Month: October 2019

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15 Photos That Prove Humans Are Addicted to Plastic

If one thing is for certain in this world, it’s that humans are pretty bad at mitigating long term detrimental effects in exchange for short term benefit…

Also, we don’t take good care of our planet. We’re getting better, but we still have a LOOOOOONG way to go.

We careless and wasteful, especially when it comes to harmful products. Plastic is King and we treat it as such. For now, at least.

Let’s take a look at 15 photos that prove we are totally, hopelessly addicted to plastic.

1. Seems a bit wasteful.

I’ll see your peeled oranges in plastic containers and do you one better. from mildlyinfuriating

2. Wow. Not cool.

If theres one thing the world needs its more disposable plastic packaging from mildlyinfuriating

3. Individually wrapped bananas.

This banana is in a wrapper… from mildlyinfuriating

4. Three layers of protection.

The three layers of plastic protection for these oranges. How is this even allowed? from mildlyinfuriating

5. Not necessary.

This store individually wraps eggplants in plastic from mildlyinfuriating

6. What about the natural packaging?

If only this mango had some sort of natural packaging… from mildlyinfuriating

7. Such a huge waste.

This useless packaging / waste of plastic from mildlyinfuriating

8. Looks fancy, but is really dumb.

Unncessary plastic. Again. from mildlyinfuriating

9. That is absolutely ridiculous.

This is getting ridiculous. from mildlyinfuriating

10. All cans need to be wrapped!

The unnecessary plastic wrapping on this single tin of tuna fish from mildlyinfuriating

11. That is absurd.

These vitamin gummies come in a jar, individually wrapped from mildlyinfuriating

12. I’m sorry, what?!

your coke needs that plastic from mildlyinfuriating

13. Just let them be free.

We have enough plastic waste already from mildlyinfuriating

14. Ugh. Here we go again.

These potatoes individually wrapped in plastic from mildlyinfuriating

15. Last one is kind of insane.

Individually wrapped jelly beans from mildlyinfuriating

Those pics are kind of infuriating, aren’t they?

Let’s all pitch in to do our parts and treat Mother Earth a little bit better, okay?

Thank you!

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Researchers Discovered the Worst Time to Be Alive in All of Human History

We have issues currently but let’s be honest, we have it pretty good as humans in 2019. If this is not the actual best time to be alive, the 2010s make a good argument for being in contention.

When, do you suppose, was life quite the opposite?

The question seems to have been answered on accident by researchers attempting to figure out how the European monetary system changed after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

An article published in Antiquity states that while looking for evidence of pollution from silver processing in ice cores, they found all kind of insights into natural disasters and climate change going back centuries.

And it turns out the 100 years following the year 536 C.E. were literally as bad as it gets, says study author Michael McCormick.

“It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year.”

A number of extreme weather events that year led to widespread and sustained famine, probably due to a volcanic eruption large enough to obscure the sun.

The effects of the unknown eruption proliferated all across the continent, into China, and as far away as Peru. It was basically a small Ice Age, causing crop failure and famine across the globe.

Social problems followed, bringing down empires (the collapse of the Sasanian Empire, the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire), inciting political upheaval, and dragging bloody turmoil all across the map.

Bottom line? People were starving, they were dying, they were killing each other and probably migrating in the hopes that they would find somewhere less crappy to live. Times were uncertain, bloody, cold, and bare…none of which makes much of a recipe for happiness.

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One more picture of impressive Bourscheid Castle in Luxembourg – this time in morning mist. Read about this beautiful hilltop castle in one of my previous posts?????? Photo by @marcmarchal ?????? . Еще одно фото замка Буршайд в Люксембурге – на этот раз замок окутан утренним туманом. Об истории этой средневековой крепости читайте в одном из предыдущих постов в ленте ?????? . burgbourscheid #bourscheid #bourscheidcastle #буршайд #chateaudebourscheid #luxembourg?? #luxemburgo #instacastles #instacastle #люксембург #medievaltimes #medievalcastle #medievaleurope #medievalarchitecture #middleages #замкимира #замкиевропы #europeancastles #castlesofeurope #средниевека #средневековье #средневековыйзамок #castlesofinstagram #castlearchitecture #luxembourgcastle #castlesofluxembourg #luxembourgcastles #gothiccastle #dronepicture #renaissancecastle

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Looking at things through that lens kind of makes you appreciate our issues right now, doesn’t it?

At least for now.

