1) Terrorist will just hire someone who doesn't 'LOOK' Muslim, eastern, or whatever.

Small Problem.  They are not hiring mercenaries.  They are hiring SUICIDE people.  And not many dedicated to the cause are going to sign up.

2) You have just now alienated every person in the very culture you need help from to stop the terroris.

No, you have driven some that were leaning that way there, but you have also pissed off others that want to live in peace to report "Mohammed" when he starts acting suspicious.

3) You have now helped the terrorist to enlist more people to help them due to the alienation.

redundant.

Simply put, NOT Profiling is stupid, albeit politically correct.  You are not going to convince a peace loving non-violent person to become suicidal because his brother is, unless he is already pre-disposed to it.  But then if he is already predisposed to it, no amount of coddling is going to sway him to the light side either.

1) Terrorist will just hire someone who doesn't 'LOOK' Muslim, eastern, or whatever. And if you don't think someone will do it for the money, you are sadly mistaken.

There's more to the profile than looks: Age, gender, country of origin, recent travel, cultural/ethnic background, and much more all play a part.

Also, there probably aren't many people who will commit suicide for money alone.

That's why terrorists need to recruit based on ideology, rather than financial incentive. And that's why the profile targets people likely to be recruited to such a thing, and likely to give their lives for such a thing.

Race has nothing to do with it. It's more about age, gender, and cultural background. If terrorism sprang up in Scandinavia, based on some perversion of Viking teachings, we'd be profiling a lot of blond-haired blue-eyed Europeans. Not because of their race, though, but because people from certain regions, with certain cultural backgrounds are more likely to subscribe to the "neoviking" philosophy.

2) You have just now alienated every person in the very culture you need help from to stop the terroris. Ask any police officer where most arrests and crime stopping comes from and they ill say tips from the community.

It makes just as much sense to say that the community is suffering because they have first alienated the rest of society by not speaking up immediately when their beliefs were first perverted by murderous thugs; and by not forcefully exiling and shunning the asshats would would bring down the wrath of the world on their heads and the heads of all who associated with them.

3) You have now helped the terrorist to enlist more people to help them due to the alienation.

Except that there's no evidence at all that terrorist organizations can't keep their numbers high simply by leveraging the background level of alienation felt by all people in all times and places.

I'm not saying JoeKnowledge is wrong. Okay, I am, a little bit. But what I'm really trying to say is, there's more than one way to look at this situation.

Doc,

Simply put, NOT Profiling is stupid, albeit politically correct.

I just can't agree with this. Profiling based purely on looks is only going to alienate more and more people. Take my wife (no, seriously). Born of an Australian father and Indian mother, she could be easily mistaken for someone from the middle East, as has happened. Or she could be mistaken for a New Zealander, as has happened. Or she could be mistaken for an islander, as has happened. What if she were on a plane trip somewhere overseas and was asked to get off because of her appearance? How upset do you think she'd be? How upset do you think I'd be?

Another example: a friend of mine, an Australian born and bred, who happens to have olive skin (his surname is Scottish), was taken off a plane from London to New York recently. He was searched, his luggage was searched and he missed his connecting flight to LA because of the delay. This was despite the fact that he had a valid Australian passport. Now I'm saying passports can't be forged. But you would only have to speak to my friend to realise he is not a terrorist. But he was subjected to this humiliation because of profiling.

I just don't believe this is the way to go.

I just can't agree with this. Profiling based purely on looks is only going to alienate more and more people. Take my wife (no, seriously). Born of an Australian father and Indian mother, she could be easily mistaken for someone from the middle East, as has happened. Or she could be mistaken for a New Zealander, as has happened. Or she could be mistaken for an islander, as has happened. What if she were on a plane trip somewhere overseas and was asked to get off because of her appearance? How upset do you think she'd be? How upset do you think I'd be?

The problem with comments is you dont see them all.  And that is my sin here.  I totally believe in profiling, BUT, not stopping the searches of non-profiled people. (that was another blog).

