Free Republic

Those who are long of tooth recall Chevy Chase’s news routine on Saturday Night Live, especially his weekly riff, “Generalissimo Franco is still dead.” That was based on true stories of the removal of assorted organs from the dying General, with doctors’ assurances he was still alive. That also led to Don Henley’s classic, “Dirty Laundry,” with the lines, “Is the head dead yet? Get the widow on the set....” This is ancient news, but it’s relevant to the Democrats. Like the Generalissimo, that Party has had major organs removed, but is allegedly still alive. As a student of US...

I came across this article (dated last December) while looking around the web. It's a very short, but moving story of what can only be described as the love America (and especially those tough, gruff Marines) have for the Iraqi's. And one very brave little Iraqi girl. I thought others would enjoy it also. Grab a Kleenex. Just wanted to write to you and tell you another story about an experience we had over here.   As you know, I asked for toys for the Iraqi children over here and several people (Americans that support us) sent them over by...

"The world is full of victims and habitual whiners these days and I try not to be one of them, though it is hard not to go there." -- renowned moral philosopher Jimmy Buffet, in his latest novel, A Salty Piece of Land At first glance, a teddy bear wouldn't seem an appropriate subject for controversy. But that would be underestimating the power of the Victim Industry. Sometimes I look at the habitual whiners and wonder: When did we all get so offended? When I was a kid, my mind held hostage in the prison of the one-channel universe in...

By DAVID GRAM, Associated Press Writer MONTPELIER, Vt. - After weeks of protests, Vermont Teddy Bear Co. has agreed to stop producing and marketing a "Crazy For You" bear that had angered advocates for the mentally ill, four advocacy groups said Thursday. Company spokeswoman Nicole L'Huillier said the statement issued by the groups was "a little bit inaccurate," but would not immediately elaborate. The $69.95 bear — which comes with a straitjacket and commitment papers — no longer appeared on the company's Web site Thursday. The Valentine's Day (news - web sites) bear was criticized as insensitive by mental health...

THE SENSITIVITY police in Vermont have nothing better to do this winter than examine teddy bears for possible offenses against the emotionally thin-skinned. And so the Vermont Human Rights Commission has officially urged the Vermont Teddy Bear company to stop selling its “Crazy for You” bear. The reason? The bear, which comes wrapped in a straight jacket with a little heart on it, might offend the mentally ill. In a letter to the company, Human Rights Commission executive director Robert Appel wrote, “Perhaps most disturbing to me is the apparent lack of understanding by your company of the real hurt...

The complaint is the first Vermont Teddy Bear has received about the bear that it began selling days ago. Company officials said they take the complaint seriously and plan to discuss the issue.

JUNE 22--The FBI has subpoenaed records related to the online sales of a teddy bear carrying the message "Bush Kills Arabs Dead," apparently as part of a probe into who delivered one of the plush toys to the Michigan home of a federal magistrate, The Smoking Gun has learned. But, TSG has discovered, the Detroit U.S. Attorney's grand jury investigation will find that the teddy bear, pictured at right, wasn't some sort of a terror threat, but rather a gag gift purchased by a friend of Mona Majzoub, the federal magistrate. Last July, a court panel selected Majzoub, a 55-year-old...

<p>The folks at the Hermione Museum in Tallulah, ever mindful that Teddy Roosevelt helped make their town part of his presidential lore with a 1907 bear hunt, will open an exhibit related to the nation's 26th president May 1.</p> <p>To celebrate the establishment of the Roosevelt Room at the Hermione, the museum on April 30 will host "An Evening with Tweed," a dinner with remarks from the president's great-grandson, Tweed Roosevelt of Boston, who frequently speaks about his famous ancestor.</p>

It all started when a hunting party that included Teddy Roosevelt killed a sow bear, only to discover afterward that she had a cub. When one of the hunters raised his rifle to dispatch the orphan in order to spare the poor creature a slower death by starvation, exposure or predation, T.R. intervened, commuted the sentence, and the cub was led off, presumably to a zoo. This compassionate gesture is better known today than any of President Roosevelt's executive decisions, treaties or other accomplishments while in offlce — thanks to a toymaker. It seems the sparing of the bear cub...

Al-Qaeda preparing 'Teddy Bear Bomb' - report October 06 2003 at 10:48AM Madrid - Spanish police have informed airport security and explosives experts that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network is attempting to make a new kind of bomb, the daily El Mundo reported Monday. The bomb would consist of nitrocellulose - also known as guncotton -hidden inside padded jackets, pillows or toys such as teddy bears, difficult to detect in airport security checks, according to the daily. El Mundo quoted reports sent by the United State Transportation Security Administration and the FBI to the Spanish Interior Ministry in August....

The owner of a toy museum is calling on the public to boycott an art exhibition that features the charred and mutilated bodies of teddy bears. Deady Bears, which forms part of a wider work entitled A Walk on the Darkside at the Artlounge gallery in Lytham St Anne's, Lancs, features cuddly toys that have been variously dismembered, pierced with 6in nails and daubed with red paint intended to resemble blood. Irena Thompson, who runs the nearby Toy and Teddy Bear Museum, is outraged. "This exhibition is simply dreadful, and I do not see what the artist is trying to...