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Rebecca Eisenberg

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Happy 4th of July! Here's A Reminder Of What America Is All About.

Today, enjoy your burgers and fireworks. Tomorrow, let's all get back to work making America the best America she can be.



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Bruce Springsteen's letter to North Carolina after canceling his show is a must-read.

Heroes

These photos of sea turtles being released back into the sea show what amazing creatures they are.

Can we take a moment to appreciate the majestic sea turtle?

Because on Sept. 16, 2015, marine police in Indonesia rescued 45 turtles from illegal poachers.

Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images.

While the sea turtle population faces threats from climate change and habitat loss, the World Wildlife Fund also says the number of turtles lost to illegal poaching and overharvesting numbers in the "tens of thousands" each year, with almost 5,000 a year being picked up as "bycatch" just by Indonesian longline vessels

Sadness. Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images.

These lucky 45 turtles were spared a grisly fate at the hands of illegal poachers and set free the next day by the marine police, with the help of some tourists.

But ... let's just take a moment to learn about these amazing creatures.

Don't worry, lil' buddy, you'll be home soon. Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images.

Of the seven species of sea turtle in our oceans, the World Wildlife Fund ranks three (leatherback, hawksbill, and Kemp's ridley turtles) as critically endangered, two (loggerhead and green turtles) as endangered, one (olive ridley turtles) as vulnerable, and the last one (flatback turtles) as "insufficient data" (but according to the Sea Turtle Conservancy, it used to be listed as vulernable sooooo ... there's that).

 The turtles set free in these photos appear to be mostly green sea turtles.

Did you know that a sea turtle born the same day as you is probably still alive — aaaaand might just outlive you, too?

This is the face of an animal that just wants to go home and take the turtle equivalent of a long nap. Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images.

And sea turtles don't have anything on tortoises, which have been documented living long past the century mark. But sea turtles have been known to live anywhere from 50 to 150 years, depending on their environment and species.

"I'm getting too old for this sh*t." Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images.

Or that green sea turtles are basically the lawnmowers of the ocean?

According to this Oceana report (PDF), the green turtle's grazing habits prevent seagrass beds from getting in the way of currents and help keep the oceanic food chain productive and healthy. So if you like eating lobster, you better care about people not eating the green sea turtle.

"Wheee! High-five, bro, I'm goin' home!" — this turtle. Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images.

How about that turtles travel hundreds of thousands of miles across the ocean but come back to the beach to nest?

And not just any old random beach, either. They've been known to come back to the same beach where they were born to make their nests. I can barely even remember where I left my keys, and I always leave my keys in the same place.

Some species, like the Eastern Pacific green turtle, have been known to come up on land just to rest in the sun for a bit.

According to the Handbook for Sea Turtle Volunteers in North Carolina (PDF), gently pouring water over an injured or distressed turtle is a standard first aid procedure to keep the animal comfortable. Because sea turtles in the wild occasionally come up to the beach to rest, however, most sea turtle wildlife viewing guides (PDF) recommend that if you ever encounter a turtle on the beach, you should never try to push them back into the water or pour water on them. Instead, allow them a clear path to find their way back to the water when they're ready. Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images.

Bottom line: Turtles deserve our respect.

These guys are just trying to help, but there's no way to make this rescue look dignified.

So let's just leave the turtles in the ocean where they belong, OK

"C'MON, I thought you were my friends." Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images.

You're free now, turtle friends.

Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images.

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Watch the social experiment that asks: If you saw these people, would you stop to help?

A nice reminder to do something kind today.

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 In the hustle and bustle of Big City LifeTM the notion of kindness sometimes gets lost.

We're all in such a rush to get to work or get home from work or catch that train or flag that cab or respond to that text that sometimes we get a bit lost in our thoughts and forget to look around us.

 

GIF from "Midnight Cowboy."

That doesn't make us horrible people; it just makes us human.

But it's also good to remind ourselves that our ability to be kind is also part of what makes us human. And kindness is a choice that we should, perhaps, strive to make more often.

A group in London recently filmed a social experiment that asked a simple question: "Would you help?"

 To find an answer, the video lays out three different scenarios.

First, an elderly woman with a cane and a heavy suitcase approaches a steep set of stairs:

 

All GIFs via Action Productions.

Second, a man falls asleep on the Tube with a sign asking other passengers to wake him up at Clapham Junction:

 

And lastly, a man bumps into a young woman on the street, knocking all of her belongings to the ground:

 

To be honest — and maybe I'm being cynical — but it wouldn't have come as a shock if no one stopped to help these folks. After all, the National Safety Council reports that 11,000 people were injured in distracted walking incidents between 2001 and 2011. If we're so distracted that we injure ourselves while walking, how can anyone expect us to notice when strangers around us might need our help?

 But waddaya know? In each of the three scenarios laid out in the video, kindness prevailed. People helped.

Before the elderly woman could reach the stairs, a man was already on his way down to help her:

 

The sleeping Tube passenger was woken up in time to get off at Clapham Junction:

 

And a man almost immediately stopped to help the young woman collect her spilled belongings:

 

 The best part though? Each of these good Samaritans was rewarded with a song from the other "strangers" around them:

 

 

 

And watching the surprise on their faces as they try to figure out why their small acts of kindness garnered such praise is exactly why we should all seek to be kind to each other more often.

Watch the full video below:

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