Let the opinions begin.

Hey folks, Harry here… Well RETURN OF THE KING leads things with 11 Nominations with MASTER AND COMMANDER (soon to be rereleased btw) coming in second with 10 nominations. However, for me… the big winners have to be CITY OF GOD, TWILIGHT SAMURAI and TRIPLETTES OF BELLEVILLE – as they all picked up nominations that nobody thought possible. Well, let’s take a look at the categories…

I think not.

A high-volume system like (Windows) that has been thoroughly tested will be by far the most secure, Gates told the audience at the Developing Software for the future Microsoft Platform conference…

“To say a system is secure because no one is attacking it is very dangerous,” said Gates, referring to operating systems that have a smaller share of the desktop market, such as Apple’s Macintosh OS and the open-source software Linux.

Yeah right. Read [[Computer Security and Operating Systems]] again for why this is just a bunch of hooey.

…”hackers are good for maturation” of the platform, because they have forced the company to develop new inspection techniques for the code.

Two questions Bill… what are you smoking, and did you bring enough for everybody?

I guess all the Windows users out there should extend the hand of friendship to the hackers out there for helping to mature their operating system.

“The Lord of the Kings: The Return of the King” has been nominated in 12 categories for this year’s Academy Awards.

###Nominations:

* Best Picture
* Directing
* Writing – Screenplay – Adaptation
* Makeup
* Music – Original Score
* Music – Original Song
* Art Direction
* Costume Design
* Sound
* Visual Effects
* Film Editing

I think that’s 36 total for the three films… that’s gotta be some kind of record!

As we approach the political season here in the United States, we need to reflect on what role religion should play in evaluating whether or not a particular candidate should receive our vote. The short answer is **none at all**. Religion should persuade with Truth, not coerce through Law.

Religious institutions all over the country are asking their members to vote for candidates that believe the sames things that their religion preaches, so that more laws can be passed that would enforce the fundementals of their faith. Should we as citizens of the United States listen to them?

I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will fight to the death your right to say it!

— Voltaire

I think Voltaire had it right, as far as he went, but I think it should read more like:

I may not agree with your way of life, but I will fight to the death for your right to live it!

— Mike Carney

##The Job of Religion

The job of a religion is to provide a moral framework for its followers to help them along their way to a better understanding of God.

There are many religions in the world today, and all of them have as a central tenet that it is their vision of the universe that is the Truth. For Chrisitains, the Truth is that the way to God is through faith in Jesus. For Buddhists the Truth, and therefore divinity, is found within oneself. For Jews, the Truth is that they are the chosen people of God and they keep their special status by keeping the Law. For Hindus, the Truth is that the universe is an illusion, and that we are all God, if only we can see past the veil. For Muslims, the Truth is that Allah gave them the Truth in the Koran, and only strict adherance to its tenets will lead you to paradise and God.

(The above list comes from my memory of a comparative religion course in college, not from any recent research. If I got anything wrong, I’m sorry. The specifics are not important to this essay, but rather the idea behind the specifics).

However, the Truth of the matter is that while all of these faiths contain *some” Truth, none of them are ”the* Truth.

So, which one should define how a society functions? **None of them!**

##The Job of Government

The job of government, at least as it was conceived by the founding fathers, is to protect the rights of the individual from the power of government (i.e. society), and from repression by other individuals.

So, are those that take peyote as a way to commune with God right? Or (after reading the great novel The Davinci Code), is sexual extasy from the union of male and female the path to God? Or, must you honor the Sabbath and keep it holy? Or is the communion wafer taken in a Catholic service truly the transubstantiated Body of Christ? Or, must one follow The True Way outlined by Guantamo Sidhartha (Buddha) the way to elightenment?

Who knows.

The important question is not whether they are right, but rather do any of these practices infringe on the rights of another. If not, then *who cares*!

As long as society does not stop you from following the practices of your faith, it should not matter what others do.

##What Happens When the Two Meet?

Disaster.

