The Hall of Fire

soli, we've had a suggestion that the title of this thread be changed to "Obama, McCain and the Wars". It does seem to make sense, since both candidates are being discussed. Any objection?

Aravar, is the imbalance in how the extradiction treaty is written, or in how it is enforced?

sf, this is not "another site" and making odious comparisons to unnamed "other posters" does nothing to advance the discussion. Kindly refrain from that kind of unproductive filler. You make your point; that should be sufficient.

Thanks for posting that, soli. I heard an interview with one of the authors of On Point II on NPR a few weeks ago, and I was quite impressed with the honest insights about what had gone wrong.

That's because it's not really an article that is purporting to report facts. It's an idealogical op/ed piece.

Good question, Mahima.

What it says to me is that once Tolkien came up with the idea of the character of Sam Gamgee, his role in the story was immediately clear to him.

Prim, I question the veracity of the reporting here. There's absolutely no indication that any of the information was cross-checked with U.S. authorities. It appears that the paper simply took Mr McKinnon and his attorneys word for it.

Yes, it is real. :( And the sad fact is that they honestly believe (and may well be right) that it will be effective at convincing people to vote against Obama. I'm hoping that smart independent voters like yov will see stuff like this (and the deceptive McCain ads and campaign statements) and rejec...

I'm locking this thread. I see no good that come out of discussing this. soli, if you can provide me with any reputable validation of this NewsMax report, I'll reopen the thread. Otherwise, it will just turn into an exercise in futility. If we were to post and "discuss" every provocative &...

The McCain ad that I referenced can be found at his own website, johnmccain.com.

soli, wasn't it you who I recently saw criticizing the quoting of highly idealogical web sites?

The latest legal battle is over how Attorney General Jerry Brown (the former Gov. Moonbeam is trying to position himself for a return to the statehouse) has decided to word the proposition on the ballot. As it now stands, California's November ballot will introduce Proposition 8 with these words: &q...

It's no secret that I'm pretty disappointed with how negative the McCain campaign is getting, particularly with their recent ad claiming that Obama cancelled his visit to the military hospital in Germany because he was told that he couldn't bring photographers with him (which is just plain false). B...

Prim, I'm sure. The Guantanamo comment was nothing more than an inflammatory statement made by his attorneys. It should be treated with the respect that it deserves.

I have zero sympathy for this person.

Padme, I agree. For some reason there something that is just a little bit off about it to me. Let me clarify that when I said I like Tolkien's version best, I don't mean that I would like it best as part of an adaptation of LOTR. It clearly is not meant to be a rendition of the Lay by Sam in the con...

Take it up with Tolkien, Al. That's what he said; I'm just reporting his words.

At the first reference to the name Maggot, Tolkien crossed it out and replaced it with "Puddifoot" but he thought better of that.

Just posting to add the observation that once Tolkien decided to add the character of Sam Gamgee, the scene in which he is caught eavedropping and Gandalf decided that he should go with Bingo/Frodo was incorporated into the text almost word for word with the final version. I think that is very inter...

Teremia, I absolutely love your observation about Sam's comment about climbing to the moon! Its difficult to tell at what point that comment was added (Sam, of course, wasn't even present in the first version), but I very much doubt that the reference is accidental. But I've never noticed it in that...