Free Republic

I was talking to a friend the other day who teaches at an elementary school and has a student whom I shall name Shakir. Shakir is ten, and he's barely literate. My friend's class is not a large one; she has five to eight students. She also has a teaching assistant, and between them, the kids receive a lot of personal, one-to-one attention. Nevertheless, Shakir still can't read. The why of this phenomenon is quite important; you see, there are lots of Shakirs in the black community. For he is one of many kids flunking his way through the educational system,...

APRIL 23--The parents of a 21-year-old soldier killed in Iraq are suing an online retailer for including their son's name on antiwar t-shirts that list the names of thousands of military personnel killed in the war. In a $10 million federal lawsuit, Michael and Robin Read allege that the manufacturer of the shirts is using their son Brandon's name in a commercial venture without their permission. The Reads's complaint, a copy of which you'll find below, was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, Tennessee; it names Dan Frazier and his firm Lifeweaver, LLC as defendants. While the lawsuit...

A month ago, when I got an e-mail from a Lubbock mom who told me her 16-month-old baby could read, I didn't really take it seriously - especially when she told me it was her first baby.  But after a few weeks and a few more e-mails, I decided to meet her and see for myself.Elizabeth Barrett is now 17 months old. She looks and acts like most babies her age, but  her mom Katy says, "She can read sentences. She can read more words than we can count."  So we watched as Elizabeth pulled out her favorite book,...

FORT HUACHUCA — There is one thing Command Sgt. Maj. Gerry Wykoff is thankful for, and that is Dr. Seuss never wrote an Army Field Manual. As it is, his children’s books are full of tongue twisters, as the senior noncommissioned officer for the Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca found out Monday when he read Seuss’ “The Sleep Book,” to fourth-grade students of Janet Josa’s class at General Myer Elementary School. For many young school students, the Dr. Seuss books are today’s “See Spot Run” that older generations remember from their days in the lower grades of elementary education. Nationwide,...

Electrodes were planted in the part of the brain which controls speech Scientists say they may be on the brink of translating into words the thoughts of a man who can no longer speak, after a pioneering experiment. Electrodes have been implanted in the brain of Eric Ramsay, who has been "locked in" - conscious but paralysed - since a car crash eight years ago. These have been recording pulses in areas of the brain involved in speech. Now, New Scientist magazine reports, they are to use the signals he generates to drive speech software. Although the data is...

There it sits on your night stand, that book you've meant to read for who knows how long but haven't yet cracked open. Tonight, as you feel its stare from beneath that teetering pile of magazines, know one thing — you are not alone. One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices. The survey reveals a nation whose book readers, on the whole, can...

For the past two decades, Barack Obama has been a faithful member of the congregation at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Trinity is no run-of-the-mill black church. It's social activism and political awareness on pure, natural holy water. Trinity's progressive pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, preaches the black theology of liberation. And he practices what he preaches. Back when apartheid was the law of the land in South Africa, when Nelson Mandela was a political prisoner and when American corporations, institutions and the U.S. government all gave their blessings to those evil doings, the dashiki-wearing minister planted a ''Free...

This is an excellent, must read article. It is fairly long so I just posted the link. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/452layhd.asp?pg=2

Don’t bother standing up or clapping, any of you. I already know who won the election, and I know how you feel. I come before you tonight not to make amends, not to make it good, curry any favor or find any middle ground. I am, more or less, a lame duck. You’ve had your 100 hours of party time. I know. I won’t get any legislation passed without some major bottom-kissing. Maybe something on illegal aliens. That health insurance thing I’ll be talking about later tonight is pretty much for show. I know it isn’t going anywhere. A proposal...

Sunday morning vanity for a buddy. One of his new careproviders is fufilling his interest in reading books out loud to him. He does not care for books on tape as he enjoys the interaction of reading with someone. He is a quadroplegic 27yrs now and very active in all aspects of life, case you are wondering. So our little town started a community reading circle and he can check books out of the Library but would rather buy the book and keep it. So word is getting out. But he needs Titles/Authors as people want to give him books....

