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STANDISH, Maine -- Justin Denney's family watched as he ascended the Cumberland County Civic Center stage during graduation Friday night to accept his diploma, but the superintendent told him to return to his seat. The Bonny Eagle High School senior's mother said she can't believe her son's taking a bow and blowing a kiss on stage led was grounds for the superintendent to withhold his diploma. Mary Denney wants an apology, and her son wants his diploma, reported WMTW-TV in Portland, Maine. "I'm like, 'Did she not hand him his diploma?' I'm like, 'What's going on?'" Mary Denney said.

For teens, there is no greater joy than graduating high school. Shaking off the shackles of education and claiming that hard-fought diploma is truly an epic day. Unfortunately, for several students at Bonny Eagle High School in Maine, their natural exuberance has led to some surprisingly serious problems. On Friday night, when the senior class was waiting to graduate, excitement began to grow. Students bounced a large inflatable rubber duck. The noise level rose. And then came "the kiss." When called, one student walked on stage to receive his diploma and blew a kiss to his family. The school administrator,...

Note: The following text is a quote: Ali Al-Marri Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to Al-Qaeda Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, 43, a dual national of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaeda. Al-Marri entered his guilty plea at a hearing this afternoon before Judge Michael M. Mihm in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. In so doing, al-Marri admitted that he agreed with others to provide material support or resources to al-Qaeda in the form of personnel, including himself, to work under al-Qaeda’s...

Milford, CT (AHN) - Following an incident where a child was struck in the groin and had to be hospitalized, a Connecticut middle school has banned all physical contact. East Shore Middle School principal Catherine Williams sent letters out to parents this week informing them of the policy, WCBS TV in Milford, Conn. reported. Williams said violating the policy could result in "parent conferences, detention, suspension and/or a request for expulsion from school," she said in the letter. Some parents at the school are angry about the rule because it goes for non-violent contact like hugging, high-fives and handshakes.The Connecticut...

I need to get a new PDA-type device. Just FYI, I've used the Palm TX and/or Palm Tungsten for four or five years. But, if I can't bypass the 'wonderful' Apple feature on the IPod touch that doesn't allow "cut and paste", or "copy and paste", then an IPod won't be very useful to me. I trust Freeper opinions more than the average website out there, so I'm just wondering if anyone else has done this. Basically, I'd like to Jailbreak an IPod Touch so I can have a "cut and paste" feature. Possible? Good idea?

Fox News recently picked up on a piece by the National Post’s Jonathan Kay which takes on the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) because one of its columnists, Heather Mallick, recently included incendiary comments in her September 5 column, on CBC's Web site, "A Mighty Wind blows through Republican convention," about Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, contending that Palin has the "toned-down version of the porn actress look," and attacking people in small towns as she charged that Palin "added nothing to the ticket that the Republicans didn't already have sewn up, the white trash vote, the demographic that sullies...

Arizona Hug Ban by: Deborah Lambert, March 20, 2008 First there was the ban on hugs and high-fives at a Fairfax County, Virginia middle school last year that resulted in a flap over a 13-year-old male student, putting his arm around his girlfriend while walking down the school corridor. This year, the Mesa, Arizona school district caused a campus uproar by enacting its own hug ban. Seeking to calm the storm, The local TV news channel (TV News 5) reported that school officials sought to calm the storm by brokering an agreement with the students that allowed hugs of two...

Sweet smoking Judas, you’ve gotta be kidding me. Mesa Public Schools has instituted a No Hugging Policy? A group of Shepherd Junior High School students in east Mesa protested a new school policy banning student hugs with a giant group hug on Friday. Students waited until school was dismissed before gathering across the street from the campus to begin hugging each other and then chanting, "We want hugs." Some kids sat on the shoulders of their friends during the display. The public display of affection and chanting came at 3:45 p.m. and lasted about 20 minutes. Neither principal Eileen Cahoon...

Shepherd Junior High School student Yolanda Ascencio, 14, (center) hugs a friend outside the school in Mesa. Laura Segall, For the Tribune Hugs are OK if they are one-armed or last less than two seconds at Mesa’s Shepherd Junior High School. A new crackdown on public displays of affection was clarified by principal Eileen Cahoon on Friday after students protested her ban on hugging in the hallways. After school, about 100 kids gathered, chanting, “We want hugs.” Camera crews and reporters descended on the scene. The police were called in order to contain the students to the sidewalks. “It...

Two hugs equals two days of detention for 13-year-old Megan Coulter. The eighth-grader was punished for violating a school policy banning public displays of affection when she hugged two friends Friday. "I feel it is crazy," said Megan, who was to serve her second detention Tuesday after classes at Mascoutah Middle School. "I was just giving them a hug goodbye for the weekend," she said. Megan's mother, Melissa Coulter, said the embraces weren't even real hugs - just an arm around the shoulder and slight squeeze. "It's hilarious to the point of ridicule," Coulter said. "I'm still dumbfounded that she's...

