Jockstrip: The world as we know it

Jake the Barber's car goes for $880,000

CHICAGO, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- A 1930 hand-built Duesenberg automobile once owned by Windy City mobster and Al Capone confidant John "Jake the Barber" Factor fetched $880,000 at auction.

Factor paid about $20,000 for the Duesenberg Model J. Murphy, capable of breaking 100 mph, "in a day when you could buy a family car for about $500," Terrance D. Lobzun of RM Auctions Inc., told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Lobzun refused to identify the buyer, saying, "Some (of our customers) don't even tell their wives."

Factor, who in his heyday directed much of the Chicago underworld from his 14-room Gold Coast apartment, sold the car three years later. The automobile eventually ended up in the hands of the S. Ray Miller Museum in Elkhart, Ind., which sold it Tuesday.

Toward the end of his life, Factor ran the Stardust Casino in Las Vegas. He died in 1982 at the age of 85.

Generation TXT has self-esteem to spare

LONDON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Britons in their 20s see themselves as optimistic, independent, well-to-do and good looking, the Sun reported Tuesday.

Based on a survey of 1,003 Britons in their 20s, 73 percent of the males rated themselves a 7 or better on an appearance scale of 1 to 10, while 52 percent of their female counterparts rated themselves at 7 or better.

The newspaper referred to this group as "Generation TXT."

Only 20 percent of them would fight for their country if called up, and in the wake of the Iraq War 22 percent said they would refuse to fight under any circumstances. Just 57 percent would fight only if they agreed with the conflict.

Half have either no personal debts or owe less than $1,800 and two-thirds expect to be richer than their parents.

Most trust the police and legal system "a little" or "not at all" if accused of a crime and the majority appears disaffected with politicians and political parties.

Aspiring actor assaults colleagues

NEW YORK, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- An aspiring actor in New York state has been charged with beating two colleagues after he was criticized for botching his lines.

Brian Raber, 27, of North Bellport, was rehearsing "Homefront", in which he played a soldier returning from war. Some of the cast had apparently criticized his rendition of his lines, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

Police say he slugged co-star Bianca Massi, a 17-year-old who played the part of the soldier's girlfriend, and then when the director, Toni Munna, confronted him, he punched her four times with a closed fist.

Massi was treated and released from the hospital; Munna underwent reconstructive surgery for severe facial injuries. Both had been punched in their face.

Raber is charged with first- and third-degree assault and was being held at the Suffolk County jail in Riverhead in lieu of $100,000 cash bail at his arraignment in Southampton Village Justice Court. The court also ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

School Halloween ban riles parents

PUYALLUP, Wash., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- A Washington state school board's ban of Halloween festivities turned a small town into an angry costumed mob, KOMO-TV, Seattle reported Tuesday.

Noisy parents and children, most in costumes and bearing picket signs, angrily denounced the decision in Puyallup, about 20 miles northeast of Olympia, Monday night.

One self-proclaimed Wiccan rose to address the board and agreed with hundreds of parents in attendance that witches aren't slighted by the event.

"I want to assure you that Wiccans, Pagans and witches and other members of our faith community on the whole are not offended," said Larry Klingele.

Offending Wiccans was one reason the board canceled in-school observations. The other two reasons given were that celebrations took away from classroom time and not all students can afford costumes.

"It's rare for our town of Puyallup to make the national news," said parent Bebe Colley. "Unfortunately we did not make it by greatness of achievement -- we made it by being ridiculous."