Author: Matt Gilligan

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A Pastor Shared a List of ’99 Steps Towards Manhood’ — and People Were Not Impressed

There’s nothing wrong with discussing how to raise young men into compassionate, connected, competent, and confident adults. Nothing at all.

That said, many of us doing the raising believe now that things like repressing emotions, enforcing arbitrary gender stereotypes, or just encouraging boys in general to do things they don’t like or enjoy in the pursuit of being “manly” isn’t the way for anyone to be a happy and well-adjusted young person.

Pastor Clint Pressley seems to have different ideas, like saying you can’t be a man unless you eat meat, can do pushups, somehow learn how to sleep less, and prefer dogs over cats.

Pretty weird.

Here’s his complete list:

Image Credit: @PastorClint

And here are 15 of the best responses to it on Twitter.

15. I mean there are plenty of reasons to dislike Crocs but they’re not inherently un-manly. Whatever that means.

14. I can’t speak for Jesus but I don’t think he authorized this list.

13. Best to not take any chances, I guess.

12. Reading material is thin, I suppose.

11. Don’t be like Ron Swanson.

10. Sadly, I’m pretty sure it was not meant to be a joke.

9. What is wrong with vegetables, exactly?

8. I mean we’re all just trying our best, right?

7. Never has there been a more appropriate GIF.

6. Except for maybe this one.

5. I don’t know what this means but it makes me laugh.

4. I mean he looks like a man to me.

3. I definitely agree with the talking to Jesus part.

2. Fra-gee-lay.

1. Only one because the rest of us don’t have time for more.

 

Here’s hoping my 2 young sons grow up knowing they can eat what they want, cry when they feel like it, and use as much hair gel as they’d like (based on my baby’s hair currently, he’s going to need it).

What do you think about this list? There are obviously good things on it, but as a whole, would you share it with your sons?

Let us know below!

The post A Pastor Shared a List of ’99 Steps Towards Manhood’ — and People Were Not Impressed appeared first on UberFacts.

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Women Open up and Share Their Thoughts on ‘What Men Don’t Know About Women’

In the spirit of all of us learning something new today, we bring you #WhatMenDontKnowAboutWomen – a hashtag meant to enlighten men on all manner of things they might think they know about women but totally don’t.

Be prepared – some of these are graphic but you know.

So is life.

15. Treat women like people. How novel!

14. This made me laugh but also it’s true.

13. The law of the getting laid land.

12. Just because your shampoo costs $5…

11. The more you know.

10. This list is a good place to start.

9. It’s shocking, right?

8. Flowers die in a few days, after all.

7. Gifts are low on some women’s love language lists.

6. It’s a simple thing but it would make us so happy.

5. Also we watch a lot of murder shows.

4. Why is this such a hard thing to understand?

3. “Don’t do it.” Boom.

2. I mean if you care about those things.

1. Yeah we’re not buying your innocent act.

 

I love each and every one of these truths and I hope men everywhere are scrolling!

What would you add, ladies? Men, did any of these surprise you?

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These Dogs Are Giving the Cats of the Internet a Run for Their Money

Cats are and have been the rulers of the Internet for many moons. They run things, they’re the reason so many of us go searching for posts and tweets and gifs every day…but these dogs, y’all.

They’re giving those cats a real race for the crown.

12. Why isn’t there a dog makeover show?

Took doggo to groomer. Got a different doggo back from aww

11. When you get that perfect picture, you want to keep it forever.

10. Never challenge a dog in an eating contest.

9. It’s a puppy with a mustache and I have no further questions.

8. When you wake up reallllllllly thirsty.

7. And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for that meddling stove.

6. He loves what he loves and he did what he did.

5. If this isn’t the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen I’m going to need pictures of what is.

Love is in the hair from aww

4. Finding your person changes your life!

Before and after adoption ❤ from aww

3. Being comfy and cozy isn’t just for humans.

2. You guys. My heart. Dogs are so perfect.

Taka is currently in training to become a therapy dog for burn units. His life experiences make him uniquely qualified to show that there’s light at the end of the tunnel for burn victims. from aww

1. I am now just a puddle of person and I’m not even mad about it.

 

Off to post some more adorable photos of my dogs. Take that, cat people!

