Releasing Balloons May Look Pretty, but It’s an Environmental Disaster

Releasing balloons has been a staple of many celebratory events, from graduation ceremonies to funerals. They may have been inspired by the Chinese tradition of sky lantern ceremonies, but while sky lanterns are usually made of paper and bamboo and float down in a short time, helium balloons sail high and far away.

A gazillion balloons carried in the wind are pretty to watch and certainly can add buoyancy to the spirit…

But unfortunately, this cheerful sight portends an oncoming disaster for the environment.

Balloons waste is especially hard on wildlife. Sea animals, like turtles, pelicans, whales, as well as forest-dwellers, frequently come in contact with deflated balloons and string. Turtles may think a deflated balloon is a tasty jellyfish, while a seabird might see it as a fish to be snatched up.

Either way, they’re both wrong – and their errors can be deadly.

Not too long ago, a sperm whale corpse washed up on the beach of a resort town in Spain. An autopsy showed the whale had ingested 64 pounds of garbage, including plastic. This incident highlighted how polluted the earth’s waterways are, how clogged with waste. Though it may not seem an obvious effect of joyously sending some balloons soaring, marine life is dying because of what we do without considering the consequences.

People who patrol beaches and shoreline report finding sea turtles and birds tangled in balloons and ribbons. Some of these animals are rescued and cleaned up for rehabilitation and eventual release. Others are already dead.

Photo Credit: Pam Bedsole

Along with plastic bags and fishing nets, balloon are classed by the Ocean Conservancy as one of the three deadliest litter types.

Nick Mallos, Trash Free Seas’ program director for Ocean Conservancy, told The Dodo, “It’s not uncommon for sea turtles to be found emaciated, sick or dead, only to find out later after X-rays or a necropsy that they’ve ingested a balloon.”

His team often finds balloon fragments and string inside the GI tracts of turtles.

Even if the balloons are released many miles inland, they are often carried out over water where they burst or float down. Mallos said balloons released in the U.K. have reportedly been found as far away as Hong Kong and Australia.

But, like the balloons, information about how celebrations that literally call for releasing garbage into the environment has traveled to faraway places. Cities and towns all over the U.S. and other countries are banning balloon releases in favor of less impactful commemorations. Colorful streamers or paper spheres can be released and cleaned up afterward. And even if they floated away and out of reach, they would biodegrade fairly quickly.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Other alternatives are banners, kites or bunting.

To learn more about keeping balloons and other trash out of the sky, forests and waters, visit Ocean Conservancy and South Florida-based Balloons Blow.

Maybe do something a little more environmentally friendly for your kid’s next birthday party? Just a thought.

The post Releasing Balloons May Look Pretty, but It’s an Environmental Disaster appeared first on UberFacts.

Amsterdam Enacts a Ban on All Gas and Diesel Vehicles

Pollution is the global issue of our time, and around the world more and more cities are trying to take measures to reduce their carbon impact.

Most recently, the city of Amsterdam has taken a MAJOR step towards cleaner air: the Dutch city has announced that it is planning to phase out all gas and diesel vehicles by 2030.

Amsterdam’s traffic councillor recently said, “Pollution often is a silent killer and is one of the greatest health hazards in Amsterdam.” You might be surprised that such a world-renowned bike-friendly city (30% of Dutch commuters travel by bike) has such an awful pollution problem, but air pollution in the Netherlands is worse than European rules permit. This is mainly due to the heavy traffic in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

The city’s plan is to replace all gas and diesel engines with electric or hydrogen cars, or other emission-free alternatives, by 2030. The plan will begin next year when diesel engines built before 2005 will be banned from Amsterdam. The plan then calls for gradual banning of more vehicles from city streets.

The current levels of nitrogen dioxide and particle matter in Amsterdam’s air can cause respiratory illnesses and shorten life expectancy by more than a year. The city plans to get rid of public buses that run on gas by 2022, to increase the number of electrical charging stations to 23,000 by 2025, and to offer subsidies and special parking permits to encourage residents to make the switch to electric and hydrogen cars sooner than later. We all know how crucial a nice parking spot can be, right?

