Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

That was no echo, that was Obama's speech

WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- That was no echo the audience heard when Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen spoke at the White House -- it was Cowen delivering U.S. President Obama's speech.

As Cowen delivered his St. Patrick's Day speech at the White House Tuesday, he suddenly realized he accidentally was reading the teleprompter containing remarks Obama made only minutes earlier, The Times of London reported Wednesday.

A startled Cowen looked back at Obama 20 seconds into his address, saying, "That's your speech!"

Extending the electronic comedy of errors, the British newspaper said as Obama returned to the podium, the teleprompter belatedly switched to Cowen's speech -- leaving Obama thanking himself for extending the invitation.

Arrested man tried to register stolen car

EL CERRITO, Calif., March 18 (UPI) -- Police in California said a man was arrested after he tried to register a stolen car at a Department of Motor Vehicles office.

Detective Cpl. Susan Garman said Anthony Cooper Jr., 20, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle after he tried to register the 1995 Buick LeSabre at the El Cerrito DMV office, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.

Garman said DMV employees called police after they ran a computer check on the vehicle and discovered that it had been reported stolen in San Francisco by an armed carjacker.

She said the DMV occasionally encounters thieves attempting to register stolen cars.

"It's actually happened before, and I'm sure it will happen again," Garman said.

Officials find no fault with boxing kids

ABERDEEN, S.C., March 18 (UPI) -- Officials in South Dakota's Brown County say a boxing match between two fifth-graders at a fight night event was completely legal.

Brown County State's Attorney Kimberly Dorsett said she was contacted after the event at Odde Ice Arena by an official at O.M. Tiffany School and other locals who were concerned after the fight night event featured a match between two fifth-graders, the Aberdeen (S.C.) American News reported Wednesday.

Dorsett told the county commission Tuesday that the sheriff's office investigated the complaints and learned from the promoter of the event that it had been officially sanctioned and the children were experienced boxers with protective equipment and paperwork signed by their parents.

The state's attorney said there was nothing illegal or improper about the event, but commissioners had the option of passing an ordinance to govern such fights or ban the promoter.

However, commissioners did not express any desire to interfere.

"It wasn't just two kids picked out of the crowd and thrown in the boxing ring," Commissioner Duane Sutton said.

Parking ticket mix-up after mailbox closed

ST. LOUIS, March 18 (UPI) -- The company contracted to run the St. Louis Parking Violation Bureau said several payments may have been lost when its mailbox was closed over a lease charge.

Allied Computer Services of Dallas, which has a contract to run the bureau with St. Louis Treasurer Larry Williams, said "administrative oversight" led to the nonpayment of a $52 semiannual lease charge on its mailbox, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday.

The box was closed from Feb. 19 until last Thursday, with some of the payments returned to their senders and envelopes without return addresses sent to a dead-letter office in Minnesota.

The company estimated that between 500 and 600 people were affected by the mix-up and suggested anyone concerned about the status of their mailed payment phone their St. Louis office.

Williams said in a statement that he was "deeply disappointed" with the company.