I’ve never been a big fan of Richard Stallman, but his GPL concept is brilliant. Bill Gates is right to be scared.

Gates’ latest speech on the issue was delivered in mid-April to a Government Leaders’ Conference in Seattle, where he warned developing countries [against using software based on the GPL](http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/speeches/2002/04-17glc.asp,) saying those who put development time into it are denying themselves the benefits of essential taxes.

He’s sure sounding desperate to me. A desperate Bill Gates is good for the world, IMHO 🙂

But in a
column for ZDNet UK, Stallman said the real reason that Microsoft attacks the GPL is that it creates a domain of software that the company cannot privatize and control. Microsoft’s approach to free software is simple: ‘What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is mine.’

But on the other hand, maybe I have Stallman all wrong! Yah just gotta love a guy that’s not afraid to take it to Mr. Gates.

If only it were true.

This is not for the humor impaired.

Nine states seeking tough antitrust sanctions against Microsoft told a federal judge on Tuesday that they have more evidence that a proposed settlement of the landmark case is already hurting computer makers.

Some PC makers say the company is using a proposed DOJ settlement to force-feed unfair licensing terms. Microsoft says introducing the issue in court is *highly prejudicial.*

Opinion: [[A Matter of Law]]

There is no excuse that can justify, nor is there any apology that can excuse the actions of Cardinal Law and the hierarchy of the Boston Church.

##Dear Cardinal Law, et. al.:

I wrote the first draft of this article over a week ago when I was convinced that nothing that the Church could do could shock or dissapoint or disgust me any more than what had already been done. I was wrong.

###No Excuse

There is no excuse that can justify, nor is there any apology that can excuse the actions of Cardinal Law and the hierarchy of the Boston Church.

For Cardinal law to have the audacity to implicate a six year old boy as being negligent in being raped by a priest is beyond the pale. For Pope John Paul II to institute a policy aimed only a serial offenders is nothing short of wretched.

Martin Luther was excommunicated for daring to open a dialogue about problems of corruption within the Churchm as was Galileo for investigating the nature of the universe. These “crimes” had no victim. But a Priest, a supposed exemplar of the life of Jesus, a person in a position of moral authority over his congregation, who rapes children, is forgiven and moved to new duties where more children are placed a risk.

At a minimum, a Priest charged with such atrocities should be relieved of his duties until the charges can be fully investigated. If found guilty, nothing short of defrocking and excommunication is enough.

###Forgiveness?

As a Christian, I can forgive Cardinal Law for his forgiveness, a central tenet of the Church.But forgiveness does not mean absolution of responsibility. The Church that I believed in always taught that one must accept the consequences of one’s actions as a sign of true redemption.

True healing for the victims and the Church itself cannot begin while the main cause of division and pain is heading the Church.

The problems in the Church extend all the way to Rome and the Pope. I have great respect for the Holy Father and the work he has done in the causes of peace and charity throughout the world. However, his views on human sexuality are at best ignorant, and at worst harmful to the Church.

Human sexuality is a gift from God that is by its very nature part of being human. The Church considers it to be so important that it is only to be allowed as part of a sanctified union called marriage. Marriage is so important to the Church that it is a sacrement. To deny Priests and Nuns, the very people that have dedicated their life in service to the Church, part of their God given humanity by denying them access to a sacrement, is to separate them from their community and from something the Church considers Holy. Does this make sense in any way? Furthermore, the Church put the discipline of celibacy in place late in its history and only for political and financial reasons.

This discipline has encouraged those with severe social and mental problems to enter the Priesthood as a way to remove themselves from a temptation which they know to be wrong and evil. A Church that did not require such a discipline would not attract such people to its most important positions.

###My Money

I can no longer in good concscience donate money to the Catholic Church as represented by Cardinal Law in the Boston area. When Cardinal Law is no longer head of the Boston Church and serious public steps have been taken to fix the obvious problems in the policies of the Church, my donations will resume.