Free Republic

An innocent, five-year-old girl is shot in the face Wednesday night is recovering at an area hospital.Jordayna Barret's jaw is shattered. She had a bullet lodged in her left cheek bone and underwent successful surgery on Thursday to remove it. 30-year-old Keyon Timmons, a convicted murder, was out on parole. Now, he's back behind bars after witnesses say he shot his girlfriend's niece in the face. "Soon as a I heard the gunshot, I cam running out of the house and I (saw) the feller running to his car. Got in, took off, slowed... and then the guy that was...

Someone might want to look into whether an impostor took President Obama's place during his trip to Russia In a release touting an agreement between Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev over how to craft a follow-up to the START arms reduction treaty, the White House claimed the document had been signed by one "Barak Obama." Whoops:

The spelling mantra "i before e except after c" is no longer worth teaching, according to the government. Advice sent to teachers says there are too few words which follow the rule and recommends using more modern methods to teach spelling to schoolchildren. The document, entitled Support for Spelling, is being distributed to more than 13,000 primary schools. But some people believe the phrase should be retained because it is easy to remember and is broadly accurate. Bethan Marshall, a senior English lecturer at King's College London, said: "It's a very easy rule to remember and one of the very...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Forty-one youngsters are competing for the title of national spelling champion. The semifinals of the 82nd Scripps Nationals Spelling Bee began Thursday morning. The semifinalists are those remaining from a record 293 participants who arrived in the nation's capital this week.

Spelling Bee Sample Word List Grade 1: off, fan, keep, bath, wish, add, toy, fly, nice, paper Grade 2: about, care, size, only, lamb, hero, inch, left, bench, limit Grade 3: bulb, cage, clasp, hinge, modern, splash, cuddle, gallop, conain, misery Grade 4: fortress, locust, ignite, amount, young, quarrel, nonsense, spectator, satisfy, library Grade 5: icicle, boiler, minimum, confusion, prophet, emerge, skiing, foreign, acrylic, inability Grade 6: grocery, trowel, gauge, thymus, flimsy, tabloid, existence, satellite, elevation, obstacle Grade 7: hurtle, warp, habitat, utilize, glucose, thereupon, tabulate, fancywork, sequoia, escalator Grade 8: absolutize, artifice, mosaic, braille, penguin, cribbage, sarcasm, exhilarate, trenchant,...

Recession be damned, there's apparently no time like the present to drop $150 million on a new home. Candy Spelling, wife of the late TV-producing dynamo Aaron Spelling and, for the past few years, the sole occupant of one of the largest single-family homes in the country, has put her staggering Los Angeles estate up for sale for the not so low, low nine-figure sum. As befits a property of its considerable size (it sits on 4.6 acres) and grandeur (neighbors in the swanky Holmby Hills area include the Los Angeles Country Club and the Playboy Mansion), the price tag...

Spell me embarassed. Embbarrassed? Embrassed. You and two thirds of the nation can't do it, prompting some to suggest we dumb down the language and spell um like we say um.

Burger King in Camdon Camden, South Carolina. Yep, your government schools at work!

GHOTI and tchoghs may not immediately strike readers as staples of the British diet; and even those most enamoured of written English’s idiosyncrasies may wince at this tendentious rendering of “fish and chips”. Yet the spelling, easily derived from other words*, highlights the shortcomings of English orthography. This has long bamboozled foreigners and natives alike, and may underlie the national test results released on August 12th which revealed that almost a third of English 14-year-olds cannot read properly. One solution, suggested recently by Ken Smith of the Buckinghamshire New University, is to accept the most common misspellings as variants rather...

Mouctika Paluri walked into The Dallas Morning News' 50th annual regional spelling bee knowing more than the two-time defending champion's name. The Carrollton girl had studied Amy's work like a walking Wikipedia. And the only thing sweeter than meeting your role model is beating her.

