Free Republic

Mr. & Mrs. Fred Thompson will be interviewed on Hannity & Colmes tonight.

When her husband comes home to Tucson on leave from Iraq, Keila Rios could face a dilemma she finds infuriating. She plans to take their children out of school for a week to spend time with their Army dad. But when she asked for makeup work they could do at home, she initially was told they'd receive zeroes if they didn't go to class. The head of the charter school they attend declared the absences inexcusable and told the Arizona Daily Star that Rios' children would not be allowed to make up missed assignments. It now seems the principal is...

S.M.U. Faculty Complains About Bush Library By RALPH BLUMENTHAL DALLAS, Jan. 9 — Intimates of President Bush have singled out Southern Methodist University as the likely site of his presidential library, but faculty members, complaining of being bypassed, are raising sharp questions about the school’s identification with his presidency. In a meeting Tuesday, faculty members complained of a lack of consultation over the emerging agreement and all but demanded answers from the university’s president, R. Gerald Turner, on the relationship that would develop between the university and the library. “There’s been a lack of transparency from the beginning,” said Tony...

For Cindy Nooney's 3-year-old twin boys, playing with the Thomas the Train set at their local bookstore in Southern California is a major thrill. Jack and Sam push Thomas, Arthur and friends down the track, they run around the table, jump up and down — and, of course, they squeeeaal. Nooney expects as much in the children's section of the store. But on a recent afternoon, she was surprised by an employee who confronted her, calling her darling Jack a tyrant. "He was a little loud but this is a children's section," says Nooney. "They run a noisy, cavernous bookstore...

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2006 – Military "brats" are powerfully shaped by the culture they grow up in, and that culture makes a lasting impression, author Mary Edwards Wertsch said. Military brat Mary Edwards Wertsch is the author of "Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress." The book has been credited with recognizing the military as a home culture. Courtesy Photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "It has everything to do with everything that's ever happened in my life," the St. Louis resident said. Wertsch, who wrote "Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress," lived in 20...

For all of those military brats out there and who do not know about this. “Brats: Our Journey Home” is a documentary of how we grew up. It is well done and a good film even if it is fixated on the negative of growing up in the military.

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, April 4, 2006 – Deployed to Afghanistan for a year, Army Lt. Col. Timothy Newcomer will miss his son's prom, high school graduation and, a few months later, his departure to college. Army Sgt. 1st Class Eddie Mitchell shares a few minutes with his 6-year-old son, Desmond, April 4 at Desmond's school. Photo by Elaine Wilson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But his son, Matt, is not upset in the least. "He loves to be a soldier, and if it makes him happy, it makes me happy," said Matt, a high school senior. "How...

Whiny, insecure brats who cowered with fear of being bullied on the playground grow up to be conservatives, while smooth self-confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grow up to be liberals, according to a new study conducted in the sheltered confines of Berkeley, Calif., the very heart of rabid liberalism. From the 1960s onward, a husband-and-wife team at the University of California-Berkeley spent 20 years keeping an eye on children from their nursery school days to young adulthood. According to the Toronto Star, Berkeley professor Jack Block and his now late wife and fellow professor, Jeanne Block, began tracking more than...

They knew it was dangerous. "We could have really been hurt," said one of the Atlanta college students after their experiment. It won't win an Oscar, but 'A Meditation on the Speed Limit,' a short film that was the brainchild of college student Andy Medlin, is quite a hit. Some strange scenes, including a car passing in the emergency lane, were the product of Georgia State students simply following the speed limit. "I was pretty sure that I was doing something stupid," said another. That may be true. But, young and brash, they had a plan. They wanted to go...

  Each year numerous requests are received for the following two poems.I hope you enjoy them!  A Soldier's Christmaswritten by a Marine Twas the night before Christmas,He lived all alone ,In a one-bedroom house made ofPlaster and stone. I had come down the chimney With presents to give,And to see just who In this home did live. I looked all about,A strange sight did I see,No tinsel, no presents,Not even a tree. No stocking by mantle,Just boots filled with sand,On the wall hung picturesOf far distant lands. With medals and badges, Awards of all kinds,A sober thought Came through my...

