The Hall of Fire

hal, are you suggesting that Obama spread lies about himself over the internet? And if so, you give some specific examples.

Dave_LF posted a very fascinating article about a brilliant woman named Dr. Danielle Allen, who tracked (as far as possible) the origin of the email campaign about Obama being a secret Muslim. Dr. Allen has two doctorates, one in classics from Cambridge University and the other in government from Ha...

I'm sure we will get a chance to meet up in time! I look forward to that.

I actually live up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I love it. We live among the Redwoods, but close enough to the sea. It really is ideal (except for the cost of living, of course. And the fires these days.)

Very interesting, Rowan and Aravar.

AJ, I live in Santa Cruz!

A great big HoF welcome to another of my new friends, mwirkk!



I hope you enjoy it here! Jump right in.

So is what I am thinking correct, that the lawsuit will be over what the Tolkien Estate feels they are owed from the breach of contract? Yes, that is exactly correct. If that is the case does it become easier now for New Line and the Estate to reach an out of court settlement? It might, because it ...

Well, it looks like my take on the demurrer was pretty darn accurate. The court sustained the demurrer with leave to amend within 20 days. The court explicitly held that the allegations in the Complaint support nothing more than a breach of contract cause of action. Assuming that the plaintiffs are ...

Finally saw Todd Hayne's convoluted sort of Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" last night. Parts of it were brilliant, particularly the parts with Cate Blanchett, and the parts with Marcus Carl Franklin, a young black actor who plays a version of the 11-year old Dylan, who calls himself "Wo...

Same here. Wow; its hard for me to imagine Bogart in that part. (Reminds me that it's time to re-read the book, though.)

I look forward to seeing that.

As solicitr pointed out in another thread, Bogie always played himself. It's just that he was such an appealing and interesting character that it almost always worked.

I hope you don't mind if I comment some more (and post some excerpts) while you are recovering (you continue to have my prayers and best wishes for a full recovery). Okay, first of all, let's add some context here. This is a letter that was written by Tolkien to his son Christopher at the height of ...

Griffy, good post. I think it a way not following presidential coverage very much gives you a fresher perspective than the rest of us. I agree that changing one's mind is a good thing if it truly represents an evolution in the person's thinking due to changed circumstances or even a changing perspec...

Would it be practical to post the actual text of the letter under question, or are they too long for that? Most of Tolkien's letters would be too long for it to be practical to post the full text of them. And, frankly, I think doing so would really edge into the territory of being copyright infring...

Faramond, by all means bring it up. A vigorous debate is beneficial to us all. Obama certainly isn't perfect, but I continue to believe that he is remarkably consistent on the issues. Particularly when compared to McCain, who changed his position on a host of issues in order to secure the Republican...

Thanks for beating me to it and starting this thread, AJ. I definitely will want to comment on Letter 52, and as I said before, there are a bunch of other letters that would be interesting to discuss. I think this is the kind of thread that will constantly be revisited, so don't be discouraged if it...

Teremia, those are all positions that he has consistently held. What makes you say that they are not "what he really believes?" Certainly in the Illinois Senate he supported a complete ban on the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns. That's not quite correct, soli. What is true is...

That means that employment discrimination can only be punished by fine, not by jail time, right? Is there any other punishment besides fines that can be applied? (I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you know. ;) :)) Not even a fine, per se. Let me back up for a sec. Our legal system is basically...

AJ, I mentioned this in another thread, but I agree that it deserves a thread of its own. There are major consequences to the justice department hiring people based on political leanings. The department has long had a reputation for independence, with people relying on the fact that prosecutions wil...