Author: hfhadmin

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Animals Life

34 Chinese Pups Rescued From Canine Meat Trade Flown From China To New York

An American charity rescues 34 puppies from China’s illegal dog trafficking and flows them to New York to be housed with loving families.

While most of us see dogs as our best companions in life and spoil them in all guilt-free ways possible, this is not the case in all parts of the world, unfortunately. An American charity has saved a group of canines that were planned to be turned into canine meat in China!

Thirty-four of them were flown to New York to be housed with loving families. The organization No Dogs Left Behind organized the dogs to be flown by Air China directly from Beijing to JFK.

The charity was founded in 2016 and has a shelter in China. Over the last four years, they have saved hundreds of dogs and have found them forever homes in the United States.

  • The charity flew the dogs to New York, to meet their new owners

  • This is one of the lucky pups rescued and brought to the U.S.

  • More dogs are expected to arrive soon

  • No Dogs Left Behind founder Jeff Beri

  • No Dogs Left Behind activists have saved thousands of dogs since 2016

  • The team confronts traffickers and threaten to report to authorities

  • The charity targets slaughterhouses, wet markets, traffickers, and illegal breeders across China

Before meeting their new owners, the dogs, which consisted of retrievers, corgis, poodles, Pomeranians, dachshunds, and mutts, received water and treats. People were thrilled to be finally able to hold the puppies and give them all the love they deserve.

Carly Weinstein, who had been waiting six months for the new arrival, said she was feeling amazing, and eagerly waited to bring the pup home as a Christmas gift. 11-year-old Auxence Goullier held the poodle, and promised she will love her with all her heart!

  • This little girl was thrilled to meet her new friend

  • Crates on the tarmac at JFK

  • The families came to the airport to pick the pooches up

  • The dogs were flown by Air China directly from Beijing to JFK

  • These puppies get a new life after a 14-hour flight from China

The founder of the charity, 56-year-old Jeff Beri, said:

“This by far is the largest transport that we have done. 

These dogs… are my heroes, the adopters are my heroes who’ve waited for their dogs for almost a year now, and every dog that walks the streets is an ambassador for the cruelty-free movement that we’re fighting for.

Dead, on the plate, skinned alive, boiled alive, blowtorched, beaten to death. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a poodle, whether or not it’s a German Shepherd, a Golden Retriever, a mutt, doesn’t matter if it’s a Chinese dog, they don’t care.”

He and his team have to use various tactics to save dogs, usually under cover of darkness.

They use drones to track down the meat sellers.

In most cases, they confront the illegal traffickers directly and manage to save the dogs by threatening them that they would turn them into the Chinese authorities where they could face hefty fines.

Beri explains that they turn them over in the end, as “the fines exceed the cost of the meat.”

  • Jeff Beri hands out dogs to new owners

  • Families drove to JFK airport to meet their new furry friends

  • All kinds of dogs arrived, including poodles, German Shepherd’s and Golden Retrievers

Numerous dogs in China ended up on the streets recently, as Beri explained:

“Families had to abandon their dogs and many families sold their dogs to butchers in fear the police would come to detain them. There was a lot of mixed messaging coming out saying you could get COVID from your dog.”

The organization targets slaughterhouses, wet markets, traffickers, and illegal breeders across China.

They hope to save more than a hundred more dogs from China’s illegal dog trafficking by early 2021.

This time, the airline broke up the shipments in two to ensure oxygen levels in the plane’s cargo hold were at a safe level.

  • The group caught the touching moments on video

  • New dog owners showed their support for the charity and held up signs for the cameras

The mission of the charity “extends beyond borders worldwide, advocating for the creation and enforcement of animal welfare laws, and raising awareness for a cruelty-free, sustainable world in which no animal is violated, exploited, tortured or slaughtered for commercial goods or profit.”

Beri said:

“Global animal welfare laws are in order, and until that happens, we will continue to fight. We will sanction and we will boycott until change happens.

No Dogs Left Behind believes no country has the right to recklessly slaughter animals and any country that does, it is time for sanctions and boycotting in any way possible because the next pandemic is coming.

We’re fighting for vaccines, but nobody’s fighting for change.”

Source: www.the-sun.com

Categories
Animals

Moment Cher Meets ‘World’s Loneliest Elephant’ Kaavan In Pakistan Zoo

Cher went to Pakistan to meet the ‘world’s loneliest elephant’ before he was relocated to a sanctuary in Cambodia to live out his retirement.

Animal rights activist groups aim to ensure “animal welfare” and “animal protection”, claiming that to deny the most basic needs of non-human animals is a form of discrimination akin to sexism and racism.

They maintain that we should all treat animals with the respect they deserve, not to violate their right to live in freedom in their natural habitat, and not treat them as a means to achieve some human end.

These groups have won numerous battles over the last several years, to the delight of many. Now, after many years of campaigning, the ‘world’s loneliest elephant’ will leave the Pakistan zoo, and live out his retirement in a sanctuary in Cambodia.

American singer and actress Cher was among the numerous animal activists fighting for his right to a better life and helped a lot for him to be relocated from the zoo. The elephant, Kaavan, is an overweight Asian bull elephant, that has languished in a zoo in Islamabad for 35 years.

