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<p>“Old-fashioned inexpensive retro toys, such as red rubber balls, simple building blocks, clay and crayons, that don’t cost so much and are usually hidden in the back shelves are generally healthier for children than the electronic educational toys that have fancier boxes and cost $89.99,” says Temple University developmental psychologist Kathy Hirsh-Pasek.</p>

A Muslim lawyer has launched an extraordinary rant against Christmas, branding the celebration 'evil'. Hate preacher Anjem Choudary claimed the festival was the 'pathway to hell' and urged his followers to boycott it. 'In the world today many Muslims, especially those residing in Western countries, are exposed to the evil celebration Christmas,' he raged in a sermon broadcast on the internet. 'Many take part in the festival celebrations by having Christmas turkey dinners. 'Decorating the house, purchasing Christmas trees or having Christmas turkey meals are completely prohibited by Allah. 'Many still practise this corrupt celebration as a remembrance of the...

MOSCOW: Moscow and Tehran are in negotiations for the sale of fighter jet engines and helicopters to Iran, the Kommersant daily reported on Monday, citing Russian arms industry officials. Iran wants to buy RD-33 engines for a fleet of new Iranian fighter jets, as well as an upgraded version of the Ka-32 helicopter that Tehran wants to be assembled in Iran, Kommersant said.

How prepared are you for Christmas? A lot of singles I know and who live on their own do not really do much for Christmas in the way of decorations or buying any special food etc for Christmas. A lot of them get an invite for the day to spend either with friends or family members and therefore their sole preparation is buying a few gifts for the people likely to be at this event and maybe contributing either monetarily to the host/hostess or taking a few food/drink items on the day. So as a single you think you are...

What I want for Christmas - Here link here

Holiday Shopping: Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah FRiends! This is the time of year that is special because is engenders the spirit of giving and selflessness of its sacred origins. Each of us, in his or her own way, has a special place in our heart for this joyful time. As we put others' needs and desires first, as we look forward to the expression of surprise and delight on our loved ones' faces as they receive our gifts, as we peruse the ailes, let us consider the economic import of our duty. Some...

EMMETSBURG, Iowa - Memo to Hillary Rodham Clinton: Your deputy campaign manager was right. An internal campaign memo late last month urged the Democratic front-runner to bypass first-up and momentum-generating Iowa because of Clinton's lackluster showing despite drawing large crowds — a memo she immediately disavowed. Yet, the reality from Des Moines to Dubuque lends credence to deputy campaign manager Mike Henry's assessment that for Clinton, Iowa is "our consistently weakest state." Presidential rival John Edwards has capitalized on the remnants of his 2004 presidential operation in the state, the freedom to visit in the absence of a day job...

Top 10 Christmas Gifts for Conservatives in 2006 Posted Dec 15, 2006 10. 365 Manners Kids Should Know by Sheryl Eberly Why do today's children have such appallingly bad manners? One reason is that, for at least a generation, manners training in the home has been neglected; indeed, many parents have forgotten some basic rules of etiquette themselves. Now, Sheryl Eberly, a former White House aide to Nancy Reagan, gives parents an accessible plan for teaching (and learning!) good manners that begins in the home and covers every social situation and etiquette opportunity children will encounter. Far more than a...

Dateline 06 December 2006 As we turn our attention to buying presents for friends and relatives the age-old problem arises. Everyone except John Kerry’s wife knows at least one person who is richer than they are. How do you buy a present for someone who has everything they might want, except for a handful of things that are out of your price range? The answer is simple: buy them a goat. I am guessing here, but probably your friend does not have a goat already, but if so, buy them another. You can never have too many goats. I should...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2006 --- The Department of Justice has launched a Web site to protect servicemembers’ rights, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzalez said yesterday. Gonzales, speaking to the Disabled American Veterans annual convention in Chicago, said the Justice Department has made it a priority to enforce civil rights laws for American servicemembers. “The law recognizes that although we can never thank you enough for your service, we can take away some of the worries that soldiers might face when they are deployed,” he said in prepared remarks. The government promises that servicemembers’ jobs will still be theirs when...

Unions are increasingly courting immigrant day laborers in hopes of reversing a longtime decline in membership and clout. But labor experts say organizing a work force that is mobile and largely undocumented presents enormous logistical challenges and risks of alienating rank-and-file members. "Everyday there are day laborers who walk in and say, 'I want a union,'" said Janice Fine, a labor professor at Rutgers University. "But the road to getting one is almost an impossible journey." The Laborers' International Union announced Thursday that early next year it will begin recruiting day laborers in the construction industry to become full-fledged union...

