Check Out the 10 Most Expensive Cities in the World

Is the cost of living absolutely insane in your city? I live near NYC, and yeah, it’s pretty brutal.

That said, I was actually pretty surprised by some of the entries on this list of the world’s most expensive cities. San Francisco didn’t even make the cut, which seems kind of insane given the horror stories I’ve heard about rent in SF.

As recently reported, there is actually a three-way tie for the most expensive city in the world right now between Hong Kong, Singapore, and Paris.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

This analysis of the world’s most expensive cities was done by the Economist Intelligence Unit and this is the first time in the Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living report that three cities tied for first place.

The group took over 400 items into consideration to compile the list, including the cost of food, school, recreation, clothing, household fees, etc.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Singapore has been named the world’s most expensive city for five years in a row but this year it has company with Hong Kong and Paris. A strong U.S. dollar means more expensive American cities. New York moved up six spots and Los Angeles jumped four spots on this year’s list.

Take a look at the top 10 below.

1. (3-way tie) Hong Kong, Singapore, and Paris, France

Photo Credit: Public Domain

4. Zurich, Switzerland

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

5. (2-way tie) Geneva, Switzerland and Osaka Japan

Photo Credit: Good Free Photos

7. (3-way tie) Seoul, South Korea, Copenhagen, Denmark, and New York City

Photo Credit: Pixabay

10. (2-way tie) Tel Aviv, Israel and Los Angeles, California

You can download and study a full copy of the report HERE.

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15 Things That Are Socially Acceptable Today But Will be Seen as Backwards and Immoral by Future Generations

Times change. It’s one of the few things you can actually rely on. What may have been totally acceptable a few decades ago might be considered extremely problematic today. Take homophobia, for example. Just a few decades ago, homosexuality was considered a mental illness! Today, we know better, and gay people are seen (by most of us, anyway) as just regular people who love the same sex.

Even though we like to think we’re so advanced and enlightened, the fact is that in 50 years, future generations will look at how we behave now and they’ll think we did some seriously backward things.

Here are what AskReddit users think those things will be.

1. Workaholics

“The insane workaholic culture we have that promotes unhealthy amounts of overtime and getting to work early every day.”

2. A divisive topic

“Allowing children to eat so much sugar.”

3. Noooooooo

“Microwaving fish at the work cafetaria.”

4. I don’t see this ever going away

“Posting pictures of your children on social media.”

5. Gotcha!

“Hyper-politicizing everything. “Gotcha” debates where the aim is just to win the argument rather than actually being right or making sensible points.”

6. No more plastic surgery

“My money is on the current methods of cosmetic surgery. Jamming sacks of fluid in a lady’s chest to create bigger boobs, for instance, seems like something for which there will one day be a better practice.”

7. Enough of that

“Influencers”, or in other words, people expressing an opinion (or worse, being paid to express an opinion) with the intent to influence others.

If I am looking to buy a new product that I am not familiar with, I will look for honest reviews. Unfortunately, honest reviews are virtually impossible to find today – they are either written by the manufacturer themself, or by a paid “customer” (influencer).

The only honest reviews are the negative ones by pissed off customers, but those are also not reilable, since they could be coming from someone who has been paid by a competitor, or just someone who happened to get that one faulty product that slipped through the QA checks.”

8. Wasteful

“Using something as strong and durable as plastic to make packaging destined to be thrown away.”

9. Awful

“Letting businesses pay politicians who are then responsible for setting laws that apply to the businesses.”

10. Do you agree?

“Colleges sucking every fucking dollar out of you that they can. Fucking scam artists.”

11. Bad for your health?

“Social media in general it’s proven that it takes a toll on our mental health but we still use it all the time anyway.”

12. Obsession

“The North American obsession/fetishization with work. European countries already have it figured out that productivity isn’t linear with time worked and 50-80 hour weeks aren’t doing anyone any good.

We’re still stuck with bragging about how little we slept and how many hours we worked this week, when so many of us are probably non or low functioning for many of those hours worked anyway.”

13. Listen to this one

“The idea that it is correct and sustainable for the current generation to borrow from future generations to consume now.