Quite simply, NOT looking for the DESCRIBED perps is stupid. Yes, you do find some innocents.  But IGNORING them is more stupid as that is who you are looking for!

I see your wife and raise you mine.  She is American.  Born and bread.  Her parents are from Mexico.  Should our border patrol NOT stop them and ask?  And if you want to know, no, they expect it.

But every time we go across, they are given a double take.  After all (well even I do since I am darker), they fit the profile.

I have a lot of respect for you. Even more so now.  But until you get on that plane, I guess you will just be theorizing.  And truth be told, so would I.

What I hate the most is not what they have done, but what they have made us do!  Put on your ST helmet and remember what Chief OBrian told the Cardassians.

I dont hate you, I hate what you made me do.

That is what I hate.

\"We... I made my position clear about this war on terror and I... by the way, the enemy made their position clear, yet again, when they... when we are able to stop them.\" --- GWB

The transcript doesn’t do it justice... you gotta watch this for knee-slapping comedy.

Fox News: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCbNFvrgiaI&mode=related&search=

Racism is and interesting situation...  we are told it's not ok to me racist, but it's ok for Black people to hate white people because of centuries of racism against them...

We are also taught that racism is born out of ignorance or lack of exposure to other races...  The problem with that is, I know a lot of people who weren't racist until they DID meet people of other races and just didn't like the way they acted.  I remember hearing the line, "reality breeds racism" from people of all races.

Guess what folks, if you don't like Rap music, or play street ball, you probably won't get along very well in the South Side projects in Chicago.  Some would consider this a racist statement, but having been there, I can tell you it's true.  The funny thing is, if I said, "If you don't like Moutains, hiking, climbing, hunting, fishing and camping, you probably won't enjoy living in Southeastern Idaho, no one would consider it racist, but there's no difference in the two statements.

Even more ironic; if you said you didn't want to hang out in Lincoln Park in Chicago because of the people, you would probably be branded a racist, but if you said you didn't want to hang out in Rexburg, Idaho because of the people, nobody would say a thing.

I think you confuse fear with KNOWING WHO YOUR ENEMY IS. I don't give a care in the world that those poor poor muslims were prejudiced against and were kicked off a plane foor looking suspicious. Racial profiling is the only way this issue is going to be resolved. And as far as ammunition against us, as long as bleeding hearts like you quit crying about their injustices, we will be better off. KNOW YOUR ENEMY, BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE.

I think you confuse fear with KNOWING WHO YOUR ENEMY IS. I don't give a care in the world that those poor poor muslims were prejudiced against and were kicked off a plane foor looking suspicious. Racial profiling is the only way this issue is going to be resolved. And as far as ammunition against us, as long as bleeding hearts like you quit crying about their injustices, we will be better off. KNOW YOUR ENEMY, BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE.

I think you confuse fear with KNOWING WHO YOUR ENEMY IS. I don't give a care in the world that those poor poor muslims were prejudiced against and were kicked off a plane foor looking suspicious. Racial profiling is the only way this issue is going to be resolved. And as far as ammunition against us, as long as bleeding hearts like you quit crying about their injustices, we will be better off. KNOW YOUR ENEMY, BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE.

I think you confuse fear with KNOWING WHO YOUR ENEMY IS. I don't give a care in the world that those poor poor muslims were prejudiced against and were kicked off a plane foor looking suspicious. Racial profiling is the only way this issue is going to be resolved. And as far as ammunition against us, as long as bleeding hearts like you quit crying about their injustices, we will be better off. KNOW YOUR ENEMY, BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE.

Small Problem. They are not hiring mercenaries. They are hiring SUICIDE people.

Also, there probably aren't many people who will commit suicide for money alone.

suicide isn't a requirement. while it's prolly easier in some respects, there's no reason why someone need remain on the train or in the store. for that matter, walking in holding the detonator doesn't guarantee the desired result. i recall more than a couple human duds.

i think you confuse fear with KNOWING WHO YOUR ENEMY IS.

i think you confuse the 'submit' button with that sneaky lil whack-a-mole thing.

