SinisterMatt

I'm trying to find a history book about the Masons for Christmas for my father. However, when I go to Barnes and Noble or even Amazon to see what they have, invariably the only books that come up are the dime a dozen "Masons and the Knights Templar conspiracy" type books made popular after National Treasure came out. I'm not interested in those.

Can anyone recommend a good history of the Masons? I'd prefer it be published by a university press, but that is not 100% set in stone.

Thanks in advance! Cheers!!

I'm new to the world of Mac OS X, and I'm looking for some software that can edit movies for a project. Nothing too fancy, of course, and it has to be simple enough for normal everyday users to use. Open Source would be preferable, but if there is something that is freeware that does the job equally as well I'd take that as well

Thanks in advance! Cheers!

My brother's laptop is having problems connecting to the Internet. He can use applications like Hamachi or Xfire to connect no problem, but when he uses a web browser (he's tested Firefox and Internet Explorer), it will allow him to connect for a short period of time and then it refuses to load anymore web pages. He can load Facebook and use it indefinitely, but the page doesn't refresh, however. The problem doesn't manifest itself when he connects to the internet at a friend's house.

He has a Toshiba laptop running Windows 7 Home Premium. He's also running Zone Alarm for a firewall. On the command prompt, he can't ping Google. Beyond that, the laptop is brand new, so he hasn't had time to muck it up any.

Anyone have any thoughts what the problem may be, and even more, how to fix it? Thanks in advance!

Cheers!

Prior to the 1884 adoption of the Greenwich Meridian as the worldwide Prime Meridian, many countries employed prime meridians that were tied to a location of national importance. For instance, in France it was the line of longitude that went through the Paris Observatory (before that it was Ferro Island, part of the Canary Islands). In Britain, the Greenwich Observatory was the standard for British mapping.

So my question is, does anyone know what it was for the Portuguese or the Spanish?

Cheers!

I saw a poster on a discussion about same-sex marriage make the case that the Constitution sets out the moral way forward for anything.

What do you think?

I see it as a legal document that is neither moral nor amoral. Are the rights established there moral, or are they merely legal protections?

Cheers!

2008 Kia Optima LX sedan?

I am thinking of tying a 95 pound package to the top and I am curious to know if this will damage the car in any way.

Thanks, and Cheers!

Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison, while being interviewed by the BBC today about the health care reform debate, said that "the role of government is to make life fair for all who live in this country; that is what this health care reform bill is about." (Paraphrased.)

If that's the case, then where does the government's role in making life fair for all end? Who decides what's fair and what's not, since, in order to make it fair for all you have to make it unfair for some? Or are we only going to make things fair for those people who will ensure politicians' re-election?

If you disagree (like me) about his statement, what is the role of government then?

Thoughts?

Cheers!

I frequently see statements to the effect that "There is no evidence for any tenant of religion, while science has overwhelming evidence in support of it." Thinking about this a little, I ask the question, "What is evidence?"

I'm a historian by training. To me, it seems that all evidence consists of is support for one's argument/theory/whatever, which naturally can be pretty arbitrary. Thus, what one dismisses as not evidence of a particular position _is_ evidence for someone else. The implication there, of course, is that what is "true" is arbitrary and varies from one person to another.

In the case of evidence (especially empirical evidence) for religion, it seems that any evidence in nature that "bears witness of a Creator" supports the person's presupposition that there is a God. Likewise, anyone of a more atheistic persuasion might view the same evidence as disqualifying the existence of God.

Note that I am not talking about consensus, in which a group of credentialed people accept one argument as an approximation of reality. That, I think, is an entirely different matter than the definition of evidence.

So, then, what is evidence?

Thoughts?

Cheers!

It's pretty clear that Obama was elected because he was not George Bush or didn't allegedly espouse his policies. He has now won the Nobel Peace Prize for precisely the same reason.

Is it possible, then, that Obama's legacy will be that he wasn't George Bush?

Don't get me wrong, I think its great that an American has won the prize. It adds to American prestige and so on. I just think that the reasoning behind awarding it to him is a little flawed, and he hasn't done anything to get it.

