Free Republic

YAKIMA, Wash.- Manuel Alvarez eats breakfast and gets ready for school. He's eager but nervous. He was expelled Monday from Barge Lincoln Elementary for making a gun with his hands. His mom says it's a hand gesture that could have easily been corrected. "He didn't know did they talk to him about it what actions were taken to tell him this isn't allowed," Lorena Hurtado, Manuel's mother. Manuel has a clean record never in trouble before his mother says a warning would have worked or even a parent-teacher meeting. Instead, His mom says, Manuel's afraid. "I got a call from...

I saw some of the Oregon blowing out USC at Eugene Saturday night. I noticed in the crowd shots there were Oregon fans making the Obama "O" with their fingers. I was just wondering if that "O" came first or those moonbat leftists in Eugene decided to adopt the Obama "O"?

Obama: Sneeze into Your Sleeve, Not Your Hands Posted by Stephanie Condon Every American has a role to play in responding to the H1N1 flu virus, President Obama said today. During an afternoon statement in the Rose Garden of the White House, Mr. Obama had a message for people to prevent the spread of the disease: Wash your hands frequently, and cover your sneezes with your sleeve, not your hands. "I don't want anybody to be alarmed, but I do want everybody to be prepared," the president said. The new government push about H1N1 prevention also includes a new White...

MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - The U.S. navy handed over 17 suspected Somali pirates to Kenya on Wednesday, taking the number of such captives in prisons along the east African country's coast to 111. Kenyan police say the influx of suspected Somali pirates is clogging jails and congesting local courts and they would like foreign navies patrolling the shipping lanes off Somalia to start taking captives to other countries.

It seems a certain cardboard cutout of President Barack Obama has white hands. Or does it? Advanced Graphics, a Utah company in its 25th year of producing cardboard cutouts, released its Obama during election season. Many fans have posed for photos next to the life-size model of Obama, which is popular at sites around Washington, D.C. The cutout even made it to a funeral home in Jersey. Then the online magazine The Root published the story "Black President, White Hands?" in which the author said the body on the cutout appeared to have been grafted from a heavier, white man.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Wash your hands, folks, especially you ladies. A new study found that women have a greater variety of bacteria on their hands than men do. And everybody has more types of bacteria than the researchers expected to find. "One thing that really is astonishing is the variability between individuals, and also between hands on the same individual," said University of Colorado biochemistry assistant professor Rob Knight, a co-author of the paper. "The sheer number of bacteria species detected on the hands of the study participants was a big surprise, and so was the greater diversity of bacteria...

This is so true today...Replace "Gore" insert "OBAMA"

FORT WORTH -- A man moving into a new apartment today may have found a bag containing two human hands.A prospective tenant in the 1100 block of Grainger Street in southwest Fort Worth was cleaning out a garage apartment in anticipation of moving in when he found a plastic grocery sack in the freezer, according to Fort Worth police.The man opened the sack and found what looked like "two mangled up frozen hands," according to a statement from Fort Worth Police spokesman Lt. Paul Henderson.The man called police. Some officers who arrived on the scene agreed that the items could...

Below are the results of a three-day poll in the state of Iowa. Results are based on telephone interviews with 600 likely Republican cacus goers and 600 likely Democratic cacus goers, aged 18+, and conducted December 26-27, 2007. The margin of sampling error is ±4.5 percentage points for each party. 1. If the 2008 Republican presidential caucus were held today between Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson, for whom would you vote? (Republicans Only; Names Rotated) Mike Huckabee 29% Mitt Romney 27% Fred Thompson 15% John McCain 14% Rudy Giuliani 4%...

WATERFORD -- Waterford High School's principal reportedly disciplined two freshmen for fighting by having them get on their hands and knees, look at each other through a chair, apologize to each other and promise their behavior would end. It worked, according to one of the boys who made the pledge after the altercation last week. It also made his mother furious. Penny Watson said she was shocked when her son told her of the punishment. "I can understand having them stand up like men, apologize and shake hands," she said. "I'm past confusion. Now I'm angry."

A woman has filed a lawsuit against a McDonald's franchise, claiming that employees in two suburban Chicago restaurants refused to serve her because a birth defect forces her to use her feet as hands. Dawn Larson was born with Holt-Oram Syndrome, which left her with diminutive hands just six inches from her shoulder, according to a report Monday in the Chicago Sun-Times. "I drank my baby bottle with my feet," she told the paper. "Nobody ever taught me how to do it, I just did it. I can ride a regular 10-speed bike. I can swim. It has not been...