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These 10 Halloween Traditions Have Interesting Origins

It’s that spooky time of year again! Yes, Halloween is just around the corner. But even if you love the season and the day, there are probably at least a couple of traditions you participate in but aren’t sure why.

We’re looking to clear that up with some background and origins of 10 common Halloween traditions.

10. Carving Jack-O’-Lanterns

Jack-O’-Lanterns originated in Ireland, though people there carved turnips instead of pumpkins. They’re based on a legend about one Stingy Jack, a man who trapped the Devil and then let him go – after he agreed never to drag Jack to Hell.

It turned out that Jack wasn’t good enough to go to Heaven, either, so instead he wandered the earth with a lump of burning coal inside a carved-out turnip to light his way.

Locals began the tradition of copying him in order to ward off evil spirits.

9. Bobbing for apples.

The game’s roots trace back to a Roman courting ritual that honored the goddess Pomona (agriculture and abundance). The idea was that young men and women could glimpse their future romantic life in the apples, and after the Romans conquered the British Isles, the tradition got mixed up in Samhain, a local festival that led to modern Halloween.

8. Seeing ghosts.

During Samhain, the Celtic festival that marked the transition between the end of the harvest season and winter, spirits were believed to walk the earth. The later introduction of All Souls Day (Nov 2.) by Christian missionaries further pushed the idea that the living and dead could mingle around this time of year.

7. Using black and orange to decorate.

During Samhain, black represented the death of summer, while the orange hailed the autumn harvest.

6. Wearing costumes.

With all of the ghosts and spirits wandering around during Samhain (or All Souls Day), people decided they needed a way to avoid being terrorized. So they decided dressing up as something scary themselves seemed a good way to encourage spirits to leave them alone.

5. Candy corn.

Love it or hate it, candy corn seems here to stay – it was invented way back in the 1880s by the Wunderlee Candy Company of Philadelphia.

It was originally called Chicken Feed (“something worth crowing for”), but didn’t really catch on until trick-or-treating became a common U.S. practice in the 1950s.

4. Trick-or-treating.

There’s a bunch of debate among historians over where exactly the practice of trick-or-treating came from, but here are the three most common theories.

  1. During Samhain, the Celts left out food for the wandering souls and ghosts once again trekking the mortal plain, and in time, people began to dress up as the ghouls in order to snag some delish food and drink.
  2. In Scotland, people practice guising (a secular version of souling), in which children and underprivileged adults went to local homes to collect food and money in return for prayers for the dead. In Scotland, guisers didn’t offer prayers, but instead performed jokes, songs, or other “tricks” for the people who opened their doors.
  3. Belsnickling is a German-American tradition where children dressed up and then challenged their neighbors to guess their disguise. If no one guessed correctly, the child was rewarded with food or other treats.

3. Eating candy.

Until the middle of the 20th century, children could receive many kinds of treats – anything from toys and coins to fruits and nuts might find their way into open palms. As trick-or-treating rose in popularity, though, candy companies smelled a marketing opportunity and began producing small, individually-wrapped candies.

The rest is history!

2. Avoiding black cats.

Black cats and their association with the spooky dates back to the Middle Ages, when they were considered to be a symbol of the Devil. That morphed into an association with witches a few centuries later, and black cats have really not managed to shake their link to dark magic, dark beings, and darkness in general to this very day.

1. Burning candles and bonfires.

Open flames were meant to light the way for souls making their way back to the afterlife – after all, if they couldn’t find their way, they might stay and haunt you all year long.

 

I can’t wait for the cooler weather to stick around for good!

What’s your favorite tradition? Is it on the list? Share in the comments!

The post These 10 Halloween Traditions Have Interesting Origins appeared first on UberFacts.

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A New Study Finds Thousands of Senior Citizens Go a Whole Week Without Conversation

Aging often means a slower lifestyle due to retirement, mobility issues, and loss of family members and friends. It can also mean loneliness.

A recent study of the elderly in the United Kingdom turned up some alarming results.

Hundreds of thousands of people are spending an entire week without speaking to anyone at all.

Photo Credit: Pixnio

The survey of 1,896 seniors, 65 years and older in the UK showed 22 percent would go a week talking to no more than 3 people. If you translate that percentage across the country, 2.6 million of the elderly do not have daily contact with another human being.

Researchers then said a distressing 225,000 will not have one single conversation with another person within a normal week.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, made this statement:

A friendly “hello” or “how are you?” is something most of us take for granted – it’s just part of every day life, but these latest figures show that hundreds of thousands of older people in the UK will spend today and the rest of this week alone, with no one to share even a few simple words with.

