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PHILADELPHIA -- A 14-year-old boy who admitted forcing an 11-year-old girl into an alley at gunpoint and raping her will be sent to a facility for young sex offenders indefinitely, a judge ruled. The teenager entered an admission form in Family Court on Thursday essentially pleading guilty to charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, criminal conspiracy, and possession of an instrument of crime. Judge Robert Rebstock accepted his admission, adjudicated him delinquent, and said he will be sent to the Pennsylvania Clinical Schools in Coatesville. "He's going to be supervised by me for a long time," Rebstock said. The...

NEWARK, Del. -- In Delaware, Newark High School principal Emmanuel Caulk says he didn't know in advance that an assembly Tuesday that featured two pro-football players would include a Christian message. In a letter that was sent home to parents yesterday, Caulk says the literature he saw before the assembly didn't say that the presentation was non-secular. And Caulk is apologizing to students and parents. Philadelphia Eagles players Tra Thomas and Thomas Tapeh spoke for about 45 minutes. Tra Thomas is the founder of Athletes United for Christ. Caulk says the school did not know about his affiliation. The group's...

Oh, I am enraged.I went to Target (TARGET, of all places!) to purchase the last few things I needed to finish off my toddler son's Halloween costume. He's going to be a cowboy -- jeans, boots, flannel shirt, leather vest, sherrif's star, hat...and little gunbelts, if I can actually ever GET them.Because Target doesn't carry "gun-based toys." According to the employee (and manager) I asked, it's "socially irresponsible" to expose kids to guns.MEANWHILE, they have about eighty damn copies of "Grand Theft Auto.""Socially irresponsible."Anyone have any ideas where I can get cowboy accessories?

Laws Concerning Food and Drink; Household Principles; Sermon on the Table OF the beasts of the field, and of the fishes of the sea, and of all foods that are acceptable in my sight you may eat, but not in the living room. Of the hoofed animals, broiled or ground into burgers, you may eat, but not in the living room. Of the cloven-hoofed animal, plain or with cheese, you may eat, but not in the living room. Of the cereal grains, of the corn and of the wheat and of the oats, and of all the cereals that are...

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Judge Dismisses Charges Against Anti-Gay Protestors Men Arrested For Allegedly Trying To Incite Riot At Gay Street Festival POSTED: 12:38 pm EST February 17, 2005 UPDATED: 12:50 pm EST February 17, 2005 PHILADELPHIA -- A city judge dismissed charges Thursday against four members of a conservative Christian group who were arrested last fall while picketing a street festival for gays and lesbians. Common Pleas Judge Pamela Dembe tossed the charges after watching a videotape of the events leading to the defendants' arrest, saying: "We are one of the very few countries that protect unpopular speech." The demonstrators, affiliated with a...

SOUTH COVENTRY -- A United Methodist pastor who told her congregation she was gay was found guilty Thursday of violating church law and defrocked. The Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud, 34, an associate pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia, told her congregation in a letter and a sermon in 2003 about her sexual identity, including that she was in a committed lesbian relationship. Twelve of the 13 jurors found her guilty of violating church law that bars "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals" from ministry. In a church trial, only nine of 13 members of the jury -- made...

>George Bush diaries could, without lying, easily say: >I attacked and took over 2 countries, one for good reason. The other I lied >about, so I could complete what my father failed to do. >I had a pilot land me on an aircraft carrier, so I could jump out in a pilot >suit and say the war in Iraq was over. (A helicopter would have been >cheaper but I wouldn't have needed the pilot suit) >I spent the U.S. surplus and bankrupted the US Treasury. >I shattered the record for the biggest annual deficit in history (not easy >to accomplish!)...

In some schools, camera's always on Classrooms are now being taped. Critics raise privacy concerns. By Dan Hardy Inquirer Staff Writer When students act up in Nicole Snook's second-grade classroom at Graystone Academy Charter School in South Coatesville, she has a quick remedy. " 'Don't forget, you're on the screen and your parents might be watching. You have to be 100 percent,' " she tells her students. "They say: 'You do, too,' and I agree." In each of the 500-student charter school's 21 classrooms, a video camera records the every move of students and teachers. There are monitors in a...

Greetings to all, Janet, I do enjoy a spirited debate! First though I should say for the benefit of all that putting the most personal issue up front seems appropriate- then we can get down to politics. I had a chance to speak briefly with Janet this evening & share the point I made in my original email to Mom.Vietnam hopefully taught us many lessons. The most important perhaps, was that opposing a war & opposing our armed forces are not the same thing. That has been my approach to this war. I maintain my assertion that this is essentially...

