That was in 2007. This year, Damon pledged to avoid using the bathroom in a satirical stunt designed to call attention to worldwide water and sanitation concerns. Drinking even two beers would make the toilet-avoidance pledge difficult to keep for even an hour.

Damon might have needed a second six pack when considering the tremendous flop his most recent theatrical movie was. It was called “Promised Land,” a fictional treatment of some of the same themes covered in a 2010 “documentary” called “Gasland.”

We’ll avoid relating that title to Damon’s bathroom pledge except to say that cheap celebrity stunts are often full of sound and fury, signifying little or nothing.

ESPN reporter Chris Broussard had the PC police working overtime after he called Collins a sinner during the program “Outside the Lines.” NBA players who engage in premarital sex or adultery were “walking in open rebellion to God, and to Jesus Christ,” Broussard said.

An ESPN honcho quickly followed up by saying the network regretted that a discussion of personal viewpoints had become a “distraction.”

Ever notice how often Christian viewpoints tend to have that effect? Bashing Christianity is just fine, of course, but defending it? Can’t have that.

ESPN added that the network was “fully committed to diversity and welcomes Jason Collins’ announcement.” Thanks for clearing that up.

The body of athlete Jim Thorpe will be moved from Pennsylvania to Oklahoma if a son prevails in a legal challenge to the removal. In Tulsa, a daughter of Woody Guthrie is among those on hand for this weekend’s opening of a center that will house Guthrie’s archives.

Thorpe and Guthrie were born in Oklahoma but achieved their fame after leaving the state. Unlike Thorpe, Guthrie was underappreciated in his home state because of his political leanings. This has changed.

Thorpe has always been an examplar of athletic prowess, but his widow nixed plans for his burial here in 1953. Sixty years later, he’s coming “home” unless the legal challenge stops it.

Thorpe should rest on Indian lands. Guthrie fans should plan a visit to the center in downtown Tulsa.

Let’s hear it for Milton Tingling.

Tingling, a justice on the New York Supreme Court, struck down New York City’s proposed ban on large soft drinks. The idea was proposed last year by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and approved by the city’s health board. It was to take effect this week, but Tingling said uh-uh.

Among other things, he said in his ruling Monday that the ban on drinks larger than 16 ounces was arbitrary in that it only applied to some sugary drinks and some places that sell them. “The loopholes in this rule effectively defeat the stated purpose of this rule,” said Tingling, a Democrat elected to his post in 2001.

Bloomberg proposed the ban as a way to cut down on obesity, and he vows to appeal. “One of the cases we will make,” he declared, “is that people are dying every day.” And only an expansion of the nanny state can prevent that, it seems.

Lewis has been one of the NFL’s biggest stars and greatest players during his 17-year career. He missed a large chunk of this season with an injury, and that allowed him to watch two of his boys play high school football. The eldest will be playing in college next season.

“I knew I couldn’t split my time anymore,” Lewis said this week. “When God calls, He calls. And He’s calling. More importantly, He calls me to be a father.”

That’s an important message particularly for the black community, where too many children are raised in homes without their fathers. Lewis himself was raised that way, and “that damaged me a lot,” he said. “I didn’t want my kids to relive that.”

He could have returned next season for big money, but Lewis clearly has his priorities in order.

They are such simple devices and require little to no maintenance — other than replacing the battery every six months or so. And yet all too often we read or hear about people who died in fires where no working smoke detectors were found.

This was the case with Jeanine Bonnet, 28, and her children, ages 3 to 8. They were killed the morning after Christmas in a fire in northwest Oklahoma City. They had been living in the house only a few months. Fire officials said the house hadn’t had working gas service for some time; space heaters were used instead, and one that was too close to a flammable material is what started the blaze.

Smoke detectors are vital because often it is smoke inhalation, and not the flames from a fire, that prove fatal. Would working smoke detectors have saved these five victims? It’s impossible to know for sure — firefighters said the blaze was particularly intense. But the fact the detectors didn’t work certainly stacked the deck against Bonnet and her children.

It’s worth remembering the Oklahoma City Fire Department provides free smoke alarms to city residents who can’t afford them, individuals living in homes with children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. The department will even install the alarms and new batteries for people who need a hand.

For assistance, stop by a local fire station or call (405) 297-3318.

