Free Republic

A first-grade art project has two parents so upset that they are moving their son to another school in another city. Monday, Dallas Smith, 6, came home wearing a white, cone-shaped mask he made in art class at Winfield-Scott Elementary in Fort Scott, Kansas. “It appears to look like a Ku Klux Klan hat, which is a heck of a thing to put on a six-year-old boy,” said Barry Smith, Dallas’ father. It was part of a project done in Russ Gordon’s art class. “That was never, never the purpose of the project,” Gordon said, referring to Smith’s description of...

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2010 – As the Afghan army rapidly approaches a 171,000-troop level this year, the force’s top-ranking uniformed leader is tackling growing pains with help from an U.S. Army advisor. For the past year, Army Col. George T. “Tom” Donovan, a member of NATO’s training effort in Afghanistan, has been working closely with Gen. Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, chief of the Afghan army’s general staff. Donovan described Mohammadi as a “charismatic and decisive leader,” during a May 21 “DoD Live” bloggers roundtable. Donovan said he and the Afghan general are working together to improve the army’s organization, citing personnel...

Artificial whiskers that mimic the way rats and seals sense their prey might one day let planetary rovers or uncrewed submarines explore the shape and texture of strange objects they encounter on their travels. So says Joe Solomon and Mitra Hartmann at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, who have developed delicate artificial whiskers - in both steel and plastic - that can accurately sense different shapes and textures. Rats actively rotate, or "whisk", their whiskers against objects to discern features, while seals keep their whiskers relatively fixed to sense changes in wake flow that might mean prey is nearby. Previous...

By: Keith Varnum Some people see, taste, hear and feel things the rest of us don' t. James Wannerton tastes words: "New York is runny eggs. London is extremely lumpy mashed potatoes." Carol Steen sees every letter with a color: "Z is the color of beer, a light ale." For Carol Crane, music is felt: "I always feel guitars on my ankles and violins on my face." Other people experience smells when exposed to shapes, or hear sounds inside taste. And for some, numbers have color, sounds have smell, and words have flavor. Music is not only heard, it's seen...

The night sky could soon be lit up with gigantic three-dimensional adverts, thanks to a Japanese laser display that creates glowing images in thin air. The system is being developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Tokyo, in collaboration with Burton Inc and Keio University. “We believe this technology may eventually be used in applications ranging from pyrotechnics to outdoor advertising,” says a spokesman for AIST. According to Burton Inc, the technology might also be used for emergency distress signals or even temporary road signs. The display utilises an ionisation effect which occurs when...

WASHINGTON - Americans have a choice in November — they can vote for millionaires John Kerry (news - web sites) and John Edwards (news - web sites), or cast their ballot for millionaires George W. Bush and Dick Cheney (news - web sites). Of the foursome, Vice President Cheney and his wife, Lynne, earned the most, according to their 2003 tax returns that showed an adjusted gross income of $1.3 million. That's far more than what the typical American family brings home: the median household income in 2002 was slightly more than $42,400, according to the Census Bureau (news -...

<p>On a modest street in the flats of Berkeley there's a little yellow bungalow behind a shabby fence. It's one of those places you expect to find a pit bull, but instead you find a bright young mayor of a city of about 70,000 liberal activists, writers, kibitzers, kidders and some folks who clearly have a lot of time on their hands.</p>

And a bonus image link: Hawaiian Islands

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - They bickered, they battled, they banged out 469 bills in four days.</p> <p>In the colorful lawmaking spectacle that shapes California for better and worse, the California Legislature last week cracked down on rowdy sports fans and music moguls. It gave test-fearing high school seniors a reprieve and offered marriage-style rights to gay and lesbian domestic partners. It tried to get sales taxes from online shoppers, then made it criminal to jump long airport lines to escape security.</p>

April 15, 2003 Hearing Colors, Tasting Shapes People with synesthesia--whose senses blend together--are providing valuable clues to understanding the organization and functions of the human brain By Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Edward M. Hubbard When Matthew Blakeslee shapes hamburger patties with his hands, he experiences a vivid bitter taste in his mouth. Esmerelda Jones (a pseudonym) sees blue when she listens to the note C sharp played on the piano; other notes evoke different hues--so much so that the piano keys are actually color-coded, making it easier for her to remember and play musical scales. And when Jeff Coleman looks...