Free Republic

Olivia Wilde, Tom Sturridge and Reed Birney star in the bold staging of George Orwell’s dystopian novel. The play 1984 is not for the average theatergoer. Adapting George Orwell’s dystopian novel — set in a future when critical thought is suppressed by a totalitarian regime, ostensibly overseen by a party leader known as Big Brother — the new Broadway staging includes special effects like strobe lights and jackhammer sound effects, in addition to the plot’s extreme torture scenes. Throughout the London transfer’s previews, attendees have fainted, thrown up and screamed at the actors from their seats. After one performance, some...

Texas Republican Senate candidate Steve Stockman has nowhere near the millions of dollars his GOP opponent Sen. John Cornyn has, but the tea party congressman has a novel fundraising ploy: selling Obama “barf bags.” Stockman unveiled the bags Tuesday on his website alongside a letter that touts the candidate as a “proud, principled conservative Tea Party Republican” who has spent “the last few years defeating liberals by helping train and launch the Tea Party.” Every $10 donation comes with one bag printed with an image of the president and a tagline that reads, “Socialism Makes Me SICK!”

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From Upton Sinclair and John Steinbeck through Rachel Carson and Ralph Nader, social critics have written vivid and penetrating studies of what's wrong with America. Each of these authors listed above made such compelling cases that their books influenced social and political changes. On the anniversary of an American tragedy, an important book is being published as a celebration of our government at its best. Even though many Americans argue that the federal government doesn't do anything right, this book documents a record of extraordinary accomplishment. Government's Greatest Achievements: From Civil Rights to Homeland Defense, by Paul C. Light (Brookings...