Hopefully, other cities around the globe will take note – and in fact Brussels, Belgium, is already looking to follow Amsterdam’s lead.

The post Amsterdam Enacts a Ban on All Gas and Diesel Vehicles appeared first on UberFacts.

The “Game of Thrones” Finale Featured a Water Bottle, and We Can’t Stop Talking About It

Spoiler warning: this post contains several spoilers for the final season of Game of Thrones. 

Ok, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to it.

Do you remember this ridiculous blunder?

Photo Credit: HBO

Yeah, we all do. And HBO digitally removed the now infamous coffee cup so it’ll never show up in the series again.

But… yeah… you know it’s coming, so…

Yes, it’s real. It shows up at 46:19 in.

Photo Credit: HBO

Once you see it, you can’t unsee it…

Photo Credit: HBO

But here’s something fun… there’s a SECOND WATER BOTTLE in the scene!

OMFG you guys!

Photo Credit: HBO

Needless to say, fans are not pleased…

No, not one bit…

Cersei would not be pleased…

But we guess this is our reality now…

The good news? No more of these snafus in the future! Because there are no more episodes to pick through.

Oh, but I bet somebody is going to go back and find a bunch of garbage just laying around in scenes from old episodes.

Good times.

The post The “Game of Thrones” Finale Featured a Water Bottle, and We Can’t Stop Talking About It appeared first on UberFacts.

Volvo’s Latest Ad Campaign Has Got a Lot of People Talking

Volvo is the latest large company to jump on board the trend of progressive ad campaigns, the likes of which please many – while also riling up some in the process. Gillette’s recent campaigns discussing body positivity and toxic masculinity have received a decent amount of backlash, but clearly that’s not stopping other companies from testing the waters.

Image Credit: Facebook

Recently, Volvo stuck a toe in with the ad above, revealing their new parental leave policy. It features an illustration depicting same-sex parents…and some of Volvo’s fans on Facebook are less than thrilled.

Image Credit: Facebook

Volvo’s idea is simple:

“Being the human-centric and progressive company that we are, our EMEA team wondered: Can we extend those benefits to our employees outside Sweden? Turns out we can. To start with, we now introduce a paid, gender-neutral parental leave policy for all our sales company employees in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) offering parents a total of six months of leave with 80 percent pay.”

The head of the company’s HR department added that the initiative is “one of several activities with the aim to create an inclusive culture and attract and retain a diverse set of people. It improves life-work balance, boosts family time, and fits with a progressive, human-centric company like Volvo Cars.”

It’s worth noting that there were also plenty of people applauding the company’s forward thinking ad.

Image Credit: Facebook

Volvo explains they’re hoping to erase discrepancies between men and women across the board while boosting the labor market and career opportunities by “reducing career and pay gaps.”

Nice!

The post Volvo’s Latest Ad Campaign Has Got a Lot of People Talking appeared first on UberFacts.

Volvo’s Latest Ad Campaign Has Got a Lot of People Talking

Volvo is the latest large company to jump on board the trend of progressive ad campaigns, the likes of which please many – while also riling up some in the process. Gillette’s recent campaigns discussing body positivity and toxic masculinity have received a decent amount of backlash, but clearly that’s not stopping other companies from testing the waters.

Image Credit: Facebook

Recently, Volvo stuck a toe in with the ad above, revealing their new parental leave policy. It features an illustration depicting same-sex parents…and some of Volvo’s fans on Facebook are less than thrilled.

Image Credit: Facebook

Volvo’s idea is simple:

“Being the human-centric and progressive company that we are, our EMEA team wondered: Can we extend those benefits to our employees outside Sweden? Turns out we can. To start with, we now introduce a paid, gender-neutral parental leave policy for all our sales company employees in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) offering parents a total of six months of leave with 80 percent pay.”

The head of the company’s HR department added that the initiative is “one of several activities with the aim to create an inclusive culture and attract and retain a diverse set of people. It improves life-work balance, boosts family time, and fits with a progressive, human-centric company like Volvo Cars.”

It’s worth noting that there were also plenty of people applauding the company’s forward thinking ad.

