An important day in history, at least IMHO. Tolkien’s 125th Birthday. Here are a few older posts I did on birthdays past. Including a rather prophetic prediction about Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. My only regret is that, a few years ago, I was visiting a blog run by an English professor. That is, a literature professor from England. He is a fan of Tolkien, too. But he did a post, almost apologetically, in which he declared that most don’t associate Tolkien with... Read more
USC pulled it out with a redeeming, last second field goal, and Penn State made it a game to remember. One of the best college bowl games I’ve ever watched. Everything happened that you can hope for in a football game. This is what we expect from championship level contests. I’m looking at you Urban Meyer. On the other side was one of the most humiliating performances in recent memory. Three 3rd down conversions, five earned 1st downs? For the... Read more
So it’s 2017. All joking aside. In a matter of weeks, Donald J. Trump will be our president. In some ways, Trump was a unifying individual. Over the years, both sides of the aisle found reasons to dislike him. To the liberals of America, he represented the unbridled avarice that came do define post-1980 America. To the conservatives, he represented the hedonism and decadence that came to define modern America. And yet it was the conservatives who blinked, and looked the... Read more
Here. I know, there is some truth to what it says. To a point. The problem is, it’s just as true in slick, suburban secular settings as well. Most of the racism, bigotry, and misogyny I experienced in college came from well to do, non-religious, left leaning, Reagan hating college students. And not all of them white. I have seen plenty of people of all religious (and non-religious) stripes act this way. Sure, some groups might be statistically more likely than... Read more
Is replace the word ‘white’ with the word ‘black’, or ‘Muslim’, or ‘Jewish’ and see how long he’d keep his job. I get that it’s supposedly just a joke. That’s fine. Next time someone jokes like that about blacks or Muslims, don’t get all in an uproar. Or get in one now. It’s the inconsistency that raises warning flags. Read more
As if 2016 needed one more victim, only hours before the year ended, William Christopher died. To fans of the TV series MASH, he was the quintessential television padre. It’s worth noting that Christopher was also an early advocate for autism. This came from his own child’s condition. Dustin Hoffman stayed with him to research his role in Rain Man. As an actor, Mr. Christopher didn’t often revisit the TV series that made him famous. Part of it was the... Read more
Badly. Read more
Never, ever underestimate Donald Trump Arrogance is a bad strategy Insulting millions of registered voters is not the best response to a candidate who insults millions of non-voters Bipartisanship is not accomplished by blaming everyone else There is a fine line between journalism and propaganda Pretending that problems don’t exist won’t convince those who are suffering as a result of those problems If you pop champagne corks because experts assure you that no matter what, your side will win by... Read more
And a safe one at that. Remember, 2016 wasn’t all bad. Other years have been much worse. Read more
Don’t know much about him, since I never watched his show. But this isn’t the first time he’s stepped out with decency and common sense. Kate O’Hara has the details. Read more
Daffey Thoughts
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In