Thoughts? Discuss.

Cheers!

We are trying to play a game of Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. We have five computers, all behind the same router. My wife and I (the regular residents of the house) are able to connect in the game to each other. My brothers and sister (visiting) cannot connect to a hosted game on either my computer or my wife's, but they can connect to each other. Likewise, my wife and I can't connect to a hosted game on their computers.

What am I doing wrong? We have three computers running XP and two running Vista. I've got firewall settings disabled on all five computers.

Thanks, and Cheers!

When a potential boss calls the job references listed on a potential employee's employment application, by law the only question that they are allowed to ask is "Would you re-hire this person?"

When potential future landlords call your previous landlord, are they similarly allowed to only answer one question? Or can they talk about whatever they want?

Thanks, and Cheers!

I'm in a dispute with my apartment management company at the moment over a maintenance request. If I needed advice about terminating the lease or if I needed to take other legal action against the company, would I need a real estate lawyer or one who deals with contract law?

Thanks, and Cheers!

we had James Buchanan, who sat idly by while the country devolved into secession and civil war and did far more (or didn't) for the destruction of the U.S.

How does he compare to the war that Bush started and the lack of regulation which led to our current economic downturn.

Just for the record, I disliked some of the things that Bush did (torture, wiretapping, and the war was generally a bad idea), but I just can't compare him to the likes of Buchanan or Harding.

Thoughts?

Cheers!

So Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has, among others, called for a truth commission along the lines of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa (which investigated human rights abuses under apartheid) to bring to light possible abuses by the Bush administration.

Does anyone else think that this is a bad idea, if only for the reason that it would effectively marginalize a single party--the GOP-- from American politics for generations?

The Truth Commission in South Africa didn't have this problem because both sides were involved in atrocities. Here I don't see that working because any atrocities, and I doubt that there were many, were solely committed by a Republican controlled government. In that light, it seems that any truth commission set up in response to the former administration is just another attempt to guarantee sustained one-party rule for some time, as the Democrats could repeatedly use it against their opponents.

Thoughts?

Cheers!

So I frequently see, usually in regards to gay marriage, the claim that those who oppose it are imposing their (religious, but not always) views on society. How is that different than the pro-gay marriage group imposing their views on society?

Or is it only "imposing" if you don't agree with the position?

Thoughts?

Cheers!

At what point is it acceptable to question and analyze Obama's presidency? I frequently still hear his supporters say "Oh, give him more time. He's only been in Office 100 days."

6 months? A Year? 2 Years? At the end of his first term? After his second term, if he can pull one off? Two centuries from now? When, exactly, can I evaluate his presidency without incurring the displeasure of his supporters?

And if your answer is towards the end of his term, why does Obama get such a long term but it was open market on Bush right off the bat?

Cheers!

I see this statement bandied about and tossed around like so much chaff. No one explains what it means.

To me, it seems that it would make more sense to interpret it the way the founders meant to by reading their writings and so forth.

The fact that it is a living document suggests that it can be changed at will to fix whatever social cause is popular at the moment.

Thoughts?

Cheers!

Some (like the DailyKos, for instance), especially since Arlen Specter went over to the Democrats, have commented that the Republicans are essentially a regional party of Southerners. I don't agree, seeing how much of the west is also quite solidly Republican.

Anyway, if that is the case, what is to be the alternative party to the Democrats? Or are you satisfied with one party rule, with all its potential abuses?

Thoughts?

Cheers!

Especially considering that MSNBC and CNN have similar shows with similar goals-- ridicule the other side. It seems that the only difference between Fox and CNN/MSNBC is the political slant of the two.

So why does Fox News get the distinction of being "Faux News" when CNN/MSNBC get a free pass?

Thoughts?

Cheers!

I frequently see the argument that morality, especially morality based on religious belief, should not be the basis for laws, especially in regards to the debate on gay marriage.

I thought laws were the expression of what a society says is moral. What else do you draw laws from?

And if you say common sense, then whose common sense?

Thoughts?

Cheers!