John Musker, renowned Disney director responsible for projects like “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin,” offered his words of advice for the company following several public flops for the studio. For more than four decades, Musker served as co-director alongside Ron Clements. Some of his other well-known projects include “The Great Mouse Detective,” “Hercules,” “The Princess and the Frog,” and “Moana.” The filmmaker spoke with Spanish outlet El País during the Animayo International Summit in Gran Canaria last week about several topics, including negative feedback for “The Princess and the Frog” (2009), the story of a waitress who dreams of opening her restaurant in New Orleans.  “We weren’t trying to be woke, although I understand the criticism. The classic Disney films didn’t start out trying to have a message. They wanted you to get involved in the characters and the story and the world, and I think that’s still the heart of it,” Musker said.  “You don’t have to exclude agendas, but you have to first create characters who you sympathize with and who are compelling. I think they need to do a course correction a bit in terms of putting the message secondary, behind entertainment and compelling story and engaging characters,” Musker added.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP The filmmaker also spoke about challenges during the Gulf War. Musker said while making “Aladdin,” the team had to disguise the name Baghdad with an anagram: Agrabah. “Because of the war, we couldn’t even go there to do research. Our big research took place at the Saudi Arabian expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center,” he said. Disney has been suffering financially in recent years after releasing films with woke messaging, including the “Toy Story” spinoff “Lightyear,” which featured a highly-promoted same-sex kiss between two female characters. The 2022 animated film earned a paltry $226.4 million against a $200 million budget, meaning it likely lost money after factoring in marketing and other expenses, as The Daily Wire previously reported. Despite the poor results, Disney is currently developing “Toy Story 5.”

Over the weekend, Bill Maher, the host of HBO’s “Real Time,” told Fareed Zakaria of CNN that the ideas of leftists are “stupid.” Maher appeared on CNN to promote his new book, “What This Comedian Said Will Shock You.” Zakaria noted that in the book, Maher wrote, “Some people think I’ve changed. I assure you I have not. I’m still the same unmarried, childless, pot-smoking libertine I always was. I have many flaws, but you can’t accuse me of maturing.” He asked what Maher would say to people who say they love him but that he’s become “cranky” and “crotchety,” that he has become one of those old guys who says “the kids are crazy.” “They’re wrong, “ Maher responded bluntly. “I mean, they’re wrong and the kids are crazy. It’s interesting, they have this idea the younger generation, maybe every generation does, that just because something is new makes it better and that’s not true. New is not synonymous with better.” “You’re just sounding like an old-fashioned conservative,” Zakaria accused. “I heard a couple of people say, or maybe they wrote it online that, well, I’m a hypocrite because you were for the demonstrators in 1968 or whatever it was when they were demonstrating against the Vietnam War,” Maher said. “Yes, that was very different. First of all, the students weren’t against their own. These students were threatening other students. That didn’t happen in the Vietnam War.  And being against the Vietnam War made sense. It was a war that we probably should not have been in. … This is demonstrating and protesting for a terrorist group, I mean, Hamas is –” “Well, to be fair, a lot of students — there were a lot of outside, you know, people have mixed together what students are doing, what outside protesters are doing,” Zakaria interjected. “But let me ask you a broader question, which is, a lot of people will say, look, this is how you get change. You — it’s noisy. Some people say the wrong thing. Some people go too far. But the whole tradition of this kind of expansion of rights, it’s messy, it’s chaotic.” “You know, yes, we’re — you know, there’s probably a bunch of excesses as there were probably was in the ’60s,” Zakaria continued. “There was the Black Panthers and the Weathermen and things like that. But they think of you as somebody who was, you know, you were okay with all that, but you’ve turned.” “I haven’t turned,” Maher answered. “Yes, people have said to me, you make fun of the Left more than you used to, and guilty. I have because the Left has changed.” He segued to attacking the Right and Donald Trump: “Now, the Right has changed also, and even worse. I mean, the right doesn’t believe in democracy anymore. I mean, they’ve thrown their lot in with the sociopath named Donald Trump, who only thinks elections count when we win. Okay, well, that’s worse.” “But it’s not like the Left hasn’t changed also,” he admitted. “So I’m going to call it out wherever I see it. I mean, there are things that have to do with, you know, gender and race and free speech, and just ideas about, you know, you can be healthy at any weight and gender is always a social construct and maybe we should give communism another try and maybe we should get rid of capitalism and the Border Patrol. And let’s tear down statues of Lincoln and get rid of the police. Just, you know, know, no. It’s not that I’ve gotten old, it’s that your ideas are stupid.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Maher spoke of former President Ronald Reagan: “Famously, he used to have a drink at the end of the day, often, with Tip O’Neill, who is the leader in the House and a Democrat. But they were just two Irish pals who get together and have a scotch at the end of the day. And they knew they weren’t going to get along on many issues, but they didn’t hate each other. They could drink together. That is inconceivable today. Can you imagine Joe Biden having a drink with Mike Johnson? It just would never happen. When you hate people, you don’t listen to them. So, it doesn’t matter how reasonable they might be.” “We have reached this place where each side thinks the other side is an existential threat. You hear that term from both sides all the time. That is just a terrible place to be. Because we find ourselves in this situation where both sides are literally siding with enemies of America rather than the opposition party within the country.”

