Watercooler Stories

Woman sues over dominatrix outing

NEW YORK, May 5 (UPI) -- A New York woman is suing a woman who outed her as a dominatrix in another court case, contending her nursing career was dashed by the revelation.

Mia Metzger's city Supreme Court lawsuit alleges her nursing career was ruined by the publicity surrounding the disclosure in Lisa Brockington's sexual harassment lawsuit against John Tuckner, Metzger's boyfriend, the New York Post reported.

Brockington, a former office manager for Tuckner, said in her suit against the women's rights lawyer that he was a "self-described, 'testosterone-poisoned' attorney" and wore a slave collar at Metzger's request.

Newspaper: Priority mail not always faster

NEW YORK, May 5 (UPI) -- A New York newspaper said its experiments suggest the U.S. Postal Service's $4.95 priority mail is often no faster than mail sent with a 42-cent stamp.

The New York Daily News reported Monday that in eight of 10 instances during its April experiment, a letter sent with a 42-cent first-class stamp arrived at a location the same day as a letter sent in a flat-rate $4.95 priority envelope.

The newspaper said the letters were sent from New York to locations within the city and across the country.

Postal spokesman George Flood admitted that shelling out the extra cash for the priority envelope does not guarantee a faster delivery.

"They're similar," he said. "Delivery is going to be the same, especially when you're talking about shorter distances."

He said priority mail offers other benefits, including options for insurance and tracking.

Chinese officials ordered to smoke more

WUHAN, China, May 5 (UPI) -- A Chinese provincial government has an unusual solution to the economic crisis -- it is ordering local officials to smoke more cigarettes.

Officials in central China's Hubei province issued an edict ordering local government officials -- including teachers -- to consume a total of 230,000 packs of locally produced cigarettes, worth about $600,000, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The edict said officials who "fail to meet their targets" or are caught smoking cigarettes produced from neighboring provinces would be subject to fines, the British newspaper said.

Officials said the edict is aimed at increasing the province's tax revenues and protecting local cigarette manufacturers from outside competition.

"The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax," said Chen Nianzu, a cigarette market supervision official in Gong'an county.

A Gong'an county newspaper reported members of a "special task force" raided a local middle school during the afternoon and found three "non-compliant" cigarette butts. The school was not fined, but a teacher said it was subjected to "public criticism" for "undisciplined practices."

Persian Gulf name ends Islamic games

TEHRAN, May 5 (UPI) -- Iranian officials said this year's Islamic Solidarity Games were canceled over demands from Arab countries for the Persian Gulf not to be inscribed on medals.

Officials said the games, which had been scheduled for October in Iran, were canceled in response to demands from Saudi Arabia and other nations for the Persian Gulf to be referred to as the Arabian Gulf or only the Gulf on medals and promotional materials for the event, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported.

"We must insist on our correct stance even if it leads to the cancellation of the games," said Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Organizers said only 28 nations agreed to take part in this year's games, compared to 55 countries at the 2005 games in Saudi Arabia.

Press TV, Iran's state-run English language satellite network, said negotiations were under way to attempt to salvage the games.