Free Republic

Film character 'Godzilla', center, poses with, from left, Los Angeles councilmember Tom LaBonge, Japanese film producer Shogo Tomiyama, honorary Mayor of Hollywood Johnny Grant, actor Masahiro Matsuoka, director Ryuhei Kitamura, actress Rei Kiku Kawa and special effects director Eiichi Asada after receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Monday, Nov. 29, 2004, in Los Angeles. Godzilla celebrates its 50th anniversary with the premiere of the new film 'Godzilla Final Wars. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) LOS ANGELES (AP) - Godzilla received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, 50 years after he stomped onto movie screens...

After banging around on some threads lately, it has become obvious that a decent number of FReepers are fans of Japan’s most famous monster, GODZILLA. This is certainly understandable; that worthy creature has appeared in 28 movies over 50 years, has had two animated TV series, as well as a series of novels devoted to his exploits. Most of the movies we enjoyed as kids, whiling away Saturday afternoons in the days before cable with those great old ‘60s and ‘70s films with the Big G and his buddies Rodan, Mothra, Angilas, and a host of others. Lots of fun...

He's big, he's a carnivore, he's terrorising the neighbourhood's residents, he's been swimming in people's pools and he's already claimed victims - several cats, a dog and apparently even a horse. Komodo Dragons can grow to over three metres In Lebanon, a giant lizard has been roaming the streets of a Beirut suburb for several weeks, eluding all the attempts by the authorities to catch it. He's Lebanon's own Komodo Dragon, or so say the witnesses who have seen him. Komodo Dragons are an endangered species and live in Indonesia. They belong to the family of monitor lizards. It's believed...

Japanese Tourists Venture into Iraq Hironao Oguma Wednesday, February 12, 2003 at 16:50 JST AMMAN, Jordan — Foreign tourists to Baghdad are not at liberty to browse in the streets and are prohibited from taking grand portraits of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. But Iraq, which has been declared "game over" by U.S. President George Bush, is in headlong eagerness to promote tourism campaigns this year. On Monday, a group of eight Japanese tourists headed to the Iraqi capital from Amman in Jordan along a 700-kilometer road across the desert."I studied world history. I wanted to see Mesopotamian (ancient Iraq)...