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1. It's out. It's done. Can we stop talking about it now?
Thankfully, Da Vinci Code stories are down to a trickle. Some of the remaining stories are worth reading if only because they're ridiculous. For example, check out the Associated Press dispatch, " 'Da Vinci' Theater Projector Lenses Stolen":

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - A movie theater was forced to close on the opening night of The Da Vinci Code after 20 projector lenses were stolen, but the manager said he did not think the theft was related to protests of the film.

A sign on the door of the Carmike 10 Theaters Friday night told moviegoers that The Da Vinci Code would be shown at another Carmike-owned theater in the city. Showings of nine other movies were canceled.

Some Christian groups have decried The Da Vinci Code — based on Dan Brown's best selling novel — as sacrilegious, and Christian leaders in China, Singapore, India, South Korea, Thailand and elsewhere have tried to get the film censored or banned.

Protesters — some holding signs that said "Boycott Hollywood" and "Pray for Dan Brown" — said the theft was not connected to their demonstration.

Manager Richard Melby also said he did not think the protest and theft were related.

"It's their right to do what they're doing, and I don't have a problem with it," he said.

Investigators made no immediate connection between the theft and the movie.

One supposes the article could just as easily have been written thus:

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - A movie theater was forced to close on the opening night of Over the Hedge after 20 projector lenses were stolen, but the manager said he did not think the theft was perpetrated by Dan Brown fans or anti-Christian fanatics attempting to thwart a proposed "other-cott" in the American heartland. Police made no immediate connection between the theft and the animated film.

2. Iran isn't Nazi Germany after all
You might hear reports, based on a now-removedNational Post article last Thursday, that Iran passed a law requiring Christians, Jews, and other minorities to wear colored badges identifying them as non-Muslims. The article incited the prime ministers of Canada and Australia, along with numerous others, to condemn the law. But it turns out the law doesn't exist. False alarm.

3. Israel considers anti-conversion law
It has worked so well in a few Indian states, several Muslim nations, and other repressive societies that some Israelis think that anti-evangelism laws are just what the country needs. "MK Haim Oron (Meretz) was set to propose a bill against those who pressured minors to adopt an orthodox or secular lifestyle. According to the proposal, such actions would be punishable by imprisonment," the Jerusalem Post reported. Doesn't look like the bill is going anywhere, thankfully, so don't freak out yet.

4. Judge says no prayer at graduation; students pray anyway
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph H. McKinley specifically ordered the Russell County [Ky.] High School not to include a prayer in the graduating ceremony. So during the principal's opening remarks, about 200 students stood and recited the Lord's Prayer. "Thunderous applause drowned out the last part of the prayer," the Courier-Journal reports. Huh, all those letter-writers touting the "rule of law" on immigration don't seem to be as agitated about this. It must be one of those better-to-obey-God-than-man things.

5. Dover case judge: When religion was science
U.S. District Judge John E. Jones, recently named one of Time magazine's most influential people in the world because he "ruled for Darwin" in the Dover, Pennsylvania, school board case, spoke about religion at Dickinson College, his alma mater, over the weekend.

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May (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50