Star Wars Ep. III - Please don't be too bad

Lucasarts has released the opening crawl of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith:

Episode III

REVENGE OF THE SITH

War! The Republic is crumbling

under attacks by the ruthless

Sith Lord, Count Dooku.

There are heroes on both

sides. Evil is everywhere.

In a stunning move, the

fiendish droid leader, General

Grievous, has swept into the

Republic capital and kidnapped

Chancellor Palpatine, leader of

the Galactic Senate.

As the Separatist Droid Army

attempts to flee the besieged

capital with their valuable

hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a

desperate mission to rescue the

captive Chancellor....

I am so hoping that this movie is a good one. And I define good as rekindling the magic of the first one for me.

I am not crazy. None of the movies are great. The dialog, the acting, they are not going to go down in history books the same way To Kill a Mockingbird will. [Man I love that movie. Gregory Peck was amazing. And filming it in black and white . . . brilliant. {Sub note, props to the cast of TKaM St. Mary's College, Leavenworth KS 1992, I miss you guys, wherever you are}]

But I saw Star Wars in '77. We were living in El Paso, TX and I remember clearly my Dad reading the crawl for me. And I remember looking up at the stars after we left the theater and KNOWING that Luke and Han and Leia were out there, fighting the good fight.

My children were going to be Anakin because of that memory. Because I shared it with my father. [It's hard to think of him as a young guy. He was only 24, a kid himself.]

And I remember vividly the horror when, in Empire, Vader claims to be Luke's father. My friends and I argued for that spring and into summer whether Vader was telling the truth or just screwing with Luke's head.

I block out Return of the Jedi. It's just better that way. I do need to say though, my older kids like Jedi the best.

I read all the novels and they sparked that something . . . that joy that was Star wars. The Brian Daly Han Solo adventures . . . Tim Zahn's . . .the X-wing series. Fun reads. I saw the special editions and they still had what I was looking for. They took me back to a galaxy far, far away.

The first two movies of the current trilogy haven't done it for me. Being in the theater with all the fans was great . . the movies . . . eh. Gwendolyn watches Episode II the most. It's better than Jedi and I love reading the crawl [Thanks Dad].

I just want that magic back . . . just for a little while . . just one more time.

Not Yours to Give

After the tsunami the company I work for sent out an email addressing it. More precisely, the head honcho for North America sent out an email to all the North American employees. He stated that he was donating to the Red Cross a fairly sizable amount of money. He encouraged everyone to do what they thought was right and here were some links where they might give.

I was impressed at the time that the company itself was no donating any company funds. Just like I am . . . Chagrined by companies the do give. And why I don't invest in companies that are "socially aware."

I don't think that a company has the right to give away funds that belong to the shareholders. That money should be put back into the company or paid out in dividends so those that have netted a profit can donate as they see fit.

I feel the same way about the government in the US too but with reservations. I mean, doing the right thing is a good thing, and sometimes it takes a business like a government to apply the money and logistics to accomplish a task in the face of emergency. But the money spent is not theirs to give. The money collected through taxes and fines and tariffs are to maintain the government. [Don't get me started on social programs in the US. That's a separate post.]

There should never be a surplus to give away. And going in to debt to assist an interest outside the US . . . I'd rather not.

The logic of course is that we vote for our representation and they vote to give whatever resources they think we would want them to give. Let's just say that they haven't asked my opinion lately and when they've made choices counter to mine . . . they don't get my vote next time around (unless of course the idiot they are running against would be a worse choice. Dangit!)

I found the story below that illustrates what I'm trying vainly to communicate:

" . . . One day in the House of Representatives a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose:
"Mr. Speaker--I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the suffering of the living, if there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has not the power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member on this floor knows it.

"We have the right as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I ever heard that the government was in arrears to him.

"Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks."

"He took his seat. Nobody replied. The bill was put upon its passage, and, instead of passing unanimously, as was generally supposed, and as, no doubt, it would, but for that speech, it received but few votes, and, of course, was lost.
Later, when asked by a friend why he had opposed the appropriation, Crockett gave this explanation: . . . ."

Originally published in "The Life of Colonel David Crockett," by Edward Sylvester Ellis, 1884

Freedom of speech is not free speech

CNN story.

Stay tuned for my rant on "Freedom FROM Religion". Ugh.

