark.

The Future First Ladies

So I just read an article on CNN about the future first ladies ("Many Judge the President By the Spouse"). Here's the first thing I noticed about it: the article had almost twice as much to say about Cindy McCain as Michelle Obama. In fact, I counted. Out of a total of 393 words about the two, 249 (63%) was about Cindy. 144 (37%) was about Michelle. Note: I didn't count introductory words that were not about either one.

But there's more. CNN has a web page that has a "profile" article about the two candidates. The "profile" article about Cindy is the same article ("Many Judge the President By the Spouse"). The "profile" article about Michelle is an attack piece questioning her patriotism ("Michelle Obama Likely Target of Conservative Attacks").

So...what's that about?

The Parable of the Contractor

"John was a contractor for a construction company. To increase his personal income, he routinely cheated on materials that went into the homes he built. He was so adept at concealing his shortcuts that he joked to a close friend that even he couldn't detect them once they had been made. John's last construction project before retiring was the one he cheated on most. It was supposed to be a luxury home. Even John worried that he had gone too far this time. Imagine his shock when the company gave him this house as a gift for his years of service."

From Challenge by Mark Link.

Terrorist Fist Jab

Are you f*ing kidding me?! Holy crap. Just when you think Fox News can't sink any lower...



P.S. Re: Hill's non-apology apology, you just try to find any reference, anywhere, to a terrorist fist bump that isn't hers.

Update: Apparently E.D. Hill just lost her job. No reference to this incident, but can't help thinking that it's quite the coinky-dink.

The Golden Rule

The Golden Rule:
"Do to others what you would have them do to you." (Matthew 7:12)

In other faith traditions:

• Buddhism: Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. (Udana-Varga 5,18)
• Confucianism: Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness: Do not unto others that you would not have them do unto you. (Analects 15,23)
• Islam: No man is a true believer unless he desireth for his brother that which he desireth for himself. (Azizullah - Hadith 150)
• Taoism: Regard your neighbor's gains as your own gain and your neighbor's loss as your own loss. (T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien)
• Zoroastrianism: That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself. (Dadistan-i-dinik 94-5)
• Jain: A man should treat all creatures in the world as he himself would like to be treated. (Wisdom of the Living Religions, #69 - I:II:33)
• Brahmanism: This is the sum of duty: do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you. (Mahabharata 5,1517)

Ad censorship & a broken FCC

Glenn Greenwald has a good article about a case of ad censorship.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/index.html?source=newsletter

In this case, Comcast is refusing to air an advertisement for a company criticizing Rep. Carney for supporting telecom immunity. Comcast is a big contributor to Rep. Carney, and could potentially be a target for telecoms who broke the law.

But it astounds me that the corporations that run our public airwaves have such power for censorship. It reminds me of the pro-gay UCC ads ("God is still speaking") that NBC refused to air.

Sadly, our FCC is doing nothing. These entities, in order to have a license, are supposed to be operating for the public trust. In 2007, the FCC dismissed the UCC's complaint, citing that local stations should not be held liable for national network policies. This despite the fact that in the past, the FCC has ruled that it is the local stations which own licenses, not that the national networks (and thus ruled in the opposite direction when complaints were filed against national entities).

Sometimes I Hate Email

This never fails to happen to me. Probably 2 or 3 times a month, I get a request at work to do something, and I do it.

Then the person writes back a week or two later to tell me that whatever I did, I did it wrong, and that I need to do it again. Sometimes they are polite about it. Sometimes they're not.

So I haul out my old emails--I keep about 3 months worth, which is about 2,000 emails--look the request over, and 99 times out of 100, I see that I did EXACTLY what the person asked. It is indeed, the originator who made a mistake and not me.

My next step is usually to reply to the person's email and say something like, "here is your original request. Did I misinterpret it?", and I attach the original email.

That's usually enough to get things back on track. (The main reason why I bother with this CYA-type step is because my customers have a say in my performance review, so it's important to me to keep the record straight).