The 9-11 attack is not a game

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyG4B3AJvbM


Thousands of people were murdered, billions of dollars worth of property was destroyed, and thousands are still suffering health problems from breathing the demolition debris. And wars are still going on because of the attack.

The people who did 9-11 have a lot to lose if they are exposed, and they have a lot to gain if they remain in control.

Furthermore, 9-11 was not their first crime. Many of them were involved in other crimes that they must cover up.

Do you really think these people are so foolish that they will sit idly by while people expose them? If so, take a look at some of the suspicious suicides and accidents during the past decade.


Deception is the preferred weapon

Setting up suicides and airplane accidents is expensive and risky, so they kill us only as a last resort. They prefer to pay hundreds, maybe thousands, of people to pretend to be 9-11 \"truth seekers\".

The best way to get away with a crime is to be the investigator of the crime. Since people have trouble understanding this concept when I explain how it applies to 9-11, maybe it will be easier to understand if you imagine how it could happen to you. So let\'s look at how a gang of car thieves can get away with stealing your car.

Let\'s assume that you have a neighbor named Joe, who you assume is an ordinary, honest citizen. In reality, Joe is part of a gang that steals cars, and Joe wants to steal your car. What is the best way for Joe and his gang get away with car thefts?



Warn the victim ahead of time

Joe could tell you that he was browsing an Internet site where car thieves often send messages to each other, and he noticed a lot of chatter about stealing a car in your neighborhood.

A few days later, Joe steals your car. Your first reaction would be,

\"Oh what a fool I am. I should have listened to my wonderful neighbor Joe, who tried to warn me.\"


Not many people would wonder, \"Wait a minute... if you know where car thieves are talking to each other on the Internet, why not tell the police and let them identify the people?\"


Offer to help solve the crime

When you tell Joe that your car was stolen, Joe fakes sadness. Joe then announces that he wants to rid the neighborhood of crime.

Joe offers to start an organization of truth seekers who will assist the police in their search for evidence. He tells you that he will collect information about the crime and pass it on to you and the police.

You would be grateful to Joe. It would never occur to you that Joe is sifting through all of the evidence that comes to him and discarding anything that implicates Joe or his friends in the crime. The only evidence he passes on to the police are the ones that send them in the wrong direction.

By fooling people into sending him the evidence, Joe also finds out which citizens he has to watch, and possibly blackmail or kill.


Give false evidence

Joe could pay some of his criminal friends to pretend to be witnesses to the theft of your car. The news reporters and police would never suspect that these witnesses are actually part of the gang that stole your car, and that they are sending the police in the wrong direction.

Joe could also pay his friends to call radio talk shows to spread the false evidence to the public.

Joe could also pay his friends to request the radio talk shows and newspapers to interview Ralph. This creates the impression that Ralph is a popular person, but in reality he is a member of the gang that steals cars, and all he really wants to do is spread false information.


Find naive people to pay for the cover-up

After a few months Joe could ask for donations. He could complain that running the investigation is time-consuming and expensive, and he would appreciate donations of any type.

The naive people who donate money would not realize that they are paying Joe to cover up his crime.

Few, if any, of the people who donate money will have the nerve to ask Joe how much money is being donated, or what happens to that donated money. The few who ask will be provided with deceptive answers.

Asking for money has an additional advantage; specifically, it fools people into assuming Joe is an ordinary, honest citizen, not a wealthy criminal with secret sources of money.


Bury the truth with nonsense

Some people in your neighborhood might take it upon themselves to investigate the theft of your car simply because they are concerned about crime. They might discuss evidence on message boards and web sites.

These independent, truly honest citizens are a threat to Joe\'s gang because they might discover that Joe is involved in organized crime. They might even put up a web site that exposes Joe.

To protect himself, Joe pays his criminal friends to join the honest message boards and pretend that they are honest citizens who want to uncover the truth about the crime. In reality they would post thousands of idiotic and deceptive messages. They would bury the few useful messages.