The poor animal had been forced to entertain crowds while kept in captivity and beg for money from zoo visitors while being prodded with bull hooks by his handlers.

Plus, he lost his partner in 2012. According to experts, elephants are similar to humans, and experience the same emotions as us, form strong bonds with their companions and mourn them when they die.

Fortunately, those terrible days have come to an end. Now, he will be moved to a new place, a 25,000-acre wildlife sanctuary located in Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia, to live out his retirement surrounded by other elephants.

The famous singer and Oscar-winning actress, aged 74, recently arrived in Pakistan, and has spent the past days at the Islamabad zoo to give him moral support.

  • After helping to secure his relocation to a sanctuary in Cambodia, this is the moment Cher met the ‘world’s loneliest elephant’ in a Pakistan zoo 

  • Kaavan is an overweight Asian bull elephant, that has lived in horrible conditions in Islamabad for 35 years, and lost his partner in 2012.

Earlier this year, the vets diagnosed him as both overweight and malnourished. He also has behavioral issues.

Kaavan’s bad treatment at the zoo led to fierce criticism by animal rights groups and an intensive social media campaign by Cher.

While thanking her charity Free The Wild, she stated:

‘My wishes have finally come true. We have been counting down to this moment and dreaming of it for so long and to finally see Kaavan transported out of (the Islamabad) zoo will remain with us forever.’

Kaavan’s case and the miserable conditions at the zoo convinced a judge to order all the animals to be relocated. In May, Pakistan’s high court ordered the closure of Marghazar Zoo in the capital of Islamabad, which was Kaavan’s home for most of his life.

Cher made it her mission to secure Kaavan a new home where he can be free and revel in the company of other elephants.

  • Cher met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad, who thanked her for her efforts

  • Volunteers paint an image of an elephant on the crate which was used to transport Kaavan to the wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia

Martin Bauer, a spokesman for Four Paws International – an animal welfare group that has spearheaded the relocation effort, said:

“Thanks to Cher and also to local Pakistani activists, Kaavan’s fate made headlines around the globe and this contributed to the facilitation of his transfer.”

Mr. Bauer pointed out celebrities’ power to make a change and help animals. He added that their efforts are always welcomed, as “they help starting public discourse and raising pressure on responsible authorities.”

  • A slightly sedated Kaavan was coaxed into a specially constructed metal crate, which was hoisted onto a lorry and taken to Islamabad airport.

The experts enticed the slightly sedated elephant into a specially constructed metal crate for hours, and they even used ropes to help pull him in and put him onto a lorry that would take him to Islamabad airport.

From there, Kaavan will have a long flight to Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia, via a Russian transport jumbo jet. The plane will stop in New Delhi for fuel.

Before this trip, Cher spent several days in Islamabad to visit the elephant, and Prime Minister Imran Khan personally thanked her. His office released a video of the star sitting with him outside his residence.

Cher was expected to fly to Cambodia to be there when the elephant arrives. Officials said Kaavan will initially be settled in a small designated section of the park where he will be in touch with other elephants.

Climate change minister Malik Amin Aslam said:

“Sending him to a place where he can be with other elephants of his kind … is really the right choice. We will be happy to see him happy in Cambodia and we hope he finds a partner very soon.”

  • For months, vets and experts from animal welfare group Four Paws International worked with Kaavan to get him ready for the trip to Cambodia

Before his relocation, Kaavan’s friends threw a farewell party.

They decorated the zoo with banners and balloons, with one of the signs saying:

“We will miss you Kaavan.”

Labeled by the press as the ‘world’s loneliest elephant’, Kaavan is the only Asian elephant in Pakistan – the small number of other elephants at other zoos are African.

A group of vets and experts from Four Paws worked for months to prepare him for the trip. That included training him to enter the huge metal transport crate that will be put in a cargo plane for the seven-hour-long flight.

  • Before his departure, the elephant’s friends threw a farewell party

In the past, zoo officials have denied that the animal was kept in poor conditions or chained. They claimed the elephant was suffering for a new mate after his partner, Saheli, who also arrived from Sri Lanka, passed away in 2012.

However, the animal’s actions – including signs of distress like continual head-bobbing – raised suspicions of mental illness.

Activists also claimed that Kaavan was not properly protected from the extreme summer temperatures. Rights groups and conservationists explained that the terrible conditions at the Islamabad zoo were partly a result of the lack of animal welfare laws in Pakistan.

Rab Nawaz with the World Wildlife Federation in Pakistan said:

“There’s a lot of improvement to be made. Kaavan is just one animal. There’s lots of animals in Pakistan… which are in miserable conditions.”

Cher intends to share the story of Kaavan by producing a documentary on his rescue mission with the Smithsonian Channel, which is scheduled to be released next year.

She posted an emotional video of the elephant’s journey to freedom on Twitter, and asked for help to build his forever home. She shared a link to a fundraising page in an attempt to raise $50,000 (£37,500) to help with building Kaavan’s quarantine enclosure in Cambodia.

