Sideswipe

But wait, there's more ... 200 of these charmingly named Butt Bins (see picture above), which are about the size of a two-litre bottle, will be popping up around Auckland City where butt littering is a problem. If you'd like a Butt Bin fastened to a power pole outside your business, contact Auckland City on (09) 379 2020.

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Example of political correctness: Labour's new MP Lesley Soper spoke for the first time in Parliament last week claiming to be a proud southern woman and a feminist, and suggested her maiden speech should be called an inaugural speech.

Example of political incorrectness: John Tamihere, the MP weighing his future with Labour, referred to the Governor-General, the PM, the Chief Justice, the Speaker and your mother and sister as "front bums". One should've been a joke, the other is just dark.

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Alistair Bone of Westmere would like to know, if the last Pope was called John Paul, will the next one be called George Ringo?

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Defensive back Randall Gay wore a New England Patriots jersey as a member of this year's Super Bowl-winning team, but when one of his former college professors tried to order a personalised jersey in tribute to Gay in mid-February, she was turned down. The NFL's official online merchandiser at nflshop.com refused to imprint "Gay"on the back of a Patriots jersey because it was one of 1159 "naughty" words the shop has banned. (Source: News of the Weird)

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Although the Pope has been dead for more than a week, the Australian NineMSN website was still running a poll on Sunday next to the "latest news" section on the front and centre of the main page. "Should the Pope be asked to resign if he is suffering from ill health?" the site asks, urging viewers to "vote now".

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Cookie Monster gets a health makeover in the 36th series of Sesame Street. Even his trademark song, "C is for cookie, that's good enough for me" now has a new theme - "A Cookie Is a Sometimes Food". What next? Oscar the Grouch spring cleaning? "We are not putting him on a diet," said his spokesman. "And we would never take the position of no sugar. We're teaching him moderation."

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More do-gooding: to the person who walked into Ngaire Ave Bible Chapel on Wednesday night and stole the new youth pastor's PDA and laptop. The owner of this laptop is fresh from overseas and has data on the hard drive which can't be replaced and is of value only to him. Feel free to keep the laptop but please send back the hard drive as this is the most valuable part. Drop it back into the church office (no questions will be asked) or post it to: Ngaire Ave Bible Chapel, 3 Ngaire Ave, Newmarket.