Now, here's why I hate email. Every time I start to do this, is exactly the time that my email decides to freeze up on me, and I have to either wait forever, or shut it down and start it back up again.

ARGH! So, here I am, poised at the keyboard, ready to defend myself(!), and my computer gets stuck.

It's like a knight who leaps off his horse to face the dragon, draws his sword...no wait, my sword's stuck in the scabbard. Um, hold on a minute there, Mr. Dragon, I'm having a wee bit of a problem here. Just a minute... (pull, pull, wrench, wrench)...

Tech Support IV

Start at the bottom and work your way up.

Tech Support III

Tech Support II

Schmell Tech Support

Australia gets two female bishops

Canberra (ENI). After decades of debate, Australian Anglicans have one female bishop, and they will get a second within 10 days of the first woman's consecration.

On 22 May, West Australian Archdeacon Kay Goldsworthy was consecrated Australia's first female bishop. Canon Barbara Darling's consecration was to follow on 1 June in Melbourne.

Supporters of the move described it as a breakthrough for the equality of women in the church. However, opponents of consecrating women bishops warned it may further divide Anglicans across Australia.

Sydney's archbishop, Peter Jensen, and the bishop of Northwest Australia, David Mulready, were among Anglican clergy who did not attend Goldsworthy's consecration because of their opposition to the ordination of women ministers.

Bishop Goldsworthy, who is 51, is married and has two sons, and she was one of the first women to be ordained in Australia, when in 1992 the country's Anglican church opened the priesthood to women.

She will serve as assistant bishop in the Perth diocese.

"I am delighted that we in the church of Perth continue our unwavering commitment to Christ's Gospel by recognising women and men as equal partners in the world," Perth's archbishop, Roger Herft, had said in a statement before the ceremony.

Canon Darling will be an assistant bishop in the Melbourne diocese and she will take responsibility for youth and children's ministry and the hospital chaplaincy. "I'm thrilled there will be two of us [women bishops] to support each other and share together," Darling told The Age newspaper.

The turning point came in September 2007 when the church's highest court ruled that there was no legal barrier to women becoming bishops. Women with extensive leadership experience such as Goldsworthy and Darling were now considered eligible for these roles.

"A lot of these women would have been consecrated already," Val Graydon, president of the Movement for Ordination of Women, told Ecumenical News International.

However, the announcements were met with concern by some Anglicans from the Sydney diocese. Equal but Different, a Sydney-based coalition, has argued against both the ordination and the consecration of women. Its spokesperson Claire Smith warned that differences of opinion may lead to divisions in church leadership.

"There will be a fundamental disagreement on the understanding of the ministry that's sitting around the table," said Smith.

In April, Australia's Anglican bishops released the Protocol for Women in the Episcopate to address this contentious issue. The protocol provides for alternative ministry where people are unable to accept a female bishop's leadership.

Smith questioned whether the protocol would be effective. "Those who have been affected by this change will be waiting to see how those opposed to this innovation are cared for," she said. "You've just got to wait and see."

In contrast, Graydon said that the church's unity depended on both sides acting in good faith. "I believe the church is able to act with a gracious spirit and with a sense of understanding of each other," she said. "We can continue to minister together."

>

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Lessons

There's a story on CNN about a student with cancer who is not being allowed to graduate with her class.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/06/04/cancer.student.graduation.kxtv

The long-and-short of it is, because of her struggle with cancer, she failed a couple of classes and, therefore, is short on credits to complete her graduation. She's expecting to go to summer school and graduate after that.

She, her mom, and other supporters, are upset because the principal and the school board will not allow her to participate in the graduation ceremony with her class--because she has not, in fact, completed the requirements of graduation.

Whatever the merits of either side, from where I stand, there is an important life lesson for Leanna. In my life, I have had many ups-and-downs with my health. I nearly failed my high school freshman year because of my health. I remember walking into class after major surgery and my English teacher asking me, "are you still in my class?" I remember having to drop out of seminary because of my health. Life happens. Disappointments cloud our dreams. We have to face the fact that, sometimes, we will not achieve something we were hoping to achieve, and we have to learn to dream new dreams.

