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Ben and Jerry's new ice cream flavor makes democracy look delicious.

Democracy FTW.

Ben and Jerry's is at it again: churning out flavors you can spoon into your wide open mouth, completely* guilt-free.

Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.

*Because you should never feel guilty about eating food you like.

On May 17, 2016, Vermont's most famous dairy dudes, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, revealed the latest addition to their family of treats with a bigger purpose.

Photo by Ade Johnson/AFP/Getty Images.

And it didn't disappoint.

Friends, I give you Empower Mint: an ice cream meant to restore the power of the people this election season.


Nom nom.

So what's Empower Mint all about? First of all, it's aimed at turning our democracy into an actual democracy.

Through its patriotic branding, the new flavor aims to remind voters we need to take power away from the (ridiculously) wealthy people and corporations that hold too much sway in Washington and hand it back to us, the everyday voters:

"This fudge-filled flavor reflects our belief that voting gives everyone a taste of empowerment, & that an election should be more 'by the people' and less 'buy the people!'"

Cohen and Greenfield don't just talk the talk, either. Just last month, the two were arrested outside the U.S. Capitol for participating in a protest focused on ridding Washington of its Big Money influence. They certainly walk the walk.

These are a few of the protesters who marched alongside Cohen and Greenfield. Photo by Mike Theiler/AFP/Getty Images.

Secondly, Empower Mint wants you to give a damn that our voting rights have been stripped away.

In 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, which had required states with a history of voter discrimination to get a thumbs up from the federal government before passing laws that affect voters. Since the court's ruling, however, certain states have passed eyebrow-raising laws that don't do much in countering the idea they're out to suppress voter turnout among minorities, immigrants, and poor people.

Photo by Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images.

In North Carolina, for instance, advocates argue an unnecessary voter ID law is intentionally discouraging black voters from heading to the polls. In Texas, a law was passed to redraw voting districts so that communities with large immigrant populations have less political power, activists argued.

This doesn't fly with Ben or Jerry, who are encouraging customers to sign a petition to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act on its Empower Mint webpage:

"We must stand together and call on our leaders to not only reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, but to fight back against new laws that undermine our freedom to vote, ensuring a democracy that works for everyone."

I'll eat to that.

Also, a not-so-unimportant note about this new flavor: It contains peppermint ice cream, fudge brownies, and fudge swirls.

Fudge-freaking-tastic is right.


So when you spot Empower Mint in an aisle near you, know that's it's not just for you to devour — it's there to remind you we all deserve our voices be heard this November.

Learn more about what Empower Mint is all about from the video below:

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

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dogs
Family

Pediatrician shares two simple tips that could save a child's life at a pool party

"The more folks present, the safer the pool is, right? Wrong."

Photo by Ash Dowie on Unsplash

If there's a body of water anywhere, a designated adult needs to have their eyes on it.

It's that time of year when the weather across the country is warm enough for families to enjoy outdoor barbecues, picnics and pool parties. That means it's also the time of year when tragedy will strike a certain percentage of families who get blindsided by how quickly and easily a child can drown in a backyard pool, even when they're surrounded by people who care about them and their safety.

We've all been at a gathering where adults are coming and going, chatting, setting up food, taking trips to the bathroom, all while kids are busy playing in the water. In such scenarios, it's easy to assume that someone else is keeping an eye on the pool.

But as pediatrician Diane Arnaout has shared, the harrowing reality is that the more people there are at a pool party the more likely it is that a child could slip into the pool or become distressed in the water without anyone noticing.

In a Facebook post that has been shared more than 77,000 times, Dr. Arnaout wrote:

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Pop Culture

Crying fan embraced by Drew Barrymore explains why the moment was 'super special'

"Like myself, Drew has had a super hard life," she said.

via Eva Rinaldi/Flickr

Drew Barrymore speaks during the FLOWER Beauty launch at Westfield Parramatta on April 13, 2019, in Sydney, Australia.

Drew Barrymore, 48, has been in the public consciousness since she starred as Gertie in 1982’s mega-blockbuster, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. So, it makes sense that many people of a certain age feel as if they’ve grown up with her.

Now, she’s an even more significant part of people’s lives as the host of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” which runs every weekday on CBS.

On May 25, the show’s Instagram page posted a touching video of an off-the-cuff moment between Barrymore and a fan during a taping of her show. In the clip, Barrymore realizes that someone in the audience is crying. So, instead of ignoring the fan, she jumps to action to see what is the matter.

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drew barrymore
Pop Culture

Musician uses traditional Chinese instrument to create hypnotic cover of 'Hotel California'

There are literally hundreds of covers of this song floating around on the internet, but this one has its own unique flair.

Moyun/Youtube

Moyun peforms "Hotel California" on the guzheng.

The Eagles' hit song, “Hotel California,” has been covered countless times over the years by a variety of artists, including the likes of Nancy Sinatra, the Gypsy Kings and that guy at your local karaoke spot.

And while every rendition gives the song a fresh dynamic, one musician with a penchant for mystery has transformed the rock n’ roll staple into something entirely new.

Using a traditional Chinese string instrument called a guzheng, Moyun plays the song focusing mostly on its two guitar solo arrangements, creating a sound that has all the otherworldly beauty of an ancient folk tale.
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music
Pop Culture

Man rewatches shows from his childhood and his recaps of the bonkers storylines are priceless

Rob Anderson's hilarious recaps of shows like "Mighty Ducks," "Beethoven," and "7th Heaven" might make you wonder how they got made in the first place.

@hearthrobert/TikTok

These plots makes zero sense.

While there are no doubt some timeless classics from our childhood that remain every bit as amazing as we remember, many are straight-up cringey upon a later viewing. Really, it’s to be expected as societal viewpoints change…sort of a marker of how far we’ve collectively come.

And so, what do we do with these problematic pieces of old-school pop culture? Well, we can certainly update them to better reflect a more modern attitude, but that also comes with a set of potential problems. Or we could simply never watch them again. Certainly an option given all the content out there. But then we might miss an opportunity to better understand what seemed to work for the mainstream then, and why it doesn’t work now.

And then there’s the third option—allow ourselves to be entertained by their cringiness.

That’s certainly the route taken by Rob Anderson. Over on TikTok, Anderson has taken ultra-popular movies and television shows from his childhood and given them hilarious recaps capturing how absurd some of the storylines are.
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movies
Joy

Woman decides that she is the love of her life and marries herself at her retirement home

“I said, you know what, I’ve done everything else. Why not?”

KCEN|YouTube

77-year-old woman decides she's the love of her life and marries herself.

We joke about marrying ourselves or a platonic friend if some arbitrary amount of time has passed without a proposal from an imaginary suitor. And sure, some people do wind up marrying a friend in more of a business arrangement, but it's not very common that someone follows through with marrying themselves.

Dorothy "Dottie" Fideli, decided that she was going to break the mold. The 77-year-old sat down and thought about all of the things she had done in life and who was with her the entire time cheering her on. It was an easy answer: herself. She was her biggest cheerleader, the person who always showed up and the love of her life, so Fideli made the plan to marry herself.

On a beautiful May day, friends and family gathered in the O’Bannon Terrace Retirement Community, where Fideli is a resident, to witness the ceremony.

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