Give conspiracy theories a bad image

Joe could turn some people away from the few honest web sites by giving a bad image to the people who claim Joe is a criminal. Joe could pay his friends to post ridiculous theories in order to make the message boards look like they are dominated by people with mental disorders.

For example, one of Joe\'s friends could post a photograph that shows a blurry, mysterious object in the sky above Joe\'s car. The object is a bird that is out of focus, but Joe\'s friend tries to encourage people to believe that it might be an alien spacecraft, and that perhaps the aliens stole your car for their museum of human technology.

Another of Joe\'s criminal friends could announce that he heard from a reliable source that your car was picked up by the police along the Polish-Austrian border.

By flooding the message boards with stupid and deceptive messages, the honest messages are lost in the nonsense. Some of the honest citizens who look at the message board will be so overwhelmed by the nonsense that they ignore the issue.


Find useful idiots to promote nonsense

It is difficult to lie. The best way to spread false information is to find a fool to do the work for you. Convince the fool that the lie is actually the truth, and then the fool will spread the lie for you. Since he believes the lie, he will be sincere when he talks about it.

An example are the people who try to convince us that the airplanes that hit the World Trade Centers were holograms.



Make Joe appear to be a victim

One of Joe\'s friends could post messages on a regular basis that make fun of the people who accuse Joe of crimes, such as

\"Oh, yeah, we all know Joe stole the car. I saw it on the Internet, so it must be true!\"


When there is a serious traffic accident, or a severe rainstorm, Joe\'s friends could post messages such as:

\"As we all know, the accident was Joe\'s fault. It\'s always Joe\'s fault. Let\'s blame Joe!\"


\"I suppose Joe will be blamed for the thunderstorm! Everything is Joe\'s fault.\"


These messages will fool a few naive people into assuming that Joe is always a victim, and we should not consider the accusations to be serious, similar to the way Pollacks were the primary subject for jokes when I was a child.


Boast about honesty

To make his \"truth seeker\" web sites appear more honest, Joe could tell his friends to openly boast about their honesty. For examples of the possible remarks:

# \"The World\'s Most Trusted Source For Truth\".

# \"Established Experts In Counter Propaganda\"

# \"The World\'s Only Established Experts In Counter Propaganda Science\".

# \"We Demand Honesty in Government\".


If those silly statements fool a few people, then it was worth Joe\'s money and time.



Give the honest citizens a bad image

When an honest citizen exposes information that Joe does not want exposed, Joe could pay his friends to find something about the citizen to complain about. For example, if a citizen creates a video that exposes Joe\'s gang, the gang could try to give the video a bad image with such remarks as,

\"That video looks like some amateur made it in his garage. You will embarrass those of us in the Truth Seeking movement if you show people such crummy video!\"


Or,

\"That guy\'s voice is terrible! You can\'t show that lousy video to people! It will turn people away! Come on, he needs a professional narrator!\"


Even if only a few people are fooled into keeping the video a secret, Joe will benefit.

Joe\'s friends can also spread rumors about the citizen, such as he is anti-American, a Fascist, a Nazi, an anti-semite, or a communist. Lots of people are affected by those insults, which is why they are so frequently used.



Create a maze of links to all deceptive sites

Joe could tell his friends to link their web sites to each other. When each of the sites have a few links to a couple of the other sites, it creates the illusion that each site provides more information.

The honest citizen assumes that every time he clicks on another of the links that he is getting a better understanding of issue, when in reality every site he clicks on is from the same criminal organization.


Link to honest sites only when pressured

Joe tells his friends to include a few links to one or two honest sites only when people start wondering why they ignore those honest sites. However, they will put the link in an obscure place.

This creates the illusion that they are aware of the honest sites, and that they support the honest sites, but in reality a couple links in an obscure location will not have any significant effect.


Make the honest sites appear controversial

One of the truth groups might write,

\"There is no consensus among the truth seekers as to whether Joe actually committed any crime. However, in order to be fair, we provide all sides of the issue, and so we provide you with an article from Jim, who believes Joe is a criminal. \"


This technique creates the impression that they are fair and unbiased. Unknown to the common people, Jim is one of Joe\'s friends, and he deliberately writes his article in a manner that most people will disregard.

