An Inclusive Litany

3/12/90

A Wisconsin judge ruled that "offensive body odor" could be considered a handicap under the state's Fair Employment Act.

3/1/90

Desperate to improve crop yields, the Russian Agriculture Ministry invited "the nation's leading psychics, magicians, and representatives of small enterprises that deal with weather control" to a conference, according to Komsomolskaya Pravda. Unfortunately, the paper reported Agriculture Minister Viktor Khlystun "expressed dissatisfaction that the psychics, magicians, and weather controllers are acting in an uncoordinated manner, causing thunderstorms and rain at random sites."

The California town of Santa Cruz—which has announced itself a "free port of Nicaragua," bars visits by U.S. Navy ships on the grounds that they are "part of the Pentagon war machine," and refuses to host the Miss California contest because it is "sexist"—jailed a local woman because she fed homeless people. The town's official policy is to discourage the homeless from staying in the city.

The town of Floosmoor, Illinois, enacted a zoning regulation that banned pickup trucks from both its streets and its private driveways.