Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Owner wants to know who painted her donkey EL PASO, Ark., June 17 (UPI) -- Somebody spray-painted a white donkey red in El Paso, and the owners want the guilty party to admit it. Advertisement Owner Paula Mathews says she knows her neighbor, Heath Wood, did it but he says it wasn't him -- even if the donkey did keep getting into his pasture and upsetting his mares, the Searcy (Ark.) Daily Citizen reported. There may have been plenty of potential suspects wanting to paint the wandering donkey, the newspaper said. Mathews and her family had gone away for the weekend and received a call from her father, who lives next door informing them of the shocking scene. Wood had just returned the bright red donkey and said, "It shouldn't have gotten out into my pasture." Matthews, who filed a complaint with the county prosecutor, says her young son has been crying ever since and the animal has been too skittish to ride. Advertisement Viagara doing big business in Iraq BAGHDAD, June 17 (UPI) -- In Baghdad, life is violent, minds are frayed and Viagra sales reportedly have doubled since the war ended. "People are depressed, so they need Viagra and other drugs to give them interest in sex," pharmacist Talid Abdul-Amir Shebany told the Los Angeles Times Thursday. "Viagra sales have at least doubled since the war ended. Lives are not good. There's bombs and tension. When you see bodies and destroyed houses, you have psychological disturbances that affect sexual desire." Viagra and its copycats -- Kamagra from India, Novagra from Britain and Vega from Syria -- have been available for several years. But, importation was limited, taxed and heavily regulated by the former Iraqi Health Ministry. Those barriers are gone. Drugs are cheaper -- four Kamagra tablets sell for $2.50. "The Koran does not forbid Viagra," Shebany said. "In Islam, if a man can't sexually satisfy his wife she can ask for a divorce. Viagra helps prevent this disaster." Bus driver protests with mock crucifixion ASUNCION, Paraguay, June 17 (UPI) -- A Paraguayan man became the third bus driver to participate in a mock crucifixion, El Nacion reported Thursday. Advertisement Ramon Vera was comforted by onlookers as he was nailed to a cross in Asuncion Wednesday, the newspaper said. Vera said he wanted to shed light to the fate of hundreds of fellow bus drivers who were fired earlier this month by authorities. Vera and others had gathered in the capital city to ask the government to resinstate three closed bus lines. The protest came after government transport authorities took buses off certain transport lines, saying they failed to meet official standards. But the 300 unemployed drivers said they have been unable to find work elsewhere and have spent three weeks demonstrating outside the government transport agency demanding reinstatement. Republicans deem Kerry to be a dolphin COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 17 (UPI) -- Two Ohio Republicans tried to drown out a speech by U.S. presidential hopeful John Kerry, playing the "Flipper" theme song from speakers set up on their lawn. The Washington Post said the Wednesday incident occurred as Kerry made an outdoor campaign speech pitching the Democratic stance on reduced taxes for the middle class in Columbus, Ohio. To organizers' dismay, the theme song from the television show continually increased in volume from two stadium-size speakers. Apparently referring to Kerry's record of taking more than one side of an issue, the lyrics drowned out Kerry's microphone. Advertisement "They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning / No one, you see, is smarter than he," the music blasted. Campaign workers ordered the media bus to back up and block the sound, and Columbus police were dispatched. The music was turned down. Kerry acknowledged the prank. "If that's compassionate conservatism, ladies and gentlemen, then Dick Cheney is Mr. Rogers," he said.