Moreover, I have often found that, because of these struggles, something better comes along. Dropping out of seminary was actually the best thing that could have happened to me, because, otherwise, I might still be a fundamentalist Baptist, in-the-closet, gay man trying to live a lie.

We have to stand up and forge ahead. We ought not, and indeed need not, expect others to "fix" our dreams. Leanna is stronger than she thinks. She is capable of living her life without having graduated with the rest of her class. And if she has cancer, she's going to need to learn just how much inner strength she has.

They Make Speeches

Obama's speech after "clinching" the democratic nomination. At 30 minutes, it is too long to keep my attention. But, I will say, he looked good, and he sounded good.



Clinton's speech after winning SD. I'm not sure why she is in New York to thank South Dakotans, but whatever. At 21 minutes, it still didn't keep my attention. She says nice things about Obama and his supporters, but she doesn't concede the race in any way.



McCain's trainwreck of a response to Obama's speech. At 21 minutes, it was a fun watch for a while, but then I just had to stop.

World's Most Efficient Car

The World's Most Efficient Car gets 12,670 miles per gallon. Read that one again. 12,670 miles. It runs on a hydrogen fuel-cell. It's only emission is water. And the whole car only weight 30 kg. Somebody fast-track production of that car! (And the fuel-cells).

False umbrage

Once again the news is full of false hubris. Cheney makes a crack about inbreeding in WV and Byrd gets so mad he has to go to the hospital. Clinton calls a reporter a scumbag. And everyone fakes shock, dismay and offense. And the next day the offender has to apologize. It isn't as if anyone is really offended, nor is anyone really sorry.

So this is what we're supposed to watch as news? What silly name somebody called somebody else?

But here's what's REALLY funny. Bill Clinton saying of that one reporter, "he's just a dishonest guy; [he] can't help it." My, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? Or as they say in Hungarian, "the owl telling the sparrow it has a big head."

Ellen DeGeneres' Blog

Ellen DeGeneres has one of the most entertaining and funny blogs around. I wish I had 1/10th of that writing talent. I don't know if she writes it herself, or if she has writers that help out. Either way, I've been reading it for a couple of weeks now, and it's good day-in and day-out.

Check it out here:

http://ellen.warnerbros.com/ellens_thoughts/

Good Night & Good Luck

This weekend was relatively tame. On Friday, Dean and I saw the new Indiana Jones movie. I enjoyed it very much, although the beginning was just a little slow. Shia LaBeauouf's (whatever) performance was okay, but not great. I think they overdid the 50s "style" a bit too much. The director made it look a little like Grease meets Indiana Jones. I fully expected Shia to break out in song every time he pulled out his comb and re-did his hair. I don't think I put the blame on Shia, because I expect he did was the director asked for.

I was supposed to catch up on my reading this past weekend. I didn't get very far. Instead I watched a lot of tennis and saw the movie Good Night & Good Luck about Edward R. Murrow (that one twice, once on my own and once with Dean). Very good film. David Straithairn was perfect. At least to this person who never watched Edward R. Murrow.

It strikes me that there is nobody like E.R. Murrow today. But worse, it strikes me that, if there were, the American people wouldn't be interested in hearing him. Sadly, our media has let us down so badly, has become so married to the political machine, that the American people simply doesn't trust anybody to them the truth, least of all, a media pundit.

I fully expected to experience some commonalities with contemporary politics, but was unprepared for the force of some of Edward's quotes.

Here are a few:

Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.

Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit.

No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices.

Our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions.

People say conversation is a lost art; how often I have wished it were.

We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.

The actions of the Junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his, he didn't create this situation of fear, he merely exploited it, and rather successfully.

We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late.

If this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.

[Quoting Shakespeare] "The fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves...”

Good night, and good luck.