Thursday, January 26, 2006

Male student wins fight to wear skirt to protest U.S. school's dress code - Yahoo! News

Ah yes. I always like looking at fat boys in skirts ... oh wait ... can I go to jail for that?!

Male student wins fight to wear skirt to protest U.S. school's dress code - Yahoo! News:

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) - A male high-school student can wear a skirt to school after the
American Civil Liberties Union reached an agreement with school officials.


The ACLU announced the deal Tuesday. It will allow a Hasbrouck Heights School senior to wear a skirt to protest the school's no-shorts policy.

The district's dress code bans shorts between Oct. 1 and April 15, but allows skirts, a policy 17-year-old Michael Coviello believes is discriminatory.

'I'm happy to be able to wear skirts again to bring attention to the fact that the ban on shorts doesn't make sense,' Coviello said in a statement.

The Hasbrouck Heights superintendent, Joseph Luongo, did not return telephone messages left Tuesday seeking comment.

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Palestinian Candidates Condemn U.S. Program

Palestinian Candidates Condemn U.S. Program:
Palestinian Candidates Condemn U.S. Program
Events Boosted Government

By Scott Wilson and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, January 24, 2006; A14

JERUSALEM, Jan. 23 -- The Bush administration's effort to increase the popularity of the Palestinian Authority and its governing Fatah party before critical parliamentary elections this week came under intense criticism Monday from a number of candidates, some of whom charged that the program amounted to illegal interference in the democratic process.

A leader of Hamas, formally known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, called for an investigation into whether the $2 million program violated the prohibition against parties receiving funds from foreign sources. U.S. officials involved in the program said it was not meant to favor one party, but the Palestinian public closely identifies the Palestinian Authority with the Fatah movement that runs it.

Candidates from several other parties said the program was an attempt to undermine Hamas in voting scheduled for Wednesday and predicted that it would backfire.

'Every time the United States says it doesn't want Hamas, they boost Hamas,' said Mustafa Barghouti, a former presidential candidate who is heading the Independent Palestine candidate list. 'Let us do our elections entirely on our own. These interventions run counter to our efforts, and they hurt the Palestinian people. This effort was completely counterproductive.'

The Washington Post reported Sunday that the Bush administration has been spending money on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in recent weeks to improve its position as Palestinians prepare to vote for parliament for the first time in a decade.

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