Image Credit: Facebook

Volvo explains they’re hoping to erase discrepancies between men and women across the board while boosting the labor market and career opportunities by “reducing career and pay gaps.”

Nice!

The post Volvo’s Latest Ad Campaign Has Got a Lot of People Talking appeared first on UberFacts.

20 Tips to Help You Get Closer to Having Zero Waste

If you and your family are working toward a greener way of life, then chances are you’re looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint in your daily life. If you’re feeling green, here are 20 ways you can inch your household closer to zero waste.

#1. A compost bin on your countertop.

Image Credit: Amazon

You know you need to compost, but when you’re cleaning up in a hurry, you don’t want to make two trips – one to the trash and one to the compost bin/pile. This little bin is the answer to all of your concerned-but-lazy prayers!

#3. A solid reusable water bottle.

Image Credit: Amazon

This one even collapses so you can save on precious cabinet space.

#3. Re-chargeable batteries and a charger.

Image Credit: Amazon

Do you know how many batteries you toss in the trash? Don’t start counting; it’s just depressing.

#4. Ditch your dryer sheets.

Image Credit: Amazon

These dryer balls come infused with lovely scents, fluff your clothes, and erase static cling.

#5. If you love baking, silicon cupcake wrappers are a must.

Image Credit: Amazon

These are adorable, too – bonus.

#6. Toss your pads and tampons for good.

Image Credit: Thinx

Reusable period panties are all the rage for a great reason – they’re awesome.

#7. Glass storage and meal prep containers.

Image Credit: Amazon

You’ll literally keep them forever. As long as you don’t lose the lids.

#8. Toss your floss in favor of a Waterpik.

Image Credit: Amazon

Plus, you know. Actually start flossing!

#9. Ditch your bottles of body wash.

Image Credit: Amazon

Swap it for a rich lather bar soap, instead.

#10. Replace cling wrap with something washable/compostable.

Image Credit: Amazon

These beeswax wraps are a good option, but there are many reusable products on the market.

#11. Reusable shopping bags.

Image Credit: Amazon

A classic! You’ll love these so much there’s no way you’re going to forget them at home.

#12. Switch your plastic baggies out for reusable silicon baggies.

Bonus – you will feel so organized, too.

Image Credit: Amazon

#13. A washable puppy pee pad.

Image Credit: Amazon

No more tossing the ones they soil while you’re training them.

#14. A coffee cup you’ll love to reuse.

Image Credit: Amazon

This one comes with a cork “sleeve” to save your fingers, too.

#15. A reusable earwax kit.

Image Credit: Amazon

No more cotton swabs! (Be careful with these – they may be satisfying, but you really don’t want to damage your eardrum)

#16. A loofah that lasts.

Image Credit: Amazon

And doesn’t gather microbes like it’s its job.

#17. Stainless steel coffee pods.

Image Credit: Amazon

Stop feeling guilty about your Keurig today – just fill with ground coffee, and you’re golden!

#18. Ditch your parchment paper/foil.

Image Credit: Amazon

These silicone baking mats work even better.

#19. If you’ve got kids, these washable squeeze pouches are a must.

Image Credit: Amazon

We throw away so. many. pouches.

#20. Get rid of your single-use straws.

Image Credit: Amazon

Stainless steel, bamboo, or whatever – but make sure you’ve got good cleaning implements, too!

I know I’m going to give a few of these a try!

The post 20 Tips to Help You Get Closer to Having Zero Waste appeared first on UberFacts.

20 Tips to Help You Get Closer to Having Zero Waste

If you and your family are working toward a greener way of life, then chances are you’re looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint in your daily life. If you’re feeling green, here are 20 ways you can inch your household closer to zero waste.

#1. A compost bin on your countertop.

Image Credit: Amazon

You know you need to compost, but when you’re cleaning up in a hurry, you don’t want to make two trips – one to the trash and one to the compost bin/pile. This little bin is the answer to all of your concerned-but-lazy prayers!

#3. A solid reusable water bottle.

Image Credit: Amazon

This one even collapses so you can save on precious cabinet space.

