Jockstrip: The World As We Know It

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

More people will be staying home for the holidays this year.

The AAA Auto Club say travel nationwide over Christmas and New Year's is expected to be down 6 percent compared to 2000. An estimated 53.7 million people will go 50 miles or more from home during the holiday season, fewer than the 57.1 million who traveled during this time period last year. Of those traveling, 42.2 million will be in cars, with the rest using planes, buses or trains.

Airline ticket sales at AAA offices are down 30 percent from the same time last year. This reflects continuing fears over the safety of air travel in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Other factors blamed for the holiday travel decrease include rising unemployment and the general weakness of the economy.

Travel as a whole is improving from the severe downturn seen after Sept. 11, the AAA reported. Hotel reservations, which had been at 75 percent of last year the week before Sept. 11, increased by 28 percent over last year at this time, reaching the highest level in 14 weeks. This is an increase of about 53 percent since the week before the attacks.

"It's clear that people are not just thinking about travel, they are traveling," said Kevin Bakewell, vice president of public and government relations for AAA Auto Club South. "We continue to see positive signs in overall activity, and strong, consistent numbers in hotel reservation, auto travel and cruise and tour sales. Air travel and attraction ticket sales are also recovering, just not as quickly."

THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

You would think that many people in Colombia couldn't have a happy holiday if they wanted to. The South American country has been torn by violence for decades. More than 40,000 people have reportedly died in the last decade in the ongoing 37-year-old civil war.

The country is known as home to many death squads. Some are infamous for the tools they use to torture political enemies. Their use of chainsaws in interrogation is legendary.

Now, according to published reports, the very folks who would kill, maim, spoil, loot, trash and brutalize everyone and everything in their sights have sent sentimental Christmas cards to their friends and supporters. The cards, from the ultra-right-wing murder units, feature an angel in white. (The angel of death?) They wish everyone "Peace and Prosperity" ... on their terms, of course.

(Thanks to UPI Feature Reporter Dennis Daily)

NEWS OF OTHER LIFE FORMS

It seems people are not the only species to exhibit handedness, or the preference of one hand over another. Most of the crows on the island of New Caledonia are righties, according to researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

They say the birds rip leaf strips away from the edge of a leaf and then use the tapered tool to tease insects out of holes and crevices in trees. Although handless, crows can show handedness -- or laterality -- by preferring to cut from one side of the leaf, said the university's Gavin R. Hunt.

While individual animals may prefer to use one hand or foot, on a species and population level these differences tend to even out. It had been thought only people tend to consistently use one side over the other -- almost 90 percent prefer to use their right hand for most tasks.

TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING

A survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors indicates hunger and homelessness increased significantly in the last year in nearly all 27 cities surveyed and the pace appeared to pick up in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Conference President Marc H. Morial of New Orleans calls the findings "sobering."

"Twenty-five of the 27 cities surveyed showed an increase in demand for emergency food," Morial told a news conference Wednesday. "These cities on average show the increased demand was 23 percent. That is the largest increase our survey has shown since 1991. Twenty-three, approximately, of the 27 cities showed increase in demand for emergency shelter. This reflects in the individual cities an average of about 13 percent increase, the second highest since 1994."

Morial said it is not uncommon for there to be more hungry than homeless people simply because people's money is being stretched so thin, "they cannot properly feed their families."

AND FINALLY, TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY

Britney Spears -- who got blasted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for performing with a tiger in a cage at the last MTV Awards -- reportedly has agreed to pose in the altogether for an upcoming PETA campaign.

The New York Post reports Spears will appear in a poster that is expected to be available for Christmas.

A spokesman for the group said PETA wrote to Spears after the MTV show, asking her to consider what the show business experience had done to the tiger. In response, Spears wrote back, saying she had "abandoned using animals" on tour.

The Post said Spears has also agreed to model faux-leather apparel on PETA's Web site (pleatheryourself.com), which features fetish wear and non-leather shoes and accessories.

(Thanks to UPI Hollywood Reporter Pat Nason)