Parents blasted a New York Public School policy banning cell phones citing safety issues. One parent said with terrorism a risk, she wants to have easy access to her child. She wrote, "She and I both feel a little less crazy knowing that if something major happens -- an accident, a crisis -- that she can be in touch with me. If your child went to school blocks from ground zero, you'd know what I'm talking about. "

Major League Baseball and the NFL are not the only sports dealing with suspicions of mass doping. California has taken measures to protect race horses, not only from being doped to win races, but to deter people from using the animals as testing grounds for substances intended for human use. The new tactic is intended to surprise cheaters and disallow them to prepare for drug tests.

eBay, the online auction web site, is famous for postings of hard to find and collectable merchandise. Items to tickle the fancy of the oddest collectors, such as celebrity-chewed bubble gum, photographs of a still living Elvis, and even random pairs of old underpants, can be bought for a price. Yet, one Michigan woman attempted to sell the mummified remains of a human on eBay, causing the auction giant to yank the item. The mummy was confiscated by Clair County medical examiners on Tuesday, and Michigan officials are attempting to determine the origins of the remains. Lynn Sterling, the entrepreneurial woman responsible for the posting, told police officials that she had acquired the mummy for an old friend who had worked on a demolition project 30 years ago. Lynn stated that she had spoken with an attorney regarding the matter before posting the remains.

Scientists in Australia have asked farmers to contact them if they have any ugly sheep in their flocks. On Tuesday, the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) said it is looking for "Australia's ugliest merino lambs" so they can study their genetic makeup. Farmers usually send sheep with uneven wool, strange fibers, clumps of wool that fall out, bare patches, no wool, or highly wrinkled skin to the slaughterhouse. But the project's leader, Simon Bawden, says studying unattractive sheep can help improve Australia's $2. 8 billion merino wool industry.

A man is on trial in the Emirates after police caught him using a fake I. D. with Brad Pitt's photo. The man told police he did not know who the actor was and chose his photo at random. The 29-year-old salesman allegedly tried to use the I. D. to steal more than $22,000, in conjunction with his brother, left unclaimed for about three months at an exchange house.