Source: metro.co.uk

Categories
Life Nature

‘The Sistine Chapel Of The Ancients’ Is Discovered In Heart Of The Amazon Rainforest

Last year, in the Amazonian rainforest, a team of archeologists has discovered an eight-mile wall of prehistoric rock art featuring animals and humans, estimated to have been created up to 12,500 years ago.

Wise people know that life is a long search for knowledge: no matter how much we think we know, the things we don’t know vastly outweigh the ones we do. Think of all the people who have inhabited our planet many millennia before writing emerged. We know almost nothing of what they have experienced.

This is why the role of science is so important- scientists try and unravel the vast mysteries of the universe. In the Amazonian rainforest, a team of British and Colombian archeologists has discovered an eight-mile wall of prehistoric rock art featuring animals and humans.

The artwork, created up to 12,500 years ago, has been named the ‘Sistine Chapel of the ancients’, and it was uncovered on cliff faces last year in the Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia.

The project was funded by the European Research Council.

Experts specified the date of the paintings according to the portrayal of extinct animals from the ice age, like the mastodon – which is a prehistoric relative of the elephant which hasn’t been seen in South America for at least 12,000 years.

Other extinct animals have been portrayed as well, such as a palaeolama – an extinct member of the camel family, giant sloths, and ice age horses.

The artwork also contains human handprints, images of fish, turtles, lizards, and birds, and people dancing and holding hands. One figure wears a mask resembling a bird with a beak. The paintings vary in size.

Most tribes native to the Amazon are thought to have descended from the first Siberian wave of migrants who are believed to have crossed the Bering Land Bridge up to 17,000 years ago.

  • Last year in the Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia, a team of archeologists have found an eight-mile wall of prehistoric rock art featuring animals and humans created up to 12,500 years ago

Snowfall was very light during the ice age, so the land bridge remained almost untouched. People from different areas could easily cross it and travel on either side, as it stretched for hundreds of kilometers into the continents.

The exact tribe who has created the paintings has not been specified, but experts believe that there have been two Amazon tribes living there for thousands of years – the Yanomami and the Kayapo.

The first report of the Yanomami, who live between the borders of Brazil and Venezuela, was in 1759 when a chief of another tribe mentioned them to a Spanish explorer.

The Kayapo tribe is estimated to have a population of roughly 8,600.

  • Researchers call the historical artwork the ‘Sistine Chapel of the ancients’

  • Now-extinct animals that once lived in North and Central America, like the mastodon, have been identified in the paintings

Tribes native to the Amazon didn’t keep written records until relatively recently. Moreover, almost all traces of their material culture has been destroyed due to the humid climate and acidic soil.

Therefore, until this discovery, everything we knew about the history of the area was a result of scant archaeological evidence like ceramics and arrow heads.

The site of the discovery is deep in the heart of Colombia, in the Serrania de la Lindosa, and it is thought that the ancient paintings are a creation of the first-ever humans to reach the Amazon.

Even though the discovery has been made last year, it was kept a secret. Yet, this month, it will feature in a Channel 4 series Jungle Mystery: Lost Kingdoms of the Amazon.

  • The site is deep in the heart of Colombia in the Serrania de la Lindosa area.

After driving for two hours, the team of researchers was forced to trek on foot for another four to reach the remote site.

Jose Iriarte, a professor of archaeology at Exeter University, who led the team, said:

“When you’re there, your emotions flow … We’re talking about several tens of thousands of paintings. It’s going to take generations to record them … Every turn you do, it’s a new wall of paintings.

We started seeing animals that are now extinct. The pictures are so natural and so well made that we have few doubts that you’re looking at a horse, for example. The ice-age horse had a wild, heavy face. It’s so detailed, we can even see the horse hair. It’s fascinating.”

  • Ella Al-Shamahi, an archaeologist and explorer, shared her excitement at seeing the images being brought back to life.

During their trek, the team of scientists encountered the deadliest viper in the Americas- the bushmaster. They carefully walked past it, knowing that they would probably have no time to make it to the hospital in case it attacked them.

After being entirely off-limits during Colombia’s five-decade-long raging civil war, the site of the wall paintings has been now unsealed. However, entering the area still requires careful negotiation.

Some of the paintings are extremely high up on relatively sheer rock faces, and this initially confused the explorers.

Yet, professor Iriarte believes that those ingenious people used wooden towers, depicted among the paintings, to reach those heights.

While it is not clear whether the paintings had a sacred purpose, he has noticed that many animals have been painted surrounded by humans with their arms raised – seemingly in a pose of worship.

Observing that the imagery includes trees and hallucinogenic plants, he added:

 “For Amazonian people, non-humans like animals and plants have souls, and they communicate and engage with people in cooperative or hostile ways through the rituals and shamanic practices that we see depicted in the rock art.”

The documentary’s presenter, Ella Al-Shamahi, an archaeologist and explorer, shared her excitement at seeing the “breathtaking” images created thousands of years ago. She claims it is fascinating to see the ancient paintings of the way the land looked like millennia ago.

She explained that many people don’t know that thousands of years ago, the Amazon was more “savannah-like”, much different than the rainforest we know now.

