By Christy Barritt

Men Deliberately Flub Housework?

Many men deliberately perform poorly when it comes to housework and other chores in order to avoid doing more of the same responsibilities in the future, claimed a study.

Conducted by bathroom retailer Victoria Plumb, the study found that 30 percent of men purposely did a bad job with their domestic duties so that the ladies in their lives would do the jobs themselves next time. The chores included cleaning the toilet, loading the dishwasher, and vacuuming.

A spokesperson for Victoria Plumb said, “Most guys will admit they don’t always pull their weight when it comes to cleaning, but it’s worrying to see so many purposely do a bad job.”

The survey also found that women are much more thorough than men when it comes to cleaning. Women said they spend nine minutes cleaning their bathroom, while men felt it was a job well done in six minutes.

Additionally 25 percent of men said their scheme worked: they no longer get asked to do any jobs around the house.

Creator of Operation Game in Need of Operation

John Spinello invented the popular children’s game Operation, selling it in 1964 to a toy company for only $500. The game, which was then sold to Milton Bradley, has generated nearly $40 million in sales today. However, Spinello never saw an additional dime of that money.

This past fall, 77-year-old Spinello needed a $25,000 oral surgery, and he didn’t have the money to cover it. When the story of his plight leaked, people across the country began to fundraise for him. At the beginning of November, more than $30,000 had been collected.

When Hasbro (who now has the rights to the game after purchasing Milton Bradley) heard what had happened, the company helped Spinello financially by buying his original prototype of the game, which will be displayed in their toy museum at their global headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

ISIS Selling Girls for $172

ISIS militants are selling captured Christian and Yazidi girls as sex slaves; for girls as young as 1 to 9 years old, ISIS is charging $172, nearly three to four times the amount they charge for a grown woman. Girls that are 10 to 20 years old are listed for $129, while those who are 20 to 30 are priced at $86.

IraqiNews.com published what they claimed to be an updated price guide for ISIS, which included cattle as well as female slaves listed among the “items” for sale. The document claimed that the new prices were because of ISIS’s declining revenue in both of those “markets.” It also threatened that if members didn’t abide by the new pricing scheme, they could face execution for disobeying Islamic State law.

The group claims that Islamic law permits its fighters to take religious minority women as concubines. Unless a militant fighter is from Turkey, Syria, or the Gulf countries, they may only purchase three items.

Tithing Lows Cause Church Budget Struggle

A survey by Lifeway Research claims that U.S. church spending is often out of sync with member tithing: 22 percent of U.S. Protestant churches stated that their receipts exceeded their 2014 budget; 46 percent of congregations said they are matching their budget; and 29 percent said their receipts are below budget.

The downturn reportedly began in 2008 when church donations dropped by $431 million across all denominations. The decline in giving continued for several years. However, Lifeway’s survey suggests that giving is making a comeback: 74 percent of Protestant churches reported offerings that were at or above 2013’s totals, signaling a possible end to the downward trend. The survey was done in September 2014 and included 1,000 church leaders.

Christy Barritt is an award-winning author in Chesapeake, VA (christybarritt.com). She and her husband, Scott, have two sons.