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Education (General/Chat)

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • BOYS BEWARE!! 1961 (Dangers From Homosexuals)

    11/21/2009 2:31:59 AM PST · by bogusname · 8 replies · 526+ views
    Live Leak ^ | 1961 | Sid Davis Productions
    Ah the good old days. Do you remember when right was right and wrong was wrong? I sure do but it was a long time ago.
  • Vote For This Teacher

    11/20/2009 8:29:35 PM PST · by thirdgradeteacher · 1 replies · 215+ views
    Ashley Kizer saw the call for entries in a teaching magazine. Make a winning video about how technol ogy is used in the class room and win $30,000 in technology. Kizer, a fifth-grade teacher at Adamsville El ementary School, had ev erything to gain. This was his chance to outfit his class with a Smart board that can be used by two stu dents at a time, Internet notebooks, and hand-held devices that would allow ev ery child to answer his ques tions electronically.
  • Curvy Women May Be A Clever Bet

    11/20/2009 4:34:44 PM PST · by Steelfish · 54 replies · 1,289+ views
    BBC News ^ | November 20th, 2009
    Curvy Women May Be A Clever Bet. Nigella Lawson: Curvy figure and an Oxford degree [Pic in URL]. Women with curvy figures are likely to be brighter than waif-like counterparts and may well produce more intelligent offspring, a US study suggests. Researchers studied 16,000 women and girls and found the more voluptuous performed better on cognitive tests - as did their children. The bigger the difference between a woman's waist and hips the better. Researchers writing in Evolution and Human Behaviour speculated this was to do with fatty acids found on the hips. In this area, the fat is likely...
  • Skeptics Handbook II! Global Bullies Want Your Money

    11/20/2009 3:24:58 PM PST · by AFPhys · 10 replies · 192+ views
    www.icecap.us ^ | Nov. 20, 2009 | Joanne Nova
    CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE PAMPHLET ...Big Government has spent $79 billion on the climate industry, 3000 times more than Big Oil. Leading climate scientists won’t debate in public and won’t provide their data. What do they hide? When faced with freedom-of-information requests they say they’ve “lost” the original global temperature records. Thousands of scientists are rising in protest against the scare campaign. Meanwhile $126 billion turned over in carbon markets in 2008 and bankers get set to make billions. Twenty pages of concise commentary and cartoons: The short synopsis of how we paid to find a crisis. The...
  • Wee bit of pee in OSU lake after 'jump'

    11/20/2009 1:36:13 PM PST · by Willie Green · 38 replies · 702+ views
    THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH ^ | THURSDAY,  NOVEMBER 19, 2009 | DOUG CARUSO
    During the big Michigan Week jump, Ohio State University's Mirror Lake and a baby pool have a lot in common. The jump, which will take place tonight, is one of many student traditions. But Ohio State also is a research university, so it was inevitable that someone would apply a little science to this ritual. Last year, students in the College of Earth Sciences tested the water in Mirror Lake before, during and after thousands plunged in to psych themselves up for The Game. "Interesting results from last year's study include a lake-wide temperature increase of approximately 3 degrees Fahrenheit...
  • California Man Allegedly Paid Teen $31 to Spit in His Face (And urinate/deficate)

    11/20/2009 12:40:58 PM PST · by sadsacke · 16 replies · 402+ views
    Fox News ^ | 11-20-09
    Ventura County authorities say the 39-year-old resident of Thousand Oaks, whose name wasn't released, has made a habit of recruiting boys on MySpace to yell profanities at him, slap him and spit at him.Authorities say several teens also accused the man of offering them money to urinate and defecate on him. His motive wasn't clear.
  • OK It's time for the 1st "Annual" FR favorite Turkey Recipe exchange

    11/20/2009 7:55:31 AM PST · by US Navy Vet · 65 replies · 743+ views
    20 Nov 2009 | US Navy Vet
    Place you Favorite Recipes here.
  • Fire Mark Mangino the Monster

    11/20/2009 7:17:32 AM PST · by stan_sipple · 24 replies · 456+ views
    Jay Mariotti Fanhouse ^ | 11-19-2009 | Jay Mariotti
    If it's true that Kansas football coach Mark Mangino, upon seeing a receiver named Raymond Brown drop a pass, launched into a hideous tirade that concluded with a racially tinged threat -- "If you don't shut up, I'm going to send you back to St. Louis so you can get shot with your homies" -- then the university should dismiss Mangino immediately. If it's true Mangino told receiver Marcus Herford that he'd send him "back to the street corner where you came from,'' then keeping the coach would be a Rock Chalk Crock
  • What would you do in this situation? (My first post of a new thread-- please be kind!)

