STUDY FINDS SOUTHERN ACCENT IS MOST ATTRACTIVE IN AMERICA

NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

 

Study finds Southern accent is most attractive in America. Here are other dialects that made the list

By Monica Galarza • Published April 28, 2024 • Updated 3 hours ago

 

A new dialect specific to South Florida has emerged, containing calques from the Spanish language, French might be the language of love, but did you know the Miami accent was deemed among the most attractive in the country?

 

A study conducted by consumer opinion platform Brandwatch, commissioned by the online casino and sportsbook review website PennStakes.com, asked a large portion of the internet which accents they found the most attractive.

 

A "social listening" research study collected data between Feb. 2023 and Feb. 2024, to find out which accents are the most attractive across the U.S. The "Southern" accent was by far the most attractive with more than 75,000 mentions online. "New York" came in second place and "Californian" came in third.

 

Top 10 most attractive accents in America, according to the study

Southern - 76,950 mentions

New York - 70,460 mentions

Californian - 45,360 mentions

Texan - 42,330 mentions

Boston - 34,110 mentions

Midwestern - 33,000 mentions

Miami - 21,450 mentions

Chicago - 20,990 mentions

Minnesotan - 16,160 mentions

New Orleans - 15,590 mentions

 

The study analyzed the top 50 most common accents in the U.S. and Brandwatch highlighted every time an accent was mentioned online over the course of a year.

 

The data was broken down by how many times an online post praised the accent in some way.

 

Any post mentioning the accent alongside words such as "attractive," "sexy," "charming" or the like was counted to create the final number.

 

The higher the figure, the more attractive the accent.

 

At the bottom of the list, however were Minnesotan with about 16,000 mentions and New Orleans with nearly 15,600 mentions. 

IN THE LAND OF WHITE DEATH: AN EPIC STORY OF SURVIVAL IN THE SIBERIAN ARCTIC

By Valerian Albanov. New York: The Modern Library, 2000.

What some people go through!

In 1914, the author, along with several other crewmembers, left a ship that had gotten stuck in the ice of the North Pole to try to find something resembling civilization. The harrowing journey this entailed was complete with all the deprivations and hardships one would expect and more.

This is one of the most gripping nonfiction adventure stories I have read in a while. This 2000 edition is complete with an introduction, preface and notes providing background, explanation and later details.

Purchase it here. 

WHY DO WE SAY UNDER THE WEATHER AND OTHER POPULAR EXPRESSIONS?

Fox News

 

Why do we say ‘under the weather’ and other popular expressions? Here are 3 fun origin stories

Sayings like 'under the weather' and 'break the ice' have longstanding meanings

By Brittany Kasko Fox News

Published April 29, 2024 5:00am EDT

 

Common sayings used metaphorically are popular in the English language — and are often used all over the world.

 

There's "break a leg," "the cat’s out of the bag" — and so many others, often with interesting histories.

 

Why do people use these popular expressions?

 

Here’s a dive into three common sayings and their backgrounds.

 

3 popular phrases with deeper meanings

 

1. ‘Penny for your thoughts’

 

This common expression is often used to ask someone what they're thinking if deep in thought.

 

For example, someone might say, "I’ll take a penny for your thoughts."

 

Although the exact origin of the saying is unclear, many attribute it to the 1500s when Sir Thomas More wrote "Four Last Things."

 

It read, "When people notice that someone appears disengaged and wish them to rejoin the conversation, they ask, ‘A penny for your thoughts,’" per Missouri State University.

 

Other notions are that it came from a collection of proverbs by John Heywood in 1546, according to Dictionary online.

 

2. ‘Under the weather’

 

This expression is often used when someone is feeling ill.

 

People might say, for example, that they're "feeling under the weather" when coming down with a cold.

 

This popular saying is thought to have a nautical origin, as crewmen and travelers would often go below deck when high winds caused the sea to get choppy, according to the Farmers Almanac.

