24

"24" cleaned house at the Emmies. The counter terrorism drama earned four Emmy nominations and won two awards, including best drama and best actor for Kiefer Sutherland. I must admit, I love the show. Yes it can be a little violent. Yes it crosses moral boundaries (the occasional torturing of a suspected terrorist for example). Yes the characters often have to break the rules, but they are trying to save the world. Ultimately, Jack Bauer, the show's heroic counter-terrorist badass, will do whatever it takes to save lives. Jen Kendall explains one example of Jack's principles. But he pays for his choices and sometimes gets a taste of his own medicine. It is good to see a hero who is willing to risk his life hour after hour to save others.

I must also admit a guilty preference for Chloe O'Brien (pictured above). She is the brilliant, yet socially challenged, computer geek who is Jack Bauer's equivalent in cyber-space. She can hack into any system and snoop out any cyber terrorist on the net without cracking a smile. She is not afraid to express her annoyance to just about everyone around her and can shoot condescending looks like no one else on the show. None of them like her, but she is so good at her job that they respect her. I think she's great.

For much better reasons to watch "24" check out LIFE TEEN's top ten reasons why Jack Bauer Rules.

If only it were true...

My struggle would be over. Actually, that's not true, but my struggle would be different.

One of our three readers insisted on another post (thanks to Jacque for sending this):

A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up! In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies. The head monk, says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son." The abbot goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are archived in a locked vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years. Hours go by and nobody sees the him. So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him. He finds the abbot banging his head against the wall and wailing,"We missed the "R!" , we missed the "R!" His forehead is bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably. The young monk asks the old abbot, "What's wrong, Father?" With a choking voice, the old abbot replies, "The word was...

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