The Odd Truth, Jan. 18, 2005

The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Joey Arak.

Fox Says No To Crack

LOS ANGELES - Fox says it covered up the naked rear end of a cartoon character recently because of nervousness over what the Federal Communications Commission will find objectionable.

The latest example of TV network self-censorship because of FCC concerns came a few weeks ago during a rerun of a "Family Guy" cartoon. Fox electronically blurred a character's posterior, even though the image was seen five years ago when the episode originally aired.

"We have to be checking and second-guessing ourselves now," Fox entertainment president Gail Berman said Monday. "We have to protect our affiliates."

Fox hadn't gotten any complaints about the cartoon. But the move follows the FCC's decision in October to fine 169 Fox stations $7,000 each for airing an episode of "Married By America" that showed people licking whipped cream from strippers' bodies and a man in his underwear being spanked by strippers.

"It's certainly confusing when you have to do something like that," Berman said. "It's just that we were trying to find our way and do what's responsible."

At PBS, executives said this weekend they will edit out a glimpse of a naked woman in a fictional account of a terrorist "dirty bomb" attack that will air next month after being shown first on HBO.

Fur Flies In California

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The city is hosting a convention this weekend of about 1,700 "furries" — people who love animals so much that they take on their identities and sometimes dress up like them.

Part costume party and part role play, Further Confusion, or FurCon, gives grown-ups a place to act out their inter-species fantasies.

The convention includes workshops on such things as puppetry, costume making, writing about mythical creatures and "furry anatomy."

Many of those attending participate in Internet chat rooms for "furries."

"But just because it's weird, it's still perfectly normal to the people involved in it," said raccoon wannabe Lee Strom, 36, of San Leandro, one of the event's founders.

Prancing through the lobby of the Doubletree Hotel as a fox among goats, tigers and other animals, Katie Matthew, 20, said she likes the fun of dressing up and escaping into her made-up animal character, which she calls Shadow and has written about in stories.

"It allows me to be someone I'm not,' she explained. "It allows me to step out of everything."

Horny Sheep Flap

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealanders are feeling sheepish over a new postage stamp that shows an ewe with powerful, curled horns -- horns that in real life are found only on a ram.

Merino ewes, the type depicted on the stamp, have tiny stumps of horn if any at all, opposition National Party lawmaker Katherine Rich pointed out Tuesday.

"The stamp is an absolute impossibility," she grumped.

The subject is not being taken lightly in New Zealand, famous for its beautiful meadows full of gamboling lambs and the fact that its 40 million sheep vastly outnumber its human population of 4 million.

The stamp shows the female sheep with two lambs.

"Given the sheep is a major icon of this country, you'd think they would have at least passed the stamp design by someone with knowledge of agriculture," Rich said.

The stamp's designer, artist Samuel Sakaria, admitted taking artistic license. "The males have the curly horns," he said. "I thought just to add a bit of a dynamic I'd just add in the male equivalent as opposed to the female."

Talk About Reality TV

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. - The hunt for a fugitive sounds like something you might see on TV. But in this case the suspect wasn't on TV but in the TV. Authorities got a tip last week that a man who escaped from police in Florida might be in Decatur County, Georgia. Officers searched a mobile home where a woman told them Alfred Blane was hiding under a mattress. Officers searched, but didn't find the man. They even looked in a freezer and washing machine. Authorities say a police dog kept sniffing around an old, floor model TV. When deputies pulled off the back of the set, they found Blane curled up inside. It was tight squeeze. He's about six feet tall. Blane now faces a number of charges including possession of meth and escape.

Airline Throws Animals A Bone

MILWAUKEE - Rover will soon get to fly free. Midwest Airlines is giving pets frequent flyer miles. The four-legged set even gets a better break than humans. Pets will earn a free round-trip ticket for every three domestic round-trip flights they take with their owners. That's more than double the going rate for people. Midwest says it racks up about three thousand one-way pet trips a year. The company hopes to build its passenger base by promoting the new mileage plan at pet shows. One Midwest official says they're throwing a bone to frequent customers and their best friends.