Seminole County officials scrambled to fix a typo on a roadway after a motorist informed them the word school was misspelled. The error was reported along state Road 426 at Reed Road in Oviedo. School was misspelled as "scohol" and painted on the road to warn motorists they are entering a school zone. Seminole County traffic engineers said the typo was to be repaired on Friday morning. Workers removed the error and placed a new warning with school spelled correctly.

The first NASA sign at launch pad 39A encouraging the next launch of space shuttle Endeavour at Kennedy Space Center was misspelled and noticed by someone looking at the craft. When the shuttle rolled out from the Vehicle Assembly Building Wednesday, a giant "Go Endeavour" sign was put on a fence in front of the craft. However, one item was missing from the sign: the "u" in Endeavour. Someone spotted the mistake and called KSC to fix it, WKMG-TV reported. NASA scrambled someone out to pad 39A with a new sign that has orbiter Endeavour's name spelled correctly. A photo...

Just in case one of the seven people in Canada who care about what fading actress Tori Spelling is up to these days happens to be reading this blog, check it out, you guys: Tori Spelling's a minister now. Well, only kind of. According to a report from CanWest News Service, the former 90210 star became an ordained minister via the Interweb last week and used her newfound holiness to legally wed a gay couple at the rented inn featured in her reality TV show, Tori and Dean: Inn Love. (Which, of course, we assume you've seen.) “My official certificate...

Evan O’Dorney always eats fish before his spelling bees. The brain food apparently has served him well: He’s the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Tori Spelling gave birth to a boy Tuesday, her publicist said. The actress and her husband, actor Dean McDermott, welcomed 6-pound, 6-ounce Liam Aaron McDermott at a Los Angeles hospital, said spokeswoman Meghan Prophet.

Not allowed to post articles from the El Paso Times... All I can do is give you the link.

I was just glancing at the CBS News website and noticed a ridiculous mis-spelling on a piece of pure LIBERAL SPINach. Take a look at this and show a lefty friend. I thought for the longest time that you had to at least be literate to graduate from Journalism school ... ?

WASHINGTON - When "say," "they" and "weigh" rhyme, but "bomb," "comb" and "tomb" don't, wuudn't it maek mor sens to spel wurdz the wae thae sound? Those in favor of simplified spelling say children would learn faster and illiteracy rates would drop. Opponents say a new system would make spelling even more confusing. Eether wae, the consept has yet to capcher th publix imajinaeshun. It's been 100 years since Andrew Carnegie helped create the Simplified Spelling Board to promote a retooling of written English and President Theodore Roosevelt tried to force the government to use simplified spelling in its publications....

WASHINGTON (AP) - When "say," "they" and "weigh" rhyme, but "bomb," "comb" and "tomb" don't, wuudn't it maek mor sens to spel wurdz the wae thae sound? Those in favor of simplified spelling say children would learn faster and illiteracy rates would drop. Opponents say a new system would make spelling even more confusing. Eether wae, the consept has yet to capcher th publix imajinaeshun. It's been 100 years since Andrew Carnegie helped create the Simplified Spelling Board to promote a retooling of written English and President Theodore Roosevelt tried to force the government to use simplified spelling in its...

LOS ANGELES (AP) A publicist for Aaron Spelling says the pioneering television producer has died at age 83.

(AP) Television producer Aaron Spelling suffered a stroke over the weekend at his Holmby Hills estate and he's being treated at home, his publicist said Wednesday."He had a stroke Sunday at home," spokesman Kevin Sasaki said, adding doctors were treating the 83-year-old producere at his mansion, The Manor.

The National Spelling Bee began its first rounds today. All of the action can be followed at: www.spellingbee.com. Also, the championship rounds will be broadcast live on ABC (for the first time) beginning at 8PM EST Thursday evening. I'm placing my guess on Speller #238, Samir Patel, from Fort Worth, Texas. He will be worth the price of admission for you to watch tomorrow evening. He was HILARIOUS last year when we participated in the Bee!

