Category: Social

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The ‘OK’ Hand Sign Is Now Considered a Symbol of Hate

In this age of social media, you never know what’s gonna happen. Things are weird. Perhaps an everyday symbol will be co-opted by nefarious groups and turned into an emblem of hate? Does that seem far-fetched?

Well it shouldn’t because that’s exactly what happened with the ‘OK’ hand sign that we’ve all used countless times.

This is actually a problem for me – I use it a lot…

It seems like a harmless gesture, right? Well it was, but it’s not anymore. The Anti-Defamation League recently added the ‘OK’ hand gesture to its Hate Symbols Database. The hand sign has become associated with far-right and white supremacist groups on the Internet, causing its new classification.

Oren Segal of the Anti-Defamation League said, “Context is always key. More people than not will use the OK symbol as just ‘OK.’ But in those cases where there’s more underlining meaning, I think it’s important for people to understand that it could be used, and is being used, for hate as well.”

The ‘OK’ gesture has been pushed as a uniting symbol by far-right commentators and personalities in public and on message boards online. It originally started as a prank by users on the 4chan message board to flood social media outlets linking the hand sign to the white power movement, but it has since caught on and become a legitimate hate symbol.

Oren Segal said, “Over the past couple years, we’ve seen that the hoax was essentially successful in being applied by actual white supremacists. In many ways, they took what was a trolling effort and added it to their list of symbols.”

As ridiculous as it might sound, it’s important to keep up to date on these kinds of developments when they are brought to light. With hate groups and hate crimes on the rise, we should all know the symbols of the far-right so we can be informed and aware at all times.

If you’re curious about what else is out there, take a look at ADL’s Hate Symbols Database to keep up to date.

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Mattel Has Launched a Gender-Neutral Doll Collection

Long gone are the days when a child’s only options were the standard Barbie and Ken. And dolls got even more inclusive recently when Mattel, the company that makes Barbies, launched a gender-neutral doll collection.

This new line of toys from Mattel is meant to erase existing preconceived notions about what gender means and how it is ingrained into us from a very young age. Kim Culmone, the Senior Vice President of Mattel Fashion Doll Design said, “Toys are a reflection of culture and as the world continues to celebrate the positive impact of inclusivity, we felt it was time to create a doll line free of labels.” The line is called Creatable World.

Creatable World

In our world, dolls are as limitless as the kids who play with them. Introducing #CreatableWorld, a doll line designed to keep labels out and invite everyone in. #AllWelcomeShop now: http://bit.ly/CWMattel

Posted by Mattel on Tuesday, September 24, 2019

First off, the dolls come in a variety of skin colors. They can be styled with a variety of hairstyles, different clothes, and accessories such as sunglasses. TIME magazine noted that the “lips are not too full, the eyelashes not too long and fluttery, the jaw not too wide. There are no Barbie-like breasts or broad, Ken-like shoulders.”

In recent years, millennial parents have voiced their grievances about gender stereotypes in toys, and it seems like big companies such as Mattel are listening. The new, gender-neutral dolls are 11″ tall and they sell for $29.99 each. The official slogan for the new product is “A doll line designed to keep labels out and invite everyone in.”

It will be interesting to see how these products are received by the public and if other companies will follow Mattel’s lead. Stay tuned.

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15 Funny Tweets About College Life

Leaving home to go away to college can be a real eye-opener, depending on how you were raised. If you didn’t have much responsibility growing up, getting to class on time and doing all your work might seem next to impossible.

And that’s what these tweets are all about: learning things almost IMMEDIATELY in college that you don’t learn in high school.

Do any of these look familiar to you?

1. Ain’t that the truth.

2. They’re all morons!

3. It’s crunch time!

4. Why did I do that?

5. Do what you gotta do.

6. She’s gone forever.

7. It’s a different ballgame.

8. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

9. They’ll be in charge soon.

10. Classic dorm decor.

11. That’s not helping.

12. The crying alarm.

13. Two worlds colliding.

14. Way to go!

15. Just keep it professional, okay?

Ahhhh, what a nice trip down memory lane!

Share some of your similar college experiences with us in the comments!

