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More than 150 women stood up and exposed Larry Nassar's unforgivable crimes to the world.

The women who bravely faced Larry Nassar in court deserve our respect and attention for changing the course of a criminal tragedy people were too willing to ignore.

Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison after their testimony dramatically changed the course of his sentencing hearing. He'll spend the rest of his life behind bars thanks to their courageous actions.

Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics national team physician, had already been sentenced to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of child pornography. His crimes are major news but weren't receiving significant attention until so many women — more than 150 — came before a judge to offer personal statements against him.


Because of them, he now faces up to 175 years in light of sexual assault charges.

The statements of well-known figures, including gold-medal-winning gymnast Kayla Maroney, have helped bring renewed attention to the 54-year-old Michigan doctor's hearing.

Image via CBS News/YouTube.

Two-time Olympian Aly Raisman also added her voice, saying in her statement:

"Imagine feeling like you have no power and no voice. Well, you know what, Larry? I have both power and voice, and I am only just beginning to use them."

Nassar tried to avoid hearing those statements in the courtroom, but the judge wasn't having it.

Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina ensured every woman had a safe platform to be heard. "It is so important what you've done," Aquilina told 16-year-old Chelsea Zerfas. "I am so very proud of you. This doesn't define you. This strengthens you."

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina speaks to Larry Nassar. Image via MLive/YouTube.

The statements made by Zerfas and so many others brought attention and accountability to a system that allowed Nassar to stay in power even as more than a dozen Michigan State University staffers allegedly knew of his abuses going back to 1992 but did nothing.

Each day brought another shocking revelation about a system that protected Nassar.

Before giving her statement to the court, Maroney filed a lawsuit alleging that USA Gymnastics paid her a "confidentially agreement" to not discuss the Nassar allegations in public. The organization eventually put out a statement assuring that she would not face any fines or other retribution for speaking out against Nassar.

One teen gymnast revealed she was even still being billed for medical appointments with Nassar despite accusing him of sexual abuse. 15-year-old Emma Ann Miller told the courtroom:

"My mom is still getting billed for appointments where I was sexually assaulted. Are you listening MSU? I can't hear you. Are you listening?"

Miller's bravery led MSU officials to announce that Nassar's former patients will no longer be billed for visits. The university is also reviewing whether to reimburse past patients who had already paid for services billed.

Nassar will now spend the rest of his life behind bars.

And the women who stood up to speak out against him have challenged us all to help ensure crimes like this never again stay hidden for so long.

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

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Let's not curse any more children with bad names, shall we?

Some parents have no trouble giving their children perfectly unique, very meaningful names that won’t go on to ruin their adulthood. But others…well…they get an A for effort, but might want to consider hiring a baby name professional.

Things of course get even more complicated when one parent becomes attached to a name that they’re partner finds completely off-putting. It almost always leads to a squabble, because the more one parent is against the name, the more the other parent will go to bat for it.

This seemed to be the case for one soon-to-be mom on the Reddit AITA forum recently. Apparently, she was second-guessing her vehement reaction to her husband’s, ahem, avant garde baby name for their daughter, which she called “the worst name ever.”

But honestly, when you hear this name, I think you’ll agree she was totally in the right.

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A woman looking at her phone while sitting on the toilet.


One of the most popular health trends over the last few years has been staying as hydrated as possible, evidenced by the massive popularity of 40-oz Stanely Quencher cups. The theory among those who obsess over hydration is that, when you pee clear, you’ve removed all the waste in your body and are enjoying the incredible benefits of being 100% hydrated. Congratulations.

However, according to Dr. Sermed Mezher, an NHS doctor in the UK, peeing clear isn’t always a sign of being healthy.

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A beautiful cruise ship crossing the seas.

Going on a cruise can be an incredible getaway from the stresses of life on the mainland. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an element of danger when living on a ship 200-plus feet high, traveling up to 35 miles per hour and subject to the whims of the sea.

An average of about 19 people go overboard every year, and only around 28% survive. Cruise ship lawyer Spencer Aronfeld explained the phenomenon in a viral TikTok video, in which he also revealed the secret code the crew uses when tragedy happens.

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Joy

Kudos to the heroes who had 90 seconds to save lives in the Key Bridge collapse

The loss of 6 lives is tragic, but the dispatch recording shows it could have been so much worse.

Representative image by Gustavo Fring/Pexels

The workers who responded to the Dali's mayday call saved lives with their quick response.

As more details of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore emerge, it's becoming more apparent how much worse this catastrophe could have been.

Just minutes before 1:30am on March 26, shortly after leaving port in Baltimore Harbor, a cargo ship named Dali lost power and control of its steering, sending it careening into a structural pillar on Key Bridge. The crew of the Dali issued a mayday call at 1:26am to alert authorities of the power failure, giving responders crucial moments to prepare for a potential collision. Just 90 seconds later, the ship hit a pylon, triggering a total collapse of the 1.6-mile bridge into the Patapsco River.

Dispatch audio of those moments shows the calm professionalism and quick actions that limited the loss of life in an unexpected situation where every second counted.

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Yale's pep band had to miss the NCAA tournament. University of Idaho said, 'We got you.'

In an act of true sportsmanship, the Vandal band learned Yale's fight song, wore their gear and cheered them on.

Courtesy of University of Idaho

The Idaho Vandals answered the call when Yale needed a pep band.

Yale University and the University of Idaho could not be more different. Ivy League vs. state school. East Coast vs. Pacific Northwest. City vs. farm town. But in the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, extenuating circumstances brought them together as one, with the Bulldogs and the Vandals becoming the "Vandogs" for a weekend.

When Yale made it to the March Madness tournament, members of the school's pep band had already committed to other travel plans during spring break. They couldn't gather enough members to make the trek across the country to Spokane, Washington, so the Yale Bulldogs were left without their fight song unless other arrangements could be made.

When University of Idaho athletic band director Spencer Martin got wind of the need less than a week before Yale's game against Auburn, he sent out a message to his band members asking if anyone would be interested in stepping in. The response was a wave of immediate yeses, so Martin got to work arranging instruments and the students dedicated themselves to learning Yale's fight song and other traditional Yale pep songs.

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