Bees Gain Buzz, but Americans' Spelling Skills Decline BY VICKI HYMAN This year -- in June, in fact -- millions of Americans may be exposed to odontalgia, vivisepulture, xanthosis or succedaneum. The spelling bee, that quaint American folk tradition turned high-stakes Ironman for underage etymologists, has hit the big time. ABC plans to broadcast the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee live in prime time for the first time. Code red for logorrhea (excessive wordiness).Orthographers may one day look back on this as the golden age of competitive spelling. In the last six years, spelling has spawned a well-regarded 2000 novel...

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission sent a message to bar patrons last week. TABC agents and Irving police swept through 36 Irving bars and arrested about 30 people on charges of public intoxication. Agency representatives say the move came as a proactive measure to curtail drunken driving. North Texans interviewed by NBC 5, however, worried that the sweep went too far. At one location, for example, agents and police arrested patrons of a hotel bar. Some of the suspects said they were registered at the hotel and had no intention of driving. Arresting authorities said the patrons were a danger...

Between them, city councillors Howard Moscoe and Glenn De Baeremaeker have more vowels in their names than most of their colleagues. But they'd like to buy one more -- the letter U -- for the city. On Monday, they will try to sweet-talk the administration committee into a policy to buy software with a built-in Canadian spell-check. "It is our attempt to keep a little bit of Canadian culture alive and well and not to be smothered by the great elephant next door called the United States," said Mr. De Baeremaeker, who represents Scarborough Centre. "With all the rocket scientists...

RENO, Nevada (AP) -- The state spelling bee is growing by two contestants to make up for a judging error that had one girl's parents ready to spell "lawsuit." Sara Beckman was disqualified from the Washoe County spelling bee Tuesday despite correctly spelling "discernible." Officials say the word was misspelled on the judges' lists. The Reno eighth-grader's parents said they waited until the end of the round to protest because they didn't want to interrupt the bee. But the rules say a protest must be lodged immediately and Sara ended up third. Her parents hired an attorney. He threatened to...

RENO, Nevada (AP) -- She spelled it right. The judge said it was wrong. And she's not getting a second chance. Reno, Nevada, eighth-grader Sara Beckman spelled "discernible" correctly during a spelling bee Tuesday at the University of Nevada, Reno. But the judge rang the bell anyway.... Her mother, Cindy, calls herself a "momma bear with her bear claws out" and is ready to go to court. The school spokesman says he hopes everybody can sit down together and work something out. He says defending a lawsuit over a spelling bee isn't a good way to spend school district money.

LETTER OF THE DAY - A student who cannot spell 'cat'! published: Thursday | November 24, 2005 THE EDITOR, Sir: I AM writing this letter to you based on my experience. I am a teacher at an upgraded high school in Jamaica and I must say that we are making strides in CSEC passes and the performing arts. However, I am appalled from time to time by the kind of students who are entering the high school system.I met a student recently who could not spell the words, 'mother', 'cat' or her last name, albeit the name is a...

Typoglycemia Don't delete this because it looks weird. Believe it or not you can read it . I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rs et can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter...

“What’s in a name?” Shakespere asked. Make that “Shakespeare.” Miami artist Maria Alquilar, much maligned for 11 misspellings that popped up in the educational mural she designed for the Livermore public library last year, spent today under the hot sun correcting her mistakes. In addition to fixing the bard’s name, she changed “Eistein” to “Einstein,” “Gaugan” to “Gauguin” and more. But Alquilar, who at first claimed artistic license and said she wasn’t going to return to fix the faux pas because people were being too mean about it, was giving no media interviews as she worked under a broad-brimmed straw...

Anurag Kashyap Wins National Spelling Bee Thursday, June 02, 2005 WASHINGTON — Bursting into tears, eighth-grader Anurag Kashyap (search) of California became the U.S. spelling champ Thursday, beating out 272 other spellers in a tough two days of competition. He said he felt "just pure happiness." Anurag, 13, of Poway, clinched "appoggiatura," a melodic tone, to take home some $30,000 in prizes. He won in the 19th round of the 78th Annual National Scripps Spelling Bee. Also among 27 spellers remaining at the end of the sixth round Thursday afternoon were a half dozen home-schoolers. Home-schooled students have won twice,...

