Free Republic

So the producer of the new film about Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick scandal says some “very powerful people” tried to kill his movie. What a surprise — NOT! “Unfortunately,” Byron Allen told Variety last week, “very powerful people tried to put pressure on me not to release this movie. They went out of their way to try and influence me in a negative way.” Byron Allen is a TV comedian from the ’80s who has become a successful Hollywood mogul. He just bought what’s left of The Weather Channel for $300 million. By the way, he’s also black, so you would...

923. Camelot Richard Harris “King Arthur” prop “Excalibur” sword. (Warner Bros., 1967) In Camelot, the romantic Lerner and Lowe musical telling of “King Arthur” (Richard Harris) and his beloved “Guenevere” (Vanessa Redgrave), the most important prop must be the Excalibur sword. This 40 in. long sword was made in Spain for production. Consisting of steel blade with an ornate 8.25 x 10.25 in. brass handle, grip and pommel. One side of the blade is engraved with, “Whoso Pulleth Out This Sword Of This Stone Is Rightwise King Born Of All England”. Excalibur is visible in three pivotal scenes in the...

We mark the centenary of John F Kennedy's birth at SteynOnline with a song central to his widow's instant mythologizing of her slain husband. But that focuses on the end of his short life, and I felt, on his hundredth birthday, I ought to say something about the pre-mythological Jack, the Kennedy of those formative years. I've met a handful of Kennedys in the course of my life, including, briefly, JFK Jr, and in no instance have I ever felt the slightest desire to prolong the acquaintance. All gave off a more than faintly obnoxious sense of entitlement, unredeemed -...

For over a year now, the mainstream press has attacked Trump for not being "presidential".  Even still, citizens are genuinely concerned that their president look the part of a president and carry themselves in a way that makes us proud.  So what exactly is meant when someone says a candidate looks or is "presidential"?  And why should we care?  This is the subject I'm going to explore and discuss in this vanity. JFK, Jackie and the Royalty of Camelot Well, to begin, I think our current notion of a "presidential" style was strongly influenced by JFK in the 1960s. ...

The political conventions seem to birth new political stars every four years and this year’s Republican National Convention was no different. In 2004, a virtually unknown senator from Chicago gave an electric speech at the Democratic National Convention that thrust him into the international spotlight and set him on a path to the White House. That man was President Barack Obama. This year’s GOP convention didn’t just produce a new rising star -- it birthed a whole dynasty of superstars. The world now knows why political pundits have been calling Donald Trump’s family members his secret weapon. Trump’s wife and...

You know how it is: Your family is super-rich, your older brother was president, and someday it'll be your turn. But you also like to party a little too much, and one night, wellll... Maybe you kinda-sorta make a little oopsie. Maybe a secretary ends up drowning, and okay, okay, it may or may not be all your fault. Is that really the sort of thing that should follow a guy around for life, when he spends all his non-partying time helping leftists get what they want? Is one woman's life really that much to pay for open borders and...

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words… (Proverbs 1:20-21)I believe that God speaks to us in current events and in the workings of history , that is if we have ears to hear. The challenge is to try to interpret just what it is that God is saying in the twists and turns of daily events. Because of the assassination of President Kennedy, November 22, 1963 is a day in history that has gone down as one...

RUSH: To the audio sound bites we go, and I'm gonna go ahead and use this as a transition. Grab sound bite number six. Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is a sound bite from C-SPAN Washington Journal today. The guest is the Democratic Socialists of America executive director Maria Svart, S-v-a-r-t, and during the viewer call-in segment a guy from Pennsylvania named Roger says this... ROGER: Ronald Reagan successfully brainwashed about 45% of the nation's people with the help of Rush Limbaugh. And if you use keywords like "socialist" and "demagogue," they right away think "communist," and they...

The November 17 edition of People magazine includes a promotional article for Timothy Shriver’s new book Fully Alive, focusing on “The Forgotten Kennedy,” the lobotomized Rosemary Kennedy, sister to Jack, Bobby and Teddy. "Why are we hiding from this story?" he asked himself, according to People’s Liz O’Neil. "There's nothing to fear here. It's a human story. It's a heroic story.” Heroically lobotomized and institutionalized? Apparently, this fiasco was “the true inspiration for his famous family’s love of service.”

EXCLUSIVE - 'She couldn't wait and allowed him to seduce her in a creaky French elevator': Bombshell book reveals Jackie Kennedy's secret lovers, her revenge on JFK with William Holden, her steamy night with Brando and her forbidden affairs with Bobby AND Teddy New book reveals that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a passionate woman who had many men--before, during and after her marriage to JFK Authors say she bedded Hollywood actors Warren Beatty, Paul Newman, Gregory Peck and Frank Sinatra, among others Confessed Brando, 'She took matters into her own hands and popped the magic question, ‘Would you like to...