Furthermore, by providing lots of compliments, they take advantage of the people who are suffering from low self-esteem. For example:


\"Look over the evidence and decide for yourself. We don\'t want to tell you what to think. The American people are intelligent, educated people. We provide the information, you make the decision.\"



Accuse the honest citizens of being car thieves

When a citizen exposes Joe or his gang, Joe could accuse that citizen of being a member of a gang of car thieves who is trying to fool people into thinking Joe is the criminal in order to hide his own crimes.

Other members of Joe\'s gang can accuse other citizens of being car thieves.

If Joe\'s friends create hundreds of these accusations, the ordinary citizen can become so overwhelmed with the complexity that they will not be sure who to trust.


Set blackmail traps for government officials

Joe and some of his friends could produce child pornography and arrange trips to Thailand to have sex with children. Imagine that your father purchases a trip to Thailand. One of Joe\'s friends can then use blackmail to control what your father says and does, but your father would not realize that Joe is involved in this blackmail. Your father would be working for Joe without realizing it.

If some of the news executives or police officials in your city purchase trips to Thailand, then Joe could influence the news and the police. Joe could also pressure these blackmailed officials into hiring Joe\'s criminal friends. Eventually Joe could acquire a lot of control over your city.

Another type of blackmail trap is to encourage people to profit from Joe\'s crimes, such as buying stock in one of Joe\'s companies that sells stolen car parts.

Even if only a few policemen, lawyers, and FBI agents can be lured into this, those few people add to the officials that Joe can control with blackmail.


Become a victim of mysterious hate crimes

To further keep himself in control of the city, Joe could pay a friend to spray a swastika on his house. Some naive people will feel sorry for Joe; they will defend him when he is accused of being a criminal.

Joe could also call the newspaper and television reporters to his house and announce that he is a victim of a hate crime, and that the city must pass hate crime laws to stop the attacks on innocent crime-fighters and truth seekers. He could use the hate crime legislation to demand the arrest of people who try to expose him.


Create organizations to arrest Joe

Joe could pay his friends to create organizations that want to arrest Joe. For example, one of the organizations might be called ACT, which stands for Arrest Car Thieves.

The ACT web site is full of anger towards Joe. The organization demands that Joe be arrested. They also ask people to join their organization. However, in reality they want the names and addresses of their potential enemies.

Furthermore, Joe might also be able to use some of the ACT members as useful idiots. For example, Joe\'s friends might be able to convince one of them to throw a rock through Joe\'s window. That person could later be arrested, reinforcing the belief that ACT is a group of idiots who commit senseless acts of violence, and that the city needs hate crime legislation.

Joe can also look through the members of ACT to see if any of them can be blackmailed, bribed, or threatened.

You must be careful when you join organizations, and you must be very critical of the leadership, but very few people are.


Deflect attention to the government

Joe could pay his friends to divert attention to the mayor of the city, who Joe helped to elect. The mayor is an idiot, so Joe hires people to create web sites and newspaper articles that ridicule the mayor and imply that he is responsible for the crime because he did not provide enough money for the police, or because the mayor is allowing corruption due to his stupidity.

One of Joe\'s friends might write an article that the mayor was warned that a car might be stolen, but the mayor ignored the warning. This implies that the stupid mayor is the reason cars are stolen.

Another of Joe\'s friends might write an article that implies that perhaps the mayor let your car get stolen so that he could use the theft of the car as justification for increasing the police budget.

By writing hundreds of slightly different, idiotic theories, the public will be confused, and many people will not notice the honest articles.


Let your friends expose you as a last resort

Because it is possible that Joe will eventually be exposed as a criminal, Joe prepares for that possibility by arranging for lots of his friends to be truth seekers who expose Joe as a criminal.

