Jockstrip: The world as we know it

WELCOME HOME SOLDIER

A brothel in Nevada is offering free sex to U.S. troops who took part in the war against Iraq, to thank them for their endeavors abroad.

The Moonlight Bunnyranch in Carson City, Nev., where brothels are legal, is offering a free sex session -- with a value of up to $1,000 -- for the first 50 soldiers who show up at the door.

For those tardy, the offer is a 50 percent discount on all services to servicemen and women for 50 days after the first offer expires.

Dennis Hof, the proprietor, tell the British Broadcasting Corp., "We wanted to give these guys some special care and attention."

MAN THREATENED TO CUT PENIS

A Canadian man, accused of threatening to cut off a man's penis, will be granted bail if a bed in a suitable addiction program is found.

Sheldon Floyd Ballantyne, charged with breaking and entering, robbery and assault with a weapon, is a transvestite preparing to undergo a sex-change operation, the Winnipeg Sun reports.

Ballantyne, also known as Shelly Lania Valentine, is accused of stabbing a man who then jumped, or was pushed, through a second-floor window, according to court testimony.

Due to his pending operation and hormone treatments, Ballantyne does not feel comfortable living with the men in the Remand Center. The victim survived and is being treated for injuries.

DOGGIE STAR QUALITY

Joe Camp, the man behind the Benji movies, spent four months crisscrossing the United States in search of a star mutt for his next film, "Benji Returns: Rags to Riches."

Camp tells the Chicago Sun-Times he was determined to get the star of his next movie from an animal shelter because it's his way of letting people know there are pets in shelters just as cute as in the movies.

After looking at more than 1,000 dogs, Camp narrowed the search to three dogs, including Shaggy, a male adopted from Chicago Animal Care.

The lead role ended up going to a mutt from Gulfport, Miss., but Camp said he couldn't get over Shaggy's star quality so he rewrote the scrip and made Shaggy Benji's sidekick.

APOLOGY WANTED FOR BRA REMARK

State Assemblywoman Betty Chew in Malaysia has demanded an apology from a fellow assemblyman for suggesting people use a bra if there is a shortage of face masks.

Datuk Ramli Mohd Said, a state assemblyman, made the remarks in the relation to protecting people against severe acute respiratory syndrome.

"It is disgraceful and irresponsible for an assemblyman to use his position at the Malacca State Assembly to show his discrimination and bias against women," Chew tells The Malacca Star.

Ramli said he had not intended to discriminate against women, but only mentioned the bra after seeing a newspaper photograph of someone using it in China.