Indiana Republicans asked for 'horror stories' on Facebook. It backfired.

That escalated quickly.

 Parker Molloy
07.05.17

Want to hear a scary story? The Indiana Republican Party sure does.

On Monday, July 3, 2017, the party took to its Facebook page to ask followers to share "Obamacare Horror Stories."

"Did you lose a doctor that you liked? Have your premiums increased? Did your insurer leave the exchange? Are burdensome regulations hurting your small business?" the post reads.

The horror! The absolute horror of it all! (Insert spooky music here.)

Did you lose a doctor that you liked? Have your premiums increased? Did your insurer leave the exchange? Are burdensome...

Posted by Indiana Republican Party on Monday, July 3, 2017

Instead of getting actual health care horror stories, people responded with powerful, emotional defenses of Obamacare.

Health care providers lined up to share how the Affordable Care Act not only helped improve the overall health of their local communities, but helped improve their local economies.

"Not only did those people benefit, but we had to hire more therapists to care for them, which created jobs." All screenshots are from the comments on the original Facebook post and used with permission by the individual commenters.

Parents shared tearful stories about how before the ACA, their young children would have run up against their insurance's lifetime limits well short of adulthood. Thanks to the ACA, annual and lifetime limits are a thing of the past, and people can't be charged more for a pre-existing condition (such as being born prematurely).

"Obamacare has saved our family and we are so grateful for it."

"Under Obamacare, the insurance companies have to insure him with what they define as his 'pre-existing' condition."

Others expounded on how the care received because of the law literally saved their lives or those of people they love.

"If it were not for Obamacare my kids would have no mother, I would not have a partner, and parents would have lost their daughter. She would be dead."

Entrepreneurs talked about how the ACA allowed them to take a chance on starting their own small businesses and escaping "job lock," something that would almost certainly return if the law were to be repealed.

"Obamacare made it possible for me to take the plunge."

"We have been able to stay healthy and afford our medications, even with our pre-existing conditions."

But the truth is that none of the "repeal and replace" proposals put out there by Republicans in Congress address the "horror stories" of losing access to a doctor you might like or rising premiums. Even if they did, are those flaws any more horrific than the fact that millions more will lose their access to lifesaving health care under these new proposals? Probably not.

Maybe instead of trying to score political points, our elected representatives should simply try to do what's best for the country.

And Facebook user Dana Ann nailed it with her comment about coming together for the sake of creating a health care system that works for all Americans, for all political parties. Lives are actually on the line, and it's time for our members of Congress to stop playing like this is a game.

"We are not playing a football game where one side wins and one side loses... we are ONE nation!"

There's still time to stop the ACA repeal effort, and there's still time to demand that your senators and representatives work together, regardless of party, to fix the flaws in our system. You can start by calling your senators today.

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A funny new video nails the disturbing truth behind e-cigarettes

Truth

Don't test on animals. That's something we can all agree on, right? No one likes to think of defenseless cats, dogs, hamsters, and birds being exposed to a bunch of things that could make them sick (and the animals aren't happy about it, either). It's no wonder so many people and organizations have fought to stop it. But did you ever think that maybe brands are testing products on us too, they're just not telling us they're doing it?

I know, I know, it sounds like a conspiracy theory, but that's exactly what e-cigarette brands like JUUL (which corners the e-cigarette market) are doing in this country right now, and young people are on the frontlines of the fallout. Most people assume that the government would have looked at devices that allow people to inhale unknown chemicals into their lungs BEFORE they hit the market. You would think that someone in the government would have determined that they are safe. But nope, that hasn't happened. And vape companies are fighting to delay the government's ability to evaluate these products.

So no one really knows the long-term health effects of e-cigarette use, not even JUUL's CEO, nor are they informing the public about the potential risks. On top of that, according to the FDA, there's been a 78% increase in e-cigarette usage among high school and middle school-aged children in just the last two years, prompting the U.S. Surgeon General to officially recognize the trend as an epidemic and urge action against it.

These facts have elicited others to take action, as well.

Truth Initiative, the nonprofit best known for dropping the real facts about smoking and vaping since 2000 through its truth campaign. We don't do PSAs. We also need to update so to explain truth – the nonprofit behind the truth youth smoking prevention campaign – you could also say this in a funny way – best known for sharing the facts about smoking and vaping or pull from some old campaigns. Just layer in a description of truth and who the campaign is., is now on a mission to confront e-cigarette brands like JUUL about the lack of care they've taken to inform consumers of the potential adverse side effects of their products. And they're doing it with the help of animal protesters who are tired of seeing humans treated like test subjects.

