![The principal stars of \"Witnesses\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2021\/06\/192342699_1120912278409727_3290073584267585123_n.jpg\")
<\/a>This can\u2019t go on forever: \u00a0The offer of free streaming for the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s 2021 dramatic film Witnesses<\/em> will need to come to a close at some point \u2014 we have contractual obligations, for one thing, and, for another, we have a need to raise money for future film-making \u2014 but, for the moment, it\u2019s still available<\/a>. \u00a0Don\u2019t presume that it will be available indefinitely, because it won\u2019t be.<\/p>\n And the docudrama sequel to Witnesses<\/em>, our 2022 production Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon<\/em>, is also<\/em> available for free streaming<\/a> \u2014 and will continue<\/em> to be so into the indefinite future.<\/p>\n By the way, our Joseph Smith in Witnesses <\/em>is Paul Wuthrich, who also plays that role in Six Days in August. \u00a0<\/em>Moreover,\u00a0he is the host for Undaunted<\/em>. \u00a0But there\u2019s still more: You may also have recognized him as the lead (Elder Norm Seibold) in T. C. Christensen\u2019s 2024 film Escape from Germany<\/em>, and you will be seeing him again as he plays the title role in Brother Christensen\u2019s forthcoming film Raising the Bar: The Alma Richards Story<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n In yesterday\u2019s blog entry<\/a>, I mused about the apparent hostility of Hollywood and the entertainment elite to my faith and my church. \u00a0Here is an article by Jennifer Graham<\/a> in the Deseret News<\/em> that, I think, may be subtly relevant to an understanding of that apparent hostility: \u00a0\u201cPerspective: The \u2018best picture\u2019 that Americans didn\u2019t want to see: Hollywood raves about a profanity-laden film about a sex worker and then wonders why Academy Awards viewership is down\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Perhaps, I suggested, we need to make our own<\/em> movies? \u00a0Instead of holding our collective breath hoping that Hulu or Netflix or some corporate entity of that sort will somebody make a film about Latter-day Saints and their Church that doesn\u2019t make us look weird, foolish, creepy, dangerous, deranged, clownish, or criminal? \u00a0Just a thought. \u00a0In that context, though, I\u2019m looking forward to seeing this<\/em> one: \u00a0Sharing Aloha: A Backstage Look at the People Behind Hawaii\u2019s Most Popular Attraction<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cNew film wins award for showing Polynesian Cultural Center and BYU-Hawaii as places of refuge:\u00a0\u2018Sharing Aloha\u2019 won the 2025 Zions Indie Film Fest first-place prize\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n This article went up earlier today:\u00a0Joseph Smith and Our Preparation for the Lord\u2019s Final Judgment: Essays by George L. Mitton: \u201c<\/em>The Book of Mormon as a Resurrected Book and a Type of Christ,\u201d<\/a> written by George L. Mitton<\/a><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong> This essay emphasizes the remarkable participation of the Book of Mormon in the symbolism of death and resurrection. It explains how the Book of Mormon itself may be seen as a resurrected book, having followed the pattern of Christ\u2019s life, including descent from heaven, teaching of doctrine, rejection, and resurrection from the ground with eleven official witnesses.<\/p>\n Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Joseph Smith and Our Preparation for the Lord\u2019s Final Judgment: Essays by George L. Mitton<\/em>. For more information, go to https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/books\/joseph-smith-and-our-preparation-for-the-lords-final-judgment\/<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Most large economic, business, or financial decisions are made under conditions of at least some uncertainty. \u00a0Will this business grow? \u00a0Will this stock appreciate in value? \u00a0Will it drop like a rock? \u00a0Will the exchange rate between dollars and Euros work in favor of my import business, or will it change and ruin me? \u00a0It\u2019s risky enough without unpredictable political factors entering into the matter. \u00a0Will there be a trade war? \u00a0Will there be a literal war? \u00a0Will our currency suddenly be devalued?<\/p>\n Predictability makes sound decisions in finance and business matters more feasible and more likely. \u00a0A government of laws and not of men \u2014 remember that<\/em> quaint old idea? \u2014 maximizes stable rules over the whims of a politician or a monarch. \u00a0Tariffs almost invariably have negative effects on an economy as a whole, but arbitrary decisions to threaten tariffs, or to impose them and then not to impose them, and to set tariff rates more or less randomly (at, oh, say ten percent, or fifteen percent, or why not twenty five percent?) are very harmful, as well. \u00a0Should a farmer plant more wheat? \u00a0Probably not, if a trade war is suddenly going to cut significantly into wheat exports. \u00a0Should an automaker lay workers off or expand a manufacturing plant? \u00a0Who knows? \u00a0How can one possibly know if its car sales will be significantly impacted, on a randomly chosen date, by a decision that might or might not be made \u2014 at some point and on an inscrutable basis \u2014 by some individual in government official?<\/p>\n And here\u2019s a specific matter: \u00a0\u201cTrump\u2019s Canadian tariffs include lumber. He is pushing to cut down American trees instead.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 I believe really strongly that we need to plant more trees<\/a> \u2014 I\u2019ve posted here on this subject at least a couple of previous times \u2014 and I certainly don\u2019t want to see American trees cut down that are currently protected. \u00a0So, I say, let\u2019s just invade Canada right now and get it over with. \u00a0Then<\/em> we can turn our military attention to Denmark and Greenland.<\/p>\n Only time will tell, of course, but it\u2019s very possible that yet another wicked Latter-day Saint conspiracy is about to be unmasked \u2014 this one by a significant Australian newspaper: \u00a0\u201cHow our personal records ended up in a Mormon mountain vault in Utah\u201d. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>
(Kenneth Riley, LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/a>