WASHINGTON - Seventh-grader Tyler Curtis says he's never had to worry much about doing well at his studies, and he's not about to start now. That's saying something. Tyler is facing 272 of the country's best young spellers — and the biggest prize ever — at the 78th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee running Wednesday and Thursday. "It would be nice to win," the 13-year-old from Camden, Tenn., said Tuesday. "But I'm not going to get all stressed out over it." His competitors include 145 boys and 127 girls aged 9 to 14, mostly from around the country and U.S....

These are the times that try English majors’ souls. The sacred rules we were taught, and struggled to grasp and live by, are violated in the daily papers, not to mention radio. Doesn’t anyone these days know the difference between may and might? I grant there are gray areas where either can be argued. But there are some areas that aren’t gray: “I might go to the movies tonight.” I don’t want to seem priggish about this. I may wince inwardly at a split infinitive, and I try (with some strain) never to split one myself, but I don’t complain...

Challenge yourself. How many words can you spell correctly? This were words used during this weekends Colorado State Spelling Bee. The boy who won had only been studying for the bee since the beginning of February. Here's the spelling test here Here's a 3 minute video showing a synopsis of the bee here Here's the article that was written about the bee here

A school district in Rhode Island canceled its annual spelling bee this year because administrators decided the crowning of only one winner violates the main principle of the federal No Child Left Behind Act – that all children should succeed. Competitor in Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee finals in Washington last June. (Photo: National Spelling Bee) Linda Newman, assistant superintendent of schools in Lincoln, R.I., said it's her understanding that President Bush's education initiative says all children must reach high standards, which conflicts with the spelling bee, the Woonsocket Call of Rhode Island reported. "It's about one kid winning, several...

This may be the age of Internet pop-ups and text-message marketing, but lots of businesses - especially small businesses - still do most of their advertising with old-fashioned low-tech signs. And just as the eyes are said to be windows to the soul, these storefront signs - which often come with fractured grammar and mysterious spelling - can be portals on a great city that is regenerating itself with a flood of new immigrants. The signs are there to lure customers, of course, but they can do much more. Four out of 10 current New Yorkers were born in a...

I fought a demon from the fifth grade — and the demon won In spring 1974 in fifth grade at Kaiserslautern American Elementary School No. 2 in southwest Germany, my class took on another one in a spelling bee. I was pumped. I smelled victory. In the final round, the girl four spots ahead got "committee." Man, I wanted her to get it wrong, because I knew if it got to me, I had it nailed. How tough is it to spell "committee"? She spelled it "comite." BZZZT! The next guy spelled it "comitee." BZZZT! The next guy spelled it...

The past participle proven, originally the past participle of preve, a Middle English variant of prove that survived in Scotland, has gradually worked its way into standard English over the past three and a half centuries. It seems to have first become established in legal use and to have come only slowly into literary use. Tennyson was one of its earliest frequent users, probably for metrical reasons. It was disapproved by 19th century grammarians, one of whom included it in a list of "words that are not words." Surveys made some 40 or 50 years ago indicated that proved was...

OK, first off, for those who couldn't care less about their use of English and/or spelling, please don't read further; flame me and get on with your day. For the rest, please allow me to point out a pet peeve in many Internet posts and publications: the misuse of the words "there", "their" and "they're". Some folks just can't seem to pick the right one. The word "there" is usually used as an adverb or pronoun, and sometimes as an adjective. Examples: ADV - Park your car over there.PRON - There is no reason to cry.ADJ - That computer there...