After a near-death experience at the start of 2023, Jeremy Renner is back at work! Although he shared his journey on social media, Renner gave more details of that day while chatting with Jimmy Fallon. The story starts with Renner and his family being snowed in for a few days. Having the knowledge and experience to use a Sno-Cat, Renner tried to clear the road. In turn, however, something went wrong. The machine got out of his hands, and it started to run into Renner’s nephew. At this point, it was sure to crush him. So, to prevent that from happening, Renner jumped on it. This led to him getting caught up in the tracks, and he broke 38 bones. As horrific as this day was to experience, Renner shares that it helped him learn lessons he’ll never forget. The first has to do with the way he now views “bad days” in his life. “[You’re] being tested to your limits, your physical limits, your spiritual limits, your emotional limits,” Renner says. “It’s like, I won’t have a bad day for the rest of my life. It’s impossible, right? There’s that gift.” But this change in perspective isn’t the only inspiring lesson Renner has learned. After such a traumatic accident, he had to relearn how to do basic tasks. As a result, he sees that, like rehab, everything in life needs to be taken one step at a time. Jeremy Renner Shares Lessons Learned After Near-Death Experience “In order to walk, you have to put one foot down and then another foot in front of it, and then you’re walking. Just like breathing, I had to exhale with all my might, so I can suck air back in,” Renner explains. “… If we get too stressed, or if things get too difficult — or if it’s insurmountable odds or whatever it might be, it’s just put one foot down and then put another foot down and then move towards it.” Wow, what incredible takeaways after such a traumatic accident! Truly, we can all take something away from these valuable lessons. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here! The post Jeremy Renner Reveals The Life Lessons His Near-Death Experience Instilled appeared first on InspireMore.

If you want spectacular views and adventure, add this Tibetan-style suspension bridge in Italy to your bucket list. However, if you’re like me, you’ll stay home and watch videos. I am content with others making the death-defying walk above a 575-foot-deep chasm on a flimsy-looking bridge. The suspension bridge sits high above the Vigi River valley, connecting Sellano to Montesanto. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ABC News (@abcnews) This suspension bridge in Italy is not for the faint of heart. It is patterned after ancient Tibetan footbridges that used ropes and planks, although this new bridge uses cables and metal slats. At 1696.19 feet long, the bridge includes 1,023 individual steps spaced some distance apart. When traversing from Sellano, there is a 224-foot rise in elevation, making the crossing more challenging. Image from YouTube. Safety measures are in place on the bridge. Everyone crossing must wear a safety harness attached to a cable throughout the walk. Most people take between 30 and 45 minutes to make the one-third of a mile crossing. Due to weight limitations, no more than 75 people can be on the bridge simultaneously. The crossing is typically not a good activity for families with younger children, as the spacing between the treads can be difficult. However, teens and adults should be able to traverse the span. Image from YouTube. This type of suspension bridge in Italy is not new. Five equally challenging Tibetan-style suspension bridges are located throughout the country. Please send a video of your crossing when you go on this adventure. There’s no need to invite me along; my bucket list is much more mundane. I’ll be here on my couch, vicariously living through your adventures. Please share this if you enjoyed this look at what could be an amazing adventure. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Mesmerizing And Spine-Tingling: Would You Set Foot On This Suspension Bridge? appeared first on InspireMore.

School choice closing Florida public schools

ROOKE: The Left's Insane Hatred Of America Peaked Right Before Memorial Day

"A few hours ago there was a shooting incident on the Egyptian border, the [incident] is under investigation, dialogue is taking place with the Egyptian side."

'I’m kind of a little bit perturbed in a way'

Today is a day to honor the brave men and women who have given their lives to ensure we remain free. Their courage and dedication are the bedrock of the liberties we enjoy today. As we gather with loved ones, we should reflect on these heroes’ selflessness and the peace they have secured for us. It’s a time to be grateful for the sacrifices of the past that allow us to live in a country where freedom is still a cherished right. In honor of Memorial Day, The Wellness Company is offering 15% off ALL their emergency medical kits. These kits empower you to take control of your health, freeing you from reliance on Big Pharma and Big Government. Not only that, but they’re also donating 5% of today’s sales to Wreaths Across America, an organization committed to teaching all generations about the value of their freedoms and the importance of honoring those who sacrificed so much to protect those freedoms. They include essential medications like ivermectin, generic Z-Pak, hydroxychloroquine, oseltamivir (generic Tamiflu), budesonide (with a free nebulizer), and epinephrine (generic EpiPen), among many others. Each emergency kit also contains a comprehensive guidebook explaining how to safely administer the medications, ensuring you are ready for any emergency. Use the code MEMORIAL15 at checkout to get your discount. I recommend all the kits, but in particular, I find the Emergency Kit and the Contagion Kit to be of vital importance. Click here to get prepped with prescription medications. And please, take time to remember those who gave their lives for our freedom. Tell your kids about their sacrifices. I’m proud to be an American every single day. The post Memorial Day Medical Kit Sale appeared first on The Organic Prepper.

