Free Republic

The island chain 300 miles off the coast of Argentina has two names. The United Kingdom, which controls them as a protectorate, and the rest of the world call those islands the Falklands. Argentina calls them the Malvinas. Argentina has never owned the islands. Islanders are 90% British, descendants of the original settlers, and support their relationship with the UK. The UK has controlled the Falklands since 1830, and fought a war over them against Argentina in 1982 to keep them. But that didn’t stop President Barack Obama from attempting to use the Argentinian name for the islands. And...

A mercury spill at Farrington High School sent students and a teacher to the health office. It happened when a ninth-grader cracked a 12-inch thermometer during a science experiment. Hazmat crews say about a teaspoon of mercury spilled onto the floor. A handful of students were exposed before the teacher cleaned up the mess. No one complained of itching skin or headaches -- effects of extended exposure to mercury. But the teacher and eight students were taken to the health office as a precaution. The classroom remained off-limits until an environmental firm did a thorough clean-up. Farrington uses mercury thermometers...