Category: World Culture

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This Is Why You’re Not Supposed to Wear White After Labor Day

Do you know this?

The rule about not wearing white after Labor Day is so common that many people don’t even think twice about it. But where, exactly, did this rule even come from?

From rich people, apparently.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, more and more people became millionaires. High-society wives felt the need to come up with a way to tell the difference between respectable old money families and vulgar new money families. So, they came up with elaborate rules that only people in the “know” would be aware of.

Case in point, not wearing white outside of the summer months. White was only for weddings and resort wear. After Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894, it was considered the natural endpoint for summer fashion.

Photo Credit: iStock

Like many high-society fashion trends, this rule eventually trickled down to the middle class, too. Women’s magazines in the 1950s advised women to put white clothes into storage on Labor Day until the next Memorial Day came around.

But that’s not to say that everyone accepted this rule. Some socialites ignored the trend and continued to wear white year-round, such as Coco Chanel.

Photo Credit: iStock

Similarly, nowadays, a lot of people ignore this rule altogether. And knowing its origins, it seems completely fair to do that! The custom is over 100 years old and no longer really relevant. Yet, every year, you’ll probably hear someone citing it nonetheless.

Because of course, dahhhling!

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This Is How Hurricanes Actually Get Their Names

Barry? Dorian? Who comes up with this stuff, anyway?

Well, though hurricane names may seem random, there is actually a system to it all.

Hurricanes in the West Indies used to be named after the saint’s day when the storm hit. In the 1900s, an Australian meteorologist decided to name hurricanes after women’s names instead of saints (cause they’re destructive?), and the United States followed suit in 1953. In 1979, men’s names were also added to the list.

But how does a particular hurricane gets its name? The World Meteorological Organization uses an alphabetical list. For the Atlantic coast, there are six lists with 21 names each, one for every letter of the alphabet except Q, U, X and Y. Each list is to be used for one year — every time a storm comes, meteorologists take the names alphabetically on that year’s list. After six years, the naming process starts over with the first list again.

Photo Credit: iStock

The process is the same for hurricanes on the Pacific coast, except that the lists include names for every letter except Q and U.

If there are too many hurricanes in a given year and meteorologists run out of names, then the rest come from the Greek alphabet, starting with Alpha and going down to Omega.

The lists are already established, but there are a few exceptions. If a hurricane is particularly bad, it gets a unique name (like Katrina or Sandy). Also, the World Meteorological Organization sometimes decides to retire names from the list at its annual meeting. The names Florence and Michael, for example, were recently retired.

Photo Credit: iStock

So, now you know! Some future hurricane names to look out for in 2019 include Fernand, Gabriella and Humberto (on the East coast) and Juliette, Kiko and Lorena (on the West coast).

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Lego Launches a Feature to Help Make Their Products Accessible to Blind Children

Unless you know someone who is blind, you probably don’t give a whole lot of thought to how blindness affects people – how difficult certain chores and tasks might be. And that includes hobbies and fun as well, especially for kids.

A young blind man named Matthew Shifrin remembers how difficult it was to just be able to play with LEGOs when he was growing up. Because the instructions for LEGOs are represented with images, a family friend of Shifrin’s had to spend hours writing out the instructions and then Shifrin had to upload them into a program that converted the instructions into braille.

A pretty complicated process for a kid who just wants to build things with LEGOs.

Get some #inspiration. Matthew Shifrin has been working tirelessly for several years to spread audio and Braille Lego building instructions to children around the world. https://buff.ly/2PApHdv

Posted by Mike Parsons on Tuesday, September 3, 2019

That’s why Matthew Shifrin teamed up with LEGO to create braille and audio instructions for the company’s toy sets.

LEGO is intent on making its products more accessible to people with disabilities, and earlier this year, the company launched its Braille Bricks that teach people the braille writing system.