This is a relatively new trend. Perhaps 100 years in the most developed countries. Only beginning in many developing countries. This is why we don’t see the horrible consequences… yet.

Traditional models of economic development were all about savings and deferred consumption. Future generations had more than past generations and it was assumed that this is how they take care of their parents – by having slightly more than they would on their own. There was a general consensus that life is hard and that giving our children a better one is our duty. I eat half as much so that you and your children can eat it all. People were happy that they had it better than their parents and attempted to control their greed for the sake of their children.

Present models of economic development are all about present short term consumption which is financed with money creation. But money creation means that the wealth still has to come from somewhere and it does – from the future. More money creation now stimulates the economy for greater investment in the future which will increase production so that the extra debt can be paid. Unfortunately because there is no way to know how much you can borrow from the future it leads to essentially what is greed because expectations for the future have no restraint in something that we see around us – it is all in the future. Then as a result the future generations have less available to them than past generations and are being increasingly more burdened by economic cost of that which was consumed.

The result is that I want my house and my car and my vacations and my pension at 60 and you can get a student loan and get a job and not live in my house because I didn’t do it when I was your age. Except you did it because you borrowed from the future – that is my future.

Almost nothing of the way we now pay for things in the long term is ethical. The most obvious example is the environment – we are consuming now by leaving environmental debt for our children – but the same is true of welfare as pensions and medical care. We have fewer and fewer children and we both live longer and have greater demands and expectations. This means that our children have to both work harder to have the same standard of living that we had and in the end they are loaded with debt to pay for our welfare.

In the past a child would get inheritance from the parents. Sometimes nothing. But now every child gets a ton of debt and inflation before you get to whatever your parents left you. The national debt, the private debts, consumer debts they all keep growing… Who is going to pay it? Every time the government bails someone out to stave off a complete collapse of the debt-based economy the bill falls on the shoulders of the new generation. How much longer?

We still keep deferring the deadline with more and more money creation and various financial inventions but sooner or later enough people in the world will get on the same “consume now, pay later” scheme that it will crack because there will be nowhere to borrow from or nobody left to exploit and the sheer pressure of everyone wanting to have it will be like a collapsing star.

And there will be no escaping the black hole. Nobody will remember what it meant to just work for a better future for your children. Everyone will be angry that they can’t have it as good as their parents. And remember… the “natural” way of human society is not to have it as good as your parents but better. It is so natural to us as if it has been wired into us by evolution – which makes sense because those whose parents ensured their children’s well-being would be more likely to survive.

And when you can’t have it better. When there is no hope for a better future. Why live? Why let others live…? Why should they have when I can’t? And this is how wars begin.”

14. Here, here!

“I really hope this extremely polarizing political climate is seen as backwards and immoral in the future.”

15. Hmmmm

“I think one day some future generation will think “Can you believe they used to just let people drive these multi ton metal boxes at high speeds? They just accepted car accidents and traffic as a fact of life.”

I think this even now when I’m doing 80-85 mph on the highway and I look over and the driver next to me is doing the same speed while looking at their phone.”

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Here’s How Even a 5% Increase in Rent Would Affect NYC’s Homeless Population

Homelessness is a major issue in modern urban socities, and even though a lot of folks are slow to admit it, there’s actually a strong connection between gentrification an increase in homeless populations in those same locales.

One byproduct of gentrification is a hike in rental rates for the area. Recently, economists estimated that a mere 5% rise in NYC rent prices could cause more than 3,000 people to end up on the streets.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Los Angeles models generate a similar number, with around 2,000 people being forced from their homes over a 5% rent increase.

There are ways that cities can combat their homeless issue if they choose to make it a priority, and positive results are being seen in Houston, Tampa, Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego, and Saint Louis. All of those cities saw a decline in their homeless population from 2011 to 2016.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Many cities choose to implement voucher programs that cover rent for a few months at a time, which does seem to work to an extent, though underlying causes like access to mental health and substance abuse care and counseling still need to be addressed for the problem to be considered mended long term.