Are you a cat person? Dog person? Think every animal deserves their day in the sun?

Let us know in the comments!

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These Cats Are Working Hard to Make Your Day Just a Little Bit Better

I’m not sure the Internet would have made it at all if it weren’t for people’s love of cats, and these 15 little guys are carrying on the long and storied tradition of being adorable and funny and giving us all a reason to keep going.

15. This doesn’t taste the way I expected…

Image Credit: Reddit

14. He doesn’t care how funny Schitt’s Creek is, he’s adorable!

Image Credit: Reddit

13. The more the merrier, I always say.

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You're an icon, BUB. #legend #lilbub

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12. That one black tile is ruining her disappearing act.

11. Oh so cute, it makes the immense amount of work raising them worth it.

10. Could you just go to your room so Mommy and Daddy can talk in private?

9. I’m going to be holding this yoga mat hostage until I get some scritches, thanks.

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Baby Pooky is too cute for a caption?

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8. Less talky, more petty.

7. It’s a lot like having a toddler.

6. Have you ever seen more perfect faces in your life?

5. This cat is definitely ready for a pumpkin spice latte.

4. And another kitty ready for hot cocoa and leaves and bonfires and stuff.

3. I’m going to keep this on my desktop for bad days.

Image Credit: Reddit

2. No one can pose like a wicked cat.

1. He’s going to be the best behaved passenger on that entire flight.

Image Credit: Reddit

I don’t currently have a cat, but I really think that needs to be remedied sooner rather than later.

Do you have a cat? Do you share his antics on the internet? I certainly hope so, for the good of all!

Do it in the comments y’all!

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Use These 5 Simple Steps to Solve a Rubik’s Cube

I’ve never even picked up a Rubik’s cube with the intention of actually solving it because I’m pretty sure you’re not going to be able to do it.

So watching someone else solve one with a few simple twists has always seemed pretty impressive, right? Or at least, you assume they’re much smarter than you and much better at things like math and puzzles and the like, yeah?

It turns out that’s not necessarily true.

Because what if they’re not figuring it out, but have simply memorized the best and fastest way to make the colors and sides line up?

It turns out that you, too, can impress your friends at parties – if you have the ability to memorize a few simple steps.

Reddit user CitizenYellow shared this simple infographic that lays out the step-by-step guide to solving the Cube. It’s broken into 5 parts and includes illustrations for each one, and if you follow them, you’ll end up with all of the colors on their separate sides.

How To: Solve A Rubik’s Cube from coolguides

There are actually more algorithms that can be used to solve the Rubik’s Cube without too much of a headache, but this one is simple and the infographic means that, after you practice a few times, it should be like second nature.

Then, you can work on your speed – if you want to beat the world’s best time, you’ll need to do it faster than 4.69 seconds.

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A Study Says You Can Tell If Someone Is Rich or Poor Just by Looking at Them

It’s said that people can tell a lot about you from looking you in the face, but until recently, no one suspected your gross average income could be one of those things.

A new study was published recently in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and it claims that you can tell whether someone is rich or poor simply by studying their face.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Co-author of the study, grad student Thora Bjornsdottir, explains.

“The relationship between well-being and social class has been demonstrated by previous research. In general, people with money tend to live happier, less anxious lives compared to those struggling to make ends meet, and these well-being differences are actually reflected in people’s faces.”

For the study, Bjornsdottir and a psychology professor, Nicholas O. Rule, had their subjects look at black-and-white photographs of 80 males and 80 females without any identifying markers like tattoos or piercings. Half of the photos were of people who made over $150k a year and the other half made less than $35k.

Image Credit: Pixabay

The subjects, who were from various ethnic backgrounds, then guessed the class of the people in the photos – and they were correct around 68% of the time.

That is, in case you’re wondering, significantly higher than random chance.

