Can't we just have movies?

Without political overtones? Apparently not. From Stones Cry Out:

Mocking Religion, Happy Feet is Not a Friendly Little Film

I can't remember coming out of movie theater more furious than I did this Thanksgiving holiday after watching the animated and PG-rated Happy Feet. With relatives visiting from around the country, how could we go wrong taking both kids and adults to a cute little penguin story with lots of singing and dancing, with warm and fuzzy animal themes?

I'm not a movie prude; we check out many kinds of movies. And I expect lost anything coming out of Hollywood, with any rating, to include something contrary to my values. I let most of it roll off my back. But with Happy Feet, I didn't expect my conservative Christian family to be assaulted with what we all recognized as a anti-Christian screed, with open mockery of traditional Christian preaching against values and lifestyles contrary to church teachings. It was abundantly clear that Happy Feet substituted homosexuality with dancing as the "different" lifestyle that was the unfair target of an Inquisition on ice. It was Dirty Dancing and Footloose all over again, but with the rhetoric and situation developed to make religious criticism of homosexuality counter to everything good and pleasing.

Did they think Christians wouldn’t notice? I suppose the creators just didn’t care. We had four families attending Happy Feet, with children of all ages. Independently, parents concluded during the film that they would walk out if it wouldn’t be a disruption to others in the large group of family members who had come to the movies together.

Clearly, we should have all left together.

The creators of Happy Feet should have taken less time mocking Christians and more time making sense out of the wild leaps at the end of the film, when the dancing penguin so impresses crowds in the aquarium that they release him back into the wild. And when the community of penguins gets happy feet, the commentators of the world decide its time to stop disrupting their food supply. (Of course the humans are to blame for all the animal woes; a long movie-making tradition that goes back to Bambi).

Wild leaps, even with happy feet.

For Christians who have not seen Happy Feet and are considering it as a friendly, family film—make another choice. This film is not good for children or families, and it is another Hollywood example of open mockery of Christian traditions.

Now I have not seen this film, and I have no plans to see it, nor did I have plans to see it before this scathing review. Still, I can't help but wonder if Mr. Jim is reading too much into the film? I somehow doubt it, though.

A little something fun

A little something fun to get the week started. Via the Anchoress:

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

I don't know how accurate this thing really is dedicated reader? yes, I think so...literate good citizen? Yea, I'd like to think so. Book snob? For the most part, I don't really get into those so called "fad books," I don't read much fiction and I'm pretty picky about my non-fiction. But OCD bookworm? No. I don't think so. I like to read, but sometimes I just don't feel like it! And most of what I read is in the form of periodicals and online blogs.

Here's another one:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The South
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The Inland North
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

I have a good accent for radio or TV! I'm not surprised about this one. I think it's a product of living in this particular area of WV. I'm too far north to get the Southern accent, but too far south to get the Northern accent and so I have some combination thereof.

Anyway, I'll try to post regularly over the next two weeks, but as the semester winds down, the intensity winds up and so I'll be very busy with tests, last minute assignments and a few end of the year essays.

Back with more later this morning...

Thanksgiving and squirrel stew

Well here it is...Thanksgiving 2006. It still doesn't seem like it could possibly be Thanksgiving Day, although I know it is because it's 9:58, the house smells like deviled eggs and I've already made a pot of green beans.

At any rate, there is a lot to be thankful for this year. So here's to my family, friends, and my girlfriend. I'm also thankful for American soldiers who are protecting our freedom and this country, for God, for the Constitution and for the turkey and pumpkin pie I'm going to devour in just a couple of hours.

For a special Thanksgiving treat, here's the Swedish Chef preparing some delicious squirrel stew. Yum.

Be safe and have a happy Thanksgiving Day.

A little History

I thought it might be worth while to take a quick look at this history of Thanksgiving according to Wikpedia:

In the United States, certain kinds of food are traditionally served at Thanksgiving meals. First and foremost, turkey is usually the featured item on any Thanksgiving feast table (so much so that Thanksgiving is sometimes referred to as “Turkey Day”). Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, Indian corn, other fall vegetables, and pumpkin pie are also commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner.

On Thanksgiving Day, families and friends usually gather for a large meal or dinner. This results in Thanksgiving holiday weekend being one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

In New York City, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held annually every Thanksgiving Day in Midtown Manhattan. The parade features parade floats with specific themes, scenes from Broadway plays, large balloons of cartoon characters and TV personalities, and high school marching bands. The float that traditionally ends the Macy's Parade is the Santa Claus float. This float is a sign that the Christmas season has begun.

[...]

