Free Republic

The Bronx Zoo in New York announced the first king vulture chick to hatch at the facility in three decades is being hand-raised using a puppet made to look like a mother vulture. Officials said on social media that the hand puppet, designed by the Bronx Zoo's Exhibition and Graphic Arts Department, is designed to prevent the baby bird from imprinting on its human caretakers. "Bronx Zoo ornithologists pioneered this technique more than 40 years ago when hand-raising Andean condor chicks using a similar hand puppet cleverly designed to mimic an adult bird," the post said. Officials explained that the...

The Vigilant Fox 🦊✓ @VigilantFox NEW: DataRepublican exposes how an NGO claiming to promote “democracy” received $17 million—and “the only thing they did with $17 million was make a terrible muppet show.” “That’s (explicit word)!” The NGO, co-founded by Norm Eisen, calls itself the “States United Democracy Center,” and all they could manage with that $17 million was about 200 views per episode of their knockoff muppet show. @DataRepublican explains: “They got money, and they did something with that. It was just awful. Jim Henson would roll in his grave. And it was weird because all the videos have less...

Some of the most memorable moments on PBS's long-running Antiques Roadshow happen when a guest learns their dusty attic find is worth a small fortune. They cry. You cry. It’s pure magic. Equally great are the moments when an appraiser catches a glimpse of something out of the corner of their eye and instantly knows: “This is going to be special.” A Tupperware Container Holding Christmas Magic That’s exactly what happened in 2005 when appraiser Simeon Lipman was at the table during an Antiques Roadshow taping in Providence, Rhode Island. A man walked up carrying—of all things—a Tupperware container. Inside?...

Dominic Cummings reveals the shocking, but not unexpected truth about the UK political system being controlled by the Deep State. In this must-watch video, Bev Turner explores how corporate corruption, global elites like Bill Gates, and powerful financial institutions like BlackRock are manipulating UK politics behind the scenes. Is democracy just an illusion? Find out how the Deep State impacts government decisions and why it’s time to question the system.

~THE POST-DEMOCRATIC ERA (1): Since they took the tyre iron to him, whoever's really running the United States government has given up the time-consuming pretence that Joe Biden has anything at all to do with it. After his farewell address to the DNC, the dead husk of a moth-eaten sock puppet flew Air Force One for a week's vacation with some California billionaire. When that was done, he flew it again from the Golden State back to his beach house in Delaware for a second, week-and-a-half-long vacation: Biden's schedule is absolutely blank. Meanwhile, Emily Goodin reports Biden was "visibly shaking"...

Tesla CEO and X/Twitter owner Elon Musk has labeled both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden as “talking puppets” in response to the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle. Benzinga reports that tech mogul Elon Musk weighed in on the recent debate between presumptive nominees Donald Trump and Joe Biden. In a statement that has caught the attention of both political analysts and the general public, Musk dismissed both candidates as mere “talking puppets.” Musk’s comments came in response to venture capitalist David Sacks, where he stated, “They’re just talking puppets. It was a setup for...

Leaders of Ron DeSantis' Never Back Down super PAC met privately last Tuesday to hash out a strategy for fighting Nikki Haley's rise. Instead, two of them nearly came to blows with each other. The infighting represents an escalation in the long-running war between Never Back Down's professional political operatives and DeSantis’ Tallahassee-based inner circle over who is to blame for the governor’s failure to compete effectively with frontrunner Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. And, after tempers flared at last week's meeting, three close DeSantis allies — David Dewhirst, Jeff Aaron and Scott Ross — launched a second super...

Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter is touring Russian cities and claiming Ukraine will lose the war. Why do he and other disgraced Americans insist on defending Putin's rhetoric? Russian propaganda outlets have loved quoting Americans they believe are arguing in Moscow's favour ever since the 2014 invasion of Ukraine, and even more so since the full-scale attack launched in February last year. While the concept of Western intellectuals kowtowing to Soviet leadership – and downplaying their crimes – was relatively common during the Cold War, it has gained new momentum since Russian President Vladimir Putin made clear his plans...

Last week the Senate Democrat majority was hospitalized with Senator John Fetterman dispatched to a psych ward and Senator Dianne Feinstein, who doesn’t seem to know where she is, hospitalized for shingles. Fetterman and Feinstein didn’t let being hospitalized slow them down and went right on co-sponsoring bills even though the former had to be hospitalized because he couldn’t take care of himself and the latter no longer recognized colleagues. Even in the Senate, Fetterman couldn’t understand what was being said and Feinstein wasn’t aware that she had announced her retirement. Despite that there are press releases from their offices...

Broadcast networks ABC, CBS, and NBC are incredibly uncomfortable talking about Special Counsel John Durham’s latest filing. In the week immediately after the document came out, ABC and CBS refused to touch the story for even a second on their flagship morning and evening newscasts. NBC, meanwhile, took a full five days to get around to it, and offered only scant coverage when they finally got around to it. So it seems appropriate to ask: what did these networks deem to be more newsworthy than the explosive filing? The answer, it turns out, is basically everything. See the video for...