She said:

“One of the most fascinating things was seeing ice age megafauna because that’s a marker of time. I don’t think people realize that Amazon has shifted in the way it looks. It hasn’t always been this rainforest. When you look at a horse or mastodon in these paintings, of course, they weren’t going to live in a forest. They’re too big.

Not only are they giving clues about when they were painted by some of the earliest people – that in itself is just mind-boggling – but they are also giving clues about what this very spot might have looked like: more savannah-like.”

Iriarte believes there are many more paintings to be found in the area, and the team will again visit it and explore it once the pandemic is over.

He said:

“We’re just scratching the surface.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Categories
Life

Subway Worker Falls Asleep While Making Customer’s Sandwich: ‘I Can’t Imagine How Underslept She Is’

TikTok user shares video of a Subway worker who falls asleep while she is making him a sandwich- the clip sparkled fierce debate online

We all need rest, a day off work to relax and sleep and pull ourselves together after a week of hard work. Have you ever felt like falling asleep at work? Have you ever been so tired that you don’t even care that you are not at home?

This is why power naps are simply miraculous! Yet, the short siesta of a Subway worker was caught on camera, and it sparked debate online!

The employee too the extra zzz’s she needed face-down in a customer’s sandwich! Just in time to catch the moment, the customer pulled out his phone and captured it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMbtgIsXdws&feature=emb_title

The employee sprinkles pepper onto the sandwich, and then slowly nods off, and eventually falls asleep with the face down in the Sub!

TikTok user ss4xgoku1 shared the video on TikTok with the caption:

“Like fr [for real]… I js [just] wanted a Sandwich bro. This lady fell asleep on my sandwich”

TikTok users were divided into two groups, those who were concerned about the young woman, and those who found the clip hilarious! Those in the first group wrote about the difficulties customer service workers deal with every single day.

One user wrote:

“This is actually really sad. I can’t imagine how underslept she is. Not to mention the wage people get paid at Subway… She deserves better.”

Another agreed, writing that “we’re too hard on service workers.”

User Cameron Davis added that the video is sad, and the “overworked” woman needs a day off. Many people discussed the very small wages, and crazy working hours of fast-food employees, all in the attempt to support their families.

User ThatUniqueLife said:

“We can’t feed our families, pay our bills, or even keep a roof over our heads on minimum wage pay,” states the movement which started in 2012 when two hundred fast-food workers walked off the job to demand $15/hr and union rights in New York City.

Meanwhile, many netizens speculated that the Subway worker in the now-viral video may not have been overworked as many suggested, but rather under the influence of drugs while on the job. “That is not ‘no sleep’ or ‘underslept’… That’s nodding [sic] out… Strong drugs, unfortunately. If you know, you know… I wish her healing.”

On the other hand, many netizens found the video highly entertaining and thought of numerous jokes related to the event.

User Spice King commented:

“I would have jumped over the counter and made it myself.”

In the end, the user who posted the video spoke the truth behind the video ad cleared up all speculation:

“Can y’all stop with the negative comments. The lady woke up after the video ended. She is fine. She just needs to not do drugs before work.”

Source: scoop.upworthy.com

Categories
Life

“Natural Beauty” Photo Series Challenges Restricting Female Body Hair Standards

A London-based photographer challenges female body hair standards with a photo series of unshaven women- and they all look inspiring and sexy!

Society controlling women in many ways is something deeply rooted in history. Women have often been victims of fashion trends and unrealistic beauty standards.

Even today, media and ads keep supporting one, accepted-by-all model of a beautiful female being, which negatively affects women and lowers their self-esteem.

Women nowadays keep purchasing various beauty products to fit the ideals of modern society, and cosmetic surgeries, such as facelifts, tummy tucks, and breast enlargements have become too common.

Do women need to try this hard to be noticed in a male-dominated beauty system? Do they still believe their role is to only look attractive and be the matrons taking care of the home?

Well, numerous campaigns in the last decades have proved the opposite.

They could change the portrayal of women, as they have shown that women are determined to get their freedom from such stereotypes back and receive a chance to express themselves in whatever way they feel fits them as individuals.

One London-based photographer decided to challenge the common stereotypes- body hair in women.

Ben Hopper photographed unshaven women, and they look stunning! The idea behind his project was to show the challenging beauty standards that women face in regards to their body hair.

He aimed to encourage and support those who were brave enough to openly go against those beauty standards and break down the idea that a beautiful, attractive woman must be cleanly shaven.

He succeeded in it- and his portraits show that the natural beauty of a woman cannot be hidden with hair- these women are as desirable as those who shave!

Here are 15 portraits from his Natural Beauty campaign:

1. “I stopped shaving after reading Judith Butler and realizing that I had no idea what my ‘natural’ body looked like, as I was convinced to perform my gender and shave by 15. I then continued not to because I felt the need to overcome the embarrassment I felt for not conforming.

Not shaving shouldn’t be a statement but it is. Eventually, it became a really liberating experience and showers are so quick and easy now, I will never go back!”

2. This woman stopped shaving after she realized that it is her choice, “not a given”. She thought that spending so much extra time, money, and energy to “fulfill this conventional expectation to be hair free” was simply unfair.

