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Yelp adds warnings to crisis pregnancy centers, and Gen Z for Change played a part

Looking for appropriate care just got a whole lot easier.

yelp; crisis pregnancy centers; Gen Z
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Yelp adds warnings to crisis pregnancy centers.

The nonprofit group Gen Z for Change may have had something to do with Yelp changing its policy regarding crisis pregnancy centers. The online local listings directory now notifies consumers that these businesses typically don't provide medical services and may not be staffed by licensed medical professionals. Many people searching online for abortion services, especially those in states that have enacted trigger laws, see crisis pregnancy centers pop up as if they provide the desired service. Yelp now helps potential patients navigate this deceptive practice by adding a warning label over the results on its platform.

What does Gen Z for Change have to do with this change in Yelp's policy? After Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in June, crisis pregnancy centers, also known as "fake abortion clinics," began populating in searches for people looking for abortion care. This is a problem for multiple reasons, the main one being that vulnerable people were being deceived by these centers, whose main goal is to get the mother to carry on with the unwanted pregnancy at all costs. Gen Z for Change began flooding their online presence with negative reviews to warn potential patients.

The group was so efficient that it was able to create a program that automatically ran a prepared script to flood Yelp with negative reviews on crisis pregnancy centers. The program it designed is called S.A.F.E.R., which stands for spam, assist, fund, educate and register, and encourages users to spam Yelp in an effort to warn others. Yelp eventually disabled its review system to stop the spamming from Gen Z for Change. But it looks like Yelp took notice of the reviews being left by the activist group.

Warning on crisis pregnancy center.

Screenshot from Yelp

In August, Yelp added a notice to its listings for pregnancy centers to help differentiate them from actual abortion providers. Noorie Malik, Yelp's vice president, said in a statement, "To provide consumers with helpful information when looking for reproductive health services, Yelp’s new consumer notice will appear on Crisis Pregnancy Centers and Faith-based Crisis Pregnancy Centers business pages, informing consumers that businesses in those categories typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals onsite."

Yelp is hoping the change will prevent people from being confused about the services provided at the centers.

There are currently more than 2,700 crisis pregnancy centers across the United States and they provide limited services, such as free pregnancy tests, peer counseling, clothes and diapers. Some centers offer ultrasounds, but the healthcare they provide is very limited. Crisis pregnancy centers are not bound by HIPAA, which could lead to violations of client privacy—a real concern in states where pregnancy termination is now illegal and citizens can turn others in to authorities.

While Yelp doesn't directly credit Gen Z for Change for its policy change, it would seem the group was able to at minimum get Yelp's attention. It's a small change that can make a big difference in a post Roe v. Wade world.

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Sweden’s landmark new proposal will stop the world from mixing it up with Switzerland

Honestly, do you know the difference?

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After over a thousand years of peaceful relations, European semi-superpowers Sweden and Switzerland may finally address a lingering issue between the two nations. But the problem isn’t either country’s fault. The point is that the rest of the world can’t tell them apart. They simply don’t know their kroppkakor (Swedish potato dumpling) from their birchermüesli (a Swiss breakfast dish).

This confusion on the European continent has played out in countless ways.

Swedish people who move to the United States often complain of being introduced as Swiss. The New York Stock Exchange has fallen victim to the confusion, and a French hockey team once greeted their Swiss opponents, SC Bern, by playing the Swedish National Anthem and raising the Swedish flag.

Skämtar du med mig? (“Are you kidding me?” in Swedish)

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Identity

75-year-old ‘hip-hop granny’ impresses and inspires with her dance moves

Ms. Stephanie didn’t even start formal dance lessons until she was almost 30.

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Ms. Stephanie bringing it at her hip-hop class.

Stephanie Walsh isn't your average hip-hop dancer. At 75, "Ms. Stephanie" is still able to hold her own on the dance floor, popping and locking with people a third her age, and she loves it.

When you see her dance—and her enviable muscle tone—you might think she'd been a trained dancer all her life. But she actually didn't take any formal dance lessons until she was almost 30.

Walsh told Growing Bolder that she had wanted her daughter to dance when she was little, so she got her ballet lessons, which the daughter hated. Realizing that dancing was her dream and not her daughter's, Walsh took her kiddo out of ballet and started classes herself right away.

She had always loved to dance and developing her skills only led to more and more dancing.

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Woman's choreographed dance with her dog is a jaw-dropping testament to border collie smarts

Wow. What? How?!?

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Never underestimate what a border collie can do.

Border collies may not officially have the title of the smartest dog breed, but no one can deny their intelligence. While some dogs are lovable oafs with seemingly few marble rolling around in their heads, border collies will amaze you with what they can do.