    11/20/2009 1:23:02 AM PST · by MacMattico · 59 replies · 1,051+ views
    OK, I'm really wrestling with this and need some sane minds to help me decide what to do. I know this isn't a world wide major issue effecting us all, but I value the opinions (most of them!) I read on Free Republic so here goes. And there is a political element to the story if you can bear with me for a minute. I have a daughter in middle school and report cards just came out. She received a 95% or above in all classes but one: Math. In advanced math, she got an 84. In order to stay...
  • Professional Santas want H1N1 shots [The Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas]

    11/19/2009 7:40:55 PM PST · by Daffynition · 7 replies · 160+ views
    CBCNews.ca ^ | November 19, 2009 | staff reporter
    A U.S.-based group representing people who portray Santa Claus during the Christmas season wants its members to be designated a priority group to receive the swine flu vaccine. Over the next few weeks, Father Christmases will come into contact with thousands of children at shopping malls and Santa Claus parades. The Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, a fraternal organization that provides training and resources for people who work or volunteer as Santa Clauses, said the health of its roughly 700 members is a real concern. "Yes, we should be given the needle," said Nicholas Trolli, the organization's president. "Many...
  • College students arrested for not paying tip

    11/19/2009 1:54:17 PM PST · by Decombobulator · 73 replies · 1,393+ views
    It was an evening out that college students Leslie Pope and John Wagner will long remember. Not only did they get what they called lousy service, they got handcuffed and arrested. All over a $16.35 tip. They were with a half-dozen friends at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem last month, so the establishment tacked what it called a mandatory 18 percent gratuity onto the bill of about $73, according to reports. Pope and Wagner refused to pay. "You can't give us terrible, terrible service and expect a tip," said Pope, a 22-year-old Moravian College senior who's a Pottsville native, according...
  • Kids have got stuffed toy bug (Plush "Giant Microbes" toys modeled after disease-causing bugs)

    11/19/2009 1:53:29 PM PST · by Stoat · 7 replies · 232+ views
    The Sun (U.K.) ^ | November 19, 2009
    Kids have got stuffed toy bug   By STAFF REPORTER Published: Today     NOT many of us would want to cuddle up to E.coli and Streptococcus this winter, but that's exactly what these cuddle toys are. The bizarre creatures, designed to look like the bugs that cause common colds, sore throats and coughs have become the latest craze. The fluffy GiantMicrobes are the same shape and colour as the real thing — but one million times bigger. They have been given human features such as eyes, a mouth and nose to make them more appealing to young children....
  • Pupils learn history by having fun

    11/19/2009 7:14:12 AM PST · by This_far · 9 replies · 140+ views
    Billings Gazette ^ | November 19, 2009 | JACKIE BORCHARDT
    CASPER (Wyoming) — With one finger pointing up on each side of their heads, the students were ready to run through a blizzard. The fifth- and sixth-graders at Park Elementary became buffaloes for part of a song by poet/singer Jack Gladstone. The song tells the story of how buffalo charged through snowstorms, facing their troubles head-on. Gladstone shared signs from American Indian sign language and words from the language of the Blackfeet Indian Nation of Montana. “With American Indian sign language, we could speak with our hands,” Gladstone said. “An individual could go from one tribal language to another.”
  • Was Washed

    11/19/2009 4:36:44 AM PST · by Revski · 211+ views
    o7jimmy Youtube Classic ^ | 11/19/09 | Revski
    Thanks for viewing/commenting/rating! This is an animated pig with humor! This is inspired from the scripture; II Peter 2:22.
  • Seventeen things worth knowing about your cat [all graphics]

    11/19/2009 3:07:16 AM PST · by Daffynition · 71 replies · 2,221+ views
    TheOatmeal ^ | Nov 18 2009 | TheOatmeal
  • Red flag Drag (ZO!!!!!!!)