3. “I’ve always been very hairy, as a child, teenager, and now a woman. I always felt very insecure about this as a teenager, thanks to the stigma perpetuated by society that it was not feminine to display the hair on your arms, legs, and armpits.

I used to spend many hours shaving and also spent a lot of money on razors, creams, and sticking plasters only to end up with skin irritations and unnecessary infectious spots that take an age to heal until the next time I had to start the cycle all over again.

One day my physical and mental irritation got so intense that I realized that shaving was not healthy for my skin. I did feel slightly unsure at first, however, it felt really good afterward as I knew that by not shaving was making my skin healthier and what I was doing was in some way liberating me from the stigmas and layers of society that I’d been put upon as a child.”

4. “There are people who are exceptionally rude and who speak from fear. People who say it’s dirty and that I must be a man. The more important questions to ponder are rather why and how do we live in a culture/society that has deemed it acceptable for certain people to have body hair and unacceptable for others?

Isn’t it absurd that it is socially acceptable for humans to have lots of hair on their head, but not on other parts of their same body? Isn’t it ridiculous and ironic that what grows naturally on its own is seen as unnatural? How did we get here?” 

5. She made some research into female history and feminism, and found out “a much deeper layer of slogans and billboards selling advertisers and giant companies rolling in large sums every year under the “beauty ideal”.

She then discovered numerous women who have chosen not to shave their body hair and they are both, sensual and beautiful.

6. “The first time I removed body hair, I was around 11 years old. I stole my older sister’s razor and attempted to remove all of the hair from my body, not that I had much at the time. I assumed you needed to use a lot of pressure with the blade against my skin and ended up removing strips of flesh from my legs, which caused profuse bleeding.

I still remember going to school wrapped in bandages and claiming that I had fallen down a tree. Looking back now, I think of how horrified my mother must’ve been that I had already been conditioned to remove the early signs of puberty that had only just arisen.

Without recognizing it back then, I had already equated body hair with something monstrous and unnatural that had to be eradicated in order to keep my body effeminate and ‘pure’. As I grew older, I reflected on this instance a lot and the meaning behind it, and eventually just stopped removing my hair altogether.”

7. “I stopped shaving my armpit hair about 5 years ago, and the rest of my body hair 4 years ago. I was tired of constantly getting rid of my body hair since the age of 11.

I started wondering “Why?” – Why do we go through a painful process to get rid of something we were born with that keep growing? Why is being shaved considered to be more feminine? Why is body hair seen as something dirty? … It’s all about these ideas society has put into our heads and it doesn’t even make sense.”

8. She claims that she felt pretty and confident once she started growing her armpit hair, as she felt she has made her choice for herself only. She adds that people who choose for themselves ad follow their own voice are “inspiring and hella attractive!”

9. “I first stopped shaving while traveling solo around Mexico. With limited access to showers and too many adventures to be had, shaving became the least of my priorities. Once I realized that people didn’t care whether I had hair or not in addition to no longer having constantly itchy armpits due to stubble, I never looked back.

Also having fibromyalgia, which is a chronic illness causing general fatigue and pain, I have to prioritize what activities I dedicate my limited energy to on a daily basis, and shaving became something I choose not to do in order to save my limited energy for more important and enjoyable things.”

10. She has finally reached the stage where she happy with her hair. Hair is something that symbolizes softness ad femininity for her, which is “the opposite of how modern media portrays female body hair.” She claims she now trusts the natural processes of her body.

11.“I let my hair grow for the Natural Beauty project. It really intrigued me to see my whole body in its natural state. I wanted to know what it would feel like and how I would feel. I wanted to witness people’s judgment on my body first-hand.

 I wanted to see how that impact would affect myself. It made me feel natural and vulnerable at first and eventually empowered. I’ve grown accustomed to my armpit hair, and it makes me feel beautiful.”

12. “Shaving, epilating, or waxing hurts. I was tired of suffering, trying to adapt to the image of a ‘beautiful young woman’ society is selling us. Everybody told me to shave.

As a teenager, it’s a huge subject among girls; where do you shave? What method are you using? It takes so much time and costs so much money (the majority of hair removal products are also not recyclable). All of these reasons coming one after another motivated me to stop shaving.”

13. She has never even started shaving her body hair. She thought it was unnecessary when her mother shaved hers when she was younger. When she realized later that women do it to become more attractive to men, she felt irritated.

14. “I first stopped out of, I guess my “laziness”, and later realizing I was just actively allowing myself to be more comfortable. So I let it grow, curious to what it would feel like au natural in an area so taboo and visible to the rest of the world.

 It made me feel good! Like myself, like I couldn’t care what others felt, sort of empowered and comfortable in what my body naturally decided to look like.”

15. “From the age of 12, growing up with extremely sensitive skin, body hair was my worst nightmare. The fact that I’m a brunette with south European descent, living in a cold country without many sunny months was making it even harder.

 Body hair was my biggest complex and I just decided to face it and love myself the way I am. I was tired of the constant struggle.

