Category: Social

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15 “Open-Minded” People Share the Seemingly Harmless Actions They Can’t Help but Judge

You know, I consider myself a pretty open-minded, easygoing person. For the most part, I’m content to just do my thing while you do yours.

That said, we all have that one thing we just can’t help but put on our judgy pants about, right? These 13+ people weren’t afraid to share theirs. Are you?

#1. Speakerphone

“People that are having a personal conversation over SPEAKERPHONE with other people in the room. Especially when the conversation is so loud you can’t talk with other people in the room who also have nothing to do with the conversation being had over the phone.”

#2. Move out of the damn doorway

“When people stand in doorways in public. I want to scream. I should not have to say “excuse me.” Moooove out of the damn doorway, it is for walking through!”

#3. No one is in there!

“People who leave lights on in rooms they have left and closed the door on such as a bathroom for example. No one is in there! No one needs any light to see until they arrive to use the bathroom at which point they flick a light switch. It drives me mad.”

#4. Stop acting like a jerk

“People who are rude/hostile to anyone assisting them.

Cashiers, waiters, bank tellers etc. Workers should be able to tell people to stop acting like a jerk. its not hard to be civil. If you can’t be civil don’t ask for help!”

#5. Kids

“I judge people who give their children electronic devices in places like restaurants and let the sound play on speaker. I fully understand that parents want to keep their kids entertained and quiet, but it is pretty inconsiderate to make everyone in a room listen to what your kid is playing just so you don’t have to deal with your own child.”

#6. 10 out of 10 times

“Anyone that has loud music in a public place like a subway or crowded street. That makes me judge that person as an inconsiderate asshole 10 out of 10 times.”

#7. Closing time

“Anyone in a retail store or restaurant who doesn’t respect closing time. I would never ever do this in a million years. People who continue to browse when the store closes in 3 minutes, WHY?”

#8. Just because they’re old

“Old people who think they can cut you in line, just because they’re old..”

#9. Slap people silly

“Passive aggression. It makes me want to slap people silly. Just say what you mean! Unfortunately it is mostly customers who do it so I can’t call them out.”

#10. On their neck or face

“I am heavily tattooed but I find myself judging people with tattoos on their neck or face.”

#11. Savages

“People who dont wash their hands. We live in a world

Of savages”

#12. Wear clothes that fit

“People (usually men, I’m sure women do it but have never seen it) who are super overweight and have a giant stomach that their shirt doesn’t cover so it sort of just hangs out. I don’t care that you’re fat, I’m fat, just wear clothes that fit. Edit: just to clarify, I don’t care about their weight. Seriously I’m obese and I have a huge tummy, I genuinely don’t care if you’re massive, I just don’t want to see your belly.”

#13. Grocery store etiquette

“When customers at the grocery store stop and leave their cart in the middle of the aisle making it impossible for others to pass while they look for their item(s) on the shelf.”

#14. Litterbugs

“People that routinely litter – especially in public parks and beaches.”

#15. Close the damn door

“My girlfriend’s mom will leave the refrigerator door open for 10+ minutes after taking out food to prepare it, before putting the food back in and closing the door.”

Any of these got you nodding right now?

The post 15 “Open-Minded” People Share the Seemingly Harmless Actions They Can’t Help but Judge appeared first on UberFacts.

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10+ Scientists Share the Common Misconceptions About their Jobs That Drive Them Crazy

Every profession has its pet peeves, often involving what the job really entails versus what the average person thinks it is. One such profession that people definitely don’t understand fully? Scientist.

So it’s unsurprising that these 15 scientists were willing to dish on the worst offenses.

#1. Built by consensus

“Peer review isn’t this magical thing where passing instantly conveys some level of unassailable validity. It’s 2-5 overworked scientists taking a quick look through someone else’s work, in a field that might be only tangentially within their area of expertise.

The job of peer review is to identify glaring mistakes (and, if my experience is anything to go by, apparently for the reviewers to try and squeeze a few more citations out of their papers by insisting the author references them). It generally doesn’t eliminate papers with subtle methodology or measurement flaws. It doesn’t weed out deliberate fraud. Hell, sometimes it even lets through glaringly obvious screw ups (as I said, the reviewers are generally overworked).

This is not a factor of the quality of the peer review, mind. Hell, sometimes even the very best journals get it wrong; the case of the Japanese Obokata group reporting induced pluripotency (which was a BIG DEALTM at the time) that got published in Nature, before being retracted because it turned out to be fraud.

Further, just because something is published, doesn’t mean it’s been published in a respectable journal. There are predatory journals, pay-to-play papermills, low quality scrub journals that don’t have standards, ideologically-driven rags, and more.

As a result, you can find papers that say damn near anything.
A single paper doesn’t mean anything.

What matters is that people can reproduce the work in question. Peer replication is the only true test of scientific validity, and that can take decades (assuming the topic ever even attracts enough attention to warrant replication attempts).

You see, scientific understanding is built by consensus. That is, the gradual accumulation of results in support of a new theory, and overturning an old one. If a theory is testable and valid, it will eventually be found to be true regardless of the odds stacked in front of it. This may not always be achieved rapidly.

So when you see a paper that seems to promise something against the norm, don’t assume it’s correct just because “scientists say”. Trust in the consensus that’s been built over time. Yes that does get overturned occasionally, but that is far, far rarer than the number of times those out-there results are correct.”

#2. Keeping it from the public

“I am a scientist and my sister legitimately thinks the cure for cancer has been found and ‘we’ (I am not a cancer scientist but apparently we’re all in on it together) are keeping it from the public. She does not understand what cancer actually is or that its really bloody hard to treat but gets really angry at me whenever cancer is mentioned because I’m the reason people are suffering. Wtf.”

#3. “Why did this happen?”

“The biggest one I deal with at work is “scientists know everything.” I work as a food scientist/R&D, and whenever we have something unexpected happen (e.g. a product is way stickier than I thought it should be, takes more water than our quality regs allows to prevent mold, etc.), no fewer than 4 people will come to me with a product in-hand and ask “why did this happen?” No context; not even sure what the actual problem is, just that they’re holding something that’s apparently not right. Depending on what the problem is, I usually have a couple ideas. Follow-up is then “well which one is it??” Like I’m actively trying to avoid giving them the one correct answer.. No, it could be any one of them OR it could even be a combination of all of them. We just have to try them out to find know for sure. My boss is the biggest offender of this, where he’ll send me an email saying “Product X doesn’t look good. What happened. We need to fix it” and I have even less to go on..