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Investigation Discovery’s ‘the Missing’ Is a Creepy Show That You Should Be Watching

The Investigation Discovery Channel has a lot of great programs, but one of the best is a newer show on the network called The Missing. The show profiles average, everyday people who disappeared without a trace under very mysterious circumstances.

For anyone who loves true crime, this is a really engrossing watch.

To give you a little taste, here are two of the chilling cases profiled in the show:

Tara Calico

Tara Calico disappeared on September 20, 1988, when she left her home in Belen, New Mexico, to take a bike ride and never returned. Calico was 19 years old at the time of her disappearance, and she remains missing more than 30 years later.

Investigators retraced the route of Calico’s regular bike ride and found evidence of a possible struggle and pieces of the young woman’s Walkman. Witnesses also came forward and told police that they saw a young woman riding a bike while a Ford pickup truck followed her on the shoulder, driving 10 mph in a 55 mph zone.

From there, he trail went cold; it seemed as if Tara Calico had just vanished into thin air. Then, in June 1989, a Polaroid photograph was found in a convenience store parking lot in Port St. Joe, Florida. The disturbing photo showed two people in the back of a van with their hands tied and duct tape over their mouths.

The young woman in the photo bore a striking resemblance to Tara Calico. A media firestorm erupted over the mysterious photo. The FBI eventually concluded they did not believe the woman in the photo was Tara Calico, though Scotland Yard reportedly disagreed and thought it was the missing woman.

Calico’s sister Michele Doel believes that people in the pickup that was reportedly following her along the road may have been harassing her and accidentally hit her with the truck and then covered the incident up by getting rid of Calico’s body.

Now, 31 years later, Doel is still searching for the truth about what happened to her sister Tara, and she has vowed never to stop until she finds out what really took place that day in 1988.

Michele has been searching for her sister Tara Calico for 30 years. Watch The Missing full episode ➡ https://crimefeed.id/2Sm07GS

Posted by Investigation Discovery on Saturday, July 27, 2019

Matthew Weaver

The strange case of Matthew Weaver has perplexed his family, friends, and investigators since the 21-year-old man was last seen on a hiking trail in Malibu, California, on August 10, 2018.

Early the next morning, around 1:30 am, several hikers made calls to 911 saying they heard people screaming. California Highway Patrol officers also heard screams and might have heard someone yell, “He’s got a gun!”

Matthew Weaver was reported missing, and his car was discovered abandoned near a hiking trail in Malibu, but police could find no trace of him.

Investigators used pings from Snapchat to figure out where Weaver was in the hours leading up to his disappearance. Weaver picked up a female friend the evening of August 9 and dropped her off at home in the early morning hours of August 10. Weaver then took a Snapchat photo at 5:45 am in a remote road in the Santa Monica Mountains before he apparently entered a hiking trail.

Several hours later, Weaver texted the friend he’d been with the night before and told her something “crazy” was happening and that he wanted to talk “while I have the chance.” After that final ominous text, all contact with Matthew Weaver ceased.

Weaver’s stepmother Brooke Tipton said that drone photos were used to find Weaver’s baseball hat and a white t-shirt believed to have been worn by Weaver. The shirt appeared to have blood on it. Tipton added that some of Weaver’s friends said that he had hurt his head in the days before his disappearance and that he was bleeding. Some speculate that this may have contributed to his disappearance, as he might have been suffering from a concussion and thus been confused.

But Weaver remains missing.

Dive into all 10 episodes of The Missing HERE and explore these fascinating, true, and incredibly disturbing cases.

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15 People Share Things That They Think Definitely DO NOT Make You Look Cool

It’s always amusing when you know someone is trying to be cool, but whatever they’re attempting is totally falling flat.

And I’m not just talking about fashion or hairstyles I don’t get or wouldn’t personally wear. I mean people who are really trying.

Well, these 15 examples from Reddit will let you see what I mean:

15. Uh-oh, I wear these too.

I unironically like wearing fingerless gloves. For actual tasks, not just out and about. When people ask me why I wear them I tell them it’s because I’m so cool.

I’m not exactly certain HOW uncool they make me, but I know it’s a lot.

14. Yeah, this is a hard pass.

Bragging about not reading.