6/23/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- A sergeant severely wounded in action in Iraq received the Purple Heart Medal today, pinned on his chest by the Air Force chief of staff. Staff Sgt. Israel del Toro Jr. accepted the medal from Gen. T. Michael Moseley at a ceremony at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. More than 200 people attended the event, including family members. The sergeant, supported by family members, fellow controllers, A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots, Soldiers, an Airman Leadership School class and the hospital medical staff was at a loss for words because...

Building near WTC entombs toxins, remainsBy AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago AP Photo: In this Sept. 30, 2001, file photo NEW YORK - While debates rage about why more buildings have not gone up at the World Trade Center site, there is one, shrouded in a web of black netting and full of trade center dust, that can't seem to come down. The vacant 41-story former Deutsche Bank AG building looms above ground zero, contaminated with toxic waste and still holding tiny body parts more than four years after the trade center collapsed onto it on Sept....

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas presented a proposed government Sunday, giving itself key ministries after failing to persuade more moderate parties to join in a coalition that could have softened its hard-line image and prevented likely economic sanctions. Incoming Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh presented Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with a 24-member Cabinet made up of Hamas activists and professionals, including one woman and one Christian. Fellow Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar would be the new foreign minister. Earlier Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators reached a tentative agreement on opening at least one crossing into Gaza to get aid into the...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Vice President Dick Cheney awarded medals for valor in combat to two Army aviators and two infantrymen during a visit with the Combined Joint Task Force-76 troops Dec. 19. Cheney awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor to Staff Sgt. Jonathan Brooks and Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Holland, both infantrymen assigned to 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry (Airborne), for their actions in combat May 30. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Guy Betts, a pilot from Company B, 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, received the Air Medal with Valor for engaging the enemy during a medical evacuation mission June...

...The 20th century saw the invention of dozens of much-loved toys as well. Still-popular board games like Tripoley, Sorry and Monopoly have been around since the 1930s, and Crayola Crayons are more than 100 years old! Twister, made by a division of Hasbro, sold more than 3 million games within a year of its release in 1966. With the help of our friends at the Toy Industry Association, we've put together a slideshow of some of the best-selling and best-loved toys of the past 100 years. Click here for some fun facts about these fabulous toys.

A White House Christmas 2005All information taken from http://www.whitehouse.gov .WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE! This year’s theme has been chosen to highlight the beauty to be found in nature. Our emphasis for this holiday season is on some of the many ways that plants, trees, fruit and flowers can be the stars of holiday decorating. The members of the White House Executive Residence staff and floral designers from across the country have worked tirelessly and creatively to make the White House reflect the wonders of nature’s bounty. Our thanks go to all whose deft hands...

    What memories do you have from Christmases past?  What recipes have been handed down through the years in your family?  Do you have a tradition to share?  A Christmas craft to show?  Is there something that you think of while you are away from home that gives you those warm fuzzy feelings?  Share with us!  We'd love to hear it! Grandma's Old-Fashioned Stack Cake(A Christmas Favorite in Gummy's Family)3/4 cups shortening 1 cup sugar 1 cup molasses 3 eggs 6 cups all-purpose flour 2 t baking powder 1/2 t soda 1 t salt 2 t ginger (ground)...

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for someone? I am too. I'm asking my fellow FReepers to suggest gifts between $1 and $100 for Christmas 2005.

  We Support Our Troops!!!!  Thank you for your service!!! Let's hear what YOU want for Christmas this year. If you don't celebrate Christmas, we'd still love to hear what new toy, gadget, gizmo, or whatchamacallit you'd like to have.  If you don't know, Gummy  has some ideas for you!! Just look below.  Some of our Canteeners have offered suggestions, too.       HiJinx Okay, at the top of my political wish list is Zarqawi's head on a spike. At the top of my tech wish list is a top of the line 19" LCD monitor. At the top of...

FULLERTON, Calif. - Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter who was jailed for protecting a confidential source, presented an award Saturday to perhaps the most famous confidential source — the man known as "Deep Throat." The award presented by the California First Amendment Coalition was accepted by the grandson of former FBI Associate Director W. Mark Felt because the 92-year-old could not make the trip. Miller lauded Felt as a courageous man who helped Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the secrets of the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Nixon. "Without Mark...

An unmanned Russian supply ship docked with the International Space Station on Saturday, delivering food, water and Christmas presents to astronauts running low on supplies. Progress M-51 linked up with the station at 6:58 p.m. (2358 GMT), bringing 2.5 tonnes of supplies for American astronaut Leroy Chiao and Russian Salizhan Sharipov, including letters, videos and photographs from their families. The supply ship completed "a flawless two-day Christmas pilgrimage to the International Space Station," said a commentator on NASA TV, which relayed live Russian images of the rendezvous. "Docking occurred 225 statute miles above Central Asia -- a flawless approach and...

