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Refugees arriving in Scotland will get this front page greeting.

Immediately following the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, refugees from Syria were thrown into the spotlight.

And, in many ways, unfairly so.


Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

Speculation began swirling that those involved in the Nov. 13, 2015, attacks had crossed into France amongst the wave of Syrian refugees escaping conflict.

This line of thinking prompted harsh anti-refugee rhetoric across Western Europe. In the U.S., presidential hopefuls have said barring entry for refugees — even children under the age of 5 — is the only way to go. Dozens of U.S. governors are refusing to accept refugees into their states (although, it doesn't look like they'll be successful in doing so).

A Scottish newspaper, however, is taking a much different, and more empathetic approach.

And many people are applauding the outlet's message.

The Nov. 17, 2015 edition of The National isn't shying away from its take on refugees on the day the first Syrians are set to arrive in Scotland: You're welcome here.

In an editorial on the subject, the newspaper called out political "bigots" in Scotland who are attempting to "poison minds against the Syrian refugees."

"They will not succeed in doing so," the outlet wrote.

"Their blatant and cynical attempt to capitalize on a tragedy will disgust the vast majority of Scots, who understand that refugees from Syria are fleeing the very same terrorism of which our French neighbors were targets last weekend."

The tweet with The National's front page has spread like wildfire, garnering more than 2,300 retweets in a matter of hours.

As President Obama reminded us, it's vital we remember that refugees are those trying to escape the violence — not perpetuate it.

During a nearly hour-long press conference at the G-20 summit in Turkey on Monday, Obama reiterated that many refugees are, in fact, the victims of terrorism — not terrorist sympathizers.

"The people who are fleeing Syria are the most harmed by terrorism, the most vulnerable as a consequence of civil war and strife."

Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images.

In the wake of the Paris attacks, the Obama administration has remained steadfast in accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees into the U.S. in 2016 — a drastic increase from previous years.

In his G-20 summit statements, the president also made sure to point out that radical extremists — not Muslims — were responsible for the attacks in France. It's vital to differentiate the two.

"When I hear folks say, 'Maybe we should just admit the Christians, but not the Muslims,' when I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which person who's fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted, when some of those folks, themselves, come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, that's shameful. That's not American. That's not who we are. We don't have religious tests to our compassion."

Terrorism can be a scary and disorienting thing, and it can lead to irrational reactions to what's happening here and abroad.

That's all the more reason why we should all keep The National's front page in mind and make sure to prioritize compassion over fear in the months ahead.

After all, we're all in this together.

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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A nasty note gets a strong response.

We've all seen it while cruising for spots in a busy parking lot: A person parks their whip in a disabled spot, then they walk out of their car and look totally fine. It's enough to make you want to vomit out of anger, especially because you've been driving around for what feels like a million years trying to find a parking spot.

You're obviously not going to confront them about it because that's all sorts of uncomfortable, so you think of a better, way less ballsy approach: leaving a passive aggressive note on their car's windshield.

Satisfied, you walk back to your car feeling proud of yourself for telling that liar off and even more satisfied as you walk the additional 100 steps to get to the store from your lame parking spot all the way at the back of the lot. But did you ever stop and wonder if you told off the wrong person?

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A student accidentally created a rechargeable battery that could last 400 years

"This thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it’s still going." ⚡️⚡️

There's an old saying that luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.

There's no better example of that than a 2016 discovery at the University of California, Irvine, by doctoral student Mya Le Thai. After playing around in the lab, she made a discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting laptops and smartphones and fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills.

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Health

8 nontraditional empathy cards that are unlike any you've ever seen. They're perfect!

Because sincerity and real talk are important during times of medical crisis.

True compassion.

When someone you know gets seriously ill, it's not always easy to come up with the right words to say or to find the right card to give.

Emily McDowell — a former ad agency creative director and the woman behind the Los Angeles-based greeting card and textile company Emily McDowell Studio — knew all too well what it was like to be on the receiving end of uncomfortable sentiments.

At the age of 24, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin's lymphoma. She went into remission after nine months of chemo and has remained cancer-free since, but she received her fair share of misplaced, but well-meaning, wishes before that.

On her webpage introducing the awesome cards you're about to see, she shared,

"The most difficult part of my illness wasn't losing my hair, or being erroneously called 'sir' by Starbucks baristas, or sickness from chemo. It was the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn't know what to say or said the absolute wrong thing without realizing it."

Her experience inspired Empathy Cards — not quite "get well soon" and not quite "sympathy," they were created so "the recipients of these cards [can] feel seen, understood, and loved."

Scroll down to read these sincere, from-the-heart, and incredibly realistic sentiments.

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Health

This woman's powerful 'before and after' photos crush myths about body positivity

"Body positivity is about saying that you are more than a body and your self-worth is not reliant on your beauty."



Michelle Elman, a body positivity coach, helps people who are struggling to find confidence in their own skin.

After persevering through numerous medical conditions and surgeries in her own life, Elman realized a few years ago that body positivity wasn't just about size or weight. Things like scars, birthmarks, and anything else that makes us feel different of self-conscious have to be a part of the conversation, and she tries to make the movement accessible to everyone.

Sharing her own journey has been one of her most effective teaching tools.

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via wakaflockafloccar / TikTok

It's amazing to consider just how quickly the world has changed over the past 11 months. If you were to have told someone in February 2020 that the entire country would be on some form of lockdown, nearly everyone would be wearing a mask, and half a million people were going to die due to a virus, no one would have believed you.

Yet, here we are.

PPE masks were the last thing on Leah Holland of Georgetown, Kentucky's mind on March 4, 2020, when she got a tattoo inspired by the words of a close friend.

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