    11/18/2009 5:51:52 PM PST · by mnehring · 3 replies · 167+ views
    Zo's $.02 on Nidal Malik Hassan. AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY AT PJTV.COM AFTER 11/25/09 Visit PJTV.COM and crank up some conservative content with: Zo Bill Whittle Andrew Klavan Steven Crowder Sonja Schmidt Joe Hicks and more!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbUkpKUg2uw&feature=sub
  • Questions to ask before you donate

    11/18/2009 12:11:53 PM PST · by Military family member · 4 replies · 199+ views
    The Journal of Business ^ | 11/18/2009 | Indiana CPAs
    Even in a bad economy, people still reach deep into their pockets to help out those who are less fortunate, especially as the holidays draw near. However, in good times or bad, it’s important to know that the money you are giving to a charity is truly being put to good use. Many con artists try to cheat people out of their dollars by pretending to be involved in a legitimate charitable organization. The Indiana CPA Society offers these questions to ask to ensure you are avoiding charity scams.
  • PICTURES: WWII "Samurai Subs" Found -- Carried Aircraft

    11/18/2009 9:50:26 AM PST · by JoeProBono · 14 replies · 1,139+ views
    nationalgeographic ^ | November 12, 2009
    After 60 years in a watery Hawaiian grave, two World War II-era Japanese attack submarines have been discovered near Pearl Harbor, marine archaeologists announced today. Specifically designed for a stealth attack on the U.S. East Coast--perhaps targeting Washington, D.C., and New York City--the "samurai subs" were fast, far-ranging, and in some cases carried folding-wing aircraft, according to Dik Daso, curator of modern military aircraft at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, speaking in the new National Geographic documentary Hunt for the Samurai Subs. When World War II ended in 1945, the U.S. Navy seized the Japanese fleet in the Pacific,...
  • Truancy

    11/18/2009 5:51:04 AM PST · by fightinJAG · 2 replies · 106+ views
    enotes ^ | unk | Staff
    [snip] The Rational for Truancy Laws Compulsory education began about sixty years ago and was strongly influenced by labor unions who were trying to keep children from working. The participation of children in the labor force kept adult wages low. Compulsory attendance in schools also lifted some authority of parents over their children to the state, as parents could no longer force their children to work. The state's authority in school attendance was underscored in Prince v. Massachusetts (1944). In this case, the Supreme Court decided that the state had the right to uphold CHILD LABOR LAWS and parents' authority...
  • No Surprise: Coed Dorms Fuel Sex and Drinking

    11/17/2009 12:03:15 PM PST · by decimon · 62 replies · 1,280+ views
    Live Science ^ | Nov 17, 2009 | LiveScience Staff
    It's no secret to students that coed dorms are more fun than same-sex dorms. But they can also fuel very unhealthy behavior that might otherwise be moderated. A new study finds university students in coed housing are 2.5 times more likely to binge drink every week. And no surprise, they're also likely to have more sexual partners, the study found. Also, pornography use was higher among students in coed dorms. Some 90 percent of U.S. college dorms are now coed.
  • Missing piece in collection

    11/17/2009 8:25:16 AM PST · by cowboyway · 8 replies · 451+ views
    Pasadena Citizen News ^ | 11.15.09 | YVETTE OROZCO
    Paul Schupska knows his history. Over the years, his vast collections of baseball, World War I and II and antique toys have been displayed at community public libraries throughout the area. Whether it is a vintage GI Joe or an authentic World War II map used by Allied forces in a European bunker, Schupska prides himself on the completeness of his displays, on telling as much of a complete history as possible. When he recently showcased his World War II collection at the Pasadena Public Library on Fairmont, the Nazi insignias were part of that story. He has shown several...
  • Mayhem, Money, & Morality

    11/16/2009 9:23:27 AM PST · by Dick Bachert · 110+ views
    The New American Magazine ^ | 11 November 2009 | Allen Rutledge
    Anyone trying to figure out what in the world is going on in today’s economy might remember Agatha Christie’s classic, Murder on the Orient Express. When master sleuth Hercule Poirot boarded that train, he’d no idea that before the night ended he’d face the most perplexing murder case ever. A carful of passengers, all of whom had motive and opportunity, maneuvered around so skillfully that even Christie’s brilliant Belgian couldn’t figure out whodunit. The best he could do was point a perfectly manicured finger at the most likely culprits — in the end, everybody walked away, except the luckless victim....
  • District honored by National Association for Multicultural Education

