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Joy

A Canadian shelter sells older cats like used cars, and it's pretty effective ... and hilarious.

Can I interest you in a pre-owned cat?

Image pulled from YouTube video.

Cats for sale.


These mustached Canadians decided to treat older shelter cats like used cars.

Why?

Because in a world where around 8 million pets enter shelters and only around 4 million get out, that's a lot of sad math.

used car salesman, comedy, Canada

You name it; we got it.

assets.rebelmouse.io

funny, pets, community

All makes and models of cats.

assets.rebelmouse.io

animal adoption, older pets, Calgary Humane Society

An escape attempt?

assets.rebelmouse.io

In an attempt to stop that sad math, the kind folks from the Calgary Humane Society got creative.

Humane Society, cat performers, adorable cats

The top speed of cats...

assets.rebelmouse.io

The fastest domestic cat running speed appears to be 29.8 mph. This salesman knows his product!

They got weird.

felines, kittens, social responsibility

Felines at the Human Society ready to go.

assets.rebelmouse.io

They discovered some very adept cat performers.

Hollywood, cat owners, funny cat tricks

Get yourself a pre-owned kitty.

assets.rebelmouse.io

Call Hollywood!

They pulled out all the stops to help future cat owners realize that pre-owned cats are the way to go!

And in addition to the commercial, the cats were priced to go on a very special Saturday.

kittenhood, sad math, abandoned pets

Reducing the price.

assets.rebelmouse.io

Kittens are popular. There's no way around it. They're kittens! I used to be kitten-crazy (I was a child!), but I've adopted older cats and so have my friends. They're special. They're cute. They're soulful. And instead of adorably biting your fingers until they grow up past kittenhood, older cats chill out on your couch and teach you about relaxing.

pre-owned cats, adorable pets, enjoyable commercials

The simple pleasures of cat ownership.

assets.rebelmouse.io

I'm sharing this because it might save a pre-owned cat.

We missed the Big Sale Saturday (but let's be real, pre-owned cats are always priced to go), but the love for pre-owned cats continues. And this commercial, well ... it's timeless.

And worth a watch below:

This article originally appeared on 08.29.15

From Your Site Articles
Democracy

Urban planner shares a simple and proven way to cut rents in half

“Housing is ultimately for people, not profits.”

via About Here/YouTube

Why is one building so much cheaper?

Over the past few years, one of the most significant contributors to the increase in the cost of living in the U.S. has been skyrocketing rent and housing prices. A big reason for the rise is the lack of housing supply. Estimates show that Americans need to build around 6 million more housing units for supply to meet demand.

If we are going to build more housing units, About Here’s founder urban planner Uytae Lee, suggests that the U.S. and Canada focus on building more non-market co-op units.

He lays out his theory in a video entitled “The Non-Market Solution to the Housing Crisis.”

To illustrate his point, he highlights two apartment buildings side by side in the up-and-coming Olympic Village neighborhood in Vancouver, Canada. In one building, the average rent for a 2 bedroom is $4,500. However, in the building across the street, a 2-bedroom unit only costs $1900 a month.

“So how is this building so affordable? Well, it's really quite simple. It doesn't make money,” Lee says. “This building is owned by the Athletes Village housing co-op, a non-profit cooperative. Like the name suggests, the co-op isn't trying to make a profit from this building. So it sets rents that only cover the building's operating costs, things like heat, water, electricity, taxes, mortgage payments and maintenance.”

“The building next door is a condo that is owned by an individual or corporation who very much wants to make some money from their housing,” Lee continues. “So they can rent it out for well really whatever price they can get. Any money they make on top of their operating costs is the profit they can pocket for themselves.”

Co-ops are often owned by charities, churches and nonprofit organizations that understand housing is a need and want it to be part of their larger mission. There are co-ops for various demographics, whether seniors, refugees, or college students.

If a private building owned by a landlord were constructed simultaneously, their rents would be similar. However, a co-op can lower rent over time while market pressures and profit motives drive the private building upwards.

As market value in a neighborhood increases, landlords raise rent. However, co-ops keep rent at the same level as long as costs remain stable. Further, after the mortgage on the co-op is paid off, its expenses are drastically reduced so that the rent can be lowered.

“Non-market housing promises a home at a stable price right now and an affordable price in the long term,” Lee says.

When there is an abundance of co-ops in a given area, they also have a positive effect on market housing. Lee cites Vienna as an excellent example of non-market housing keeping market rents low. “Private landlords have to compete with non-market housing for the same tenants. They can't afford to inflate the rents because people will apply for the non-market housing next door, where rents can be as low as €551 a month.”

