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20 things Mike Pence did while you weren't looking — and why it matters.

He may not always be in the shadows.

With the exception of an infamous trip to see Hamilton last November and a controversy about whether it's OK to dine with women other than his wife, we've heard relatively little about Vice President Mike Pence since the election. In May, CNN even ran a story with the headline, "Mike Pence's Disappearing Act."

He's a heartbeat away from the presidency and seems interested in following his own political ambitions beyond this administration, so what exactly has Mike Pence been up to lately? A lot, actually.

Here's 20 things Mike Pence has done since taking office:

1. In January, Pence and others lobbied Trump to take hard-line positions on abortion, making good on some of his anti-choice campaign pledges.

Just days after taking office, Trump signed a slew of executive orders. Among them was the reinstatement of the so-called "Mexico City policy," restricting foreign aid from going to groups that offer abortion services.

The Independent wrote about the decision to reinstate the policy, saying that pro-choice activists "feared [Trump] would reintroduce the policy as a gift to Vice President Mike Pence, known for his staunch opposition to abortion rights."

2. Pence has led the charge to advance Trump's policy agenda.

You may have seen him popping up on the Sunday morning political talk shows to push Trump's agenda items. This has especially been the case when it's an issue where Trump himself may not appear to have a total grasp of the policy being discussed, such as health care.

3. He's been very vocal about supporting the use of tax dollars to fund religious schools.

Under the guise of "school choice," Pence has been a long-time supporter of using tax dollars to fund charter schools and religious schools. As governor, Pence expanded Indiana's charter school program and opted out of the nationwide "Common Core" standards. One of the side effects of Pence's reign in Indiana was an uptick in the number of publicly funded schools teaching creationism. Pence, himself, hasn't given a clear answer on whether he believes in evolution.

Trump was short on specifics about education policy during the campaign. In office, he's rallying behind Pence's ideas.

4. In January, Pence met with anti-abortion activists at the White House and delivered a speech at the annual March for Life.

During his address at the anti-choice march, Pence riled up the crowd with a pledge to "work with Congress to end taxpayer funding for abortion and abortion providers," along with promises to support Supreme Court nominees who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

5. Pence spent much of February selling the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court as "mainstream."

Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat on Jan. 31. Gorsuch, who had a record as a far-right, anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ judge, would face an uphill climb. That's where Pence came in.

Rather than nominate someone who could receive the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, Trump picked Gorsuch, and Pence immediately began work urging Republican leaders in the Senate to blow up the filibuster. They eventually did, and Gorsuch was sworn in on April 10.

6. Pence cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as secretary of education, the first time a vice president has done so on a cabinet pick.

In February, DeVos was under immense scrutiny from Democrats and moderate Republicans. The billionaire heiress had zero education-related qualifications to run the department, but she did have a history of donating to far-right causes and championing the use of public money to fund schools that would "advance God's kingdom," in line with Pence's own views on education.

With Republicans Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) voting against DeVos' confirmation, the 50-50 vote went to Pence to break the tie. He voted to confirm her.

7. In May, Pence was named the head of Trump's Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

This commission was established based on Trump's unproven and unfounded claim that there was widespread voter fraud during the 2016 election. Pence was named commission chair, with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as vice chair. Together, Pence and Kobach have begun making requests for extensive voter information from states, with many voting rights groups worried that the commission will lead to widespread voter suppression.

8. Pence invited anti-abortion activists to the White House to discuss how to merge their agenda with that of the administration.

On March 9, Pence met with anti-abortion activists to discuss what sort of provisions they would like to see in the American Health Care Act bill, later pitching it to conservative members of the House of Representatives.

9. Later that month, he would cast the tie-breaking vote to nullify an Obama-era rule allowing that Title X funds be used for family planning services.

In his eight years in office, Joe Biden never cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate. Pence, just months into the job, has broken four ties (confirming DeVos, the motion to proceed on blocking the Title X rule, the final vote on blocking the Title X rule, and the motion to proceed on the Senate's health care bill).

Gutting the Title X rule is bad news, especially for low- and middle-income women across the country.

10. Pence has met with members of the financial industry and championed efforts to roll back Dodd-Frank consumer protections.

Shortly after taking office, Pence addressed the GOP retreat, promising to dismantle the legislation enacted in the aftermath of financial collapse and its "overbearing mandates." In May, he spoke out in favor of Republican Rep. Hensarling's (Texas) CHOICE Act, which would deregulate the financial markets once again.

