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The 2009 movie “The Blind Side” does not state or imply that the Tuohy family adopted Michael Oher. Neither does Michael Lewis’ 2006 book that inspired the film that won Sandra Bullock an Oscar. In 2011, when Michael Oher published his first memoir, “I Beat the Odds,” he stated directly that the Tuohys secured a conservatorship when he was a senior in high school. He wrote that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy insisted that he maintain a relationship with his biological mother and 11 siblings. Oher wrote that his mother participated in the procedures necessary for the Tuohys to become...

We suppose the “logic” behind this lunacy is the dreaded 2.3% federal budget cut coming our way this Friday. The only surprise is helpful Obama aides weren’t there to sign them up for driver’s licenses and EBT cards. They probably took care of that before releasing this wave of criminal upon unsuspecting Americans. The federal government released groups of illegal immigrants from custody across the country Monday at the same time the White House was making its case that impending budget cuts would harm efforts to protect the border and enforce federal immigration laws. Advocates reported “waves” of illegal immigrants...

Medicare Administrator Donald Berwick, MD, and White House officials are about to hold a series of closed-door meetings with physicians and other providers on the healthcare reform law, according to a report by the Hill. An invitation to the meetings, which start Dec. 17, by White House health policy adviser Zeke Emanuel, MD, said they would be with "healthcare providers to exchange ideas on areas in need of attention." Becker's Hospital Review previously reported that CMS officials are expected to release proposed rules for accountable care organizations, part of the reform law, in the short week before Christmas. However, the...

According to state records, one of the investors in California’s $2.3 billion sale of 11 state office buildings is a Newport Beach company founded and run, until 2008, by Hadi Makarechian, a contributor of more than $314,000 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger since 2003 and nearly $175,000 to ballot measures backed by the GOP governor. Makarechian, 62, a long-time real estate developer and investor, was appointed by the GOP governor as a University of California regent in 2008. ... Makarechian was traveling and unavailable, his office said. Kern said Makarechian was still an owner and officer of the company. In his...

An amateur cameraman claims he's got video proof that California Sen. Barbara Boxer's supporters enlisted day laborers to hold signs protesting her Republican opponent. Derek Broes, a supporter of GOP Senate nominee Carly Fiorina, has released a video he shot outside a Pasadena debate that showed two Spanish-speaking men holding a slapdash white sign accusing "corporate cash" of loving the Republican candidate. Though the audio is hard to hear, one of the men clearly says he did not make the sign -- another appears to say a "lady" was paying them to hold it.

The nation's epidemic unemployment knocked nearly 4 million more Americans into poverty last year, swelling the ranks of the poor to the largest number in at least half a century. And if the depth of the pain wrought by the financial crisis is already familiar, what's emerging is a new picture of how that pain has undermined the economic recovery and complicated government efforts to get the country back on track.

Experts say federal, state and local authorities could tally tens of millions of dollars in bills to escort the 23-year-old Nigerian from the federal prison in Milan, seal an international border, block downtown streets, keep protesters at bay and make sure local buildings and infrastructure remain safe.

VICTORIAN Water Minister Tim Holding has been found alive. Sky News reports a news helicopter has spotted Mr Holding and reported his location to police. Police confirmed the report and the fact that Mr Holding was alive.

Poor weather is hampering the search effort in the Victorian alpine region for State Water and Tourism Minister Tim Holding. Mr Holding has not been heard from since Saturday evening when he headed out on a solo trek to Mount Feathertop, north-east of Melbourne. It is Victoria's second highest mountain and the climb is dangerous at the best of times. Police are not confident of finding Mr Holding today because of the weather. There is low cloud cover and constant drizzle, with temperatures hovering around zero degrees Celsius. Helicopters are unable to join the search because of the low cloud...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2006 – An 82mm mortar round fired by militia forces from a nearby residential area caused yesterday’s fire at a Baghdad ammunition holding area around 10:40 p.m., officials with Multinational Division Baghdad announced today. The fire ignited tank, artillery and small-arms ammunition at a forward operating base in the central Rasheed district of Baghdad. "Intelligence indicates that civilians aligned with a militia organization were responsible for last night's mortar attack," Army Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a spokesman for Multinational Division Baghdad, said. At the time of the attack, base personnel went to full alert. Attack aviation and...