 It made me feel at peace with myself. I realized that we are responsible for what we like and what we don’t like. I realized that beauty is really just in the eye of the beholder and that all of us have a choice.”

Source: www.artfido.com

Categories
Life

Woman Gets Tattooed From Head To Toe (Including Genitals), Spends Almost $27,000

A woman from California has spent around $27,000 on covering her whole body with tattoos- She now plans to tattoo her whole face, the last remaining clean space on her body.

If you have got a tattoo, you are familiar with the post-tattoo feeling: you are so in love with the ink that you start planning the next one.

Most people love their tattooing experience, and can’t wait to get their next one. This desire is fueled by the rush of adrenaline and endorphins they feel during the procedure.

One 32-year-old woman from California was so passionate about ink, that she has covered her entire body in tattoos!

In the last 3 years, Julia Nuno has spent 234 hours getting tattooed literally everywhere on her body. Julia works as a residential carer and got her first tattoo when she was 18.

Yet, in the past several years, she has spent a little fortune so far to get tattooed from head to toes, and she even did her genitals back in November!

Her addiction to tattoos concerns her family a lot, but she has no intention to stop. Her next step is to tattoo her entire face, which is the only spot on her body that remained clean. She will get geometric flowers.

She says:

“It’s taken me quite a while, I started getting tattooed as soon as I was old enough. It’s only over the last few years that I have been going constantly. I started out small with a hibiscus flower on my chest but it just ended up growing.

I had no intention of collecting or getting a suit but somewhere down the line I just decided to go all the way. Now I can’t stop.”

In the last 3 years, she has spent many hours every week adding new tattoos to her ink concept.

She explains that in most cases, she lets the artists choose the design, and adds:

“For a long time I told myself and other people that I would never shave my head to get it tattooed, I said: “that’s crazy”. But when I ran out of space on my body it was the next obvious part. I feel like the more tattooed I am the more irritating it feels to see empty space.

When I’m finished I’m going to go over my existing suit restoring the colors and existing lines. The sessions are really special to me, the art is nice but it’s the actual tattooing sessions that I’m really addicted to.

A lot of times I let the man who tattoos me pick the art. I have ideas about what I want to get but usually, it’s what he chooses.”

Despite her family being gravely worried about her, she has never intended to stop. She says that her numerous tattoos disturb “some of her family”, but the people she works with are “very accepting”.

On the other hand, many are fascinated by her looks.

Yet, she concludes:

“It hasn’t made much of a difference in a romantic sense, some people are really into it and like me even more for my tattoos and others are put off but it’s what I want to do and it makes me happy, so I don’t worry too much about what other people think.”

Source: metro.co.uk

Categories
Life

Man Builds $150 Mobile Tiny Home He Can Tow With His Bike

A man has designed a teeny tiny mobile home that can be towed with a bike, and costs only $150!

Small-space living is becoming increasingly popular in recent years, with many people preferring to use their money on other things than square footage and expensive furniture.

Let’s admit it, not everyone is cut out for a tiny home and micro-living, but those of you who are, and love to travel the world instead, would be thrilled to learn that micro-trailers have been added to the market!

Anyone interested in a short vacation can now enjoy the pleasure in these high-quality trailers for no more than USD 3000. They weigh less than a thousand pounds and are compact enough to be towed by smaller vehicles!

However, if this sounds pricey, meet Paul Elkins, a man from Washington, whose creation will impress you!

Two decades ago, this self-taught designer, artist, and former employee of Boeing, attended the Burningman art festival for the first time. The place awakened his creativity and ingenuity, ad after two years, he toured the country and fell in love with micro-camping.

The idea was born, and he started developing his “micro Airstream bike camper”. His creation is light enough to be towed by a bicycle! It is super durable, 6 foot 5 inches long, and weighs only 60 pounds.

Elkins made the walls and floor by using four recycled campaign signs made from coroplast plastic and fastened them together with zip ties. To seal joints and made the trailer waterproof, he used duct tape.

It sits on a wooden frame and two 20” wheels and is complete with all necessary features: stove, sink, drawers and shelves, pop-up windows, bubble insulation, a foam bed, skylight, LED lights, rear reflective lights, and a stereo with an MP3 player.

His “Nomad Bicycle Camper” cost him about USD 150 in total, and all materials can be bought at a local DIY store! His portable shelter has everything he needs inside, including insulation, a small bed, a compact kitchen area, and storage units.

Amazing!

After interviewing Elkins for Tiny House Design website, filmmaker Kirsten Dirksen said:

 “His work is inspiring because he pushes minimalism to the extreme. While his tiny structures are lightweight, weatherproof, and portable they are also functional and include all the essentials. From a tiny house design perspective, his work serves an extreme example that sets the standard for small and outside-the-box thinking”.

However. Mr. Elkins did not stop here, and he has completed other projects from coroplast as well.

For instance, he has designed a speed boat, a dog house, a teepee, a box boat, a homeless emergency shelter, and a micro mobile art studio. All of them are lightweight, weatherproof, and easy to take with you, wherever you go.

If you are interested in his design, you can purchase his tutorials with prices ranging from $5 – $20 and download them in PDF form from his website – elkinsdiy.com.

