Brickbats

? David Virts, a long-distance trucker, is suing his employer because he doesn't approve of some of the partners who have been assigned to him. They're women. Virts tried to refuse an overnight driving assignment because he thinks such trips "can lead to lustful thoughts and sexual temptations, all of which the Bible says Christians should avoid." The trucking company says its contract with the Teamsters mandates handing out assignments based on seniority, so it couldn't let Virts choose his partners. At first, he was let go by the company for refusing to take the trip. He was soon rehired, but he's suing anyway, saying the experience caused him emotional distress.

? In Colorado, a House committee killed without comment a bill that would have outlawed the practice of female genital mutilation. This marks the third straight year such a bill has failed to clear the House.

? If you go to New Life Books and Gifts in Lynchburg, Virginia, you might want to look for books about Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Judaism, Buddhism, or Hinduism. It is, after all, a religious bookstore. Mayor James S. Whitaker, who owns the store, has placed all books on those topics in a section called "prophecy and cults." That doesn't please adherents of those faiths. On the other hand, following complaints, Whitaker has agreed to remove books critical of Catholicism.

? Police in Miami arrested 10-year-old Andrew Perkins, handcuffed him, and put him in jail. His crime? He got into a spat with his parents at a restaurant and kicked his mother.
A waitress saw this and called the police. When they got there, they made Andrew spend the night in jail. Even the judge handling the case says it makes no sense. But the police say state law on domestic violence mandates an arrest. If they hadn't arrested the boy, they would have been subject to legal action.

? In Bozeman, Montana, Cody Johnston is suing a local newspaper and the court system for libel. Johnston's troubles began when he got a traffic ticket for a commercial trucking weight violation. A computer glitch or clerical error turned that citation into a conviction for deviate sexual conduct, a broad charge that covers homosexual acts and bestiality. He learned of this when his parents, who read about the conviction in the paper, confronted him. He told them he had no idea what they were talking about, but they, his wife, and his sister concluded he was in denial and tried to get him to seek counseling.

? Former Vice President Dan Quayle thinks the GOP has a pretty good chance of regaining the White House in 2000. "Let me just be very clear that the Republican Party will select a nominee that can beat Bill Clinton," he said recently. That seems to be a safe bet: Clinton is constitutionally ineligible to run for re-election.