Village Idiot Calls Microsoft A "Buy"

The Rev. Ken Hutcherson, who, in addition to demonstrating the importance of increased protective headgear for linebackers, bully-pulpits Redmond's Antioch Bible Church, announced he's founded the AGN Financial Network, to finance his plan to buy Microsoft his brand of morality.

The idea is that Christian investors would buy three shares of Microsoft's stock and donate one to AGN.

The P-I reports one small obstacle, i.e., reality:

It's unclear what effect, if any, the initiative could have on the stock price. It would be difficult to influence company direction -- just to gain a 1 percent stake in Microsoft, about 31 million people would each have to spend $104 to buy three shares. Microsoft has about 9.36 billion outstanding shares, and its largest holder is Chairman Bill Gates, with 858 million shares, or 9 percent of the total.

More to the point is Hutcherson's response when asked if he'd just come up with a way to fund his church on the backs of the financially naive and gullible.

Hutcherson said, "Absolutely. We're going to need the finances to go to the next companies," he said. "Anything you do successfully needs money."