Star Wars. Spoiler Alert! If you haven't see Episode III yet, don't read this!

First let me say that Episode III is certainly my favorite Star Wars in many, many years. The story is better, the action is better, the effects are much better integrated and simply astonishing, and even the acting is a bit better (but still not good). So, great job there.

I'd like to touch on one aspect that I haven't read about elsewhere - the politics of the movies. OK, well, some others have mentioned it, but what I have read typically compares the Rebels (Kenobi & other Jedi, Padme) to Democrats/Liberals, leaving the power hungry Palpatine and Vader as the Republicans.

While there are overt, gratuitous shots in the dialogue, they are quite akin to current liberal political attacks: strained, obvious, uninformed, and unpersuasive. Pretty much what you would expect from the Hollywood echo chamber. I'm not too worried about the bumper sticker politics in Star Wars creating a new generation of lefties.

The real lesson, and what really disgusted me, was the incredible irresponsibility of Obi Wan Kenobi. How can this guy live with himself? If you want to talk about politics, take a look at Darth Vader at the end of Episode III, and then talk about Saddam Hussein at his weakest in 1991. George H.W. Bush (41) pulled a Kenobi, and hundreds of thousands (of real people!) died. He didn't kill them, but he could have prevented it with decisive action. Kenobi even goes out of his way to warn Vader - sometimes you just shouldn't try to be nice!

If you want to talk current politics, there can be no doubt that Kerry or Gore would have pulled a Kenobi with Saddam. But if it were G. W. Bush (or Yoda!) standing at the volcano at the end of Episode III, I think we can rest easy that there wouldn't even be an Episode IV. In real life, we avoided one "Death Star" - i.e., Saddam with nuclear weapons. So what if Yoda talks funny - he knew when to kill his "allies" didn't he?

So when you think about politics and Star Wars, think about the consequences of inaction. Kenobi knew all he had to know about Vader (Jedi Temple security tapes), yet when the opportunity came to finally resolve things, he walked away. He wouldn't finish the job. And as a result, billions (in the movies) of innocents died. That's a much better lesson than any of Hayden or Portman's silly pronouncements.

At the end of last year, I highly recommended TiVo stock (see here). While I may have sparked a couple purchases, I am guessing that my advice went mostly unnoticed. Well, yesterday, Richard Baldry did about the same thing, and the stock jumped almost 18% (actually over 22% intraday). The Motley Fool has a good take on the herd action.

For you other TiVo owners, congrats on the gains. Hopefully there is a lot more upside to come - I think $10 per share by the end of this year is quite possible.

Here's an update on Stan Wabisky, cut from an email I received from a friend who attended the funeral:

I went to Stan's funeral today. It was a nice service and John gave a beautiful Eulogy, very personal and very touching. He is still the same John as always.

I gave him a quick hello before the service and then got to chat with him a few minutes as we left the cemetary.

Stan has a little boy, James Vincent, about 3 yrs of age. He's a beautiful boy, looks a lot like Stan.

It's too bad about Stan. I send my best to his family and friends, and especially his little boy.

The reunion was great - I got to meet some of my classmates, many for the first time. It's funny how socially awkward I was in college - I mean, I was literally scared to introduce myself to people for fear of rejection. Now, I guess the scale of a personal rejection in comparison to the rest of life's priorities is a lot lower, the barrier to entry is grossly reduced. A little self-confidence helps too. So, no problem introducing myself - and well worth the effort. I went to school with really nice, cool, interesting people! If only I could have made more friends at the time. Well, transcripts are forever, right?

I also found some of my good buddies like Bryan Snyder and Doug Campbell. They filled me in on some of our other buddies like Dave Marsh, "T-Pat" Patrick Smith, and Ryan Mooney. I wouldn't normally spell out everyone's name, but I am doing so just in case anyone should need to find us - google should lead them here.

We stayed up to about 3:30 am with a bonfire out in the country, where Bryan now lives, about 1 mile from where I lived in a log cabin for two years. Nice nostalgia factor there. I went light on the drinking, so I can even remember what we talked about. I was amazed to find out that Pat and Bryan spent another 3 years in Lexington, Bryan as a coach and Pat getting his law degree. Who knew? I must have taken two or three trips there, with my friends in town, and had no idea. A bunch of my classmates and other friends live within 25 minutes of my house, now. So much friend potential unrealized - this, I can change.

I highly recommend reunions. If you are debating going to one, go. Even if you have bad news, just go. There is a real positive vibe - it's not like being back in school at all. It's like being back in school with superpowers, nothing to lose, and no work to do. And everyone I talked to pretty much felt the same way - a lot of fun. We had about 25% of our class back for the reunion. Calling all Washington & Lee Class of 95 graduates - don't miss the 15 year!!