I don’t have all the answers, and scientists aren’t fiendishly withholding knowledge from people.”

#4. One big hat

“That “science” is one big hat. There seems to be this assumption that an astronomer and a biologist are one and the same.

While there is an extremely small subset of scientists that are cross-trained in multiple fields, the vast, vast majority of scientists have one small area of expertise.”

#5. Two misconceptions

“Zoologist here there are two misconceptions that drive me up a wall:

1.) When people say, incredulously, that humans evolved from monkeys, as if to denounce the whole idea of evolution as some crackpot idea. No, we did not evolve from modern day monkeys, we both share a common ancestor.

2.) Whenever people say that modern AZA zoos steal animals from the wild. They did do that in the past, but nowadays pretty much all animals you see in a reputable zoo are bred in captivity using SSP guidelines. Of course the same people who like to spout such nonsense also support shoddy “reserves” that have less funding and less support for their animals, and sometimes are no better than those roadside zoos that only see their animals as money makers.”

#6. It’s not

“That ‘cancer’ is one disease process and can be cured in aggregate.

Its not.”

#7. The things that are natural

“That things that are “natural” are automatically safe and effective. Toadstools are natural. All kinds of dangerous, poisonous things are natural. What natural really means is not tested in a scientific manner therefore potentially unsafe, almost always ineffective and somehow grandfathered in.”

#8. Some great global conspiracy

“That there could ever be some great global conspiracy of scientists to hide the “truth” about climate change or evolution.

Research science is as filed with pettiness and ego as any corporate boardroom. Everyone is trying to get out the next big discovery, and the competition between labs is fierce and sometimes nasty.

There is no way 97% of climate scientists are getting together and sharing a cheese plate while discussing how to take away your Suburban.”

#9. Multiple universes

“Physicist here! People often think that multiverse theory suggests that literally anything you can think of is true in some parallel universe (i.e. in some universe everyone lives on giant turtles).

This is not the case. Multiverse theory (which has very little evidence of being true) suggests that there are multiple (possibly infinite) universes. Although there could be infinite universes, that does not imply that they satisfy all possibilities. The sort of standard way of describing it is that there are an infinite number of numbers between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0.1, 0.01,0.001 etc) but none of them are two.”

#10. As seen on TV

“I work in the field of forensics. Yes it is cool, no it is not nearly as cool as on TV. Typically lab scientists (at least all the ones I know) NEVER go out to the scene to collect evidence. Results take so much longer than what they show on TV and are not always as clear cut either. Don’t even get me started on wearing PPE.”

#11. How little we know

“Geologist here, people don’t understand the massive time scale of the earth, and how little we know absolutely beyond the last 100-1000 years.”

#12. What’s the use?

“What’s the use?”

Most of the time, we either don’t know or have a vague idea of how research could go out of the lab. It is usually written in conclusion of articles, sometimes a bit too emphatically, which gives sensational headlines.”

#13. It’s just a theory

“About three months ago I went on a huge pseudoscientce and conspiracy theory binge for the hell of it. You would not believe the number of times they will pull the, “It’s just a THEORY, that means it’s NEVER BEEN PROVEN,” bullcrap.”

#14. Human calculators

“Mathematician here, but it’s astounding how many people think that people get Ph.Ds in the subject simply to be “human calculators”. I once told someone I had a degree in math, and the person proceeded to ask simple mental math questions. Once I answered them (toughest was 17*15) he admitted that I really was amazing at math and that my degree was put to good use. I don’t think I’ve facepalmed harder.”

#15. That one thing…

“Neuroscientist here. If everyone stopped repeating that “we only use 10% of our brain” thing, my blood pressure would probably drop significantly.”

I hope you were listening, folks!

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10 of the Most Brutal Revenge Stories in History

Confession time: I’m actually a bit of a history nerd (or buff, if you prefer). History is full of so many interesting moments if you know where to look.

So go ahead and thank these 10 people in advance for telling some pretty amazing, true historical stories, this time about revenge.

#1. The best and the wisest out of the way

“Princess Olga of Kiev. Her husband was murdered by the Drevlians. So she was in charge of the city. Then the Drevlians wanted her to marry their prince. They sent 20 of their best men to convince her to marry their prince. She had them buried alive.

She then sent a message that she accepted the proposal, but required the Drevlians to send their best men to accompany her on her journey in order for the common people to accept the transition.

They sent the best and wisest men who governed their land. When they arrived she sent them up and offered them a bath house to get cleaned up and relax after the long journey. Once inside she barred the doors and burned it down.

With the best and wisest out of the way, she invited more of them over for a funeral service. And somehow not sensing the trap, 5,000 of them showed up. Once they were good and drunk she had her men kill all of them.

She then placed their city under siege. And after several days she asked for 3 pigeons and 3 sparrows from each household, claiming she didn’t want to burden their city any further. The people happily complied.

Olga then had her soldiers each take a bird and attach a burning coal to it (somehow) and released the birds and they all flew back to the city and it burned to the ground.

Damn it’s good to be gangster.”

#2. The Indian Slayer

“Maybe not the most satisfying but, the story of Tom Quick the Indian Slayer is pretty insane and fucked up. The Quick’s were one of the first white families to settle on the Delaware river near Milford PA. Initially they had good relation with the natives but after a group of them killed Tom Quick Sr., Jr. swore he would never rest until he killed the entire Lenape tribe, who were responsible. He supposedly killed 99 of them in his lifetime and on his death bed asked his son to bring him one more so he could make it an even 100. His son refused but after his death members of the Lenape stole his body, cut it up and sent parts to all the neighboring clans. Each clan had a pow-wow where they burnt their part of the body as a celebration of the death of their long time foe. The only problem was Tom Quick died of small pox and these pow-wow effectively spread the illness to nearly the entirely of the Lenape people. He swore he wouldn’t rest until he destroyed the tribe and in death, he did just that.