Dr. Rule told The Cut they were surprised themselves.

“I didn’t think the effects would be quite as strong, especially given how subtle the differences are in the faces. That’s the most surprising part of the study to me.”

Image Credit: Pixabay

“People are not really aware of what cues they are using when they make these judgments,” adds Bjornsdottir. “If you ask them why, they don’t know. They are not aware of how they are doing this.”

Interestingly, the subjects were also able to guess correctly when they were able to look just at the eyes, or just at the mouth, though not quite as often.

Bjornsdottir believes the effect is “due to emotion patterns becoming etched into their faces over time,” because the chronic contraction of certain muscles can lead to changes in the actual structure of your face.

When the subjects were shown pictures of people smiling, they were unable to discern the socioeconomic status of the people in the images with any reliability.

Image Credit: Pixabay

The researchers believe their results are important because first impressions come into play in the real world – a fact they proved when they asked the subjects to choose who they would hire as an accountant based on the images alone.

They chose the people who appeared to be high-earners, which means employers could be doing the same thing.

“Face-based perceptions of social class may have important downstream consequences. People talk about the cycle of poverty, and this is potentially one contributor to that,” they conclude.

So, even though “don’t judge a book by its cover” is one of the world’s more famous sayings, it turns out we’re all doing exactly that every day without even realizing it.

Kind of makes me rethink my decision to not wear makeup most days.

How about you?

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Every Single Part of This Tree Could Kill or Maim You

Beware of this tree!

The manchineel tree is one of nature’s mysteries that no one is likely to solve anytime soon – every single part of it is toxic to animals (including humans).

Also known as the beach apple, la manzanilla de la muerte (the little apple of death), or sometimes arbol de la muerte (tree of death), the manchineel lives along the coast in brackish waters, occurring in tropical North, Central and South American settings and living in clusters.

The tree itself looks pleasant enough, even beachy, and its small, greenish-yellow fruits have surely been tempting to more than a few hungry, thirsty, unwitting travelers.

You definitely don’t want to eat the fruit, though. Or touch the trunk. Or a branch. Or stand under the tree when it’s raining or touch your eyes or the leaves or really even breathe in while you’re standing too close to it.

You could ask Juan Ponce de Leon why not, had the tree’s poison not (we believe) spelled his demise.

A brief guide to the tree, written by Michael G. Andreu and Melissa H. Friedman, minces no words.

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Wow, found this tree I’ve been dying to see right here in st kitts at the #tciawmc2019 !! The Manchineel Tree is considered the most poisonous tree in the world! It causes painful blisters if you stand under it during rain, blinds you if the smoke from its burned wood touches your eyes, can poison water with it’s leaves and will cause death if you eat it’s fruit!! #manchineeltree #deadly #spotted #poisonous #tciawmc2019 #tcia #isa #bts #bofingers #bofingerstreeservice #treecare #treework #treebiz #treeclimber #arborist #welovetrees #weekend #stkitts @husqvarnausa @arborwear @treecareindustry @carhartt @isaarboriculture @truewerk @allthingsarb @slattrax @treecaretips @treestuffdotcom

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“Warning: all parts of manchineel are extremely poisonous. The content in this document is strictly informational. Interaction with and ingestion of any part of this tree may be lethal.”

Reports from people who have been unfortunate enough to eat the fruit claim inflammation and blistering around the mouth and severe stomach and intestinal issues – accounts backed up by the unfortunate Nicola Strickland, who wrote about her taste of the fruit for posterity.

I rashly took a bite from this fruit and found it pleasantly sweet. My friend also partook (at my suggestion). Moments later we noticed a strange peppery feeling in our mouths, which gradually progressed to a burning, tearing sensation and tightness of the throat. The symptoms worsened over a couple of hours until we could barely swallow solid food because of the excruciating pain and the feeling of a huge obstructing pharyngeal lump. Sadly, the pain was exacerbated by most alcoholic beverages, although mildly appeased by pina coladas, but more so by milk alone.

