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Barack Obama has some solid advice for improving public policy: elect more women.

At a conference in South Africa, Barack Obama shared some public policy advice you’d never hear from the current president: elect more women.

In July, the 44th president gave a speech at a town hall meeting at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, where he shared his displeasure with the current state of men in politics.

“Women in particular, by the way, I want you to get more involved," Obama said, according to Time. “Men have been getting on my nerves lately.”


“Every day, I read the newspaper and just think like ‘Brothers, what’s wrong with you guys?’ What’s wrong with us? We’re violent, we’re bullying. Just not handling our business. I think empowering more women on the continent, that right away, is going to lead to some better policies,” he said.

Obama should be happy that American women have received the message.

In this election cycle, more women are running for the highest elected offices than ever before.

At least 575 women have stated they are running for the House, the Senate or governor. Three-quarters of these candidates are Democrats.

The massive increase in female candidates is likely a result of the Trump presidency. Republicans have threatened to slash essential health benefits, defund Planned Parenthood, and undermine reproductive rights.

The Trump Administration has also hired fewer women than any president since Ronald Reagan.

“One of the only silver linings of the Trump presidency is that more and more women are feeling emboldened to raise their voices and fight for the issues that matter most to them, from sexual harassment in the workplace to paid leave,” New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand told CNN.

“We saw that with the Women's March, and we saw it again on Election Day last month, when women all over the country got off the sidelines, ran for office, and won," the senator said.

Gillibrand has some advice for women who want to get involved, but aren’t interested in running for office.

Millennials and Gen Z ditch top sheet to the dismay of Boomers


Once again the youngins are flabbergasting the older generations with their disregard of things they deem unnecessary. There's always something that gets dropped or altered generation to generation. We learn better ways or technology makes certain things obsolete. But it doesn't matter how far we've come, our beds still need sheets to cover the mattress.

The debate is on the use of top sheets, also known as flat sheets. They're the sheets that keep your body from touching the comforter, most Gen X and Boomers are firmly for the use of top sheets as a hygiene practice. The idea being that the top sheet keeps your dead skin cells and body oils from dirtying your comforter, causing you to have to wash it more often.

Apparently Millennials and Gen Zers are uninterested in using a top sheet while sleeping. In fact, they'd rather just get a duvet cover, though they may be cumbersome. A duvet cover can be washed fairly frequently, while some may opt for a cheeper comforter that they don't care is washed often because their distain for a top sheet is that strong.

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Joy

People are gushing over penguins picking out the perfect 'lucky charm' for their mate

“Oh to be a little penguin picking out a pretty rock for my love."

@detroitzoo/TikTok

This is too adorable.

Humans weren’t the only ones celebrating St. Paddy’s Day last Sunday. Penguins at the Detroit Zoo got in on the fun as well, only with more Valentine’s vibes.

“Love is king during penguin nesting time,” read the onscreen text for a video posted to the zoo’s TikTok, as the aquatic love birds scanned through a pile of colorful pebbles, searching for the perfect gift to present their partner. How romantic.

Out in the wild, this adorable courtship ritual is pretty standard, at least for Gentoo penguins. Male gentoos find a polished stone or pebble to offer their potential mates—Mother Nature’s engagement ring, if you will.

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@lindseyswagmom/TikTok

This daughter knew exactly what to get her dad for Secret Santa


Many people dream of somehow being able to pay their parents back for the sacrifices made for them during childhood. Whether that’s something physical, like paying off their mortgage, or simply being the best version of ourselves to make them absolutely proud.

For Lindsay Moore, it was finding a “prized possession” her dad once gave up to help the family, and returning it to him once again.

Moore still vividly remembers being only seven years old when she saw her father walk into a comic book store to sell a Dan Marino rookie football card from his first season with the Miami Dolphins.
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An influencer and MrBeast.

After YouTube phenomenon MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, 25, graduated high school in 2016, his mother made a deal with him. He could live in her house and go to college, or if he didn’t want to pursue higher education, he would have to move out and live on his own. So, he decided to go to college, although his heart wasn't in it.

The content creator, philanthropist, and founder of Feastables chocolate snack brand had just started making videos on YouTube as a teenager and had yet to hit the big time. So, he went to school while continuing his passion for creating YouTube videos.

However, college was not for MrBeast and he quickly dropped out. “I got to college and I couldn’t stand it, man. I used to sit in front of other classrooms and think, yo, I don’t know what the fu*k is going on,” he said, according to Essentially Sports. Instead, he put all his efforts into pursuing his dream of being a YouTube star. By the following year, he had earned over 1 million subscribers on the platform and was well on the way to being a success.

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via Kelsey Dawn Williamson / Facebook

An unexpected statement on a Frog and Toad T-shirt.

Kelsey Dawn Williamson, 23, from Benton, Illinois has ordered over 50 shirts from AliExpress, an online retailer based out of Hangzhou, China. But when the Frog and Toad shirt she ordered on May 10 arrived, she "literally did not know how to react so I just took a few moments to stare at it and try to process."

The infant-sized shirt has a picture of the iconic reptiles from the children's book series riding old-fashioned bikes with "FUCK THE POLICE" written at the bottom.

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What are women up to when no one is watching?


Artwork courtesy of Sally Nixon, used with permission.

Well, take a look at Sally Nixon's illustrations and you'll see.


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