Free Republic

What they did was shove the Third Congressional District to the northeast, and tossed the South and Southeast parts of Jefferson County out to the Second. It accomplished two things - made the GOP competitive in Louisville despite itself, and forced the Second District Congressman to be concerned about more than farm subsidies and tobacco support in order to pacify people from Southern suburbs as well as commuters from Bullitt and Spencer County.

They managed to make a silk purse from the sows ear when the state lost the 7th CD.

ping

He's litigated over the scans before - that issue is closed, been subject to an appeal, and is over.

They're not going to go back into them.

I have another great idea - why don't you simply have Jeb make a decree that from now on, every major family decision must also have the approval of one's parents in law, regardless of adulthood or competence. That way, everybody can know up front that their lives can and will be micromanaged via one's inlaws.

That is what you are asking for Michael Schiavo.

Get over yourself. Its not about you or him.

I have no intention of being a burden on my family like Terri Schiavo has been, so I'd be silently screaming for release.

I won't be joining you.

Call it residual sentimentality.

Of course, half a century ago, she'd have been dead for years already. A century ago, they wouldn't have given her death a second thought.

Purple with rage on this one, aren't you? All the way in New York, screwing with people you don't even know and in a matter which is none of your business, and yet you have the audacity to claim that I shouldn't point out how stupid, imprudent and pointless this is?

Perhaps you should open up your checkbook. Reimburse Florida's taxpayers for its costs incurred here due to pressure you've helped bring to bear.

Its real easy to make other people pay the cost for your moral stances, isn't it?

Meaningful communication? Sure.

Fine - I have no problem with that. Of course, in return, I'd ask that you quit trying to exert pressure on Florida officials regarding a case in which you aren't involved and have no direct contact with the evidence - which none of you would be willing to do.

I guess I'll have to keep on second guessing your observations and meddling.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that.

Terri Schiavo doesn't mean beans to the Republic - shes a turnip, and can't contribute diddly. All she can do is subtract resources and consume time. As for repetition? Nobody is more repetitious than you obsessives - lots of "yeah, me too-isms" on these threads.

Oh, right. The grand conspiracy that included everybody who ever touched that case file. How could I have forgotten those wild accusations?

You have the pathology of this addiction down cold. The one thing that I would add is that in a number of these patients, the pain experienced after the addiction takes hold has a psychosomatic quality which is brought on by the addiction.

You might try mentioning the age and mental state of the youth who was the perpetrator in that case.

In the interests of accuracy, of course.

I think this is a GREAT standard to promulgate. Now, instead of being able to resolve these issues of medical guardianship efficiently, we can tie up people's time on juries on every case where there is a family squabble, and make tons of money for lawyers. So now, instead of jury duty infrequently, we can count on getting rotated in every time Ma says that Junior grinned, and wife says he's a cucumber, and we can all listen to that scintillating dialogue. Hooray for conservatism!

I dunno - but it seems a little better than most pieces of fanfic - really liked the disdain for the pureebloods part.

Another I'd really like to see would be some little hipster from the hood with some bling bling wind up at Hogwarts, bustin' some off at Malfoy....hopefully holding the wand sideways....

OK, so I found this really entertaining little chunk of fanfic:

Harry entered platform 9 3/4 with Ron looking for Hermione. Ron was already in a foul mood because they knew that she had spent the summer in Bulgeria with Viktor Krum. Harry knew that there was going to be a row the second those two met. "And I am looking forward to that," Harry thought.

"Where in bloody hell is Hemione?" said Ron irritably.

"Ron, watch your language!" shrilled a scandalized Hermione from behind.

"Looks like she’s right behind you," said Harry laughing to himself. "And here we go" he thought to himself.

"Did you ever have to say that Vicky?"

"DON’T—CALL—HIM—VICKY!" shrieked a very irritated Hermione.

"Oi, shut it both of you," Harry said calmly, "We’re going to miss the Express if we don’t get on now. Do you guys want to go to the prefects car or find one where we don’t have Malfoy breathing down our necks?" Harry said calmly. All three of them had become prefects the bad part was so had Draco Malfoy.

Ron was certain about his choice, "I don’t want to be on the same compartment with that brainless prat so I suggest we get a car..."

"Ron!" Hermione interrupted.

"…so I suggest we get our own car."

"Honestly, you two need to either watch your language or don’t bring up Malfoy," Hermione scolded.

"Come on, you two--get on the train before all the compartments are taken"

They were able to find an empty compartment with out much trouble and quickly started on a game of Exploding Snap. They were right in the middle of it when they heard a knock on the car door.

"Do you mind if I sit with you? All the other cars are full." The speaker was a blonde who looked like she would be in their year but none of them had seen her before, not only that—she had a American accent!

"My name is Naomi Kingsley," she said while sitting down, "I guess by your expressions you’ve already figured out I’m American."

"Yeah," said Hermione, "I’m Hermione Granger. What year will you be in?"