This thread is for those who got diddly, nada, zilch, zip, zero Christmas Presents this year (or any other year). Come and commiserate. You're among friends here. And to those of you who offer the beautiful homily, "It's better to give than receive", please take the time to have a nice tall glass of shaddup.

What did all you Freepers get for Christmas? Did you get what you wanted? (I did a search, sorry if this question has been raised previously)

It is now 5:17 AM on Christmas morning on the East Coast and, true to our family's annual tradition, the rug rats dragged us out of bed precisely at 5:00 AM so that they could start shredding the carefully-constructed wrapping paper on their gifts. Bah humbug. Actually, I have about as much Christmas spirit as the next guy. But really, ladies and gentlemen: why, on one of just a small handful of holidays that working people get during the year, do we have to wake up at 5:00 AM? Am I a Grinch for asking this question? Or is there...

After checking three stores, Beth Cohnen finally found a must-have Christmas gift for her 10-year-old daughter to give to her uncle: a Chia Scooby-Doo. It's bound to be $15 well spent -- he'd asked for it for about five years in a row. And while the uncle recognizes the humor in the quirky pottery, Cohnen said, Chia Pets aren't for her. "I think they're kind of odd," she said. Over the past two decades, the Chia Pet has grown beyond its marketer's expectations to become a classic kitsch gift.

Dave Barry's Gift Guide Dec.5,2004 From crib to grave, we've got your butt covered this holiday season This year, for our Holiday Gift Guide, we thought we'd try something different. Usually we just hurl together a bunch of stupid, useless items that no sane human would ever actually buy. But this year we thought, ''Why not, for once, do something positive? Why not do a REAL gift guide, with items that people might actually WANT to receive?'' But just then our medication wore off. So once again this year we have followed our standard Gift Guide formula. First, we scour...

Who named these guys Wise Men? DAVE BARRY Christmastime is a festive time -- a time of parties and presents and songs that we all love, except for Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, which I for one got tired of in approximately 1958, and which now causes me to dislocate my forefinger stabbing the car-radio button. I prefer traditional Christmas carols, such as Ding Dong Merrily on High. I am not making this carol up. The lyrics are: ''Ding dong merrily on high!'' (Something something something) I don't know the rest, because I never got past the first line without...

Share your list of loot. :-) What did you get this year? Did you love it? Hate it? What are you going to do with it if you hated it? Throw it out? Return it to the store? Give it away as a gift next year to some unsuspecting person? As for me....I got 25 dollars in cash, which I promptly used to buy myself a couple of DVD's on eBay ("Bowfinger" starring Steve Martin, and the John Carpenter horror flick: "The Fog") Yes, that's all I got for Christmas....25 dollars in cash. It's an improvement from last years Christmas....

NEW YORK - Like more and more holiday shoppers, Juliette Coulter of Dallas thinks the right gift for many friends and family members is plastic and fits in a wallet. She's spending $300 this season on gift cards from Target, Old Navy, Starbucks and other stores. It means no worrying, for example, about size or style for a pair of nephews age 9 and 14. "They have very specific tastes, and I don't want to get them the wrong thing," she said. "I want them to think I'm the cool aunt." Gift cards are hotter than ever this season, with...

OMAHA, Neb. -- As you're out shopping this holiday season, you may be wondering what to get that guy who has everything, including all the children he wants. How about a vasectomy gift certificate? Ads are running in magazines, on the radio and at the movies in Omaha. Dr. Stewart Sloan, of Urology Specialists, said his ads make light of a tense situation. "It lightens up the situation. (When) people think about any operation, or where they're going to see the doctor, they're already nervous," Sloan said. One of the least racy ads says, "Thanks to Dr. Sloan, we don't...

Tornillo To Serve Two Years In Plea Deal Tornillo Will Get Two-Year Sentence NBC 6 News Team POSTED: 12:58 p.m. EDT August 25, 2003 UPDATED: 7:13 p.m. EDT August 25, 2003 MIAMI -- The longtime leader of the Miami-Dade County teacher's union pleaded guilty Monday in a deal after a public corruption task force found he fraudulently charged the organization for up to $650,000 in personal expenses for cruises, vacations and other luxuries. Pat Tornillo, on leave from the United Teachers of Dade, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and filing a false tax return under the deal in exchange for...

I regret to inform you that, effective immediately: I will no longer serve the states of Georgia, Florida, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama on Christmas Eve. Due to the overwhelming current population of the earth, my contract was renegotiated by North American Fairies and Elves Local 209. As part of the new and better contract I also get longer breaks for milk and cookies so keep that in mind. However, your children will be in good hands with your local replacement, which happens to be my third cousin, Bubba Claus. His side of the family...