13. Some people deserve to have their speaker option disabled.

Having a phone conversation on a loudspeaker in public, or blasting shitty music from a cheap over saturated BT speaker on public transport . We get it, negative attention is also attention, but taking over a public space with your edginess – is just being an asshole.

12. Jokes are supposed to be funny.

Being an asshole while hiding being the “it’s just a joke, stop taking it seriously. Why can’t you take a joke” statements.

Edit: thanks for the silver. Though everyone talking about their IRL experiences but I’m just here saying this because of some mingey prick on the internet who decided to follow me around the Internet with his friends.

11. There are exceptions to every rule.

The most surefire way to not look cool is to do something that you think makes you look cool.

Edit: To everyone asking what about flips and skateboard tricks: Yes, they are very cool. Certainly an exception.

10. General Rule: people who actually have money don’t have to show it to you.

Posting photos of cash on social media. I always think it is funny how doing that is commonly accepted whereas if you screenshotted your bank account or net worth you’d be an asshole

9. It’s literally not that hard.

Never admitting when you’re wrong. It may seem like a confidence power play, however, most people just don’t care enough about you to say anything or indicate that they noticed. They’ll just slowly drift away from you till one day you’re all alone wondering why no one with any level of competence wants to hang out/work with you.

8. Just like what you like.

Elitism. It’s fuckin stupid to attack someone who enjoys a hobby only just because doesn’t put his life on it.

7. Why are visors a thing, period?

I’ve been into the import tuner scene for close to 20 years at this point.

Now this was more a style of the time say 15 years ago.

Backwards upside down visor hats. WTF? Why was that a thing? It’d make more sense to walk around with an onion tied to your belt.

6. Being close-minded doesn’t make you cool.

Hating all genres of music except the one they like, I learned this the hard way by only liking heavy metal and shitting on all other music without giving a chance as a teen. Metals still my favourite but all genres have good music

5. Bad habits aren’t cool.

I was trying to explain to someone why I gave up coffee. I was addicted and I had started to suffer from insomnia. If I went too long (maybe like an hour or two) without one, I would begin to shake and migraines would set in. Basically just normal effects of over doing caffeine. She asked me how many I was having, and basically tried to turn it into this competition of “oh I drink more coffee than you, omg im so quirky and sleep deprived haha”. Stop turning bad habits and other people’s issues into a competition of how badly you treat your body. It doesn’t make you cool.

EDIT: Thank you for gold 😉

4. There should be more noise ordinances and also get off my lawn.

please stop blasting your music in places where people cannot escape it. i see your earbuds in your pocket. please. salvation

3. Really cool, Mr. Office Space.

One upping and putting other people down to make yourself look good.

Rife in white collar jobs. I despise people who do it.

2. Please just stop.

When people play their music loud at the gas pumps.

1. I mean how about you do something about that? THAT would be cool.

People who say things like “I’m just an asshole!”

No. You lack the emotional maturity to deal with others and use nastiness as a defence. Its not cool as a trait. Try be nice.

*EDIT* Thank you for the gold and silver!

Just something to think about the next time “looking cool” is on your to-do list!

Do you do any of these things? Have you see worse? Admit it in the comments – if you dare!

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Meet 5 Teenagers Who Have Changed the World

Some people believe that you have to have a lifetime of knowledge and experience to change the world, or even to try – but these 5 teenagers don’t have any time to listen to that kind of crap because they’re too busy actually changing the world.

From gun rights to climate change to terrorism, there’s no problem too daunting…and honestly maybe their lack of experience gives them just the right amount of idealism needed to actually get sh*t done.

I just wish – I truly wish – that their passion and activism hadn’t so often been sparked by personal trauma.

But if you have to go through something terrible, using your experience and pain to stop other people from going through the same thing seems like the healthiest way to deal.

5. Emma Gonzalez

It was February, 2018 when a gunman entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and gunned down 17 people in cold blood.

Many of the teens who survived that day have gone on to support a campaign against gun violence, but 18-year-old Emma Gonzalez emerged a leader from the beginning. She co-founded the gun-control advocacy group Never Again MSD and, shortly after her classmates were buried, gave a powerful speech at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington D.C.