#3. Re-chargeable batteries and a charger.

Image Credit: Amazon

Do you know how many batteries you toss in the trash? Don’t start counting; it’s just depressing.

#4. Ditch your dryer sheets.

Image Credit: Amazon

These dryer balls come infused with lovely scents, fluff your clothes, and erase static cling.

#5. If you love baking, silicon cupcake wrappers are a must.

Image Credit: Amazon

These are adorable, too – bonus.

#6. Toss your pads and tampons for good.

Image Credit: Thinx

Reusable period panties are all the rage for a great reason – they’re awesome.

#7. Glass storage and meal prep containers.

Image Credit: Amazon

You’ll literally keep them forever. As long as you don’t lose the lids.

#8. Toss your floss in favor of a Waterpik.

Image Credit: Amazon

Plus, you know. Actually start flossing!

#9. Ditch your bottles of body wash.

Image Credit: Amazon

Swap it for a rich lather bar soap, instead.

#10. Replace cling wrap with something washable/compostable.

Image Credit: Amazon

These beeswax wraps are a good option, but there are many reusable products on the market.

#11. Reusable shopping bags.

Image Credit: Amazon

A classic! You’ll love these so much there’s no way you’re going to forget them at home.

#12. Switch your plastic baggies out for reusable silicon baggies.

Bonus – you will feel so organized, too.

Image Credit: Amazon

#13. A washable puppy pee pad.

Image Credit: Amazon

No more tossing the ones they soil while you’re training them.

#14. A coffee cup you’ll love to reuse.

Image Credit: Amazon

This one comes with a cork “sleeve” to save your fingers, too.

#15. A reusable earwax kit.

Image Credit: Amazon

No more cotton swabs! (Be careful with these – they may be satisfying, but you really don’t want to damage your eardrum)

#16. A loofah that lasts.

Image Credit: Amazon

And doesn’t gather microbes like it’s its job.

#17. Stainless steel coffee pods.

Image Credit: Amazon

Stop feeling guilty about your Keurig today – just fill with ground coffee, and you’re golden!

#18. Ditch your parchment paper/foil.

Image Credit: Amazon

These silicone baking mats work even better.

#19. If you’ve got kids, these washable squeeze pouches are a must.

Image Credit: Amazon

We throw away so. many. pouches.

#20. Get rid of your single-use straws.

Image Credit: Amazon

Stainless steel, bamboo, or whatever – but make sure you’ve got good cleaning implements, too!

I know I’m going to give a few of these a try!

The post 20 Tips to Help You Get Closer to Having Zero Waste appeared first on UberFacts.

15 People Share the One Thing They Can’t Unsee

Have you ever stumbled upon something or witnessed an incident that you really weren’t meant to see – and that you wish you hadn’t?

We all have some of those moments, through no fault of our own.

In this AskReddit article, people share stories about seeing things that they definitely shouldn’t have.

1. Cringey

“Just 2 days ago, at a community pool, a teenage couple who entered into the pool area went into the hot tub. Stood up to stretch my legs and looked over to, well, sex in the hot tub. It was mid day!! I cringed pretty hard… but I laughed even harder when the neighborhood cop showed up.”

2. Almost in the buff

“I once arrived early to pick up a girl for a first date. She was renting a small garden apartment behind a bigger house. It was just after dusk and I walked around the corner. The sliding door was standing open and she was inside walking around, brushing her hair, wearing only her underwear.

She did not see me, so I just walked back around that corner and waited another 10 minutes. When I walked round again she had a dress on. I never told her.

edit: Since a few asked. The date went well. I only got to see her underwear again several weeks later.”

3. Dear Diary…

“When I was about 16, I was snooping in my parent’s wardrobe. Found a diary written by my mother when she was 14 (from the year 1970). Read some beautiful and brilliantly written entries about meeting and dating my dad (who was 16 at the time).

Had to read a little between the lines in some slightly later entries as they were written with such flowery language. In one such entry, all of a sudden she discloses that she’s had an abortion. Performed by my grandfather. An anesthesiologist. She never told anyone.”

4. Oh boy

“I found a suitcase full of dildos under my moms bed when I was 8.”