Lego launches new feature to make building sets accessible to blind childrenRead more Technology News Here –>…

Posted by Technology News on Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The new sets that come with braille and audio instructions will be sold until December 31, and they include sets of buildings, vehicles, and a spaceship from The LEGO Movie 2. The sets are available for sale and then people can access free instructions on this website. Users can also share feedback on the site, which LEGO will use to make improvements to their instructions. The company also plans to add more sets with braille and audio instructions next year.

Matthew Shifrin says of the partnership with LEGO, “I just want to foster as many blind Lego addicts as I can and help them get into the hobby because it’s helped me so much … I really want to give back to these kids.”

Here’s a video of Shifrin giving a Ted Talk.

Great work!

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A Teen Went Blind After Eating a Diet of French Fries and White Bread for Years

No one really warns you that eating only crappy food could cost you one of your five precious senses.

The teen – who, sadly, was living with parents and not on the street – had subsisted on fries, Pringles, white bread, and the occasional slice of processed ham for years. Not surprisingly, he started experiencing medical issues at the age of 14.

His parents brought him to the doctor, who found that his hearing problems were due to poor vitamin intake.

“His diet was essentially a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day. He also used to snack on crisps – Pringles – and sometimes slices of white bread and occasional slices of ham, and not really any fruit and vegetables.”

He was diagnosed with a vitamin B12 deficiency. B12 is found in fish, meat, dairy, and eggs, and it is essential for proper brain function, forming red blood cells and new DNA, proteins, hormones, and fat. Doctors provided him with supplements, but recommended a diet change.

Eventually, they conceded that he was more than just a “fussy eater” and diagnosed an eating disorder called Arfid – avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. The disorder causes people to limit their food based on appearance, texture, presentation, taste, or past negative experience. People who suffer from Arfid often also have anxiety and will limit their food to the point that it affects their health, without intervention.

At 17, he returned to the doctor complaining of vision loss, and admitted he had quit taking his supplements. His original doctor said, “He had blind spots right in the middle of his vision. That means he can’t drive and would find it really difficult to read, watch TV, or discern faces.”

His eyesight had deteriorated quickly and was past the point of recovering through treatment. According to his mother, he showed no other obvious signs of poor health along the way. “He has always been skinny so we had no weight concerns. You hear about junk food and obesity all the time – but he was as thin as a rake.”

The boy was severely malnourished, suffering a catastrophic loss of minerals from his bones and has been referred to mental health services to treat his eating disorder.

For her part, his mother blames the doctors.

“They said it was all in his head. By the time they realised what was wrong it was too late to save his sight. The whole ordeal has been very traumatic. I want to scream about what we have gone through.”

I mean, now I want to scream about parents who don’t realize that diet could cause problems for a child in their care, so I guess we’re all traumatized here.

I guess I can still see, at least.

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July 2019 Was the Hottest Month on Record…so Far

If you thought July was hotter than usual, you were right.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), July was not only the hottest July of all time, but the hottest month since we began keeping such records back in 1880.

The average global temperatures were nearly a full degree Celsius over the 20th-century average.

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July 2019 came right after the hottest June ever recorded, which saw temperatures climb 2 full degrees Celsius over average for the time.

9 of the 10 hottest Julys have occurred since 2005, so despite statements from some public leaders that global warming is a hoax, the data points to the contrary. This July, as a matter of fact, was the 415th consecutive month with above-average temperatures across the globe.

Also according to NOAA, satellite data for July shows the lowest polar ice levels ever recorded – one more reason for concern, if you ask Professor of Climate Science Richard Allan.

“Just as one swallow does not make a summer, one record month does not tell us much on its own since the fickle nature of weather systems and the slow sloshing about of the ocean can sometimes temporarily warm or cool the planet. However, the clustering of recent record hot years and months, the longer-term warming trend and our understanding of the physics of the atmosphere and oceans confirms that our climate is heating up, it’s our fault, and the way to stop this is to reduce and begin removing emissions of greenhouse gases.”

Full stop.

Now, let’s agree to do something about it before it’s too late.