The way this deceptions works is if Joe decides that he can no longer cover up his crime because some citizens are about to expose some critical information, he can tell his friends to quickly expose him before the honest citizens do it. This allows Joe\'s friends to become the honest crime fighters who expose a terrible criminal. His friends will be the center of attention, and they can then try to minimize the damage and punishment, and prevent the rest of the gang from getting caught.


Watch the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyG4B3AJvbM

By writing hundreds of slightly different, idiotic theories, the public will be confused, and many people will not notice the honest articles

Because it is possible that Joe will eventually be exposed as a criminal, Joe prepares for that possibility by arranging for lots of his friends to be truth seekers who expose Joe as a criminal.

you got amazing balls to openly announce what you're doing even as you actually do it.

almost had me buyin it...but just for a minute or two.

i recall more than a couple human duds.

I recall a lot of them too, but most are just harmless, if boring.

By writing hundreds of slightly different, idiotic theories, the public will be confused, and many people will not notice the honest articles

This seems to be the way a lot of people around here feel about the COL.

The Nazi party in Germany was full of very nice friendly people. I suspect most of the Nazis in Germany wanted peace even.

However, I'm willing to go out on a limb and hold a prejudice against Nazis.

Islam is not just a religion. It's an ideology. And I'm sure Islam is full of very nice friendly people. I suspect most Muslims want peace.

May it be

www.videocodezone.com/videos/e/enya/may_it_be-2.html

May it be an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh! How far you are from home

Mornie utúlië (darkness has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantië (darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now

May it be the shadows call
Will fly away
May it be you journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun

Mornie utúlië (darkness has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantië (darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now

A promise lives within you now

Listing to Dr. David Ray Griffin: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a9vLJIR69A&mode=related&search=

how about you sack-up and stop acting like a beheaded fool ( because in case you havent figured it out, thats all you are to them.) and start acting like you have a pair and recognize this for what it is, one nation of people prejudicing against another type of poeple for the future of islam. you are pathetic.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS
A groundbreaking epic of good versus evil, extraordinary heroes, wondrous creatures and dark armies of terror.

The Nature of \"Story\"

In Tolkien\'s novel The Two Towers, Sam and Frodo take a little time to rest and philosophize as they approach Cirith Ungol. They talk about the story in which they find themselves, and about the nature of Story in general. Not surprisingly, Tolkien\'s Hobbits observe that we don\'t hear about all stories: the unlucky or the unfaithful are not memorialized. No; it\'s those who stick it out to the end that we hear about, those who persevere to the conclusion of their quest.

Of course, that\'s not entirely true, nor has it ever been. But it\'s certainly true of the kind of tale in which Frodo and Sam find themselves. And it\'s as true of Peter Jackson\'s movies as it is of Tolkien\'s books.

Jackson\'s is a Different Story

But Jackson\'s filmed version of The Two Towers is not the same story as Tolkien\'s. The titular towers are not even the same as those emphasized by Tolkien: Orthanc and Barad-Dur have been substituted for Minas Morgul and Minas Tirith. The framework of Jackson\'s story is provided by the Axis of Evil which hems in and ravages Rohan and Gondor; Tolkien\'s framework places more emphasis on the battle for right, waged in the shadowlands which form between darkness and light.

With a different framework come different details. The story line of Jackson\'s movie departs from Tolkien\'s text in more marked and radical ways than did the previous installment. This comes as no surprise to Tolkien fans, however, as the many teasers and trailers for The Two Towers give up many of Jackson\'s secrets fairly easily.

It\'s Not Just the Plot

So when seeing Jackson\'s movie, it\'s no great surprise that Eowyn plays a very different role for Jackson than she did for Tolkien. After all, her voice is featured more, perhaps, in the previews than in the entirety of Tolkien\'s novel. We know that she goes not to Dunharrow, but to Helm\'s Deep; she gets far closer to Aragorn than Tolkien ever let her. And this is only one of many such details that change in Jackson\'s story.