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New York City Schools are putting their foot down when it comes to public displays of affection. New rules reportedly proposed yesterday by the city's Department of Education would bring automatic suspensions for students who make sexually suggestive comments, innuendos, propositions or engage in other similar conduct. Students caught in such behaviors could face a suspension of up to 90 days, transfer or even expulsion. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein will decide on the proposed new rules after a public hearing, next month.

Cindy Sheehan, Tom Hayden, and the Hate America Left meet with pro-Ba'athist members of the Iraqi parliament to discuss “peace.” TO FIND PEOPLE WHO HATE AMERICA AS MUCH AS THEY DO, the Fifth Column Left had to go halfway around the world to meet with Iraqi political leaders who call terrorism “honorable national resistance” and say foreign jihadists “are guaranteed Paradise” – and at least one of whom has ties to militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr. By the end of the trip, the American leftists would echo these sentiments. Somehow most of the media – occupied with interminable coverage of Hurricane...

Fairfax County middle school student Hal Beaulieu hopped up from his lunch table one day a few months ago, sat next to his girlfriend and slipped his arm around her shoulder. That landed him a trip to the school office. Among his crimes: hugging. All touching -- not only fighting or inappropriate touching -- is against the rules at Kilmer Middle School in Vienna. Hand-holding, handshakes and high-fives? Banned. The rule has been conveyed to students this way: "NO PHYSICAL CONTACT!!!!!" School officials say the rule helps keep crowded hallways and lunchrooms safe and orderly, and ensures that all students...

If you are doing so in Washington State, cease and desist, or risk a fine. Gov. Christine Gregoire signed the nation’s first law yesterday to ban DWT--driving while texting with a cell phone, BlackBerry or other mobile device. "Would you read a book or newspaper while you were driving? No!" Governor Gregoire said. "Then why would you text while driving?" New Jersey is asking that question, too. Its legislature is considering a bill to outlaw DWT. (One of its sponsors, Paul D. Moriarty, admitted to sometimes using his BlackBerry while driving). Some states already ban talking on a cell phone...

A landlady who swore at two lesbian police officers fondling in her public house - The Old Cock - has been cleared of a public order offence. Nikki Hackett was accused of banging her fists on a table and telling the pair: "We don't want that ****ing thing or your sort in here." Uncomfortable onlookers saw the pair passionately kissing each other during a night out in the traditional pub, prompting swift action from Mrs Hackett. Magistrates' heard WPCs Nicola Stewart and Lisa Curchin, who claimed to be merely holding hands, had also provoked complaints from customers about their behaviour...

Toronto, Canda— Canadian owned Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the extremely popular Blackberry device, may once again be facing stiff competition stemming from one of their own product successes.

I've got a cell phone which is trying to die and have just ordered a replacement from Ebay, but I've held off spending any more than just over a hundred dollars because the thing I'd really like to have doesn't exist yet, which is a crying shame since nothing in the way of nonexistant hardware would be required; it would be a pure systems integration project. I'm hoping somebody who sells or markets consumer electronics ends up reading this. What I'd like to have would be a cell phone, PDA, GPS, and navigation device rolled into one thing with Dragon...

A Muslim minicab driver refused to take a blind passenger because her guide dog was "unclean". Abdul Rasheed Majekodumni told Jane Vernon she could not get into his car with the dog because of his religion. Islamic tradition warns Muslims against contact with dogs because they are seen as impure. The case emerged as Jack Straw was embroiled in a controversy over Muslim women wearing veils and the row continued after a Muslim police officer was excused guard duty at the Israeli embassy. Today Mrs Vernon, 39, from Hammersmith, said: "This experience was very upsetting. "I was tired and cold...

Public display of affection was inappropriate Thursday, July 13, 2006 My family enjoyed our first visit to your clean and beautiful city on June 24 and 25, as we arrived to deliver our daughter to a summer camp. After a much longer than anticipated drive, we arrived at our destination at 10:30 p.m., unloading our bags at the only possible spot at the hotel: curbside at the Courtyard Marriott on Spring Street. My three children were treated to an eyeful of amorous behavior by the lesbians seated on a public bench, not 10 feet away from us and directly in...

I currently use a cell phone and a Palm PDA, but I'm considering integrating the two and taking the plunge with a combo "Smart Phone" cell phone/pda device. However, I fear becoming addicted to constantly checking email, not ever really getting away from work, etc. I already check work email occasionally when I'm off work & at home, but it does take some effort to access our system, so it's easy to keep under control where I'm not constantly thinking about work. I'd like to hear from other FReepers who took the plunge. Are you "addicted" to your Smartphone? Is...