11. In May, Pence addressed the Susan B. Anthony List "Campaign for Life" gala.

Touting the administration's successes when it came to curtailing reproductive rights, Pence declared, "For the first time in a long time, America has an administration that’s filled top to bottom with people who stand without apology for life."

To cheers, he would later promise to ensure that people receiving health care subsidies would not be able to purchase insurance coverage that includes access to abortion.

12. Pence played a role in urging Trump to sign a "religious liberty" executive order during a National Day of Prayer ceremony.

While the final order was viewed by many conservatives as simply being one step in the right direction and not everything they wanted, the move showed just how much pull the extremely religious vice president has over his boss.

13. Pence addressed the first-ever World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians on May 11.

The speech bolstered the administration's narrative that Christians are the true victims of terrorism in the Middle East. The truth is that people of all faiths have been targeted by ISIS, and messages about how Christians are the most persecuted only help advance some of the inherent Islamophobia in actions such as the travel ban — which only helps ISIS.

14. At the University of Notre Dame, Pence delivered a fiery commencement address, targeting "political correctness."

The idea that college campuses are suppressing freedom of speech is a popular talking point, especially among conservatives. Pence used his platform to stoke that fire, saying, "Far too many campuses across America have become characterized by speech codes, safe zones, tone policing, administration-sanctioned political correctness — all of which amounts to nothing less than the suppression of freedom of speech."

15. In May, Pence started his own political action committee called the "Great America Committee."

Marking another first for a sitting vice president, the formation of a PAC signals that maybe he has some larger political ambitions that go beyond the Trump administration and his role as VP. Coupled with outgoing White House press secretary Sean Spicer saying that he'd be on board with a Pence run in 2024, this is worth keeping an eye on.

16. In June, Pence was put in charge of U.S. space policy.

Pence, being someone who likely doesn't really believe in that whole "evolution" thing and once claimed that "smoking doesn't kill," seems like an odd choice to dictate anything related to science. But that's what President Trump did after signing an executive order bringing back the National Space Council.

It's still unclear what sort of direction Pence will take, though he has made promises to put people on Mars.

17. He's raised money for his own PAC and other political causes.

What's the point of having a PAC if you're not going to raise money for it, right? In July, The New York Times reported that Pence has been playing host to "a string of dinners held every few weeks at the vice president’s official residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory in Washington," courting "big donors and corporate executives."

18. On June 23, Pence addressed Focus on the Family, a powerful anti-LGBTQ organization, for its 40th anniversary.

Speaking about the administration's commitment to helping "persecuted people of faith" and protecting their right to discriminate against LGBTQ people under the guise of "religious liberty," Pence told the crowd, "This president believes that no American, no American should have to violate their conscience to fully participate in American life, and he has taken action to protect the expressions of faith by men and women across this nation."

This is the same organization, mind you, that has called homosexuality "a particularly evil lie of Satan" and has called transgender people "mentally ill" and "like Cinderella in a fantasy world."

19. As special elections have popped up across the country, Pence has been hitting the campaign trail in support of his fellow Republicans.

It's not so surprising that Pence is getting out there. A little curious, however, is how little Trump has done comparatively — and how little coverage Pence's presence has garnered. This once again shows Pence for the shrewd politician he is, able to help prop up other candidates. Trump, on the other hand, is mostly good at promoting one person: Trump.

20. Pence has been pressuring Congress to implement anti-transgender policies in the military.

Days before Trump tweeted that he was banning trans people from serving in the military, Foreign Policy reported that Pence was lobbying hard to fight back against trans inclusion in the military. Pence was reportedly putting pressure on members of Congress to hold the 2018 defense authorization bill hostage unless it included a rider barring funds being used on transition-related health care.

According to Politico, Trump was motivated to outright ban all trans people from the military for fear that the defense bill would stall and he wouldn't receive the funding he requested for his wall. In the end, however, Pence got what he asked for and more. Though the Department of Defense is holding on implementing the tweeted policy until Trump formally submits a plan, it's nearly a done deal.

This matters because Pence might not always be in the background.

It's pretty clear that Pence's political ambitions don't end with being Trump's vice president. With scandals rocking the White House on what seems like a daily basis — including calls for investigations and even some for Trump's impeachment — it's pretty important to take a long hard look at the man next in line for the position.

During the campaign, Pence's extreme positions were largely whitewashed. His extreme anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion views were rarely talked about. As vice president, Pence has shown himself to be the man he's always been: a smooth-talking politician with far-right social conservative views. So let's keep a watchful eye on what he's doing now because he might just be president one day.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

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Ocean Wise
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Sustainability

Amazing ocean facts you never learned in school

Not even Captain Ahab knew this much about marine life.