Here’s a write up from 1851 that paints him as a hero: http://www.jrbooksonline.com/HTML-docs/tom_quick_1851.htm”

#3. The men who killed his father

“Frank Eaton, who became a sharpshooter when he was 15 by outshooting everyone at a nearby fort, then personally hunted and shot down all the men who killed his father. One of the men was killed before Eaton could get to him, so he went to his funeral to make sure he was dead.”

#4. Long game revenge

“Count of monte Cristo is a pretty good one. That book is practically a standard for long game revenge.”

#5. A queen’s vengeance

“Boudica.

(According to Tacitus’ version of events which are much more fucking metal).

Boudica, as queen of the Iceni after the death of her husband King Prasutagus, saw the Romans rape her daughters, confiscate her lands and then publicly flog her. So doing the sensible thing, she raises an army and marches on Camulodunum (Colchester) in AD60.

She massacres the population, methodically burns the city, and displays the bodies for miles around. After effectively destroying the IX Legion sent to relieve it, she marches on Londinium (London). This she also burns, to such an extent that a fine red layer of pottery fragments and brick ash is visible under London’s streets, and then does the same to Verulamium (St. Albans).

Boudica is only finally defeated by Governor Suetonius Paulinus, who marches down from his campaigns in Wales to halt her at the Battle of Wattling Street in AD. 61. By this point though, she’d killed around 80,000 Roman citizens and auxiliaries.”

#6. Without retribution

“The Cask of Amontillado, specifically because of the main character’s insistence on not only having revenge, but having it without retribution, and such that Fortunado knew that it was him who did it.”

#7. Not history, but it’s too good to leave out

“The giving tree.”

#8. Too sore to defend themselves

“The story of Dinah from the Old Testament.

TL;DR- Dude rapes girl, then asks her family to marry her. Family says sure, but all of your people need to be circumsized first.

After the circumcisions happened, the family fell on them and slaughtered the men while they were too sore to defend themselves.”

#9. Rural American Punisher

“Buford Hayse Pusser, he was sheriff, they killed his wife and he went on a one man war to rid his county of all crime. He was basically rural America Punisher.”

#10. A pretty good one

“Titus Andronicus is a pretty good one and an overall interesting book.”

I’m off to fall into a Wikipedia hole!

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15 Little Things You Can Do to Appear More Attractive

The older I get, the less I care about what people think of me, especially whether or not they find me attractive. I’m not really someone who thinks too hard about my appearance, and besides, the people who love me do so for reasons other than what I look like.

However, I must admit there are still times when looking attractive (or at least presentable) is required or desired. And if I were single, I would be more invested in my appearance, for sure. If that’s your current sitch, then you might be interested in what these 13+ people have to say!

#1. Magically transformed

“Be kind and joyful.

Be engaging.

Be funny.

I once saw a documentary and one of the women was objectively very unattractive, just a weird looking face, no makeup, almost looked like an alien. But she was so lively and fun, and full of enthusiasm and good humor that by the end of it she had magically transformed into an attractive person before my eyes.”

#2. A list of tips

“Be clean and well kept. Here are some of my best tips:

Cleanliness:

Shower daily, use good quality soap that isn’t overly scented
Wash and condition your hair every few days if not daily (depends on your hair)
Wear deodorant
Wear clothes that are clean and fit well
Looking healthy:

Drink plenty of water, it will make you look and feel more awake and can help clear up your skin
Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, this will also contribute to glowing skin and can also help you shed excess weight
Get plenty of sleep. Not getting enough sleep contributes to weight gain, dull and/or blemished skin, under-eye circles, and an all around “tired” look
Grooming:

Keep your eyebrows maintained – if you don’t get them waxed, be sure to pluck stray hairs, especially between your brows. You can also spritz an old toothbrush with hair spray and brush your eyebrows, which keeps them in place and neat throughout the day
MOISTURIZE! This is especially important in the dry winter months. Invest in a good moisturizer for your body and another for your face. You don’t have to spend a ton of money, they have good moisturizers at drugstores and supermarkets
Keep your hair neat and brushed, styled with a little product if necessary. If you dye your hair, don’t let your roots grow out too long
Keep your nails clean and trimmed/filed/manicured. If you wear nail polish, either touch it up or take it off when it starts chipping. If your nails are long, be sure to clean underneath them regularly
Find a perfume or cologne that you like, that isn’t too overpowering, and that mixes well with your body. Wear it regularly
KEEP YOUR TEETH AS NICE AS YOU CAN. Teeth are a HUGE factor in attractiveness. If your teeth are crooked, you can’t change that (at least not immediately), but you can floss daily, brush twice a day, and wear your retainer/mouth guard if you have one. Take the best possible care of your teeth that you can
Style:

Dress appropriately for your job; this differs depending on the job, obviously
Wear a few classic pieces of jewelry. A watch, nice bracelet, rings, etc. Jewelry is fine, but don’t go too over the top with cheap, gaudy jewelry
Invest in a few pairs of nice shoes. Again, what type of shoes you invest in depends on your job and lifestyle.”

#3. Memory

“Remember the persons name and use it when appropriate. Not being able to remember my name 5 minutes after meeting me is a huge turn off.”

#4. Kind of my specialty

“Stripper here, I’m a bit late to this party but this is kinda my specialty so figured I’d contribute. People think good looks are all luck or genetics or whatever, nope. They’re attainable by almost anyone imho.

Hygiene is #1. You could be a perfect 10, but smell bad or have bad breath and that drops you instantly to about a 3. Shower everyday. Listen to the dentist, brush and floss everyday.
Have a bit of a tan. It makes you look about 5-10 pounds slimmer instantly. You dont need to lay In the sun to do this either – I use Jergens Natural glow moisturiser which is like $8.59 at Target and won’t give you skin cancer.
Whiten your teeth. You don’t need expensive procedures or veneers to do this. Crest Whitestrips work just fine. They’re about $50, for a week long treatment that lasts a year.
If you are a lady, having long hair makes you look much slimmer and more attractive. Straightening it is a bonus. Just be careful with heat treatments – if you straighten every day like I do, use a product to protect from heat. Anything by Redken is great.
Learn the art of makeup, ladies. Guys say they appreciate “natural beauty” but their idea of this is so rare it almost doesnt exist. You want to be wearing makeup but have it look like you aren’t. Learn contouring and a subtle cat eye, for example. Done right, this will up your “score” by a good 2 pts. My SO (we are very honest w each other) knows all my makeup routines; he says I’m a 7 without makeup and a 9 with, and he isn’t wrong.
Wear clothes that fit. If you’re a medium buy a medium rather than trying to squeeze into a small.”

