Free Republic

Caroll Spinney, a puppeteer who brought the beloved Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch to life, died today at his Connecticut home. He was 85 and died from Dystonia, a movement disorder. His death was announced by the Sesame Workshop, a nonprofit focused on helping preschool-age children reach their potential. Spinney was described by Sesame Workshop as “an artistic genius whose kind and loving view of the world helped shape and define Sesame Street from its earliest days in 1969.” Spinney joined Jim Henson and developed a huge career using the Muppets characters. Big Bird visited China...

Lord of the Rings swept the Oscars showing Hollywood's hypocrisy. Many leftists have been critical of "The Passion of the Christ." Yet they have been silent on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic, even though he was a conservative Roman Catholic like Mel Gibson and filled his books with religious themes and references. Many are on the big screen as well, but maybe most people don't notice, being victims of the public education system. Of course, LOTR has made billions of dollars, so Hollywood is quiet. However, "The Passion of the Christ" broke all sorts of records at the box office, so I’m...

<p>Granted, there is upheaval in the world and there are battles where a great deal is at stake -- life itself. All the more precious, then, the minor skirmishes on the home front that mean a great deal in a small way and remind us of how lucky we are to feel innocent hatreds, from summer to summer, at the ballpark.</p>