He also has a YouTube channel where you can find many videos about his lifestyle and learn more about tiny house living.

Source: www.simplemost.com

Categories
Life

Shocking Photos Show Girl, 13, Forced To Marry Man, 48, In The Philippines

Shocking images show the wedding ceremony of a 13-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man in Maguindanao, Philippines.

Traditions and customs vary all around the world. They reinforce important values in the community and represent a powerful component of a culture. In most cases, they are beautiful and valuable, but they can also become an obstacle to progress.

Yet, their biggest flaw is that they are hard to change.  The photos of the wedding ceremony of a 13-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man in Maguindanao, Philippines, saddened the world!

The shocking images show the husband holding the child bride, and even kissing her on the chick. The wedding took place in the town of Mamasapano on October 22.

The child bride, Asnaira Pamansag Mugaling, became Abdulrzak Ampatuan’s 5th wife in an Islamic wedding that lasted for one whole day. During the ceremony, the child wore a white traditional gown as she sat beside the groom.

She later stated that she is not afraid of Abdulrzak because he is “nice to her”.

She said:

“I am learning how to cook because I’m not good at it now. I want to make my husband happy.”

Three weeks after the wedding, the groom built a small house for the couple to live together. His child bride now carries out household chores and takes care of his children from other marriages, who are the same age as her.

The farmer showed no remorse about marrying a 13-year-old girl.

He stated:

“I am happy to have found her and spend my days with her taking care of my children.”

He intends to have children with her when she turns 20 and went on to say that he will send her to school to get an education until she is prepared to have kids. In some regions of the Philippines, especially in areas where Muslims are a majority, children can marry once they start menstruating.

UNICEF statistics show that the country has the 12th highest number of child brides in the world, standing at 726,000 cases currently.

Child marriages limit girls’ rights to health, opportunity, and education, according to ‘Girls Not Brides’, a campaign in the UK. Their data shows that some 15 percent of girls in the country are married before their 18th birthday, while two percent are married before the age of 15.

They specified:

“Child marriage is a human rights violation that we must end to achieve a better future for all. Isolated and with limited freedom, married girls often feel disempowered. They are deprived of their fundamental rights to health, education, and safety.

Child brides are neither physically nor emotionally ready to become wives and mothers.”

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Categories
Life

Scientists Say People Who Swear A Lot Actually Make Better Friends

Scientists associate swearing with honest and genuine people, as expletives are used to express sincerity and raw feelings.

Finding a true and loyal friend these days seems to be quite a challenge. Many people have become self-centered and dishonest, and even more have lost faith in friendships.

However, don’t lose hope, as you might have looked for in the wrong place all this time! Yup, your soul mate might be among those that swear the most in your life!

We have been taught that swearing is an unacceptable habit, but science says that people who swear are more intelligent and possibly make better friends!

A collaborative team from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Stanford and the University of Cambridge claim that people who swear are less likely to be associated with lying and deception.

Swearing is often used to express sincerity and raw feelings, so these people are considered more honest and genuine.

People who tend to swear to tend to let off steam this way and are less likely to harm themselves or others when under pressure. Swearing is their way to destress, and it makes them more honest and dependable than a person who doesn’t.

As swearing is basically an honest representation of one’s feelings, people who swear more are likely to be honest, so they make better friends.

Dr. David Stillwell, a lecturer in Big Data Analytics at the University of Cambridge, and a co-author of the paper maintains that there is a complex relationship between dishonesty and profanity:

“Swearing is often inappropriate but it can also be evidence that someone is telling you their honest opinion. Just as they aren’t filtering their language to be more palatable, they’re also not filtering their views. “

Researchers conducted the study in two parts.

In the first part, they asked 276 participants to complete a questionnaire and down their favorite swear words, noting which of them they use the most. Then, they rated their reasons for using them and took a lie detector test to check if they were telling what they considered acceptable, or they were writing down the truth.

The result?- Those participants who wrote down more swear words were less likely to be lying.

For the second part of the study, data were collected from 75 thousand Facebook users. Researchers measured their use of profanity during online social interactions and discovered that those who used swear words more often were more likely to use pronouns like “I” or “me”, which are language patterns liked to honesty.

If you are looking for honesty in friendship, a person who swears might be your next companion then! Nevertheless, note that this should not encourage you to insult others.

Swearing can often hurt somebody else’s feelings. Participants in this study are people with a rather colorful vocabulary, but they do not purposefully swear at people.

When it comes to intelligence, there is a general belief that people who use obscene language don’t have the vocabulary to adequately express themselves, something that is associated with lower intelligence.

Surprisingly, scientists claim the opposite. Swear words can be used for various reasons- for linguistic effect, to convey emotion, for laughs, and sometimes to be intentionally mean.

According to psychologists, people who can come up with various swear words have a higher level of verbal fluency, meaning they have stronger language skills.

Wait- there is more!

According to a study published in Neuroreport, swearing may be an effective way to relieve pain. Participants were asked to immerse their hands in icy, cold water and keep them there as long as possible. During this time, they had a choice- to either swear or say a ‘’neutral” word.