Responses have to be comprehensive, long-term, and committed, which means not only controlling rent prices and new development, but increasing affordable housing and shelter beds and helping people access the healthcare they need to keep their jobs and be able to pay rent.

Image Credit: Pixabay

With so many cities working on it and setting good examples, it seems as if there’s a good chance others might follow their lead, and that the working poor and lower class earners might not be the victims of “progress” in the future the way they have been in the past.

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These 10 Cities are the Hardest-Working Spots in America

Americans pride themselves in being hardworking people. We work hard, we play hard. But which American cities stand a cut above the rest in rolling up their sleeves and getting the job done?

The finance website Wallethub calculated the work ethic of American cities by looking at a bunch of data, including employment rate, length of the average workweek, unused vacation days, and how many people work multiple jobs.

Wallethub rated cities on a 100-point scale, and the highest-ranking city (which you’ll see at the bottom) scored a 79.

Explore this interactive map and see the 116 cities ranked in order by clicking this link to see how your city sizes up.

10. Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

9. Cheyenne, Wyoming

Photo Credit: Flickr,Michel Rathwell

8. Austin, Texas

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

7. Aurora, Colorado

Photo Credit: Flickr,Ken Lund

6. Denver, Colorado

Photo Credit: Max Pixel

5. Plano, Texas

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

4. Virginia Beach, Virginia

Photo Credit: Flickr,Jason Pratt

3. Irving, Texas

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

2. San Francisco, California

Photo Credit: Pixabay

1. Anchorage, Alaska

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Did any of these findings surprise you?

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Sexist Guy Posts His “12 Rules for Beautiful Women,” Gets Destroyed by the Internet

What is it with sexist jerks trying to tell other people how to live? It’s absolutely ridiculous. The only solace I have is that the internet tends to put them back in their place pretty quick.

Take Alexander J.A. Cortes, for example. The self-proclaimed “trainer”, “writer”, and speaker recently took to Twitter and laid out his 12 rules for “How to be a Beautiful Woman.”

Photo Credit: Instagram

Cortes has a history of tweeting out misogynistic views so this was really nothing new, but it caused a lot of people to respond nonetheless.

Here’s the tweet heard ’round the world that set off such a firestorm.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Cortes continued…

Photo Credit: Twitter

“Only a man can tell a woman how act.” Wow. And then he ended on this note.

Photo Credit: Twitter

As you can probably imagine, women were pretty livid.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

Cortes obviously is a Grade A-level troll and he replied to his haters with another Tweetstorm.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

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Photo Credit: Twitter

This “roadmap” he mentions was a retweet from this guy.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

Unless you’re blind, you can see that this guy is quite the catch. And the ladies let it loose once again.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

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And, finally…

Photo Credit: Twitter

THE END.

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15 Baffling Unsolved Mysteries That Simply Defy Explanation

I’m the type of person who NEEDS answers to things. I absolutely hate leaving questions unanswered. I actually have to keep myself away from mystery documentaries, because I will start yelling at the TV. I just love a good mystery (possibly too much).

These AskReddit users feel the same way I do and they shared mysteries that are so confounding that they have no possible explanation.

What are some of your favorite true unsolved mysteries? Share them in the comments.

#1. A strange situation

“When I was 7 or 8, we had this neighbor who was a super nice old lady that would give us snacks and talk to us through her window. She was agoraphobic and never, ever, ever left the house. Her kids would come by every other day or so to check up on her and everyone in the neighborhood knew them. One day me and my friends were outside playing like always, when her son comes to bring her groceries like always.

He comes out and asks if we’ve talked to his mom and we say we havent seen her in a day or 2. That sweet little old lady vanished from her house. Apparently no trace of her. Family was around alot after that was obviously was freaking out. I moved away a few years later but they never found out what happened. It wasn’t till I was an adult that I realized how f*cked that whole situation was.”

#2. The stranger

“Kind of personal, and I’m a bit late, but here goes:

While visiting Rome a few years back, the group I was with decided to tour the Vatican. One of our friends had a friend who was a brother studying to be a Priest. He was going to get us past the tourist barriers for a closer look at everything while we participated in a small mass at one of the numerous altars.