The pope is now tweeting. The archbishops of Canterbury and York tweeted their Yuletide sermons. And the queen of England gave her Christmas message in 3D.

Pope Benedict XVI’s first use of Twitter (he’s @Pontifex in the tweet world) went out on Dec. 12. Since Twitter messages are limited to 140 characters, full sermons can’t go in one tweet. At least the subject is serious, unlike many tweets.

A 2009 analysis by a market research firm showed that more than 40 percent of tweets can be described as “pointless babble.” Another 10 percent were either self-promotion or spam.

Hard to say in what category to place the millions of tweets about the Last Day on Earth that turned out to be just another Friday.

Research by the Pew Research Center finds that the number of Americans who definitely believe in miracles has increased from 45 percent to 55 percent over the last two decades. The number who probably or definitely believe in miracles now stands at 79 percent.

Pew found that those who regularly attend church are more likely to believe in miracles, but also found belief in miracles was growing fastest among those who do not regularly attend church. In fact, belief in miracles is increasing even as church affiliation has declined.

That will likely frustrate certain atheists, particularly those who tout themselves as “brights” for rejecting religious belief, a not-too-subtle way of portraying those of religious faith as dullards. Pew’s research shows that traditional religious institutions may face challenges, but Americans retain an abiding belief in evidence of a higher power.

The state Health Department had pulled the contract, citing legitimate concerns over cost and efficiency. Planned Parenthood said the whole thing was political — aimed at punishing an organization for its association with abortion.

Planned Parenthood doesn’t have an automatic right to contract for services under the Women, Infants and Children program. The state has an obligation to scrutinize groups with which it enters contracts. If anything, political correctness would dictate that the state not target Planned Parenthood because of national repercussions.

Case after case of the state defending laws restricting abortion has been lost. In this case, the state prevailed in preventing Planned Parenthood’s request to block the contract termination. If politics were involved in this case, it was more on the side of Planned Parenthood’s highly politicized agenda.

Look at what happened following the Connecticut schoolhouse shooting last week. President Barack Obama announced his administration would be exploring changes in gun policy, and now firearms are flying off store shelves. Consumers want to buy now instead of waiting to see how access to some weapons might change.

Every year, consumers hold off on buying a new TV or school clothing and supplies, and instead wait for Black Friday or the August sales tax holiday. Raising taxes on tobacco drives down use; conversely, smokers have streamed to tribal smokeshops that due to tax policy enjoy a price advantage over nontribal retailers. Pending new year’s increases in the capital gains tax have prompted business owners across the country to try to sell their companies.

The federal wind production tax credit, which will expire Dec. 31 unless Congress acts, has the attention of developers. According to U.S. Energy Information Administration, “It appears that wind developers are pushing to complete projects in 2012 to qualify for the PTC.”

The threat of a stiff penalty for text-messaging while driving might deter this dangerous practice. Oklahoma lawmakers in 2013 should consider that before, as they’ve done in the past, simply rejecting the idea.

Still, it was disappointing to see his display after breaking away and dunking the ball during Wednesday night’s game in Atlanta.

After the basket, Durant faced the Hawks fans, bowed up and yelled, “This is my (bleeping) house!” Of course it was easily captured by TV cameras.

Durant has been the first-class face of the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise from day one. One emotional outburst, in a sport where emotions can run high, doesn’t change that. But here’s hoping such displays are rare in the future.

The boulevard will follow the path of the old Interstate 40 Crosstown Expressway. Should traffic move quickly along the new boulevard, to better help motorists get into and out of the city? Or should it move more slowly, and thus be more friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists? How much will the end product foster retail and residential growth?

All these issues and more are being bandied about. The fact that about 400 people turned out this week to voice their concerns to designers — who tweaked an earlier proposal after earlier public feedback — is a sign of just how important the boulevard is to residents.

More public meetings are planned in the months ahead. Some are sure to be disappointed no matter the final design, but they won’t be able to say they weren’t included in the process.

The Twinkie may live on with a different baking company. Will it taste the same? Remains to be seen. Other famous brands that are likely to survive under new ownership include the Ding Dong, Donettes, Sno Balls, Ho-Hos, Chocodiles and Zingers.