 

Another theory from "Salty Dog Talk: The Nautical Origins of Everyday Expressions" says the phrase came from "under the weather bow," which is the side of the ship that would often rot due to blowing weather.

 

3. ‘Break the ice’

 

This phrase is commonly used when people speak for the first time after a period of silence — as if they would "break the ice."

 

This could also refer to two people who have not spoken in a significant amount of time — and who need to "break the ice" and speak once again.

 

Many believe the expression started as early as 1579 from Sir Thomas North’s "Plutarch’s Lives" translation.

 

Samuel Butler also used it in his 1678 book "Hudibras" to mean it broke the silence.

 

For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle. 

WHY JOHN BON JOVI WASN'T ALL THAT IMPRESSED WITH LIVING ON A PRAYER AFTER WRITING IT

PEOPLE

 

Why Jon Bon Jovi 'Wasn’t All That Impressed' with 'Livin' on a Prayer' Upon Writing It: 'I Was Wrong' (Exclusive)

The rock icon opens up to PEOPLE in this week's cover story about how he didn't initially connect with "one of the biggest songs" in Bon Jovi's catalog

By Jack Irvin  Published on April 27, 2024 07:00PM EDT

 

It took some time for "Livin' on a Prayer" to click with Jon Bon Jovi.

 

The 62-year-old rock icon is opening up in this week's PEOPLE cover story about his four-decades-long career — and recalling that he didn't initially connect with the band's chart-topping 1986 hit.

 

"It wasn't that I didn't want to record it, but I wasn't all that impressed on the day that we wrote it," Bon Jovi tells PEOPLE of "Livin' on a Prayer."

 

Upon writing the song, "it was the simple chord progression, the melodies and the lyrics" at first. "But the bass line came to life in the demo studio, when we took it back to the band and worked it up," reflects the Grammy winner. "That's how it became what it is."

 

"We knew what we wanted, we just didn't have it, and so I was like, 'Yeah, it's good. Good day. Good day at the office,' and I was wrong," says Bon Jovi. "It's one of the biggest songs in our catalog."

 

Written by the Bon Jovi frontman, former bandmate Richie Sambora and songwriter Desmond Child, "Livin' on a Prayer" was released on the group's 1986 album Slippery When Wet, which also spawned the hits "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Wanted Dead or Alive."

 

The band's story is chronicled in Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, a new docuseries available now on Hulu. One episode dives into the making of "Livin' on a Prayer," detailing that Sambora and Child got on their knees and begged Bon Jovi to record the song.

 

At the time, the vocalist thought the song would be more well-suited for a movie soundtrack, though it ended up serving as the second single from Slippery When Wet and ultimately reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

 

"Livin' on a Prayer" isn't the only hit Bon Jovi didn't immediately see the full potential of. He also wasn't too keen on 1994's "Always" from the Cross Road album, "which is also one of our biggest songs ever," says the performer.

 

"When I'd written that, we demoed it for a movie, that I had written it for, and thought, 'Yeah, that's not very good.' Put it on the shelf, and an A&R guy, who was a friend of ours, was listening to some of those lost songs, and he said, 'You know, this is a monster hit,'" recalls Bon Jovi. "He was right."

 

After reflecting on their career in Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, the band will release a new album, Forever, on July 7. 

THEY WERE ONCE POPULAR SOCIAL MEDIA SITES-WHAT HAPPENED?

The Hill

 

They were once popular social media sites — what happened?

BY ADDY BINK - 04/27/24 5:10 PM ET

 

With the stroke of his pen, President Joe Biden seemingly started the countdown to the demise of TikTok. Though it’s possible the app won’t actually be banned in the U.S., the potential end of the platform prompted some social media users to reflect on those we have lost.

 

Here’s a look at the social media sites that have retired to the annals of the internet archive.

 

Myspace

 

What better place to start than MySpace, arguably the first major social networking site?

