Free Republic

The first family knocked their own socks off with this year’s White House Christmas decor. In a stark departure from the previous two Yuletides, first lady Jill Biden did away with hanging stockings for her grandchildren and pets over the mantle in the State Dining Room. The change comes months after President Biden and his wife issued a statement publicly acknowledging first son Hunter Biden’s out-of-wedlock daughter, Navy Joan Roberts, as their seventh grandchild. Navy, now 5, was not included in the stocking displays for 2021 or 2022 — unlike Hunter’s three daughters he shares with ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and...

The White House on Friday removed stockings of President Joe Biden’s grandchildren from the fireplace in the State Dining room for a speech on the economy. Earlier in the week, First Lady Jill Biden unveiled her Christmas decorations of the State Dining room fireplace with stockings for six of their grandchildren at the White House as part of the Bidens’ “Gift of Family” theme.

During World War II, nylon stockings disappeared from store shelves as the valuable synthetic material was diverted to make critical wartime supplies such as parachutes, flak jackets and aircraft fuel tanks. Now, new research suggests that nylon stockings could once again play a critical role in a national battle — this time by making homemade cloth masks significantly more protective. Researchers at Northeastern University have found that adding an outer layer made from nylon stockings to a homemade face covering can boost its ability to filter out small particles in the air by creating a tighter seal between the mask...

SPRINGFIELD — Effingham County sheriff deputies have reported the early Sunday morning arrest of three men to the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force. The men, two from Russia and one from Kazakhstan, were found near Georgia Power’s Plant McIntosh on Old Augusta Road about 1 a.m. Sunday after a ranger with the Department of Natural Resources reported a suspicious vehicle, Effingham County sheriff’s spokesman David Ehsanipoor said. Deputies reported the men, who were inside a 1995 Nissan Pathfinder, had a machete, shovel, wire cutters and ski masks. One man also had black silk stockings in his front left pocket. Arrested...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2008 – A little piece of Christmas has started to arrive in Iraq and Afghanistan for troops away from home during the holidays. Deployed troops share their Christmas stockings with children. Operation Give, a troop-support group, sent more than 20,000 stockings to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of its annual Operation Christmas Stocking collection. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Operation Give’s annual Operation Christmas Stocking collection has sent more than 20,000 Christmas stockings to troops -- with more on the way. “Even in hard times, if we can find a way...

Times may be tough, but there seems to be little chance of the bottom falling out of the market in Queen Victoria's underwear. Last month the nation was treated to the spectacle of her magnificent 50in waist bloomers being sold and now a pair of the monarch's black silk stockings is exciting collectors.

The holidays are a difficult time of the year for families with soldiers deployed overseas in the military. Now a VFW Ladies Auxiliary is leading an effort to "sew" some cheer. Judy Mattson is known as the cut up. Mattson says her job is, "Cutting the material and putting the kits together so that people could just go ahead and sew as fast as we could." Mattson belongs to Friday's SaddleBrooke Quilters, whose members are helping sew Christmas stockings for every Arizona Army National Guard soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are 1,200 of them. Jeanne Soling, a Quilters member,...

Fishnet Hosiery Does in Robbery Suspect - New York Times           MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) -- A man's pantyhose led to his arrest, authorities said. An unshaven man wearing a black evening gown, fishnet stockings, calf-high boots and a black wig robbed a USA Gas station Monday morning, authorities alleged.           The armed man stuffed $290 in cash into an ensemble-matching black purse.

BAGHDAD, Dec. 26, 2005 – It was 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and it was raining at an air base in Kuwait. The "moon dust" that overlays everything in the country was now a gooey mire that stuck to everything. Contrary to popular belief, it does get cold in the Middle East, and it was wet and cold. About 60 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division waited in a tent for a flight to Baghdad. They had been there a while, as previously scheduled flights were diverted or cancelled. They sat or stretched out on aluminum Army cots, and slept...

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Tempus Sans ITC"; panose-1:4 2 4 4 3 13 7 2 2 2;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; color:black;} h1 {margin-right:0in; margin-left:0in; font-size:24.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; color:black;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:#660000; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:#996633; text-decoration:underline;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> z);->       Well, Christmas Day has already come, the stockings have been hung   and harvested and sweeter contents few winter socks have ever had.  Many candies, nuts, and cookies have discovered their destinies under the rosy...