Free Republic

After the raucous ride of 2016, there’s a lot to be said for hitting the books for some good reading. Whether it’s history, policy, or religion that you find most interesting, here is an assortment of books that our friends from The Heritage Foundation recommend.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Animal Control Officers in Arlington received a big surprise last week while responding to a snake call inside an apartment bathroom – Anaconda big! Arlington County Animal Control said they received a call for a snake inside an apartment toilet, something that isn’t that unusual. However, this wasn’t just any snake, it was a juvenile yellow anaconda that was nearly 5 feet long. On a yellow anaconda scale, that is actually quite small. Fully grown yellow anacondas can be up to 13 feet long and over 100 pounds. Officials say Officer Brenys White was able to safely...

Most of you will probably remember Kathleen Donohoe, an Irish-American writer and New Yorker-and full disclosure, my cousin-from previous posts on this website. This year saw the publication of her debut novel, Ashes Of Fiery Weather. The title is taken from a poem by Wallace Stevens, Our Stars Come From Ireland, which celebrates the importance of place as a facet of memory. It’s a fitting entry point to this book, which explores how geography-both in New York City and Ireland-contours our worldview. Ashes also recognizes the importance of history, both on a collective and individual level, which-as the son of...

"The Time Traveler" by Dan Simmons http://www.dansimmons.com/news/message/2006_04.htm A time traveler visits from several decades back to understand the start of the Long War.

Milo, who calls Trump 'Daddy' has been a supporter of MAGA since Trump first said it. This has pissed off the entire left, especially on campus in what Milo has named 'The Dangerous Faggot Tour', in which he destroys feminists, Clinton supporters, the racists of the Black Lives Matter movement, Soros, Podesta and the rest. He even has a city named after him in that furturistic fantasy novel series that is pissing off the left. Like how dare an author not be a socialist or communist? Look on Maps at this article posted here a month ago, there is a...

Has anyone read the works of Peter Kreeft? I am particularly interested in, "Back to Virtue." I am also interested in his works on Aquinas. If you have other recommendations from this author or closely related works, please share. Thanks

Excerpt from the article: Juliet Johnson said her father had been "ailing for some time" but "died peacefully" on Christmas Eve. Watership Down, a children's classic about a group of rabbits in search of a new home after their warren was destroyed, was first published in 1972.

Has any body read Abus of Language Abuse of Power by Josef Pieper or any other books by Pieper? Would you comment on them please? Good? Recommended? Thanks.

Chuck Jones’ animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! turns 50 years old today, having first premiered on CBS on December 18, 1966. Though the MGM project was based on a popular children’s book by Dr. Seuss, it was Jones who led the push to make it happen. After convincing Dr. Seuss that he could create an animated adaptation, Jones created color presentation boards and shopped them around to corporate sponsors. Jones made over 20 presentations, including to companies like Kellogg’s and Nestle, but wasn’t able to convince anyone to fund the expensive project. Finally, an organization...

Some of us LOVE getting books, especially for Christmas. There's something special about unwrapping a book on Christmas morning - and enjoy sharing with others.I rarely post anything (maybe five articles in 15 years on Free Republic), but thought this would be a good time for book-lovers to share what we received this morning.

1. bicentennial Usage of the word bicentennial, meaning occurring every 200 years, has been steadily increasing since the 1880s. The usage rose sharply in the 1970s, probably due to the United State Bicentennial, and then again in the mid-1980s, perhaps due to the bicentennial of the Statue of Liberty. Example: "New Orleans intended to fittingly celebrate, this present year, the bicentennial anniversary of this illustrious event; but when the time came, all her energies and surplus money were required in other directions, for the flood was upon the land then, making havoc and devastation everywhere." — Life on the Mississippi,...

The Jewish Festival of Lights will commence at sundown on Saturday. But even for those who will be lighting the candles on the menorah there may well be some confusion over just how to spell the name of the holiday. Is it Hanukkah or Chanukah? The truth is there is no right or wrong answer. They are both translations of a Hebrew word meaning “dedication” or “consecration.” The holiday was given that name because of its celebration of the rededication of the Holy, or Second, Temple by the Maccabean Jews after it had been desecrated by the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire...

Rockville library books due in 1973 and 1974 were found years after parents' deaths, so their son paid the estimated $1,552 fine.Library books checked out in 1973 and 1974 were found by the adult children of a couple who had lived in Rockville decades ago. At 5 cents a day, the overdue fine for the two books would be a whopping $1,552 — which the family paid to make things right. Montgomery County Public Libraries’ Director Parker Hamilton said the rare donation sent to the library system in a letter will benefit many users. "People do not have to fess...

We come bearing gifts of book recommendations for your holiday break and for making America great again!

Josephine Evans would have owed a pretty penny had the late fee, which was just 5 cents a day in 1959, not been waived: at least $1,000Barbara Roston was a teenager when she checked out "Gone With the Wind" from the Brooklyn Public Library back in 1959. Fifty-seven years later, she's finally returned it. Just recently Roston decided to reread her copy of the book, yellowed and fragile. "I somehow flipped to the very back of the book, where, to my horror, I saw the Brooklyn Public Library sticker," she said. Josephine Evans was working at the desk of the...

Today more and more, historians and bloggers alike are questioning whether the actual man called Jesus existed. What we do have are lots of sources completed several decades after the fact, by authors of the gospels who wanted to promote the faith. The gospels themselves are contradictory. For instance, they tell competing Easter stories. Another problem, there aren’t any real names attached to many of them, but rather an apostle’s who “signing off” on the manuscript. There is also evidence that the gospels were heavily edited over the years.

VIDEO, hit me The day after the election, a local publisher had plans to stock shelves with a new book featuring Hillary Clinton. Penny Eifrig, owner of the Eifrig Publishing LLC, said it was a bold move to have the book "Introducing Madam President" ready to go. But after adding up the electoral votes early Wednesday morning, Donald Trump defeated Clinton. Trump will be the 45th president of the United States. "I thought that this is a story that I need to tell, this is a great story. People don't talk about the female candidates, people don't know that anybody...