The prevalence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) and its associated attention, hyperactivity and concentration problems among American children has been steadily on the rise in recent years. The US Centers for Disease Control now estimates that eight percent of children suffer from ADHD, and more than half of them are being treated with drugs like Ritalin. But according to a study conducted by Israeli researchers, if your child is showing symptoms associated with ADHD, it's possible that they're suffering from sleep apnea or other sleep disorders. The researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's Sleep Medicine Center conclude that ADHD-diagnosed children...

Contemporary parents are dazed and confused, and their children are suffering, writes Miranda Devine. It is clear from the extraordinary success of Channel Nine's Monday-night program Supernanny that Australian parents are suffering a crisis of confidence in their child-rearing skills. And judging by a study released this week by the Australian Childhood Foundation, insecure mums and dads are crying out for guidance on how to control the brats who rule their lives. The study revealed that 38 per cent of parents surveyed say parenting does not come naturally and 63 per cent are "concerned about their level of confidence as...

A 13-year-old student in Orange County, Fla., was suspended for 10 days and could be banned from school over an alleged assault with a rubber band, according to a Local 6 News report. Robert Gomez, a seventh-grader at Liberty Middle School, said he picked up a rubber band at school and slipped it on his wrist. Gomez said when his science teacher demanded the rubber band, the student said he tossed it on her desk. After the incident, Gomez received a 10-day suspension for threatening his teacher with what administrators say was a weapon, Local 6 News reported.

MARIETTA, Ga. — Two 13-year-old middle school girls were held on assault charges Wednesday after being accused of serving poisoned cake to about a dozen students who became ill and went to a hospital. Lawyers for the two seventh graders said the cake was a prank, and that they had no intention to harm anyone. Lab tests showed the icing on the cornbread cake contained an expired prescription drug, bleach, clay and tabasco sauce. "They took it into the cafeteria at lunch time and began passing it out to students, just whoever would take a piece," said Jay Dillon, spokesman...

<p>Carrie is 2 years old, with curly brown hair and Windex-blue eyes. In a still-life portrait, she would be adorable. In three dimensions, she's a cross between a Gerber baby and the Tasmanian devil. Bang. Bang, bang, bang, and bang and bang.</p>

Parents of very young children affected by military deployments may find help by listening to a special radio interview Feb. 4. Host Bobbi Conner of the weekly national radio program "The Parent's Home Journal," is scheduled to interview Lynette Kimes, a mother and military spouse, about coping strategies for children affected by deployment. The program is heard on 165 stations around the United States, and also is carried by the American Forces Radio and Television Service. Air times vary; check local listings. Kimes is a senior program associate for "Zero to Three," www.zerotothree.org, a national nonprofit organization that promotes healthy...

In an effort to be inclusive, this thread is for nonmetrosexual males (and likeminded women) to advise queer guys on their outfits, decor, vehicles, hairstyles, homes and hobbies. I've outfitted the thread with keywords toward this end.Enjoy.

Whatever It Is, They’re Against It David C. Stolinsky, M.D. Wednesday, May 14, 2003 I don't know what they have to say, It makes no difference anyway. Whatever it is, I'm against it. – Groucho Marx in “Horse Feathers” Total negativism is an appropriate attitude for Groucho’s zany version of a college president. His ridiculous dance in an academic robe still makes us laugh. But negativism is not an appropriate attitude for citizens of a republic. It is still less appropriate for leaders of a great nation. And it’s not at all amusing. When a small child learns he can...

In the pool halls and cyber cafes of Kuwait a new breed of terrorist is emerging, from among the country's young, wealthy and disaffected.Spoiled brats, in other words. - Ivan "I always imagine I'm fighting against the Americans," said Jagub, as he played a popular war game that pitches a team of snipers against an invading army. "I think about what the Americans and Israelis are doing to the Palestinians, and that they are planning a war against Iraq, and it fills me with anger." No doubt he also uses his indignation to score with the ladies - Ivan Jagub...

I recently had a funny exchange with a person in the sales division of the company that manufactured my once-trustworthy laptop. I have to share it with the class. I called the company in question to order a replacement part and in the course of confirming that I am the proper owner, the saleswoman asked, "What is the Center for Affirmative Parenting?" "I write books and give seminars on raising children," I answered. That made her happy, because, she told me, she's having problems with her sons, ages 4 and 3. Specifically, they talk back to her. They tell her,...