GIANT PRAYER VIGIL FOR UNKNOWN HOMELESS BUM IN MODESTO
More than 5,000 sobbing people jammed a Salvation Army Shelter to mourn Jessie "Deadbeat Charlie" Annerson, the man found choked to death two months ago in a Modesto farm produce shed. Annerson was mourned by county leaders and state officials who made it known that the absence of anyone from the Bush Administration showed how uncaring they really are. There have been reports circulating the Right Wing Talk Show circuit that Annerson, an alcoholic, and a drug addict when he could afford to be, actually choked on his own vomit while in a drunken stupor. These reports have been discounted by the press and media here as Right Wing propaganda.

A $25,000 reward has been posted for his killer. NPR has vowed to match that figure so the reward is now $50,000, an amount that brought additional tears to the eyes of mourners. Seven of the Democratic Presidential candidates made an appearance while two, Mosley Braun and Joe Lieberman, sent floral arrangements. Kerry, a decorated Viet Nam War veteran, declared that the absent Lieberman and Braun showed an insensitivity to little people and that perhaps one of them thought attending Temple was more important.

Annerson left two children who are in foster homes and have declared that they hate Annerson and that they're glad he's dead. These remarks have been called unacceptable by local Democratic groups. The children may be remanded to the Mental Health Facility at an unknown location til they change their mindsets. Officials say the children have been put on intensive medication and locked in their rooms with no TV for a week.