The March Against JUUL | Tested On Humans | truth www.youtube.com

"No one knows the long-term effects of JUULing so any human who uses one is being used as a lab rat," says, appropriately, Mario the Sewer Rat.

"I will never stop fighting JUUL. Or the mailman," notes Doug the Pug, the Instagram-famous dog star.

Truth, the national counter-marketing campaign for youth smoking prevention, hopes this fuzzy, squeaky, snorty animal movement arms humans with the facts about vaping and inspires them to demand transparency from JUUL and other e-cigarette companies. You can get your own fur babies involved too by sharing photos of them wearing protest gear with the hashtag #DontTestOnHumans. Here's some adorable inspo for you:

The dangerous stuff is already out there, but with knowledge on their side, young people will hopefully make the right choices and fight companies making the wrong ones. If you need more convincing, here are the serious facts.

Over the last decade, 127 e-cigarette-related seizures were reported, which prompted the FDA to launch an official investigation in April 2019. Since then, over 215 cases of a new, severe lung illness have sprung up all over the country, with six deaths to date. While scientists aren't yet sure of the root cause, the majority of victims were young adults who regularly vaped and used e-cigarettes. As such, the CDC has launched an official investigation into the potential link.

Sixteen-year-old Luka Kinard, a former frequent e-cigarette-user, is one of the many teens who experienced severe side effects. "Vaping was my biggest addiction," he told NowThis. "It lasted for about 15 months of my high school career." In 2018, Kinard was hospitalized after having a seizure. He also had severe nausea, chest pains, and difficulty breathing.

After the harrowing experience, he quit vaping, and began speaking out about his experience to help inform others and hopefully inspire them to quit and/or take action. "It shouldn't take having a seizure as a result of nicotine addiction like I had for teens to realize that these companies are taking advantage of what we don't know," Kinard said.

Teens are 16 times more likely to use e-cigarettes than adults, and four times more likely to take up traditional smoking as a result, according to truth, and yet the e-cigarette market remains virtually unregulated and untested. In fact, companies like JUUL continue to block and prevent FDA regulations, investing more than $1 million in lawyers and lobbying efforts in the last quarter alone.

Photo by Lindsay Fox/Pixabay

Consumers have a right to know what they're putting in their bodies. If everyone (and their pets) speaks up, the e-cigarette industry will have to make a change. Young people are already taking action across the country. They're hosting rallies nationwide and on October 9 as part of a National Day of Action, young people are urging their friends and classmates to "Ditch JUUL." Will you join them?

For help with quitting e-cigarettes, visit thetruth.com/quit or text DITCHJUUL to 88709 for free, anonymous resources.

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Lush to shut down all stores and operations, asking 5000+ employees to march for climate crisis

CEO says it's a "no brainer."

LUSH

Handmade cosmetics company Lush is putting its money where its mouth is and taking a bold step for climate change action.

On September 20 in the U.S. and September 27 in Canada, Lush will shut the doors of its 250 shops, e-commerce sites, manufacturing facilities, and headquarters for a day, in solidarity with the Global Climate Strike taking place around the world. Lush is encouraging its 5000+ employees "to join this critical movement and take a stand until global leaders are forced to face the climate crisis and enact change."

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Planet

Cadbury removed the words from its wrappers to bring attention to a seldom-discussed issue

The candy giant said it "donated" the words.

via Cadbury

Cadbury has removed the words from its Dairy Milk chocolate bars in the U.K. to draw attention to a serious issue, senior loneliness.

On September 4, Cadbury released the limited-edition candy bars in supermarkets and for every one sold, the candy giant will donate 30p (37 cents) to Age UK, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for the elderly.

Cadbury was prompted to help the organization after it was revealed that 225,000 elderly people in the UK often go an entire week without speaking to another person.

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Well Being

Forbes' 100 Most Innovative Leaders list includes 99 men. Here's how their methodology was flawed

Come on, guys.

Forbes/Twitter

The fine folks at Forbes are currently falling all over themselves trying to clean up the mess they created by publishing their 2019 list of 100 Most Innovative Leaders.

The problem: The list included 99 men and one woman. For those not so good with the math, that means according to Forbes, only 1% of the country's most innovative leaders are female.

Have you ever watched a movie that's so abysmally bad that you wonder how it ever even got made? Where you think, "Hundreds and hundreds of people had to have been directly involved in the production of this film. Did any of them ever think to say, 'Hey, maybe we should just scrap this idea altogether?"

That's how it feels to see a list like this. So how did Forbes come up with these results?

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