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A Recent Study Shows That More Guns Lead to More Violent Crime

A recent statistical analysis of 33 U.S. states might be a game-changer for the argument that more guns on the street would help reduce violent crime.

The report will likely come into play as the Supreme Court gets ready to hear arguments in a case lobbying for the constitutional right for Americans to carry guns outside the home.

The debate over whether more guns leads to more or less crime harkens back to the 1998 book More Guns, Less Crime, by John Lott Jr. of the Crime Prevention Research Center. Since its publication, 11 states have loosened their right-to-carry laws, and more than 30 states allow the open carrying of a gun with no permit necessary.

In those same states, violent crime increased 13%-15% in the decade after right-to-carry laws were adopted.

Which is one why, argues the study’s lead author John Donohue, adopting them could be a “dangerous mistake to make.”

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“It just another day.. and I stand behind you in line at the store with a smile on my face…and a gun in my purse and you are none the wiser. You have no clue that I carry because I have my gun concealed, yet you are safer for having me next to you. I will not shoot you. My gun won't pull it's own trigger. It is securely holstered. It can't just go off by itself. However, rest assured that if a lunatic walks into the store and pulls out a rifle and starts shooting innocent people, I will draw my pistol and protect myself and my family.. and because your next to me, I will protect you and your family. I may freeze up, I may piss my pants, I will be terrified just as you. I may even get shot before I can pull the trigger…but, I won't die helpless on the floor begging for my life or my families life without trying to protect us. I won't be that victim. I REFUSE to be that victim. No one will take my life or those around me without me fighting back. As for you, I don't ask you to carry a gun. If you are not comfortable, then please don't. There are some people that feel guns kill people.. I’m here to tell you people kill people. I choose to not be a HELPLESS victim. This world is ugly and there is evil in the world and if evil has a gun, I want one too… because that’s MY RIGHT and I pray that day NEVER HAPPENS but if that day did, you’ll be blessed to have me by you.” #concealedcarry #glock43 #myright #secondamendmentrights #gunsafe #concealcarry #countrygirl #SelfDefense #RefuseToBeAVictim #Glock #9mm #KeepCalmAndCarry #defendthesecond #2A #AllGunLawsAreInfringements #righttocarry #ihavetherighttoprotectmyself #DontBeAStatistic #Southcarolina #ThisIsMySafety

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“The important takeaway is that more guns seem to lead to more crime. So it is probably wise to think in terms of appropriate controls and it would be very unwise to push the 2nd amendment too far.”

The team behind the study looked at violent crime rates in all states, controlling for policing, incarceration rates, poverty, and other demographic issues to estimate the impact of the right-to-carry laws on the books.

3.1 million people were victims of violent crimes in 2017, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and jailing everyone responsible would double the prison population in most states.

Donahue says that even he and his team were surprised at what the data presented.

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"I stand behind you in line at the store with a smile on my face…and a gun under my shirt and you are none the wiser, yet you are safer for having me next to you. I won't shoot you. My gun won't pull it's own trigger. It is securely holstered with the trigger covered. It can't just go off. However, rest assured that if a lunatic walks into the grocery store and pulls out a rifle, I will draw my pistol and protect myself and my family and therefore protect you and your family. I may freeze up. I may piss my pants. I may get shot before I can pull the trigger…but, I won't die in a helpless blubbering heap on the floor begging for my life or my child's life. I won't be that victim. I choose not to be. As for you, I don't ask you to carry a gun. If you are not comfortable, then please don't. But I would like to keep my right to choose to not be a helpless victim. There is evil in the world and if evil has a gun, I want one too…” -unknown . . #SelfDefense #RefuseToBeAVictim #Glock #GlockPerfection #glock43x #9mm #therearemanylikeitbutthisoneismine #KeepCalmAndCarry #defendthesecond #edccarry #2A #AllGunLawsAreInfringements #righttocarry #ihavetherighttoprotectmyself #DontBeAStatistic #ConcealedCarry #Texas #ThisIsMySafety

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“It was really only after we had 13 more years of data and 11 additional adoptions of RTC laws that a clear picture emerged that RTC laws increase violent crime.”

