Free Republic

Beano Cook, a longtime staple of the Pittsburgh sports scene and an ESPN college football studio commentator since 1986, has died. He was 81. Cook, a 1954 University of Pittsburgh grad, began his career as a sports publicist for the school from 1956-66. He later worked with a number of organizations, including the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. Beano Cook's breadth of knowledge of the history of the college game earned him the moniker, the "Cardinal of College Football." Cook was a studio commentator for ABC from 1982-85 before joining ESPN. He also worked as ABC's press director from 1966-74, and for...

A man's flatulence problem in a Texas motel room annoyed his room-mate so much that he ended up stabbing him. Two friends were sharing a meal in the motel room in Waco, Texas on Tuesday, according to local police, when one of them started passing wind. The other had something of a problem with this, it seems, as he threw a large knife at his companion, hitting him in the leg. For good measure, he then stabbed him in the chest as well. The farty victim was taken to a local hospital, where his injuries are not believed to be...

California lawmakers expressed skepticism Monday about how the Schwarzenegger administration plans to reduce greenhouse gases, illustrating the difficulty in implementing the state's much publicized global warming law. Democrats questioned why the state planned to spend millions of dollars on mechanisms that have yet be evaluated or clearly defined. "A lot of the language we're using here is very fuzzy," said Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. "I think we really need to develop something that all of the public understands." The committee held the Legislature's first public hearing on how to implement the greenhouse gas...

Fresh off the drudge report... Who says you can't buy votes? Stop in any [taco bell] restaraunt between now and Election Day, and buy a vote for your canidate in the Taco Bell Recall Election Taco Poll! Buy a beef crunchy Taco, and we'll count that as a vote for Arnold Schwartzanegger. Buy a chicken soft taco, and we'll count that as a vote for grey davis. Buy a grilled stuft burrito, and we'll count that as a vote for one of the other 134 canidates.

Hong Kong - A primary school in China is fining pupils five yuan each time they fart in class, a news report said on Friday. Hu Zhuang Elementary School in Beijing has begun imposing the fines as part of a crackdown on bad hygiene habits in the wake of the Sars outbreak, according to the South China Morning Post. No one has been fined so far at the school which has also introduced rules banning pupils from dropping litter or coughing without covering their mouths.