Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- The death of Fred Ikle last week inspires me to prophesy. Thus far, only the redoubtable Wall Street Journal has remarked on Fred's passing. That he was a formidable mind during the Cold War and important to the peaceful settlement of that decades-long struggle is remembered thanks to the Journal. Yet, to the rest of the media, he is a minor figure -- perhaps a menacing figure. We shall see what they say, but I am not holding my breath. This is the way liberalism creates the Kultursmog, which is to say, the politicized culture that surrounds us....

Four years ago, the BBC decided to capitalize on the immense popularity of the long-running Doctor Who series by creating a spin-off called Torchwood. Whereas Doctor Who is, apart from the intensity of its stories, safe for the whole family, producers said that Torchwood would be “dark, clever, wild, [and] sexy.” "Doctor Who for adults” is what they called it. As a colleague wrote at the time, a better word to describe the show is “nihilistic” - it’s a judgment that’s reinforced by the show’s newest character. While Torchwood is certainly dark, it’s rarely, if ever, been all that “clever,”...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez is no fan of Arizona's controversial new immigration law, and he cut a special trailer of his new action film to make the point. Fox won't release "Machete" until September, but Rodriguez posted a trailer online Wednesday introduced by star Danny Trejo, who says the clip has "a special Cinco de Mayo message to Arizona."