    11/16/2009 9:00:14 AM PST · by stan_sipple · 4 replies · 114+ views
    Journalstar.com ^ | 11-15-2009 | Margaret Reist
    Thomas Christie calls his small office, buried deep in the Lincoln Public Schools' administrative building, his museum. Now, he'll have to make room on the wall for a national award honoring the district's multicultural education program. The National Association for Multicultural Education each year honors innovative programs for their outstanding contributions. This year, it chose a program that can trace its beginnings back 37 years - 20 years before Nebraska legislators passed a law requiring all districts to have multicultural education. It grew and changed during that time, when the nation passed Title IX and the district created an equity...
  • Master Unit Conversion Thread (Up Intellect!)

    11/15/2009 2:34:54 PM PST · by Eddie01 · 15 replies · 472+ views
    Convert any unit to another (Book Mark)
  • How to Bow in Japan (Morgana's Education Vanity)

    11/15/2009 7:07:38 AM PST · by Morgana · 58 replies · 1,318+ views
    Well, Zero mess up again....so I found this article by Shizuko Mishima on "How to Bow Properly in Japan". Now only if Zero had taken lessons from this person it would have saved millions of Americans from "losing face". "Here’s the tricky parts about bowing – the depth of the bow and the number of seconds devoted to performing it, as well as the total number of bows, depends on who you are, to whom you’re bowing, and how they’re bowing back. When bowing, hands are usually straight at the side, palms inward as they bow for men, but for...
  • Southern Football's Dating Game

    11/14/2009 7:25:27 AM PST · by Saije · 13 replies · 544+ views
    Wall Street Journal ^ | 11/13/2009 | Hannah Karp
    Each Sunday, Peyton Alsobrook, a 19-year-old freshman at Auburn University, gets together with his Alpha Tau Omega fraternity brothers to compare notes on the women they take on dates to Saturday football games. Those who seem bored are eliminated from further consideration, he says, along with any who might talk too much during a close game "because they're from up North or something." As the all-important Alabama game approaches, Mr. Alsobrook says he's narrowed his list of potential dates to four. The winner, he says, will get a coveted ticket to the big game and, beyond that, special treatment that...
  • Geology Picture of the Week, November 8-14, 2009: Mayon Volcano, Philippines

    11/13/2009 10:50:43 PM PST · by cogitator · 7 replies · 599+ views
    Various
    Not hard to figure out the inspiration for this one; frequently active and usually dangerous Mayon is set for another throat-clearing. Mayon erupting: Click for full-size: Mayon not erupting: Context image: Nice panorama (click for full-size):
  • The Work of the Office: White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

    11/13/2009 5:07:07 PM PST · by Cindy · 3 replies · 179+ views
    WHITEHOUSE.gov ^ | November 12, 2009 at 02:15 PM EST | Joshua DuBois
    Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/11/12/work-office-white-house-office-faith-based-and-neighborhood-partnerships The Work of the Office: White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships Posted by Joshua DuBois on November 12, 2009 at 02:15 PM EST President Obama announced the creation of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships on the 17th day of the President’s new Administration. Since then, our Office has been pretty busy! I thought it'd be helpful to give you a little context on what we've been up to. Our office is situated within the Domestic Policy Council. This placement allows our office to have close interaction...
  • Stalin Declassified

    11/13/2009 1:18:10 PM PST · by mainestategop · 5 replies · 328+ views
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KHcQsjFdC8&feature=channel Joseph Stalin declassified. Newly revealed documents about Stalin and the founding of the USSR and his inner circle. About the purges and memos concerning STalin.
  • Heated argument ends in arrest outside police station (N.H.)