A colorful mosaic gracing the entrance of Livermore's new library has 11 of the 175 names and words on the piece misspelled -- from "Eistein" and "Shakespere" to "Van Gough" and "Michaelangelo." The $40,000 project now will cost the city a few thousand more because it must pay the artist to fly from her Miami home and correct the mistakes. was unapologetic about the blunders when she told the Associated Press that others present when the mosaic was installed should have caught them. Besides, she said, it's art.

I am getting some pretty whacky results when I spell check my replies. Anyone else getting this? Is there a Møøsë on the loose at FR headquarters?

FRANKFURT - Mark Twain found its rules - and exceptions - so complicated, he dubbed it "The Awful German Language." Indeed, experts have struggled to streamline Germany's notoriously difficult spelling rules. Then six years ago, German culture ministers and other German-speaking countries forged a controversial agreement. Among other things, it replaced the idiosyncratic ß, called Esszet, with a double "s" at times. It loosened the use of commas, Germanized foreign words - so that "spaghetti" became "spagetti" and "ketchup" "ketschup" - and broke up interminable compound nouns. The new spelling was sold in schools as a breakthrough reform. But it...

(Sgt. Charles Robert) Jenkins Ready for Court-Martial Yomiuri Shimbun Charles Jenkins, the husband of former abductee Hitomi Soga, has confided to his nephew that he is prepared to be court-martialed, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. Jenkins, who is accused of deserting the U.S. Army while stationed in South Korea in 1965, made the comment in a handwritten note delivered to James Hyman before he returned to his North Carolina home last Sunday. Hyman claimed in a press conference Friday in Tokyo that the Japanese government had prevented him from seeing his uncle. In the letter, Jenkins, whose full name...

Today in the Oval Office, President Bush met with King Mohammed VI of Morocco, and later welcomed 14 year old David Tidmarsh of South Bend, Indiana, winner of the 2004 Scripps Howard Spelling Bee. This afternoon, he spoke via satellite to the League of United Latin American Citizens at their Annual Convention. The Bush campaign released a new, strong anti-Kerry ad, and in good polling news released by the AP, the President moved ahead of Kerry, despite the usual VP bump, and in even better news, in a survey on hair quality, the President soundly beat Kerry by a 51...

I was talking to a friend the other day who is very much brainwashed with the belief that all Islam is a religion of peace. I was trying to tell her about Whabbism(sp) which she had never heard of. I want to send her some articles on the topic but for the life of me I can not remember how to spell the word properly. Can someone help?

WASHINGTON, June 3 — Akshay Buddiga stood on stage hunched over a microphone, his clenched hands stuffed into his pockets. If he could spell "alopecoid," he would take another step on the way to becoming the second national spelling bee champion in his family. He asked for the meaning of the word, then its origin. Buying a bit more time, he asked for its pronunciation. Then before he could get the "a" out, he fainted, collapsing at the feet of the other spellers. No sooner had the audience let out a collective gasp than they let out a louder one...

Take a look at this picture of union goons protesting President Bush in Buffalo NY. See if you catch it. Here is the article the picture is with.

<p>A state education administrator is warning Roosevelt Elementary School District that Spanish-language word games might violate the state's English-only classroom requirements.</p> <p>The verbal warning from state Associate Superintendent Margaret Garcia-Dugan has Roosevelt staff reviewing policies.</p> <p>But school board member Carlos Avelar is firing back: "This just helps maintain the ability to maintain both languages. My belief and my hope is that we will continue this tradition."</p>

If I were involved with this school as a teacher or part of the PTA, I would be embarrassed and ashamed. I have provided sources should you wish to check it out. Our goal it to keep parents informed as to what is happening in our district and state, that affect our families. Source: http://www.myschoolonline.com/site/0,1876,9865-142810-9-6041,00.html **************************************************** *Recently, budget issues have plaged our state *Education always seems to on the chopping block when our Representatives are making cuts. *This should never be tolerated by voters. When it comes to the education of our children Their voices made a enormous difference. *and...

Greenspan tells us what to do. Someone should take him out and hang him."