Elmo, Rooster and Cookie Monster are doing their part to help keep kids safe as the coronavirus pandemic grinds on. The beloved Sesame Street Muppets are featured in some of four new animated public service spots reminding young fans to take care while doing such things as washing hands and sneezing. One of Elmo’s signature songs, the toothbrush classic “Brushy Brush,” has been updated to “Washy Wash.”Rooster pops up in another of the 30-second spots to remind kids to “wash hands now” before eating, playing sports or using the bathroom.

[Catholic Caucus] New Hong Kong bishop to be announced within weeks Fr Peter Choy Wai-man is expected to be appointed as the new bishop Priests in the Diocese of Hong Kong are expecting the announcement of their new bishop within the next two weeks.“We have been told to expect an announcement within the next ten days or so,” a senior priest in Hong Kong told CNA on February 15. The priest confirmed that Rev. Peter Choy Wai-man is the expected appointee.“I think by the end of the month we should see something official,” the priest added.The Hong Kong diocese...

The organisation behind Sesame Street has denied co-habiting duo, Bert and Ernie, are gay, following comments by one of the show's writers. Mark Saltzman said his writing about the room-mating couple was based on his relationship with film editor Arnold Glassman. Sesame Workshop then issued a statement saying the pair "do not have a sexual orientation". Bert and Ernie may look human, but the pair "remain puppets", it said. "They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves." It broadly repeats past statements the non-profit organisation has made about...

[snip] Which brings us to STX Entertainment’s raunchy, R-rated Melissa McCarthy-puppet comedy, The Happytime Murders, which is dead and wrapped in plastic with a $10.2M start, repping the Groundling alum’s lowest wide opening ever for one of her solo films – not counting St. Vincent, which was a platform release. Happytime Murders’ opening is even lower than McCarthy’s May PG-13 title Life of the Party ($17.9M), which we thought was rock bottom. For the most part, raunchy comedies in the wake of STX’s own Bad Moms and Sony/Annapurna’s Sausage Party two summers ago just continue to bomb or remain stifled...

Complete Headline: Royal family 'snub' Trump: Prince Charles and Prince William forced the Queen to meet the US president alone after they refused to take part in his four-day-tour of Britain Prince Charles and Prince William 'snubbed' Trump during his visit to Britain Royal father and son apparently shared their desire to not take part in the trip The first two in line to the throne did have other engagements during stay Prince Charles and Prince William reportedly 'snubbed' the US President during his visit to Britain - leaving the Queen to meet Donald Trump alone at Windsor Castle. The...

You’ll need a lot of “Silver and Gold” to buy this ultimate Christmas gift. Fans of the 1964 holiday-cartoon classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” have a chance to snag one of the most expensive pieces of memorabilia out there. Peter Lutrario, the owner of the Rudolph and Santa puppets is selling the pair that appeared on the Rankin/Bass TV special and asking for a whopping $10 million in an eBay auction. Rankin/Bass expert Rick Goldschmidt, who used to bring these exact puppets to events, said you can’t put a price on them. The pair are two of several puppets used...

Vladimir Putin’s Russia is a country in which history plays a pivotal role in maintaining the legitimacy of the political regime. Putin sees himself as a leader that has given the Russians back their sense of pride. Ever since becoming president in 2000 he has been hard at work at whitewashing the Soviet period of Russian history and creating an uninterrupted narrative linking the Romanov Empire, the USSR and modern Russia. Not unlike the official French version of history, Putin’s Russian story is all about greatness – but with a twist. While France with all its respect for l’etat still...

<p>Senator Cruz has done very poorly and after his New York performance, which was a total disaster, he is in free fall and as everyone has seen, he does not react well under pressure. Also, approximately 80% of the Republican Party is against him. Governor Kasich, who has only won 1 state out of 41, in other words, he is 1 for 41 and he is not even doing as well as other candidates who could have stubbornly stayed in the race like him but chose not to do so. Marco Rubio, as an example, has more delegates than Kasich and yet suspended his campaign one month ago. Others, likewise, have done much better than Kasich, who would get slaughtered by Hillary Clinton once the negative ads against him begin. 85% of Republican voters are against Kasich.</p>

The LA Times reported: As they sorted and re-sorted questions, the unpredictability of real estate tycoon and reality-TV star Donald Trump was never far from their minds. “I would say the level is about an eight on the concern meter because of the unknown,” Baier said. Baier even had a “nuclear option” at the ready for Trump if he ignored all protocol. The script — which Baier didn’t have to use — took a page from Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” TV show. It went like this: “Mr. Trump, in your business you have rules. You follow rules. We have rules on...