Over the next eight hours our oral symptoms slowly began to subside, but our cervical lymph nodes became very tender and easily palpable. Recounting our experience to the locals elicited frank horror and incredulity, such was the fruit’s poisonous reputation.

While the fruit may not always be deadly, the milky white sap certainly is – it causes burn-like blisters, temporary blindness, and, if it finds its way under the skin and into the bloodstream, death.

Native peoples were thought to have used the sap to tip their arrows – arrows that killed Ponce de Leon on his second trip to Florida in 1521.

Natives have also used the manchineel and other trees in the spurge family for medicinal purposes (mostly as a laxative, hence the name).

Though the manchineel is the deadliest tree in the lower 48 (it can be found in Florida), it’s not the deadliest plant – that title belongs to the spotted water hemlock.

“A quarter-inch of the stem is enough to kill a person,” confirms botanist and naturalist Roger Hammer. “It’s probably the most violently poisonous plant on the North American continent.”

It is also found in Florida.

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#FunFactFriday: this is #TheMostDangerousTree in the ? ! The #ManchineelTree (Hippomane mancinella) is so toxic it can cause SKIN BLISTERING if you stand under it in the rain ☔ with minute droplets of it’s sap landing on you. The fruit is also known as #BeachApple or #PoisonGuava and in Spanish the tree has been called “arbol de la muerte” or the ? of ?! The tree is found in our FL Everglades, the Caribbean, and South America. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND ? ? ? ? ? . . ?ZocDoc.com or ? to book an appointment w/ me, Dr. Dan Ilkovitch, for skin checks, medical concerns, and cosmetic desires ? ?! . ????????????????? Dan Ilkovitch, MD, PhD, FAAD 2320 NE 62nd Street Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33308 ? 954-500-3376 ????????????????? . #florida #fortlauderdale #miamibeach #miami #sobe #southbeach #aventurafl #lasolas #Davie #westonfl #bocaraton #southflorida #wiltonmanors #ftlauderdalebeach #pompanobeach #pompano #delraybeach #oaklandpark #wynwood #brickell #floridaderm #BoardCertifiedDermatologist #ASDSskinMD #clearlyderm

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The moral of this story seems to be that when traveling to wonderful foreign places (or Florida), take as much care with the flora as the snakes and gators – just because plants don’t have teeth doesn’t mean they aren’t going to murder you before you know what happened.

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10 Interesting Food Facts That You Should Know

You might think you know A TON about food, there’s always something new to learn, right? Right!

So let’s take a look at 10 food facts that you might not be aware of.

1. That’s kind of gross…

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IT’S FINALLY FRYDAY ?

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The fries at McDonald’s were cooked in beef fat until 1990. They’re now cooked in vegetable oil to be at least a little bit healthier.

2. Wow, that’s cool.

Glass gem corn exists. A farmer in Oklahoma named Carl Barnes spent years selectively breeding corn to come up with these beauties. Now anyone can buy and plant these cobs.

3. That’s a head-scratcher.

German chocolate cake actually didn’t originate in Germany—it got its name from Sam German, a guy who invented a certain kind of baking chocolate. The first recipe for German chocolate cake was written by a homemaker in Texas.

4. Wait a second…

Hawaiian pizza wasn’t invented in Hawaii.

It originally came from…wait for it…Canada.

5. This one blew my mind.

Spam is a mashup of the words “spice” and “ham.”

6. Say it ain’t so!

Most wasabi is just horseradish dyed green…and now I’m upset.

7. That’s a loooooong time.

Pineapples can take two to three years to grow. You’ve come a long way baby.

8. Samesies.

Fresh coriander and cilantro are the same thing.

9. Load up on ’em!

Peppers have two to three times as much Vitamin C than oranges, depending on the color.

10. That’s what you can call it.

A single spaghetti noodle is called a spaghetto—an ‘i’ at the end of an Italian word indicates a plural masculine noun, and the singular is usually the same word, just ending in an ‘o.’

Did you learn some new things? Share some of your favorite food facts in the comments!