It\'s sufficient to say that the well-read Tolkien buff will find plenty to squirm about in The Two Towers, if there\'s plenty of squirm in the buff. But such plot details are really not the way to measure any story, much less Jackson\'s. Plot variations are just the window-dressing for what the story is really about. Why is Jackson\'s story particularly worth telling? Why is it particularly worth watching?

It\'s About Responsibility

In The Fellowship of the Ring, we saw a very different Aragorn and Arwen than Tolkien envisioned. In The Two Towers, we see more of them, and it\'s not just more of the same. We also see a very different Theoden, a different Eowyn and a different Faramir. Why are they different? Why has Jackson given us consistently conflicted characters where Tolkien served up stock types?

Jackson\'s treatment of Arwen in The Two Towers is a good case study. We see more of her influence on Aragorn, physically and metaphysically. We see more of her in flashbacks, and in flash-forwards. We see more of the tension between her and Elrond than Tolkien even included in his Appendices. Arwen, like other Jackson characters, exhibits precisely what drives Jackson\'s movies: the tension between being and becoming, and the responsibility that comes with free will and the exercise of choice. You may want to reject what your family has stood for, Jackson tells his audience, but there will be a price to pay if you do. Count the cost, as Jesus told His disciples, and pay the piper when he calls.

It\'s About Redemption

It\'s also no spoiler, even for those who have never read the books, that Gandalf makes a return engagement in The Two Towers. Having fallen into the abyss with the Balrog in Moria, he emerges victorious and is sent back to aid in the defense against the onslaught from Mordor and Isengard. For Tolkien, this was a major event. For Jackson, it\'s merely a presage of what\'s to come. Time after time, Jackson\'s characters appear to fall, only to rise again. It\'s as if Jackson were enthralled by the show-stopping musical number in the middle of Big Idea\'s Jonah, and determined that the God of Second Chances reigns over Middle-Earth as well.

Of course, the repeated motif of victory over death points precisely to the evangelium which Tolkien designed into his story: the good news of the victory of Christ over sin, the victory of mercy over judgment, the victory of life over death. Even Jackson\'s Boromir, we will remember, redeemed himself with his valor in defense of Merry and Pippin, and with his dying fealty to Aragorn. The Two Towers is all about such redemption, and sets the stage for The Return of the King.

It\'s About Faithfulness

Finally, and ultimately, Jackson\'s movie is about the faithfulness to be found even in seemingly broken fellowship. The image of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli gamely pursuing the marauding Uruk-Hai indelibly defines the guiding heart of The Two Towers. Because of the chosen framework for his story, Jackson\'s movie is darker than Tolkien\'s. Because of the details that hang from his framework, his movie is more grisly, and may be hard for many to watch, particularly children.

But in the end, Jackson\'s movie makes a strong case for perseverance; for faithful service to those you\'ve sworn to uphold; and for standing by the right thing, after all has been considered and doubts have been weighed. Do the right thing, Jackson says, and do it whatever the cost.

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn\'t do it, sins. (James 4:17, NIV)


watch the video Secret Combination Logos here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=etYwtFb2Zyo&mode=related&search=

Why in the hell is something about Lord of the Rings in here?

~Zoo

Why in the hell is something about Lord of the Rings in here?

Google search?

i think you confuse the 'submit' button with that sneaky lil whack-a-mole thing.

Now that made me laugh!

Aragorn: Are you frightened?
Frodo: Yes.
Aragorn: Not nearly frightened enough. I know what hunts you.

Watch this video:
UNITED STATES WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION - video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8047351706461342401

Doc,

I have been out of touch for the last few days. I wasn't ignoring your response, just never saw it.

As I understand it, there is no profile that can be made to fit a terrorist. A 'terrorist' can be young or old, male or female, rich or poor. Profiling a person due to their skin colour or the language they're speaking is nothing short of racism, as far as I'm concerned. While I understand the necessity of security, I see the case of the two Asian gentlemen in Sally's blog as taking things too far. These guys were simply speaking in their own language and the paranoia of a number of other passengers was enough to have them tossed off the flight. Where does it stop? Segregated flights? Segregated buses and trains? Lets not hope it ever gets this bad.