Politically correct junior
Britain's National Children's Bureau has issued an alert that teachers must watch children as young as three, and even babies, for signs of racism. Indications of racist attitudes, according to the bureau's 366-page guide, include "name-calling, casual thoughtless comments and peer group relationships," and such "racist" behavior should be reported, the bureau says. Specific verboten behaviors include referring to others as "those people", saying someone "smells", or toddlers who "react negatively to a culinary tradition other than their own by saying 'yuk'."

Burning money
The state lottery in Florida has an alluring twist in its "Summer Cash" game: first prize is $250,000, but some players say they would prefer the second prize: free gasoline for life. There is, of course, a catch: the second-place winner gets 26 gas cards per year, each valid for $100 worth of gas, until they die. To exceed the $250,000 first prize, they would have to live more than 96 years, and that doesn't even count the interest they could get on the $250,000 in Cash.

Training wheels
"I'm not sure why he wasn't more upset," said Galesburg, Ill., fire department Capt. Dan Foley. He spotted a man in a wheelchair, which was stuck in the railroad tracks at a crossing. Everyone could hear a train coming, especially Maurice Fox, who was sitting in the chair. "It was a bad situation," Fox said afterward, "knowing that my daughter just got hit by a train not too long ago." His daughter was killed in that accident. Fox was on his way to a
grocery store to get a few things, but Foley, a passing sheriff's deputy, and a passerby managed to get him free before the train arrived, and Fox rolled onward. On his way home from the store, he got stuck again in the exact same spot.