Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Little League getting littler NEW YORK, June 7 (UPI) -- Little League softball rosters for boys and girls in the United States are down 10 percent in the last seven years, the New York Post reported Monday. Advertisement Whereas there were 2.99 boys and girls playing Little League softball in 1997, there were 2.68 million enrolled last year. Other sports have taken some of little leagues' "market" share. Soccer has boomed in the last 25 years. U.S. Youth Soccer, a national organization, today counts 3 million players. Basketball is also a draw. "The NBA guys, the way they dress and all that, the kids think it's a good thing," said Leon Sorin, a Forest Hills coach and parent. Books good for love life, sex expert says LONDON, June 7 (UPI) -- Reading, or simply carrying, a book can improve a man's chances of finding love, a British sex expert said. Advertisement One in three women said they would chat with a man who was reading, Britain's Mirror reported Monday about a recently-published study. "Carrying a good book can break the ice," said Tracey Cox, a sex expert who analyzed the survey. Likewise, six out of 10 women said men who read are more intellectual, but the type of book a man reads is also important. "Harry Potter" books are a no-no, the poll said, but "Life of Pi" may indicate a sensitive type, "Catch 22" shows a sense of humor and "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" is for romantics. Al-Qaida threatens U.S., Western airlines NEW YORK, June 7 (UPI) -- Two Islamic Web sites posted an Arabic message Monday threatening to attack U.S. and other Western airlines as well as other means of transportation. The message, translated by CNN and signed by al-Qaida's Organization in the Arabian Peninsula, also warns Muslims not to travel with Westerners. "All compounds, bases and means of transport, especially Western and American airlines, will be the direct target for our coming operations in the near future," the statement says. "We are renewing our calls and warnings to our Muslim brothers, warning them not to mingle with the American and Western crusaders and the rest of the infidels in the Arab peninsula. Advertisement "And the Muslims should stay away from visiting them in their homes and compounds and avoid using all shapes and forms of transportation used by them. "For those Muslims who don't abide by this, they will pay the price by getting killed, too. And there is no other legal choice but fighting them and disrupting them. "We also warn security forces and guards of Crusader (Western) compounds and American bases and all those who stand with America, its agents ... and the tyrants of the Saudi government, and urge them to repent." Study: Sex better than money for happiness CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 7 (UPI) -- Economic researchers have determined more frequent sex can elevate a person's happiness level to the same height as a $50,000 raise. In a paper submitted to the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private group in Cambridge, Mass., economists David Blanchflower of Dartmouth College and Andrew Oswald of Warwick University in England calculateed that going from having sex once a month to having it at least weekly is roughly equivalent to the amount of happiness that an extra $50,000 of income would bring to the average American. Advertisement "The effect of sex on happiness is statistically well-determined ... and large," the authors conclude. "This is true for males and females, and for those under and over the age of 40." Among other findings, Blanchflower and Oswald found that higher-income individuals do not have sex any more often, or have any more partners, than lower-income people, the Wall Street Journal said.