And not by a little – by a lot.

In 23 of the 31 states with right-to-carry laws, violent crime increased by as much as 24% (PA) in the last decade.

Incidents of gun violence related to road rage disputes, bar fights, police shootings of armed civilians, and everyday disagreements explain increases, as the study did not find a statistically significant change in rates of homicide or property crimes.

Other researchers, like Daniel Webster of the Center for Gun Policy and Research at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Buzzfeed News he’s thrilled to have more numbers.

“I have read the study and consider it to be the most rigorous of studies of right-to-carry laws to date. This is a very important piece of research.”

Mr. Lott – the author of the original pro-gun argument – is keen to dismiss the emerging numbers.

“Basically, poor areas are more likely to be affected by violent crime, so lowering barriers to permits has a bigger effect in states that do so.”

The insinuation (without evidence) is that the study didn’t take such things into account. He also complained that other studies that support his own findings have “gotten no news coverage.”

Criminologist Philip Cook from Duke University, though, argues that new studies often trump old research and topple old data. That’s just how science often works.

“The scientific process does not always get the answer right the first time, but if it’s working well, then important findings are reviewed and tested and the truth becomes clearer.”

The new study, which encompasses 33 states and an extra decade of data, should be the beacon going forward – unless another study as rigorous effectively challenges it sometime in the future.

Until then, these numbers should give everyone – including the Supreme Court – something to think about.

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A New Study Shows Police Violence Is a Leading Cause of Death for Young Black Men

It’s become clear that young black men have different experiences with – and more reasons to fear – interactions with police.

At least, that’s how it seems.

But now, a scientific study is backing up that idea with proof.

According to new research, black men between the ages of 20 and 29 experience the highest mortality rate, with use-of-force by police being the 6th leading cause of death (after accidents, suicide, other homicides, heart disease, and cancer).

Study author Frank Edwards, of the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University-Newark, issued a statement about their findings.

“We haven’t really known for sure how often these killings have been happening because the data hasn’t been good enough. But if we are going to try and change police practices that aren’t working, we need to track this information better.”

Lest you think those numbers aren’t striking, they mean that 1 in every 1,000 black men will be killed by police – a 2.5x higher rate than for white men.

They join American Indians and Alaskan Natives in being “significantly more likely” to be killed by police. Even black women are 1.4x more likely than white women to be killed by police.

The data comes from Fatal Encounters, a journalist-led effort to document police-related deaths, which otherwise are lumped in with other crime statistics.

“We find that African American men and women, American Indian/Alaskan Native men and women, and Latino men face higher lifetime risk of being killed by police than do their white peers.”

Even though the data includes so-called “justified” killings, the results are nonetheless compelling. Race and police brutality continue to stand in the national spotlight, largely due to the fact that even though black people make up a mere 13% of the population, they encompass 34% of the prison population and 25% of people killed by on-duty police – making them closer to 3x more likely to die that way than their white peers.

While these results can be partially explained by the fact that younger people are more likely to engage in risky behavior, the study authors point out that police in the U.S. kill more people overall than forces in other industrialized democracies, particularly when it comes to people of color.

Hopefully studies like these, combined with thoughtful policies and departments intent on improving relations between officers and those they serve, will help steer America in the right direction.

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A French Man Attempted a DIY Project and Got His Head Stuck in a Ladder for 5 Days

Home improvement shows on television may make projects look simple (or at least doable) around the house, and it’s no wonder that more and more unqualified people have it in their heads they can tackle things around the house without professional help. Stores like Lowes and Home Depot perpetuate the myth, more than happy to sell you everything you need except an actual skillset.

This guy, though, learned the hard way that everything is not meant to be a do-it-yourself.

Or at least, it shouldn’t be.