 

If you were a young Internet user in the 2000s, there’s a good chance you had a MySpace account. Users could stylize their (you guessed it) digital space with media, music, and messages with just a bit of coding.

 

From 2005 through 2008, Myspace largely reigned as the most popular destination online. Then it was face-to-face with a heavyweight opponent: Facebook. While they would both see roughly 115 million visitors per month in 2008, Facebook’s growth in the following years would prove too much for Myspace to compete with, Lifewire recounts.

 

You can still access Myspace — which is now a part of the People/Entertainment Weekly Network, according to its site — but it isn’t what it once was. You’ll find articles from 2022 on its homepage, and many images and links appear broken. Your “first friend” Tom is also still accessible, but he hasn’t posted on the platform since 2013 either.

 

Friendster

 

Before Myspace found its success, however, some were using Friendster. Launched in 2002, the site was similar to its impending competition, but with more emphasis on dating. It was short-lived, however, and was considered mostly defunct by 2006, USA Today reports, citing a 2013 study on Friendster.

 

The platform was sold to MOL Global, one of Asia’s largest Internet companies, in 2009, and users (at least those that stuck around) saw their data purged in 2011. That same year, Friendster was relaunched as a gaming site. Seven years later, the site was finally shuttered.

 

The site appears to be gearing up for a comeback, but cybersecurity experts warn that a lack of fanfare and additional information make it suspicious.

 

Vine

 

While Gen X and Millennials had Myspace, Gen Z (and younger Millennials) found themselves scrolling through Vine. Released in 2013, the video-based app was a quick success, giving users a seemingly endless supply of short, looping clips. Months before its launch, Twitter purchased the start-up for $30 million.

 

Three years after its launch, Vine announced it would be discontinued. At the time, the app was losing many of its creators to competitors like YouTube and Instagram. Twitter initially offered an archive of all of Vine’s videos, but that has since disappeared as well.

 

A week after completing his $44 billion takeover of then-Twitter, Elon Musk polled users about a potential return of Vine. Despite nearly 70% of the more than 4.9 million voters expressing support, the app didn’t come back. However, with a potential TikTok ban brewing, users may again find themselves doing it “for the Vine.”

 

Google+

 

Google can do many things, like answer your vague queries and direct you to the nearest coffee shop, but it could not, it seems, support a social media platform.

 

In 2011, the company launched Google+. Similar to Facebook, users could share messages and photos with their followers. Unlike Facebook, Google+ allowed users to group their friends into Circles that functioned almost like group chats.

 

In 2018, Google announced it would shut down the platform citing security concerns amid a data breach. The site is no longer accessible, with the URL taking users to updates on Google Workspace instead.

 

There are, of course, other internet icons we’ve lost over the last few decades. Early users may recall AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM, which offered online messaging for 20 years. It signed off “for the last time” in 2017. Some programmers sought to bring it back, in a sense, but those efforts appear to have fallen flat.

 

If you’re an avid fan of relic social sites, you may have noticed one often-listed name missing from this list: Yik Yak. The app launched in 2013 and allowed users (mainly in high school and college) to post anonymously. It quickly rose to success but was frequently viewed as a space for bullying, harassment, and threats, prompting multiple schools to ban it. As USA Today reports, Yik Yak began losing popularity in 2016 and shut down a year later.

 

Last year, Sidechat, a platform also dedicated to anonymous posts, acquired Yik Yak, which was resurrected in 2021 under new ownership. Yik Yak was overhauled after the most recent acquisition, according to TechCrunch, but wasn’t very well received. The app is also not available to Android users.

 

It’s too soon to say if TikTok will go the way of Vine and Myspace or Yik Yak. Its China-based parent company, ByteDance, is expected to fight the ban enacted by the bill Biden signed. That legislation requires ByteDance to either sell off TikTok or face a U.S. ban on the app starting early next year.

 

ByteDance has characterized the law as an infringement on the free speech rights of its users, most of whom use the app for entertainment.

