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FREEDOM, Pa. (AP) -- Police say a costumed 9-year-old girl was accidentally shot outside a western Pennsylvania home during a Halloween party by a relative who thought she was a skunk. New Sewickley Township police say the girl was over a hillside and wearing a black costume and a black hat with a white tassel.

FREEDOM, Pa. – Police say a costumed 9-year-old girl was accidentally shot outside a western Pennsylvania home during a Halloween party by a relative who thought she was a skunk. New Sewickley Township police say the girl was over a hillside and wearing a black costume and a black hat with a white tassel. Chief Ronald Leindecker says a male relative mistook her for a skunk and fired a shotgun, hitting her in the shoulder Saturday night.

One of the funniest headlines I've ever read.

The Santorum campaign appears to be taking a slightly new tack on Newt Gingrich’s continued presence in the race. Instead of calling on Mr. Gingrich to drop out of the race, they called for Mr. Gingrich’s supporters to come to their side. “It’s time for Gingrich supporters to get behind us if they truly want to have a conservative candidate; it’s up to Newt Gingrich to decide what his future is,” John Brabender, Mr. Santorum’s top strategist, told reporters after Mr. Santorum and a crowd of about 200 people had left the hotel ballroom here where Mr. Santorum had conceded...

(AP) HUTCHINSON, Kan. - A tea party group in Kansas says its depiction of President Barack Obama as a skunk is satire, not racism as the leader of a civil rights group alleges. Hutchinson-based Patriot Freedom Alliance says on its website that like the president, the skunk is "half black, half white, and almost everything it does stinks." The Hutchinson News reports local NAACP president Darrell Pope sees no humor in the depiction, which he calls a blatant statement of racism. Local tea party supporter Chuck Sankey says former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been the target of worse...

SIERRA VISTA — The Army heath center on Fort Huachuca is looking to remind those with children to ensure they avoid unfamiliar or stray animals, wild or otherwise, after two young children were seen playing with a skunk that was later determined to be rabid last week. The Raymond W. Bliss Army Health Center release advocating caution does not specify if either of the children, young boys between the ages of 6 and 9, were infected. Rabies spreads through the bite and saliva of infected animals, and can also be spread if there is contact with the animal’s saliva to...

You know, I’m beginning to think French leader Nicolas Zarkozy was right when he called Barack Obama “a dangerous[ly] aliéné” a “mad lunatic” or as the European Union Times translates: “dangerously insane.” What else could explain this bizarre statement that was picked up by Dan Riehl: Obama to American Taxpayers: “You would think they’d be saying thank you.” ...

When Gerald Harsen walks at night with a flashlight, his Elmhurst neighborhood "comes alive with eyes looking back at you," he said. Many of those eyes belong to skunks. Too many of them, he believes. "I grew up on a farm and I've always had the opinion there are certain critters I should not have to live with," he said. So, recently Harsen did something about it. He set a trap in his backyard, luring skunks with peanut butter and bread. On the morning of Sept. 30, Harsen caught one, grabbed his pellet gun and shot it dead. Then he...

THE Palestinian protesters massed at the fence expected tear gas and rubber bullets; what they got instead was a putrid yellow wind, Israel's newest weapon against West Bank demonstrators. The noxious mist, which Israeli police refer to as "skunk," was used for the first time earlier this month, when a truck-mounted cannon sprayed it over the heads of protesters, sending them racing down the hillside, retching and tearing off their shirts to try to escape the stench. Dozens of Palestinians from the village of Bilin, along with international and Israeli activists, had marched to a nearby segment of Israel's controversial...

Border Guard uses 'Skunk' as new crowd-dispersal means Out with rubber bullets, tear gas, shock grenades; in with new, stinky means to scatter violent rioters. After using new tool during Naalin riot, officers report Palestinians ran to shower, changed clothes Efrat Weiss YNET Published: 08.10.08, 15:45 / Israel News www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3580338,00.html The Border Guard has begun using a new means of contending with riots coined "Skunk". The police developed this new method for scattering violent demonstrations and tested its effectivity in the last demonstration which took place in the West Bank village of Naalin. Separation Fence Use of the "Skunk" is...

My father travels for work every now and again. He’s always complaining about the airlines and getting stuck sitting next to a big guy, that smells and loves to talk. I think he just likes to exaggerate. Then this morning I get up and read this story as I’m downing my cup a joe. Maybe air travel really does suck. (MIAMI - An uninvited passenger created a smelly situation on a plane in Miami. American Airlines Flight 915 from Miami to Bogota, Colombia, was delayed Wednesday night after a skunk was found in the back of the cargo hold, discharging...

