I have not watched the video of the beheading of Nick Berg. I have no macabre interest in seeing this. I am not going to watch the video because I don't need to. Nick Berg's beheading by al Qaida members this week should be as clear a signal as possible to all Americans that we are at war with evil. We are at war with a force that is as evil and dangerous as the Nazis ever were.

The greatest danger our nation faces is that we are unable to identify evil, something that we had no problem with in World War 2. We understood that we were at war with the forces of evil, and we would continue to fight until they were vanquished. Whatever the cost, we were determined that the only result of war was total victory. Today, we haven't the same national sentiment.

Al Qaida is active in Iraq. Apparently they feel that US success in Iraq is injurious to their cause, and they are going to do whatever they to thwart it. This makes Iraq the frontline in the war on terror. That we have so many people, and one major political party, that refuse to, or are unable to see this, is frightening.

Evil does exist. Whether it marches under swatikas in Berlin or saws off the heads of young men working to help rebuild a nation, evil exists. Nick Berg's killing makes this clear. We must realize what we are up against. We are facing a group who believes that their ticket to heaven is how brutal and inhumane they can be. The sooner we realize this, and the sooner we rededicate ourselves to their destruction, then the sooner the will be vanquished.

If the hit show Friends and the latest hit movie Mean Girls are any indicator, Hollywood has taken a remarkable turn. Though Friends has been criticized for its excessive sexuality and adult themes, there is much to appreciate. And if you look beyond the pretty blue eyes of Lindsay Lohan, there are several powerful messages in Mean Girls.

Friends was popular for a number of reasons, not the least that offscreen the cast was as likable as they were onscreen. Another was that they addressed a number of contemporary issues in a way that neither preached nor condemned. Sure, they promoted Ross' ex-wife and her lesbian partner raising a son. And they also promoted single motherhood, especially with Rachel at the end. In between, it seemed everyone was having sex with everyone. There must have been a competition to have more sex than the Sex and the City girls.

There is however, much redeemable about the show, and it is these messages that are worthy of promoting. When bad things happened to any one of them, it was always the result of bad decisions they made. When Joey lost his job on a soap opera, it was because he bad-mouthed the writers. When Ross got put on administrative leave, it was because he couldn't control his anger. Monica lost her job because she accepted extra cuts of meat from a supplier. Rachel was fired for having relations with an underling.

Every time something bad happened, they turned to each other and to family, while not once did they turn to the government. When Rachel got sick and had no insurance, Monica stepped up and let Rachel pretend to be her to use her insurance. When Joey lost his job, he turned to Chandler and Ross for financial help. More importantly, when knocked down, they refused to give up. Joey took whatever job was offered, Chandler took a non-paying apprenticeship, Monica opened a restaurant, Ross found another professorship, etc.

Most importantly, in the self-obsessed, ego-centric generation, they always ended up putting others first, and their own selfish desires second. Nothing was more eveident of this than Rachel getting off the plane at the end. Instead of working in Paris, she chose to stay with Ross and though unstated, raise their child as a "family". Monica and Chandler bought a house and adopted a child, even Phoebe got married, and Ross and Rachel are back. The message here is that is what mature adults do, grow up, get married, and settle down. And a powerful message it is indeed.

Mean Girls is far more than another high school movie. In this movie, the biggest enemies girls have are themselves and boys end up being the good guys. As soon as Lindsay Lohan's character Cady comes to school, she is befriended by a group called the "plastics", three rich, pretty girls who are the desire of all the boys and the envy of all the girls. They have no desire to be her friend, but to have fun with her. They are the most scheming and coniving group of girls any high school has seen. The "heroines", a gay teen and his best friend a girl, who is presumed a lesbian, befriend Cady for real.

Cady is a wholly innocent, home-schooled girl who lived with her parents in Africa for 16 years while they researched African tribes. Public high school is like another universe, but she is quickly swept up in the scheming with her two friends against the plastics, and with her fellow plastics against each other. And within a short time, she too is corrupted as she realizes the power and excitement. Even her two real friends use Cady to bring down the plastics.

This comes to a head when the "Burn Book", a collection of pictures and rumors that the plastics kept, was released to the public. The school turns into scene out of the last anti-globalization protest. The prinicpal brings all the girls into the auditorium, and then Tina Fey's character asks the girls how many of them have been hurt by another girl, and how many of them have hurt another girl. Every hand was raised both times.

Throughout the movie, the girls use boys for their own pleasure and to make the other girls jealous. When Cady wants to get back at her rival plastic Regina by kissing Regina's boyfriend, he backs away. The math wizard cum rapper is a nice guy who befriends Cady to get her to join the Mathletes, a math competition team.

The movie had some powerful messages. Women are really their own worst enemies. Most problems that girls have are of their own doing. Guys will accept you for just who you are. I wonder if Dr. Laura was a consultant.