oh goody, an obscure question of common law
(This item was written in October but somehow never got out of “draft” status.)
Constructive Trusts and Restitution After Theft: Rasmusen discusses a legal quandary.
It hits me that this item calls for a law category not under politics. I’m surprised that this is the first such.
proposed design for Louisiana quarter
2006: that site apparently no longer exists, so here’s a copy of the item.
We have broadband! Mainly because my housemate wanted to listen to BBC without glitches, but hey, I’m not kicking it out of bed. For the first year it’s cheaper than dialup plus the extra phone line.
can you say it with a straight face?
Forensic theology. (Cited by Travis.) (Link updated 2006.)
The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 forbids declarations of national sovereignty off Earth (according to something quoted by Travis). But can that be a serious barrier to imperialism?
Suppose you have political debts to more people than can plausibly be appointed ambassadors to Paris and the like. The rest of them declare themselves kings of whatever asteroids you’d like to exploit. You give them diplomatic recognition, foreign aid, and military advisors.
The Bad Seed (1956).
The Seventh Seal (1957).
蜘蛛巣城 (Spiderweb Castle) (Throne of Blood) (1957). Having seen it once before, I watched it only with the commentary track on, and learned some interesting details about Kurosawa’s technique. For example, he liked to shoot with multiple cameras; besides being a relatively cheap way to get more footage to cut together, this prevents the actors from “playing to the camera”.
Nights of Cabiria (1957).
Silk Stockings (1957). I endured the tedious dialogue only long enough to see Cyd Charisse’s first dance.
どん底 Donzoko (The Lower Depths) (1957). When the characters had vented their frustrations at each other for about twenty minutes, I dropped out.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Damn fine picture. I saw it just once before, in 1976-7, dubbed in French.
I Soliti Ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street) (1958) may replace The Lavender Hill Mob as my favorite caper comedy.