The Tradition: Geoffrey of Monmouth and other medieval Arthurian writers tell us that Arthur was taken to the Isle of Avalon to be healed of his wounds after the Battle of Camlann. Later tradition assumed that he died and was buried there and identified the place as Glastonbury in Somerset. The Theory & Discovery: Blackett & Wilson claim that one of the two figures who went to make up "King Arthur" is to be identified with the Emperor Magnus Maximus's son, King Anwn of South Wales. This man, who occasionally may have spelt his name Arthun, they identify with both...

Author Adam Ardrey claims that instead of the romantic English king of legend who lived at Camelot – which is often said to be Tintagel in Cornwall or in Wales – Arthur was actually Arthur Mac Aedan, the sixth-century son of an ancient King of Scotland, whose Camelot was a marsh in Argyll. He also suggests that Arthur pulled the sword Excalibur from a stone at Dunadd near Kilmartin, died near Falkirk and was buried on the Hebridean island of Iona, which he declares to be Avalon. Ardrey, an amateur historian who works as an advocate in Edinburgh and previously...

The day John F. Kennedy was assassinated is still fresh in the memories of those of us who lived through it. We all remember where we were when we first heard the news that he'd been shot and how we waited for word that he would survive. We remember the sound of news anchor Walter Cronkite's voice breaking as he delivered the news that the president was dead. But for millions of Catholics, it had a special meaning. It was lunchtime, and I was in the girls' bathroom putting on lipstick -- a new privilege for a 16-year-old in Catholic...

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Few events and people have had more words written about them than that day and that man. But, and I have to be honest here, I don’t get it. In fact, I’ve never gotten it. Yes, losing a president to an assassin’s bullet is a traumatic national event, something we’ve fortunately not been through again since – although there have been some close calls. And it’s the one event where everyone over the age of 55 seems to recall exactly where they were when they heard the...

Later this week, the where-were-you-when-you-first-heard crowd will be putting on a full court press for the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F Kennedy. As the years go by I grow less and less interested in grassy knolls and all the rest, but I am struck by one genuine, non-conspiracy-theorist feature of the event: It's the only assassination with a musical score. Garfield doesn't have one, nor does Lincoln, although he was shot at a theatre. I twice had the misfortune of sitting through tryouts for something called JFK The Musical. Aside from any other problems, the concept suffered...

We are coming up fast on the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy. While it is good and proper to respectfully note the assassination of any political leader in America, the establishment left in America has tried since November 1963 to bleat, blame, and badger their countrymen into accepting the false notion that Kennedy was a great president or, indeed, a good man. The assassination of his brother five years later magnified this theme. What is the truth about JFK? How ought we to view this president in the light of what we know now? Every new revelation...

Kerry Kennedy argued Friday that the drugged-driving case against her should be dismissed because she accidentally took a sleeping pill and because the only damage done was to her pride and her famous name. In a 99-page motion filed in North Castle Town Court, Kennedy and her lawyer also recount her work for social justice and include a large file of glowing letters from friends and relatives. Kennedy is the ex-wife of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the daughter of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the niece of President John Kennedy. She was arrested July 13 after police said her Lexus swerved...

A camel kicked his 70-year-old Saudi owner to death after it went mad when the farmer and his workers tried to push the animal onto a van to sell it. The camel stubbornly resisted all attempts to be loaded onto the van and kept baring its teeth as if to tell its owner it refuses to be sold. After failing to move the camel, which kept lying down, its owner in turn went mad and started pushing it violently towards the van.

Archaeologists Unearth Britain's Own Miniature Coliseum By Emma Gunby, PA Archaeologists have discovered evidence of Britain’s own miniature Coliseum, it was revealed today. The two-tier stone built structure, in Chester, which dates back to 100AD, hosted gladiatorial contests, floggings and public executions. Experts say the amphitheatre is the only one of its kind in Britain and the new evidence proves that Chester must have been an important site within the Roman Empire. Dan Garner, senior archaeologist for Chester City Council, said: “Previous findings have suggested that the amphitheatre was a two-tier structure, but it was always believed the second tier...

ANCIENT sports fans ate fast food and bought tacky gifts, it is claimed. Archaeologists say Romans gnawed on spare ribs and chicken while watching gladiators fight nearly 2000 years ago. It follows a dig at the site of an amphitheatre in Chester where the bones of discarded snacks were found. Part of a souvenir bowl decorated with pictures of the fights was also uncovered