Free Republic

While the 14th Amendment’s application of birthright citizenship to animals is subject to much debate, let’s stipulate that it doesn’t even matter if the panda has US citizenship. We still should not return baby Xiao Qi Ji to Xi Jinping’s China. If the administration does not step in, our miracle panda is heading to China with its parents in a few days–moved up from the end of the year. To add insult to injury, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hosted festivities at our taxpayer-funded Smithsonian zoo in our nation’s capital along with American defense companies. Throughout history, China has leveraged...

WASHINGTON—There are constants to life in the nation’s capital: sweltering summers, political dysfunction and, for much of the last 50 years, giant pandas. Later this year, though, the three pandas living in the National Zoo will be sent to China, which has the rights to pandas in captivity all over the world. Their departure will leave Washington without at least one of the rotund, cuddly-looking bears for only the second time since Richard Nixon’s breakthrough with Beijing in 1972. The breakdown in U.S.-China relations is bamboozling many in the city. Norma Valentini, a 52-year-old registered nurse who grew up in...

For all of you in the path of this week’s Nor’Easter and still digging out, allow me to offer an alternative to ongoing snow removal: Follow the panda’s lead and do your best to enjoy it.Let them give you a little boost and maybe we’ll all make it over hump-day. Just hang in there a bit longerand it will soon be spring. Maybe we’ll be able to get together with our friends and family again without social distancing, perhaps even go out for a meal as a group again.Which will of course still be dangerous, as this panda-emic is here...

The latest Centers for Disease Control data show that the COVID-19 fatality rate is 0.26% -- four times higher than the worst rate for the seasonal flu over the past decade. That is dramatically lower than the World Health Organization’s estimate of 3.4% and Dr. Anthony Fauci’s initial guess of about 2%.

Recent research highlights the power of the canine nose to uncover buried remains from ancient human history. On a sunny summer day in Croatia several years ago, an archaeologist and two dog handlers watched as two dogs, one after another, slowly worked their way across the rocky top of a wind-scoured ridge overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Bodies had lain in beehive-shape tombs on this necropolis, part of the prehistoric hill fort of Drvišica, since the Iron Age. The two dogs, trained to detect human remains, were searching for scents that were thousands of years old. Panda, a Belgian Malinois with...

Over and over, everywhere, they’re out in force. “I wear a mask because I care.” The fact this phrase is always used tells me it’s not original. They heard it somewhere, and it sounded good to them and they’re going to use it buckle and tongue whenever anyone challenges the UTILITY — or the sanity — of their wearing a mask. In fact their wearing a mask is tying a yellow ribbon in their front yard during the Iran hostage crisis. It is flying the flag after 9/11. It’s a way of showing their feelings, their emotions. It’s also a...

Copenhagen Zoo removed a map showing Taiwan as independent after complaints from China, before getting two coveted pandas on loan, letters leaked to the 24syv radio station have revealed. […] The map showing the animal’s global distribution had marked the island of Taiwan in a different color from mainland China, signaling its political independence. After receiving the letter, zoo officials removed the map ahead of the delivery of the two pandas, Mao Sun and Xing Er, in April. “The Chinese made us aware that they consider Taiwan a part of China,” the zoo told the station. …

KIM.COM discusses Seth Rich, WikiLeaks, Mueller not even replying to KIM.COM's letter to Mueller, and to how this fits in with the Russia investigation by Mueller.

The Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, located in Washington, D.C., took to Facebook on Christmas Day to post a video of the panda rolling around in the fresh powder during the first snowfall of the season, which occurred in November, Fox 5 DC reported. ..." Giant pandas, like Bei Bei, are native to China, according to Live Science. These fuzzy creatures are endangered; less than 2,000 live in the wild, according to the publication. Bamboo is a giant panda’s go-to food, consuming an estimated 28 pounds each day, according to National Geographic, which added these bears are “skilled...

