The Freedom Bulletin

Sorry for not posting sooner; I have many things to say but have been too busy to say them until now. First of all, happy belated birthday to Benjamin Franklin, who turned 300 on Tuesday. Happy birthday as well to Robert E. Lee, the brave, brilliant, and charming Confederate commander-in-chief, who turns 199 years old today!

I did not watch the Golden Globes because “24″ was on at the same time, but I would like to congratulate Hugh Laurie of “House” for his win in the category of best actor in a television drama. The nominations for the BAFTA awards have been announced, and “The Chronicles of Narnia” has been nominated in three categories: costume design, visual effects, and makeup and hair. “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is nominated in the same categories, but “Narnia” is better (not by a huge amount, but by a substantial margin), and it is way better than almost any of the other movies that have been nomiated in any category. It’s too bad that “Narnia” wasn’t nominated for best picture or any other categories, but, knowing the bizarre tastes of film critics, I’m slightly surprised that it was nominated for these three categories. If you would like, click for the full list of nominees. Go Narnia!

Now for some Supreme Court commentary: the Court did well with its ruling in the doctor-assisted suicide case. People have a right to die if they want to, since dying isn’t morally wrong. Therefore, they have a right to pay someone to help them die, and doctors have a right to kill someone if that’s what the person told them to do. Why would you pay someone if they weren’t going to do what you told them? On this ruling I actually agree with the liberal judges! What a scary thought!

The Supreme Court justices were sort of wimpy on their ruling about the New Hampshire law that required parents to be notified before minors can get an abortion. This law should be struck down, as it is un-individualistic and imposes an undue burden on minors that do not want a baby. Yes, it was immoral of the minors to get pregnant in the first place (unless they were raped), but getting an abortion is the right thing to do if one is pregnant, since babies are yucky, and it is more moral not to have a baby than to have one. I support abortion because it is a way to mitigate an immoral situation. Another issue on which I side with the liberals! However, my father tells me that I support abortion for fascist reasons, and I like to think that he’s right!

Finally, did I mention Osama bin Laden’s new tape? On Al-Jazeera, Osama declared that he plans to attack the US, but is offering us a truce. It’s the first time he’s been heard from in over a year! I’ve always though he was alive. For the full story, go to CNN.

Today in history, Prohibition began in 1920, outlawing alcohol in America. This was a great day in history, and Prohibition should still be a national policy. Additionally, on this date in 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft’s confirmation hearings began. Ashcroft was an excellent A.G. (not to insult Alberto Gonzales), and is an awesome and one-of-a-kind conservative leader!Kids-in-Mind found no sex or nudity in this movie. Kids-in-Mind is a ridiculously strict website that reviews movies for parents, listing all potentially objectionable material that parents might not want their kids to see. I am pro-sensorship, and even I find many of the things they list ridiculous. For example, they consider the following things to be sexual in nature:

Another one of my random observations: the PG-rated movie “Hoodwinked,” a new take on the story of Little Red Riding Hood, is number one at the box office this week. Amazingly, the reviewers at

• A man dancing with his cat in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
• Harry and Hermione, who are platonic friends, hugging in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”
• Elves dancing in “The Polar Express”
• A boy and a girl, who are also platonic friends, hugging in “The Polar Express”
• Male centaurs without shirts in “The Chronicles of Narnia”
• When Alexander the Great’s mother kisses him on the forehead in “Alexander”

None of these things, in my opinion, are in the least bit sexual, and Kids-in-Mind has no right to label them as such. “Hoodwinked” is the first movie in about two years about which this site found nothing sexual. It seems like a good movie, and I’m looking forward to seeing it sometime. If you want to read some of their reviews (interesting though often ridiculous), go to my link above. Note that even if the site gives a movie 0 out of 10 for sex/nudity, it might still list a few things if you click for the detailed review.

Yesterday, as many people know, was the 11th annual Critics’ Choice Awards. The winners that I thought deserved their wins were Dakota Fanning (best young actress), Freddie Highmore (best young actor) and the Chronicles of Narnia (best live-action family film). Congratulations! The rest of the winners, however, were fairly lackluster and not very surprising.

Go to http://cnn.com/2006/showbiz/movies/01/10/critics.awards.ap/index.html to see the complete list of winners.

The nominations for the Screen Actors’ Guild Awards have been released, and, not very surprisingly, “Brokeback Mountain” has the most nominations. I’ve never seen this movie, but I’m sure any movie that’s about gay people and contains nudity can’t be very good. Overall, the nominees are extremely lackluster – if I’m not mistaken, no PG or G rated movies were nominated for anything! The only nominations that I found reasonable were Hugh Laurie of “House” for best actor in a TV drama, and Keifer Sutherland of “24″ for the same category. The movies that should win awards are “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “Because of Winn-Dixie,” “War of the Worlds,” and maybe “Chicken Little” and “Dreamer” (I haven’t seen the last two yet). The nominees and the movies that weren’t nominated aren’t the least bit surprising, but I still enjoy criticizing the Guild’s taste!