Photo by Milos Prelevic on Unsplash
brown fish beside coral under body of water

The ocean covers more than 70 percent of our planet—yet there’s so much about it that we don’t yet know. Experts, in fact, believe we’ve only explored about five percent of the ocean so far—meaning that most of it remains completely unseen and undiscovered.

What we do know, however, is that the ocean is truly wise. Not only does it sustain all human and animal life on the planet, the creatures under the sea continue to give scientists insight that can transform human lives as well (just read about the amazing axolotl below to see what we mean).

A happy ocean makes for happy, healthy human beings (not to mention a healthy planet)—so this summer we’re helping our friends at Ocean Wise spread the word that no action is too small—holding a cleanup on a local shoreline, for instance. Learning about our ocean and all its wonders is another step anyone can take for conservation, so buckle in and prepare for a tidal wave of info that will blow your mind.

1. Playing music—specifically, recordings of healthy reef soundscapes—can help grow coral reef populations.

live coralsPhoto by QUI NGUYEN on Unsplash

Healthy coral reef populations are filled with diverse sounds, thanks to the fish, snapping shrimp, and other marine life that live there. Scientists have found that playing recorded sounds of healthy reefs actually attract coral larvae, since the sounds indicate a healthy, vibrant habitat. Using this knowledge, scientists have taken recorded reef sounds, played them near degraded reefs, and in doing so, have increased the settlement rates of coral larvae, helping the coral reefs regenerate.

2. Dolphins like to party with pufferfish.

Photo by Talia Cohen on Unsplash

How’s this for a good time? Dolphins, particularly younger ones, have been known to seek out pufferfish to play games with them, chewing on them and passing them back and forth between each other like a hacky sack. Not only is this entertainment for the dolphins, scientists theorize that they may intentionally be trying to get the pufferfish to give off a neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin (TTX)–which is a chemical they release when threatened. This chemical is highly toxic in large doses–but in small quantities, experts think that it might induce a mild, pleasurable effect in the dolphins, similar to a narcotic. Party on.

3. Male humpback whales are total crooners.

A male humpback whale breaches the water.

Photo by Thomas Kelley on Unsplash

All humpback whales can vocalize, but male humpback whales actually sing.

During mating season, scientists have observed male humpback whales making sounds that are distinctly different from other humpback calls. Unlike other sounds, these songs have a clear structure, and use small, repetitive “phrases” organized in a specific sequence—in the same way humans sing different verses during a song. Even more amazing? Male humpbacks all sing the same song together in “choruses,” in sessions that last from five minutes to several hours.

4. Axolotls have superpowers (and scientists think it could benefit humans one day).

a couple of animals that are in some waterPhoto by T K on Unsplash

Among biologists, axolotls are known for their ability to regrow lost or damaged tissue. When an adult axolotl loses a limb, they can actually grow it back in just a few months time, thanks to a substance they produce called retinoic acid, which plays a large role in regenerating skin cells. (If the name sounds familiar, it’s because retinoic acid is a derivative of Vitamin A, and it’s commonly found in skin creams.) While we already know that retinoic can make our skin look fabulous, scientists are currently studying whether it could someday help human limbs regrow, similar to the axolotl’s.

5. A healthy ocean can help reverse climate change

green algae underwater photographyPhoto by Brian Yurasits on Unsplash

The ocean generates half of the oxygen we breathe and absorbs nearly a third of the world’s carbon emissions. Phytoplankton, the microscopic algae that float near the ocean’s surface, are a big part of the reason why. But there’s another unsung hero—kelp. Unlike phytoplankton, kelp are large seaweeds that grow in dense underwater forests along coastlines, absorbing CO2 and supporting ecosystems. Ocean Wise is helping bring back these powerful carbon sinks one kelp forest at a time.

Help us #BeOceanWise by doing one small thing for ocean conservation in your community (because just one thing can start a huge wave of positive change). Visit ocean.orgfor tips and tricks to keep our oceans healthy because no action is too small.

Art

It took 14 years and 380 global embroiders to make one stunningly meaningful dress

A truly multicultural art project with style touches from 51 different countries.

Photos courtesy of The Red Dress project
Embroiderer Lekazia Turner wearing The Red Dress.

Few things bring people together more beautifully than art. Whether it's music, sculpture, paint or fabric, the arts are a way for us to express ourselves, our cultures and our common humanity. But rarely do we witness one singular piece of art truly encapsulating the creativity of our human family.