The unnamed man from eastern France spent five whole days with his head wedged between two ladder rungs after he fell while working in his bathroom. His head swelled up so quickly he was unable to pull it out, reports the BBC.

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Raaaaash #stuckinaladder

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Given his encumbrance, he was unable to reach either his phone or the sink tap, meaning that when his sister finally found him and alerted medics to his distress, he was badly dehydrated, in addition to suffering from reduced blood flow to his head.

The hospital checked him over and released him, though he is still being monitored for complications.

My Dad got his head stuck in the porch yesterday whilst trying to feed a dead bee to a spider that lives in the bushes… from funny

The good (?) news is, he’s far from the first person (or animal) to find their head trapped in a ladder.

Let that be a warning to all of you DIYers out there – you just never know what the worst case scenario is going to be until it happens to you.

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A School in Tennessee Banned ‘Harry Potter’ Books. In 2019.

What year are we living in? Oh, that’s right, it’s 2019…and apparently, some things never change.

A Catholic school in Nashville, Tennessee, has removed J.W. Rowling’s world-famous Harry Potter books from its shelves because the school’s pastor said, “These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception. The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.”

St. Edward Catholic School pastor Father Dan Reehil wrote an email to parents at the school explaining the decision. Reehil said in the message that he consulted with several exorcists in the U.S. and in Italy before making his decision. That seems like time well spent, doesn’t it?

Rebecca Hammel, the superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Nashville, said, “Each pastor has canonical authority to make such decisions for his parish school. He’s well within his authority to act in that manner.”

This is not the first time that the Harry Potter series has been under scrutiny from schools. From 2001 until 2003, the series was on the American Library Association’s list of “most challenged books.”

Father Reehil started exploring the possibility of banning the Harry Potter books after he received an inquiry from a parent. I bet that kid thinks his parents are a BLAST.

It’s hard to believe that this kind of thing still happens in 2019, but here we are…

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Steve Jobs Made Some Accurate Predictions About the Future of Technology in the 1980s and ’90s

Steve Jobs was truly a one-of-kind businessman. The co-founder of Apple was a visionary who helped change the way we work, play, and live. And Jobs made some predictions in the 1980s and 1990s that may have seemed far-fetched at the time, but it turns out he absolutely nailed it.

Here are some examples of the foresight that Jobs had years before these things became a reality.

Tablets

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The iPad wasn’t launched by Apple until 2010, but all the way back in 1983 at the International Design Conference in Aspen, Jobs talked about “an incredibly great computer in a book that you can carry around with you that you that you can learn in five minutes.”

Virtual Assistants

Photo Credit: Pexels

Before Siri and Alexa became household items, Jobs said this…in 1984: “The next stage is going to be computers as ‘agents. In other words, it will be as if there’s a little person inside that box who starts to anticipate what you want. Rather than help you, it will start to guide you through large amounts of information. It will almost be like you have a little friend inside that box.”

Sound familiar?

iPhones

Photo Credit: Pexels

Those “agents” Jobs talked about? Jobs said they would evolve. “I’ve always thought it would be really wonderful to have a little box, a sort of slate that you could carry along with you.”

Sounds like an iPhone to me.

Young people and devices

Photo Credit: pxhere

Jobs really nailed this prediction. In 1984, he said, “You’d get one of these things maybe when you were 10 years old, and somehow you’d turn it on and it would say, you know, ‘Where am I?’ And you’d somehow tell it you were in California and it would say, ‘Oh, who are you?’”

The online marketplace

Photo Credit: Flickr,Elaine Smith

In 1995, Steve Jobs predicted that the newly-flourishing Internet would allow startup companies to compete with established companies because they’d be able to sell directly to consumers. He said, “it’s very exciting because it is going to destroy vast layers of our economy and make available a presence in the marketplace for very small companies, one that is equal to very large companies.”

Sadly, Jobs passed away in 2011 at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer, but he sure did accomplish a lot while he was alive.

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