Clever sew and sew

When it comes to being a clever sew and sew Chinese seamstress Liu Jianming is the clear winner.

Born without any arms she has learnt to sew with her feet, and since she was a teenager has worked as a seamstress creating beautifully embroidered pictures.

Unable to afford a shop, every day she turns up on a street corner in the Chinese city of Kunming Yunnan in southwest in China and works on creating embroidered designs as well as any other seamstress work that she can get.

Kunming is the capital of Yunnan, an area recently affected by a severe drought.

She said: "I'm quite proud of my work - people are always sceptical that the creations are all my own work when they first see them - but once they've seen me threading a needle then they lose all doubt."

But she added that now she was getting older it was getting harder, saying: "I still don't have any problem using my feet to sew - the problem is my eyesight is not as good as it used to be and it's hard to see the thread."

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Teacher belittled student with sex nickname

Harsh words often lead to headlines, an Ohio congresswoman once said in a vow to not trash-talk her political enemies.

But Thomas DiPatri Jr. apparently has never heard those words of wisdom.

The English teacher at Cherry Hill New Jersey High School West reportedly instructed his honors students to nickname a student "Handy Mandy" - in reference to her alleged sexual activity - prompting her outraged mother to file a federal civil-rights lawsuit earlier this month against DiPatri, the school board, the township and several unnamed students.

Melanie Singer alleges that her daughter, who also isn't named in the March 18 lawsuit, learned that DiPatri originated the nickname when she complained to her guidance counselor in January that students relentlessly called her "Handy Mandy," "slut," "whore" and other sexually derogatory slurs. "Handy Manny" is a Disney cartoon featuring a bilingual Latino handyman named Manny Garcia and his talking tools.

School staff told her to ignore the harassment, according to the lawsuit. The principal briefly suspended DiPatri for the name-calling but did not apologize or acknowledge the misconduct to the girl and her family, Singer contends in her lawsuit.

The torment worsened after DiPatri's suspension and "became so unbearable, that she was forced to leave school and receive home instruction per her pediatrician's advice," according to the lawsuit.

Singer contends the name-calling and the school's response are discriminatory and violate Title IX, a federal law that bars schools and other federally funded agencies from excluding anyone on the basis of gender.

She accuses the district of inadequate investigation and the student defendants of retaliation.

The family seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for emotional distress, medical expenses, loss of reputation and personal injury.

Singer's attorney, Frances A. Hartman, couldn't be reached yesterday.

JOKE: Thesis

One fine, sunny day, a rabbit sat outside his burrow, typing on his laptop. Along came a fox, out for a walk.

"What are you working on, Rabbit?" asked the fox.

"My thesis," said the rabbit.

"Hmm. What's it about?" asked the fox.

"It's about how rabbits eat foxes," replied the rabbit.

"That's ridiculous!" exclaimed the fox. "Any fool knows that rabbits don't eat foxes."

"Sure they do," said the rabbit. "And I can prove it! Come into my burrow."

They disappeared inside and after a few minutes, the rabbit emerged alone, returned to his laptop, and resumed typing.

Soon, a wolf came along. "What are you working on, Rabbit?"

"My thesis," the rabbit replied.

"Hmm. What's it about?" asked the wolf.

"It's about how rabbits eat wolves," said the rabbit.

"That's ridiculous!" exclaimed the wolf. "Any fool knows that rabbits don't eat wolves."

"Sure they do," said the rabbit calmly. "And I can prove it! Come into my burrow."

They disappeared inside and after a few minutes, the rabbit emerged alone, returned to his laptop, and resumed typing.

Meanwhile, inside the rabbit's burrow there was a pile of fox bones and a pile of wolf bones -- and a lion picking his teeth.

The Moral: It doesn't matter what you choose for a thesis subject. It doesn't matter what you use for data. What matters is who you have for a thesis advisor!