At first glance, the dress created for the Red Dress project is quite obviously stunning. It looks as though it could be worn by a royal—though a royal from where? The style, colors and patterns of the dress don't shout any particular country or culture; in fact, we can point to different elements of it and say it looks like it belongs on any continent.

There's a reason for that. The dress is made out of 84 pieces of burgundy silk dupion, which spent 14 years being sent around the world to be embroidered by 380 people from 51 countries—a truly global, multicultural creation.

Of those 380 embroiderers, about a third were commissioned artisans who were paid for their work and receive a portion of all ongoing exhibition fees. The rest were volunteers who contributed their stitches at events in various countries. Approximately 97% of the embroiderers were female.

British textile artist Kirstie Macleod conceived the project in 2009 as "an investigation into identity, with a desire to connect with women from the around without borders and boundaries." The basic design started as a sketch on the back of a napkin and has grown into a tangible garment that is not only a gorgeous work of art but a platform for women around the world and from all walks of life to express themselves and have their voices heard.

As shared on the project's website:

"Embroiderers include female refugees from Palestine and Syria, women seeking asylum in the UK from Iraq, China, Nigeria and Namibia, victims of war in Kosovo, Rwanda, and DR Congo; impoverished women in South Africa, Mexico, and Egypt; individuals in Kenya, Japan, Turkey, Sweden, Peru, Czech Republic, Dubai, Afghanistan, Australia, Argentina, Switzerland, Canada, Tobago, Vietnam, Estonia, USA, Russia, Pakistan, Wales, Colombia and England, students from Montenegro, Brazil, Malta, Singapore, Eritrea, Norway, Poland, Finland, Ireland, Romania and Hong Kong as well as upmarket embroidery studios in India and Saudi Arabia."

On Instagram, Kirstie Macleod shared a panel of the dress that was embroidered by two women in Kosovo, who shared some of their reflections on their experiences in the war there.

They stitched words into the birds they embroidered:

"Better one winter in your own country than a hundred springs away."

"The greatest wealth is to live content with little."

"Freedom has come. Love yourself first."

"Love all. Trust some. Hate none."

"A winter is a winter. Be nice, everyone."

"We live in peace now."

The creation of the dress began in 2009 and was completed in 2023. Each woman embroidered a piece of her own story into the dress, which contains millions of stitches. From established professional artisans to first-time embroiderers, the women were encouraged to share something that expressed their personal identities as well as their cultures. Some used traditional embroidery styles that had been practiced for hundreds of years where they are from. Others stitched in meaningful elements of their life stories. Some of the women are also using textile work to rebuild their lives and earn a consistent living.

The dress is on tour, being displayed in museums and galleries around the world. The photos showing women of various ages and ethnicities wearing the dress are made all the more moving knowing the history of how and by whom it was made.

In May 2025, a book detailing the dress's creation and journey around the world was published and can be found here.

Absolutely stunning. What a wonderful idea to connect women in a way that lets them share their stories and showcases and beautifully honors them.

This article first appeared three years ago and has been updated.

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Pop Culture

A baby shower invite for a child named after Chernobyl has people utterly gobsmacked

Let's just say—the nuclear puns were in full force.

Photo credit: Canva

A baby shower invite for a child named Chernobyl left people resorting to dark humor to process.

Just when you think you’ve heard every unusual baby name there is, another one (or more) pops up out of the woodwork to set a new bar—and perhaps make you question your sanity a bit.

Now, using names based on places, ala Ireland or Brooklyn, or even historical figures, like Kennedy, aren’t new. But a place well known in the history books, and for a very tragic reason? Can't say many of us have heard a name based on that.

And yet, here we are. Over on the subreddit titled r/tragedeigh, which is a play on weird name spellings, a person shared a baby shower invite, which read:

“Join us to celebrate the upcoming aerial of a little bundle of joy! In honor of: Chernobyl Hope.”


I’m speechless…
byu/kittysogood intragedeigh


Perhaps the parents were attempting to instill a bit of resilience into their little bundle. After all, Chernobyl itself, which was destroyed due to a nuclear accident in 1986—killing not only dozens in the initial blast, but hundreds of thousands due to radiation exposure—has now become a haven for wildlife, thus becoming an example of nature’s endless ability to rebound after desolation. So maybe mom and dad saw a bit of poetic imagery in there.

But nonetheless, reactions weren’t so forgiving. And while the person who posted the invite wrote, “I’m speechless,” others, well, weren’t. The temptation to make nuclear puns was too great.

