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The Buzz: Trouble in Deanland The Kansas City Star Posted on Tue, Jan. 31, 2006 Roll Call reports that Democratic leaders are bristling at arty Chairman Howard Dean’s management. They’re especially upset because he has spent nearly all of the Democratic National Committee’s cash and has little left to support efforts to gain seats this cycle. Several sources said congressional leaders and especially Rep. Rahm Emanuel, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, were furious when they learned the DNC has just $5.5 million in the bank versus the Republican National Committee’s $34 million. A Democratic source about Dean: “People...

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. - A 17-year-old high school student said he was humiliated when a teacher made him sit on the floor during a midterm exam in his ethnicity class _ for wearing a Denver Broncos jersey. The teacher, John Kelly, forced Joshua Vannoy to sit on the floor and take the test Friday _ two days before the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Broncos 34-17 in the AFC championship game. Kelly also made other students throw crumpled up paper at Vannoy, whom he called a "stinking Denver fan," Vannoy told The Associated Press on Monday. Kelly said Vannoy, a junior...

SIERRA VISTA — When Jay Record woke up this morning, he already had the gift he wanted — a new kidney. Now the Sierra Vista dad hopes to be starting 2006 with a new lease of life after receiving the kidney from his sister Juliann. The siblings are now recovering from the Dec. 15 operation, which took place at the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. “I felt great knowing that I would be getting a healthy kidney, especially coming from a family member. That made it really special,” said Jay, 34, who first learned his kidneys were not...

HAYWARD, Calif. — Two men who had sex with a transgender (search) teen were convicted of murdering her after they discovered she was biologically male, but a third defendant's case ended in a mistrial. In their verdict Monday, the jury rejected defense arguments that the killing of 17-year-old Gwen Araujo amounted to no more than manslaughter (search). "It's murder," said Gwen Smith, who maintains a Web site memorializing people believed to have been killed because they were transgender. "And a murder conviction shows that transgender lives are valuable." Michael Magidson and Jose Merel, both 25, face mandatory sentences of 15...

Mugabe in plea for S Africa to bail him out of crisis By David Blair in Johannesburg (Filed: 19/07/2005) President Robert Mugabe's destruction of Zimbabwe's economy began to strike home yesterday after he had to ask South Africa for a rescue package. Unable to arrest the spiralling crisis or buy essential supplies of fuel, Zimbabwe has turned to its powerful neighbour. ‘Embarrassing’: Robert Mugabe has finally acknowledged the gravity of Zimbabwe's situation Senior officials have visited South Africa to request an emergency injection of money likely to run into hundreds of millions of pounds. About one third of Zimbabwe's economy...

Annan talks of 'lynch mob' determined to destroy him By Charles Laurence in New York and Philip Sherwell in Washington (Filed: 01/05/2005) Kofi Annan, the beleaguered secretary-general of the United Nations, has claimed that a "lynch mob" is out to "destroy" him in the wake of the Iraq oil-for-food debacle and other UN scandals. In his first big interview since he was criticised in a report into the discredited oil-for-food scheme, which the UN administered, Mr Annan refused to rule out stepping down in the autumn, a year before his second term is due to end. Some diplomats believe that...

DELTONA, Fla. -- Three high school wrestlers face expulsion based on accusations they hog-tied a learning-disabled teammate and zapped him with a grill igniter. Officials call it a hazing prank that went too far. None of the boys were arrested but Volusia County's sheriff's office filed felony complaints with prosecutors, seeking felony charges of aggravated battery and false imprisonment. School officials said two hazing incidents occurred in a wrestling practice room at the high school Tuesday. Volusia County Sheriff's Department offers the following account of the incident: "According to witnesses, the victim -- a 17-year-old wrestler -- was tackled to...

I recall a cute comic strip depicting Moses coming down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments written in stone. "I've got good news and bad news," he announces to the Israelites waiting anxiously at the bottom of the mountain. "The good news is that I got Him down to ten." The crowd cheers. "The bad news is that adultery is still in."

Boy's KKK Costume Wins Him Award, Suspension POSTED: 5:50 am EST November 3, 2004 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A Michigan high school student's costume is earning an award -- and a suspension. SURVEY Do you believe that this boy should have been suspended? Yes No Results | Disclaimer The City High student dressed as a Ku Klux Klansman for the school's Halloween masquerade party. The senior won the prize for the scariest costume and a five-day suspension, too. Grand Rapids school Superintendent Bert Bleke says the suspension is justified. But he wants to know why the adult chaperones at the...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

South Bend, IN - A South Bend man is dead after his 10-year-old son accidentally ran him over with the family's truck. Police say 47-year-old Gregg Vanavermate and his son were using the truck to pull bushes out of the ground Friday afternoon. The boy got behind the wheel to pull the truck forward and accidentally reversed the vehicle, pinning his father to the house. The man later died at the hospital.

Chirac's jet flew an extra 1,200 miles to let him sleep By Christian Jennings (Filed: 09/09/2004) The most direct route from Paris to Moscow by aircraft is to fly due east. Unless you are President Chirac, that is. The French premier likes his sleep so much that, en route to a Black Sea summit with President Putin and Chancellor Schröder, he had his flight diverted by 1,200 miles so that he could have a long sleep. Le Canard Enchainé, France's version of Private Eye, tells a tale this week headlined "Chirac's sleep is priceless". On August 31, Chirac was due...

NAACP: Nonpartisan Branch of the Democratic Party By Andrew L. Jaffee, July 16, 2004 Home   Search   Forum   Terms NAACP Chairman Julian Bond claims his organization is “nonpartisan” while at the same time using vitriolic rhetoric to attack the Bush administration. Why would President Bush wish to speak before the NAACP after the way in which they’ve treated him? Some claim Bush should swallow his pride and speak before the group in the interest of “outreach.” I would argue that Bush has already engaged in more outreach than any other administration in U.S. history: 2001: President George W. Bush appoints: Condoleezza Rice, Assistant...

It's Edwards-ette for Veep

With hate from him to them By Chris Hastings (Filed: 22/09/2002) Letters written by John Lennon in which he reveals the full extent of his hatred for Paul McCartney and his wife Linda are to be aired in a New York courtroom. The previously unseen handwritten correspondence is at the centre of a bitter legal battle involving Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow, and one of her husband's former aides. As well as shedding new light on the often fraught relationship between two of the world's most successful songwriters, they reveal new details about the demise of the Beatles in 1970. In...

Saddam 'should not think Arabs will support him' By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 05/09/2002) Many Arab countries are despairing of Saddam Hussein's tactics of brinkmanship and obfuscation. Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo yesterday again took a public stand against American military action and called for "quick efforts to avoid a strike". But in private they are baffled by Saddam's refusal to give a straight answer to demands to re-admit United Nations weapons inspectors. "Saddam doesn't get it. He seems to think there will be a great Arab shield to defend him, that the Arabs will rise up...