Since then, her work and others’ have encouraged lawmakers in Florida to pass a Public Safety Act, which raised the age to buy a firearm from 18 to 21 and instituted a three-day waiting period for most weapons. She is still working to prevent gun violence, and Never Again is going strong.

4. Jack Andraka

When he was only 15, Jack Andraka invented what appeared to be a new, cheap way to detect pancreatic cancer. He won $75k at the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for the test, which he created after reading free science papers on the internet.

The test is still undergoing official studies, but if it works like he imagines, it could save lives and millions of dollars.

3. Malala Yousafzai

At the tender age of 11, Malala Yousafzai wrote and published a diary about her life under Taliban rule in Pakistan. Though the diary was anonymous, she began to speak publicly at home about her passion for girls’ education.

Three years later, when she was 14, a Taliban gunman shot her in the face on a bus to put a stop to her activism.

Amazingly, Malala survived the attack, and though she can never return home, she works tirelessly on behalf of underprivileged girls around the world.

In 2014, she became the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and her passionate acceptance speech is one for the ages.

“This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change. I am here to stand up for their rights, to raise their voice. It is not time to pity them.”

2. Amika George

Amika read an article about girls in the U.K. who couldn’t afford menstrual products and was astounded that there were so many in her home country living in such poverty.

When she was 17 she founded #FreePeriods, organized a protest of over 2,000, and demanded the government take appropriate action.

In response, the U.K. government announced in March of 2019 they would be funding free sanitary products in all English schools and universities.

1. Greta Thunberg

View this post on Instagram

Here we go again… As you may have noticed, the haters are as active as ever – going after me, my looks, my clothes, my behaviour and my differences. They come up with every thinkable lie and conspiracy theory. It seems they will cross every possible line to avert the focus, since they are so desperate not to talk about the climate and ecological crisis. Being different is not an illness and the current, best available science is not opinions – it’s facts. I honestly don’t understand why adults would choose to spend their time mocking and threatening teenagers and children for promoting science, when they could do something good instead. I guess they must simply feel so threatened by us. But the world is waking up. See you in the streets this Friday! #fridaysforfuture #schoolstrike4climate #climatestrike #aspiepower

A post shared by Greta Thunberg (@gretathunberg) on

This 16-year-old Swedish girl has dedicated her young life to being an activist for climate change activism across the world.

In 2018 she began striking – alone – on the steps of the Swedish parliament in Stockholm in an attempt to get them to take meaningful, immediate action.

Since her solitary striking began, more than 1 million teens have joined her by walking out of their classrooms around the world.

“Since our leaders are behaving like children, we will have to take the responsibility they should have taken long ago. We have to understand what the older generation has dealt to us, what mess they have created that we have to clean up and live with. We have to make our voices heard.”

She recently spoke at the UN, and it’s really worth watching:

 

These teens are an inspiration, for sure – they make 18-year-old me look like a lazy loafing loser.

Do you believe young people can make a real difference? How can you not?!

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Get a Black Icee at AMC Theaters in Honor of the New ‘Addams Family’ Movie

I’ve been praying for a black Icee to come along for almost my entire life, and now here it is!

I guess you could say this is my personal peak. Is that sad? I’ll let you be the judge.

But I digress: in honor of the new animated version of The Addams Family that hits theaters on October 11, AMC will sell a black cherry Icee that is totally jet black. Boom!

It's creepy, cooky, altogether ooky, just like Addams Family Movie. Try the Spooky Black Cherry Icee at participating…

Posted by AMC Theatres on Sunday, September 29, 2019

The Spooky Black Cherry Icee will be available at the concession stand at AMC Theaters, and you know what the really good news is? It’s gonna turn your tongue black when you drink it so you can run around the lobby after the movie is over and creep out people waiting in line!

Going to the movies has never been so much fun.

If you’re a youngin’, let me fill you in with a brief history of The Addams Family. The characters are based on a comic strip by artist Charles Addams that ran in The New Yorker from 1938-1988. There was a live-action version of The Addams Family on TV in the 1960s (in glorious black and white) and then the early 1990s saw a revival of the characters with two feature films.

Posted by Ashley Slone on Saturday, September 7, 2019

AMC released a similar black Icee drink this summer for the release of Men in Black: International, and I’m sure there were a whole lot of black tongues at those showings as well.

