Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe New York state tags: nasty and numerous ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- New York state license plates are becoming so raunchy that samples are starting to circulate on the Internet. Advertisement The Smoking Gun Web site Wednesday posted 17 pages of edgy, obscene and otherwise provocative New York states tags that somehow got by Department of Motor Vehicle censors. Among them are BIGPNS, 2HOT2DOU, 3M WOJ8 and EFF EWE 2. For New York Rangers fans there's POTVINSUX, a now classic, use-it-anywhere chant that insults the widely hated Dennis Potvin, a star defenseman with the rival New York Islanders. The entire list of tags can be found at thesmokinggun.com. Hill Dems push memorial for Iraq deaths WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Two Democratic congressmen have called for the creation of a temporary memorial on Capitol Hill to honor the 1,000 U.S. servicemen killed in Iraq. Advertisement The Hill newspaper reported Wednesday that Reps. Jim Turner, D-Texas, and Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., made the request in a letter last week to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. The proposed memorial would be located in the Capitol rotunda and consist of placards with photos and biographical information on each U.S. soldier killed in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan The House would be required to approve a resolution for the memorial to be established. It is unknown if the Republican leadership supports the idea, but Democrats have jumped on 1,000 deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq as a sign of the Bush administration's poor handling of the military occupation. The two members are reportedly lobbying other members for support. Army defends using goats in medic training COLORADO SPRINGS, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- An animal welfare group wants the Army to stop injuring goats at Fort Carson, Colo., and using the animals to teach battlefield medical techniques. An informant said the plans call for pushing at least one goat off a cliff, Martin Stephens of the Humane Society of the United States told the Colorado Springs Gazette. Some of the goats would eventually be killed. Advertisement The Army stands by the plan set for later this month, saying it will help save the lives of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. "It's very important training," said Army Special Forces Command spokesman Ben Abel at Fort Bragg, N.C., which is responsible for the training exercise at Fort Carson. He declined to say how the goats would be injured. The Washington-based Humane Society sent a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last week, asking that the goats be spared. For decades the Army and animal welfare groups have clashed over the practice of wounding animals to train medics headed for combat. Mobo axes singers for anti-gay lyrics LONDON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Britain's Music of Black Origin Awards organizers withdrew nominations for Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel because the reggae acts use homophobic lyrics. The Mobo Academy demanded an apology and removed the Jamaican acts' nominations from the best reggae act category in light of the musicians' anti-gay songs, BBC reported Wednesday. "The last thing Mobo wants to do is encourage prejudice," said an unidentified spokesman. The singers have not yet sent written apologies to the Mobo Academy, the spokesman said. Advertisement OutRage!, a gay rights advocacy group, applauded Mobo's decision. "The singers' refusal to apologize is indicative of their unrepentant violent homophobia," said spokesman Brett Lock. Mobo nominees are selected by an industry panel, with the public voting on the award winners. Kanye West leads this year's nominees, with seven nominations. Winners will be announced Sept. 30.
