How to tell if someone is is telling a lie.

QUOTE from Benjamin Disraeli: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

One of the magazines I read every month is the Reader's Digest. I love that magazine as there is so much to LEARN about so many different topics. In the August issue I LEARNED several more things to watch for when you suspect someone is telling a lie. I knew some of them but there were some new ones. Here is what the Reader's Digest had to say - they listed seven things to look for.

1. NOSE - Flared nostrils, deep breathing...chances are someone's anxious.
2. PULSE - Telling a lie puts color in your cheeks. The anxiety can cause you to blush.
3. EYES AND BLINKING - Is there something in your eye or on your mind? Rapid blinking indicates that your brain is working overtime. Also, they seldom look you in the eye when telling a fib.
4. LIP NIBBLING - Your mouth has a big mouth - it often rats you out whenever a lie passes its lips.
5. HIDING HANDS - Liars often shove their hands behind their back because those fidgety digits might give them away.
6. SHRINKING - Like an animal avoiding detection, a liar may pull his arms and legs inward or keep his movements to a minimum - anything to appear smaller.
7. CONTRADICTORY BEHAVIOR - When your husband says "I loved the tie you bought me" while he's wearing a tight smile that doesn't reach his eyes, expect to see him in a turtleneck.

The ones I was most acquainted with were blinking and not looking you in the eye., lip nibbling, and shrinking. When Ruth Ann started at the Anamosa Reformatory in 1969 she was told to watch the eyes when dealing with the inmates. It was a dead giveaway that they were lying if they were constantly blinking and not looking you in the eye.

When she worked in the Reformatory Hospital for the prison doctor they had one inmate (Darrell) who was a habitual liar. So Ruth Ann and one of the guards decided to keep track of everything he said he had done on the outside and try to figure out how old he would be. After several weeks of keeping track of his lies they figured out he would have to be 123 years old. Anyway, one of his jobs for many years was to out run the cops in North Carolin while he was hauling/smuggling white lightning. "They never caught me" he said.

He's the same guy who got out on work release and was sent to Mason City. He had a job and was not to drink or leave the state. After his first week of work he got drunk on Friday night and went on a week long bender and went into Minnesota. He couldn't figure out why he was sent back to the Reformatory. He told the authorities that "I just wanted to have a little fun."


HUMOR for today.

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.

Few thing in life are more satisfying than seeing your kids have teenagers of their own.