Kaman: Evans pulled testicles, prompting outburst ESPN.com news services LOS ANGELES -- Chris Kaman received a flagrant foul. Reggie Evans may have instigated it. Kaman The alleged circumstances, however, make it one of the more odd altercations during the NBA playoffs.What exactly happened is what the NBA is trying to determine after Kaman's claim that Evans grabbed his testicles and "pulled hard" during Saturday's NBA playoff game in Denver, according to a report in Monday's Los Angeles Times. Kaman responded by shoving Evans and was assessed the flagrant foul.Kaman reported his version of what happened to the officials and repeated...

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO (March 31, 2006) -- General Robert Magnus, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, visited Naval Medical Center San Diego March 22, for a look into the health and welfare of local injured Marines. The general took time from meetings with the commanding officer of NMCSD and Navy Medicine West to spend lunch with injured Marines and Navy corpsmen who assist them aboard NMCSD. “You all represent an awesome team, a tremendous asset, and I have to thank you all for what you do. Semper Fi,” said Gen. Magnus. Between the entrée and dessert, Gen....

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. military is holding five U.S. citizens suspected of insurgent activities in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday. They were captured separately and don't appear to have ties to one another, spokesman Bryan Whitman said. He declined to identify them, citing a Pentagon policy that prohibits identification of detainees. Three of those being detained are Iraqi-Americans; another is an Iranian-American; the fifth is a Jordanian-American, Whitman said. The three Iraqi-Americans were captured in April, May and June, officials said. The Iranian-American was captured May 17, one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of...

Marc Rich Holding Refutes UN Oil Scandal Allegations Wednesday December 15, 1:54 PM EST ZUG, Switzerland -(Dow Jones)- Former American fugitive Marc Rich refuted media allegations Wednesday that his holding company was involved in illegal transactions as part of the U.N.'s Oil for Food program. In a brief press statement, Marc Rich Holding said the allegations that Rich made illegal payments to Iraq in order to secure lucrative oil contracts are groundless. A spokesman declined to comment on whether a U.S. criminal investigation has been opened into the matter. The allegations were first reported by ABC News in early December....

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

'Hey, hurry up. You're holding up my men' (Filed: 21/11/2004) Once the fighting in Fallujah began, Toby Harnden was keen to prove he would not be a burden to his platoon. Here he reveals his life embedded with the US Army. The ground rules were simple, said Lieut Nathan Braden, as he read out all 12 pages of them to our group of embedded journalists. We were to bring no drugs, no alcohol and no guns. Especially no drugs, he repeated, his gaze lingering over the longer-haired photographers. US Army troops search for insurgents "If you have it, get rid...

Astronomers holding thumbs in Beagle searchMarch 08 2004 at 06:30PM By Mark Meadows London - Beagle 2, the British space probe which disappeared as it descended towards Mars, may have been detected on the surface of the Red Planet, scientists said on Monday. No signal has been received from the craft since it was due to land on Christmas Day last year, despite various attempts by Mars orbiters and telescopes on Earth to make contact. But photographic images of the area where Beagle 2 was to have come down show four bright spots, dubbed a "string of pearls" by scientists,...

US is holding 10 000 prisoners in Iraq September 17 2003 at 10:53AM United States officials say they are holding 10 000 prisoners in Iraq, nearly double the number previously reported. And among the security cases are six inmates claiming to be Americans and two who say they are British. About 4 400 were classified as security detainees, including about 3 800 who did not previously "fit into any category", said Brigadier-General Janis Karpinski. Previous figures given by the US military had put the total number of prisoners at between 5 000 and 5 500. "We got an order from...

<p>Rob McGarvey is, in the lingo of the blackjack world, an advantage player. A card counter. To maximize his take, he keeps track of the cards as they're dealt, and tailors his bets based on the cards his system predicts will hit the felt next.</p>

U.S. Will Tighten Rules on Holding Terror Suspects Fri Jun 13, 3:05 PM ET The New York Times to My Yahoo! By ERIC LICHTBLAU The New York Times WASHINGTON, June 12 Federal authorities said today that they planned to use stricter standards for identifying and locking up terrorist suspects in light of concerns raised in a recent report that hundreds of illegal immigrants were mistreated after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Law enforcement officials plan to make at least 12 structural changes that were recommended in a report issued last week by the Justice Department inspector general, according to interviews...