#5. Clean and confident

“Hydrate your skin and take care of your hair.
Smell good.
Take care of your teeth.
Wear clean clothes that make you feel confident.

But most importantly: smile and make eye contact (not staring!) with people.”

#6. Posture, posture, posture

“I had success with a mixture of:

rolling out my thoratic spine (helps with slouch)
barbell rows (pulls shoulders back. ideally you’d work out your full body)
core work (straightens hips)
think about being pulled up by strings like a puppet to straighten up. eventually it becomes natural to do if you practice it enough.”

#7. Clean and trimmed

“Keep your fingernails clean and trimmed. No one cares if you look like Idris Elba or Olivia Wilde if your nails look like you pick your ass with them.”

#8. Strengths and weaknesses

“Lean on your strengths, forget about your weaknesses.

Figure out what your best feature is and make that as noticeable as possible. If you have great hair/eyes/butt/whatever, draw as much attention as you can to it.

The idea behind this goes like this – people generally only notice/remember one or two things about about a person. If you can impress on them that you have really strong shoulders or really great tits that’s generally all they’ll remember. “Karen?… Oh right, the girl with that beautiful long curly red hair! She’s pretty.” But if Karen is a little overweight or has an ugly voice, they will be less likely to remember that than if she has a good feature that she can make stand out.

As well, you can’t have awesome/perfect everything. So rather than trying to work on everything all at once, or trying to change things like height/face shape, just try to improve and highlight something you already have. Hide your weaknesses in plane sight.

So, figure out what your “thing” can be and accentuate that as much as possible.”

#9. Practice

“Learn your angles!! Practice smiling in a mirror and figure out what expressions look best on you.”

#10. Double points

“You’d be surprised what a shower a day, and clean clothes will do. Double points for having well kempt hair.”

#11. Always a jokester in the crowd

“Low lighting.”

#12. Simple things

“The same answers appear every time this gets asked, and ultimately boils down to the same pointers.

– Decent haircut (also hair that isn’t greasy).

– Clothes that fit properly (Not to baggy or purchased from Walmart, I like Ross and sometimes I’ll frequent the mall, I like the vans store).

– Cut your nails

– Smell nice (There are memes referencing a woman’s “hoe side coming out” when smelling a nice fragrance.

I’m not the best looking guy out there, kind of chubby with big glasses at times, some times I wear contacts. My girlfriend is a knockout though, and I like to think covering the previously mentioned pointers helped me out.

Side Note: If you want to meet women you have to talk to them, starting the conversation is half the battle, Introduce yourself, ask a question that may lead to another question to keep things going.

I.E. ” Do you like coffee”? Followed by “Would you like to get coffee:?​

This will may lead to intercourse but is not guaranteed.”

#13. Niceties 

“Be nice to other people. Show gratitude. Laugh a lot. These things are very attractive to other people even if they can’t pinpoint why they like someone. This attitude or way of being will start to show in other aspects of your life.”

#14. A great haircut

“Always have a great haircut or hairdo and smell nice.”

#15. Physical activity

“Physical activity of any sort, doesn’t have to be weightlifting but that’s an option.”

Go forth and stun!

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15 Travel Junkies Share the Places You Must Visit Before You Die

They say the best way to understand the world is to travel around and see as much of it as you can. Having grown up crisscrossing the glove due to my father’s job, I have to say I agree. While sitting around in trains, planes, and buses may not always be pleasant, the destination and experience is always worth it in my opinion.

And just in case you’re making a bucket list or planning a trip (jealous!) here are 15 spots seasoned travelers say you can’t miss.

#1. So much beauty.

“I’ve been to 49/50 states so people ask me a lot which ones were my favorites (just missing Alaska). People always scoff when I say South Dakota is up there, there’s so much beauty in that state it doesn’t get the credit it deserves. The badlands and the black hills. And the corn palace is just a bonus.

Honorable mention: Wyoming for the same reasons as above.”

#2. Easily the coolest place I’ve ever been.

“Edinburgh, Scotland. With all that different architecture from over nearly a thousand years, it’s easily the coolest place I’ve ever been.”

#3. Indescribable.

“The Louvre.

I’m not a huge art buff. I dropped art history class back in college because I literally couldn’t stay awake. Still, the majesty of seeing hundreds of paintings twice as old as my country with such breathtaking detail that has held up for centuries… indescribable.

If I could, I would go back and spend a full day or two there. Four hours is certainly not enough.”

#4. Absolutely stunning.

“Cliffs of Moher.

The view is absolutely stunning and really puts our size in perspective.”

#5. Heaven on earth.

“Zanzibar….its heaven on earth.”

#6. For all the right reasons.

“The Amalfi coast. Positano is the most magical place I’ve ever been.

And reminded me of Mario Sunshine, for all the right reasons.”

#7. A breath of fresh air.

“Iceland. Its so peaceful, Especially for people who live in busy cities, Iceland will be a breath of fresh air, Literally.”

#8.  Nothing can top it.