5. Sad

“My dad’s AA chips. Learned it’s why my parents got divorced. Proud of him for being in recovery though.”

6. Don’t make a sound

“Me and a friend snuck away from a house party at 2am once, we wanted to go to this local abbey. We were exploring the grounds and generally having a nice time when we see two cars stop nearby.

Instinctively we hid in some bushes and witnessed what was clearly a large drug trade.

We definitely were not supposed to see that. We waited for them to finish their business and then we headed back to the party.”

7. My eyes!

“Saw my parents having sex. Scarred me for a good 4 years and I forgot about it until you decided to make me relive the pain.”

8. She knows…

“Found out a relative who everyone believes to be filthy rich and always throws extravagant parties, put his kids in expensive private schools, his wife shopping and eating fine dining, is broke and close to declaring bankruptcy. He’s in deep debt and that he hasn’t paid his bills in months and from what I could see, he owes a loan shark too.

Now, every time I see him post an invite to my mom, I cringe at the thought of him owing more money.

My mom knows, but I never told her, she just knows.”

9. Well, that’s ruined

“David Copperfield show: I was at an angle that allowed me to see the volunteers running out from the stage during a disappearing act.”

10. Nudes

“My mom gave me an old laptop of hers when I was about 13 and I was scrolling through random pics she had left on it of my little brothers football games and then boom, nudes of my mother.”

11. Addicted

“Back in 1997, I started work at a new job and took over the office of a salesman who had recently been fired. I was in IT, using the same computer that had been setup for Sales. My first task was to install all the software I’d need.

The computer hard drive was almost full, so I poked around and found a TON of folders filled with porn. Went to my supervisor, and he said to delete it, warning me that the salesman had been fired for downloading porn.

Over the next few weeks, I kept finding secret porn folders on the the company’s network. Not only had he downloaded enough porn to max out his computer’s HD, he had the network at about 90% capacity.

When I was done deleting all the folders I could find, the server capacity was less than 50%. Dude was seriously addicted to porn.”

12. Cooking the books

“Leaving work late one evening, I saw the HR director and CFO in a dark office shredding papers (no, that’s not an euphemism). I didn’t say anything but quietly walked on down the hall. Two weeks later we were raided by the SEC and several people were charged with cooking the books.”

13. Better call the cops

“Worked for a downtown metropolitan hotel for a long time, and I’ve seen a lot I wasn’t supposed to see. Probably the worst was a kid with an old man.

Checked this guy in at like 1 in the morning (not uncommon because people travel t different times) but he was alone. Like an hour later he asked for something like a towel or blanket. Anyways, dispatched our runner to deliver it. After the runner comes to me and says he thinks something is wrong because he caught a glimpse of someone and the old guy was trying hard to block the entrance.

Being that we were supposed to take stuff like human trafficking seriously, I asked our maintenance to cut his power so we would get a call to come up to try and fix the problem. He does and I go up with him to apologize for the inconvenience because the guy was also a tor tier member. Sure enough we hear a kid in the bathroom hiding.

Tried to ask who the kid was and the old guy tried everything to shut us down from throwing his status around to bribing. Called the cops and let them deal with it.

EDIT: didn’t expect this to gain so much traction. Here’s are some additional info for people that have been asking: I don’t recall the specific charge (or if I was even told so, use your imagination), I don’t know the age of the child (I only saw him briefly one time when the cops showed up), I don’t know the age of the guy, this was in Southern California (as specific as I’d like to be).”

14. The poor pillow

“Back when I was a teenager, we hosted a New Zealander at our house for a couple weeks. Guy gets to our place after the flight, and about 10 minutes later I’m walking around my house to see where he’s at.

The door to his room is partially open, and the dude is laying face down on the bed and HUMPING THE EVERLOVING F*CK out of a pillow. I backed away slowly like Homer when he saw Apu cheating on his wife.

I felt bad for the pillow.”

15. Put it down

“Years ago a colleague had an old smartphone that he brought in to give to another coworker as theirs broke. The phone was sitting on the new owners desk but she hadn’t yet tried it out, as it was still charging after months of not being used.

