Category: Society & Laws

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Billionaire Pledges to Pay off Student Debt for Morehouse College’s ENTIRE 2019 Graduating Class

Graduating from college is an incredible milestone in anyone’s life, but it’s sadly often marred by a lot of anxiety about what comes next. The looming shadow of trying to repay a seemingly endless amount of student loans for years to come is especially daunting.

Thankfully, the 2019 graduating class of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, won’t have to worry about that – during his commencement speech at Morehouse, billionaire Robert F. Smith announced that he would be paying off ALL the student debt for Morehouse’s class of 2019!

Smith said during his speech, “On behalf of the eight generations of my family that have been in this country, we’re gonna put a little fuel in your bus. This is my class, 2019. And my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans.”

This guy’s reaction pretty much sums up the way everyone at the graduation felt about the news.

Take a look at the reaction from the graduating students.

A spokesperson for Smith said the billionaire is “thrilled to invest in these young people and their future.” Robert F. Smith made his fortune by founding a private equity firm called Vista Equity Partners that primarily buys and sells software firms. He graduated from Cornell and has a Master’s degree from Columbia.

Smith told the students, “You are responsible for building strong, safe places where our young brothers and sisters can grow with confidence. Watch and learn from positive role models, and believe that they too are entitled to the American dream.”

There’s no official confirmation of the size of Smith’s gift yet, but it’s believed to be in the neighborhood of $40 million.

What an incredibly generous gesture. Good luck, Class of 2019!

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8 Great Facts That’ll Put a Smile on Your Face

Some facts will bum you out, like finding out that honey bees are seriously endangered.

These facts, however, are the opposite of that. They will make you smile, maybe even laugh. So let’s get to it!

1. Resting place

Photo Credit: did you know?

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2. It’s easy!

Photo Credit: did you know?

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3. Look at ’em go!

Photo Credit: did you know?

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4. Perfect!

Photo Credit: did you know?

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5. It really does

Photo Credit: did you know?

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6. You better believe it

Photo Credit: did you know?

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7. Love, South Korean style

Photo Credit: did you know?

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8. Think about that

Photo Credit: did you know?

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I saw that frown go upside down…

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Amsterdam Enacts a Ban on All Gas and Diesel Vehicles

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image Credit: Facebook

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

Image Credit: Facebook

Volvo’s idea is simple:

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

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

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

Image Credit: Facebook

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

Nice!

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

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

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

Image Credit: Facebook

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

Image Credit: Facebook

Volvo’s idea is simple:

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

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

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

Image Credit: Facebook

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

Nice!

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

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Cruise Ship Full of Scientologists Is Quarantined Due to Measles Outbreak

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

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

Image Credit: Pixabay

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

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

Image Credit: Public Domain

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

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

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

Image Credit: Pixabay

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

The vaccines have been provided at no cost.

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

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5 Extremely Creative Ways to Recycle

People everywhere are taking heed of what climate scientists have to say about the dire state of our planet. We have a long way to go as far as reducing waste, but one day  – and one idea – at a time, right? To that end, below are 5 interesting, out-of-the-box ways people are trying to save the planet.

#1. Turning trash into treasure.

In Eskilstuna, Sweden, they’re taking the phrase “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” to the max in a shopping center that sells only upcycled, recycled, or sustainable merchandise. Patrons can drop off objects they no longer want and mall customers can shop for everything from furniture to clothes and sporting equipments.

#2. It’s gone to the hogs.

Image Credit: Farragutful

The Mall of America is the largest shopping center in the States and it’s also perhaps the greenest. They’ve got LED garage lighting, water-efficient toilets, air-purifying plants and trees, and they also recycle more than 2400 tons of food waste by donating it to local hog farms.

It also recycles about 60% of its total waste – 32,000 tons!

#3. Dirty diapers can still be useful.

Canadian company Knowaste was founded in 1989 and recycles diapers and other absorbent hygiene products by stripping them of their plastic and fiber and turning them into composite construction materials, pet litter, and industrial tubing.

It’s a dirty job, saving the Earth!

#4. Old crayon, new crayon.

Crayons are cheap, which makes them easy enough to toss when they’re down to nubs (or your adorable toddler goes through their “break everything” phase). They aren’t biodegradable, though, so a North California nonprofit called The Crayon Initiative melts them down and turns them back into new crayons.

They then donate them to children’s hospitals.

#5. It’s getting hairy.

If you’ve been throwing out your (or your pets) clumps of hair, you’re doing it wrong – Matter of Trust, a San Francisco based charity, collects hair and fur and uses it to make oil-absorbing mats and other tools used by Hazmat teams to clean up oil spills.

We can only do it together!