When we met up with this fellow, he immediately struck me as someone that I had met before. Almost someone that I had a good friendship with, but couldn’t explain where or why I had known him. I didn’t mention anything, as I was too busy hiding the pocket knife that I’d accidentally left in by bag before trying to get into the basilica.

The tour was interesting and the mass was a unique experience, but the whole time this feeling like I knew the man was haunting me. He invited us out to a coffee shop afterwards, and I took the time to retrieve the pocketknife I hid under a trash can.

When I returned, there was a seat for me right in front of the brother. I sat down, apologized, and started to listen to the conversations. Yet as soon as this guy has the chance to talk to me directly, he says, “Have I met you before? I have this strange feeling that we know each other but I can’t place it.”

I was blown away. We both were. This was the first conversation we had, and we both believed we had know each other personally. But when he explained his life over back in America, I couldn’t think of any reasonable explanation as to where we met. And even if we did, the feeling was that of close friends, not of a “I shook hands with you once.”

#3. Utterly confused

“I have a personal mystery. When I got home from uni and before I found a job I had a period of time where I stayed at my family home. Due to being home alone often during this time I tended to be the one who collected the mail and did odd home jobs. One day we had a particularly large amount of letters and parcel (for my brother’s birthday) and because two trips are for weak people I struggled and carried them all into the house. I managed to throw the letters onto the table but about half slipped onto the floor (this is important).

Thinking screw it, I carry the box upstairs to the office and come back down to pick the letters up. Yet, when I come back into the kitchen there are no letters anywhere. Confused, I check every downstairs table and eventually the mail box. Nothing at all. Finally I go back into the kitchen and notice one of the kitchen chairs is slightly pulled out from under the table. I pull it all the way out and under the cushion on the seat is a neat pile of the letters. There was no one but me at home for a few hours before this. Utterly confused till this day.”

#4. Wizardry

“I once did a magic trick in front of 20 people as a teenager. We had orchestrated it, so there were 2 of us.

So the trick is, I ask someone from the audience to pick a card, hold it above their head in front of the crowd, but card back facing me, so the entire crowd sees the card. Now someone on the other side of the window behind the crowd also sees the card, and with the crowd facing forwards, they don’t see him. So he plasters the card from another deck, on the window, and when he’s done doing that, I throw the entire deck at the window, and lo and behold, their card is now stuck on the other side of the window.

What happened surprised not only the crowd, but myself and my co-magician as well.

I throw the deck and the EXACT card is not only plastered on the other side of the window, it is also stuck on OUR side of the window, right next to it. My mind was blown and I still can’t explain it to this day. We played it as a part of the trick, so nobody in that crowd knows what sort of black wizardry went down that day.”

#5. A personal mystery

“Personal mystery: 20+ years ago I had a very brief job selling gas services door to door (side note, I’m not good at selling things, especially those I don’t truly believe in). Anyway, as dusk just started to arrive, near 5 pm, I knocked on a door and an old woman answers. I gave her my standard “ we can save you $$ by switching to xxx gas, my we look over your latest bills and our offerings to compare?” She tells me “I’m sorry, honey, I don’t live here, this is my son’s house, let me get him for you” and I politely accept.

After maybe 5-7 10 of waiting, I think maybe they’d forgotten me or were trying to blow me off so I have one last knock and this time a younger man, mid-40’s I’d guess, answers and asks if he can help me. I give him the same sales speech and he stops me midway and says “now is not a good time, we just buried my mother today”. I’m apologized and quickly backed away. I tell myself it was a nice way to mess with the door to door guy but I really don’t know to this day.”

#6. That is strange

“Two days before the space shuttle Challenger blew up I dreamt I was at the launch. The shuttle took off and caught the gantry. It started to veer off and I could hear the occupants screaming. Two days later I was having s home haircut and my daughter came in to tell me the news on the tv. It sent shivers down my spine. Of course it was coincidence but very creepy.

The strangest thing was that I wouldn’t have attended the launch – I live in UK and such a visit was unthinkable.”