We were talking about how cool it was with the coworker (smartphones were not widespread yet), and I picked it up to see how it felt in my hand. I pressed a button and the first thing that I saw was a Google search for “lump on anus”. I quickly put the phone back down.

This must have been the last thing he searched for when he last used it a long time ago, and forgot about it…”

The post 15 People Share the One Thing They Can’t Unsee appeared first on UberFacts.

15 People Share the One Thing They Can’t Unsee

Have you ever stumbled upon something or witnessed an incident that you really weren’t meant to see – and that you wish you hadn’t?

We all have some of those moments, through no fault of our own.

In this AskReddit article, people share stories about seeing things that they definitely shouldn’t have.

1. Cringey

“Just 2 days ago, at a community pool, a teenage couple who entered into the pool area went into the hot tub. Stood up to stretch my legs and looked over to, well, sex in the hot tub. It was mid day!! I cringed pretty hard… but I laughed even harder when the neighborhood cop showed up.”

2. Almost in the buff

“I once arrived early to pick up a girl for a first date. She was renting a small garden apartment behind a bigger house. It was just after dusk and I walked around the corner. The sliding door was standing open and she was inside walking around, brushing her hair, wearing only her underwear.

She did not see me, so I just walked back around that corner and waited another 10 minutes. When I walked round again she had a dress on. I never told her.

edit: Since a few asked. The date went well. I only got to see her underwear again several weeks later.”

3. Dear Diary…

“When I was about 16, I was snooping in my parent’s wardrobe. Found a diary written by my mother when she was 14 (from the year 1970). Read some beautiful and brilliantly written entries about meeting and dating my dad (who was 16 at the time).

Had to read a little between the lines in some slightly later entries as they were written with such flowery language. In one such entry, all of a sudden she discloses that she’s had an abortion. Performed by my grandfather. An anesthesiologist. She never told anyone.”

4. Oh boy

“I found a suitcase full of dildos under my moms bed when I was 8.”

5. Sad

“My dad’s AA chips. Learned it’s why my parents got divorced. Proud of him for being in recovery though.”

6. Don’t make a sound

“Me and a friend snuck away from a house party at 2am once, we wanted to go to this local abbey. We were exploring the grounds and generally having a nice time when we see two cars stop nearby.

Instinctively we hid in some bushes and witnessed what was clearly a large drug trade.

We definitely were not supposed to see that. We waited for them to finish their business and then we headed back to the party.”

7. My eyes!

“Saw my parents having sex. Scarred me for a good 4 years and I forgot about it until you decided to make me relive the pain.”

8. She knows…

“Found out a relative who everyone believes to be filthy rich and always throws extravagant parties, put his kids in expensive private schools, his wife shopping and eating fine dining, is broke and close to declaring bankruptcy. He’s in deep debt and that he hasn’t paid his bills in months and from what I could see, he owes a loan shark too.

Now, every time I see him post an invite to my mom, I cringe at the thought of him owing more money.

My mom knows, but I never told her, she just knows.”

9. Well, that’s ruined

“David Copperfield show: I was at an angle that allowed me to see the volunteers running out from the stage during a disappearing act.”

10. Nudes

“My mom gave me an old laptop of hers when I was about 13 and I was scrolling through random pics she had left on it of my little brothers football games and then boom, nudes of my mother.”

11. Addicted

“Back in 1997, I started work at a new job and took over the office of a salesman who had recently been fired. I was in IT, using the same computer that had been setup for Sales. My first task was to install all the software I’d need.

The computer hard drive was almost full, so I poked around and found a TON of folders filled with porn. Went to my supervisor, and he said to delete it, warning me that the salesman had been fired for downloading porn.

Over the next few weeks, I kept finding secret porn folders on the the company’s network. Not only had he downloaded enough porn to max out his computer’s HD, he had the network at about 90% capacity.

When I was done deleting all the folders I could find, the server capacity was less than 50%. Dude was seriously addicted to porn.”