People managed to keep their hand under the water for an average of 47 seconds longer while swearing, and claimed they felt less pain in compassion to the time when they said a non-expletive.

Richard Stephens, a psychologist at Keele University in England and leader of the study, advises people to swear whenever they hurt themselves:

“Swearing is such a common response to pain that there has to be an underlying reason why we do it.”

Yet, the way swearing helps is still unclear. Some speculate that it activates the part of our brains that incite the fight-or-flight response, in which our heart rate climbs, and we become less sensitive to pain.

Swearing soothes emotional pain too, but as we swear more, the words start losing their emotional potency, and it no longer has the same calming effect. However, note that the emotional impact of swearing varies among us, and it is influenced by our own experience and the context.

A person’s personality, intelligence, happiness, and health is determined by numerous factors, but scientists reveal that those who release tension and frustration with an expletive more often are more honest, tend to have a higher command of the language, and are less likely to resort to violence when angry.

Well, that’s just enough for a good friend, doesn’t it?

Source: www.lifehack.org

Categories
General

Man Says He Refuses To Give Up His Seat For Pregnant Women Because Of Long Working Hours

After him refusing to give up his seat to a pregnant woman on the bus enraged his family, one young man turned to the Internet community to see if his actions were right.

Since very small, we were taught one simple good manners rule- give up your seat for pregnant women, an elderly person, or a person with a disability.

Pregnancy is a blessed state of being, and it is not a disability. Yet, pregnant women often face many difficulties and fatigue, and giving up your seat for them to sit is the least you can do to ease their day.

However, have manners changed too much over generations? One young man opened a fierce debate online.

One night, when he was returning home from work, he refused to give up his seat on the bus to a woman who was pregnant. He then turned to the Internet for an opinion, and posted his experience on the popular Reddit forum Am I the Asshole.

After arriving home, his parents and sisters were angered by his action, so the man wanted to see if anyone else agrees with him.

He explained his day: after wrecking his car, was forced to take the bus to and from work as he was waiting for the insurance month. He went on to say that he works 10-hour shifts in a job that demands working on his feet for the whole day.

In addition to that, he had to walk another 15 to 20 minutes after he gets off the bus. Being exhausted and with very sore feet, he uses the time on the bus to sit and rest.

One night, a “heavily pregnant” woman gets on the bus during his ride back home. There are fewer seats available because of the COVID rules, and he was the closest passenger to her.

He wrote:

“I’m the closest to her, so she starts giving me the imploring eyes. I had my headphones on and tried to pretend I couldn’t see her, but once she started talking to me it became inevitable.”

He calmly refused her, explaining his situation. The woman cried, saying that she is a single mom, and at this point, things got worse.

He continued:

“I told her I’m sorry, but that was her personal choice and she can’t expect other people to accommodate her life choices. We live in a state where birth control and abortions are free, so I don’t know why this should be my problem. It’s not my fault she decided to have a baby when she can’t afford a car.”

After arguing for a few minutes, an older man yelled at him, naming him a “worthless punk” and then offered the woman his seat. The bus suddenly hit the break while they were switching places, and both of them fell down.

The two of them then yelled at him and insulted him with bad names. He tried to ignore them until he got to his spot and get off the bus.

The Internet’s opinion?

Well, most people criticized his behavior, adding that even if he was too tired from the long shift, pregnant women are more in danger to hurt themselves and their children if they fall.

One wrote:

“Did you know that being heavily pregnant really alters your balance, let alone the tired thing?

No – you didn’t ask her to be pregnant, but you can, as an able-bodied otherwise healthy person just choose to be nice. By being a selfish grumpy bugger a heavily pregnant person and an old person fell over. Bringing up the contraception/abortion/’breeding’ angle too really makes you an ass.

I bet you’re a real ‘nice guy’.”

Others went on to say that his initial “no” wasn’t so bad, but the things he said later were absolutely wrong and rude.

Another user wrote:

“Public transit sucks. I assume there WERE other people who could have offered a seat but didn’t. Diffusion of responsibility does that, and once she “picked” this guy, it let everyone else feel morally superior because they totally /would have/ done it if she’d asked them but she didn’t.

But his attitude is so horrible that he’s the AH. I think her immediately jumping to being a pregnant single mom is weird (part of the reason I don’t believe this story), but him going off about BC and free abortions (what state is that???) and her bad decisions are what sealed it for me.”

Many people said that he doesn’t know her real situation, too. She might have the same car problems as him. What enraged people the most was him mentioning abortion.

They said that him taking his job which “sucks but the pay is good so I deal” is his personal choice too, so why he is more compatible to take the seat than her?

“The whole giving up seats for the pregnant and the elderly thing isn’t because they’re pregnant/elderly, it’s because these particular groups are more likely to fall and suffer serious injuries when they do.

OP, being tired sucks, but being tired and sore doesn’t make you more vulnerable to bad falls, being pregnant does. That’s why you’re supposed to give up your seat. YTA and a massive one at that (because of the rant).”

Let’s just hope that this youngster learns his lesson this time.

What’s your opinion on this?

Source: vt.co