The American winter holiday season (generally the Christmas shopping season in the U.S.) traditionally begins when Thanksgiving ends, on "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving); this tradition has held forth since at least the 1930s.

[...]

American football is often a major part of Thanksgiving celebrations in the U.S.

[...]

The first official Thanksgiving was held in the Virginia Colony on December 4, 1619 near the current site of Berkeley Plantation, where celebrations are still held each year in November.[1]

The Pilgrims were particularly thankful to Squanto, the Indian who taught them how to catch eel, grow corn and who served as an interpreter for them (Squanto had learned English on a previous trip to Europe). Without Squanto's help the Pilgrims might not have survived in the new world. The Pilgrims set apart a day to celebrate at Plymouth immediately after their first harvest, in 1621. At the time, this was not regarded as a Thanksgiving observance; harvest festivals were existing parts of English and Wampanoag tradition alike. Several American colonists have personal accounts of the 1621 feast in Massachusetts:

[...]

During the American Revolutionary War the Continental Congress appointed one or more thanksgiving days each year, except in 1777, each time recommending to the executives of the various states the observance of these days in their states.

George Washington, leader of the revolutionary forces in the American Revolutionary War, proclaimed a Thanksgiving in December 1777 as a victory celebration honoring the defeat of the British at Saratoga. The Continental Congress proclaimed annual December Thanksgivings from 1777 to 1783, except in 1782.

George Washington again proclaimed Thanksgivings, as President, in 1789 and 1795.

[...]

In the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, prompted by a series of editorials written by Sarah Josepha Hale, proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863.

[...]

In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that Thanksgiving would be the next-to-last Thursday of November rather than the last. With the country still in the midst of The Great Depression, Roosevelt thought this would give merchants a longer period to sell goods before Christmas. Increasing profits and spending during this period, Roosevelt hoped, would aid bringing the country out of the Depression. At the time, it was considered inappropriate to advertise goods for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. However, Roosevelt's declaration was not mandatory; twenty-three states went along with this recommendation, and 22 did not. Other states, like Texas, could not decide and took both weeks as government holidays. Roosevelt persisted in 1940 to celebrate his "Franksgiving," as it was termed. The U.S. Congress in 1941 split the difference and established that the Thanksgiving would occur annually on the fourth Thursday of November, which was sometimes the
last Thursday and sometimes the next to last. On November 26 that year President Roosevelt signed this bill into U.S. law.

President Truman receiving a Thanksgiving turkey from members of the Poultry and Egg National Board and other representatives of the turkey industry, outside the White House. Since 1947, or possibly earlier, the National Turkey Federation has presented the President of the United States with one live turkey and two dressed turkeys. The live turkey is pardoned and lives out the rest of its days on a peaceful farm. While it is commonly held that this tradition began with Harry Truman in 1947, the Truman Library has been unable to find any evidence for this. Still others claim that that the tradition dates back to Abraham Lincoln pardoning his son's pet turkey.[2] Both stories have been quoted in more recent presidential speeches.
In more recent years, two turkeys have been pardoned, in case the original turkey becomes unavailable for presidential pardoning. Since 2003 the public has been invited to vote for the two turkeys' names. In 2006, they were named Flyer and Fryer. In 2005, they were named Marshmallow and Yam (who went on to live at Disneyland); 2004's turkeys were named Biscuit and Gravy; in 2003, Stars and Stripes.

So there is a little history on the most delicious day of the year. But there is one more thing I'd like to note. Lincoln, who is sometimes credited as the individual who established the traditional Thanksgiving menu when he proclaimed it the Thanksgiving dinner for Union troops during the Civil War, issued a proclamation The entire proclomation can be seen here. Here are clips:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

[...]

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable...strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

A beautiful reminder of what we need to do at this time of year from one of our greatest presidents.

For those who care...

Blogging from The Vent Pipe will be lighter than usual over the next week or so. The end of the term is quickly approaching and I have no less than four major projects/research papers to complete between now and next Friday. Three of them are partially completed, one of them has yet to be started. My two favorites are a project on "the effect of Romanticism on the development of Socialism in Europe," and a paper on the "atrocity that was Vietnam..." ok, so that's not the actual topic, but when that's all that has been discussed about that War, how else am I supposed to feel?

For anybody who reads, feel free to use this post as a sort of "open thread" to discuss election results, the War, hockey or even cheese making. Whatever comes to mind...

'Patriotic Assassination?'

From WND:

WASHINGTON – An anti-Semitic white supremacist who conducts an Internet radio show says if Americans return incumbents to Washington in the Nov. 7 election, he may just have to assassinate them.

Hal Turner describes himself as "outspoken, opinionated and brutally blunt." The biography on his website says he was a registered Republican until this month, when he changed his registration to unaffiliated.