Go to http://www.sagawards.org/PR_060105.htm to see the list of nominees.

Just in time for the new year, here is my roundup of notable people and other things, both good and bad, of 2005. I may add to the list, for example if I see a movie that deserves to be listed under “Imperial Movies.” Also note that no one is listed under more than one category. People who could fit under two or more categories are placed in the one I think is most suitable for them.

The Imperial Awards of 2005 A.D.

People of the year: It’s a tie between Pope Benedict XVI and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Worst people of the year:
John E. Jones III, the Pennsylvania judge who ruled that nothing but evolution can be taught in public schools
Cindy Sheehan, the “Peace Mom” who annoyed President Bush outside his ranch
The Rocha and Grantski families for being publicly rude to Scott Peterson, and Judge Alfred Delucci for sentencing him to death (go to http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/16/peterson16.TMP to see what they said at the sentencing)

Politicians of the year:
Harriet Miers
John Roberts
Samuel Alito
Rick Santorum for his accurate and insightful comments about the link between the pedophile priest scandal and Massachusetts’s acceptance of gay rights

Athletes of the year: the New England Patriots and Giacomo, winner of the Kentucky Derby

Criminals of the year (there seem to a lot, but here are the most notable):
Saddam Hussein
Scott Peterson
Eric Rudolph
Dennis Rader, also known as B.T.K.
Daniel Pelosi
Stephen Barbee
Mark Hacking

In memoriam:
Pope John Paul II
William Rhenquist
Stanley Tookie Williams
Rosa Parks

The Imperial Movie Awards:

Imperial movies:
The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Because of Winn-Dixie
War of the Worlds

Imperial actors:
The cast of “The Chronicles of Narnia”
The cast of “Because of Winn-Dixie”
Tom Felton, Jason Isaacs, and Alan Rickman for “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
Dakota Fanning for “War of the Worlds”
AnnaSophia Robb and Julia Winter for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”

On a more positive note, I saw the amazing “Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” last Sunday. Here’s my review of this glorious movie:

This movie is excellent. The acting is amazing. All four children are innocent and fun to watch, and each has a unique personality. Lucy is wide-eyed and imaginative, Edmund is endearingly conflicted, Susan is prim and intelligent, and Peter is brave. Lucy’s facial expressions are particularly good. Jadis, the white witch, is appropriately evil, and Aslan, the lion king of Narnia, is dignified and majestic.

The special effects are also excellent. The animals, including Aslan, are realistic, and the battles are exciting. The music is beautiful, and the pacing is fine. Although the movie feels slightly rushed on very few occasions, I appreciate the fact that the beginning is not rushed. The scenery is beautiful, and the lighting works well in both the scenes that take place at night and those that take place during the day. Additionally, the cinematography perfectly captures the majesty of Narnia. The close-ups are particularly excellent, as they capture the actors’ wonderful facial expressions. The costumes, both those of Narnia and of World War II-era England, are glorious and suit the characters well.

“The Chronicles of Narnia” possesses an innocent, glorious beauty similar to that of “The Polar Express” and the first two Harry Potter movies. It surpasses “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” in acting, pacing, visual effects, cinematography, and costumes. Out of the thousands of movies that have been made throughout history, most are mediocre, and some possess true magic. “Narnia” is one of the latter.

You can also see this review at http://imdb.com/title/tt0363771/usercomments-665

The Red Sox have traded catcher Doug Mirabelli for second baseman Mark Loretta from the Padres and acquired third baseman Andy Marte from the Braves for shortstop Edgar Renteria. Considering that the Sox have already gotten rid of Hanley Ramirez and will probably trade Manny Ramirez, Kevin Millar, Bill Mueller, or one of many other veteran players, it seems that the team is going to be completely different next season. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since I thought that last season, the team was just missing something – they were simply not as good as they used to be.

In other news, “The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” is being released today. I’ve been looking forward to this movie for a long time, and I hope it will be good. When I see it, I will post my review. I have a feeling it’ll beat the new Harry Potter, but I’ll pass my final judgement once I’ve seen it.

Also, yesterday Congress decided to renew most of the Patriot Act. They still must decide on a few portions, including the part that gives the government easier access to bookstore and library records.

And finally, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger held a hearing yesterday to determine whether or not to pardon convicted murderer Stanley “Tookie” Williams. Williams killed four people and founded a notorious gang called the Crips, but in jail he chagned his views and wrote children’s books about the dangers of gangs. He was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times! I predict that Arnold will decide not to pardon Williams, but we’ll have to wait and see. Just for some useless information, did you know that San Quentin prison, where Williams lives, is home to a bunch of other infamous murderers, such as Scott Peterson, Richard Allen Davis, David Westerfield, Charles Ng, Marcus Wesson, and Richard Ramirez? Well, now you know!