 

“We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail,” the company wrote on the social platform X.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

MOM SENTENCED AFTER LEAVING 13 MONTH OLD SON TO DIE IN CAR FOR HOURS

PEOPLE

 

Mom Sentenced for Leaving 13-Month-Old Son to Die in Car for Hours While She Went ‘Dumpster Diving’

“His death is heartbreaking and should never have happened," the attorney in a separate wrongful death lawsuit filed against the mother said

By Sean Neumann  Published on April 24, 2024 12:06PM EDT

 

An Alabama mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison this week in connection with the 2019 death of her 13-month-old son, who prosecutors said she abandoned in a hot car while going dumpster diving.

 

AL.com reported that Elizabeth Anne Case, 39, received her sentencing this week after pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge in March. The mother received four years in prison with 150 days credit for time already spent in jail.

 

Investigators said her toddler, Casen Case, was left alone in the car for roughly eight hours, the outlet reported. The mother was originally charged with capital murder, but those charges were dropped last August in place of reckless manslaughter and aggravated child abuse charges, AL.com previously reported.

 

The outlet reported the incident occurred the night of Oct. 4, 2019, when Case put her son in the front seat of her car and brought him along with her while she went dumpster diving around 9 or 10 p.m. local time, according to investigators. The mother returned home around 5:40 a.m. local time and went inside her home to sleep, leaving the toddler in the car overnight.

 

Local WHNT reported that Case did not return to check on the toddler until 1:30 p.m. the next afternoon when her grandmother began banging on her bedroom door asking where the boy was. Case and her grandmother then soon discovered her young son inside the car. Case took him into the house and put him in the shower while the grandmother called 911, according to the outlet.

 

Temperatures outside were about 97 degrees outside when the boy was discovered, AL.com reported.

 

In addition to Case’s criminal charges, Casen’s aunt also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Case and the state’s Department of Human Resources, according to WHNT, alleging the department didn’t take appropriate action in Casen’s situation and left him in his mother’s custody despite her being in and out of jail while she was pregnant.

 

“These workers are paid with our tax dollars to protect children like Casen and yet they did nothing,” attorney Tommy James said in a statement on the aunt’s behalf. “His death is heartbreaking and should never have happened.”

 

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. 

NATURE NOTES: BIRDS, BIRDS, BIRDS

Heard a woodpecker while I was out in the backyard earlier this week.

Heard a raven outside my bathroom window Thursday morning.

Just as I went out my door today I heard a morning dove singing in the rain. 

Heard a loon early this morning. Mom has heard it four or five days in a row.

MOM ACCUSED OF KILLING 3 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER BY FORCING HER TO DRINK BLEACH, THEN BLAMING VOODOO SPELLS, FACING DEATH PENALTY

PEOPLE

 

Mom Accused of Killing 3-Year-Old by Forcing Her to Drink Bleach, Then Blaming ‘Voodoo’ Spell, May Face Death

Prosecutors in Florida filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Joanne Zephir, who is charged with murder

By Liam Quinn  Published on April 24, 2024 03:15PM EDT

 

Prosecutors in Florida are seeking the death penalty for a mother who allegedly confessed to killing one daughter and injuring another by forcing them to drink bleach.

 

The Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office says in a release that it filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Joanne Zephir, 36.

 

Zephir was originally arrested in May 2022 after she was found unconscious in her car outside a church in Poinciana, Fla. In the backseat was her 3-year-old daughter, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital, according to police. Zephir’s 8-year-old daughter was found in the roadway.

 

Osceola County Sheriff Marcos R. Lopez said at the time that Zephir blamed the incident on a "voodoo spell."

 

Zephir was wanted on charges of attempted murder after allegedly stabbing her husband hours before the incident with her daughters, the state attorney’s office says.

 

The sheriff's office previously said Zephir called a family member several hours later and confessed to killing her younger daughter, adding that "the 8-year-old was also going to die, and then she would kill herself," Lopez said.