“Hands down, New Zealand. I’ve been there in 2016 and we’ve traveled from Auckland to Christchurch and I wanna go back there so so bad to see it all again and even more. The landscape is absolutely breathtaking, the people there are all so damn fucking friendly it’s sickening adorable. I honestly can’t think of a place where the landscape can change so fast, where you can see so so much, like, okay we’re in Franz Josef now with these big ass mountains and snow and everything and now let’s just gonna drive two hours and we’re back at the beach going swimming. I absolutely loved Kaiteriteri Beach, we’ve had the most lovely little motel there, they handed us fresh milk as our welcome gift. We took a sideseeing tour in Wellington and our guide was so damn proud to have been in LOTR and showed us a picture where you could actually see him in the movie. There was this cute little Italian restaurant in Auckland where we’ve had some of the best pizza ever and on our way to Rotorua we went shopping at a supermarket and had trouble finding water. In the end four people were helping us finding it, all of them costumers of course. In Rotoura we went to the see a Maori village, I still get goosebumps when I think back to their Haka they did for us. We couldn’t go hiking in Tongariro because of bad weather but man that motel was cozy as hell and their spareribs were the best. It was so lovely and tiny we would have stayed for longer if we could have. And man, don’t let me get started about Te Anau! That glowworm cave? You have to see it for yourself, it was the most beautiful and amazing thing I’ve ever seen. It was so dark you couldn’t see a thing and then above your head, hundreds and hundreds of tiny glowworms making it seem as if you look into another galaxy. We did sky diving in Queenstown, went to Fangorn forest and saw the Misty Mountains, had the best burger in the world at Fergburger and drove in a fucking Hummer limo to a small restaurant in Franz Josef for free just because they were new and it was my sister in law’s birthday. We saw penguins and sealions at the Milford Sounds, we saw dolphins at the Marlborough Sounds, we saw so many adorable mischievous Keas, it was amazing. It was the best trip I’ve ever done and I would go again and again and again because there is so much to see. Go to New Zealand, seriously. Nothing can top it.”

#9. That tourist trap.

“Your own hometown.

There are so many people who would never consider to be tourist where they live, but haven’t been in the local cathedral, haven’t been at ‘that tourist trap’, or haven’t taken a museum tour ever.”

#10. By far my favorite.

“I visited south east Asia recently and Vietnam was by far my favorite.

Started in chau doc then Saigon, then worked our way up the coast to Hanoi.

My favourite place was Hoi An, it was the most beautiful town I’ve ever seen in my life. I see why they call it ‘the city of lanterns’. I also got a tailor made suit there too.”

#11. Rich with history.

“Greece. Not the touristy islands but the mainland and less visited islands. Seriously my favourite country in the world. Rich with history (there are literally ancient ruins in the most random places, it’s insane), breathtaking nature (gorgeous mountains and the stunning sea), great food and it’s actually relatively affordable if you don’t go where all the tourists crowd around. I’ve been all over Europe and Greece was definitely my favourite place to visit. Something about it separates it from everywhere else. I would go there again in a heartbeat.

Edit- I always see people asking whether they should go to Italy or Greece. I would choose Greece. Italy was also beautiful, but it was incredibly expensive and packed with tourists. Already planning my next trip.”

#12. Impossible to imagine.

“The Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany.

It’s impossible to imagine how impressive this cathedral is without seeing it in person. It also has a super interesting history, consisting of literal hundreds of years of construction.

Also, Cologne is a very cool city, in general.

Pretty much every place I would recommend is in Germany or Austria. Such astoundingly beautiful countries, and completely unlike anything you could see or experience in the United States (where I live/am from).”

#13. Unlike any other city.

“Tokyo, biggest city you’ll see, yet the cleanest and one of the safest. Unlike any other city.”

#14. They come before tourists.

“Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai Thailand.

In the north of Thailand there are a lot of elephant camps for tourists. With some of them it’s pretty obvious they mistreat the animals, they let you ride them which is a big no-no. In other parks it’s more subtle but doing some deep googling I’ve discovered problems with most of the other camps as well (including the very well known Elephant Jungle Sanctuary).

Except ENP. This place is the only one I found to be really ethical. They save abused elephants from other camps and from farmers. A lot of their elephants are wounded or disabled from past abuse. Babies are cute and bring visitors but still they are not so happy if one is born in the camp because the resources could instead go for an abused elephant in need. Everything is focused on the elephants, they come before the tourists.

As an elephant lover I did one of the more expensive packages and I am still in love with the place, planning to come back in later years and do the week long volunteer program.”

#15. Pictures don’t do it justice.

“The three most impressive “pictures don’t do it justice” places I’ve visited: (1) Iguazu Falls. You have to see it up close on the Argentine side. Not just see it, but hear the roar of the water, feel the mist in the air. (2) Lake Morraine in Banff. I had seen pictures and wondered if it was truly as beautiful as it looked. Did not disappoint. It was an emotional experience seeing it for the first time. (3) Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. The hike to the fort overlooking the bay is not easy, but well worth it.”

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12+ People Reveal Shocking Truths They Learned About a Loved One After Their Death

Losing a loved one is always terrible, but it’s even worse still when their passing starts to reveal some unsettling truths about their life. Learning something unexpected after a loved one is gones can add a whole other level to unpack before you’re able to move on.

#1. It was a match.

“We very recently found out via ancestry.com that my grandfather had an illegitimate child that was born the year he married my grandmother. I have a half-aunt, blood test confirmed.

She’s 50, and only knew who her father could be (my grandpa) because her mother told her what his name possibly was; went looking, and she eventually found us. My mother sent her DNA test in to confirm, and it was a match.

Edit: he passed away 19 years ago, after a car accident.”

#2. He got away with it.

“After his death I found out my Biological father sent a bomb to his ex-wife’s work. My mom was pregnant with my baby sister at the time. Luckily ex-wife had some weird feeling and reported the package. A bomb squad was able to do a controlled detonation.

He got away with it.

This is what I know. Remember I was a very small child so all my info is second hand.

From what I’ve heard there were no prints, no unique parts, nothing really all that special about what was recovered from the bomb after detonation. The only sort of tie was a portion of the label which was apparently a really odd/specific size and manufacturer. The only local/semi local places that purchased them were a place he volunteered for and some random law office or similar. They got the ex to tip him off that there was a lead on the labels and they were trying to find places that kept them. Then they set up a camera in the supply closet to see if they could catch him destroying evidence. Apparently he went in, reached for them, dropped his hand, grabbed a pen or something instead, smiled to himself and walked out. The place was very easily accessed by a large and varied group of people from around the city.

I have no fucking clue how was able to get off Scott free. But my mom said the police and FBI never came to the house again. It seems bizarre that when I was 3 years old the FBI was at my house for a bombing case while I probably played with my cabbage patch kid and my my little ponies.

When I cleaned out his house a couple decades later I found a wooden cigar box hidden in a closet full of wires, very small pliers and such. I thought it was really weird. About a week later I found out about the bombing.

Again I’m not 100% on all the details. I’ve heard all this info from my half brother, his mom the ex, and my mom. It was so long ago and before internet news was much of a thing. If really at all a thing in our town. I would dig up more but I really think the fuck face deserves as little thought as possible.”

