According to DIW the city of Durham is not going to settle. If I were a Durham taxpayer I would not be happy. The city will probably lose. A lot of material is going to come out on discovery that will be embarrassing to the city. The biggest item the players want it procedures that will prevent this happening to some other defendant. I think the players would accept a lower amount with changes in police procedures.
One of the guests at the Justice Thomas book party was Stuart Taylor from Until Prove Innocent. Justice Thomas in candid shots really seems like a wonderful man. He has a rich booming laugh and wonderful manner. I hope he is on the Supreme Court till he's 90.
The Washington Post headline uses the word "bash" for a book party given for Justice Thomas. It sounds like a very civilized affair. Did the Post have to use "bash".
Durham in Wonderland suggests that Brodhead's statement has not satisfied everyone. DIW has great links to the Duke newspaper. Also the comments by DIW readers are worth reading.
The headline in today Washington Post about Justice Thomas memoir is Justice Thomas Lashes Out at Media. Does anyone have any doubt that any noted liberal autobiography who discussed criticism would not be a headline using the word "lash".
After reading Robert Bidinotto's wonderful essay in the new TIA about his introduction to Rand and her ideas I would share my story. My first introduction was in high school where another student had read and liked Atlas Shrugged. I was vaguely aware of the book and had picked up some of the negative reviews. I did not actually read Atlas until after we had moved to the DC area. Interestingly enough a fellow student at the Christian Science Sunday School had read the book and liked it. My
If any of you watched the Victoria Toesnenging's comments on the book made one suggestion that I would like to hear comments. She suggested judges and prosecutors should not be elected. The election of judges and prosecutors is from the Progressive era. The reason that the Constitution makes judges life-time appointments with good behavior is too make judges free from popular pressures. Prosecutors and judges must make their decisions on the basis of the law and not satisfying their consti
In 1946 the GOP won the Congressional election after being out of power for fourteen years. The House Un-American Activities Committee known as HUAC had a new chairman Parnell Thomas. One of possible Communist Party activities was the unions in Hollywood especially the Screen Writers Guild and the Conference of Studio Unions(CSU). The CSU was trying to take over from the AFL unions which had already organized the studios. HUAC did not have the greatest reputation among members of Congress
In discussing Communists in Hollywood one needs to look at the American labor movement. Unions had been a small part of the work force in the United States until the 30ths. During the New Deal first the NRA and then the Wagner Act made organizing large unions possible in all American industries. The large union were members of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) which was principally made up of craft unions Carpenters, Teamsters, et al. Some people wanted to organize whole industries like
I am going to start by recommending a book. The book is Red Star Over Hollywood by Ronald and Allis Radosh. There is also a book called Hollywood Party by Kennedth Billingsley. The American Communist Party and the Soviet Union say opportunities in Hollywood early in the 1920ths but did not really establish until the Great Depression. In the 1930ths the various craft guilds including the Actors and Writers Guild were organized. The communists were very active in the writers Guild. The princ
Large demonstrations were held in Jena Louisiana about an assault case. The demonstrations were led by Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. I know many reading this blog will read the names Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and think I am about to attack. Before you do that look at Instanpundit where Glen Reynolds has asked Radley Balko to comment on the matter. Radley does a through job on the case. The district attorney has said the case is not about race but yet a quick reading suggests that bla
I realize I haven't reviewed many books. I haven't been to or reviewed any movies. With the exception of Monk I haven't reviewed TV shows. I have been looking at blogs with recommendations. The new TV season is starting and I will be looking at more shows on the telly. Who knows I may even get to a movie.
It's that time of the time of the year when the Kennedy Center announces the individuals who are being honored this year. I am not going bore with the names this year. If you want to find they're on the internet. I have two issues. One: The US Constitution says we can't create titles of nobility. Does anyone else find the Honors smack of this? Two: They have again denied the honor to William Shanter. Doesn't Captain Kirk deserve to be in that center box?
Stuart Taylor was Cato talking about his book on the Duke case. The program is on Cato.org and will be on Book TV. This is a report on somethings Mr Taylor commented on. Mr Taylor said the fact that the book in not in book stores was a bad decision made by the publisher. He said the publisher did not think the book would be a success. Durham in Wonderland will be closing because C B Johnson will be teaching in Israel and the distance is too great. Watch the program! It's very good.
I wanted to briefly mention that the three accused have a suit against the City of Durham. Such a suit is not surprising but one of the demands is. They are asking Durham to support changes in the disclosure law in North Carolina. This for more than money for the players is a really great idea. I understand that C-Span will be carrying the appearance of Stuart Taylor on Book TV. C B Johnson will be closing down Durham In Wonderland. Some of us are hoping he will keep it going on other issu
I went through the 304 pages of the decision. It seems to cover every aspect of the case that can be considered by the courts. The greatest part is devoted to the the time of death evidence. This was perhaps the strongest part of the Crown case. While the court says the crime could have occurred at the original time the evidence now available suggests a much later time. The original pathologist seems to have a great many doubts about his original findings. The evidence of the various wit
Yesterday Sept 8th was 41st anniversary of Star Trek. I am not a big fan of first show although I liked Voyager and Deep Space Nine. But Star Trek like Star Wars is a cultural icon. We all know "Live long and prosper". "Beam me up Scotty;" is thought to be from the show although is was never said. Star Trek has one more claim to fame. The fans were able to get it one more season. It is one of the few show that that can be said about
The tile of the Taylor-Jonson book is "Until Proven Innocent". There was a great review of the book in the Wall Street Journal yesterday Sept 6th. There is also an op-ed in today's Washington Post by Johnson & Taylor. As a final point the book is on the Amazon top one hundred.
Senator Ted Kennedy has come under recent attack for his opposition to a wind farm on Cape Cod. He has been quoted as saying "But it's where I sail". Senator Kennedy might remember that a queen of France who was supposed to have said "Let them eat cake." She ended up losing her head.
Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson's book about the Duke Hoax has been published. They have both separately and together making appearances about the book. The both did one yesterday on Good Morning America. Durham in Wonderland is reporting the appearances by Prof. Johnson. He also has many of the reviews of the book. There will be an appearance at Cato Institute on Sept 11th which I will be at. There is more information at the Cato web site Both of these commentators are looking like pr