The study also revealed 36 percent of seniors experienced feelings of loneliness as they have gotten older. When asked if loneliness kept them from leaving their houses, 12 percent answered yes.

Photo Credit: Pixnio

Almost half of the seniors surveyed (40 percent) said they would feel more confident in leaving home if they were friends with some of their neighbors.

More than half (54 percent) said a brief conversation with someone in the neighborhood would improve their outlook. And many said having someone smile at them or start a friendly conversation would make them happier.

Abrahams’ organization partnered with Cadbury Dairy Milk for the survey on elderly loneliness. “Loneliness can affect your health, your wellbeing and the way you see yourself – it can make you feel invisible and forgotten,” she said.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

An additional study of 2000 people ages 16-45 showed a little more than half (55 percent) worried about their own levels of loneliness when they are older. Two-thirds said they were willing to reach out to elderly people.

To that end, Age UK and Cadbury started a campaign called Donate Your Words to encourage younger adults and teens to start conversations with the older people of their communities.

A simple chat or a kind acknowledgment of someone walking down the street or standing in a line is simple, costs nothing and is guaranteed to brighten the day of a lonely elderly person.

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15 People Admit Which Fictional Deaths Hit Them the Hardest

I have a ton of these. Johnny and Dally from The Outsiders immediately come to mind. Don’t even get me started on Old Yeller.

People on AskReddit shared the fictional deaths that hit them right in the gut.

What characters have died in books, movies, or TV that really affected you? Share your thoughts in the comments.

1. The Green Mile.

“John Coffey, The Green Mile. A sweet and innocent soul, blessed (or cursed) with the gift of sight. Sight into people’s hearts and minds. He was accused of murder having come across the bodies of two murdered children (whom he had tried to save). He healed and eased others suffering by taking it into himself.

The scene where he is in the electric chair, terrified, and everyone is watching with accusatory eyes. The guards know of his innocence and are heartbroken because there is nothing they can do. That scene gets me every time. Michael Clark Duncan was a magnificent pick for that role.”

2. That is sad.

“When I was a small child, my father invented stories about a truck that worked hard and drove challenging roads all over the world

Then, he ran out of stories, and sent the truck to the junkyard

Made me very sad as a small child who loved trucks

At age 66, makes me sad to remember.”

3. That is a difficult one.

“Brooks in Shawshank Redemption :’( .”

4. No spoilers back then.

“Spock. Saw it in the theater. Didn’t know it was comin. No internet spoilers back then, lol.”

5. Didn’t see that coming.

“Sweets from Bones.

Did not see that coming.”

6. All choked up.

“Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web. It’s been forty years and I still can’t even think about it without getting choked up.”

7. Upset about this one.

“Prim. Threw the book across the room. What was this all for?”

8. “I was inconsolable.”

“I read Where the Red Fern Grows as a teen. When the dog Old Dan died after saving Billy from a mountain lion. Followed by the other dog Little Ann of a broken heart. I was inconsolable.”

9. Poor Opie…

“Opie in Sons of Anarchy.”

10. Was rooting for him.

“Hank from Breaking Bad. Dude started the series as a stereotypical meathead that I thought I was gonna hate, but had one of the biggest character arcs besides Walt and Jesse. By the end I was rooting pretty hard for him. Imagine finding out someone close to you was a major druglord if you were a DEA agent IRL. That would have to be awful and embarrassing.”

11. Shocked by this one.

“Ned Stark. You watch the entire first season of GOT thinking he will be the main character and then he gets his damn head chopped off. It shocked me.”

12. Still sad about it.

“Sam the onion picker in Holes.

My man just wanted that lady to be his wife so they could live together in onion and peach filled bliss, and goddammit she wanted it too.

Still makes me sad to this day.”

13. Now and then.

“As a kid it was definitely Mufasa, that part of the film haunted me for months.

Now Yondu’s death makes me bawl, Romanoff’s makes my heart break and Danny’s death in Pearl Harbor is a very poignant one for me.”

14. Hits you hard.

“99, a deformed clone trooper who couldn’t serve in the clone wars and just worked as a janitor instead. When he sacrificed himself, that hit me.”

15. Too sad for me, can’t do it.

“The dog from Marley & Me.”

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10 Weird Facts That Might Surprise You

These facts are very solid and they might just throw you for a major loop.

But that’s a good thing. It’s important to keep working out that brain of yours! Let’s get started!

1. Good advice for all of us.

Photo Credit: did you know?

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2. Stop doing that!