#3. He died saving people.

“My dad was an Air Force pilot who was killed in a crash during a plane malfunction. I grew up thinking he couldn’t do anything and couldn’t land and that was it. 20 years after he died, I found out he had the choice between jettisoning to safety and risking the plane landing on the base and killing people or steering the plane as far away from people as he could and going down with it. I hate that I grew up without a dad but I’m glad he at least died saving people.”

#4. Even his wife had no idea.

“My mom’s step-grandpa told everyone he was an electrician and that he was always being called out of town to do various repair jobs.

After he died, the family received a letter from the president of the United States, revealing that he was actually a demolitions expert and worked in some sort of special ops bomb squad for the military. Even his wife had no idea.”

#5. Huge shock to everyone.

“My grandpa was a CIA operative during the cold war whos job it was to intercept Russian transmissions. Nobody except my grandma knew and she never told a soul. When he died, we found all his documents and she finally had to tell us. Huge shock to everyone.”

#6. It was really sweet.

“When my grandma died, a lot of homeless people showed up to her funeral. Turns out she was or had fed/helped them. They were crying so much, it was really sweet.”

#7. I’m glad.

“I had an aunt who was severely disabled most of her life and confined to a wheelchair. I was surprised to find out after she died she had a lover most of her life with similar disabilities who passed away shortly before her. I’m glad she had someone in her life like that.”

#8. One of her greatest moments in life.

“A few years after my great aunt passed away, we found out that she had a daughter no one in our family knew about. The daughter, who I’ll call M, had been put up for adoption when my aunt was very young.

M had been searching for her missing side of the family since she was young, and was in her fifties when she finally found us. Unfortunately, she never got to meet her biological mother, but she and her daughters couldn’t be happier to have found us, and we have welcomed them in with open arms.

My family is very musically inclined and several of us play(ed) instruments, my great aunt included. M’s daughter is very musically talented and always says that she never knew where she got it from until she met us. Her daughter told us that learning there was this whole side of her family who is just like her was one of her greatest moments in life.

M acts and talks exactly like my aunt did, always saying quirky stuff and being very animated, which fascinates me because she never was able to grow up and live with my aunt. My family is very close knit, and it hit really hard when my aunt passed away, so finding this woman who is my aunt made over has been such a blessing.

Sorry for the long story, I just love telling it.”

#9. Money makes people do horrible things.

“My Great Uncle raised my mother on the family farm, He wrote the will so that the farm would be in a trust for my mother, and if it were sold the money would held in an account with the interest going to my grandmother until she died, then my mother could do as she pleased with it.

Years go by and the area undergoes massive expansion and housing and property is at a premium. He turned down multiple multi-million dollar offers because he wanted to die there and told the developers to come back after he was gone. He passes away, then my grandparents contest the will and have it changed to become their property.

They get in touch with one of the developers and start trying to sell, in the middle they declare bankruptcy and take the first offer…..$250000 instead of holding out for the big numbers. Best part is they go and buy a new house and pay cash, then promptly lose it a few years later for not paying taxes.

So in closing I got to witness my family get ripped apart, my families property that had been in the family for since the early 1800s get sold for a song and to top it off it all got pissed away for stupidity.

TLDR: Money makes people do horrible things.”

#10. To everyone’s amazement.

“An elderly man at church lived alone (a widower) and was thought to be quite poor.

Every Thanksgiving and Christmas, parishioners would bring him food baskets and practical things he could use for daily living.

To everyone’s amazement, when he died, he left the church just under $2 million with a letter expressing his gratitude for the years of care the church had shown him.”

#11. He had planned his suicide for years.

“After my brother’s suicide, I pieced together that he had planned his suicide for years and used this long period of time to set my mother up to have a mental break down.

He was a junior high teacher and also intentionally messed with his students by claiming that he knew his date of death. He gave them hints (which of course came true) and his death fucked them up too.”

#12. I have no idea.

“I learnt 2 hours before my partner committed suicide that almost everything he ever told me was a lie.

The hours after his death I learnt that myself and our daughter were actually his second family. I had been with him for 13 years. He had been with his wife and sons for almost 30 years.

I have no idea how it was possible that he kept 2 completely separate lives going for so long.”

#13. She didn’t know what to do.

“That my great aunt had a baby in the backyard and buried it. This was in the 40’s, she was a teenager and she became pregnant due to rape and she didn’t know what to do.

Edit: To answer the most asked question, nobody knows if the baby was alive when it was born but if it was, she most likely smothered it to stop its cries and then buried it.”

#14. Until I looked…

“I had a great aunt that lived with her son. Actually her son lived with her. But we found fucking nasty pictures of them fucking. I think my mom had a suspicion it was going on. They both died around the same time and my mom ended up as executor or whatever of the estate. I remember her specifically saying not to look at any pictures we found, but I had no idea why until I looked at them.”

#15. Monster.

“My great aunt died about a year ago. She was in her mid 70s. We were unpacking all her things and we found her diaries, some from years ago and some just before her death. In her diaries she had mentioned that she despised her sister (to be honest, non of us liked her), and didn’t like a lot of my cousins.

Most shocking, she kept on talking about a man who she called, ‘monster’. This man had been sexually harassing her and abusing her for years. She never mentioned it nor indicated that anything was wrong. We suspect that it was her boss.

I loved her dearly, she was so sweet.”

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10+ Experts Give Advice on the Worst Things to Say in Your Next Speech

Fear of public speaking is a real thing. In fact, it’s actually one of the things people apparently fear more than death itself! What is it about speaking to a room of people that fills so many of us with the worst kind of existential dread?

I have found that practice and experience make everything easier (even public speaking), but advice from people who have been there can’t hurt, either. So, the next time you’re sitting down to write a speech, keep these no-no openers in mind!

#1. Clickbait.

“Top 13 reasons clickbait works. Number 10 will blow your tits clean off.”

#2. Here we go.

“I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of “I know your all want to get out of here, and aren’t interested in a long speech, but that’s too bad, here we go…”

#3. It’s not pretty.

“I’m imagining you all in your underwear, and it’s not pretty.”

#4. Just no.

“So I was reading on the internet the other day…”

#5. Hardy-har.

“Just flew in from LA

boy are my arms tired.”

