Jack of all Days

Why women worry: A new study finds that young girls and women are more likely to believe that negative past events predict future events, compared to boys and men. And that, according to researchers, may help explain why females have more frequent and intense worries, perceive more risk, have greater intolerance for uncertainty, and experience higher rates of anxiety than males. The findings, from studies conducted at the University of California, Davis, are published in the September/October 2007 issue of the journal Child Development.

Court OKs strip searches for ibuprofen: In schools, that is. This is from the too ridiculous to be believed file. Nevertheless, it is true. The 9th Circuit Appeals Court has ruled in favor of a school that forced a 13-year-old girl to expose herself to school officials because they suspected that she had … Advil. Yes, Advil.

Traffic signs offer humor: Oak Lawn, Illinois, mayor hopes drivers who won’t obey a stop sign will at least hit the brakes for a stop sign gag. Won’t stop for a traditional sign? What if Diana Ross, in a way, pleads with you? “STOP,” reads one. “IN THE NAAME OF LOVE.” Or how about John Wayne? “STOP. RIGHT THERE PILGRIM.” There are 16 messages on 40 sign posts. Each is the brainchild of first-term mayor Heilmann, a lawyer and former improv actor who created the signs in response to residents’ complaints of blown stop signs.

They really wanted to get drunk: From Spokane, Wash., four Geiger Corrections Center inmates mixed hand sanitizer and Kool-Aid to make an alcoholic drink and became so rowdy after downing the beverage that guards had to intervene. Backed by four tactical and SWAT teams, the guards later launched a facility-wide search for contraband. Officers finally strapped two of the intoxicated inmates into restraint chairs. The unrest did not appear to be an organized effort, Geiger Capt. John McGrath said Friday. Bonus: The inmates may be moody in part because of a decision to suspend Geiger volunteers pending a review, McGrath said. Geiger inmate Roger H. Nordling, 54, escaped during his Bible study after a volunteer let him out of a small building to get fresh air.

Penis pump judge: In June, penis pump judge Donald Thompson lost his bid to get out of jail early claiming that his sentenced for masturbating on the bench was too stiff. Now an appeals court has upheld his conviction on four counts of indecent exposure for using a penis pump while presiding over four trials in 2002 and 2003. He was sentenced to four, one-year sentences in state prison and fined $40,000. Thompson’s attorneys had argued that the prosecution had used illegally obtained evidence including the penis pump, arguing that it had been damaged and shouldn’t have been allowed to be demonstrated in court during the trial. The court ruled that the pump was in working order. Thompson was charged with masturbating while presiding over jury trials including a murder case.

Blocks lead to language skills: Playing with blocks helps young children gain language skills, a small study concluded. After six months, language scores among half of 175 children aged 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 who were sent plastic blocks were 15 percent higher than a matched group that did not receive the free blocks, according to the study by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle. Study author Dimitri Christakis, writing in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, said unstructured play with blocks stimulates thinking, memory and physical mastery of objects at a time when a child’s brain is growing rapidly. Note to the wise: the study was funded by Mega Bloks, owned by Montreal-based toy maker MEGA Brands Inc.

Mystery man leaves trail of stone heads: Police in Yorkshire, England, are on the trail of a shadowy figure who has been dumping giant carved stone heads on village doorsteps at dead of night. The man has left at least 13 at locations 100 miles apart. Each of the foot-high stones had the hand-written rhyme Twinkle, twinkle, like a star. Does love flourish from afar? taped to it. There was also a symbol on the reverse similar to the religious “chi-rho” sign with letters added which also could spell the word “paradox.” Sounds like a marketing scheme to me, but the carved heads are actually very nicely done.