“Im sure everyone at the celebration will be radiant,” one person quipped.

Another retorted, “If I were a guest at that shower and heard that name I’d have a total meltdown,” while another echoed, “there’s bound to be some fallout.”

A fourth simply put, “sounds like a blast!”

Still, other responses weren’t so humorous.

“I haven’t ever met another person (aside from a cousin) who has been affected by Chernobyl. I was born sick due to it because my mother was pregnant with me and in the area when it occurred,” one person shared. “It has made my life… not fun. Being profoundly disabled at age 37 due to human error… And an error that never offered compensation for all of us who had their lives ruined by it.”

Another wrote, “What a legacy. Naming someone after something that has left people with cancer, going through 30+ surgeries just to stay alive, and losing their quality of life. I’m just appalled. Repulsed.”

Somewhere in the comments the OP wrote that they asked the parents-to-be where they got the idea from, and was told “it just sounded nice,” leading them to suspect they didn’t actually know the historical context. Which is about the biggest PSA to actually research a potential name that you can think of. Not just to avoid being considered distasteful, but to protect your future child from being the butt of a joke for their entire life.

terrible baby names, weird baby names, funny baby names, baby girl names, baby name trends, 2025 baby namesA little bit of research prevents a lifetime of regret.Photo credit: Canva

One person urged “Even if you think your relationship with them will sour, at least for the baby’s sake, you need to talk to them and suggest they change the name and explain to them what this means, all politely, of course. If they say they will still continue with the name, you can smile and give a thumbs up.”

Another less forgiving individual said, “Absolutely remove these people from your life.”

As of now, the OP is going to “gather enough courage to tell them my thoughts.” Good luck on that.

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Internet

Gen X has been designated the 'worst grandparents.' Sadly, their explanation makes sense.

The latch-key generation doesn't hate their family, they're burnt out.

Photo credit: Canva

Gen X designated the 'worst grandparents' by Millennials

Generation X, typically the children of Baby Boomers born between the years of 1965-1980 tend to have a complicated reputation depending on who you ask. Some view them as a feral generation never to be spoken of poorly without consequence, while others view them as innovators pushing us into the future. But in recent years, Gen Xers have been dubbed the "worst grandparents" by social media users.

This multi-year conversation started when a video went viral calling Gen X out for being "terrible" grandparents, claiming that they never want to help with grandchildren. It didn't take long before other Millennials piled on to air their own grievances about Gen X grandparents. Most people criticizing the "new grandparents" were genuinely perplexed as to how they did not want to be more involved in the lives of their grandchildren.

Gen X; Gen X grandparents; absent grandparents; Gen X worst grandparents; Millennials; worst grandparents; Gen ZFamily baking fun in the kitchen.Photo credit: Canva

Kylie Muse reveals in a video that she felt neglected by her Gen X parents growing up, saying, "It's quite a common theme for Gen X parents to be neglectful in some capacity and it's just crazy to me how more of them haven't learned from the past 20 to 30 years, instead of these grandparents seeing their kids having kids as an opportunity to restore the health in their relationships with their kids by showing up and helping them during the hardest transition of their lives, they would rather double down and compromise their relationship with that next generation. All for the sake of hyper-individualism and pride."

@kylies.muse Gen x grandparents and their beloved empty nest 🥴 just say you hate having a family 😭 #grandparents #grandparentsoftiktok ♬ original sound - Kylie ꩜

The critique coming from the younger generation is not lost on Gen X, and they started coming out in force to respond with such vigor you'd think John Hughes had just announced the re-release of The Breakfast Club. It would seem that some of the people complaining of the lack of involvement have not considered that Gen X could have valid reasons for not immediately jumping in to take on grandparenting in the way some expect. A man by the name of John S. Blake gives a candid look into why Gen X was neglected as children and, in turn, became hype-independent at an early age.

"As a Gen X who's been on this earth long enough to have some hindsight I can tell you this, being independent at a young age is not a flex, what it actually means is capitalism is so brutal that our parents were forced to neglect their own children to stay alive. My generation was struggling so much that we had to leave our children unattended in order to produce enough so that we could afford to exist," Blake says.

@blackfluidpoet Replying to @ellens0061 #foryoupage #homealone #fyp #foryou ♬ Slippin' - Re-Recorded - DMX

But perhaps one of the most heart wrenching explanations comes from an elder Millennial who goes by the name Amazing Dea. In response to another Millennial who asks about Gen X being let off the hook, Dea shares, "Being as though you look like you might be a younger Millennial, let me go ahead and enlighten you. Generation X and older Millennials had to live through more than just this pandemic. We had the crack epidemic, we had the AIDS epidemic and let me tell you something, it was scary as f***."