#6. Solid.

“When I in grade 4 the teacher told us opening line of speech should get people’s attention. So, my friend made a speech, and he yelled, “SEX! Okay, now that I’ve got your attention, I would like to talk about the environment.”

#7. Definitely not that.

“Once I was giving a speech and the podium wasn’t attached right, so just as I was about to start and I leaned on the podium it lifted up and the microphone hit me in the mouth.

When it was an inch away from my mouth, I had just finished the first word of my speech:

FUCK”

#8. A stunner.

“Webster’s dictionary defines <topic> as…reads dictionary definition in its entirety.”

Well this is going to be a stunner of a speech in already sure of it.”

#9. On mothers.

“As a mother…”

#10. An hour from now.

“An hour from now you’re all going to be asking yourselves ‘Is this guy EVER going to get to the point ?’ and an hour after that you still won’t know.”

#11. Hopefully.

“I am much smarter then you so hopefully you get what I am about to say.”

#12. Yawwwwn.

“Hello, my name is <name> and I’m going to talk to you about…..”

#13. Like…

“So like, uhhhh…”

#14. Insert zodiac sign.

“Well… as a insert zodiac sign I think that…”

 

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6 “Game of Thrones” Fan Theories to Ponder Over While Waiting for the Last Season

To say that “Game of Thrones”, the HBO adaptation of a series of Fantasy books by George R.R. Martin, is a success would be putting it mildly. The show has inspired millions of fans worldwide and is easily among the most successful mainstream crossovers of the Fantasy genre.

While no new episodes were released in 2018, HBO announced that the show will return with its grand finale season sometime in 2019, most likely before summer.

If you think waiting that long is impossible (you sweet, summer child), then take a few minutes and ruminate on these 6 fan theories about how things may end for our friends in Westeros.

I mean, if the past is any indication, the general answer is ‘not well,’ but some folks like to get a bit more specific. Here we go!

#6. Viserion will return to the fight…alive.

Photo Credit: HBO

One Redditor (and mom) thinks that Daenerys’s love for Viserion will free him from the Night King’s spell, and he will return to her side — with a little help from the Red Woman. She’s got to be hanging around for some reason, right?

#5. Gendry is actually the only legitimate child of Cersei Lannister and Robert Baratheon.

Photo Credit: HBO

We know Cersei and Robert had a child — a “black-haired beauty” — who supposedly died shortly after his birth. Even though Cersei is a devoted mother, she never visits the child’s crypt or appears to mourn his loss. According to this theory, it’s because she knows he’s alive and well. Cersei placed him with a family and has been looking out for him all his life, even securing his apprenticeship and getting him out of the way of Joffrey’s purge of competitors.

Gendry only remembers that his mother had “yellow hair,” which, of course, also fits. If this is true, he has a legitimate claim to the Iron Throne. However, the jury’s still out on why Cersei faked his death and hid him in the first place.

#4. Arya will kill Cersei wearing Jamie’s face.

Photo Credit: HBO

Even though most theories predict that Jamie will reprise his role as Kingslayer and take out his sister himself (and fulfill the Volanqar prophecy in the process — the one where she’s to be killed by a younger sibling), this Redditor predicts Arya will kill them both — Jamie first, then Cersei while wearing Jamie’s face. The prophecy will still be (technically) fulfilled and Arya will have her revenge. #TheNorthRemembers

#3. Jon Snow will murder Daenerys.

Photo Credit: HBO

It might seem unlikely after the events of last season, but if Jon Snow really is the Prince Who Was Promised and the reincarnation of Azor Ahai, it could spell doom for everyone’s favorite Mother of Dragons. After all, Ahai wasn’t that intimidating until he plunged his fabled Lightbringer into his wife’s chest to imbue it with her power. If history repeats itself, Jon Snow will have to kill his one true love in order to save the realm.

I don’t know about you, but this theory sure leaves the feminist in me with a gross taste in her mouth…but it’s far from the first time that’s happened with this show.

#2. Daenerys will die beyond the wall.

Photo Credit: HBO

Poor Daenerys — it seems that many fans have no faith in her ability to survive the series and take her ancestor’s place on the Iron Throne. This Reddit theory goes way back to Season 2, when Daenerys has a series of (possibly prophetic) visions in the House of the Undying. In one of them, she sees Khal Drogo beyond the wall waiting for her. It seems to point to her going to fight the White Walkers and not returning.

#1. Clegane-bowl will happen.

Photo Credit: HBO

Some have waited with great anticipation for the eventual throwdown between brothers Sandor and Gregor Clegane, and the Season 7 finale hinted at the possibility of its coming to fruition when Sandor told his brother, “You know who is coming for you.”

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15 Film and TV Fans Rank The Saddest Scenes of All Time

“Sad” is, of course, a pretty subjective term. It could mean a lot of different things to different people. Still, there are some things that just about everyone can agree are sad.

Today, we’ll be checking out what scences 15 film and television buffs found to be especially heart-wrenching.

#1. When somebody loved me…

“Jesse’s flashback in Toy Story 2. It fucked me up then and it fucks me up now.”

#2. Classic.

“When Jesse finds out that Leslie died in Bridge to Terabithia.”

#3. Fresh Prince

“In Fresh Prince when Will’s deadbeat father runs out on him yet again after a brief reunion and after he explains to Uncle Phil how he didn’t need his father to be the man he became, Will tearfully asks “how he come he don’t want me?”

Such a powerful scene. I feel such strong emotions every time I watch it.”

#4. Ugh, death.

“When the wife dies in Up. The end of Stepmom when she’s giving her children the gifts.”

#5. I’m tired, boss…

“The Green Mile when they had to put the big fella down ?”

#6. Serenity

“I’m a leaf on the wind. Watch how…”

“Wash aint comin…”

#7. Baby Simba.

“Mufasa dying. I’ve seen The Lion King soo many times but I still tear up everytime I see young Simba trying to wake up his father.”

#8. Not in polite company.

“Buffy- the Body. Still can’t watch that episode with polite company around. It’s the “Mommy?” that gets me. Because we see this strong young woman who has saved the world half a dozen times over, the one everyone else looks to for strength and resolve, and in that moment, she’s just a little girl looking for her mommy. Tearing up as I write this.”