#7. No idea how that happened…

“When I was in high school, my aunt gave me a t-shirt for my birthday. It was kind of sparkly and not something I ever would buy for myself, but I sometimes wore it. One day I realized I had two of this shirt in my closet. No idea how that happened. I could never think of a good explanation, although there must be one… Still seems strange.”

#8. A true mystery

“I was late for an appointment one day and was speeding up a hill with a big curve to the right, the direction I was going. Almost as soon as I got around the curve I saw there was an accident in front of me, blocking both lanes on my side. (Since there were only one or two other cars stuck behind it it must’ve just happened, because there were no emergency vehicles there yet.)

To the right of me was a sidewalk where people were standing gawking, and to my left was oncoming traffic in the other two lanes, so I couldn’t go around it, and I was going too fast to be able to stop in time. I knew if I relaxed I was less likely to be as severely injured, so I quickly shut my eyes and relaxed as much as I could.

And absolutely nothing happened.

When I opened my eyes, I could see the crash behind me in my rear view mirror and I was continuing along an empty (on my side) road.

This happened about 35 years ago, and to this day I have no idea how that happened.”

#9. Never figured it out

“When I still lived at home and came back from a night out my mother would often be up reading & if I wasn’t too tired I’d sit with her a bit and chat before going to bed. This was regular occurrence for years.

A couple years after I moved out I get a text from my mom one Sunday morning asking where I’d gone.

Was a little surprised as I was just in my apartment.

She tells me that last night I came home late and we chatted for a bit and she was surprised that I had left the house so early in the morning.

Now occasionally, I would still stop by my parents place to crash for the night depending on where I was in the city but I’d always let them know first.

Figured my mom has just dreamt this. So I call her and explain that I wasn’t there & ask what we talked about.

She summarizes the conversation and gives me details about things she shouldn’t have known about my night out eg. What was going on in the lives of the friends I had seen that night.

Never figured it out but now my mom teases and says she knows what I’m up to all the time.”

#10. They never turned up

“We lived in a bi-level house with a chest freezer in the basement and the kitchen on the second floor.

When I was younger I was a teenager I was asked to bring tatertots upstairs so my mom could make a casserole. I went and grabbed them and came upstairs.

When I got upstairs the tater-tots were no longer in my hands, and my mom asked where they were, I thought I had just spaced out and forgot them. So I went back downstairs and they weren’t in the freezer anymore. Searched literally every square inch/nook and cranny between the chest freezer and the kitchen and they were not anywhere.

They never ever turned up. To this day my mom thinks I was playing a dumb prank on her. My most plausible explanation is that we live in a computer simulation and they got accidentally glitched out of it.”

#11. The watch

“I bought my husband a watch for his 30th birthday engraved with his name. Not long after he lost it somewhere in the house. We searched everywhere for it but it couldn’t be found. Fast forward 13 years and my husband has a heart attack and dies instantly.

Two weeks later our 2 yo son walks out of the bathroom holding his watch. There are no cupboards in there- just a shower and bath. He’s very excited to have it and to this day, I have no idea where he got it from.”

#12. The ring

“Lost my class ring when I was 20. About 8-10 months later I move 1000 miles away. Only brought a few clothes and my car. Someone hit me and totaled my car while there…twice, be careful driving in Florida. Bought a new car (twice). Lived there for a year. Then moved about 200 miles away. A month after moving to the new town I receive a call from a church. They received a donation of clothes. While sorting them out they found a class ring with my name etched inside the band. My new home number came up when they searched my name. The church was about two miles from where we just moved.

My wife didn’t get rid or donate any clothes. I thought it must be a mistake, but decided to go take a look. Sure enough, it was mine. I looked through the clothes they found it in and they weren’t mine or my wife’s. Still no idea how it could have ended up 1,100 miles from where I lost it.”

#13. No glass…anywhere

“A little late but this story still makes me sleep with the lights on whenever I think of it. My sister and I were upstairs at my grandparents house where we lived. We were playing some Disney princess game on our TV. All of a sudden we hear a loud piece off glass shatter. It seriously sounded like someone dropped a chandelier.

My uncle who was visiting at the time came sprinting up the stairs because he thought we were being assaulted. He checked in the next room that the sound came from and nothing had fallen. There were no glass shards anywhere. Kinda creeped him out as well.”