    11/13/2009 10:53:38 AM PST · by This_far · 5 replies · 315+ views
    Union Leader ^ | Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 | CLYNTON NAMUO
    Some breakups are probably for the best. A woman was arrested this morning following a fight with her ex-boyfriend that began outside his apartment, stretched down Route 4 during a car chase and ended in the police department’s parking lot, Chief Glen Drolet said. “All I know is I heard yelling and screaming in our parking lot and someone banging on our back door,” Drolet said.
  • Police: Burglar left unemployment check behind (NH)

    11/13/2009 9:41:29 AM PST · by This_far · 7 replies · 277+ views
    Union Leader ^ | Nov 13, 2009 | PAT GROSSMITH
    MANCHESTER – A burglar dropped his unemployment check and daily planner when he beat it out a bedroom after being caught in the act by residents, police said.
  • You Can Make Your Own Liquid Tamiflu At Home

    11/12/2009 4:23:44 PM PST · by Daffynition · 62 replies · 1,906+ views
    Consumerist.com ^ | Nov 12 2009 | Laura Northrup
    G.'s young son was recently ill with H1N1, but no pharmacy in the city where he lives had liquid Tamiflu in stock. (Even the federal government released its stockpile not long ago.) He writes that nearly every pharmacy he called turned him down. Then he learned that the liquid can be made from Tamiflu capsules by pharmacists, or even by parents at home. Why didn't the pharmacy staff, or his doctor, tell him this? He writes: When his H1N1-induced fever spiked at 104, I brought my 16-month-old son to the pediatrician, who promptly prescribed Tamiflu.When I arrived at CVS, I...
  • Kerman Teacher Arrested, Admits Affair with Student

    11/12/2009 3:18:56 PM PST · by GQuagmire · 37 replies · 1,378+ views
    KFSN.com ^ | 11/10/09 | Gene Haagenson
    FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A 34-year-old female teacher at Kerman High School was arrested this week for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a student.
  • Chocolate Milk Lovers Have A Cow About Bans

    11/12/2009 12:22:54 PM PST · by Diana in Wisconsin · 33 replies · 592+ views
    The Chicago Tribune ^ | November 12, 2009 | John Keilman
    The dairy industry rolled out an expensive media campaign this week in praise of chocolate milk, a classic school lunch beverage whose sugar content is under assault in some districts. But as trade groups spend upward of $1 million to defend the drink, three area fifth-graders already have come to its rescue. A year after Barrington Community Unit School District 220 banned flavored milk from its lunch menus, the students persuaded administrators to give it another chance. Now the sweetened drinks are served on Fridays as the district tries to decide whether the benefits of calcium and vitamin D are...
  • The Secret to the Suicidal Liberal Mind

    11/12/2009 11:27:14 AM PST · by sodpoodle · 12 replies · 373+ views
    Freedom Research Foundation ^ | January 21, 2002 | Jack Wheeler
    The self-loathing of the white American liberal is as well-established and documented as Einstein's Special Relativity theorems. A typical example is writer Susan Sontag's denouncement of the white race as "the cancer of human history." A racist hatred of one's own race – auto-racism – has become a defining characteristic of the liberal mind. Yet the source of such suicidal guilt remains a mystery. Clearly understanding what disables liberals from wanting to defend their culture is today a mortal necessity – an absolute requirement if America is to be preserved and protected from Moslem terrorists and other folk desirous of...
  • Why Don’t Arab Economies Bloom?

    11/12/2009 7:16:26 AM PST · by ChessExpert · 16 replies · 679+ views
    Human Events | 11/10/2009 | James Zumwalt
    Sixty-one years ago, in May 1948, after nearly two thousand years of Jewish dispersal, the nation-state of Israel was created by U.N. mandate. As the “new guy” on the block, Israel immediately sought to become a responsible member of the world community. Surrounded by enemies and lacking natural resources, it faced an enormous challenge -- survival. Six decades later, it not only has survived but has become an economic oasis within a regional desert of poverty and despair. Today, Israelis enjoy a much better quality of life than its Arab neighbors possessing tremendous oil wealth. Before discussing how Israelis became...
  • District nixes cash-for-grades fundraiser

    11/11/2009 3:34:02 PM PST · by Lmo56 · 3 replies · 146+ views
    News & Observer ^ | 11/11/2009 | Lynn Bonner
    Selling candy didn't raise much money last year, so a Goldsboro middle school tried selling grades.
  • Meep! Nonsense Word Goes Viral, Gets Students in Trouble