Dea went on to explain that there were apartment complexes burned due to high populations of people with AIDS living in them and how they would witness people go from being completely normal to being addicted to crack in a matter of weeks. It seems that depending on socioeconomic status, Gen Xers lived wildly different lives with the common theme being growing up entirely too fast at an extremely young age.

Gen X; Gen X grandparents; absent grandparents; Gen X worst grandparents; Millennials; worst grandparents; Gen ZThree generations smiling by the sea.Photo credit: Canva

Another person kindly breaks down the confusion over why Gen X isn't rising to the occasion of being award-winning grandparents. In response to the criticism she replies, "We grew up in a different time, first of all. A lot of us, meaning me, Gen X, I was raised by boomers. A lot of us did not get raised by our grandparents. We were like the feral kids, like by 7 and 9 years old we were actually babysitting our brothers and sisters, alright."

The woman explains further in the video that Gen X doesn't want to raise their grandchildren or simply be babysitters, that there's a difference between expecting grandparents to be involved and expecting them to be babysitters.

@that1crazy72 Let’s take it a step further. You share DNA with your grandkids they are part of you not everyone gets the privilege of being a grandparent so if you are one take that as a blessing #genxgrandparents ♬ original sound - That1crazy72

In many of the response videos shared by Gen Xers, they certainly seem to love their grandchildren and children alike, but there's a discrepancy in expectation. The consensus of the forgotten generation seems to be that they had adult responsibilities much too early, were exposed to adult life experiences at a young age, and were often left to their own devices for long periods of time while also being told that their voices didn't matter.

While the argument seems to be around their lack of involvement as grandparents, they appear to be saying that they want to enjoy the freedom they didn't have as children, while being valued as a person and not a babysitter. In many follow up videos, Gen Xers gushed over their grandchildren and how they loved when they were around. It's just that they draw the line at raising them. Maybe for some, their experiences with their own childhood isn't enough to move Gen X out of the "worst grandparents" category, but for others it provides much needed context.

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Joy

Nurse asked colleagues to share the most 'unhinged' baby name they ever heard. They delivered.

Imagine meeting twins named "Brock Lee and Callie Flower.”

Photo credit: Canva

Parents…why?

In the latest segment of “unhinged” TikTok trends, a NICU nurse named Victoria asked her fellow colleagues to share names that, as she wrote, “would send the Social Security office into a coma.”

And honestly, who would get exposed to more baffling baby names than nurses? No one. Victoria herself shared with Today that some of her top hits include Dracula, Messiah and Bronze and Gold.

So you can bet the answers were plentiful and, well, unhinged. Check below for our favorites:

“Blessica.”

“Ho’nasty - pronounced honesty…”

“Lucifer ... Oddly enough I took care of another baby named Messiah the same night."

“I work in pediatric dentistry and we have a kid named Sheep."

"L&D nurse here: Phelony."

terrible baby names, unhinged tiktok, weird baby names, unique baby names, baby names, funny baby names, bay name trendsPoor Phelony. Photo credit: Canva

“Dietician in a behavioral speech hospital…kid with oppositional disorder named nemesis."

“Arealtruemiracle. All one word.”

“Candida…I BEG people to research names before giving them to children.”

“Hella Shady.”

“Demon (pronounced duh-mawn)”

“Narwhal ... His name was Narwhal.”

“Frijoles Guacamole. On my life not joking. We secretly keep a bad baby name book to remind us of all the crazy first and middle names.”

“Russell, which isn’t bad except the middle name is Mania. Russell Mania.”

Many of the twin names were especially outrageous:

terrible baby names, unhinged tiktok, weird baby names, unique baby names, baby names, funny baby names, bay name trendsThere's gotta some twins out there named Thing One and Thing Two. Poor souls. Photo credit: Canva

“Twins in the NICU — one boy, one girl — named Brock Lee and Callie Flower.”

“Twins: Donwanna and Doneeda…last name Mann.”

“Ya’highness and Ya’majesty. Spelled exactly like that.”

“Twins named Michael and Lil Michael. Mom threatened to beat me up when I laughed. I didn’t know she was serious.”

“Not a nurse but worked on the postpartum floor; twins named Abracadabra and Alacazam.”

“Canon and Crystal. Their last name is Ball.”

And some triplet names for good measure:

“Today, tomorrow, a to’yesterday”

“Teacher here. I had triplets: Lincoln, Mercedes and Bentley.”

