Ironhold

This is why I tell people to go ahead and keep a land-line phone in their house.

I've lived in Central Texas ever since 1990. I don't mind the Confederate flag, in and of itself. The issue for me has always been the context. Someone wants to do their car up like the General Lee? Must be nice having money to burn like that. Someone wants to signal their Southern heritage? Fine by me. Someone wants to use their flagpole as a club to beat people with? That's when I tell folks to go get a life. This is why the current flap over the flag has me riled. People are so quick to ditch the flag in favor of not offending anyone that folks are going overboard. Amazon.com actually de-listed a "Civil War" - themed Stratego game because it had a Confederate flag, for crying out loud. (I'd love to know how they think people should do Civil War re-enactments without the Confederate flag...).

I'd talk to the lawyer first, then inform the father. This way, I've got all my ducks in a row and know what to say.

There's actually a lot more to political correctness than just this. Wikipedia's got a primer on it, but I can give you a bit of a nutshell. PC is when people demand that you go above and beyond in order to not offend anyone. Even under normal situations, political correctness can disrupt or even quash open discussion of various (often uncomfortable) topics. For example, a bit back reporter and advice columnist Emily Yoffe recommended that young women avoid alcohol in certain situations, noting that alcohol was a factor in many of the campus sexual assault cases she researched as part of an article. In response, numerous pundits wrongly accused her of saying that the women brought about their own victimization. When taken to extremes, it can lead to full-fledged legal battles (such as Gratz vs. Bollinger, in which the University of Michigan awarded select minorities additional points on its entrance exam simply for being minorities) or even fatalities (Lt. Kara Hultgreen's flight instructors declared her an unsafe pilot due to her constant violation of safety regulations, but the Navy allowed her to fly anyway because they were under pressure from Washington to integrate the F-14 fleet). Anyway... (No, I'm not trying to offend anyone here. I'm simply responding to a question.)

War Room

Just got back from seeing it. I'll need a few to process my thoughts.

Deseret News article I remember that the media didn't quite want to talk about it back then, but the bishop's storehouse down in New Orleans played a pivotal role during the early hours of the response to the flooding in New Orleans. My dad was one of the people called in to assist in the relief efforts (as a retired Army mechanic, he knew how to service the older military surplus equipment that the civilian relief organizations were using), and so he saw some of this first-hand. One LDS chapel, he noted, was in such good condition that it was almost immediately turned into a shelter; aside from some broken windows and the carpet being ruined, it held up well enough to serve.

Cast In Bronze. The focus of the act is a carillon, a medieval instrument consisting of bells operated in a fashion comparable to a piano. Frank Dellapenna, the man behind the act, composes music that uses his carillon (one of only two mobile carillons in America) and a variety of instruments. He's a regular performer at various Renaissance festivals, and so if you get the chance you should go hear him play live.

I just found out that the local movie theater will, indeed, be getting this film tomorrow. If I'm well enough, I'll try for the morning showing.

"Activity" isn't always a good thing. For example, Christian Forums.com is "active" in the sense that there are a lot of posters... including numerous trolls, anti-Mormons, and others who spam the boards with hateful and/or ignorant comments.

Thanks.

Plus, this summer's movie season has been total garbage. All you've got to do is take a look at Box Office Mojo's tallies for the year to see that a lot of this summer's films have been duds. It should say something when a Hollywood darling like "We Are Your Friends" (#103) gets smacked down by a "Dragonball Z" film that only screened for one weekend (#87). Of all the films I've seen since the end of April, I can only think of one or two that I'd even consider seeing again, and that's even with me awarding a rare 10 / 10 to "No Escape" for not pulling any punches. I think a lot of people are looking for anything that's got quality to it, no matter how obscure or what the subject matter happens to be.

Used to have them down here in Texas, where they doubled as lightning rods for the buildings due to all of the storm activity we can have during the year. Sadly, someone took them down in favor of the faux steeples. We've been paying the price ever since, as the contractors who were brought in to mount the steeple on the chapel I go to botched the job; every time we get a hard enough rain, we risk having the roof leak.

Ultimately, it comes down to: 1. Attitude 2. Honesty 3. Amount of independent research done Critics of the church tend to be folks you can reason with. Anti-Mormons place "being right" above "being correct."

As a movie reviewer, I can see one free movie a week at the local theater; I get compensated for it as part of the job. If I want to see anything else, however, I have to pay out of pocket. Because of this, even under the best of circumstances it's got to be a really good film for me to even consider looking elsewhere. Given that I'm about to get slapped with a bunch of medical bills (I went to the ER on Monday morning for kidney stones) and I don't know what my insurance will or won't cover, this pretty much kills any prospect of going elsewhere for the rest of the year.

The film didn't come to the local theater, and due to some surprise expenses I don't have the money right now to go out of town.

I have issues with my blood sugar (odd hours and all that), and so I need at least something light; I can't do a true fast without consequences. Even if it's just a frozen burrito, I need breakfast or something close enough to it. Plus, in my part of Texas it's virtually suicide to go without drinking anything during the summer, as dehydration is that big a threat.

Coupons. Trust me on this one.

"The Perfect Guy" Ladies, if you even think that a guy might be dangerous, RUN. A key scene in the film has "Mr. Perfect" growl a veiled threat to a man who is harassing the female lead at a bar. The female lead treated this is an act of chivalry and allowed herself to be swept away by it, but in real life this is a massive warning sign of a man with anger issues and even perhaps a tendency towards violence. You don't need any of that.

One fast way to tell if something is or isn't official is, believe it or not, to check the copyright information. If something is officially sanctioned by the church, then the copyright will list either "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" or "Intellectual Reserve" as the copyright holder. If you see any other name listed, then it's not sanctioned. I've had to explain this to many, many people because of how often critics of the church go straight for unofficial sources and then wield them like clubs.

From what I understand, his leaving was triggered in part by "God's Army 2" being a commercial flop. He blamed his fellow members when, in reality, it likely had more to do with the general Mormon film market being turbulent at the time due to all of Halestorm's duds.

Don't forget to check your local "dollar" or discount stores. You'll often see DVDs made from "classic" movies and television shows for sale here, especially if the title has fallen into the public domain somehow.

I've had some degree of success comparing it to the Catholic concept of ex cathedra, wherein the Pope's words are only to be taken official if he is speaking "from the chair", or in his official office and capacity.

Long story short, I might not actually make it to the theater this weekend after all.

Plus, you may want to consider what the local expectations are concerning homecoming and other such events. For example, where I live, if dances or other such events end "early" enough in the evening, then you'll often see kids going out to eat or going to other places that are open late (depending upon the local curfew laws). Even if your parents allow homecoming, they may not allow you to go any place else.