#14. That is creepy

“Personal story and a something that still bothers me till this day.
I’m a soccer/football coach of kids (great way to earn money when you’re a student) and each year we have a couple of ‘open’ practices where parents bring their kids to see if they like soccer etc. After one of these practices a kid walks up to me and says ‘I’m sorry that you lost your grandma’. I was a bit confused and I said ‘Ooh no, you must think of someone else’ and I just shrugged it of.

The next day I woke up for school and my parents told me my grandma died in her sleep and that her nurse found her in bed that morning.

The kid might have mistaken me for someone else but it still bugs me. Also; he never showed up at practice again.”

#15. We thought so

“I was in NYC near Grand Central Station, and a pair of Hasidic Jews came up to my wife and me and pointedly asked me whether my last name was “Igor”. I said uh, yeah? They said “we thought so.” and walked away. I still have no idea what the context was nor how they knew my last name among a busy commuting crowd.”

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Here Are 2019’s Best Places to Live in America

Have you ever considered moving to Boise, Idaho by any chance? It may not have been on your radar, but you might want to consider it – at least based on these rankings from Livability.

Of course, all studies about “best places to live” and “livability” are at least somewhat subjective, but the website calculated its scores by studying 8 categories: amenities, demographics, education, economy, health care, housing, social and civic capital, and transportation and infrastructure.

The study also took affordability into account and instituted a cap on the median home value. As a result, no city on the list has a median home value above $250,000 (I’m looking at you San Francisco and Seattle).

Here are the top 20 places to live according to the report. You can see all top 100 cities by visiting the Livability website.

1. Boise, Idaho

Photo Credit: Flickr,Charles Knowles

Population: 214,196

2. Raleigh, North Carolina

Photo Credit: GoodFreePhotos

Population: 432,520

3. Madison, Wisconsin

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Population: 243,122

4. Iowa City, Iowa

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Population: 71,832

5. Rochester, Minnesota

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Population: 116,000

6. Columbia, Missouri

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Population: 115,391

7. Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Population: 164,341

8. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Population: 305,928

9. Lincoln, Nebraska

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Population: 269,726

10. Greenville, South Carolina

Photo Credit: Flickr,Mike Burton

Population: 61,734

11. Fargo, North Dakota

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Population: 113,464

12. Tampa, Florida

Photo Credit: GoodFreePhotos

Population: 355,603

13. Minneapolis, Minnesota

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Population: 399,950

14. Asheville, North Carolina

Photo Credit: Facebook,Visit Asheville

Population: 86,789

15. Bismarck, North Dakota

Photo Credit: Flickr,Andrew Filer

Population: 66,980

16. Manhattan, Kansas

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Population: 55,769

17. Orlando, Florida

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Population: 256,738

18. Tempe, Arizona

Photo Credit: Flickr,Sarina

Population: 169,816

19. Bloomington, Indiana

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Population: 82,813

20. Omaha, Nebraska

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Population: 440,034

Did your city make the cut?

What do you think of this list?

The post Here Are 2019’s Best Places to Live in America appeared first on UberFacts.

Men of Twitter Share Instances They Took a Stand Against Misogyny and Predatory Behavior

Gentlemen: pay attention. It’s up to us to end misogyny, so if we see another man acting inappropriately towards a woman in any way whatsoever, it’s our duty to speak up and take a stand. Period.

If you need inspiration, take a look at these guys. It all started when a Twitter user threw out this question to all the good guys out there.

Photo Credit: Twitter

And here were some of the best responses.

1. Role model

Photo Credit: Twitter

2. He needed to hear it

Photo Credit: Twitter

3. Explain why they’re wrong

Photo Credit: Twitter

4. It’s not hard

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5. Stare ’em down

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6. Teaching moments

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7. Some good advice

Photo Credit: Twitter

8. Ugh

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9. Get involved in one way or another

Photo Credit: Twitter

10. It’s okay to look like an idiot

Photo Credit: Twitter

To all the guys out there: it’s our responsibility to step up and say something when you see something inappropriate happening. Do the right thing!

