Free Republic

The other night, along with many other Americans, I watched the Frank Capra classic It's a Wonderful Life. Starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, the movie has become a Christmas staple -- but it was not always that way, and how it attained its holiday status has as much to do with the intricacies of intellectual property law as it does with the storyline and the production values.   When it was released in 1946, It's a Wonderful Life was only a moderate success. The story was unusual for Christmas -- built around an attempted suicide by banker George Bailey...

As explored here this past weekend, the Clarion Fund has paid dozens of newspapers across the country -- almost solely in "swing" election states -- and The New York Times to distribute the "Islam terror" DVD "Obsession" with their home delivery packages. Among the larger cities where this has taken place: Miami, Philadelphia, Denver and Pittsburgh. An estimated 28 million copies have been distributed so far, also through the mails and other magazines. An article at the group's site, www.radicalislam.org, all but endorsed John McCain this past week, then was pulled down. But at least one newspaper turned away the...

To commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the surrender of Japan on Aug. 15, the Chinese government has released a film made by an Episcopal priest documenting the Nanjing massacre. The Rev. John G. Magee, an Episcopal missionary in China from 1912-1940, recorded the Dec. 13, 1937, capture of the city and six-week killing spree by Japanese soldiers that claimed over 300,000 Chinese lives. China’s Xinhua News Agency reported the National Museum in Beijing began screenings of Fr. Magee’s film on Aug. 10, and that a library in Nanjing dedicated to preserving the memory of the victims of the massacre had...

Selected excerpts from the new CBS News Holiday ClassicThe neighborhood of Black Rock Falls, somewhere in midtown New York. The streets are deserted, and snow is falling. It is Christmas Eve. Over the above scenes we hear voices praying:JOHN ROBERT'S VOICE: I owe everything to Dan Rather. Help him, dear Father. MIKE WALLACE’S VOICE: Help my son Dan tonight. ROBIN'S VOICE: Please, God. Something's the matter with Daddy. MARY MAPES’ VOICE: I love him, dear Gaia. Ommna hoptep chothulu. Camera pans skyward. Voices speak from the clouds. CLARENCE'S VOICE: You sent for me, sir? FRANKLIN'S VOICE: Yes, Clarence. A man...