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Apparently, “Texas” Means “Crazy” In Norway

The stars at night may be big and bright deep in the heart of Texas, but the Lone Star state is apparently famous for something very different across the pond – people in Norway are now using the word ‘Texas’ as an adjective to describe an atmosphere that’s unpredictable, chaotic, exhilarating, or even scary.

Image Credit: Pixabay

To be clear, they don’t use it to describe a person (yet), but rather a place or situation or a thing.

I mean, I’ve lived in Texas, so I have to say, I think it could also work for people.

Example: Det var helt texas (It (a party?) was completely texas).

Image Credit: Pixabay

According to Texas Monthly, Norwegians have used the slang word for several decades; it’s basically a throwback to Texas’ rough-and-tumble history and all of the associations that go along with the Wild West. There are news articles that use the term to describe everything from truck drivers tackling dangerous routes to a raucous soccer match or a swordfish snagged in a fjord.

I’m really not even sure what my response to this should be, though I would love to know exactly how the expression came to be and evolved in popular use.

Image Credit: Pixabay

And why I’m only hearing about it now.

At least I’ve passed it on to y’all, and that’s what matters. Now, keep it going!

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Some of Our Most Beloved Wedding Traditions Have Really Weird Origins

Once you’ve been to enough weddings, you just take all the traditions in stride and don’t even give them a second thought.

But where do these time-honored traditions come from? Why do women have bridesmaids? Why is there a best man?

Read on to find out the strange, but very true, origins of these wedding customs.

1. The bouquet

Have you ever caught one?

Brides in ancient Greece wore wreaths made out of mint and marigold as an aphrodisiac. Brides would also have clusters of herbs to ward off evils.

2. The honeymoon

Photo Credit: Pexels

While it’s not totally clear, i’s rumored that the honeymoon was born out of necessity, back when kidnapping a bride was a thing. The husband would hide out for about a month after the kidnapping so the bride’s family would not be able to find her.

3. The first look

In the days of arranged marriages, it was believed that if the bride and groom had the opportunity to see each other before the wedding, they would have enough time to cancel the nuptials if they didn’t like what they saw.

4. Carrying the bride across the threshold

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Supposedly, a bride needed to show that she was displeased about having to leave her father’s home, so she was carried – ie forced – across the threshold.

Another idea is that the bride was carried so evil spirits couldn’t enter her body through her feet.

Evil spirits galore, back in the day.

5. The first kiss

It old days, the priest kissed the groom, who passed on this “kiss of peace” to the bride. The priest would also kiss all the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Sounds like a party!

6. Wedding rings

It’s believed the fourth finger is used for the ring because it was thought to contain a vein that leads directly to the heart.

The bride’s ring was also meant to symbolize ownership: Rings were often given to the fathers of brides as payment or collateral in ancient Roman, Greek, and Jewish cultures.

7. Bridesmaids

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Back in the day, bridesmaids were asked to wear dresses similar to the bride’s to confuse and ward off exes and evil spirits.

8. The best man

Men would sometimes steal or kidnap a bride for themselves, particularly if her family did not approve of them. The best man was originally chosen for his strength and fighting prowess to help the groom fight anyone who opposed the bride being kidnapped. And then the best man would stand next to the groom during the marriage so the bride wouldn’t run away during the ceremony.

Think about that one for a minute…

9. The white dress

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

If you thought brides always wore white, you’re wrong. Before the mid-1850s, brides typically wore red on their wedding day.

Queen Victoria wore white on her wedding day because she simply liked the color. It was shocking at first but the trend caught on – and never went away.

10. The father of the bride

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The father “giving away the bride” dates back to when women were thought of as property and the marriage was thought of as a transfer.

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15 Adorable Vintage Posters Pomoting Kindness to Animals

Times were lean in the 1930s – it was the Depression, and many families struggled to make ends meet and put meals on the table for their little ones.

But that doesn’t mean humans believed that taking out their less-than on animals was okay – at least, not according to these 15 posters. Quite the opposite, in fact.

So sit back and enjoy these 15 vintage posters promoting kindness to animals.

#1. This is sad!

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#2. A boy and his dog.

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#3. A still-needed reminder.

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#4. Those smiles.

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#5. Horses, too!

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#6. Best trio.

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#7. You can be someone’s hero!

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#8. So sweet.

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#9. Milk to spare.

#10. That means taking them to the doctor!

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#11. Finally a little girl.

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#12. How could you be mean to that doggo face?

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#13. An early adopt don’t shop.

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#14. I wish people would!

Image Credit: New York Heritage

#15. Kitteh and pupper.

Image Credit: New York Heritage

I couldn’t love anything more.

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