12. Cooking the books

“Leaving work late one evening, I saw the HR director and CFO in a dark office shredding papers (no, that’s not an euphemism). I didn’t say anything but quietly walked on down the hall. Two weeks later we were raided by the SEC and several people were charged with cooking the books.”

13. Better call the cops

“Worked for a downtown metropolitan hotel for a long time, and I’ve seen a lot I wasn’t supposed to see. Probably the worst was a kid with an old man.

Checked this guy in at like 1 in the morning (not uncommon because people travel t different times) but he was alone. Like an hour later he asked for something like a towel or blanket. Anyways, dispatched our runner to deliver it. After the runner comes to me and says he thinks something is wrong because he caught a glimpse of someone and the old guy was trying hard to block the entrance.

Being that we were supposed to take stuff like human trafficking seriously, I asked our maintenance to cut his power so we would get a call to come up to try and fix the problem. He does and I go up with him to apologize for the inconvenience because the guy was also a tor tier member. Sure enough we hear a kid in the bathroom hiding.

Tried to ask who the kid was and the old guy tried everything to shut us down from throwing his status around to bribing. Called the cops and let them deal with it.

EDIT: didn’t expect this to gain so much traction. Here’s are some additional info for people that have been asking: I don’t recall the specific charge (or if I was even told so, use your imagination), I don’t know the age of the child (I only saw him briefly one time when the cops showed up), I don’t know the age of the guy, this was in Southern California (as specific as I’d like to be).”

14. The poor pillow

“Back when I was a teenager, we hosted a New Zealander at our house for a couple weeks. Guy gets to our place after the flight, and about 10 minutes later I’m walking around my house to see where he’s at.

The door to his room is partially open, and the dude is laying face down on the bed and HUMPING THE EVERLOVING F*CK out of a pillow. I backed away slowly like Homer when he saw Apu cheating on his wife.

I felt bad for the pillow.”

15. Put it down

“Years ago a colleague had an old smartphone that he brought in to give to another coworker as theirs broke. The phone was sitting on the new owners desk but she hadn’t yet tried it out, as it was still charging after months of not being used.

We were talking about how cool it was with the coworker (smartphones were not widespread yet), and I picked it up to see how it felt in my hand. I pressed a button and the first thing that I saw was a Google search for “lump on anus”. I quickly put the phone back down.

This must have been the last thing he searched for when he last used it a long time ago, and forgot about it…”

The post 15 People Share the One Thing They Can’t Unsee appeared first on UberFacts.

Cruise Ship Full of Scientologists Is Quarantined Due to Measles Outbreak

In yet another example of Madam Secretary predicting reality, a cruise ship was quarantined on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia following the news that a passenger onboard had been diagnosed with measles.

But not just any old cruise ship – a Scientology cruise!!!

Image Credit: Pixabay

Saint Lucia’s chief medical officer, Dr. Merlene Fredericks-James, said that, after discussions with other regional health authorities, the decision to order passengers and crew to remain onboard the docked ship was made. The fact that measles is highly contagious surely played a large role in the outcome.

Saint Lucia has had no confirmed cases of measles since 1990, and if their health department has anything to say about it, the island will remain measles-free.

Image Credit: Public Domain

“We believe it’s largely because we’ve continued to immunize our population. And we encourage all persons in particular parents to ensure their children are vaccinated to prevent this disease from occurring.”

The ship was identified as the Freewinds and was docked in Castries, the country’s capital. Also, as we’ve already mentioned, it belongs to the Church of Scientology. According to scientology.org, the Freewinds “is the home of…a religious retreat ministering the most advanced level of spiritual counseling in the Scientology religion.” It also says that journeying on the Freewinds “is the most significant spiritual accomplishment of [a Scientologist’s] lifetime and brings with it the full realization of his immortality.”

Interesting because, of course, the religion is well-known for not believing in modern medicine, even though their official position is that their members should follow doctors’ advice on physical health matters.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Also, the ship’s doctor has since requested 100 doses of the vaccine for others onboard. Nothing like an infectious disease in a confined space to make one reconsider their belief in science.

The vaccines have been provided at no cost.

Since the quarantine was declared, the ship has left port and returned home to the Dutch Caribbean.

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