As one person noted, these, ahem, unique choices are undoubtedly why some countries have stringent naming laws. Iceland, for instance, has only 4,000 pre-approved baby names. Parents who wish to use a name not on the approved list must petition a three-person naming committee.

terrible baby names, unhinged tiktok, weird baby names, unique baby names, baby names, funny baby names, bay name trendsDid you know the most popular girl's name in Iceland is Emilia? Photo credit: Canva

However, while that kind of guidance might make sense (to protect kids from being on the receiving end of less-than-desirable monikers) some places do have rules that might seem a little outdated to modern sensibilities—forcing names that indicate matching genders, for example.

Even in America, certain names, like Adolf Hitler, III, and Messiah (though clearly some folks are getting away with that last one) are illegal. Still, there are far less regulations, and therefore, stories like this one.

names
Joy

17 things we accept now that future generations will find completely embarrassing

What we permit today could be an embarrassment tomorrow.

via Canva/Photos

Plastic bottle on the beach, a man getting arrested and cows on a factory farm.

If you look back 30 years in the past, it’s easy to pinpoint things that were once accepted and changed for the better. Back in 1995, it was normal to discriminate against LGBTQ people, and they sure couldn't get married. It was still common for people to smoke in restaurants and bars, and in many places, you didn’t have to wear a seatbelt.

Go back a few years before then; littering was so common that it wasn’t even frowned upon in many places. Kids routinely rode in the back of pickup trucks, and teen pregnancy was so common in the ‘80s that students would bring their babies to high school.

Looking back on things that are embarrassing in hindsight is a great invitation to look at life in 2025 and anticipate the things we accept today as completely usual that will be very embarrassing in 30 years. A Reddit user asked the AskReddit forum for people to share the “current thing that future generations will say ‘I can't believe they used to do that’?” and the answers ranged from how we treat animals to social media etiquette. There were also many who think that, even in an environmentally conscious age, a lot of things still need to be improved upon.

17 things we accept now that future generations will find embarrassing

1. Marijuana laws

"'They used to send people to prison for life for having a little bit of weed?!' Overheard from a Gen Z. It's already happening."

"People still do in certain US states."

2. Polluting the oceans

"Why we have treated our waterways and oceans as oubliettes is puzzling to me. Do people not realize, you need water to fu**ing live!"

"The way it was explained to me when I asked essentially this very question about 20 years ago is that it started back when people thought the oceans were so big that we puny little humans couldn't possibly have an impact on them. Now, it's just a bad habit perpetuated by the rich and powerful while the majority cry out for change."


plstic bottles, ocean plastic, garbage patch, pollution, water pollutionPlastic floating in the ocean.via Canva/Photos

3. Dialysis

"Isn't it basically running all the person's blood through a filtering machine and then back into the body, repeat every few days? Or am I missing some extra horror about it?"

"A filtering machine that only works as well as 10% of a functioning kidney does. It just about keeps you afloat but all sorts of chemicals aren't getting filtered properly and cause issues. It also takes a physical and mental toll on the body sitting for 5 hours 3 days a week minimum depending how bad your function is and for a lot of people they suffer from great fatigue. Not to mention the stress dialysis puts on the heart."

4. Posting your entire life online

"I honestly feel like it's gotten a bit better in some ways. Mid 2000s Facebook posts were WILDLY inappropriate by today's standards. A time when people were first learning that their actions on the internet can have real-world ramifications lol."

"Especially political opinions. People are just now starting to realise that if they posted something stupid and offensive when they were fourteen, employers will find out about it. In a job market where employers will scan through an applicant's social media and have a strict social media policy, that's very dangerous."

5. Using plastic for everything

"Plastics are a symptom of shortsightedness. In theory they were a great idea. A material that can be re-used so that we don't use finite/slower replenish-able materials instead? Get rid of cotton farms and animal wool/skins/furs? And for so much cheaper?
Unfortunately because of the cheapness of plastics, we made a lot more disposable materials (especially clothing) - more than any populace could possibly consume in a generation, never-mind in the ridiculously fast-paced season turnover of goods. And now we realize, plastics stick around for a long time, possible forever. Wood, plant and animal materials degrade and decompose. So you could poison the environment but not exploit some animals or not suck up all the water, or you could accept that unless we wanna be naked and live in far more limited environments, we're gonna have to use natural resources, even animals, for our clothing and goods."


trash, plastic utensils, pollution, plastic cups, plastic strawsPlastic waste.via Canva/Photos

6. Overuse of antibiotics

"Not just on humans, most antibiotics are used on livestock and animal agriculture. Human use only accounts for about a third of all antibiotic use."