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The U.K. is Seeing a Sudden Resurgence of Ancient Diseases

As we here in America battle with the comeback of diseases like measles, the United Kingdom is also struggling with the reemergence of old-school, Dickensian diseases gout and scarlet fever.

Data from the UK National Health Service shows a 52% increase in four key “Victorian diseases” since 2010/2011 – many of which were assumed to have disappeared along with chamber pots. The rise of sanitation, vaccinations, and modern science seemed to have these diseases on the run, but the recent data shows that they’re not going down without a fight.

Cases of scarlet fever have increased by 208% in the past decade, going from 429 cases in 2010/11 to 1321 cases in 2017/2018. The disease was the leading cause of death in children in the early 20th century and presents with a sore throat, fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and a pink-red rash.

Scarlet fever rash
Image Credit: Wikipedia

A vaccine nearly wiped out whooping cough in the 1950s but hospital admissions are up 59%, and the instances of people experiencing gout are up 38% – almost 2000 more cases in 2017/2018 than there were 10 years before. Gout is associated with a poor diet, heavy drinking, an a general lack of concern over one’s health.

Whooping cough bacteria
Image Credit: Wikipedia

Life expectancy is stalling in the UK, too, and hospital admissions due to malnutrition are up 54%. Infant mortality rates are also on the rise, and as with everything else, the poorer people are suffering the most.

The culprit? Well, the data suggests large cuts to healthcare, social services, and other public services could be to blame. That said, the study was commissioned by a political party that is against the austerity programs, which should be taken into consideration.

The data is solid and from independent sources, however, so the truth can’t be denied – people in the UK are sicker than ever, dying younger than they were ten years ago, and generally struggling to stay well as people in Western Europe face none of the same challenges (in general).

I don’t know about you, but I hope to avoid all of these diseases in the modern world. All I’ve got is a vaccination and a prayer.

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This Man’s ER Experience in Taiwan Shows How Truly Messed up American Health Care Really Is

No matter what side of the political aisle you belong to, chances are most of you would agree that America’s healthcare system, as it currently stands, is pretty broken. Even if we can’t all agree about what the right solution may be, we definitely agree that it could certainly be better.

The fact is that, when it comes to healthcare, America actually lags behind the rest of the civilized world. We spend more exponentially more money to get significantly less coverage.

Most other first world countries offer government-funded universal healthcare – and that is also true in Taiwan, where one Kevin Bozeat has been living as an ex-pat. But unfortunately, he didn’t qualify for their healthcare and had no American health insurance, either, when he found himself super sick and in need of a trip to the emergency room.

He sucked it up and let his roommate call him a taxi, figuring he’d work out the payment when it came due (the way most of us regular people do here in the States).

Here’s what happened.

Image Credit: Facebook

tl;dr: His experience was awesome and even with no insurance, it cost him $80.

Of course, since this is the internet in America, people had to try to find every which way to prove that his experience was singular, or reasons why it wouldn’t work in the States, or to insinuate that Taiwan is somehow a poor, third world country (it’s not; their GDP is higher than Denmark’s).

So, Kevin did some legwork for us in the form of arguments against all of the “good points” people made about his original post.

Image Credit: Facebook

To sum up:

  1. The cost of living in Taiwan is about 50% of the cost of living in the U.S. Good luck going to any emergency room here for any reason and getting out of there for less than $160.
  2. Doctors do make less, but they’re still solidly middle class (and there are plenty of people willing to go into the field).
  3. The taxes in Taiwan do pay for healthcare but they’re not high – if you have their national healthcare it works out to about $70.53/month for a person who makes $60k/year.

He acknowledges that no system is perfect, but quotes the Ministry of Health in saying that “…the Taiwanese government believes that healthcare is a right for all of its citizens, rather than a privilege for those who can afford it.”

Everyone in Taiwan is covered (along with foreign permanent resident) is entitled to coverage regardless of employment status, and no citizen goes bankrupt due to medical bills.

It sounds like a utopia, but it’s not – most of the world has figured out how to make it happen. And according to Kevin, it’s time for his home country to stop making excuses.

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