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Alicia Bailey was bitten by what appeared to have been a large water moccasin that had been hiding in the bowl in the middle of the night. The snake bit her thigh after she lifted the lid, sending her to the hospital for three days. "We're currently very uncomfortable in our home," Alicia Bailey said. "And toilet shy, I would say."

An off-duty police officer ended up on the wrong side of the law Friday night, shooting a man who had purposely knocked over the cop's beer in a lower Manhattan bar, police said Saturday. The injured 23-year-old, whose name was not released, was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan in stable condition, police said. Bernard Marti, who is assigned to Harlem's 25th Precinct, was drinking in Cordato's Deli and Bar at 94 1/2 Greenwich St. at 10:30 p.m. Friday when a man knocked over Marti's beer, police sources said. That man voluntarily bought Marti a new beer but intentionally knocked...

Even imperfect parents can inspire healthy habits Do you scarf down multiple Hostess cupcakes in a single sitting? Do you curse with abandon, criticize yourself harshly, scatter clothes all over your bedroom floor? And is your child witness to these less-than-stellar habits? Then beware! As any parent knows: Child see, child do. Nobody's perfect, of course, and it's probably even good for kids to see their elders tumble from their pedestals now and then. So when your child catches you being, um, human, don't kick yourself -- but if you'd like her to develop healthy habits and good behavior, it's...

Right now, I’m sitting on my back deck smoking a Cuban Montecristo #2. Some call it breaking the law. But since the U.S. Army rejected my offer to go to Iraq to serve as an army sniper, the least I can do is help the troops by burning valuable enemy crops. After I finish this 52-ring by 6 1/8” figurado (and dispose of the evidence in my American-made toilet), I plan to watch that tape of Castro falling down the steps and busting his communist fanny on international television. The tape only runs about 30 seconds, butt (sorry) it is...

Housing authorities in Sacramento, Calif., ordered the D'Souzas on Timberwood Court to take down the sheets of aluminum they had placed around their home to stop the neighbors from allegedly bombarding them with radio waves, which they say had given them headaches, lupus and other illnesses. A Code Enforcement spokesman said there was also foil aplenty covering the inside of the house.

The left-wing Kumbaya crowd is quietly grooming a generation of pushovers in the public schools. At a time of war, when young Americans should be educated about this nation's resilience and steely resolve, educators are indoctrinating students with saccharine-sticky lessons on "non-violent conflict resolution" and "promoting constructive dialogues." Peaceniks are covering our kids from head to toe in emotional bubble wrap. The latest example of Hand-Holding 101 comes from the New York City public schools. According to Lauren Collins of The New Yorker magazine, the school system is introducing a new curriculum called "Operation Respect: Don't Laugh at Me" into...

A mother who authorities say was a member of a bizarre cult stands accused of drowning her six-year-old daughter, then decapitating the child and dumping her body off a bridge in Washington state. According to Kings County Sheriff's Department investigators, 30-year-old Samara Spann was a member of a cult that worships the late rap star Tupac Shukar. Investigators say Spann became convinced her daughter Kyeimah was possessed by demons and killed the child on or about December 31, 2004. Spann reportedly told detectives that after she drowned her daughter in the bathtub of her home in White Center, Washington, she...

Authorities say a disagreement over a frozen snack led a McComb teenager to fatally shoot his father and threaten his mother. Curtis McCray Jr., 16, was arrested and charged with murder last week after allegedly shooting Curtis McCray Sr. with a shotgun from about 20 feet away, the Pike County Sheriff's Department said. Investigator David Haywood said the shooting occurred after the teen was punished for being involved in a minor wreck, and the boy became enraged when his parents returned home eating Sno-Balls and there wasn't one for him. The teen then allegedly threatened his mother, Gloria, with the...

Scalpel, retractor and more Hendrix, please. As in Jimi Hendrix -- and maybe a little Glenn Miller, Darryl Worley or Frank Sinatra. It's all "musical intervention," according to the Yale University School of Medicine. The school announced the results of a study yesterday that proves familiar tunes, rather than the clatter of the operating room or so-called soothing "white noise," actually lessen the sedation a patient needs during surgery. A third of the 90 patients in the study were called the night before their surgeries and asked to bring their favorite compact disc to the hospital with them. The other...

