News Scraps
By Brandon Bosworth

The Chicago Tribune observed that many of the people holding "African Americans for Dean" signs at a Howard Dean rally were white. * California Democratic senator Barbara Boxer's re-election campaign is selling boxer shorts imprinted with her name. The Boxer boxers run $15. * "Washington may not succeed in turning Iraq into a 'beacon of democracy,' "wrote Arab News columnist Fawaz Turki, "but it will succeed, after all is said and done, in turning it into a society of laws and institutions where citizens, along with high-school kids, are protected against arbitrary arrest, incarceration, torture, and execution." * Battles between cigarette bootleggers in Brooklyn claimed the lives of at least three people late last year. The New York Daily News reported that as a result of "city and state taxes boosting the price of cigarettes, hundreds of streetwise hustlers are selling cheap tax-free smokes--an illegal but lucrative trade that is becoming nearly as cutthroat as dealing drugs." . . . The tiny Buddhist nation of Bhutan may became the world's first smoke-free country. Smoking is already banned in 19 of Bhutan's 20 districts for religious reasons. * The conviction rate for men charged with rape or sexual assault is 80 percent. The rate drops to 38 percent for professional and college athletes, according to a University of Massachusetts study. * Around Christmas, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) targeted young children attending performances of "The Nutcracker." If the child's mother was wearing fur, PETA gave the child a flyer featuring a picture of a woman stabbing a bloody knife into a rabbit and the words "keep your doggie or kitty friends away from mommy--she's an animal killer." * Post World War II chancellor Konrad Adenauer was voted the "best German" of all time in a poll of over 3 million Germans. Martin Luther came in second, followed by Karl Marx. * German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder suggested ending the European Union's arms embargo on China while on a visit to the communist nation. * Accused World War I spy Mata Hari was innocent, according to a new book by French historian Phillipe Collas, the great-grandson of the judge who sentenced her to death. According to Collas' research, Mata Hari never spied for the Germans, and was executed because the French government needed a scapegoat due to its lack of progress in the war. * A Pennsylvania man cashed in all the pennies he had collected for 40 years. The pennies, which filled over 37 buckets, netted $10,060. * Asian-American women are protesting a Seattle restaurant that serves sushi off the body of a scantily clad woman. One protester stated, "It's dehumanizing to be treated as a plate." * Thailand's government believes it is near victory in the war on drugs. Says prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra: "Illegal drugs have been eradicated to the point they no longer have any great influence on people's lives, but the fight will continue until Thailand is completely drug free." * In an effort to boost birth rates, Italian women who give birth before the end of this year will receive a cash prize of over $1,000 from their government. Italy has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. * Over 60 percent of voters who regularly attend religious services support President Bush's re-election, according to a Pew Research poll. Among those who never attend religious services, more than 60 percent would support a Democratic challenger. * The Shreveport, Louisiana police department had been using voice-recognition equipment to handle non-emergency calls. The equipment soon had to be scrapped, as it could not recognize callers' thick Southern drawls. . . . Computerized voting machines in Boone County, Indiana counted 144,000 votes in an election with fewer than 19,000 eligible voters. * It is now illegal to feed pigeons in London's famed Trafalgar Square. Anyone caught feeding the birds faces a fine of $85 and possible prosecution. Pigeon droppings have caused over $230,000 worth of damage to monuments in the Square.