Month: June 2019

Posted on

This Dad Had the Best Response When School Required a Permission Slip For His Son to Read “Fahrenheit 451”

Our kids bring permission slips home for all sorts of things, and sometimes we really don’t even bother to read them before penning our name and moving on – but thank goodness Daily Show writer Daniel Radosh makes a habit of reading what he’s signing, especially when it comes from his son, Milo.

The teen needed signed permission to read Fahrenheit 451 as part of his book club. One of the most divisive and important books of the 20th century, the novel takes a hard look at government censorship in the wake of the Nazis, Stalin, and McCarthyism…and the irony was just too much for Radosh to pass up.

Image Credit: Twitter

So, he sent this response back with the slip:

“I love this letter! What a wonderful way to introduce students to the theme of Fahrenheit 451 that books are so dangerous that the institutions of society—schools and parents—might be willing to team up against children to prevent them from reading one. It’s easy enough to read the book and say, ‘This is crazy. It could never really happen,’ but pretending to present students at the start with what seems like a totally reasonable ‘first step’ is a really immersive way to teach them how insidious censorship can be. I’m sure that when the book club is over and the students realize the true intent of this letter they’ll be shocked at how many of them accepted it as an actual permission slip. In addition, Milo’s concern that allowing me to add this note will make him stand out as a troublemaker really brings home why most of the characters find it easier to accept the world they live in rather than challenge it. I assured him that his teacher would have his back.”

This is completely hilarious, but also insightful and spot-on. I can only assume that one day Milo will look back and laugh about how smart his dad was (is) and at himself for being such a typically embarrassed teen.

The post This Dad Had the Best Response When School Required a Permission Slip For His Son to Read “Fahrenheit 451” appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

15 of Leslie Knope’s Best Lines From “Parks and Rec”

Honestly, this list could easily have been 50+ items long, because that’s how great the dialog in Parks and Rec was. Leslie Knope is pretty much #LifeGoals. Still, I know you can’t be here all day long so I spent hours paring it down to just 15. I do it because I love you. You’re welcome.

Say thank you, people, and enjoy scrolling through these 15 perfectly-crafted sentences.

#1. You’ve gotta say it with a smile.

#2. Always use the big words.

#3. Always good advice.

#4. Goals.

#5. ALL THE TIME.

View this post on Instagram

#LeslieKnope #SuperChill #ParksAndRec #idol

A post shared by Deanne Pearson (@daydreaming_dee) on

#6. Preach.

#7. The older you get, the funnier this is.

View this post on Instagram

I mean… #leslieknope #heykids

A post shared by Beth (@bethtosmoochy) on

#8. Just a playboy otter lost at sea.

View this post on Instagram

#benwyatt #parksandrecreation #leslieknope

A post shared by Parks and Recreation (@pawnee.forever_) on

#9. This will never not be funny.

#10. Just. What?

#11. You get the point, but she could have kept going.

https://viewed-as-a-flower.tumblr.com/post/168083798270

#12. All useful.

#13. Use this often.

#14. She’s all about the affirmations.

#15. Because waffles.

Time for a re-watch!

The post 15 of Leslie Knope’s Best Lines From “Parks and Rec” appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

This Woman Went on a Tinder Dream Date, and Ended Up Getting Scammed out of $200,000

A lot of us have had bad dates, be it on Tinder or elsewhere, but few of those terrible dates probably compare to the experience Cecilie Fjellhoy had recently. The 29-year-old London resident went on a date with a guy who seemed absolutely dreamy… until he swindled $200,000 from her and vanished.

It all started when Cecilie matched with Simon Leviev. Simon told Cecilie that he was an Israeli millionaire and diamond dealer; he claimed that his nickname was the “Prince of Diamonds.”

Sure, that might sound like a scam immediately. But Simon took Cecilie on a private plane ride to Bulgaria as part of their first date, so his story kind of held water. He swept Cecilie off of her feet.

Photo Credit: iStock

“This was the first time where I felt like, ‘Oh my god I really like him. And it seems that he really likes me back as well,’” Cecilie told ABC News . “He’s texting and he’s calling and he seems to really want to get to know me, and I think I fell a bit for that.”

Eventually, Simon started claiming that he was in danger because of his line of work. He asked Cecilie to extend her line of credit to him so that nothing would be in his name and there wouldn’t be a paper trail. He even went so far as to send Cecilie videos of him and his “bodyguard” in the hospital after an “attack.”

Unfortunately, it was all a ruse.

Simon turned out to be Shimon Hyuat, a 28-year-old convicted Israeli con-man. He has a long history of defrauding women to fund his lifestyle, including the private plane that he used to woo Cecilie.

In the end, he took Cecilie’s money and disappeared. She was so heartbroken that she had to get psychiatric help. Meanwhile, Shimon is living it up in Panama, where he is denying allegations of defrauding Cecilie.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

So, is Cecilie still on Tinder? It’s unclear, but she is continuing to meet new people — with a lot more skepticism.

“[I’m] much, much less naive,” she said.