    11/11/2009 10:33:50 AM PST · by Willie Green · 98 replies · 2,181+ views
    ABC ^ | Nov. 11, 2009 | SARAH NETTER
    Massachusetts High School Principal Threatens to Suspend Students Caught MeepingMEEP! Don't know what it means? Don't worry -- most people over the age of 22 don't either. But the nonsense word -- which apparently started with the 1980s Muppet character Beaker -- is causing a lot of teeth-gnashing for adults at one Massachusetts high school. They have gone so far as to threaten suspension for students caught meeping. But just what does it mean to "meep?" No one really seems to know -- even those who use it as part of their daily vocabulary. According to UrbanDictionary.com, meep "can mean...
  • Salt Lake OKs Gay Rights Laws With Mormon Backing

    11/11/2009 6:02:15 AM PST · by Extremely Extreme Extremist · 11 replies · 289+ views
    AP ^ | 11 NOVEMBER 2009 | JENNIFER DOBNER
    SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ― The Mormon church for the first time has announced its support of gay rights legislation, an endorsement that helped gain unanimous approval for Salt Lake city laws banning discrimination against gays in housing and employment. The Utah-based church's support ahead of Tuesday night's vote came despite its steadfast opposition to gay marriage, reflected in the high-profile role it played last year in California's Proposition 8 ballot measure that barred such unions. "The church supports these ordinances because they are fair and reasonable and do not do violence to the institution of marriage," Michael Otterson, the...
  • Only one female holds the Medal of Honor

    11/11/2009 4:41:55 AM PST · by mshoffner · 18 replies · 756+ views
    Huntington Examiner ^ | 11/11/2009 | Mark Shoffner
    Women have served in military conflict, in one position or another, since the American War of Independence. Now, women are in most, if not all parts of the US Military. Many have been awarded honors for their bravery and service. But only one has earned the right to wear the Medal of Honor.
  • Family sues over boy's gun show death [ 8-year-old boy with Uzi submachine gun]

    11/10/2009 12:00:13 PM PST · by JoeProBono · 29 replies · 978+ views
    hosted ^ | Nov 9
    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- The family of an 8-year-old boy who fatally shot himself at a gun show in western Massachusetts say the Uzi submachine gun jammed twice before he lost control of the weapon and fired into his head. The family of Christopher Bizilj (bah-SEEL') of Ashford, Conn., says in a civil lawsuit filed Friday that a 15-year-old instructor who cleared the gun and handed it back to the victim failed to provide proper guidance.....
  • 'Avengers of Bataan' Indiana's 38th Infantry

    11/10/2009 5:51:50 AM PST · by mshoffner · 254+ views
    Huntington Examiner ^ | 11/10/2009 | Mark Shoffner
    It is 1945 in the Philippines. A short while earlier, American forces were made the Bataan Death March. Now the area between the shore and Zig Zag Pass were once again under U.S. Control. The 'Cyclones' looked at the area. The pass was a few pieces of ground combined to the same degree to roughness and dense jungle. The main road, Route 7 twists violently through the pass, following a line of least terrain resistance that wild pigs must originally have established. The jungle flora in the region is so thick that one can step five yards off the highway...
  • UMass to allow bomber to speak

    11/10/2009 12:17:04 AM PST · by raccoonradio · 11 replies · 492+ views
    Boston Herald ^ | 11/10/09 | Michele McPhee and Dave Wedge
    A fuming Gov. Deval Patrick is taking on University of Massachusetts officials who now say they must allow a convicted terror bomber to speak on campus because of “academic freedom” - even after angry cops thought the event had been stopped. “Gov. Patrick is outraged and extremely disappointed at reports that the University of Massachusetts has again extended a speaking invitation to Raymond Luc Levasseur,” said Patrick spokesman Joe Landolfi. The governor last night called on UMass brass to “review” the abrupt about-face. Levasseur, now under federal parole in a Maine halfway house, was the radical leader of United Freedom...
  • Mom warned for yelling at children [UK]

    11/09/2009 1:57:16 PM PST · by JoeProBono · 21 replies · 635+ views
    upi ^ | Nov. 9, 2009
    A British woman said she was followed home by an off-duty police officer who overheard her yelling at her children and later received a warning. The 34-year-old mother, who asked not to be named, said she threatened to smack her misbehaving children while they were shopping at a Woolston, England, grocery store in August, The Daily Mail reported Monday. The woman said two officers came to her door six weeks later and informed her an off-duty officer had overheard her during the incident and followed her home. She said a letter from the Southampton council children's services department told her...
  • TCU Football and the BCS: Is it fair to exclude a "weak conference"?