II MEF CG, wife participate in Read Across AmericaSubmitted by: II Marine Expeditionary ForceStory Identification #: 200632151833Story by Sgt. Tracee L. Jackson MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.-- (March 2, 2006) -- The commanding general of the II Marine Expeditionary Force, Lt. Gen. James F. Amos, and his wife, Bonnie, participated in the Read Across America program at Jefferson Primary School here March 2. According to Jeanette Martinez, a coordinator for the event, the program is designed to show the importance of reading to school-aged children. Guest readers, including senators, commanders, doctors, and other high-profile professionals have visited all...

FINALLY, LAURA HAS A WAY TO GET TO THE STUDIO ON TIME! Laura's Iraq Journal Day 1: Feb. 5th, 2006First let me repeat what I already knew--the troops serving over here are a stellar, inspiring group. I have been thoroughly impressed from the moment of our first contact with the 4th Infantry Division personnel who helped faciitate our trip into Iraq. In the middle of the night we were whisked off to an undisclosed location, and a few hours later flown to Baghdad by a great Air Force crew out of Alaska and a trusty old C-130. A number of...

Newsvine.com, a new type of news site created by four former Disney/ABCNEWs.com employees, is now up and running in beta. CyberJournalist.net has been invited to join the beta and is impressed with what it's seen so far. The site is a slick combination of some of the trendiest news-related tools online now, incorporating news aggregation, social networking, citizen journalism, blogging, user ratings and online discussions. Think of it as one-part Slashdot, one-part del.icio.us and one-part Google News, with a few other neat features thrown in. The site is built around four general actions: reading, discussing, writing and seeding the news....

Newsvine.com, a new type of news site created by four former Disney/ABCNEWs.com employees, is now up and running in beta. CyberJournalist.net has been invited to join the beta and is impressed with what it's seen so far. The site is a slick combination of some of the trendiest news-related tools online now, incorporating news aggregation, social networking, citizen journalism, blogging, user ratings and online discussions. Think of it as one-part Slashdot, one-part del.icio.us and one-part Google News, with a few other neat features thrown in. The site is built around four general actions: reading, discussing, writing and seeding the news....

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Ca. (Dec. 14, 2005) -- Six Marines, including Maj. Gen. Michael R. Lehnert, Marine Corps Installation West commanding general, volunteered several hours of their time to make a lasting impression on local children. These Marines didn’t perform duties related to their jobs in the Corps, however, they read storybooks to elementary students at Bonsall West Elementary School for the Adopt A School Program Nov. 15. The Marines from Headquarters and Support Battalion, Marine Corps Base, made a pact to work closely with the students and participate in everything from tutoring in subjects like math and...

Winning by Jack Welch, Suzy Welch If you judge books by their covers, Jack Welch's Winning certainly grabs your attention. Testimonials on the back come from none other than Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rudy Giuliani, and Tom Brokaw, and other praise comes from Fortune, Business Week, and Financial Times. As the legendary retired CEO

Scientists say they have been able to monitor people's thoughts via scans of their brains.Teams at University College London and University of California in LA could tell what images people were looking at or what sounds they were listening to. The US team say their study proves brain scans do relate to brain cell electrical activity. The UK team say such research might help paralysed people communicate, using a "thought-reading" computer. In their Current Biology study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, people were shown two different images at the same time - a red stripy pattern in front of...

Reid slams Santorum Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) exchanged harsh words with Republican Conference Chairman Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) on the Senate floor yesterday, accusing him of practicing “crass politics.” In an unusually personal speech, Reid said, “I will not be lectured about civility by the junior senator from Pennsylvania who has repeatedly disrespected veterans.” Earlier in the day, Santorum asked Reid to “show some leadership and some civility,” saying Reid had acted in a “partisan fashion” after Reid questioned the credentials of Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson on veterans issues. Reid later apologized for failing to acknowledge Nicholson’s...

The Free Republic Book Club is an informal gathering of readers and lovers of all genre of books, which meets on an irregular basis (whenever I remember to post and have a copy of the ping list available.) If you would like to be on this ping list, please send me mail and I'll include you. If you wish to be removed, please send mail. If you already sent me mail wishing to be removed and you were pinged anyway, oops, my apologies, please request again (sorry about that). Today's topic: what's on your summer reading list? Whether you are...

