Click here to view the embedded video.

But I will say this. Christianity is far more interesting than corn chips and cola, so it is not surprising that the ad’s creators would borrow some vivid imagery to prop up their inherently dull fare. I am surprised, though not shocked, that nobody in authority was able to recognize that this was a disaster in the making.

UPDATE: The video above has now been labeled “private.”  It can still be seen here, however.  Adweek says the actor playing the priest conceived the spot and says critics have misconstrued it, claiming that because the snacks were not consecrated they are just . . . well, snacks handed out by the priest.  Sure. Note Adweek‘s conclusion that the production company still wins big.  What’s that again?  A production company looks good by creating an ad that makes its client look bad?

Power Line tells the story of a killer let out of jail because of the media hype surrounding the supposed sudden acceleration of Toyotas. The driver who plowed into traffic at high speed got a new trial based on the possibility that Toyotas really do just suddenly run away with their drivers. The prosecution eventually dropped the charges.

Only now are we learning of data being withheld by the government that tends to refute the theory.  That information also shows that Toyotas are not involved in a significant percentage of allegations of sudden acceleration.

The media are willing to promote most any theory as science if it fits the anti-business narrative. It remains to be seen what role the government played, if any, in running down the reputation of a strong competitor to GM.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Not to take anything away from the more serious issue presented here, but the ending credits say the choral performance is by the Monks of Saint Joseph Abbey.  I can’t imagine why someone decided to mix jungle drums with chant, but the monks take no credit for that.

I said in the middle of the “sudden acceleration” hysteria that I wanted a Toyota.  Sad to say I did not get one.  The news now is that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will release findings that point to driver error.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has analyzed dozens of data recorders from Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles involved in accidents blamed on sudden acceleration and found that the throttles were wide open and the brakes weren’t engaged at the time of the crash, people familiar with the findings said.

The early results suggest that some drivers who said their Toyotas and Lexuses surged out of control were mistakenly flooring the accelerator when they intended to jam on the brakes.

The media were quick to buy into the story of runaway machines.  Of course, the idea of man’s inventions run amok has long been a popular theme (e.g. Frankenstein and Hal, the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey), and news organizations will readily amplify any popular theme they find interesting.

The NHTSA report will be sad news among the plaintiffs bar, but it will probably merit little more than a footnote in the mass media.  The popular theme will be back in some other guise soon enough.

And they like it!

Of course, they probably never heard a congent explanation of conservatism, but relied instead on caricatures of conservatives meted out by Hollywood.

At the Aspen Ideas Festival, Harvard business and history professor Niall Ferguson offered a critique of Obama’s disastrous economic policies:

Ferguson called for what he called “radical” measures. “I can’t emphasize strongly enough the need for radical fiscal reform to restore the incentives for work and remove the incentives for idleness.” He praised “really radical reform of the sort that, for example, Paul Ryan [the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee] has outlined in his wonderful ‘Roadmap’ for radical, root-and-branch reform not only of the tax system but of the entitlement system” and “unleash entrepreneurial innovation.” Otherwise, Ferguson warned: “Do you want to be a kind of implicit part of the European Union? I’d advise you against it.”

This was greeted by hearty applause from a crowd that included Barbra Streisand and her husband James Brolin. “Depressing, but fantastic,” Streisand told me afterward, rendering her verdict on the session. “So exciting. Wonderful!”

Brolin’s assessment: “Mind-blowing.”

Mind-blowing.  Entrepreneurialism.  Incentives to work.  Who knew?

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Those of us who have had the pleasure of watching Johnny Depp (heavily influenced by Keith Richards) play Captain Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies (not to mention Errol Flynn in “Captain Blood”) know that pirating is at its roots an art. 

But plying one’s art takes practice, and everybody is looking for a shortcut these days.  Like many of our societal institutions, pirating has slipped in the 21st century.  Pirates operating off the coast of Africa (consisting almost entirely of skiffs full of crack-crazed clowns brandishing rusty AK-47s) have on many recent occasions attacked fully armed naval warships capable of annihilating their entire home towns with one percent of their armament.  Others have tried to “negotiate” with U.S. Navy Seals armed with sniper rifles capable of shooting the eyeball out of a bucking bronco at 300 meters – which, at 50 meters from the fantail of a destroyer, is like falling off a log. 

One of the lessons in piracy is no doubt being brought home to Somali pirates this week – the lesson coming home in lieu of the pirates themselves.  The lesson is simple: avoid the Russians.

Unhindered by a squeamish Congress and judiciary, the Russians “captured and released” ten Somali pirates like so many sport fish (mercifully) and report that the pirates “all died while being repatriated” to their homeland.  Pity.  Such are the risks of piracy: dehydration, artistic misunderstanding, and sudden and acute lead poisoning.  As the Joker told Batman in the original movie, “I make art until somebody dies.”  The Russians are artists of death . . . to pirates . . . an exchange that can only be understood between fellow artists, may God bless and keep them.

Strafer is reloading . . .

Plaintiffs’ lawyers suing Toyota for a “sudden acceleration” defect will need to add in a claim for age discrimination. It seems the vast majority of Toyota’s victims are over 60. To make matters worse, there is a high percentage of immigrants involved. No word on gender.

Now I wonder how Toyota programmed its computers to pick on old folks. Very clever and very devious.

Here’s a follow-up on the story of the Toyota Prius that couldn’t stop without intervention by the Highway Patrol. The driver was afraid to take his hands off the wheel to shift into neutral, but he had a cell phone conversation going and also claims he tried to pry up the accelerator pedal. And he thought shifting into neutral would make the car flip. Really.

Click here to view the embedded video.

But this takes all the fun away from a government determined to regulate everything.