A 38-year-old Winthrop, Ark. man was hospitalized after jumping out the passenger window of a vehicle traveling an estimated 55 to 60 mph to retrieve his cigarette late Saturday. Jeff Foran was riding in his friend's 2000 Dodge Stratus about 10 p.m. Saturday near the Arkansas-Oklahoma border when the cigarette he was smoking blew out the vehicle's front passenger window, said Arkansas State Police Trooper First Class Jamie Gravier. Foran jumped out of the vehicle to retrieve the cigarette and hit the pavement, causing facial trauma. He landed on the eastbound lane of Arkansas Highway 234 about three miles west...

More and more gay men in Connecticut are contracting syphilis, a life-threatening sexually transmitted disease, according to new statistics from the state Department of Public Health. Forty-five new cases of primary and secondary syphilis in Connecticut residents were reported to the state in 2004 -- more than triple the number of cases reported just four years ago, and 50 percent more than last year. Of those 45 new cases, 34 were gay men, including 12 who live in lower Fairfield County. The disease -- an epidemic a decade ago among poor blacks in Connecticut's larger cities -- is spreading quickly...

A husband who assaulted his wife after she bought the wrong brand of baked beans was ordered to pay £500 compensation yesterday. David White, 42, flew into a rage after noticing that his wife, Sharon, had bought HP beans when he wanted Heinz. Mrs White had intended to buy Heinz beans but the shop only had HP, which she knew White would be annoyed about. White threw the beans at her at their home in Rhydyfelin, near Pontypridd, but they missed. He continued to shout abuse that evening and kicked Mrs White in the thigh, the court was told, telling...

Did you catch Carlos Santana's grand entrance at the Oscars? Well, the famed guitarist couldn't contain himself. He stopped for the photographers, smiled deliriously and swung his jacket open. TA-DA! There it was: Carlos' elegantly embroidered Che Guevara T-shirt. Carlos' face as the flashbulbs popped said it all. "I'm so COOL!" he beamed. "I'm so HIP! I'm so CHEEKY! So SHARP! So TUNED IN!" Lest we get carried away with merely laughing at your stupidity, I'll pass along the thoughts from Cuban music legend Paquito D'Rivero. He wrote his recent letter to you in Spanish. "My command of English wouldn't...

The president of the Springfield, Ill., chapter of the Million Mom March faces charges of having drugs and an illegal handgun in her home. Reports said the gun's serial number had been scratched off.

Thirteen-year-old student suspended for ten days for alleged rubber band assault.

Listening to Limbaugh and the replay of liberal press people 4 years ago accusing Bush of needing Cheney for "gravitas", now suddenly Bush has "hubris"

When it opened two months ago, Bill Clinton's presidential library was supposed to draw so many visitors that the city of Little Rock would become a tourist mecca. However early reports claiming that over 100,000 had visited in just the first six weeks have turned out to be bogus. The National Archives and Records Administration, which operates the facility, tells U.S. News & World Report that only 42,054 paid to enter. The rest were guests of the former president and freebies to VIPs. Despite wall-to-wall television coverage of its opening, and a deluge of favorable press, attendance figures for the...

Insurgents assassinated the highest-ranking Iraqi official in eight months Tuesday, gunning down the governor of Baghdad province and six of his bodyguards, and a homicide truck bomber killed 10 people at an Interior Ministry commando headquarters, the latest in a string of violence ahead of Jan. 30 elections.

"Open Letter to John Kerry the true War Hero: Remember reaching in the water and pulling your comrade into the swift boat? America is in the water. Reach in. Our hand is up and we are sinking. Bullets are flying, piercing the waves around us. Please PUBLICLY request a re-vote in Ohio and Florida. Every criticism of the Ukrainian election is valid in Ohio. Florida was probably hacked. We WILL follow you into the streets! 1) 13 hour waits to vote in Columbus? To vote for YOU. Machine distribution needs to be fair. The facts are in. 2) Media locked...

National Day of Mourning, 1/20/05 January 20th, 2005 will be a National Day of Mourning for American Democracy. If George W. Bush is sworn in on that day for a second Presidential term, it will represent a Grave Blow to the core Values of our Democracy. It will be a day of great sadness for at least half the nation. In observance of this day, Wear traditional symbols of mourning—black clothes, black armbands, black ribbons on the lapel. If you are able, fly an American flag at half staff. Take funeral leave, bereavement leave or sick leave from work on...