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source

3. I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t *meow*.

Photo Credit: did you know?

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4. No need to put it out there.

Photo Credit: did you know?

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5. Some parents might disagree…

Photo Credit: did you know?

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6. Matt the male stripper.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source

7. That makes sense.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

8. I knew I liked him for some reason.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

9. Get all the sleep you can.

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source

10. What kind do you get?

Photo Credit: did you know?

Source 1 Source 2

Surprised? Impressed? I know I sure am…

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“They” Is Now Officially a Nonbinary Personal Pronoun, According to Merriam-Webster

For the past two and a half years, the Associated Press has been recognizing “they” as a singular pronoun, and now America’s oldest dictionary has announced they will do the same: Merriam-Webster now includes “they” as a grammatically correct nonbinary pronoun.

Their blog post notes that people have been doing so colloquially since the 1300s, citing (among other instances) a letter from Emily Dickenson that was written in 1881. In it, she refers to a person of unknown gender with the pronouns “they,” “theirs,” and “themself.”

The dictionary does acknowledge the new application of “they,” i.e. referring to a person who doesn’t identify as male or female as opposed to referring to a person of unknown or unimportant gender. They’ll be adding this additional entry to the existing verbiage for “they”: “used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary.”

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#peoplearepeople #theyisapronoun #transrightsarehumanrights

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So, writer friends, it’s now officially acceptable to use “they” as a singular pronoun – one less thing to skip during copy edits, right?

Thanks, Merriam-Webster, for all of the many reasons to celebrate.

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A Man Died When He Dove Underwater to Propose to His Girlfriend

In a terribly tragic accident, a man dove into an underwater room to carry out what should have been a romantic proposal — but he never made it out.

Steven Weber and girlfriend Kenesha Antoine were on vacation together in Tanzania. They stayed at the luxury Manta Resort, famous for its floating accommodations and underwater rooms, BuzzFeed reports.

Kenesha was in the underwater room when Steven decided to pop the question. Already underwater, he tapped on the glass to get Kenesha’s attention, then showed her a message written on paper along with a ring.

“I can’t hold my breath long enough to tell you everything I love about you. But… Everything I love about you I love more every day,” the message said. “Will you please be my wife. Marry me???”

“I can’t hold my breath long enough to tell you everything I love about you. But… Everything I love about you I love more every day.”

Posted by Kenesha Antoine on Friday, September 20, 2019

Kenesha says he didn’t make it out of the water, so he never got to hear her answer: “Yes! Yes! A million times, yes, I will marry you!!”

“We never got to embrace and celebrate the beginning of the rest of our lives together, as the best day of our lives turned into the worst, in the cruelest twist of fate imaginable,” she wrote on Facebook.

“I will try to take solace in the fact that we enjoyed the most amazing bucket list experiences these past few days, and that we both were so happy and absolutely giddy with excitement in our final moments together.”

Posted by Kenesha Antoine on Friday, September 20, 2019

The Louisiana couple had booked four nights at the resort. The Manta Resort told the BBC that Steven “tragically drowned while free diving alone outside the underwater room.” CEO Matthew Saus said that his staff responded to a “problem in the water” but when they arrived “absolutely nothing could be done.”

“I will find you and marry you in the next lifetime, and the next, and the next, and the next… I love you so much, and I always will,” Kenesha wrote.

How absolutely devastating. Our thoughts are with you.

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15 Tweets for People Who Are over Summer and Ready for Fall

Early October and we’re still in the 90s? Psssshhhhtttt. I don’t have time for that! I need changing leaves, pumpkins, sweatshirts, and hot chocolate ASAP.

Well, it looks like we’ve finally crossed the hump and fall weather has settled in. Thank goodness, right? RIGHT!

Here are 15 tweets for all of you who are ready for a chilly fall.

1. Now Fido will be happy.

2. I’ve been working on mine as well.

3. You better believe it!

4. That’s what I was thinking.

5. I’m coming alive.

6. Fill it up.

7. I think you’re right.

8. I can’t wait to meet her!

9. I’m waiting, fellas.

10. I’ll take it!

11. Doesn’t look real for some reason.

12. You eat ’em, too?

13. It has now.

14. It’s finally arrived!

15. That’s really all you need.

Brrrrrrrrrr. Isn’t that better?

I’ll see you in line for a Pumpkin Spice Latte soon!

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In February 1961, East Orange…

In February 1961, East Orange, NJ police arrested 14 people from their beds at home after midnight. Their crime was failing to return library books that were more than four months overdue.