Jockstrip: The World As We Know It

REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE

Cyber-cafes in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa now rely on Internet phone connections as a major part of their business, according to the Washington Post.

People have discovered that Internet phone service is not only more readily available than regular phone service, it is significantly cheaper, too. The nation's monopoly telephone providers charge $1 to $1.50 per minute, whereas Internet-based phone service is 5 to 10 cents a minute.

In many Tegucigalpa Internet cafes, more people are likely to be chatting into computer-based handsets instead of typing away in e-mail programs or Web browsers, the Post said.

The phenomenon is common throughout Central America, where many nations have fewer than 100 phones for every 1,000 people, according to World Bank figures.

There's one reason why the Internet phone connections are so much cheaper: The calls do not enter countries through the switches of the established telephone network, so they avoid incurring per-minute tariffs from the companies that own the infrastructure.

(Thanks to UPI's Joe Warminsky in Washington)

THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

Nike found itself in hot water with the Brazilian capital city of Sao Paulo Thursday for what officials say was an overzealous advertising campaign that left posters plastered illegally throughout the city.

The company could be fined more than a quarter million dollars for the infraction. The Jornal da Tarde newspaper claimed it counted more than 800 illegally posted ads throughout the city -- at a fine of about $243 per poster.

Officials said they were adamant about enforcing litter laws prohibiting the over-posting of signs.

Nike representative Katia Gianone said Nike had hired a local company to post the ads and expected them to perform their services within in the law.

The sneaker manufacturer is a sponsor of Brazil's World Cup soccer team.

NEWS OF OTHER LIFE FORMS

Scientists will release hundreds of Australian bugs on Earth Day Monday to control the pesky melaleuca trees that have been trying to take over the Florida Everglades for decades.

The release will come on the same day as a groundbreaking ceremony for a $6 million laboratory that will produce more biological weapons against Everglades intruders.

Melaleuca trees grow to 50 feet tall and originated in Australia. Along with other invasive vegetation, the tree is a constant threat to push out the native greenery in the Florida Everglades west of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

The bugs, formally known as the melaleuca psyllid, look like cicadas. They are expected to fan out, stunting tree growth and seed production by chewing tree stems and leaves, which they would inject with toxic saliva.

The psyllid introduction is the second stage of a one-two punch started by the introduction of the melaleuca snout beetle. It was introduced in 1997 and cuts seed production by 50 percent. The snout beetles' drawback is that they don't penetrate the Everglades very quickly, said Ted Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He said the psyllid can penetrate into watery areas to reproduce and destroy.

The new building, part of the $8 billion Everglades restoration plan, will let scientists launch similar attacks on other botanical intruders known as invasives.

It takes years of quarantine to screen bugs until scientists are sure they will eat only the target test plant. The new building, among other things, will provide space for the quarantine program. Scientists will be able to scrutinize 10-15 types of exotic plants at a time instead of just two or three at a small lab currently in use in Gainesville, Fla.

TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING

All but two of the cast members of a Texas production of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" have walked off the set, claiming that they object to some of the strong language in the script.

The Houston Chronicle says a group called the Crighton Players in Conroe, Texas, was rehearsing the musical -- based on a real-life confrontation between a Texas sheriff and a TV reporter 35 years ago -- when the walkout took place. The board of directors of the musical company says it may be necessary to cancel opening night, scheduled for May 31.

The play had been earmarked as an "adult" show and season patrons were told that they could get a refund if they chose not to attend.

Additionally, several people in Conroe objected to the casting of a few local teenage girls as prostitutes at the notorious Chicken Ranch, the bordello that is the centerpiece of the plot.

By the way, the movie version starred Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds.

(Thanks to UPI's Dennis Daily)

AND FINALLY, TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY

Neither the current unrest in the Middle East nor the threat of renewed conflict between Israel and Lebanon kept former Pink Floyd songwriter Roger Waters from playing Beirut Wednesday night.

Some 6,000 people turned out at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Centre to see a rare incursion into Lebanon by a major Western artist. NME.com reports the concert was the first in the Middle East to use surround sound.

Many had assumed Waters would scrap the Beirut stop-off because of current political instability. But, speaking at a news conference earlier in the year, the rocker said canceling was not an option. "The chances of me being run over by a car are much bigger than getting killed in a bomb explosion," he said.

Last year's summer music festival at Baalbek -- staged amid 3000-year old temples -- drew a crowd of 9,000 for a performance by Sting. But the Red Hot Chili Peppers pulled out of a planned show in the Middle East recently because of the tension in the region.