Harry Potter - followup

there are many articles that I want to write about but have been really slammed at work so... here is a followup post on the article i posted like a month ago.

msnbc agrees with me on the HP - Jesus likeness
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20010717/site/newsweek/

Talking to God, analytically

This morning I got to do something that I should do a lot more of - talking to God, exec-style.
I was driving to work and then thought I will start talking to God. Now, I do this often but this time, for some reason, I started talking to God the way I would present something to an exec. I guess it was partly due to preparing for a real exec presentation this week, partly because i was actually awake when i drove to work. But, instead of just thanking God and getting on with trying to get 'emotional', I started rattling off all the things in my head that have accumulated, bullet point by bullet point. At the end of every bullet point, I had another creative reason to thank God. When i didnt, i just thought and made up some more (another area where my prepping carried over )
 
The great thing was that this was completely cerebral, no 'searching in my heart' for repentance or for this longing for God - this was very matter-of-factly, realist analysis of my situation and how great God really is to me. And its then that I realized just how sad it is that I dont give God enough of my brain, which i would argue the most valuable asset i have. So much of worship is focused on inward-reflection and bringing up of those emotions of love and joy that we dont really spend time just talking to God and having a cerebral conversation with Him. And at the end of it, I was far further in having that love and longing for God coming to me than I have ever been by trying to get to it directly.

Anyways.. it was pretty cool. Knowing the way I talk, I quickly covered the 20 minute commute and was at work even before I know it. I plan to do more of it.. especially for the rest of the month until I get another fresh month's worth of cell phone minutes.

Harry Potter

Caution : SPOILERS AHEAD

Now that most of you who read HP have read the last book, its time to chat.
I got done reading the book and about 10 mins after i was done it hit me. She just made Harry a Jesus figure! The parallels are great, from him going as an 'innocent' lamb to be slaughtered, following directions and not defending himself to him having a death or near death experience and coming back and vanquishing the evil one. If you go back, you even have little funny things like Harry learning how to turn water into wine (book 6).
I think its an interesting commentary on how so many epics end up having a few bible stories in them. This is partly due to the Western structure of an epic which through tradition has these dramatic elements and also partly due to the power that scriptural parallels have in moving an audience.

What do you guys think - is it just me trying to frame a Jesus in every story or do you think this is there and is kinda shoehorned in?

7-eleven, response

I had some great comments and discussion on the previous 7-11 post that I put. To further that discussion, I am reposting my response to that thread here.

sorry, i havent logged on xanga for awhile. Yes, i guess the city, police and prosecution are also to blame here. The real breakdown was the fact that the defendent was not able to (or chose not to) post bail. I remember that the defendent was unemployed and that might have caused him to be unable to produce the funds for bail.

Thinking hard, while the problem is distributed, it would have been great if the 7-11 person was able to prevent this from escalating to the situation that it ended up being when the authorities had intervened. I disagree that the only recourse for a situation like this is to prosecute. They are not supposed to always take the loss - i agree, but i am not sure if they exhausted all alternatives before reporting the crime. Payment in full for the product consumed could have been enough i would imagine. warnings and such could have worked as well.

Secondly, its sad that the process of law, from that point, is to cause a guy to be incarcerated for over a fortnight before his case is dismissed. Now, there is bail but what happens for people who are unable to post bail? is there some bar that a crime as to exceed before bail is required? If so, what is it and why did this person cross that threshold? If there isnt, should there be? What are the ramifications of such a change and is it worth it? These are all much larger policy questions which very few single cases like this will solve, policies which will not be changed in generations.

In the meantime, the only ones who could have most consciously and knowingly caused this to happen is the storeowner who probably knew full well of the result and the prosecutor & cop who also knew the law well. We are under a corrupt and flawed law which is not changing anytime soon - these people could have applied it appropriately and they didnt.

Boycott 7 Eleven - even if its a quickie mart!

The other day I had a speeding ticket to contest so I showed up in the Bellevue district court. There was a guy who was brought from jail for his hearing - he was charged with burglary in the 3rd degree. He had server 16 days in jail already and was pleading guilty to the sentence. The judge read out the million rights that he is waiving by pleading guilty, which included the likelihood that he will get deported if he is not a naturalized citizen.
We then heard the offense that he committed - he grabbed a CANDY BAR and ate it before he paid for it!!!
What the heck is wrong with the system!???! I dont think he had any priors either.
Everyone in the courtroom was startled - you could see the outrage on their faces and some were even laughing.. initially until it hit them what just happened.

I wonder just how many people end up like this every day. a few things
1. Its kinda nuts to think that the store clerk called the cops on a candy bar
2. If the guy caught him, I would think he would atleast ask him to pay up or pay a bit more
3. its weird that he ATE the bar that he steals - i would think that if you are gonna steal, you wont eat it in the store!
4. What is wrong with the system?!! why is he in jail for 16 days before he is tried?

Maybe I should talk to the local press.. there gotta be somethign that we can do. Atleast we can boycott 7 Eleven.