Surprisingly, nothing smells about this story… (A woman turning heads by taking her pet skunk for a walk on a lead has been told by a council that it may have to go, BBC Scotland can reveal. Hannah Chapman, 23, takes de-scented Ichi for walks in Aberdeen. People have been stopping her to take pictures of the unusual sight in the Rosemount area of the city. An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said Hannah did not have permission to keep a skunk in her council flat but should get in touch.) I think it should be pretty easy for the council...

I live in the woods, not just the suburbs, LOL. Sitting here a few minutes ago, all Hell broke loose outside, followed by a plume of skunk fumes flowing from the AC unit. It is very quiet out there now, I assume the skunk won the fight. I might have to go next door and crash on my daughters couch, LOL.

Beer is a perishable product than can suffer from negligence at the brewery or abuse by distributors, retailers, and even beer drinkers. With the almost limitless choices of beers on store shelves afforded by the availability of American brews and the importation of beers from Algeria to Zaire, beer drinkers now experience more variety—but face more pitfalls—in their beer purchases today. Below are some common flavor problems in beer that every beer drinker should be aware of:

The only thing more painful than listening to Jimmy Carter lecture President Bush on how to conduct a successful presidency was living through his disastrous attempt to turn his advice into reality. As I noted earlier this week, Carter has channeled his hatred of non-leftists, secular and religious, into a glut of slanders in his new bestseller, Our Endangered Values. He charges his opponents with, among other things, countenancing female circumcision, defending the murder of federal judges, torturing innocent Islamofascists, and forcing North Korea to manufacture nuclear weapons. Jimmy once again offers himself as the nation’s savior-by-acclamation, leading his errant...

Commentary: CBS should shelve the cute stuff and stick to ... the news NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - "I am very happy to be with you tonight." With those un-momentous words Tuesday night, Katie Couric, 49, was off and running as the new anchor of "The CBS Evening News." At last the hype was over and the former star of NBC's "Today" show would have an opportunity to prove herself as a serious evening-newscaster. She dropped the ball. At its worst, the show reinforced all of the worries of grizzled veteran journalists. This wasn't all Couric's fault. She was, as billed,...

KENOSHA - Police encounter a potential stinky and sticky situation early Saturday morning. A skunk got a Styrofoam cup stuck on its head in the 6700 block of 34th Avenue. The officer at the scene refused to get of his car. The officer called animal control and a woman from that organization came out to scene. She eventually managed to pull the cup off the skunk's head with her bare hands. The skunk did not spray anyone and it quickly ran away cup free.

Capitol Lounge 229 Pennsylvania Ave Se, Washington, DC 0.2 mi NE - (202) 547-2098 The Pour House 319 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Washington, DC 0.2 mi E - (202) 546-1001 18th Amendment 613 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, DC 0.4 mi E - (202) 543-3622 Lounge 201 LLC 201 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 0.6 mi N - (202) 544-5201 Kelly's Irish Times Pub 14 F St NW, Washington, DC 0.8 mi N - (202) 543-5433 Capitol City Brewing Co 2 Massachusetts Ave NE # 1, Washington, DC 0.8 mi N - (202) 842-2337 Heat 1352 S Capitol St Se, Washington, DC...

Excerpt:"She did not leak any classified information, and she did not have access to the information apparently attributed to her by some government officials," said Washington lawyer Ty Cobb, who is representing veteran CIA analyst Mary McCarthy. Government officials have linked her to the Post's story about the CIA's covert sites in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, used to hold terror suspects. The disclosure of the facilities caused an international clamor last fall because of the legal and ethical issues they raised. McCarthy was fired on Thursday for knowingly disclosing classified information. But Cobb said she hopes to find a way...

NOVATO, Calif. - An 82-year-old animal lover was arrested this week on allegations he grabbed and brandished a trapper's revolver during a scuffle over the skunk. Lou Kessler was arrested Tuesday. He was released on his own recognizance Wednesday after being charged with misdemeanor counts of using a firearm in a fight and disturbing the peace. The victim, Ron Bailey, 52, told The Press Democrat in a phone interview that he simply was doing his job as a state-licensed trapper and he believes Kessler disobeyed the law and attacked him. The scuffle allegedly began when Kessler and his wife went...