Back in 2016, identical twins were accused of academic dishonesty, aka cheating, on a Medical University of South Carolina exam. They were accused by the faculty members of “signaling one another and passing notes” during the exam, having many of the same incorrect answers even though they could not see each other where they were sitting during the test. The girls were then 24 and in their second year of studies at MUSC, they withdrew from school, then decided, “We weren’t going to roll over and let our reputation be ruined.” They went to trial. During the trial, a behavioral genetics expert testified that twins are “genetically predisposed to behave the same way” and that cheating complaints against twins are common, adding, “scientific research shows that identical twins have similarities that go far beyond their shared appearance.” Segal explained, “that due to similar cognitive processes and response times” as well as “typically being raised in the same environment,” having similar test scores is “a common occurrence among identical twins.” Each twin was awarded $750,000 in damages last week, both have completed law school, graduating with similar grade point averages.
As the year comes to an end, I urge you to take care of yourself and avoid accidents because spare parts for old models like us are no longer in stock.
There is a pug dog on TikTok that has entertained viewers for more than a year by simply rising from or collapsing into his dog bed. Something like a mood ring. If Noodle – yes, his name is Noodle – if Noodle stood up for a few seconds then he woke up, then it was a bones day which meant good things were ahead or you should be ambitious on that day. If Noodles plopped back into his bed, then it would be a no bones day, more of a slow, low-key sort of day. During the pandemic and time of political divisiveness, Noodle and his gentle guidance was known as a safe space of encouragement, and distraction for a high-stress world. His owner said that Noodle was a sweet, silly old pug that always enjoyed all his favorite activities until one day when he found Noodle still in bed. When he lifted him up, he just flopped over, like he woke up with no bones. Noodles died recently at 14. His owner encourages everyone to celebrate Noodle’s life by feeding their dogs a cheese ball in his honor. Teller will love this.
To leave this world better than you found it, sometimes you have to pick up other people’s trash. Bill Nye
Avocados. We love them in Texas, but it takes 320 liters of water to grow a single avocado. Let me convert that to something we are more familiar with. If I understand measurements correctly, that is about 1,352 cups or 84.5 gallons. (Please correct me if I messed that up.) Anyway, it’s a lot of water. A graduate student has developed the Ecovado, an alternative to avocados that is meant to look and taste like an avocado but is made with local ingredients with smaller impacts on resources. While ingredients of the Ecovado will vary based on location, some options include apples, broad beans, hazelnuts and neutral oils like rapeseed or olive oils, just depending on where the Ecovado is made. These ingredients are blended into a creamy, green interior resembling avocado flesh, while the exterior is made from biodegradable, compostable wax that protects the soft interior. The wax is dyed into the dark green color of an splotchy avocado skin using spinach and charcoal. The exterior wax can even be upcycled into a candle. As for the pit, they used walnuts, chestnuts, or hazelnuts, that can be eaten. The picture showed something that looks just like an avocado. On Sunday morning I cut into four avocados hoping to get enough flesh to make avocado toast, but found them all bad on the inside, so I’m wondering if Ecovado could have a made-on date and a use-by date etched into that waxy skin? Just a thought for food-dummies like me everywhere.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor Dick Van Dyke is 97. Actor Rita Moreno is 91. Singer David Gates of Bread is 82. Actor Donna Mills of Knots Landing is 82. Singer Brenda Lee is 78. Singer Paul Beasley of The Blind Boys of Alabama is 78. Actor Lynda Day George of Mission: Impossible is 78. Singer Jermaine Jackson is 68. Game show host Bob Barker is 99. Singer Connie Francis is 85. Singer Dionne Warwick is 82. Singer-guitarist Dickey Betts of Allman Brothers is 79. Gymnast-turned-actor Cathy Rigby is 70. Singer Joyce Vincent-Wilson of Tony Orlando and Dawn is 76. Singer-percussionist Sheila E. is 65. Actor Jennifer Connelly is 52. Actor Mayim Bialik of Jeopardy & The Big Bang Theory is 47. Country singer Buck White of The Whites is 92. O Brother, Where Art Thou? The Marty Stuart Show and Down from the Mountain. Actor-singer John Davidson is 81. Actor Kathy Garver of Family Affair is 77. Singer Ted Nugent is 74.
Singer Taylor Swift is 33. Bassist Cliff Williams of AC/DC is 73. Guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter of Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan is 74. Country singer-guitarist Randy Owen of Alabama is 73. Actor Wendie Malick of Hot in Cleveland, Just Shoot Me is 72. Actor Steve Buscemi is 65. Actor Johnny Whitaker of Family Affair is 63. Actor Teri Garr is 75. Actor-comedian Jamie Foxx is 55. Actor Hal Williams of Sanford and Son is 88. Police Officer Smith. Actor Dee Wallace of E.T. is 74.
Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa, Hawaii’s “last princess”, died at age 96. The royal, known to her friends as Kekau, was one of the last living links to the royal family and was celebrated for her philanthropic support of traditional Hawaiian culture. Model and singer, Georgia Holt, mother of Cher, passed away at 96. “She never gave me and my sister advice because, truthfully, she knew we’d never take it,” Cher said of her mother. “Instead, we learned about life by listening to her talk about the things she did wrong and the things she did right.” Ronnie Turner, son of Tina Turner, died of cancer at 62. Model and actress, June Blair, best known for being Playboy magazine’s Playmate of the Month for January 1957 and for being part of the TV series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet as June Nelson, wife of her real-life husband David Nelson, died at 90.
Because there’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away. Sarah Kay
There is a new project in Spain called Winesolar. Energy company, Iberdrola, has created a shelter made with solar panels creating shade, for growing wine grapes. They explained, “The installation will help to improve the quality of the grapes, allow a more efficient use of the land, reduce the consumption of irrigation water and improve the crop’s resistance to climatic conditions in the face of rising temperatures and increasingly frequent heat waves.”
We all know that Michael Jordan is considered to be the best basketball player ever with 1,072 games, 32,292 regular season points, 6,672 rebounds, 5,633 assists, and 2,514 steals. He was a 10-time league scoring champion, made nine all-defensive teams in his career and was named Finals MVP six times. The NBA unveiled the Chicago Bulls legend as the face of its latest Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, The Michael Jordan Trophy. The bronze trophy features a player breaking out of a rock to reach for a crystal basketball. It is 23.6 inches tall and weighs 23.6 pounds, representing Jordan’s jersey number (23) and number of NBA championships (6).The NBA Clutch Player of the Year – a new award designed to recognize the player who “best comes through for his teammates in the clutch” – will receive the Jerry West Trophy, the Hakeem Olajuwon trophy will go to NBA Defensive Player of the Year, the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy will be awarded to the Rookie of the Year, the John Havlicek Trophy will go to the NBA Sixth Man of the Year and the George Mikan Trophy to Most Improved Player of the Year.
JetBlue is taking back its 2020 promise to offset greenhouse gas pollution from its domestic U.S. flights instead of buying carbon offsets and will instead focus on cutting its per-seat pollution in half by using “sustainable aviation fuels” generated from waste or plants. Very good news. Maybe more will follow.
Celine Dion has postponed a series of concert dates after revealing she has a rare neurological disease called Stiff Person Syndrome. Stiff-person syndrome is a central nervous system disorder that causes progressive muscle stiffness and spasms. More than two dozen Taylor Swift fans are suing Ticketmaster parent Live Nation Entertainment for “unlawful conduct” in the pop star’s chaotic tour sale, claiming the ticketing giant violated antitrust laws. The coronation date for King Charles is set for May 6, 2023. After appearing on The Voice since season 1, Blake Shelton will leave after season 23. Justin Verlander received a new two-year contract with the New York Mets worth $86.66 million. Singer Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses pledged to end the 30-year-old tradition of tossing his microphone into the crowd at concerts after hitting an Australian woman in the face, with her suffering two black eyes and a busted nose.
The headline reads: Eggo must l ’Eggo of $85K after toxic gas leak in Bay Area… 3,400 pounds of ammonia leaked into a neighborhood. I thought it was cute.
The Cambridge Dictionary will now define a woman as an “adult human female being” or “an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth.” The definition of “man” is an “adult male human being” or “an adult who lives and identifies as male though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth.”
The clever Smirnoff Vodka ad says: Made in America, But We’d Be Happy to Talk About Our Ties to Russia Under Oath.
Volodymyr Zelensky was named Time’s Person of the Year for 2022. No person is more deserving! A niece of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was kicked off a plane in New Orleans last month after she asked some fellow passengers that she believed were Latino if they were drug smugglers, accusing them of smuggling cocaine. The airline staff reportedly asked that she be removed from the plane as she became increasingly irate, so the plane returned to the gate. Then she reportedly boasted as she struggled with deputies that she was related to powerful people. Hmmm. Hertz must pay $168 million to settle 364 claims related to the company falsely reporting rental cars as stolen, in many cases resulting in customers’ arrests. Elon Musk, once worth as much as $340 billion, has been displaced as the world’s richest person by Bernard Arnault, chair and CEO of LVMH Moet Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury products and a man that keeps a relatively low public profile.
Jade Janks, 39, a California interior designer, is accused of murdering her stepfather after she found he had nude pictures of her on his computer. She has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the death of 64-year-old Thomas Merriman, a butterfly activist. The Los Angeles city council voted unanimously to ban any new oil drilling and will phase out all current wells within the next 20 years. People have been living in sacrifice zones suffering for decades from carcinogenic pollution released by wells in the city’s 26 oil and gas fields and more than 5,000 wells.
This was really a pretty boring week, so next time plan to hear about something far more exciting like how to keep squirrels out of your attic, or the new waffle food truck that’s starting in January. Yummy. After you get the squirrels out of your attic you can go for brunch and mimosas. Thanks for taking the time to read and shop with us.
LISA
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com