If that's true, he has fallen hard and fast from the Republican ranks.

"As the November 7 Election approaches, I decided to write a few lines to my fellow Americans about the state of our nation and the ugliness that may have to occur if the people who caused these problems are re-elected: They may have to be assassinated," he writes in his Oct. 27 screed.

In his "Last Chance America" plea, he also says: "If you re-elect the same people who have gotten us into the mess we're in, folks like me may have to assassinate them!"

Turner lists his beefs with the government:

• curtailment of political speech through campaign finance law restrictions;
• killing innocent people in Iraq;
• that members of Congress don't read the legislation they pass;
• that elected officials ignore the will of the people;
• that politicians lie to get themselves elected;
• spending is breaking the nation's financial back;
• disapproves of USA Patriot Act and Military Commissions Act of 2006;
• eminent domain ruling jeopardizing property rights.

Turner evidently believes the time is right for a violent overthrow of the federal government because the U.S. military is so overextended around the world it would not be in a position to defend officials.

"In watching the military campaigns of the past 25 years, I have come to admire 'surgical strikes,'" he writes. "When force is applied in a specific, limited way, the results can be magnificent. Such is my HYPOTHETICAL thinking for our present circumstance."

He poses the hypothetical scenario that half the members of Congress represent "problems" – a total of 267. He also sees at least three "problems" on the Supreme Court.

"Imagine if you will, teams of 5 committed citizens each, who were fed up with these 'problems,'" he writes of the assassination squads he envisions. He says it can be done with just 1,350 "committed citizens."

"Do you think that in America, a nation of 300,000,000 people, there are 1,350 committed citizens willing to put it all on the line to 'correct' these 'problems' and thus save the nation?" he asks. "I do," he answers.

Turner even has a name for his kind of political mass murder: "It could be called 'patriotic assassination,'" he writes.

As if to cover his tracks, Turner also says he renounces and repudiates the use of force and violence to affect political change – "for now."

In closing, just remember, you may be willing to live under tyranny, but I am not. You may be willing to give up your rights, but I won't let you give up MY rights.

"I don't want to see such an attack against our government," he concludes. "I have no plans (at this time) to kill anybody. But I can – and I am willing to – if it comes down to it."

The Washington field office of the FBI did not return a phone call about the matter tonight.

Oh boy. This guy sounds like an outright nut, although in his bulleted list of grievances he does make a few good points, specifically 1) that members of Congress don't read the legislation they pass; and 2) eminent domain ruling jeopardizing property rights. That, however, does not by any means justify the action he ("hypothetically") suggests.

When action such as this is taken, it undermines the entire system of government which it proclaims to be saving. Need we go back and explain "The Terror" of the French Revolution? Wherein a few radicals took harsh action to "purge the government" of those who are not seen as being patriotic enough?

And these kind of folks say Bush is undermining our government?

Outsourcing everything?

As if it weren't bad enough that one cannot call Dell for help with his laptop or PDA without the call travelling halfway around the world to India, now we're going to outsource our medicine? From CNN:

Think globalization means little more than call centers in New Delhi? Then you haven't seen what happens when seriously large numbers of Americans, who spend more than $570 billion at U.S. hospitals annually, start taking health-care holidays in far cheaper climes. Nor have you seen how much money there is to be made by helping them get there.

We're about to find out. This year alone, upwards of 500,000 Americans are expected to travel overseas to get their bodies fixed, at prices 30 to 80 percent less than at home. Medical tourism, as the practice is known, is rapidly becoming the top choice for consumers who grapple with hefty medical bills. Adult Americans who are either uninsured or considered "underinsured" number more than 61 million - a figure that's likely to soar in coming years.

[...]

While disruptive to U.S.-based hospitals and HMOs, the overseas stampede is
already spawning a brand-new business opportunity: medical tourism agencies. Not
only do these companies act as middlemen between patients and foreign physicians, but they also find hospitals, schedule surgeries, buy airline tickets, reserve hotel rooms, and, yes, even plan sightseeing tours for recovering patients. Most important, they aim to reassure customers that cheap does not equal poor quality

[...]

[Many] believes that the big money in medical tourism is in two markets: uninsured retirees ages 50 to 65 for whom Medicare hasn't yet kicked in, and self-insured companies that can no longer afford benefits for workers. He has met with Fortune 100 companies, though "they want to see the market mature first," he admits. If they do sign up, Erickson believes, he's sitting on a $500 million gold mine.

He has reason to be optimistic. Blue Ridge Paper Products, a Canton, N.C., paper manufacturer, may soon allow its 5,500 employees and dependents to go to India for certain company-insured treatments.