Baby Got Bible

I don't know if this is a parody or what . . . but it is entertaining, amusing, and still doctrinal.

BabyGotBible.avi (18MB)

The validity of the vote in Iraq - audioblog

Giving Grades for effort at Benedict College

The State 08/20/2004 2 Benedict professors fired over grade policy

The news is old, from August of last year (oh that I were 31 years old again) but NPR must have been in need of a story and presented it this morning during "All Things Considered". [They will have the transcript posted in a few hours]

The story is this; a traditional, open, black college in South Carolina has a policy where, during the freshman year 60% of the grade is for effort. During the sophomore year, 50% is effort. For the junior and senior year the grades are based on academic performance.

Two professors have been fired for not going along with the policy.

David Swinton, president of Benedict says this:

"The logic of the SEE Policy is simple. Student learning outcomes are positively related to two factors: student learning efforts and instructional inputs. In the past most of our focus has been on instructional inputs. While we will continue to improve instructional inputs, we believe that significant gains in learning outcomes require significant gains in student inputs or efforts. Therefore, in order to improve student outcomes, all else remaining equal, we must improve student efforts. The more students work at learning the more they will learn. The SEE Policy is intended to increase the campus wide emphasis on student efforts and student responsibility to actively engage in learning activities. If the policy is successful, it will result in significant improvements in student learning and graduation rates. "

And on the surface, it's not an incorrect premise. Benedict takes in everyone, there are no grade requirements, test scores, or whatnot. You apply, you get in. Maybe these kids need encouragement. OK. Let's do that. But 60% !!

How can a graduate of this school interview for a job with this policy in their past? Blacks have a hard enough time, why shoot themselves like this?

I can't say I'm too surprised though. My experience with the elementary and high school system makes this a logical progression. We start worrying about the feelings of the children being left behind or ostracized because they are falling behind. We let them use "creative spelling" because we don't want to stifle their creativity. We give every child a ribbon for participating in events. We have multiple valedictorians or remove the position.

I'm not surprised, just disgusted.

Houston MasterWorks Chamber Ensemble

Sunday afternoon we went to see Sarah perform with the Houston MasterWorks Chamber Ensemble at Christ the King Church across from Rice Stadium. There were about 20 singers and around 100 people. I don't think the church could hold much more than 500 people so it was very intimate and their voices filled the chapel.

The theme was "And Say to All the World, Chants and songs: In Remembrance", inspired by the tsunami and war in Iraq. The program was a mix of readings and songs.

My favorite reading was called the Litany of Remembrance although favorite might not be the right word for the mix of joy and sadness that comes with losing someone you love.

In the rising of the sun and its going down,

We remember them.

In the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring,

We remember them.

In the blueness of the sky and in the warmth of summer,

We remember them.

In the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn,

We remember them.

In the beginning of the year and when it ends,

We remember them.

When we are lost and sick at heart,

We remember them.

So long as we live, they too shall live, for they are part of us,

We remember them.

My favorite musical piece of the night was "O Vos Omnes" by Tomas Luis da Vittoria (1548-1611).

Susan and I are so very proud that Sarah is singing in the chorus and in this ensemble. It appears that the ensemble is usually filled by try-outs but Sarah was invited to participate by the director.

Gwen knows cleaning

So Gwen and I are unloading and loading the dishwasher.

She asks how it works and we go through the process of water being pushed around.

She says how great it is that ever house has a dish cleaning machine.

I tell her that not every house has a dishwasher. Her grandmother doesn't have one.

Stunned silence.

Followed by, "So what does she do? Go to the river?"

You can't buy that kind of humor. And she's cute too!

Gwendolyn Knows the Bible

Susan and I were talking the other day in the green room and mentioned the Bible.

Gwen says she knows the Bible as she jumps from the chair to the ottoman to the couch and back to the ottoman.

Says she:

• Jesus was born on Christmas
• He died on Easter
• God loves us

Susan and I look at each other, nod our heads and go on with our life. Gwendolyn is right, she does know the Bible.

On a related note, she is an observant and loving kid. When we pray before bed she almost always asks God to look after someone (or someone’s’ family).that she heard about on the radio. Maybe it’s a soldier in Iraq, or someone who died in the Tsunami, or in a car accident. I love her when she does that.

It reminds me of Susan.