We’re not gaslighting here, with holiday hijinks from a ‘Seusspicious’ carpool passenger in Arizona to an unlikely manifestation of Mickey Mouse in New England, proving that the weird and wackiness never takes time off.
YOU’RE A NASTY WASTY SKUNK
The Grinch came early for an Arizona driver who tried to pass off an inflatable figure of the Dr. Seuss character as a passenger while driving in the HOV lane. The Arizona Department of Public Safety says a state trooper noticed the car on Interstate 10 in Phoenix with a “Seusspicious-looking” green passenger.
While the gag may have caused the officer’s heart to grow, it did not stop the driver from getting cited for being in the carpool lane during a restricted time.
The agency, however, could not help but post a photo of the Grinch figure with the driver’s face blurred on its Twitter account. Officials say they appreciate the “festive flair” but that the driver’s action was still illegal.
WORD OF THE YEAR
Lookups for the word on for the word “gaslighting” on merriam-webster.com increased 1,740% in 2022 over the year before, prompting the dictionary to declare it its word of word the year. Uniquely, there wasn’t a single event that drove significant spikes in curiosity, as it usually goes with the chosen word of the year. Merriam-Webster’s top definition for gaslighting is the psychological manipulation of a person, usually over an extended period of time, that “causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.”
SPERM HEIST – NO FURTHER WORDS REQUIRED
Police in western Germany say about 60 containers of bull sperm were recently stolen from a farm in the town of Olfen, 90 km. northeast of Cologne. While it’s unclear how the rustle happened, authorities say the precious cargo is at risk as it needs to be supercooled with liquid nitrogen at –196 Celsius degrees so it isn’t spoiled. They are seeking tips from the public that might lead to the recovery of the sperm, which was intended for artificial insemination.
TERRIFYING LOBSTA MICKEY RETURNS
A long-forgotten, and somewhat unsettling, statue of Mickey Mouse with giant lobster claws for hands has found its way back to Boston. The 320 kg. statue was one of 75 Mickey Mouse-inspired sculptures commissioned by Disney for the cartoon character’s 75th anniversary and was last seen in the city nearly two decades ago at Quincy Market where it entertained tourists and shoppers until being sold in an auction in 2005 by Disney and slipping out of sight and into city lore.
That’s until Deon Point, creative director for the Boston sneaker store Concepts, became fixated on tracking down the creation. After spending five years in pursuit of “Lobsta Mickey,” he spotted a listing for the mouse/crustacean relic on eBay, which had found its way to a New Jersey lawn. After hiring a local artist to refurbish and repaint the statue, it made its second public debut in the city, when it was set up on Concepts’ showroom floor. “People were a little terrified,” Point observed, though he planned to keep the statue on display through the holidays, before finding a new, long-term home somewhere within Boston.
DOLL DELIGHT
South Korea has formally lifted a ban on the import of full-body sex dolls, ending years of debate over how much the government can interfere in private life. Although there are no laws or regulations banning the import of sex dolls, hundreds, and perhaps thousands, have been seized by the customs, which cited a clause in the law that bans the import of goods that “harm the country’s beautiful traditions and public moral.” Importers complained and took their case to courts, most of which agreed with them and ordered customs to release the sex dolls, saying they are used in people’s private spaces and don’t undermine human dignity. South Korean authorities don’t crack down on the sale of sex dolls made domestically, but their quality is in general considered inferior to those made abroad.
IS THAT A GUN IN YOUR POCKET?
The US federal agency tasked with screening passengers before they get on planes says officers this year have stopped a record number of guns brought by passengers attempting to go through airport security checkpoints. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says that officers have stopped over 6,300 firearms so far this year, and the agency is anticipating that number will rise to 6,600 by the end of the year. That’s nearly a 10% increase over last year, which was already a record, the agency said. Nearly 90% of the weapons caught so far were loaded, the agency said. The agency considers a weapon to be loaded if the passenger has access to both the gun and the ammunition.