I picked up my mail this afternoon and get a heck of a surprise. A letter from the local school district! Since I have ALREADY given my pound of flesh via school taxes and my toddler is nowhere NEAR school-age, I opened it with trepidation and curiosity. Here's what it says. I put MY commentary in italics: "In order to forecast the needs of schools and communities, or School District is seeking your help and cooperation in taking an official census. Public school law 1351 requires that we obtain information for a census from all families living in the School...

Help continue the fight against the misuse of Eminent Domain >i>Have fun and support the fight Join us for a Beef & Beer Benefit Friday November 22, 2002 7 pm - 11 pm Loyal Order of Moose - 1910 Ballroom 1200 Airport Road Coatesville, Pa 19320 - Beef & Beer, Salads & Desserts - Music by Ron McNiel from WCOJ - Cash Bar - Silent Auction - Minimum donation - $25 per person Stop local government from using eminent domain law to take private property to build a golf course and golf related facilities.Proceeds go to continue the fight against...

A manhunt is under way in Chester County for an intruder who invaded a home, and allegedly assaulted a pre-school-age child- leaving a community in fear. It happened early Thursday morning along Reeves Street in Phoenixville, Chester County. The police chief in Phoenixville is cautioning homeowners to keep their windows and doors locked, and for parents to keep an extra close eye on their children- as the suspect involved in this attack is still at large. It was a very deliberate attack against a very young victim Detectives returned to the scene of Thursday's invasion which occured under the cover...

We won't deny our consciences Prominent Americans have issued this statement on the war on terror Friday June 14, 2002 The Guardian Let it not be said that people in the United States did nothing when their government declared a war without limit and instituted stark new measures of repression. The signers of this statement call on the people of the US to resist the policies and overall political direction that have emerged since September 11 and which pose grave dangers to the people of the world. We believe that peoples and nations have the right to determine their own...

Sahas find support from outside area VALLEY -- Roy Waggoner is a 19-year-old from McPherson, Kan. He has never been to Coatesville or Valley, much less heard of them ..until recently. But he is among a group of a growing number of individuals from all over the country voicing their opinions on Coatesville's regional recreation center and the city's eminent domain actions. "We've had e-mails from people in Alaska, California and Texas," said Dick Saha, a Valley resident who has been battling the city to keep his farm for more than three years. Coatesville plans to use the Sahas' property...

Pennsylvania state Rep. Jane Baker, 56, said she will run for a second term next year even though she told a jury recently that injuries from a traffic accident had left her largely cognitively disabled.Baker, who lives near Allentown, said she "needs help with reading and understanding material and carrying on conversations" due to head injuries and told the jury that in fact she is "virtually unemployable" except for her position in the Legislature. (The jury awarded her $2.9 million in November.) [Allentown Morning Call, 11-10-01; Las Vegas Review Journal, 11-12-01]

(I've been really worried about Anthrax and attacks using Anthrax until recently. I finally figured out a way to control my fears about about it. ) Hey, guys, I'm surviving here. However I seem to be suffering from Anthrax Stress Syndrome ("ASS"). You see, I thought I could handle my ASS without intervention. After all, I spent a lot of time on my ASS. Initially I tried picking at my ASS to help alleviate the problem, but this didn't help. While there was a crack in my ASS, my simply sitting there and not doing anything only made my ASS ...

In the wake of the "terrorist" attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (representatives of the American neocolonial military-financial complex that dominates the world through 'globalization'), what we need is not rash action against the "perpetrators", but rather a swift rush to judgment against the ultimate source of this violence, namely American foreign policy, the source of all evil in the world. Happily, many people have realized American complicity in this act and have rallied against war and for a thorough reexamination of American foreign policy. Unfortunately, though some of the ideas they suggest are fine (withdrawing American ...

Advertisers Go Undercover to Push Products Undercover ad firms primarily target the jaded 18-to-34-year-old set Thursday, August 16, 2001 By Catherine Donaldson-Evans, FOXNews.com NEW YORK: A local Little League baseball game is heating up under a hazy summer sky. Doting mothers fuss over their sons' dingy caps and mud-streaked jerseys. Why, they wonder, is Johnny’s uniform always so clean and bright? Johnny’s mom tells them she used to scrub his baseball uniform relentlessly after games but nothing worked. Until, she says, she discovered Miracle Brand X detergent. "You should try it," she urges. "Trust me you’ll be sold." "Miracle Brand ...

(found as a sidebar on Pp. 28 of this months’ issue of “Parents” magazine – September 2001, which arrived in the mail this morning.) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ “Target Date” Gun accidents kill ten children in the U.S. every day – more than all natural causes combined. But if safety advocates have their way, that number may soon decline. AUGUST 20 MARKS THE FIRST NATIONAL ASK (Asking Saves Kids) DAY. Sponsored by PAX, a non-profit educational organization that works to bring an end to gun violence, the day was created to encourage parents to ask other moms and dads whether they own a ...