Jockstrip: The world as we know it

THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

It's difficult to imagine super spy James Bond singing lullabies to his unborn baby, but a new magazine -- paid for by the British government -- has 007 actor Pierce Brosnan giving such advice on being a dad.

The London Telegraph says ministers in Parliament are being criticized for spending $78,000 on the magazine "Dad," which also carries such headlines as "What will happen to your sex life before and after the birth?"

Brosnan tells "Dad," which will be given out new fathers free of charge, "You have to nurture that life in the womb. They're gifts from God. You should sing to it, talk to it. I am in awe of my children's lives."

About 20,000 copies have been published. Critics say it was yet another example of Britain as the "nanny state."

NEWS OF OTHER LIFE FORMS

Three new sheriff's deputies were installed in San Dimas, Calif., this past weekend -- Bert, a 1,700-pound dromedary camel, and Muffin and Brogan, two bull mastiffs.

The Los Angeles Times says the new deputies will become part of the Sheriff Department's mounted posse and they spend a good deal of their shifts visiting schools as part of motivational or anti-drug programs for children.

Despite his size, Bert is quite gentle, Chris Detreville of the sheriff's community relations division tells the paper. It's the horses that have a problem with him.

The animal deputies will have their own trading cards children can collect.

TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING

It was a surreal scene at a Wachovia bank in Richmond, Va., on April Fool's Day. The New York Post says bank executive Spencer Hamrick Jr., was in the lobby, posing for a photographer shooting a picture for an alumni magazine. In the background -- the bank is being robbed.

The photographer thought the stickup guy was a customer and would provide a nice background for the shoot. The robber apparently passed a note to a teller demanding money and claimed he had a gun -- unconcerned about the photographer.

Hamrick, who had his back to it all while posing for the pictures, thought it was an April Fool's prank.

The robber is in three of the photographer's pictures and has been identified by police. The bank's cameras failed to capture any images of suspect.

AND FINALLY, TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY

U.S. TV viewers have grown used to seeing coverage of the war in Iraq via videophones from embedded reporters. In Chicago's Elmhurst suburb on Sunday, a cell phone was used by folks to cheer on the U.S. soldiers aboard the USS Bunker Hill in the Persian Gulf.

The Chicago Tribune reports the phone was held into a numbing wind as a rally crowd of 500 people boomed out: "U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!"

On the line was Navy sailor John Hauger, who had called his father from the ship. The senior Hauger handed the phone to Elmhurst Mayor Thomas Marcucci, who asked people to shout their gratitude to the sailors.

The rally was one of several held in recent weeks in the Chicago area in support for U.S. troops to counter what some say are morale-sapping anti-war demonstrations here and abroad, the Tribune says.