Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

New York may get state dog

NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI) -- Two New York state lawmakers are pushing for adopted shelter and rescue dogs to be dubbed the official canines of the state.

Assembly members Micah Kellner, D-65th District, and Linda Rosenthal, D-67th District, are calling on their fellow lawmakers to give New York an official state dog, WCBS-TV, New York, reported Thursday.

Several states, including Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, already have official state dogs.

The lawmakers announced their proposal Thursday at New York City Hall. They were joined by Sarge Wolf Stringer, a dog rescued in 2009 after enduring 14 years of abuse.

Kellner and Rosenthal said their plan could boost support for dog rescue operations in the state.

Rubbish remover finds 1897 Grant program

NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI) -- A New York rubbish remover hired to clean out an apartment said he discovered a program from the 1897 dedication of President Ulysses S. Grant's tomb.

Nick DiMola, 42, said he discovered the program while cleaning out an apartment on the upper East Side and will donate it Friday to a New York non-profit dedicated to the Grant Monument Association, the same non-profit that created the document, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

"It's something so nice that I don't want it just sitting in my office," DiMola said.

"This is a unique glimpse into the past," Grant Monument Association President Frank Scaturro said. He said donating the program is "a very admirable, noble gesture."

Auction house Sotheby's estimated the value of the program at about $200.

Health inspector foils scammer

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, April 22 (UPI) -- An Iowa health inspector said a scam artist with poor timing called a restaurant and claimed to be from the health department while she was inspecting.

Emily Wegner, a restaurant health inspector with the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, said she was inside a West Des Moines restaurant Monday when someone called the restaurant and claimed to be from the department, WHO-TV, Des Moines, reported Thursday.

Wegner said the man on the phone claimed to be a health inspector and wanted a deposit for an inspection next week. However, she said the state does not charge for health inspections.

"It was just crazy that I happened to be here when the phone call came in," Wegner said.

She said such scams are common, with Asian restaurants a frequent target.

Aphrodisiac beer created for royal wedding

LONDON, April 22 (UPI) -- A British brewery says it has created the world's first beer laced with aphrodisiacs in honor of the upcoming royal wedding.

The Brewdog brewery in Fraserburgh says on its Web site its Royal Virility Performance contains "herbal viagra, chocolate, Goat Weed and 'a healthy dose of sarcasm.'"

The brewery says it is producing 1,000 bottles of the beer, which bear labels reading "Arise Prince Willy" and "Celebrate Big Willy Style," with several sent to Prince William as gifts for the night of his April 29 wedding to Kate Middleton.

Brewdog says the India Pale Ale contains 7.5 percent alcohol by volume.

"With this beer we want to take the wheels off the royal wedding bandwagon being jumped on by dozens of breweries," Brewdog says. "The Royal Virility Performance is the perfect antidote to all the hype. A beer should be brewed with a purpose, not just because some toffs are getting married, so we created something at our brewery that will undermine those special edition beers and other assorted seaside tat, whilst at the same time actually give the happy couple something extra on their big day."

Herbal viagra is a name taken from the prescription drug Viagra that some give to herbal products advertised as treating erectile dysfunction, the online encyclopedia Wikipedia says.

The Mayo Clinic Web site advises people to be wary of any product claiming to be a natural form of Viagra, noting herbal supplements aren't required to undergo testing that prescription and over-the-counter medications are.