Dror

Er, what happened to it (dare I ask!)?

That's ok, Tim--I knew I was in for it! I take it you liked it... ?

Whoah, hold on there young lady! Them thar's fightin' words!!! I love cats, and they talk, too (after a fashion ). Dror

Kind of like "brave" George Dubyah invading Iraq for no apparent reason, and putting our soldiers' lives at risk? (And British soldiers', for that matter.) Iraq was not responsible for 9/11, after all. When I say the Queen was courageous, I didn't mean in the sense that her life is in danger, but that this move might engender the kind of criticism you're leveling at her.Again, the Queen was recognizing literary merit, and it may have had nothing to do with the Satanic Verses (Rushdie has written many other things). She may also be killing two birds with one stone by making a statement that we do not give in to extremists' demands. Dror

Heaven forbid we should do anything the terrorists disagree with!! I'm sorry, but the Queen is, IMO, displaying courage by recognizing what she considers to be Rushdie's high literary merit despite potentially displeasing radical Islamic fundamentalists. The fundamentalists are going to have to grow up and realize that the entire world doesn't have to give in to their petty demands. Boy, am I going to take heat for this... !

It's possible that they have problems that have nothing to do with their religion. Maybe they have family problems, health problems, or something we don't know about. Or, the lady may just be a snot, and the husband a recluse! Just like Catholics or people of any other faith, you'll find unfriendly Latter-day Saints and you'll also find friendly ones. As far as Sabbath-day activities go, opinions vary WIDELY among Mormons! Personally, I would have no problem going to a birthday party on a Sunday (in fact, I did so a few months ago). You'll find LOTS of LDS men who will watch the Super Bowl on Sunday and even mention it in Church. How a birthday party is any worse, I can't imagine. I'm sorry your neighbors are so unfriendly. Even though I don't have kids myself, I've heard it said that if you treat people's kids nicely, the parents will sometimes warm up to you, too. Good luck! Dror

Though I don't know exactly what it is, my Israelite heritage (at least two tribes--one named in my PB, the other known from genealogical records) seems to show, as more than one person has asked me if I'm Jewish. Both LDS and non-LDS have asked me this, and when I asked why they asked, nobody can quite put their finger on it. One guy said I just "look Jewish" (whatever that means!), and another said I have a "Jewish manner" (whatever that means!). However, I do prefer to be called a Christian because Christ is the most important person in my life. But seeing as how the Children of Israel (or of Zion) are His people, that works for me, too. :) "Christians" who hate Jews (or anybody else, for that matter) clearly do not understand their own God's message. Dror

I'm all for Rosie taking over the show. Although she may get a little excitable and controversial on occasion, she also does a lot of charitable work, and hosting the Price is Right may help keep her centered. As far as the Trump / O'Donnell dispute goes, they both acted ridiculous (and I really, REALLY don't like Trump--what's with the fat jokes, anyway?). JMHO Dror

Emma,Thanks for that. It's always important to remember there's a real person behind the political figure. I've heard that Ronald Reagan was a very kind person, though I strenuously oppose his politics. And I don't think anybody will deny the good that Jimmy Carter, the man, is currently doing (such as Habitat for Humanity), whatever they may think of his politics. Thank you for the reminder. :) Dror

Uh, mercy for a person who's changed their life around? I just hope Jesus doesn't ask you "Why pardon if there was no error in the legal process?" when you get to the pearly gates.I'm not saying governors or presidents have to pardon people (obviously), or that everyone with a criminal past should be pardoned, just that there are cases when it would seem appropriate and, well, a nice thing to do. And governors and presidents have the legal power to do it. And yes, he is flip-flopping, as he tends to do on other issues. Dror

It's not just about the one guy, folks. Romney made it a point of pride not to pardon anyone at all as governor. He claimed it was because he didn't want to overrule the will of the jury in any given criminal case. But he says that should he be elected president, he may consider pardoning people. Why the change in position? Wouldn't he still be overruling the will of a jury, only as president instead of governor? I don't see how it has anything to do with principle, only politics. The one guy was a juvenile when he committed his offense. He did not reoffend. He turned his life around. He honorably served his country in the military. A lot of pardons are controversial--this guy does not seem to be. He would have been a safe bet for Romney to pardon and not have negative feedback for his future political aspirations. But Romney would not pardon anybody as governor, but might as president. What gives? He's flip-flopping! Dror

Gov. Romney refuses to pardon. Anybody care to defend his position (or explain how it is a "position" if he's just going to change it, should he be elected president?)? Dror