In West Virginia, a legislator is pushing a bill that would give incentives to state workers for seeking treatments overseas. "The early adoption has begun," says Arnold Milstein, a Mercer consultant hired by PlanetHospital, a Los Angeles-based medical referral startup, to strike deals to coordinate foreign-based care on behalf of employers and insurers.

No. No. No. No. I saw a little something like this on the ABC show Boston Legal (which consistently gets on my nerves, yet I continue to watch it...). The patient was flown to India to have some sort of heart surgery. Her husband had to stay to work (he couldn't afford the surgery as was, let alone afford the surgery AND miss a week or two of work). She died in flight on the way back.

I didn't give much credence to this sort of thing just seeing it on the show. I thought it was something the writers had made up. Until yesterday. In the State and Local Politics class I'm in, we often have sort of "round table" (really big round tables) discussions about what's going on in WV, as well as what's going on in the states we've been assigned for a project we're working on. Medical tourism--particularly that part above about the WV lawmaker--was brought up in class.

The professor, herself a WV employee, hadn't heard of such thing. One student sitting behind me yelled, "Don't do it. You might go over to have a knee replacement and come back home with a panda-bear leg dangling from your body." Another person suggested, "they'll harvest your parts. You'll come back with three kidneys but only 1/2 a lung."

This led to a rather heated discussion from the area of that class that has come to be so affectionately known as simply, "The Caucus." This group of ultra-leftwing nuts sit together and run their mouths about the evils of Republicans, Bush, Capito and any student who supports them. When the student behind me--who seems to lean to the right, as do all the students who sit around me (possibly because we feel there is strength in numbers?)--made his statement about the kidneys, it was just too much for the Caucus, who fight to defend all who cannot defend themselves. "You're just being a typical American: xenophobic. These doctors have probably been trained in America, but have gone home to work for next to nothing--something Americans never do. " The debate went on until the bell rang and the prof. ushered us out of the class.

Probably has been trained? That ain't good enough for this ole boy. I don't even trust the doctors at the county hospital where I live most of the time. I'll pay the extra money for myself and my (future) family to ensure that we have good--no, great--medical care.

As I alluded to in my opening, I have had my fair share of problems trying to deal with the technical support folks that work for Dell, but live in India. Habib or Karpul or whatever the individual's name is, never speaks clear English. They never understand what I'm telling them. I always end up hanging up the phone in disgust and either A) Googling my problem and trying to fix it myself or B) calling a friend of mine who is certified in most of this junk and having him walk me through the problem the best that he can. I am sure as hell not going to trust Habib with my health if I can't even trust him with my computer.

That just ain't for me...

I wasn't planning on posting today--with midterms hitting their pinnacle tomorrow, I really should be studying--but sometimes something strikes one's attention and just begs to be blogged about.

I saw this just now on CommonSense and Wonder, one of my personal favorite blogs. The original article appeared here:

Cremation to be replaced by eco-friendly freeze-drying of corpses

It brings a new meaning to the phrase "dust to dust".

Funerals in Britain could soon end with the body of a loved-one being frozen to -196C in liquid nitrogen and then shaken until it disintegrates into powder.

The process - known as "promession" - could be the answer to the dwindling amount of space in Britain's cemeteries as well as being more environmentally friendly than cremation, say campaigners.

It has already been given the go-ahead in Sweden, and now councils are lobbying the Government to change the law to allow it to happen here - currently bodies can only be buried or cremated.

[...]

Around seven out of ten people currently opt for the cheaper option of cremation, but that also has its problems.

Burning dental fillings creates mercury emissions, and Government targets mean filters must be fitted to crematoria, some of which may have to be completely rebuilt as a result at a cost of millions.

Supporters also say it boosts the environment further as it is better at recycling nutrients than burial where the body is embalmed and buried at greater depth.
So as bizarre as it sounds, growing numbers of councils are signing up to the idea of freeze-drying bodies.

The process involves dipping the body in -196C liquid nitrogen until it is brittle, and then placing it on a vibrating mat so it disintegrates into powder.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I do know that I do NOT want to be embalmed, nor do I want an autopsy, even if foul play is suspected. There is just something disgusting about that. It seems almost disrespectful.

Last year I watched a single--one!--episode of the show "House." In that episode, Dr. House (is that his name?) treated a dead woman's body very terribly as he attempted to convince her husband to let him use one of her organs. It was very upsetting to me. That's when I decided I am not so sure about organ donations either...

But to be shattered into oblivion upon death might be worse. It's like that seen in Terminator 2, when 'the Governator' freezes the liquid guy and then bashes him...

Shattering one's dead body...that just ain't for me.