We’re worried, though, that another Hostess staple may be too generic to find life after bankruptcy. It’s those miniature fruit pies that (at least in the minds of mothers who pack school lunch boxes) are healthier than other Hostess offerings. Will someone please pluck the fruit pie from the Hostess tree and plant it in another orchard?

We also noted that diversity is interwoven throughout Oklahoma’s population and history.

The fact that two black judges — Tom Colbert and David B. Lewis — are poised to lead the Oklahoma Supreme Court and Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, respectively, supports our contention. In addition, state Rep. T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, is about to become the first black speaker of the House.

These men have achieved distinction based on individual merit, not arbitrary racial promotion. Oklahoma is a place where anyone from any background, regardless of race or income, can rise to prominence. We should all celebrate that fact.

Early this week, one of Red Andrews’ nephews, Larry Cassil, said he would take on the challenge of hosting the dinner, a fixture since 1940s and which last year fed about 6,000 less-fortunate Oklahomans. By Wednesday, it was announced a foundation had been formed to make sure the dinner continues.

“Collectively we have implemented a plan to ensure the dinner’s success in perpetuity,” said attorney Robert Goldman, whose family has long been involved with the event. He said response to the original announcement had been “overwhelming.”

Goldman is chairman of the foundation’s board. Other board members are Cassil and attorney John Yoeckel, a member of the Oklahoma City Planning Commission.

“Many citizens in this city found the news of the discontinuation of the Red Andrews dinner unacceptable,” said Teresa Rose, director of community relations for Chesapeake Energy Corp. “Calls were made, and we discovered that a lot of people felt the same way.”

So the needy in our community still have a place to go on Christmas Day for a hot meal and a gift. Kudos.

He didn’t mention how out of sync Obama’s views on reproduction are with those of some pioneers of women’s rights.

More than 100 years after her death, Susan B. Anthony remains the subject of scholarly debate about her views on abortion. Anti-abortion groups believe Anthony actively opposed the practice; abortion-rights groups claims she had no strong feelings on the subject.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton once wrote of the “murder of children, either before or after birth.” Victoria Woodhall, the first female candidate for president (1872), said, “Every woman knows that if she were free, she would never bear an unwished-for child, nor think of murdering one before its birth.”

The point of this is that women — including some modern feminists — don’t have a unified view supporting abortion at any stage of a pregnancy or government-mandated contraception. Obama’s one-womb-fits-all philosophy is patronizing and an insult to many American women.

To avoid government limits treating consumers like children, producers feel compelled to implement information campaigns that treat consumers like morons. Regulators seem to think Americans don’t know that 20-ounce sodas are sugary.

They even have studies to bolster their case. The New England Journal of Medicine published three studies last month linking sugar-sweetened beverages to weight gain. Stop the presses!

In spite of the PR moves and countermoves, anti-soda initiatives are unlikely to do much to improve health outcomes. Beverage makers note caloric intake from sugar-sweetened drinks declined more than 20 percent between 2001 and 2010, yet obesity rates continued to rise.

It turns out that rule’s impact wasn’t limited to the hotel industry. Tulsa Public Schools may close many of its pools due in part to the new regulations. The district could have to install lifts at 23 pools at a cost of $7,500 apiece. That $172,500 total cost is equivalent to several teachers’ annual salaries and effectively cuts school funds.

As with many federal regulations, this proposal will do little to increase access for the disabled, and much to reduce access for countless other Americans.

That in a nutshell summarizes a report issued this week by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Researchers concluded that 31 percent of Oklahomans are obese. They estimated the total could climb to 66 percent by 2030.

News of our current obesity rate, however, is a dog-bites-man story. In any number of studies through the years, Oklahoma has been rated as one of the most obese states in the country. The obesity rate of our residents has climbed steadily in the past two decades or so.

That climb has translated into soaring numbers of children with Type 2 diabetes, which carries many health risks. That form of diabetes used to be found primarily in adults as they grew sedentary and out of shape. The problem is that too many of our youngsters now fit that description.

This report will surely spur calls in some circles for the state to “do something” to address this problem. But government mandates, such as New York City’s ban on large soft drinks, aren’t the answer. Instead the solutions must begin in the home, with parents insisting their kids turn off the video games and go outside, or urging them to eat healthier foods.