Here’s the trailer for the new film that comes out on October 11.

See you at the theater with my black Icee in hand!

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These Viral Backflipping Kids Are Headed to Gymnastics School, Thanks to the Influence of Social Media

Jashika Khan and Mohammad Azajuddin are two children in Kolkata, India. The pair went viral for their impressive cartwheeling, and now they’re going to school to be full-time gymnasts.

A teacher took a video of Jashika, 11, and Mohammad, 12, doing their tumbling on the street on the way to school. Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci retweeted the video, calling it “awesome.”

And Jashika and Mohammad blew up.

Their gymnastics journey could have ended with the tweet, but fortunately, the video caught the attention of India’s Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. Jashika and Mohammad were soon called for trials at the Sports Authority of India, and the trainer, Manmeet Singh Goindi, said that he was impressed by what he saw.

“They are certainly talented and have the desire to achieve much,” he told The Telegraph.

Both children are going to be enrolled as full-time trainees. Manmeet explained:

“At SAI, not only will the children get food, lodging and proper education, they will also be trained under qualified gymnastics coaches. Plus, the right equipments will be made available to them. They will practice in proper indoor halls. No more will they have to jump around on the road and somersault on concrete, risking injuries.”

Both Jashika and Mohammad are thrilled about the new opportunity. Jashika even says she wants to become a gymnast like Nadia in the future — and with talent like hers, it’s totally possible.

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Muslims Share How 9/11 Changed Their Lives in the United States

Every September 11, America takes a time-out from whatever else is going on to come together and remember the events of that tragic day.

We talk about the people in the buildings, the people on the planes, the first responders, the bystanders, the dogs who bravely searched in vain for survivors in the rubble.

We say never again, and we mean it.

But after September 11, the world had changed for another group of people – Muslims living in the United States.

So, as the day of remembrance passed, Muslims logged onto Twitter to claim their own narrative, using #AfterSeptember11 and #After911 to share how their lives have never been the same.

17. All were meant to pay for the actions of a few.

16. Communities should band together, not pull apart, in times of stress.

15. Most people are good people if you give them a chance.

14. Good people shouldn’t have to answer for evil.

13. Four. Years. Old.

12. You never know what path strangers are walking.

11. Violence is never the answer.

10. This makes me sick to my stomach.

9. We lost so much more than lives that day.

8. Imagine having to question your entire worldview as a child.

7. Be the Alex in your world.

6. Put a face to the religion and it makes it easier to treat people like humans.

5. I wonder where kids are hearing crap like that, hmm?

4. Those teachers should be ashamed of themselves.

3. No one should have to “get” it. No one.

2. Friendship means through thick and thin.

1. I hope he sued them.

 

One thing that shouldn’t have changed after that day was how we treat our fellow Americans – all of them, regardless of race, religion, sex, whatever – so I hope hashtags like this can remind us of what makes us the greatest nation on earth.

Do you have a story to add? We’re all ears in the comments.

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Millennials Have Some Pretty Dark Jokes About Their So-Called “Retirement Plans”

Oh boy, here we go…

Millennials have been trying for years to get older generations to listen to the truth about how hard life can be for them: jobs are scarce, they don’t pay nearly enough to cover average student loan payments, and living at home with their parents is just sad after a while.

Luckily, millennials are also pretty good at a self-effacing and sarcastic brand of humor that plays really well on Twitter, so please enjoy these 12 “jokes” that won’t leave you feeling at all warm and fuzzy about the future plans of a generation.

12. There’s a progression there.

11. You just have to wait out, well…you know.

10. It might be our only hope.

9. Shoot for the moon, I guess.

8. This seems like a legit plan.

7. Even the people in the mountains could bet on that.

6. I hope she stored those things in plastic bags.

5. Your resume is gonna look soooo good.

4. Oooh what river? Is there a view?

3. There’s going to be even more ocean to explore.

2. Eh, why bother? I feel that.

1. Time for the Baby Boomers to prove they’re as great as they say.

I fall right on the cusp of this generation and I’ve gotta say…I feel this. Who can worry about the future when I’m wasting time worrying about living until my next paycheck now?

Not millennials.

How about you? Can you relate? Are you good at saving? Tell us your secrets below!

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