Recently, a video of a border collie creating its own ball fetching game by dropping a ball repeatedly at the top of the stairs and then running down to catch it at the bottom had people impressed. But another video of a border collie shows a whole other level of brain power—and jaw-dropping ability to dance.

That's right. Dance. With specific choreography and everything.

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Father of the bride steals the show with his incredibly smooth dance moves

From the tootsie roll to the dougie, he nailed it all.

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The MC Hammer dance though.

Father and daughter dances are a traditional staple of weddings. They tend to range somewhere between tearfully sweet and hilariously cringey. But sometimes, as was the case of Brittany Revell and her dad Kelly, they can be so freakin’ cool that millions of people become captivated.

Brittany and Kelly’s video, which amassed, I kid you not, more than 40 million views on TikTok, shows the pair grooving in sneakers (Brittany’s were white because, hello, wedding dress) to their “dance through the decades.”

It all began with Young MC’s “Bust a Move,” to give you a clear picture. And bust a move, they did.

Though the duo did a handful of iconic moves—the tootsie roll, the MC Hammer dance, the Carlton, just to name a few—“the dougie,” made famous by Cali Swag District, was the obvious fan favorite.
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How old is too old to trick-or-treat? Turns out, most people agree on this topic.

This isn't such a debate after all.

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We asked the Upworthy community if trick-or-treating should have an age limit

Should Halloween trick-or-treating have an age limit?

Some seem to think so, arguing that anyone past the age of thirteen has less sincere joy for the holiday, and merely uses trick-or-treating as a candy grabbing “scam”…thus potentially ruining the experience for the littles.

Certain cities have even implemented laws to enforce an age cut-off somewhere between 12-16-years-old, depending on the location. Punishment for breaking these rules vary, but in Chesapeake, Virginia it included up to six months of jail time up until 2019.

And yet, when we asked the Upworthy community this question, there was a very different answer.
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‘I feel good, so why stop?’ 91-year-old opens up a new barber shop.

Staying active is the key to a long life.

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Bob Rohloff gives a haircut at his new barber shop.

The old saying goes, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life," and it’s true. When you love what you do, a job isn’t work at all. It can be as enjoyable as your favorite hobby while making money at the same time.

Loving what you do is also great for your health. Studies show that people who love their work live longer, and those who are constantly stressed at their jobs have a significantly higher risk of heart disease.

Bob Rohloff is a beautiful example of the benefits of having a job you love. At 91, he opened a new business, Bob’s Old Fashioned Barbershop, in Hortonville, Wisconsin.

Rohloff started cutting hair in 1948, and 60 years later, he retired with his wife, Marian, in Arizona, but it didn’t last long. After a few months, he “unretired” and went back to cutting hair. In 2010, the couple moved back to Wisconsin, and Rohloff cut hair at the Hortonville Family Barbershop.

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Pop Culture

Watch a musician turn a basic drinking straw into an incredible medieval-sounding flute

Peter Bastian combined his training in physics and the bassoon to make this simple yet impressive instrument.

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The sound Peter Bastian can pull from a straw is amazing.

Humans have been making music since before recorded history. Phoenix, Arizona's Musical Instrument Museum has over 4,200 musical instruments from around the world on display, and it's fascinating to see all the creative ways people have figured out how to make music over millennia. From turtle shell drums to animal bladder-based wind instruments, the ingenuity humans display in the pursuit of melody, harmony and rhythm is remarkable. It seems we can make music out of almost anything.

Case in point: Danish composer Peter Bastian's plastic straw flute.

When you hear that someone made a flute out of a straw, you might think, "Yeah, I've done that, too." But you've likely never seen one like this. Bastian played it like a double reed instrument, and it's surprisingly enjoyable to hear the sound he could pull out of it.

In this video, Bastian displays several different sounds and styles, which range from oboe-like to medieval flute to bagpipes, so be sure to watch to the end to get the full range. Watch:

"Here is an extraordinary example of the quality of the musician being more vital than the quality of the instrument. Outstanding contrast in timbre!" wrote on commenter on YouTube.

"Not only is it a straw, it's absolutely beautifully played, almost an oboe from nothing! Wonderful, I love the sound and the music," wrote another.

"In 1995 I sat a few meters from him in an auditorium at my music conservatory, listening to him playing on a straw," shared another. "It's hard to understand how Bastian could fill up the entire hall with such incredible resonance. And at the same time making it so beautiful."

According to IMDB, Bastion, who died in 2017, spent nine years studying physics but found himself increasingly drawn to music. Both of his parent were opera singers, and while he played multiple instruments, he primarily played bassoon and clarinet. His book, "Ind I Musikken" ("Into the Music" in English) became a bestseller and he was known for his passionate lectures on music—as well as the folk tunes played on his straw flute.

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