By Phil Riske | Senior Reporter/Writer
While the mainstream media reviews the top news stories of the year — stories you already know about — we thought we’d review some of the off-beat news we bought you, just so you recall a smattering of 2018 news had nothing to do with the White House or Hollywood
Court kicks government’s butt
A federal appeals court has given new legal protections for parents whose only “offense” is taking pictures of their babies’ butts.
In an often strongly worded opinion, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said there is evidence that two Arizona child welfare workers violated the rights of a couple by removing their three children from their home simply because they had taken naked photos of the girls. The judges said there is a well-established and overwhelming right of parents to control their children without government supervision.
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The bizarre lies mothers tell their kids
Being a mom is a tough job, in large part because you just can’t reason with small children. What you can do, however, is lie to them. In honor of Mother’s Day, we asked readers to send us the most outlandish white lies their mothers ever told them. As it turns out, moms all over the world are telling some wonderfully inventive lies.
“Crying makes your head fall off.”
But then there were the more esoteric fibs, such as the dangers of dragonflies sewing your lips together, that playing in puddles will give you polio, or that a little man lives in your eyes and signals your mom when you aren’t telling the truth.
Is it a sin to pull the handle?
Las Vegas isn’t the only “Sin City” in America. In other cities, bad things happen and stay there, too. From beer-loving Milwaukee to hedonistic New Orleans, the U.S. is filled with people behaving illicitly. No place is innocent. We all have demons.
The usually reliable research firm, WalletHub, listed Phoenix as 15th out of 50 states as most sinful because of gambling, number of smokers and other factors.
Are these managers sinful?
Most people need to work for a living, but that doesn’t mean they have to take conventional jobs.
The United States economy has a highly diverse set of industries and niche interests. And where there are unusual needs, unusual job openings are available requesting specific skills that only a tiny fraction of Americans possess.
24/7 Wall St.reviewed job listing sites, online databases, and occupation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to identify the weirdest job or job opening in every state.
Weirdest job in Arizona: Bingo manager
Odd and funny street names
You will find delightful cafes, shopping and the Carefree Desert Gardens at the corner of Easy Street and Ho Hum Road in Carefree, Arizona.
Is that me? Does the sound of your own voice make you want to cover your ears? You are not alone
Most of us have shuddered on hearing the sound of our own voice. In fact, not liking the sound of your own voice is so common that there’s a term for it: voice confrontation.
But why is voice confrontation so frequent, while barely a thought is given to the voices of others?
A common explanation often found in popular media is that because we normally hear our own voice while talking, we receive both sound transferred to our ears externally by air conduction and sound transferred internally through our bones. This bone conduction of sound delivers rich low frequencies that are not included in air-conducted vocal sound. So when you
Meanwhile, what about the southern accent. y’all?
Some employees at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee complained about a class aimed at teaching them how to reduce their Southern accents
The course had been advertised as a way to feel confident in meetings, when one might need to speak with a more neutral accent. The class was touted as a way to “be remembered for what you say and not how you say it.”
Carolyn Ward of ORNL’s Learning and Development Services told the Knoxville News Sentinelthat an employee requested the class, so it was offered for others too.
ORNL spokesman David Keim said the class “probably wasn’t presented in the right way,” and managers decided to cancel it after other employees complained.
Those damn telemarketer calls
Here are a few retorts:
“I’m bleeding like a stuck hog and can’t talk right now.”
“Hello, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office”
“Not here, he’s/she’s serving 6 months for assaulting a salesman.”
“He’ll be back from vacation in 2 weeks. Can you hold?”
“I’m wondering if you could repeat that for my pit bull.”
Are you a jerk?
You’re probably a jerk, at least sometimes. On those days when you seem to have an issue with virtually everyone you meet, it’s a good bet the cause is whatever all those encounters have in common. And, not to be a jerk about it… that’s you
Valley hormone specialist Dr. Angela DeRosa told KTAR men go through “manopause.” Here are aome symptoms she didn’t mention
Addicted to online photos of Porsches.
You no longer take off your shirt in front of your dog.
The mirror, as far as you’re concerned, is a liar.
You used to be able to clean and jerk the lawn mower.
You quit watching “The Real Housewives of Paradise Valley.”
Hey, Bozo, think you can understand this?
Researchers found that the trash talk recipients performed better on all the tasks that required them to exert effort. They reported feeling more rivalry and they were also more likely to cheat. But they performed worse on the task that measured their creativity — perhaps because they were distracted by anger — and on the ones where they were asked to cooperate with their partner.
You can try to ignoring trash talk. Not every comment needs a response. Just because you see a log floating down the river doesn’t mean you need to jump on it.”