#9. Wallow in the sadness.

“Dumbo visiting his mom in jail.”

#10. It’s a volleyball. And yet…

“When Wilson falls off the raft.”

#11. Van Gogh.

“Van Gogh in gallery scene from Doctor Who. Nothing on TV has ever made me cry. I weeped like a little bitch after that.”

#12. It gets me every time.

“Uncle Iroh’s short story in Avatar the Last Airbender, where he sings ‘Little Soldier Boy’. It gets me every time.”

#13. He’s so smart.

“How the heck has no one said Forrest talking to Jenny’s grave?”

#14. Crying buckets.

“Potential spoilers for “About Time” which is a movie where all the men from a family have the ability to travel through time to a past memory and the “secret” is passed down from father to son.

Throughout the whole movie the son will periodically visit his father in his memories and slowly come to realize that his father has been revisiting him at various points as well. He learns eventually that he doesn’t just have the ability to revisit his past, but he can alter it and change his future.

This leads to him breaking things for the worse and him going back and fixing everything again. At some point the son learns that certain things are truly random, however, and can’t be controlled. In one timeline, the son has a daughter with his wife. In another, he has a son. This leads the father to teach his son to never go back before certain points, because you can’t control the dice roll of genetics. Changing your past in a way that alters who your kid will be is super risky, so it’s best not to risk it.

At the end of the movie, the son is about to have another kid with his wife, but his father has also died. He goes back to a memory that has played in the movie multiple times where he and his father are playing ping pong.

Instead of hitting the ball back at his father like he has countless times, the son lets it drop and his dad just looks at him. There is silence for a moment. Then he asks the son if he has died.

The son says yes and that he’s about to have another kid so he can’t come back to this memory anymore.

The dad says something like, “fancy another go?”

Then there’s a montage of home-movie-style clips where it shows the father and son essentially reliving their entire lives together once again before the son returns to the present never to see his dad again.

I’m a grown ass man and that shit made me cry fucking buckets.”

#15. I could have got more out.

“Oskar Schindler: I could have got more out. I could have got more. I don’t know. If I’d just… I could have got more.

Itzhak Stern: Oskar, there are eleven hundred people who are alive because of you. Look at them.

Oskar Schindler: If I’d made more money… I threw away so much money. You have no idea. If I’d just…

Itzhak Stern: There will be generations because of what you did.

Oskar Schindler: I didn’t do enough!

Itzhak Stern: You did so much.

[Schindler looks at his car]

Oskar Schindler: This car. Goeth would have bought this car. Why did I keep the car? Ten people right there. Ten people. Ten more people. [removing Nazi pin from lapel]

Oskar Schindler: This pin. Two people. This is gold. Two more people. He would have given me two for it, at least one. One more person. A person, Stern. For this. [sobbing]

Oskar Schindler: I could have gotten one more person… and I didn’t! And I… I didn’t!”

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10+ People Talk About the Most Wasteful Purchases You Could Make

Our society can be pretty wasteful. Half (or more) of the things we use every day are designed to be disposable, and even when they’re not, people are still tossing them out. There are so many things to waste money on, what would you say is the most unnecessary expense?

Check out these responses for some inspiration (they also might make you feel a bit ashamed, but no worries – you’re not alone!).

#1. Televangelists.

“My favorite televangelist story is Jan and Paul Crouch’s. Their granddaughter (who worked as an accountant for their Christian TV channel) discovered illegal accounting practices, the family fired her, and she reported them. Highlights of their nonprofits’ spending:

$50 million jet
13 mansions
$100k rv FOR THEIR DOGS!”

#2. Diamonds.

“Diamond ring. When I proposed, I knew that my wife would prefer a pretty $60 ring and a romantic vacation in Greece.”

#3. The science of car buying.

“Buying a brand new car every couple of years.

You buy a $50,000 car you’re shaving off 10% of the total value off by driving it one inch off the lot. 2-3 years later because you need to keep up with the Joneses, you buy another car with the $28 grand you sold your previous car for.

You also wonder why you’re in debt and your friends are living in nice houses and funding their continuing education.”

#4. Since 2012.

“My coworker has had a gym membership since 2012. She has been there 3 times since. Her husband is thrilled.”

#5. Kids grow like weeds.

“Designer clothes for kids/babies when they will grow out of them within a few months. My wife works at a nursery she has parents who do this and tell the nursery staff to not let the child ruin their clothes!”

#6. Impulse purchases.

“Impulse purchases at the grocery stores, specifically at Trader Joe’s! I don’t need that coffee chocolate or ginger cookies or dunkers, Trader Joe’s. But when you’re near the cash counter and they take one look at me, I go weak in the knees.”

#7. One day affairs.

“Expensive weddings when they CAN’T afford it.”

#8. Hands down.

“Cigarettes.”

#9. The list goes on…

“My old roommate let one of his buddys stay with us one time. This guy had just lost his job, apartment and girlfriend in a week so we felt kinda bad for him. We agreed to let him stay to get back on his feet. He gets a job and immediately takes his first paycheck and buys a guitar. The whole paycheck. $450 or so. Next paycheck? $300 bong and some other stupid shit. This guy didn’t even have a cell phone or a car. So he “solved” that problem a month or so later by buying a $400 car that didnt run and a $20 burner phone. Never got the car fixed and just had it scrapped. Guy drove me crazy.

Edit: shameful dollar sign edit…”

#10. Very cheap!

“My new iPhone 12 was included for free with my plan! And so was iPhone 11 last year! I get a free telephone every year :D”

“And how much is your monthly plan?”

“Very cheap! $149 a month.”

#11. More interest.

“Maxing out their credit cards and always having to pay the interest.”

#12. You won’t know.

“Alllll the new baby things you never use. But you won’t know until you don’t use them.”

#13. It fades.

“Tanning. Not only does it damage your body, it fades in a week or two.”

#14. Just extra packaging.

“100 calorie packs of stuff.. it’s just a bunch of extra packaging, just get a kitchen scale and do your own 100 cal portions of whatever food you want and put them in a reusable container.”

#15. Daily optimism.

“Lottery tickets / gambling – in moderation, it’s daily optimism, and I get that. But a lot of people take it too far and sink way too much $, and hope, into it.”

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