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Take a Look at the World’s First Cheese Conveyor Belt Restaurant

I remember my first sushi experience like it was yesterday: it was in San Francisco, and the little plates went around on a conveyor belt, and you could just grab off whatever you wanted and then pay at the end.

I thought it was amazing; my 15-year-old mind was well and truly blown!

Well, now it looks like I’ll need to make a trip across the pond to England to check out a place called The Cheese Bar. Located in London’s Camden Market, the restaurant specializes in fine cheese that is delivered to customers on a conveyor belt, making it the first cheese conveyor belt restaurant in the world.

Customers can choose from 25 different cheeses off the moving belt while they sip wine. The plates are color-coordinated by price, and customers are encouraged to gorge until they are content.

The restaurant also offers grilled cheese sandwiches and, for dessert, blue cheese soft serve.

Wow, never heard of that one before, but it sounds amazing.

The founder of The Cheese Bar, Matthew Carver, said, “We want to show that cheese and wine bars don’t have to be boring and can be enjoyed by everyone, whether you’re dropping in for a quick plate of British cheese and a glass of something unusual, or settling in for a cheese flight and a bottle of natural wine.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m on board with this idea. I can’t get enough of the stuff, even though I know I should cool it on my dairy…

Pass the cheese, please! All of it!

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A Homeless Mother Went to Jail for Enrolling Her Son in the Wrong School District

You’ve heard all about the college cheating scandal in the news – a bunch of super rich people and celebrities paid to get their average kids into Ivy-caliber schools – but for most of the country, there was little surprise that the education system (higher or otherwise) is rigged to favor the wealthy.

This case, in which a homeless woman was arrested and forced to spend time in jail simply for putting her son in a public school (which, in theory, are for everyone), really drives that point home for people still unsure how wealth inequality in America works.

In 2011, Tanya McDowell was a homeless mother in Bridgeport, Connecticut, when she was charged with first-degree larceny for enrolling her son Andrew in a Norwalk, Connecticut, kindergarten class.

McDowell says that though she and her son slept in a Bridgeport apartment at night, during the day they lived in her van or visited shelters for food.

She took a plea deal and received five years in prison (she served them concurrently with a sentence stemming from charges of selling drugs to support herself and her son), but only regrets part of what she did.

“Who would have thought that wanting a good education for my son would put me in this predicament? I have no regrets seeking a better education for him. I do regret my participation in this drug case.”

McDowell isn’t alone, either, according to New York City public defender Rebecca J. Kavanagh.

“In Ohio, Kelley Williams-Bolar was charged for lying about her residency to get her child into a better school and ordered to pay restitution of $30,000. When she did’t pay it she was sent to jail for 15 days.”

Since all public schools aren’t created equal, the practice of using friends and family’s addresses to enroll children in a “better” school district isn’t all that uncommon. It’s hard to blame poor communities and communities of color for wanting access to what should be the same for everyone – especially once you learn that white school districts get about $23 billion more in state and local funding than their nonwhite counterparts.

So while people like McDowell spend five years in jail for wanting their children to have what is available to other children, wealthy folks like Felicity Huffman get off with a slap on the wrist.

Kavanagh says this type of injustice is fairly common.

“This is really just an extension of what people do to get admitted to university already – donating money to buy buildings and fund endowments. The line between legal and illegal, donation and bribe, is blurred.”

She’s also quick to remind us that, regardless of Huffman’s (and others) sentence in this latest “scandal,” McDowell and those like her have suffered an injustice.

“While there is a part of us that may feel some sense of vindication at the idea of these parents serving five years in prison because Tanya McDowell served five years in prison when she was so much more deserving, that’s not justice. Justice is for Tanya McDowell to have never been charged, convicted, or sent to prison and to have the same educational opportunity for her son as these parents have for their children.”

As for McDowell, she hopes that things will be different for others – including her own son – in the future.

“I’m not only doing it for Andrew. I’m doing it for any other parent, any other child out there that has the potential to succeed and excel at a certain level and is just being deprived, period. My son exceeded all of my expectations.”

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