The gifted swimmer, who was a 14-year-old national champion at the time and on the London 2012 World Class Programme, stroked the giant creature for a ‘once in a lifetime experience She said: ‘I was getting severe pains in my muscles and my joints. I kept going to the doctors but they treat all these things separately. ‘Mine was dormant for four years before I started getting poorly,’ Sophie said. Her health varies and she must now use a wheelchair for long journeys.

Expect pandemonium. If Congress fails to avert a government shutdown by its Friday deadline, the popular panda cameras at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington will be turned off, according to a statement from the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian's lion and elephant cameras will also go dark if the federal government is shut down, the statement read... "A shutdown will not affect the Zoo's commitment to the safety of staff and the standard excellence in animal care," the statement read.

First lady Melania Trump shared photos Saturday of her visit with the Beijing Zoo's famous "goodwill ambassador," Gu Gu the panda. "Wonderful to meet Gu Gu," the first lady tweeted along with a picture of her in the giant panda's enclosure. As she arrived at the zoo on Friday, Trump was greeted by a group of school children waving Chinese and American flags. The children later sang for the first lady.

She's smarter than I thought. Had to keep her viewer interested and not fall asleep. Hilliary's head was bobbing like a cork in a hurricane...............

CrowdStrike is the company (headed by a Ukrainian national) that inspected the DNC servers. No member of law enforcement (FBI etc) was allowed to inspect the servers. Instead, CrowdStrike prepared a report that's been the sole basis for the "Russians hacked the DNC" story. In this exchange, reference is made to Panda. We now know that "Panda" was a frequent nickname of Seth Rich. He would cheer up co-workers dressing as a Panda. He used "Panda" in several email accounts (Pandas4Progress was one of many).

Kimdotcom released a statement: I KNOW THAT SETCH RICH WASINVOLVED IN THE DNC LEAK.I know this because in late 2014 a person contacted me about helping me to start a branch of the Internet Party in the United States. He called himself Panda. I now know that Panda was Seth Rich.Panda advised me that he was working on voter analytics tools and other technologies that the Internet Party may find helpful.I communicated with Panda on a number of topics including corruption and the influence of corporate money in politics.“He wanted to change that from the inside.”I was referring to what...

When it comes to dealing with #Blizzard2016, let Tian Tian be your guide. The cuddly 275-pound panda woke up at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, Saturday morning to find his enclosure full of snow - and couldn't be happier about it.

Washingtonians got their first close-up look Saturday at the giant panda cub Bei Bei, the new star of the National Zoo. Until now, the cub could be viewed only through the so-called Panda Cam, a video hookup that has allowed people to watch the now five-month-old cub since its birth. A line of visitors formed outside the panda enclosure on Saturday morning before opening time to get a look at the ball of fur inside its soundproof glass enclosed pen.

Nothing can warm the frozen wiring of your brain on a cold winter morning like a cheerful Christmas-y puzzle. But as much as you'd like to think that it's easy to spot one panda amidst a sea of smiling, carrot-nosed snowmen, it's actually pretty frustrating. Hungarian artist Gergely Dudás (also known as Dudolf) shared this puzzle last Wednesday and people just can't stop staring at it.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton outlined a plan to cure Alzheimer's disease by 2025 at her final campaign stop before the Christmas holiday in Iowa today. The proposal highlights increasing annual funding to $2 billion for the next 10 years with the goal of developing a cure by 2025. "The best scientific minds tell us we have a real chance to make groundbreaking progress on curing this disease and relieving the pain so many families feel every day. My plan will set us on that course," she said.

A bee farmer in Southwest China's Sichuan Province found himself helpless as a wild panda helped itself to honey straight from his hives, media reported on Wednesday. The Baoxing county villager called local authorities Tuesday after he discovered the sweet-toothed panda dipping into 10 box beehives. Authorities arrived to find the panda crouching in the corner, completely absorbed with his desert and undeterred by their presence. "This panda didn't fear people standing a meter away," said Jiang Xiandong, a local official. Concerned about how to handle China's most protected and treasured animal, the nonplussed officials eventually left the panda to...