"Fifth, but I still have to be sorted. What year are y’all in?"

Hermione slightly grimaces at the word "y’all."

"We’re in fifth-year, too. I hope you will be in Gryffindor, which is our House. I’m Harry Potter and this is Ron Weasley." Harry introduced Ron because of the dumbfounded look on his face—well she was kind of pretty—she was no veela though. Harry waited for the shock to appear on her face that came to most people when they heard his name, but it didn’t come. Her eyes didn’t even go to his scar; maybe Americans hadn’t heard of him.

"Oh, my uncle told me about you, Harry. Said you defeated the Dark Lord more than once and worked hard as heck—"

Hermione grimaced and looked like she was about to yell then shut her mouth abruptly when Harry shot her a look.

"—to do it another time, in fact it is because of the Dark Lord that I’m coming to Hogwarts," she grew very quiet. "My uncle is the President of Magic in America. He didn’t believe it was safe for me at Lone Star Academy, so he pulled some strings to get me into Hogwarts. We flew overseas on broomsticks to Diagon Alley so I could go."

"Why didn’t your parents take you?" Ron asked, apparently over the shock of seeing her.

"They’re Muggles. They don’t agree with the study of magic and said that if I wanted to learn, that I had to live with my uncle, they were mad that he never told them he was a wizard." Naomi said a little more confidently.

"Oh," said Harry, "The Muggles I live with are a lot like that, except they would be too ashamed to admit they were related to me to hand me over to anyone else."

"So, Naomi, what is Lone Star like? I’ve read a bit about it but I don’t know that much" Hermione asked.

"Well, its okay. I mean, I guess with a name like Lone Star Academy for Highly Advanced Studies of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it can’t be that much of a free ride, right?" Naomi laughed to herself accompanied by Ron, while Hermione wore an expression of both shock and jealousy. Harry couldn’t help but smile at the sight of it. Seeing Hermione’s expression Naomi quickly added, "It definitely lives up to its name. I hope Hogwarts has a little lighter work load then maybe I could get some decent sleep. Our structure is a bit different; we have teams instead of Houses. There is Ruby, Diamond, Sapphire, and Emerald. I was in Ruby which means I am better at Transfiguration and Charms. Though to be honest, Divination is pretty much my favorite subject, ‘cause you can make up all the homework and still get good grades!" Harry and Ron burst out laughing, while Hermione looked utterly appalled. "We were also more into athletics, we even had Muggle sports, and the Arts," she added once the laughter had died down.

"I like this girl!" exclaimed Ron. Hermione looked like she was ready to strangle something. Harry nodded in agreement while still laughing his head off.

"We better get into our robes. I expect we will be arriving soon," Hermione said in a especially snobby voice. "Ron, while don’t you and Harry step outside while Naomi and I change."

"Okay, as long as you don’t hex her," said Ron.

"Fine," Hermione replied, sounding a little disappointed. Naomi suddenly sported a look of terror. When they had all finished changing, Naomi taught them the Muggle game of poker. They played for Chocolate Frogs and Pumpkin Pasties. Suddenly the compartment door opened.

"Too good for the prefects car, Potter?" Malfoy exclaimed.

"Who is this ass?" asked Naomi, seeing the dumbfounded expressions and taking them for confusion, "translation- arse."

Ron and Harry laughed, and Hermione scowled at her language.

"Malfoy," Harry said with a scowl.

"Are you calling me an arse?! I’ll have you know, I come from a long line of pure-bloods."

"Oh, who gives a freak?! I’m just a Muggle-born, but my uncle is President of Magic in America and to be frank, I would take that over being pure-blooded any day."

Hermione, Harry, and Ron were shocked to find Naomi talking to Malfoy that way. They were afraid he would make her puke slugs, and he honestly looked like he was considering it.

"Well, well, well. Feisty little American Mudblood aren’t you?" Malfoy said, and after looking her over added, "Not that bad looking, either. I’ll have you know things are different here, if you don’t watch out—you will find that out the hard way." And with that he left. Ron, Hermione, and Harry all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whoa! I have never heard anyone stand up like that to Malfoy!" Ron exclaimed, obviously impressed.

"Yeah, but Naomi you better watch out, he doesn’t exactly play fair," Harry added, acting almost as impressed as Ron.

"Why are you guys scared of that pale ghost? As far as I could tell, he just uses people stronger than him to make him powerful."

"How did you know that?" asked Hermione curiously.

"I told you Divination was my favorite subject," Naomi replied, winking.

Just then the Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station. The four of them climbed out to hear Hagrid bellowing, "Firs’ years o’er ‘ere!" then spotting Harry, Hermione, and Ron, he said, "’Ave you seen a new girl. She’s American. I’m s’pose’ to take ‘er wit ta firs’ years."

"Yeah, that’s me." Then turning to the others said, "Well, I’ll see you later. Maybe I’ll even be in Gryffindor!"