And the founding fathers knew this. The clause in the first amendment:

Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion.

was put there specifically for this reason.

###The Crusades

The Catholic Church decided that the Holy Land should be retaken from the infidels that controlled it and waged war killing innocent people to take it back.

###The Inquisition

The Catholic Church decided that everyone should think exactly like them, and so they authorized the torture and execution of people who would not profess belief in the divinity of Jesus. If a Jew or a Muslim would not convert to Christianity, they were killed.

###The World Trade Center

Muslim extremists believe that the entire world should be Muslim, and anyone who isn’t is evil. The greatest threat they have to the spread of their faith is the freedom we enjoy here in the United States. They therefore launch attacks against The Great Satan and kill thousands of innocents.

##A Higher Calling

We the people of the United States of America are called by our history to vote in such a way that the rights of all are not hindered. The very concept of our constitution is that we must protect the rights of the minority from the tyranny of the majority. In other words, laws should not be enacted that restrict freedom just because the majority agree with those laws.

In this particular case, it means that we must not vote for politicians who vote based on their religious beliefs. For instance, the following issues are debated based on religious doctrine rather than civics:

* Gay Marriage
* Abortion
* Euthanasia
* etc.

And this is wrong. Your faith is your own, and nobody can take it away from you. Don’t let your own religious beliefs persuade you that you should take away others’ right to have their own beliefs.

You wouldn’t want that done to you.

If the Presidential Election were held today, and you’re only choice was one of the Democrat candidates, who would you vote for?

Jeff Jacoby asked the Democratic candidates for president to answer five fair but nonroutine queries, hoping that their answers might reveal something interesting about what makes them tick. Everyone except John Kerry replied.

Here are the questions:

1. Please summarize the most important lesson(s) of Sept. 11, 2001.
2. Have federal courts gone too far in requiring the removal of religious symbols or language from schools and other public places?
3. What is the best way to achieve the colorblind society that Dr. King dreamed of?
4. Is there any serious problem in American society that you do not believe calls for some kind of government response?
5. In 1981, President Reagan hung Calvin Coolidge’s portrait in theWhite House Cabinet Room. If you are elected, which president’s portraitwill you hang, and why?

How did your candidate respond? How would you respond. There’s some interesting reading here.

Well said… with just a few spelling and grammatical errors.

*—————- snip of article —————

ROTK:

1. The death of Saruman at the hands of Wormtongue

2. The Houses of the Healing

3. The wedding of Aragorn and Arwen

4. The Mouth of Sauron

5. More Frodo and Sam in Mordor

6. More battle at the Pelennor

*—————————————————————-
Along with (1), hopefully there’ll be some expansion on the palantir. I
definitely thought the scene with Pippin and the palantir was overdone. It made
the stone look like an electrified hot-potato..

I don’t see anough time in the extended edition for the Houses of the Healing. For that scene
to be effective, you have to fully develop the romance of Faramir and Eowyn – I don’t
see enough minutes for that. If it is included, it will have to restrict itself to the King-like
healing powers of Aragorn, the comedic value of the old nurse, and some near-death suspense
of Merry/Eowyn. – Though the next time you watch it, look at Eowyn when the witch-king
is doing his “I’m melting” routine. She doesn’t look particularly injured.

Adding the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen will add too much wrapup to a movie that
already has enough(read the right amount).

And don’t forget to add the showdown between Gandalf and the Witch King at the
gates of Minas Tirith. THAT IS A MUST!.

All in all I agree – this was a monumental achievment in cinema history. Given the
realities of the movie business – the trilogy is far more than I ever expected.

Mark

I’ve updated my original (short) review.

I hope you enjoy it: [[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]].

I now control my own destiny

###Thanks to [[DynDNS.org]]

It took me a while to work out all the kinks, but I finally got it done. I’m now hosting my domain name on my own computer, including the web server and mail server.

Since I’ve been concentrating on this, I haven’t had the time to actually update the content of the site.