    11/08/2009 11:14:39 AM PST · by dangus · 38 replies · 747+ views
    Vanity ^ | 11-8-09 | Dangus
    The likelihood of outrage seems inevitable this year in college football: The BCS controversy, which even President Obama has issued proclamations about, seems ready to explode, since six undefeated teams - two from minor conferences - survive with only three games left in the season. Two conferences, Mountain West and Western Athletic (WAC) are excluded from automatic participation in the BCS, and must compete for one of two wildcard teams, and both still have undefeated teams. But should a team which has gone undefeated and unchallenged take a slot from Alabama or Florida, which are likely to also go undefeated......
  • The Happiness Hat Will Spike Your Skull

    11/07/2009 5:36:28 AM PST · by Daffynition · 28 replies · 607+ views
    gizmodo.com ^ | Nov 7 2009 | staff reporter
    This is the Happiness Hat. It detects whether or not you're smiling. If you aren't, it jabs you in the back of the head with a metal spike. Nothing makes people happier than sharp skull pain! The whole thing is a project by interactive artist and designer Lauren McCarthy, designed to train you towards "Improved Social Interacting." On the one hand, it seems like something out of a dystopian nightmare. On the other, you have such a pretty mouth when you smile! Why not show it off?
  • Happy Carl Sagan Day!

    11/07/2009 5:12:58 AM PST · by GolfingRam · 9 replies · 365+ views
    CultureLab ^ | November 7, 2009 | Ivan Semeniuk
    Back in 1980 the US space programme was in the doldrums. Apollo was fading into history and there hadn't been a US astronaut in space for five years. The quirky space shuttle, much diminished from its initial vision, was still waiting to make its maiden flight. But that fall came Cosmos, a revolutionary documentary series with a compelling host. Both the television universe and the real one have never been quite the same. Carl Sagan, by equal measure professorial and childlike, offered space enthusiasts a new paradigm. Buck Rogers was out; refined and groovy cosmic citizen was in. Here was...
  • HELP! My childs school just decided that there will be no Christmas tree this year!

    11/06/2009 12:09:22 AM PST · by Anti-Hillary · 57 replies · 1,308+ views
    self | 11-6-09 | anti-hillary
    Many of us parents just learned that ONE teacher complained that it offended her and they nixed the tradition. We are HOPPING mad and plan to do something about it. Any EFFECTIVE ideas????
  • Here’s why nature nurtures tradition

    11/05/2009 11:00:46 PM PST · by Lorianne · 1 replies · 232+ views
    Providence Journal ^ | November 5, 2009 | David Brussat
    Someday, people will realize that they can demand better buildings and cities, and they will do so. Extraordinarily rich and powerful people will sense a market in flux, will shudder, see their fortunes heading for the door, and tap their politicians on the shoulder. Architects will start making places people like. Look for a tipping point. It could have happened during the redesign process after Sept. 11, 2001. It did not, but it could have. Someday it will. When it does happen, it will not be because millions suddenly read a book called “A Theory of Architecture” (2006) by architectural...
  • Geology Picture of the Week, November 1-7, 2009: State Parks in Montana

    11/05/2009 7:05:29 PM PST · by cogitator · 12 replies · 611+ views
    Various
    I thought I'd be domestic for a bit and explore state parks in Montana. Obviously it's a state famous for mountains and glaciers and geysers (well, most of those are in Wyoming, but still), so I wondered what would be at the "state park" level. Found some next stuff. Each picture comes with a link to the page on the Montana state parks Web site. 1. Giant Springs State Park 2. Medicine Rocks State Park (click this one for full-size 3. Lewis and Clark Caverns (Montana's first state park) A very good image of the caverns (I can't share this...