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Smiting 'Daniel'

"Writing earlier this month about the premiere of NBC's controversial show, 'The Book of Daniel,' the Nashville Scene's Liz Garrigan observed, 'Something altogether anticlimactic happened. ... God did not smite Middle Tennessee or cast into stone those viewers who find intriguing the character of a fallible Vicodin-addicted clergyman.'

"Maybe not. But the market sure did. 'Daniel' hath been smote. ...

"NBC announced ... that it has canceled the show amid a torrent of protest from mostly religious viewers outraged by its caricature of Jesus Christ and the panoply of dysfunction masquerading as the family of the troubled Episcopal priest. ...

"Given the groundswell of protest, the show lasted only three weeks before NBC defrocked the comedic drama entirely."

-- Joel Miller, writing on "'Daniel' and the welfare queen," Thursday in WorldNetDaily at www.worldnetdaily.com

Public miseducation

"So here I am facing another Minnesota winter, looking to expand my mind. Naturally, I turn to 'The Winter & Spring 2006 Community Education Catalog' of the Eden Prairie, Minn., public schools, where I see the very first course offering is:

"'Da Vinci Code Historical Seminar -- Did you find the historical events in the 2003 fictional best-seller interesting but too fantastic to believe? Actually, most of the background items cited in the book were tied to events purportedly recorded in history.' ...