Scan-proof underwear? Sign me up!...New York visitors up...King Eddy deal T.O.

HIlarious piece in USA Today this morning on some guy who claims he's designed special underwear that will prevent would-be perverts at airports around the world from checking out your junk when you go through a full body scan.

A guy named Marcus Carey, based in Kentucky, sells clothing with, wait for it, "strategically placed patriotic emblems (American-style of course)" that are made out of a special ink that he claims will blur out a person's private parts.

The photo, attached here, shows a woman with strategically placed twin stars on each breast, flanking an American eagle. You can buy it on his website, www.scannershirts.com, for $14.99. He also has a t-shirt with a happy face at crotch level and sells briefs and boxers.

The website saysthat airport security screenings "now include the use of x-ray machines called “body scanners”. These are highly sophisticated devices which can see through your clothing. They are capable of creating a “nude” image of your private body parts, in revealing detail.

At ScannerShirts.com we are sensitive to your desire to maintain your personal dignity consistent with safe air travel. As such we have designed the products below as privacy wear for family travel.

Our garments have been imprinted with a special ink which tests have shown will create an opaque blur to help keep the details of your private body parts, private.

These items are intended to be worn beneath your normal outer clothing as comfortable undergarments of high quality at a reasonable price.

We are an American Company. All of our products are 100% American made, and we sincerely appreciate your business."

If nothing else, you have to admire the guy's sense of entrepeneurship. I have no idea if these things work, of course, but I'd love to get one. Too bad we just had Christmas.

As a word of warning, USA Today talked with someone from the Transportation Security Administration in the U.S. and was told that anything unusual detected by airport scanners could cause a hassle for travelers, so it may or may not be worth the $15.

Carey insists all his customers who wore his special gear went through airports over the holidays without any problems.

BIG APPLE GETS BIGGER

New York City folks say they attracted 48.7 million visitors in 2010, putting them closer to their goal of 50 million visits by 2012.

It's a pretty impressive number for sure, and it could be one more sign that things are picking up in the U.S. from an economic standpoint. That would be good news for everyone, not just folks in the travel industry.

New York's great in spring, summer and fall. But winter can be a blast, too, as you can see in the photo at right of snow-lovers frolick in Central Park. There's also a terrific deal on these days with New York City restaurants offering great, prix fixe deals. For more information, go to http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek.

KING EDDY DEAL IN TORONTO

le Meridien King Edward Hotel in Toronto has a heckuva winter sale on. Rooms start at just $119 per night for several days in the next few months, a typically slow time for tourism in the Great White North (not all that cold or wintry, actually, if anyone is reading in the sunny south).

It's a great hotel with a lovely bar and very nice rooms, right downtown. It's also a historic spot where the Beatles once stayed, as well as many members of royalty, etc..., etc...

For more information, click here.

CARIBBEAN CRUISE DEALS?

Haven't had a chance to check it out, but USA Today also is quoting a Wall Street analyst, Matthew Jacob, who says the recent launch of the giant Allure of the Seas is taking away business from the still pretty new Oasis of the Seas, which means good deals for the Oasis ship.

"Jacob's data shows that the newest ships are driving what appears to be a cruise pricing recovery," the paper said, "but that the older vessels are struggling to even get the pricing they managed last year."

If that's the case, it's probably a great time to check out a cruise on a four or five year old ship. Hey, it's not like they haven't changed the sheets or anything. They probably have food and rooms and amenities almost as good as the newer ships, and they probably make the same stops in the Caribbean that other ships make. I suspect the sunsets are about equal, too.