Free Republic

A parent at Bob Graham Educational Center in Miami Lakes objected to five titles in the school's library, including Amanda Gorman's famous poem, "The Hill We Climb"... Book bans undermine the power of literature to foster understanding, empathy, and critical thinking," said UTD.... ...UTD also said they "proudly support" Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava's invitation for Amanda Gorman to share her poem in Miami-Dade County.

Iron Maiden experienced a Spinal Tap moment on Monday night when their Spitfire replica plane malfunctioned during their set-closing performance of "Aces High." The Powerslave opening track has been a fixture of Iron Maiden's ongoing Legacy of the Beast World Tour, which began in 2018. The song — which previously opened the band's set and now closes it — features a 90% scale replica of a Spitfire, the single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force during World War II. Typically, the Spitfire "flies" (i.e. floats) above the band during "Aces High." But during Tuesday's performance at the DCU...

The Sandman and American Gods author Neil Gaiman recently pointed out the obvious that franchises risk alienating their fans if they don’t stick to the source material.

What a feat — two canceled Fox shows this year made the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter, and now both have found new homes. Netflix has made a deal for comic book drama Lucifer, which will become a Netflix original starting with its upcoming fourth season. The Tom Ellis–starring Lucifer joins cult canceled comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which landed at NBC after the Fox cancellation. Netflix’s pickup decision comes just as the options on the Lucifer cast were about to expire at the end of day today. It follows a big #SaveLucifer campaign that has stayed in the social media...

Forty years after Ralph Bakshi's animated classic hit theaters, the filmmaker recalls courting Mick Jagger and Led Zeppelin and speaks candidly about the extreme pressure he was under: "I nearly died." Mick Jagger as Frodo. A Led Zeppelin soundtrack. Battles on the field and behind the scenes before a three-film saga went bust. Forty years after his animated classic The Lord of the Rings hit theaters Nov. 15, 1978, these are some of the things on director Ralph Bakshi's mind during a candid conversation about what happened, and what could have been...

MASTERS OF SCHLOCK The sci-fi and horror movies of the 1950s sparked a trend that continues even today of downright silly titles, ranging from 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!' to 'The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?' to 'Big Ass Spider!' (Yes, there also is a love affair with unnecessary punctuation.) Here, THR breaks down 50 of the best (and funniest) titles of all time.

Sony Pictures is triumphant today because their release of the North Korea-inspired comedy The Interview by Seth Rogen and James Franco had an estimated sales of $15 million over the weekend from largely online sales. The movie was schedule to be released in about 3,000 theaters, but because of “terror” threats, it was released in a limited number of theaters and online.The revenue is about $5,000 per canceled theater, or about 300 people per theatre. Kind of light traffic for a new release with a great deal of publicity surrounding it. Count it another triumph however for a renegade state...

Tony Bennett doesn’t have much patience for most modern music. The legendary singer, 87, told the BBC Radio 4’s Today program that most modern songs lack a “lasting quality.” “The songs that are written today, most of them are terrible,” he said. “It’s a very bad period, musically, throughout the world for popular music.” He added that today’s music industry leaders are more concerned with making money than making quality music. “The corporations took it over and they want to make so much money and they don’t care whether the public likes it or not,” he said. “They think the...

The painter of light has entered a dark period. Thomas Kinkade, the self-proclaimed (and trademarked) Painter of Light™, is beset with legal troubles. Several years ago, art gallery owners successfully sued his Kinkade’s Media Arts Group for millions after it was revealed that he and company officials used invoked God and their “higher calling” to hide the financial risks of the investments. The settlement put such a strain on his company that earlier this month, he filed for bankruptcy protection from his hundreds of other creditors. Adding to his woes, the artist was arrested on a DUI charge outside his...

LOS ANGELES - Neil Diamond held onto the secret for decades, but he has finally revealed that President Kennedy's daughter was the inspiration for his smash hit "Sweet Caroline." "I've never discussed it with anybody before — intentionally," the 66-year-old singer-songwriter told The Associated Press on Monday during a break from recording. "I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her someday." He got his chance last week when he performed the song via satellite at Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's 50th birthday party. Diamond was a "young, broke songwriter" when a photo of the president's daughter in...

FORT LAUDERDALE -- Mega-developers and the city's mayor are shooting down a proposed affordable-housing law, calling it unfair, communistic and doomed to failure. People could afford a place to live, the mayor said, if they were willing to work harder. Mayor Jim Naugle, a conservative politician in his final term, said people mistakenly think they're entitled to affordable single-family houses on a 40-hour work routine. They need to work more hours, and even then settle for a condo or townhouse, Naugle said. "I'm supposed to subsidize some schlock sitting on the sofa and drinking a beer, who won't work more...

Eurovision in Athens on Saturday night The 51st Eurovision song contest will be held at OAKA's Olympic indoor hall in Athens on Saturday night and will be broadcast live at 10 p.m. by state-run NET television station. Thousands of specators saw the rehearsals at the indoor hall and applauded all the participants, especially Greece's Anna Vissi who will sing "Everything". The ten countries which qualified in Thursday night's semi-final were Bosnia-Herzegovina, Russia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Lithuania, Finland, Ukraine, Ireland, Sweden, Turkey and Armenia. Cyprus and Belgium, among others, were knocked out of the competition. The ten best...

Entrepreneur artist who hangs in one in 20 US homes accused of fraud and drunken antics "There's over 40 walls in the average American home," a business manager for the artist Thomas Kinkade once said, "and Thom says our job is to figure out how to populate every single wall in every single home and every single business throughout the world with his paintings." Kinkade's luridly idyllic landscapes, full of quaint cottages and glowing firelight, already hang in an estimated one in 20 US homes. "In the often hurried, unsympathetic and complex world we live in, the images Thomas Kinkade...

What liturgical song has really made a difference for you? It might be a song that has helped to form or strengthen your faith; has played a significant part in the life of your parish or community; is associated with a noteworthy event; or is simply your favorite liturgical song. We are inviting NPM members and other American Catholics to tell us your selection for a liturgical song that makes a difference. We would like to know the texts and tunes that have done the most to help American Catholics to discover, explore, nourish, and deepen their faith. We will...

Join host Bryant Gumbel as SCI FI exposes one of the most notorious UFO incidents of the 20th century, a series of events that occurred near a U.S. military base in Rendlesham Forest, England, in 1980. Now that the British government has admitted it classified documents to cover up the incident, witnesses (both civilians and former military personnel) have come forward to provide new evidence for SCI FI's investigation. Premieres Friday, December 12, at 9/8C On December 9, 1965, an object landed near Kecksburg, Pa. It was observed as a fireball in the sky across several U.S. states and Canada....