"I wouldn’t be surprised by the way you talked to Malfoy," said Ron.

"Yeah, bye!"

"Boys!" muttered Hermione.

"What?" asked Ron, climbing into a carriage.

"Two of you having at Malfoy is enough, now I have to deal with three!"

"I hope she likes Quidditch," said Ron.

"Oh, honestly," sighed Hermione.

"I thought she was nice. You’re just afraid of a rival," said Harry smothering laughter. At the sight of Hermione’s face he added, "Well, you’re sure acting like it."

"I think I know how I am acting."

"You sure?" said Ron, climbing out of the carriage.

"Well, you seem to know what’s going on in my head; funny how you can’t figure out how to use your own," Hermione said a little bit defensively, as they entered the Great Hall.

"Could you two calm it down? You’re Prefects remember?" Harry said a little louder than intended as they walked up the steps to the Great Hall.

They sat down at the Gryffindor table. Once they had all taken their seats, the first-years, and a slightly taller-looking Naomi filed in behind Professor McGonagall. The Sorting Hat sang a new song, the Hall erupted in applause, and the first-years began to be sorted.

"Allenisa, Leah" became Ravenclaw, "Brewer, Justin" became Hufflepuff, then "Butlera, Krista" became the first Slytherin. "Gibsonite, Brenna" became Hufflepuff. They got to "Kirk, Virginia" and thought that they had skipped Naomi, Virginia became a Gryffindor. "Lynnastor, Aaron became another Ravenclaw. "Stevenson, Will," was a new Slytherin. The last one was "Zirini, Adam" a new Hufflepuff. Then Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll, and they thought she had forgotten all about Naomi. But then she began to make a speech.

"As many of you know, Hogwarts is regarded as one of the safest schools in the world. This bit of information is not kept secret. The President of Magic, Robert Kingsley, had been wondering about the safety of his niece in the American school, Lone Star Academy for Highly Advanced Studies of Witchcraft and Wizardry." At this, there was a gaping audience. "He came to me and asked if his fifth-year niece could transfer and we accepted. We know that she will be welcomed into any House she is sorted in. Naomi please come forward and place the Sorting Hat on your head."

Naomi, obviously not expecting this, but used to entrance speeches after being in her uncle’s care, sat down on the stool while McGonagall put the Sorting Hat on her head.

Harry and Ron held their breaths as Hermione rolled her eyes. After about ten seconds the Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" as three-fourths Hall erupted in applause.

Naomi took a seat next to Hermione who scowled.

"I’m glad I got to be with you guys," Naomi said.

Dumbledore stood up, and made the usual announcements, and then he added, "And my final announcement is to introduce or to some re-introduce our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin" the same three-fourths of the students in the Hall clapped wildly at this announcement.

"Is he any good?" Naomi asked, looking at his slight, stooped.

"He’s the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we’ve ever had," cheered Harry, as the food appeared on the table.

"Yeah," agreed Ron, " some think that the job is," he paused, "jinxed. Wait, where’s Snape, maybe Dumbledore sacked him," said Ron, a little hopeful

"I take it from your expressions, he sucked" Hermione looked shocked, as did Harry and Ron. Naomi let out a sigh and said, "translation-," she seemed to ponder on the answer to that for a few seconds then said, "Well, it’s definitely no compliment."

"That just about covers it," Harry answered.

Before Hermione could respond, the big oak doors opened and Snape ran in, looking paler than he ever and paying no attention to the bewildered-looking students. He reached the Head Table and began a hushed, yet hurried conversation with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. They both began to look really worried, and paled themselves, and all but ran out of the Great Hall, towards Professor Dumbledore’s office. McGonagall glanced briefly over to Naomi, who watched them. The Hall was eerily almost silent as they left, and slowly conversations started again.

But Naomi began to cry. "Do you mind if we go to the dorms? I kinda need to cry alone. I think I know what this is about. I’ll elaborate later."

"I’ll take you. I know the password," offered Ron, turning to Harry and Hermione, "The password is Canis Minor. Escort the first-years. Come on, Naomi," he said, putting his arm around her.

"Well, what do you suppose is going to happen between those two?" joked Harry to an angry looking Hermione.

"I don’t think it is any of our business."

Ginny came up to ask, "Where’s Ron going?"

"He’s got a crush on the new American and I think she was feeling a bit homesick or something," Harry said.

"Maybe she is afraid for her uncle. I mean, he would be a prime target." Ginny said.

"I think we should get the first-years to bed." Hermione said, "I’ll check on Naomi in the dormitory."

"Okay," said Harry adding to Ginny, "the password is Canis Minor."

"First-years, follow us!" called Hermione.

"AK 47, the very best they is. When you absolutely positively got to kill every muthaf***a in the room, accept no substitute....."

Then there would be the issue of leaving yourself open to mechanic/materialmen's liens when you pay cash.

"He's the type of person who's a giver, not a taker...."

I'm biting my tongue right now.