Just as there are barriers to building large private housing projects in North America, building non-market housing also has its problems. The first is cost. Finding non-profits or government agencies willing to fund an entire apartment building is tough. It’s also hard to get housing projects approved when co-ops have to go up against NIMBYs and housing zoning regulations.

“I think first and foremost we need to change these rules and make it easier to build housing in general,” Lee says.

In the end, Lee believes co-op housing isn’t a magic bullet that will solve all our woes. But it should be an integral part of a larger solution. “I think we should be treating all market housing as an important counterbalance,” Lee says. “Something that limits people's ability to exploit the housing shortage in two key ways: adding more supply and setting rents that help to stabilize the overall housing market — sending a reminder to all of us that housing is ultimately for people, not profits.”


From Your Site Articles
housing
Science

Woman in disbelief after wild bird talks to her in English

Where did it learn to speak?

via Ryan Magsino/Unsplash and TheDarkSuperman/TikTok

Where did that crow learn to say "hello"?

Lisa Sandoval was walking near the waterfront in the small town of North Rustico on Prince Edward Island in Canada when she thought someone called out to her. “I heard someone call out to me, ‘Hello! Hello!” Sandoval told The Dodo. “I turned around and no one was there. Then I heard the voice again. ‘Hello! Hello!’ I got a little scared, then thought to myself, ‘Am I hearing things?’”

Then she realized the only living thing around her was a crow high atop its perch.

“I stopped and said, ‘Hello?’” Sandoval continued. “And to my shock, he answered me back. ‘Hello! Hello!’”


She later learned that others in town had encountered the bird. The rumor is that it was taught to speak by an older man who cared for it when it was injured as a baby. When the crow got better, the man set it free.

Months later, Sandoval came in contact with the crow again and filmed their interaction.

Talking Crow From Canada !!! Hello Hello🤔🤔🤔

@thedarksuperman

Talking Crow From Canada !!! Hello Hello🤔🤔🤔

When most people think about talking birds, parrots come to mind. However, according to bird expert Patrick O’Donnell at Bordzilla, crows are highly intelligent and can also replicate human speech. “It is possible to teach a crow to say words but not actually to talk,” O’Donnell wrote at Birdzilla. “No bird can really talk with human speech, even ones with a wide vocabulary. However, crows can be taught to mimic a number of words and the process is similar to the ways in which Parrots are taught words.”

From Your Site Articles
birds
Joy

Ugandan man's pure joy at seeing snow for the first time is a must watch

The way he says "nice to meet you" to the snow...

@peterandmarie/TikTok

He cannot contain his joy at seeing snow for the first time.

Nature is a wondrous, magical thing. Everything from a falling star to the morning dew is its own small miracle. As children seeing the world for the first time, it’s easy to appreciate every natural phenomenon to the fullest (remember sticking your tongue out to taste the rain?) but those feelings are rarely so common in adulthood.

That’s why it’s so cool when we see grown-ups able to conjure true childlike awe—it’s almost like we remember to give ourselves permission to do the same.

Recently, people were brought to this space of pure joy after watching a Ugandan man experiencing snow for the first time.

The video was posted by a man named Peter, hailing from Uganda, and Marie, a Canadian woman. The couple have dedicated their entire TikTok account to documenting their life and travels.

This particular clip, which has racked up nearly 6 million views, shows Peter overcome with joy as gingerly places his hands on Canadian snow.

“Oh my god! I’m so so happy to see the snow my first time,” he says, grinning ear to ear.

Giggling, he continues to pat the snow, calling it “beautiful” and “white” with utter reverence.

Finally, he even introduces himself to the snow, saying “Nice to meet you.”

Honestly, there’s nothing that can be written to properly capture the moment. You have to see it for yourself.
@peterandmarie @PETER ROCK CBM. Seeing snow for the first time in Canada 🇨🇦❄️🥶 #firstsnow #seeingsnowforfirsttime #ugandanincanada #canadawinterlife #interracialfamily ♬ original sound - Peter & Marie 🇺🇬🇨🇦

Many viewers noted how special seeing snow for the first time can be.

“I love it when people experience snow for the first time, (it's) like they’ve found childlike joy all over again,” one person wrote.

And while snow might be a rarer sighting than other natural phenomena (about two-thirds of the world’s population have never seen it), it certainly isn’t the only one that can take our breath away.

As John Keats once said, “the poetry of the earth is never dead.” Maybe the first step to reclaiming childlike joy is to look at the world around us with pure appreciation. Sensing the poetry in it all. It might be a challenge to truly see things as though it was the first time, as we once did in our youth. But now, with the wisdom of adulthood, we know that it could be our last. So enjoy it to the fullest.

So go ahead. Touch the snow. Taste the rain. Bask in a flower bloom. Remember that life is a miracle.

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