Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

Painted dummy doesn't fool highway police

SEATTLE, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A driver who put a hat-wearing, clothed dummy in his car's passenger seat when using a high-occupancy vehicle lane didn't fool a Washington state trooper.

The trooper said when he first saw the fake passenger in a vehicle on northbound Interstate 5 Friday, he knew something suspicious was going on, The Seattle Times reported.

After pulling over the 27-year-old driver, the trooper found the passenger was actually just a dummy -- painted beige to give it a human appearance. The mannequin also had been adorned with a sweatshirt and a hat, the trooper said.

The driver couldn't explain himself to the trooper, who wrote up a $124 ticket for illegal use of the HOV-lane, the Times said.

NBC mistakes Brit leader for party crasher

NEW YORK, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- NBC producers snubbed David Cameron, the leader of Britain's Conservative Party and guest of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, from a holiday photo shoot.

Bloomberg had asked Cameron to visit New York's Rockefeller Center to attend the ceremonial lighting of the Christmas tree Wednesday. But producers from NBC asked the prominent British politician to leave the stage, mistaking him for a gatecrasher, said the Mail on Sunday.

"I felt slightly uncomfortable as ... several high-profile American celebrities all stood around me but it was obvious they didn't know who I was," Cameron said of the snub.

One observer told the Mail Cameron should not feel too slighted as most Americans have a tough enough time recognizing their own politicians, let alone British ones.

President George W. Bush invited Cameron to the United States to shore up relations between the Conservatives and the GOP.

Cameron was back in more familiar territory Friday, switching on the holiday lights in his Oxfordshire constituency of Witney.

White truffle brings record price

LONDON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A 3.3-pound truffle discovered by a dog in Italy brought a record $330,000 at auction.

Billionaire Stanley Ho, a Chinese casino tycoon from Macau, outbid British artist Damien Hirst and Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi Saturday night to win the fungal delicacy, the BBC reported.

Luciano Savini said his truffle dog, Rocco, discovered the highly prized fungus near Pisa, the BBC reported.

"The biggest truffle of the century and the most expensive truffle of the century. There are no more words to say -- it is all very beautiful," said Savini, who donated the proceeds to charity.

The truffle auction was held simultaneously in Macao, London and Florence, the BBC said.

Girl Scout gets award seven decades late

APPLETON, Wis., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Faith Schremp has received a Golden Eaglet Award in Outagamie County, Wis. -- an honor the former Girl Scout earned almost 70 years ago.

The 86-year-old had earned the second most prestigious Girl Scout award for collecting 14 proficiency badges when she was but a child, but a case of the mumps postponed her big day by about seven decades, The Appleton (Wis.) Post-Crescent said.

After Schremp passed along her tale of disappointment to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, one of her daughters-in-law took it upon herself to do something about it.

It was simple enough to contact Girl Scout officials, but it was impossible to find an Eaglet pin -- so the award Schremp received Saturday used a Girl Scout pattern that contains the Golden Eaglet in its mosaic.

Schremp's youngest daughter, Dana Tyler, told the newspaper it was a dream come true for her mother.

"It is very exciting the Girl Scouts are (awarding) her the Golden Eaglet so she does get to fulfill one of her dreams," she said. "Way to go, Mom."