Free Republic

FULL TITLE: Trump heaps MORE scorn on 'out-of-control animal' Chris Cuomo following CNN host's F-bombing threats to beat up a heckler who called him 'Fredo' – and says 'I would not have wanted to see a weapon in his hand!' Donald Trump continued kicking CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on Tuesday, suggesting that he's too mentally unstable to own a firearm and proved it in a curse-laden rant, flying off the handle and threatening to throw a heckler down a flight of stairs for calling him 'Fredo.' 'I think that what Chris Cuomo did was horrible. His language was horrible. He...

Flores 'hobbit' walked more like a clown than Frodo 12:30 16 April 2008 NewScientist.com news service Ewen Callaway Henry McHenry, University of California, Davis American Association of Physical Anthropologists Tolkien's hobbits walked an awful long way, but the real "hobbit", Homo floresiensis, would not have got far. Its flat, clown-like feet probably limited its speed to what we would consider a stroll, and kept its travels short, says Bill Jungers, an anthropologist at the State University of New York in Stony Brook. "It's never going to win the 100-yard dash, and it's never going to win the marathon," he says....

I need help with LOTR. Two friends and I were discussing the books and movies last weekend. Friend 1 observed that the relationship between Frodo and Sam (in the movies) had homosexual overtones. Friend 2 retorted that the relationship is based on the master/servant relationship of old England and that Friend 1 was looking at it through American eyes, where rugged individualism is more prized. I--caught in the middle--had to admit that I thought that Sean Astin overplayed Sam at times but was great overall. So, was Friend 1 right about the gay overtones, or was Friend 2's explanation correct?...

My friend Hans is as much a lover of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" as I am, and after Tony Blair's magnificent speech to the Joint Session of Congress, he e-mailed an off-the-cuff thought: Blair is playing Sam to the president's Frodo. The game was on, and I posted the exchange at my website and discussed it on my radio program. The analogy was launched and the e-mails began to flow. The exercise sought analogies to various LOTR figures in the individuals, institutions and nations involved in the defining conflict of our times – the struggle between the liberal democracies...

A leading German literature professor says that reading Tolkien's Lord of the Rings could help prevent war. Thomas Kullmann, a 42-year-old professor from the University of Osnabrueck, said: "If adults read children's literature more often then we would probably live in a much more peaceful world. "Fairy tales and other works for children may not be one-to-one with reality but they help excite the imagination. They give the reader new ideas that could even help solve political problems. "Children's books can definitely help adults rethink a situation and help them assess political situations on a higher and even wiser level."...

Why did Bilbo choose Frodo as his heir? Bilbo Baggins was gone for more than a year on his journey to the Lonely Mountain and back. When he finally returned he was surprised to find that not only was he presumed dead, but his home at Bag End was being cleared out by auctioneers. Either by legal will or common law, his luxurious hobbit hole was being passed down to his next of kin, the Sackville-Bagginses, and his belongings were being sold to the highest bidder. Because Mr. Baggins was obviously still among the living, the auction had to be...