Free Republic

By the early 1980s, Shep’s radio show was over. This movie idea was his last chance to avoid the poorhouse. Shep, Leigh and Clark collaborated on the screenplay, and she helped keep Shep off Clark’s set. Shep, who considered himself a co-director, was constantly “helping the actors” and haranguing visitors, most of whom had never heard of him. Shep was no longer a has-been. Like “the Old Man” he had finally won his own “major award.” And no one could steal this idea. Shep’s late-in-life success had been created out of the magical world of his own childhood, one he...

The Baltimore City Council gave preliminary approval Monday to a citywide ban on toy guns that look like working handguns and rifles. Council members introduced the legislation after a 14-year-old East Baltimore boy holding a BB gun was shot by a city police detective in April. City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young said replica guns are contributing to violence on Baltimore's streets. He said people are using the fake weapons in robberies, and children who carry them are put in harm's way.

Dad says Facebook photo of son with gun brought cops to house A New Jersey man says that, on the basis of mere hearsay about a Facebook photo of his 11-year-old son with a .22 rifle, police and child protection arrive at his door and demand entry. I am sure there are several 11-year-old boys who are terribly proficient at handling a gun. But, given that I wouldn't trust an 11-year-old boy with a popsicle, I would just as well not be anywhere near them. This, however, doesn't appear to have been the policy of the authorities in New Jersey....

Darren McGavin, the husky, tough-talking actor who starred in several TV series, played a grouchy dad in the holiday classic “A Christmas Story” and had other strong roles in such films as “The Man with the Golden Arm” and “The Natural,” died Saturday. He was 83. McGavin died of natural causes at a Los Angeles-area hospital with his family at his side, said his son Bogart McGavin. He starred in five series, including cult favorite “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” and became a prolific actor in TV movies. Despite his busy career in television, McGavin was awarded only one Emmy: in...

WASHINGTON - On the eve of the nation's noisiest holiday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission responded to growing fireworks injuries by quietly reopening the question of how it should police explosives for backyard entertainment. Without a public meeting, the three commissioners voted unanimously by ballot late Friday to begin a study of whether to tighten their regulation of fireworks, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson announced Monday. Their notice seeking public comment will appear soon in the Federal Register. The notice cited a disturbing increase in injuries and a decrease in compliance with safety regulations as reasons for the first major review...

Some former child actors cringe and protest when reminded by loyal fans of long-ago projects. Not Peter Billingsley, star of “A Christmas Story.” According to journalist Rebecca Murray, “he seems to genuinely light up when the movie is mentioned.” Billingsley is also used to passersby tossing their favorite quotes at him. “They all still love it,” he told Murray. People ask him if he’s tired of talking about it, but he’s not. “I’m really, really proud to be a part of it.” Billingsley still appears in front of the cameras now and then. (He had an uncredited role in last...

ROME, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Two Italian boys were recovering in hospital on Tuesday after a 70-year-old man shot them with his hunting rifle because he was frightened by their Halloween costumes. The 14-year-old boys, dressed as demons, had knocked on the pensioner's door during an evening of "trick or treat" near the northern town of Turin and set off a firecracker. When the door opened, instead of a treat, the pensioner fired four shots at the boys having been scared by the noise and their strange outfits, agency ANSA said. Police arrested the man, who lived alone and was...

BOSTON - The death of a college student from a pepper-spray-filled projectile sparked anger and questions Friday about whether police used too much force to break up rowdy Red Sox revelers outside Fenway Park. The mayor said more police will be at neighborhood bars during the upcoming World Series to make sure fans do not get too drunk or rowdy, but he backed off his threat to ban alcohol in the area during the games. Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said police are considering discontinuing the use of the weaponry that killed Victoria Snelgrove as officers tried to contain an estimated...

I'm writing a paper on National Review for a conservatism class... i remember reading a piece on NRO a few days ago that said how many stories there were about bush's war record, vs. how many there were about kerry's medal flap. can anybody lead me to this article? PLEASE HELP

The phrase "You'll shoot your eye out!" has become as synonymous with the Christmas season as Scrooge's "Bah, humbug!" and Santa's "Ho, ho, ho!" For 20 years, this warning has defined the holidays for doe-eyed nine-year-old Ralphie Parker in the movie A Christmas Story, as his mother, his teacher - and even Kris Kringle - reject his plea for one particular Christmas present. That would be, in his words, an official Red Ryder carbine-action, 200-shot, range-model air rifle with a compass in the stock "and this thing that tells time." "It catches the truth," said director Bob Clark, who spent...

<p>We bear glad tidings for the Ralphie Parkers of America on this, the official opening day of the Christmas shopping season: Santa may yet come through with that genuine Red Ryder BB-gun. Even if it will come covered in warning labels instead of wrapping paper.</p>

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