My opinion is that I don't really know what the hell the modern Olympics is supposed to be about , so I don't know how to judge a case like this. If it's just about physical excellence, like the original Olympics were, then the decision would make a certain amount of sense. It would be, by nature, b...

Actually, I think it's kinda awesome. I'd even go so far as to say beautiful.

I don't know much about the specifics of this particular deal, and I know far less than I'd like about the current state of politics in Saudi Arabia, but it seems entirely likely to me that the rationale behind the deal is the same as that of most other instances. In the first place, once a country ...

Unfortunately, Bananafish, we've already done "The Road" as a fiction selection. I say "unfortunately" not because the book wasn't worth reading, but because it would have been nice to have had another voice or two in the mix. The book has been getting a lot more attention since ...

Penelope, "Catch-22" is just a tough read. It's very recursive for the first 150 pages or so, if I recall correctly, but it starts to sort itself out in the last half. If you can make it that far, it starts to reward your effort. It isn't my favorite book, by any means, but it is at least ...

And, if anyone wants to cheat, they can just watch the Kubrick adaptation of Barry Lyndon.

I think we've talked about this before, Rose. I'm of more or less the same mindset on this matter. In fact, I'd say there's some danger of distortion in centering a campaign or an election process on issues. But I realize that a great many people do approach the presidential election in terms of iss...

But my point is, if he is going to be the topic of discussion, as he is in this thread, that discussion is likely to be (and justifiably to be, in my opinion) ridiculous, because he's ridiculous. Fine. As I said, I'm not terribly interested in discussing Huckabee. My very first comment in this thre...

I'd say those in the reformed epistemology tradition, especially Alvin Plantinga and especially the idea of basic beliefs. Not that I think the ideas in this tradition are totally without merit. On the contrary, I admire many aspects of this epistemological theory but it looks suspiciously like a f...

If we're looking for something humorous to read, it might be a good idea to take a look at Evelyn Waugh's catalog, particularly the novels he wrote before his conversion to Catholicism. Someone (Penelope? Ophelia?) listed Hardy's "Jude the Obscure" as an example of a humorless book, but Ha...