The man responsible for protecting Egypt's antiquities has said he will "fight" for the return of an ancient bust of Nefertiti, an ancient Egyptian queen, now housed in a Berlin museum. Zahi Hawass also requested the temporary return of other ancient Egyptian artifacts, including the Rosetta Stone which is housed in London's British museum. "Some people say, 'If we give this bust to Egypt for three months they will not return it'." Hawass said, regarding the bust of Nefertiti, in an interview on Wednesday.Zahi Hawass is seeking "unique artifacts" from at least 10 museums around the world [AP]Germany says the...

SCRANTON, Pa. - During a nine-day trial, a federal judge has learned a lot about Hazleton, a working-class former coal town that few outside Pennsylvania had heard of until the mayor declared war on illegal immigrants. Mayor Lou Barletta and his administration told U.S. District Judge James Munley that illegal immigrants have ruined the town's quality of life and drained the municipal treasury. However, the landlords and business owners who joined the American Civil Liberties Union and others in suing to overturn the ordinance targeting those immigrants said the crackdown was hurting them, emptying apartments and closing stores. Ultimately, the...

LONG BEACH – Some California public university students may be paying higher fees next year. California State University officials are expected to approve a tentative $4.2 billion budget today that includes $65.2 million worth of potential student fee increases – which could translate into as much as 10 percent higher tuition for the 2007-08 academic year. CSU officials declined to call the sum a fee increase yesterday, even in theory. “It's a fund we're hoping the governor's office will support,” said Patrick Lenz, assistant vice chancellor for finance. He said there will likely be many adjustments to the budget before...

Poor farmers invoke land law to get their hands on South Africa's richest diamond mine Stephen Bevan in Taaibosch (Filed: 01/10/2006) Deep in the bushveld of South Africa's far north, 20 miles down a dirt track from the nearest road, the dusty township of Taaibosch is an unlikely place to find the owners of one of the country's most valuable pieces of real estate. Yet the residents of its rows of tiny brick huts, baking in the harsh sun, may soon be declared joint proprietors of South Africa's richest diamond mine. John Matlathi, 66, the village's head man, and other...

DAHUK, Iraq (Army News Service, July 19, 2006) – Soldiers brought toys and smiles to children in one of Iraq’s northernmost provinces recently with Operation Helping Hands. The humanitarian assistance mission was conducted by Soldiers of the 142nd Corps Support Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. “The 142nd enjoys this just as much as the kids enjoy it,” said Lt. Col. Ronald Green, battalion commander. “This will stay in the minds and hearts of my Soldiers.” Soldiers handed out Beanie Babies, sports uniforms, soccer balls, teddy bears and candy, all donated by a variety of American organizations, said Capt. John Smith, battalion...

USS PORT ROYAL (CG 73), North Arabian Gulf – Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 3, U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Carl Jensen, turned over command of Combined Task Force (CTF) 158 to Royal Australian Navy Commodore Peter Lockwood June 23. CTF 158 is responsible for Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the North Arabian Gulf (NAG). This coalition force works with the Iraqi navy to protect key oil producing assets. MSO help set the conditions for security and stability in the NAG and protect Iraq 's sea-based infrastructure which provides the Iraqi people the opportunity for self-determination. “These are some tough...

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2006 – The United Service Organizations of Metropolitan Washington honored several individuals and the Miss America Organization here last night during its 23rd annual awards dinner. Navy Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (left), Marine Corps Sgt. Michael Donnelly (center), and Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Justin Ledsome talk at the USO of Metropolitan Washington Annual Awards Dinner, March 22. Giambastiani presented Donnelly with the Bronze Star Medal and Ledsome with a USO award. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Sean P. Houlihan, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Miss America...

The fate of the nation's most ambitious stem cell research agency will soon rest in the hands of a California judge as the weeklong trial challenging the institute's legality neared conclusion Wednesday. Three taxpayer groups have alleged in two lawsuits that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine lacks the proper state government oversight to dole out $3 billion in stem cell grants over the next 10 years. They also accused the board that oversees the agency as being rife with conflict of interests and wrongly exempting itself from the state's open-meeting law. The trial was expected to end Thursday after...

HAMZA GETS £30,000 NURSE.. TO WIPE HIS BUM Jail aid as cleric gets new hooks on NHS By Nathan Yates TERROR suspect Abu Hamza has been given new hooks on the NHS - and a £30,000-a-year nurse to wipe his backside in jail. The Muslim extremist, who has no hands, was fitted with special £5,000 replacement hooks because it was feared his original metal ones could be used as weapons. He is unable to clean himself as he could do himself an injury. So prison officials have hired a male nurse named Harry to perform the task. A prison source...