Free Republic

The ongoing culture wars are something we need to endure as a nation. Culturally there is ground wanting to be conquered by the activists and those wanting to preserve norms are left in defense mode on a near-perpetual basis. These days the battles are seen in areas such as our schools and even beer aisles in stores, but most of these sieges are traditionally playing out in the entertainment complex. Hollywood has long been the battlefield.The Easter weekend has long been a favored time for Hollywood to install big-ticket releases, and this year the landmark title to arrive was the...

In the pantheon of video game mascots, few figures are as iconic as Master Chief from the “Halo” series. Donning his famous green armored spacesuit, he ventured into hostile worlds, taking down the Covenant, an alien race intent on conquering the universe and accessing the ring worlds, or “haloes,” left over by another more ancient alien race, the Forerunners. It was only a matter of time before idea-starved Hollywood adapted the popular series to TV or film. Already they have made movies for other popular video game franchises, such as “Super Mario,” “Resident Evil,” “Mortal Kombat,” “World of Warcraft,” “Tomb...

Japanese video game company Nintendo has angered hundreds of fans on social media by revealing its synonymous character Mario is officially no longer a plumber. In a recently updated Mario profile, the company's website said "Mario was once a plumber … but that was a long time ago." "All around sporty, whether it's tennis or baseball, soccer or car racing, he does everything cool. As a matter of fact, he also seems to have worked as a plumber a long time ago," the website said. Although the games rarely feature Mario utilising his plumbing skills, the sudden announcement of his...

Police want to speak to men dressed as Nintendo characters Mario and Luigi over alleged assaultThe men police want to speak to were wearing fancy dressMen dressed as Nintendo characters Mario and Luigi are alleged to have viciously assaulted two people in Newport . Three men in total are being sought by police in connection with the alleged assault, where the victims lost consciousness. The men police want to speak to are described as being in their twenties and were wearing fancy dress. Two of the men were dressed as Super Mario and Luigi. The costume worn by the third...

How do you connect the current host of the Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro, and the next, Tokyo? Send in Super Mario, of course — with a little political help. SNIP a video showed Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who announces he won't make it to Rio in time. So Abe turned into the Japanese video game plumber Mario and then popped up in the flesh out of a huge green pipe in the stadium that he allegedly used as a shortcut to get from Tokyo to Rio. SNIP

This version of Super Mario turns him into a Syrian refugee attempting to get past rickety boats and border agents Mario, of Nintendo's Super Mario franchise, had to navigate treacherous turtles and evil mushrooms before getting to the next level (and the damsel in distress) in the famous video game. This version, however, is a little different. Instead of turtles there are border agents and the chasms have been replaced by treacherous water passages. Winning, in this version, doesn't mean reaching the princess: Instead, it's just about managing to get to a refugee camp. Created by Samir Al Mufti, a...

Legendary pro wrestling manager Captain Lou Albano died at age 76 this morning.

Test results on Mario Scaramella, the man feared to be the second victim of a Russian hit squad widely blamed for the death of spy Alexander Litvinenko, shows no sign of radiation poisoning. The Italian academic who met the ex-KGB man on the day he was allegedly poisoned, was admitted to hospital on Friday having tested positive for a "significant" quantity of the radioactive substance. Health chiefs confirmed on Friday night that Mr Scaramella had traces of deadly polonium 210, which is believed to have killed Mr Litvinenko, in his body. But doctors at London's University College Hospital have said...

Five teenage girls from Portage County face potential criminal charges after attempting to play a real-life version of Super Mario Bros. The Portage County Hazardous Materials Unit and Bomb Detection Unit were called in to downtown Ravenna on Friday morning after seventeen suspicious packages -- boxes wrapped in gold wrapping paper with question marks spray painted on them -- had alarmed residents. Boxes were found at the Immaculate Conception Church on West Main Street, the Portage County Courthouse, Deluxe Pastries, the corner of Cherry Way and Main Street, Reed Memorial Library, Ravenna High School and a residence at Sanford and...

The Humanism of John Paul II On January 17, 2001, CNS News reported the following: "Pope John Paul II issues Call for Ecological Conversion . . . The world's people need to undergo an 'ecological conversion' to protect the environment and make the earth a place where all life is valued and can grow in harmony, Pope John Paul II said" http://www.creationethics.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=webpage&page_id=81. Yes, that's how far we've come. Pope John Paul II, idly standing by as the Church in the USA has been infiltrated by homosexuals and perverts, calls us to convert ecologically. Pardon my human way of speaking here,...