Jockstrip: The world as we know it

Transexual's divorce hits a snag

HOUSTON, June 3 (UPI) -- A Houston transsexual in the midst of a sex change from man to woman is having problems with a divorce because she won't admit to being a he.

Linda Gail Carter, as she is now known, sought a regular divorce from Constance Gonzalez. But the Harris County judge hearing the case would not grant the divorce because Linda would not agree to be certified a male, the Houston Chronicle said. Testimony was continuing.

Carter, 60, legally changed her sex from male to female in May 1998 and changed her name from James H. Murphey. She has taken female hormones and had some surgical procedures in preparation for a sex change but has not completed the transformation. Her Texas driver's license continues to list her as a male.

Carter and Gonzalez were married in Las Vegas after Carter began the sex change. The lawsuit originally claimed the marriage should be dissolved because two women cannot be married under Texas or Nevada law.

Snail mail becomes lost mail

SHEFFIELD, England, June 3 (UPI) -- Britain's Royal mail got the last laugh on Linda Atkin when her 1,000-signature petition to stop the closure of her post office got lost in the mail.

Atkin, irate over plans to shut the post office in Brightside in Sheffield, spent 10 days collecting signatures. Then she sent the 30-page document by registered mail, the Daily Sun reported Thursday.

Alas, the package never reached postal headquarters, which is only three miles from where she had mailed it.

A shocked Atkin learned the truth when she phoned to say she had beaten a deadline for sending in the petition.

Embarrassed Royal Mail chiefs were still looking for the package after saying, "Recorded delivery is no different from ordinary mail, except someone signs for it on arrival. It's not trackable."

Meantime, adding insult to injury, Atkin was sent a book of 12 first class stamps as compensation.

Graduation speech plagiarized

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C., June 3 (UPI) -- The Titanic angle in his graduation speech may have left a North Carolina school official with more than a sinking feeling for the speech was plagiarized.

School board Chairman Keith Cook's speech to Orange High School in Hillsborough referred to lessons from the movie "Titanic." But the speech was virtually identical to a 1998 speech given by former Health Secretary Donna Shalala in Wisconsin, the Durham Herald-Sun reported Thursday.

Cook, the report said, did not attribute his remarks. When asked by a Herald-Sun reporter, Cook said he had written the speech himself.

But after the newspaper e-mailed him a Web site link to Shalala's speech, Cook acknowledged he had gotten his remarks off the Internet.

Cook said he didn't know the speech came from Shalala. He said he thought it was a "generic speech."

"I would've never done it, if I knew," Cook said. "It didn't have a name on it. I did not know this thing was from Donna Shalala."

Cook said he didn't think, at the time, he needed to attribute his graduation comments. He said he added his own touches to the speech, including asking students to remember Memorial Day.

Cook is up for re-election July 20.

Protesters picket national spelling bee

WASHINGTON, June 3 (UPI) -- Seven members of the American Literacy Society picketed the 77th annual national spelling bee in Washington, calling for the modernization of English spelling.

The protesters claimed English spelling is illogical and the competition reinforces irrational spelling rules that contribute to dyslexia and illiteracy and make life harder for immigrants, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Thursday.

"We advocate the modernization of English spelling," said Pete Boardman, 58, of Groton, N.Y., among protesters carrying signs reading "I'm thru with through," "Spelling shuud be lojical," and "Spell different difrent."

Protester Elizabeth Kuizenga of San Francisco teaches English as a second language and said she got involved in the protest because too much of her class time is devoted to spelling.

Bee spokesman Mark Kroeger said knowing the origin of a word leads to better spelling. "For these kids who understand the root words, who understand the etymology, it's totally logical," he said.