Sorry, maybe I should clarify. I meant if books like those are banned, how do people get a decent education? Didn't mean to imply that those specific books must be read by every 'educated' person.However, given how frequently Democracy in America is quoted in American history textbooks, it looks a little suspicious to ban the source material. It makes one wonder if they're trying to distort the author's original message, or at least present to students only whatever supports the party line and sweep the rest under the carpet. Granted that given the vast numbers of books out there and the limited amount of classroom time, teachers cannot be expected to present every 'great book' to their students, the idea that school districts issue lists of books like those mentioned that they are forbidden to present or to have in the library just seems bizarre to me. I thought the whole idea of education (in a democratic society) was to teach students to think for themselves and make their own judgments as to what they accept as truth or untruth so they won't have to be spoonfed the rest of their lives. The more reading options they have, the better. (This is all within reasonable limits, of course--we wouldn't want high schools putting the Anarchist's Cookbook or pornography on their library shelves! But Harry Potter certainly doesn't fall into this category!) Dror

My coworker was saying that if they do "succeed at seceding," we could remind them that all of their commercial activity with us would become a matter of international imports and exports, which would makes things a lot more expensive for them. 'Course, I'd worry about the price of maple syrup (I love that stuff).

Vermont Secession Movement Who woulda thunk?! Dror

FrankJL,With books like that on the list, it's a wonder anyone can get a real education!! Kinda scares me... Dror

To me, the Harry Potter books are about fun and telling a good story. They talk about the struggle between good and evil, loyalty to friends, and so on. They're harmless, they're fun, they teach good morals, so what's the problem? Are we going to forbid having schoolchildren read The Odyssey and The Iliad because they might encourage children to explore Greek religion and start worshipping the pagan gods (a practice that actually did take place, unlike the type of stuff you read about in the Potter books)? If our children can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality, they have bigger problems than what's on the shelves of their school library. In fact, if you ask me, that lady is part of the problem--by claiming that what Rowling describes is actual witchcraft, she is blurring the lines between fantasy and reality and clouding the children's minds. Dror

On the news a couple of days ago they said he claimed that authorities had not told him he couldn't travel. Yet when he returns to the U.S., he does so via Canada in order to avoid the authorities! This tells me he knew perfectly well he shouldn't travel. Then yesterday I heard that he had indeed been told more than once not to travel. What was he thinking?

Brother Dorsey,If the public schools were to remove all books pertaining to Wicca/witchcraft (which is currently being promoted by some as an actual religion) and not allow teachers to discuss that belief system, but keep copies of the Bible and encourage teachers to teach Christianity, that would violate the separation of church and state because it would essentially be telling schoolchildren that one religion is acceptable and another is not. That is why I say this lady is contradicting her own argument, because she is applying the notion of separation of church and state inconsistently, only to favor her own religion, which kind of defeats the purpose. In any case, the Harry Potter books are not about the Wiccan religion at all. They are fantasies depicting a popular, fictionalized version of magic and witchcraft, and as such do not violate the separation of church and state any more than would The Lord of the Rings. Dror

Word is that she may write an eighth Harry Potter book... http://www.cinematical.com/2007/05/14/j-k-...ry-potter-book/ Sort of a reference work, eh? That actually sounds pretty cool. I'll look forward to it! Thanks for letting me know. Dror

That's great! Thanks. :) Dror

Oh, I know. What do you suppose Rowling will do for her next project?BTW, I'm surprised we don't hear of people challenging Tolkien's books for promoting 'worship of the Valar!' Dror

Judge rules on Potter book challenge Here's part of the piece: So, if I understand her right, she wants to keep Harry Potter books out of public schools because they violate separation of church and state (she obviously doesn't know a thing about Wicca!), but she also wants to welcome her (presumably Christian) God back into schools. This cracks me up--doesn't she understand that she's contradicting her own argument? No wonder the judge ruled against her! Dror

I know it's easy to say, Kortney, but don't worry about it. Heavenly Father is loving and kind, and He understands why people do things like that. Many people who take their own lives have impaired judgment due to a chemical imbalance, emotional trauma, or other circumstance beyond what they are able to handle. The Church doesn't really have a hard-and-fast stand on suicide, but Elder Ballard wrote a thoughtful little book about it called Suicide: Some Things We Know and Some We Don't, which I would recommend. I, too, have a family member who killed herself. She had many problems in this life which were not her fault, and I picture Heavenly Father greeting her on the other side of the Veil with open arms and comforting words. I honestly don't think it will stand in the way of her exaltation. Dror

My 'low' point today was how hard it was to get up early this morning. The 'high' point was when my boss bought us pizza for for lunch to make up for having made us get up early for no reason (the project 'fell through' (i.e. my boss decided he didn't want to do it after all!)). heh heh Dror