Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Boomers seeking sex, companionship NEW YORK, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- As U.S. baby boomers age, more are seeking sex and companionship -- but not necessarily marriage. Advertisement A recent AARP study found only 14 percent of women said their most important reason for dating was to find someone to live with or marry, compared with 22 percent of men. Instead of marriage, many boomers are seeking long-distance relationships -- someone to spend time with on weekend or vacation with, but not to change their life for. The way boomers meet is also changing. While many still meet the old-fashioned way -- through friends, neighbors or relatives -- a growing number are searching online, Newsweek reported. Although single boomers are having sex regularly, only 39 percent invariably use protection, the AARP said. Many boomers just don't have a sense of danger about sex, but the number of new HIV infections among older women is rising rapidly. Between 1998 and 2000, women's share of AIDS cases among those 50 and older nearly doubled -- from 8.9 percent to 15 percent -- said Linda Fisher, AARP's research director. Advertisement Wealthy Australians not happiest WIDE BAY, Australia, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Eight of the nine happiest regions in Australia are also the country's poorest and most rural communities, a study found. The Deakin University study also found that the wealthiest and most metropolitan regions are unhappiest. Researchers evaluated 150 districts in Australia, measuring such factors as standard of living and sense of safety, The Australian reported. The study concluded that residents of the coastal, bush section of Wide Bay, in Queensland, were happiest with their lives. Sydney, Australia's wealthiest city, was unhappiest. Transport Minister and Wide Bay Member of Parliament Warren Truss said it "shows you don't need to be rich to be happy." London executives advised to dress down LONDON, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Bankers, lawyers and executives are being advised to dress scruffily, avoid jewelry, iPods and cell phones while commuting to and from London. The high-earners are being urged by security experts to "dress down" to avoid becoming a target for violent criminals after several executives have been slain, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Many in the financial community have recently awarded large bonuses and are considered particularly vulnerable because the executives often travel home at late hours. Advertisement "The look you're going for is the penniless student with nothing worth stealing," one executive told the Telegraph. He added that he was horrified after he checked his name on the Internet and found a newspaper article that described his recent massive bonus that also mentioned his address. Mardi Gras parade pokes fun at Katrina NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans are taking a turn toward comedy as a way for residents of the struggling Hurricane Katrina-ravaged city to cope. A parade Saturday night poked fun at politicians and floats with tongue-in-cheek digs at the slow rebuilding process in the city. Keith Twitchell, organizer of the Krewe du Vieux parade, said the levity was an "opportunity to release," the Washington Post reports. The theme of the parade, C'est Levee, is a play on c'est la vie, the French expression "that's life." Floats carried effigies of Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco. They passed through the French Quarter draped in the blue tarps covering many roofs of still damaged houses and carried a fake broken levee and cardboard travel trailers. Advertisement "If you don't laugh, you're dead. There's a lot to cry about here," Twitchell said.