"This is a country-specific problem. Some countries have medical systems that avoid prescribing. Some others can't get enough."

7. Terrible mental health practices

"The way the mental health system treats psych patients in hospitals and programs when you have severe symptoms. You’ll get drugged up and the whole experience is pretty traumatizing. It’s also quite surprising how little people in hospitals actually know about mental health. it’s not always specific people either, it’s just the system as a whole. getting sent home in the middle of a mental health crisis because your insurance cuts out. or losing a bed in a program because someone is 'worse' than you."

8. Marketing overkill

"The incessant inundation of marketing in our daily lives. Our technology gathers our data to tailor ads to sell us more useless trash. Your TV records you so people in an office somewhere can socially engineer ways to sell you another TV. We see something like ~5000+ advertisements a day, they’re still trying to put big ads in the night sky, it’s far too much and the future will consider us barbaric for allowing it."


ads, billboards, advertisements, American street, marketing, visual pollutionBillboards as far as the eye can see.via Canva/Photos

9. Bottled water

"Buying bottled water from another continent."

"My wife and I just watched Christmas Vacation the other night, and it struck me as funny that they had the neighbor Margo with a giant bottle of Evian water. To anyone born after 1995, this part is just wardrobe, but for those who were around in the 80s, it's meant to show how yuppie and 'hip' the neighbors are. We made fun of people who carried their own personal bottle of water."

10. School shootings

"Hopefully, things like school shootings will become something we only talk about in past tense. We’ll look at a graph over time, and this time period is just a weird uptick amidst a big downward trend."

11. 5-day workweek

"I'll never understand the 'go to the office' work when you can do it just fine from home. I've been working from home for about 7 years now, been to my local office once in that time to pickup a new laptop. You're not paying my internet or other stuff while I'm working from home. You can literally downsize your office space with people working from home. Recently, my manager was discussing it with me, and she's fine with it, but there may be some push from upper management."

12. Treatment of animals

"I really think a long time from now we’ll view how we treat animals pretty distastefully. Elephants bury their dead and can paint, dolphins have language and some are growing thumbs. They’re clearly more sentient then we give them credit for and we use our lack of understanding of consciousness to justify it."

"I fully believe that in a few hundred years, people will think that eating meat is as wrong as owning slaves. I say this as someone who eats meat."


cows, factory farm, animal farm, milk, grazing, feeding cowsCows in a factory farm.via Canva/Photos

13. Driving your own car

"Drive your own car, especially when drunk. Now, this is way, way in the future, but I can imagine a bunch of laughing drunk college students stumbling into their self-driving car and saying, 'OMG, how did they do it back in the old days? I can barely walk straight.' The correct answer would be, they died. That's how they did it in the old days, they died."

14. Circumcision

"My wife gave birth to my son recently and I insisted he wasn't to be circumcised. Her previous 2 boys were, because her ex just didn't care and it was done to him. I stood over my son in the warmer, saw this small, vulnerable, precious thing, and it completely baffled me how anyone could want to cut into their own child. It's such a barbaric and monstrous act that needs to stop. It only exists due to societal pressure and ignorance."

"Moreover, forced sex reassignment on intersex babies. Being trans, I've met so many intersex trans/non-binary people who are extremely upset their bodies were messed with without their consent shortly after they were born."

15. NFTs

"Yeah, that's next year. Like in 11 days"

"Future generations will laugh. The current generation is laughing now, but future generations will also laugh."

16. Urban design

"Current Urban design in the US. Someday we will realize that we have built cities 100% for cars with no consideration of people."

"I hate the term 'car brained' but the concept itself is so dam valid. It's very hard to convince people that car-centric design causes cities and towns to be laid out the way that they are. The amount of space that roads and parking take up now are going to shock future generations. Cars and roads are not going to disappear, but the alternative options will seem so much better to future generations."

17. Communism

"It has failed miserably dozens of times in different nations, leading to tens of millions dead , yet we still have like 50% of young people saying it's a cool idea. Why? Because communist criminals were never punished for their sins. After WW2 there were trials, there was widespread condemnation and disgust. Nothing like that ever happened to commie higher ups responsible for shooting people by hundreds of thousands. Nothing. Names like Mao and Stalin should disgust people just as much as the name Hitler, it should be unacceptable in society to express sympathy for them (like it is with Hitler)... yet it's the opposite, especially in colleges."

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