Monotremes, now known only from the platypus and a handful of echidna species, were once a much more successful order, with three new species now identified from a single geologic formation. Yet while their diversity has dwindled, the egg-laying mammals appear to be onto a good thing. Indeed, their body design has changed so little in a hundred million years that one of the finds is being referred to as an “echidnapus”.Australia is not the place to live and die if you want the world to remember you millions of years later, being particularly poor in sites suited for creating and revealing fossils. However, the Lightning Ridge opal fields ensure that if your bones are preserved, there is a fair chance they will look absolutely fabulous.Three new species of monotremes have now been identified from 102-96.6 million-year-old fossil deposits at Lightning Ridge, bringing the number of species known from that place and time to six. In some other contexts, six species might be quite modest – but these account for a third of the known genera of monotremes in the 130-million-year history of the order. The site, therefore, is a relative treasure-trove the like of which we have found nowhere else. An added point of interest, Professor Kris Helgen of the Australian Museum told IFLScience, is that no non-monotreme mammals have been found at Lightning Ridge, in complete contrast to the ratio we see today.“Today, Australia is known as a land of marsupials, but discovering these new fossils is the first indication that Australia was previously home to a diversity of monotremes. It’s like discovering a whole new civilization,” said first author Professor Tim Flannery of the Australian Museum in a statement. The highlight of the three discoveries goes by the catchy name of Opalios splendens and has a number of features familiar from surviving monotremes.“Opalios splendens sits on a place in the evolutionary tree prior to the evolution of the common ancestor of the monotremes we have today. Its overall anatomy is probably quite like the platypus, but with features of the jaw and snout a bit more like an echidna – you might call it an ‘echidnapus’,” said Helgen.Appropriately named given publication this month, the second species is Dharragarra aurora, the oldest fossil identified as a type of platypus.Parvopalus clytiei is the smallest of the mammalian fossils at Lightning Ridge, and is known from such limited pieces little can be said about it.Professor Kris Helgen holding up a tiny fossil jaw fragment from which a species has been described, with a giant image of the fossil on the screen behind him.Image Credit: James Alcock / Australian MuseumBoth D. aurora and P. clytiei were on the “toothy to toothless path” monotremes have trodden, having lost at least one of the five molars the first monotreme, Teinolophos trulseri, possessed.The sparse availability of fossil monotremes leaves scientists with a great many questions about why their evolution followed such a different path from other mammals. Back when monotremes and theriiform mammals split, both had to make their way in the exceptionally difficult world dominated by dinosaurs. Many ecological niches were closed to both, particularly those that involved getting large enough to attract unwanted attention.However, when the death of the non-avian dinosaurs, and a great many other species as well, opened a world of opportunities, Theriiformes jumped at it – including literally, by evolving into dozens of kangaroo species. Meanwhile, monotremes hung on, but never seemed to have diversified much.Helgen told IFLScience that five of the six monotreme species found at Lightning Ridge are quite different from each other, based on size and body plan. Given the constraints at the time, that suggests a capacity to diversify. Yet when the world changed 65 million years ago, monotremes didn’t, with modern echidnas and platypuses sticking fairly closely to the structures on display in this deposit. Meanwhile, as he noted, theriiforme mammals; “Vary from bats to whales to kangaroos.”“It seems like a good working hypothesis,” Helgen told IFLScience, that something limits monotreme flexibility, but what that is we don’t know.Equally unknown is why monotremes were able to establish a significant presence in Australia, but not elsewhere. Although they probably never made it to the northern continents, two species of monotreme fossils have been found in South America, yet apparently did not thrive. It’s likely others were in Antarctica, at the time the bridge between the two continents, but logistical difficulties mean we know nothing about them, or how they competed with other mammals.Lightning Ridge is now very hot and dry, but at the time the monotremes flourished was heavily forested and at a latitude similar to Anchorage. It probably still has much to reveal. We only have a single bone or tooth from each of four of the species, suggesting there are probably many more inhabitants we are yet to find.Every monotreme fossil from Lightning Ridge has been opalized by geologists’ standards. Indeed, these fossils have either been spotted by alert opal-hunters noticing something animal-related, or paleontologists going through miners’ waste. However, those described here lack the beautiful mix of colors associated with opals, unlike a dinosaur fossil found in 2013 at the same site.“Opal fossils are rare, but opalized monotreme fossils are infinitely more rare, as there’s one monotreme fragment to a million other pieces. We don’t know when, or exactly where, they’ll turn up,” said Elizabeth Smith, who found the newly described fossils along with her daughter.The three new species are described and named in Alcheringa: An Australian Journal of Palaeontology, along with descriptions of an additional bone from a previously identified species.