Jockstrip: The World As We Know It

HE WAS GEORGE O'BUSH FOR THE DAY

President Bush joined Chicagoans in the "wearin' of the green" Saturday when he became the first sitting president to march in Chicago's annual St. Patrick's Day parade.

Many of the thousands of parade-watchers along Columbus Drive could be seen waving signs with slogans such as, "Welcome President Bush. We Are Proud Americans." Some even tried to get a chant of "U-S-A" going as Bush passed.

For his part, Bush walked along the parade route for a few blocks, with his presidential limousine driving at his side. He waved his arms wildly and blew kisses to some of the spectators while they cheered.

Chicago's downtown parade has become a Windy City tradition since it was first held in 1956, particularly noted for the way in which local Democratic politicians of Irish descent used the event to mug for public attention.

(Thanks to UPI's Gregory Tejeda in Chicago)

THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

France's Euro Disney Co. opened a second theme park Saturday -- despite long-standing French grumbling about the dangers of American cultural imperialism.

The new theme park is located right next door to Disneyland Paris -- which opened exactly 10 years ago -- and is dedicated to French and foreign movies. It's called, not surprisingly, Walt Disney Studios.

Disneyland Paris has been a hit with tourists, attracting 12.5 million visitors last year --almost twice as many as visit the Eiffel Tower. The company hopes to boost those figures to 19 million visitors for the two parks combined.

The new movie park is the only latest of almost a dozen theme parks scattered across the country. Last month, "Vulcania" -- a European theme park dedicated to volcanoes -- opened in the French town of Auvergne.

Still, the parks remain controversial in France, where many fret about the downsides of globalization and where McDonald's basher Jose Bove remains a popular figure.

(Thanks to UPI's Elizabeth Bryant in Paris)

NEWS OF OTHER LIFE FORMS

Just as the swallows return to Capistrano, so have the buzzards returned to Hinckley, Ohio.

The first of the carrion-eating birds -- which are actually turkey vultures -- was spotted at 6:21 last Friday morning. That's the earliest the birds have shown up at the park just southwest of Cleveland in the annual rite of spring.

Official buzzard spotter Bob Hinckle said there's no truth to the rumor that the scavengers never left this year because the winter was so mild. "No, I can guarantee they did leave," he told WTAM, Cleveland. "Absolutely they did."

Hinckle admits the buzzards left later than usual last fall because of the warm weather but said as soon as their food was gone, so were they.

Legend has it the birds show up like clockwork each March 15 hoping to find carrion frozen during the long winter beginning to thaw.

TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING

A higher percentage of Internet gamblers develop serious behavioral disorders compared to others who wager, researchers report in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, a journal of the American Psychological Association.

"People doing therapy with Internet gamblers call it the 'crack' of gambling disorders," Linda Chamberlain, gambling disorders therapist in Denver, told UPI. "This kind of gambling happens quickly. It's not like sitting down to a real-time poker game. It's all speeded up. It means you can get hooked faster, and you will lose faster."

A gambling survey of 389 people conducted by psychologists from the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington found about 11 percent had a gambling problem, and more than 15 percent were pathological gamblers. Internet gambling was reported by just over 8 percent or 31 of the participants, and 14 subjects reported gambling on the Internet at least once a week.

Seventy-four percent of participants who reported Internet gambling had disorders qualifying as Level 2 -- problematic -- or Level 3 -- pathological. Only 22 percent of participants without any Internet gambling experience rated disorders at those levels.

"In this study, we saw that subjects who had gambled on the Internet had significantly higher rates of problem gambling, a startling 74 percent of them. That's huge," co-investigator and psychologist Nancy Petry, of the University of Connecticut Health Center, told UPI.

Petry noted other research indicates people with behavioral problems tend to hide them. "And the Internet is the perfect place to hide for someone with a gambling disorder. They look for a place to do it privately, by going alone to the casino or by going on-line. It's an old story with an alarming new twist," she said.

AND FINALLY, TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY

Entertainer Liza Minelli tied the knot for the fourth time last Saturday in New York.

Gossip columnist Liz Smith called it "the kissiest wedding I've ever seen," according to Jam Music's Web site. "They kissed the whole time," Smith said of Minnelli and her groom, producer David Gest.

Other attendees said Minnelli danced at the altar after taking her marriage vows.

Best man Michael Jackson carried the train of Minnelli's white silk Bob Mackie dress until maid of honor Marisa Berenson remembered her duties, guests told reporters clustered outside the Marble Collegiate Church.

Celebrity guests included actors Anthony Hopkins, Michael Douglas, Mickey Rooney and David Hasselhoff, rocker Elton John, TV news personalities Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters, comedian Phyllis Diller and singer Robert Goulet.

The newlyweds, who'll honeymoon in Thailand, were introduced by Jackson last year when Minnelli appeared in Gest's television production of "Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special."