 

She also allegedly admitted to authorities that she made her kids drink bleach before strangling her 3-year-old.

 

A grand jury indicted Zephir in February on charges of first-degree murder with a weapon, attempted first-degree murder with a weapon and attempted felony murder with a weapon, prosecutors say.

 

It is not immediately clear if she has entered a plea in response to the indictment. 

UCLA MED SCHOOL'S MANDITORY STRUCTURAL RACISM AND HEALTH EQUITY COURSE TEACHES WEIGHT LOSS IS USELESS

Fox News

 

UCLA med school's mandatory 'Structural Racism and Health Equity' course teaches weight loss is 'useless'

UCLA has previously come under fire for pushing segregation exercises and prayers to a pagan god

By Lindsay Kornick Fox News

Published April 25, 2024 7:05am EDT

 

First-year medical students are required to learn that weight has little to do with health, according to a new report.

 

The Washington Free Beacon obtained a syllabus from the "Structural Racism and Health Equity" course at The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The document includes required reading lists to prepare for classes regarding topics like "The Sickness of Policing & Incarceration," "Anti-Settler Colonialism/Indigenous Health" and "Environmental Racism & Justice."

 

Among the materials for the "Disability Justice" session include an article by Marquisele Mercedes, titled "No Health, No Care: The Big Fat Loophole in the Hippocratic Oath," which says "fatphobia is medicine’s status quo."

 

"It is proven that weight loss is a useless, hopeless endeavor. You are unlikely to lose weight in any permanent way and highly likely to open yourself to the myriad risks associated with weight cycling. The relationship between weight and health is also muddy," the essay reads.

 

The essay also insisted that "the concept of ob*sity is used to exact violence on fat people, and fat activists regard it as a slur."

 

The course describes Mercedes' essay as "Weaving together the medical and scientific literature with her personal experiences and positionality as a Black fat scholar-activist, she describes how weight came to be pathologized and medicalized in racialized terms and offers direct recommendations to healthcare providers and researchers for resisting entrenched fat oppression. Take note as you read of what resonates with your own experiences learning about weight and fatness within medicine, and what pieces of her concluding ‘fat ode to care’ most resonate with you."

 

Other materials in the syllabus include works on why "the border crisis is a myth" and how medicine must be used to dismantle racism.

 

The course objectives are to "Understand the concepts of race/racism, power, colonialism, patriarchy, and capitalism and their manifestations in the history of medical thought, education, practice, and research and shaping the healthcare system overall" and "Understand the impact both structural and social determinants have on the health of marginalized communities."

 

An assignment that was allegedly due in the past week also focused on the topic "Combating Incarceration, Housing Injustice, and Environmental Racism with Community Organizing-Community Health Impact."

 

Fox News Digital reached out to The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for a comment but has yet to receive a response.

 

UCLA’s medical school has come under fire in the last few months over its "Health Equity" class for its assignments and controversial events.

 

Earlier this month, the UCLA Jewish Faculty Resilience Group spoke to several witnesses who testified that an invited lecturer "instructed students to touch the floor, 'mama earth with a fist' while she made a 'non-secular' prayer to ‘mama earth’ and our ‘ancestors.'"

 

The speaker also allegedly "instructed students to get out of their seats and stand upright with her for a closing prayer, once again to ‘mama earth’ and the ‘ancestors.’ Of those gathered, a handful of students who were visibly uncomfortable declined to participate, remaining seated throughout."

 

In January, the school was forced to cancel a class exercise that divided students into racial groups following a civil rights complaint.

 

"Recognizing the imperfect and problematic nature of our socially constructed racial categories, we ask that you identify the group in which you feel you are most perceived as in clinical spaces," the exercise reportedly said.

 

The "Structural Racism and Health Equity" class was established in 2020 as part of the school’s "anti-racist" curriculum shift in the wake of George Floyd’s death.