Jockstrip: The world as we know it

THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

The New England workforce could use a few good men. Researchers at Northeastern University say even though there was strong job growth and near record low unemployment from 1995 onward, the pool of male workers has been stagnant and the number of native-born men in the workforce has declined significantly.

The researchers say the absence of men was a key factor behind New England's abysmal labor force growth during 1990s. The analysis shows 90 percent of the growth took place among women, while the number of men engaged in the workforce essentially remained the same during the 1990s.

Overall, labor force growth for the New England region ranked second to last in the country at 2.5 percent -- the lowest rate for the region in 60 years.

During the 1990s, women were responsible for all -- 100 percent -- of the labor force growth in southern New England. In Massachusetts, men contributed only 2 percent of the state's labor force growth -- while women contributed 98 percent -- and in Connecticut and Rhode Island the number of men in the labor force actually declined over the decade.

NEWS OF OTHER LIFE FORMS

Studies in the latest edition of the journal Cloning and Stem Cells tell about deaths and deformities among cloned pigs at the University of Missouri and at Texas A&M University.

The University of Missouri study, "Phenotyping of Transgenic Cloned Pigs," cites "a high mortality rate among cloned piglets." Out of 10 born, five died or were destroyed because of defects such as heart failure, lameness and anemia.

The Texas A&M study, "A Highly Efficient Method for Porcine Cloning by Nuclear Transfer Using In Vitro - Matured Oocytes," documents a 94 percent failure rate. Out of the 511 manipulated oocytes transferred, only 28 pigs came to term.

Opponents of animal cloning say the two studies show death and deformity are the norm, not the exception in cloning.

Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of the Human Society of the United States, says, "These studies make plain once again that these creatures are suffering terribly in the process."

TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING

Fans attending the Mahoning Valley Scrappers baseball game Wednesday will take part in an unusual promotion as team pays tribute to former Ohio congressman James Traficant -- who was thrown out of Congress and now is in prison for bribery and racketeering.

The Class-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians will celebrate "Jim Traficant Night," and hairpiece wearers and sons of truck drivers will get in free, said Jim Riley, the Scrappers director of marketing.

The flamboyant former politician -- who often sported wild hair styles, called himself "the son of a truck driver."

"The reason we decided to have a Traficant night has a lot to do with the local (and) national interest and coverage his situation received," Riley said. "We are not strongly for or against Traficant, we want the night to display light-hearted fun for fans."

Scrappers fans who attend the game will receive Traficant trading cards and will take part in a mock election. The Ohio Democrat has said he would seek re-election from his prison cell.

AND FINALLY, TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY

Some good news on the missing child front. Four-year-old Jessica Cortez was found alive and well Tuesday evening when the disheveled, barefoot little girl, missing since Sunday afternoon, was brought into a Los Angeles free clinic for a checkup by an unidentified well-dressed woman in a red sweater.

The staff at St. John's Child Wellness Center in Exposition Park became suspicious at the condition of the child compared to the guardian. They asked the child if the woman was her mother and Jessica reportedly responded she was not.

The staff called 911 and attempted to keep the woman and child at the center until police arrived.

Police had few details as to how Jessica wound up in the company of the woman and also are following up on witnesses who had said they had seen the girl 48 hours earlier with a man who could have been a transient carrying a brown Chihuahua dog.