HUMAN EVENTS asked a panel of 15 conservative scholars and public policy leaders to help us compile a list of the Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Each panelist nominated a number of titles and then voted on a ballot including all books nominated. A title received a score of 10 points for being listed No. 1 by one of our panelists, 9 points for being listed No. 2, etc. Appropriately, The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, earned the highest aggregate score and the No. 1 listing.

Special to LiveScience LiveScience.com Wed Apr 27,10:24 AM ET Empathy allows us to feel the emotions of others, to identify and understand their feelings and motives and see things from their perspective. How we generate empathy remains a subject of intense debate in cognitive science. Some scientists now believe they may have finally discovered its root. We're all essentially mind readers, they say. The idea has been slow to gain acceptance, but evidence is mounting. Mirror neurons In 1996, three neuroscientists were probing the brain of a macaque monkey when they stumbled across a curious cluster of cells in the...

Rosemary Curtis (R) holds the hand of her boyfriend Michael Belardo as he hangs in the 'Superman' pose during a Suspension Convention in Providence, Rhode Island, April 2, 2005. From tentative first-timers to well-practiced masters, more than 100 aficionados celebrated their passion for body suspension at the three-day gathering, held in an old textile mill.

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!

A friend asked me to see if I could find and print out the third debate between Bush and Kerry. I did, and as I pulled the pages from the printer, quite naturally, I began to read it. Even though, I had sat and watched the entire third Presidential debate, Oct. 13th, 2004, seeing the words of the moderator, and the two candidates on paper, was a stunning eye-opener. God, how I wish that all or some of the debate could be plastered somewhere in front of the public. (and dont tell me some news-rag did it, already, if they...

The upbeat coverage of John Kerry and the recent Democratic National Convention in the Register ["'Best days are still to come,'" Front Page, July 30] and other media brought to mind the words of the late great Winston Churchill. He once noted that it's normal to be liberal and idealistic when you are young; to hope that government will answer most of life's problems. However, as people mature and understand life in a deeper sense, they tend to combine a healthier dose of idealism and pragmatism. He added that if folks continue to be liberal into middle age, they have...

Time To Engage God's (America's) Enemies It has been said that all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing. It's time for Christians to pull our heads out of the sand and take a stand. One man in California has the Supreme Court of this land now reviewing whether the phrase "under God" should be removed from our Pledge of Allegiance. The Chief Justice of State of Alabama cannot have a display of the Ten Commandments on courthouse property, despite that they are commonly acknowledged to be the basis for...

Science & Technology 5/5/03 Article of Faith A stone tablet could be a relic of King Solomon's temple--or a clever forgery By Betsy Carpenter Solomon's Temple was the glory of Jerusalem after its completion in the 10th century B.C. Fronted by colossal bronze columns, it was said to be built of hewn limestone. The nave was lined with fragrant cedar and held a massive golden table and altar. In an inner sanctuary guarded by gilded olive-wood doors, even the walls glistened with gold. The sole remaining testimony to this wondrous temple is the biblical account--and now, perhaps, a dark slab...

Rep. John Read of Gautier, a Democrat since first winning election in 1992, has qualified to run as a Republican. He will be seeking a fourth term. Read is the fifth lawmaker to switch to the GOP since December, when Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck left the Democrats. Read said he changed parties to better represent his Jackson County district, which is overwhelmingly Republican. He said the decision won't affect the way he votes in the House. "I've always been a conservative," he said. "A lot of people have always assumed that I was a Republican." There are now 82 Democrats,...

I just got a haricut. A good, decent, short haircut. A businessman's haircut. Conservative. Short back and sides with a number three buzzer. Ah. (Deep breath). Is there anything better than a fresh, honest haircut? The woman who cut my hair was named Ludmila, an emigre from Moscow. We were able to speak a few words of Russian together. "Does it luke alraght?" "Da. Xorosho. Cpaceba." Man, does anything make you feel as good as a nice, new haircut? I haven't got anything on my neck except a button-down collar and nothing on my ears except Rush Limbaugh.