Andy

Who said that?

What no more sundaes? Glad number 2 went OK. Sounds like you'll be nauseous for a month? Hope it all becomes as routine as possible, and then ends. Keep taking care!

I said that. If I am unintentionally plagiarizing, correct my error, please.

No sundae today, but I do have dessert backup.

You've said it better than GW did.

…America confronted imperial communism in many different ways -- diplomatic, economic, and military. Yet moral clarity was essential to our victory in the Cold War. When leaders like John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan refused to gloss over the brutality of tyrants, they gave hope to prisoners and dissidents and exiles, and rallied free nations to a great cause.

…Some worry that it is somehow undiplomatic or impolite to speak the language of right and wrong. I disagree. (Applause.) Different circumstances require different methods, but not different moralities. (Applause.) Moral truth is the same in every culture, in every time, and in every place. Targeting innocent civilians for murder is always and everywhere wrong. (Applause.) Brutality against women is always and everywhere wrong. (Applause.) There can be no neutrality between justice and cruelty, between the innocent and the guilty. We are in a conflict between good and evil, and America will call evil by its name. (Applause.) By confronting evil and lawless regimes, we do not create a problem, we reveal a problem. And we will lead the world in opposing it. (Applause.)

G.W. Bush West Point June 1, 2002..

I find that what we lack on the national stage is an understanding that morality and complexity can and do coexist. A situation is not morally relative on account of its complexity, and at the same time, good and evil do not always take the form of clichéed movie themes.

Terrorism is the perfect example of this truth. The culture of terror arises from complexity, but it is still evil. In order to treat a societal "ailment" like this, we must approach from both directions, working to change a culture of death and eliminating terrorist cells wherever they may be found. Morality and complexity coexist everywhere, and must be approached with respect given to both elements in all cases.

Moral relativity seeks to address complexity in a seemingly innocuous, but still one-dimensional manner. That is what makes it so dangerous. Most moral relativists are not mean-spirited individuals driven by sinister motives. They are friends and neighbors of ours who justify their actions through comparisons with other people instead of through ideals of right or wrong. The road of moral relativism is long and winding, confusing the spirit while preventing it from protecting us from our most human failings.

I've heard that Munich paints Israli Mossad members with the same brush that it paints the murderers who killed 11 Israeli atheletes during the 1972 Olympics. It's sad to see a man who did so much good with Schindler's List sink to moral relativism with Munich.

I have that on my Netflix wait list. I hope it is released before my time with the service is up. I will remember to read some of the history before watching the movie given your comment.

Ooh, and I did see Howl's moving castle, I read an IMDB review that said it didn't make sense. It was sort of random. There are certain themes that I've gotten used to in his work and they were almost all there in some form or another. I'm not sure if that's because there is some Japanese nuance that didn't make it into English, or what.

However, it's generally prettiness makes up for any shortcomings in plot.

The extras are neat. Jon Lasser(sp) of Pixar/Toy Story fame got a surprise visit from Miyuzaki. Lasser, of course, is a huge Miyuzaki fan, not to mention a very gregarious and amicable guy. Instantly, he tries to bear-hug him. Miyuzaki is much smaller in comparison and rather formal in that respectful sort of way and attempts to shake hands before getting mauled. The entire awkwardness was kind of cute.

If you have a choice, I'd watch Spirited Away first. It had both plot and amazing beauty.