The post This Woman Went on a Tinder Dream Date, and Ended Up Getting Scammed out of $200,000 appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

5 Far-Out Facts About Legendary “Rocketman” Elton John

Music icon Elton John’s biopic, Rocketman, is in theaters and  72-year-old singer/songwriter/showman extraordinaire is also in the middle of a three-year-long farewell tour. Safe to say, he’s got a lot going on!

In celebration of his final bow from the stage and the new film based on his life, here are 5 facts about the man, the myth, the legend: Elton John.

1. He’s had the same songwriting partner for over 50 years


John and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin have been a team since 1967. Together, the duo is responsible for over 50 Top 40 hits and over 225 million records sold.

2. He released four albums in one year

Between October 1970 and November 1971 John was extremely prolific, releasing four albums – an unheard of number in today’s musical era. He released Tumbleweed Connection, Friends, the live album 17-11-70, and Madman Across the Water during this period, the latter of which featured his enduring hit, Tiny Dancer.

3. That’s not his real name

John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947, in England. He grew up being called “Reg” or “Reggie” but he legally changed his name in 1972 and didn’t want any association with his birth name after that. John said, “Reg is the unhappy part of my life. If my mother can call me Elton, then everybody else can.”

4. He shared the stage with John Lennon in Lennon’s last ever performance

On November 28, 1974, Elton John convinced John Lennon to join him onstage during a concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden for three songs, including Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and I Saw Her Standing There. It was Lennon’s last public performance.

5. He was a bonafide hit-making machine

During the 1970s, Elton John was on a serious roll. He recorded 15 hit singles between 1973-1976, including fan favorites Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, and Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.

The post 5 Far-Out Facts About Legendary “Rocketman” Elton John appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

During the siege of Leningrad…

During the siege of Leningrad, a Russian girl named Tanya Savicheva cronicled in her diary the deaths of all her family members during the siege of Leningrad, ending with “Everyone is dead. Only Tanya is left”.

Posted on

During WW2, Ernest Hemingway led a….

During WW2, Ernest Hemingway led a small Militia in a village outside Paris, and this caused him to be brought up on formal charges for violating the Geneva Convention “because a correspondent is not supposed to lead troops, even if he does it well.”

Posted on

The Philippines Passed a New Law Requiring Students to Plant at Least 10 Trees to Graduate

Our planet is facing an undeniable crisis thanks to massive deforestation around the globe. The one stroke of good fortune, however, is that more and more governments are gradually starting to take it seriously.

Recently, the Philippines took one major step towards that goal by getting their students more involved with the planet. A new law will require all students to plant at least 10 trees before they can graduate from high school and college.

Planting trees upon graduation is already a tradition in the Philippines, but, thanks to this new law, it will now be formally required. Billions of trees will be planted in a generation.

“With over 12 million students graduating from elementary and nearly five million students graduating from high school and almost 500,000 graduating from college each year, this initiative, if properly implemented, will ensure that at least 175 million new trees would be planted each year,” explained the Philippines’ Magdalo Party representative, Gary Alejano, the principal author of the legislation.

“In the course of one generation, no less than 525 billion can be planted under this initiative.”

The representative went on to explain that, even if only 10 percent of the trees actually survive to adulthood, that still adds up to 525 million new trees.

This is especially meaningful for the Philippines, which is one of the most severely deforested countries in the world.

The new trees will be planted in mangroves, existing forests, some protected areas, military ranges, abandoned mining sites, and selected urban areas. The trees must be well-suited to their planting location, and there will be a preference for native species.

Photo Credit: iStock

The government hopes that this initiative will not only improve the ecology of the country, but will also encourage young people to care more about the environment.

I, for one, would love to see a similar law on the book in every country around the world!

The post The Philippines Passed a New Law Requiring Students to Plant at Least 10 Trees to Graduate appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Photographer Spends Two Years Taking Heartbreaking Photos of Soon-to-Be Extinct Animals

The plight of endangered animals is a very real one, and it’s largely our own fault. Thankfully, while much of the world wrings its hands in apathy, there are people like British photographer Tim Flach – a man who has made it his mission to document this plight and raise awareness around animals facing extinction.

Flach spent two years around the habitats of endangered animals, photographing their everyday lives. The images he’s created are both extremely powerful and heartbreaking.

A recent U.N. report stated that a staggering one million species of animals and plants are now facing extinction, which makes Flach’s work even more important.

Here are 15 examples of Flach’s photos. You can order his book Endangered on Amazon.

1. Philippine Eagle

2. Iberian Lynx

3. Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey

4. Axolotl

5. Hyacinth Macaw

6. Snow White Tiger

7. Shoebill

8. Snow Leopard

9. Saiga

10. Polar Bear

11. Hippopotamus

12. Pied Tamarin

13. Sea Angels

14. Yellow Eyed Tree Frog

15. Crowned Sifaka

Check out Flach’s website and his Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages to keep up to date on his incredible work.

The post Photographer Spends Two Years Taking Heartbreaking Photos of Soon-to-Be Extinct Animals appeared first on UberFacts.