Mother really does know best. via The Way We Met

Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was criticized after admitting in a Fox News interview with Harris Faulkner that his proposed fluoridated water ban would likely lead people to have more cavities—but defended the move nonetheless.
While fluoride is not federally mandated in drinking water, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had long recommended its inclusion. Fluoride helps prevent cavities by strengthening enamel, and numerous studies have shown that fluoridated water reduces tooth decay in both children and adults.
Fluoridation began in 1945 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after studies linked naturally fluoridated water to lower cavity rates. Follow-up research in Grand Rapids confirmed a dramatic drop in tooth decay among children, prompting its widespread adoption across the U.S.
Where fluoride is added to tap water, it's typically maintained at a concentration of 0.7 milligrams per liter, in line with public health guidelines. Dental organizations, however, have warned that eliminating fluoride could worsen oral health outcomes, particularly among children.
When asked by Faulkner about concerns from dentists that eliminating fluoride would harm children, particularly those from lower-income families who cannot afford regular dental visits, Kennedy had this to say:
"Well, people will still get indemnified for it to the extent that they’re already indemnified. But, you know, it is an issue, it’s a balance. You’re gonna see probably slightly more cavities—although in Europe, where they banned fluoride, they did not see an uptick in cavities."
"The issue is, parents need to decide because the science is very clear on fluoride. The National Toxicity Program issued a report of a meta-review of all the science on it in August that said there’s a direct inverse correlation between the amount of fluoride in your water and your loss of IQ."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
He was swiftly called out for his remarks—it seemed clear he didn't care at all about the consequences of ignoring the science.
While Kennedy cannot mandate that communities halt fluoridation—since those decisions are made at the local level—he said he would assemble a task force of health experts to reexamine the issue and offer new federal guidelines. He has called fluoride a “dangerous neurotoxin.”
Notably, Kennedy claimed just days before the presidential election that if re-elected, then-candidate Donald Trump would prioritize eliminating fluoride from the nation’s drinking water starting on his first day in office.
The American Dental Association said that "when government officials like Secretary Kennedy stand behind the commentary of misinformation and distrust peer-reviewed research, it is injurious to public health."
Fox News personality Jesse Watters was widely mocked after he tried to give New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani a scary nickname in the vein of Conan the Destroyer—only for it to backfire considerably.
Watters is the latest member of the GOP to lash out at Mamdani, a democratic socialist who handily defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary last week.
If elected in November, Mamdani would become New York City’s first Muslim mayor, a milestone that has energized the city’s approximately one million Muslim residents. His campaign prominently embraced his faith, with regular mosque visits and messaging that connected his background to the city’s broader diversity.
Many prominent Republicans—including conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer and President Donald Trump's policy adviser Stephen Miller—have shared racist and Islamophobic rhetoric in response to Mamdani's win and have claimed his policies would "destroy" the city.
And Watters leaned into the socialist fearmongering when he said:
“Zohran the Destroyer is about to give Karl Marx a woke makeover if Democrats can’t stop him from becoming the next mayor of New York City.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
You can see the chyron below that declares "Zohran the Destroyer Wrecks Dem Party."
Fox News
It sure sounded cool, actually—which wasn't at all what Watters was going for, but too bad.
Mamdani has faced relentless attacks from Republicans in recent days, notably from Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles, who urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to denaturalize and deport Mamdani over a lyric in a rap song Mamdani released in 2017 that emphasizes his pro-Palestine stance.
Meanwhile, Trump derided Mamdani as a "communist" and said Mamdani must "do the right thing" should he win the mayoralty, or risk losing federal funding. Trump said "whoever's mayor of New York is going to have to behave themselves or the federal government is coming down very tough on them financially."
Mamdani dismissed these attacks, saying he's "had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for."
We thankfully live in a world where there's no longer a stigma surrounding therapy.
Some people simply need professional help to deal with ongoing problems or even to get through the day.
However, how effective therapy can be truly depends on your therapist.
It's easy to tell shortly into a first session whether a therapist will be a good fit.
Sometimes, however, we might discover that someone we thought was a good therapist was actually steering us down the wrong path.
Resulting in our need to end our professional relationship.
Redditor Normal_Enthusiasm194 was curious to hear about cases where people felt compelled to fire their therapists, leading them to ask:
"What is something your therapist did that made you fire them?"
"Sat there and stared at me while I talked without ever offering feedback, reflections, or insights."- LowKeyGlitch
"Not mine, but my sister was doing a session over Zoom when the TikTok her therapist was watching off screen started playing on full volume."- sillykathleen
"She talked way too much about herself and experiences and talked over me when I tried to take back the conversation."-LickAD*ckASaurus
Thats Me I Know GIF by Jackie JamesGiphy
"I live in a very nice neighborhood, which is well known for being an affluent area."
"After finding out where I lived, my therapist went on for about 15 minutes about how awful the east side of Indianapolis is and how he wouldn't live here in my neighborhood because it's too close to the 'bad part of town'."
"He was saying stuff like, 'Aren't you afraid living there?'"
"'That can't be good for your anxiety, I'd be a mess all the time'."
"I corrected him and told him I live in Geist, which is actually quite safe and quiet."
"He brought it up in our next session, too, and mentioned that I should move to help with my anxiety levels, that living in a small town or a nicer suburb would make me feel safer."
"Dude was projecting his bullsh*t insecurities about bad neighborhoods like a motherf*cker."- will_write_for_tacos
"She told my mom Everything I told her."
"I was 15 at the time."- I_want_pancakes_123
"After a few months of us working together, every time I shared anything with her, she said, 'OK, so, you just trauma dumped on me again' always with a tone of exhaustion."
"But she never gave me alternative options for sharing techniques, and I wasn’t really sure why I was in therapy if I wasn’t allowed to share things without getting weird pushback."
"Honestly, she really did help me a lot at first, but then maybe she got tired of me."- petrakat
"Missed an appointment ... twice ..."
"It was like an hour and fifteen-minute bus ride to their office, and it was just... locked."
"Then I called them, and they said they forgot we rescheduled ... I have never been back to therapy since."- Anxious_Bluejay
Hurry Up Countdown GIF by Escape Hunt UKGiphy
"I had an eating disorder, told her peanut butter was a safe food, and she said she packed on the pounds when she started eating peanut butter."
"Messed me up a bit. "- Lasagnaoflife
"Not me but my partner."
"They asked them if they ever had a chance to sleep around in their early twenties."
"My partner said no and was happily monogamous."
"Well, the therapist said that essentially, they should break up with me to explore more sexual partners."
"They were floored."
"The therapist would not drop the subject, and essentially, my partner had to leave because the therapist would not let go of my partner needing to sleep around."
"They went to therapy because they wanted help managing job stress..."
"Personally, I've never had a bad experience, thank god."- Bitter_Detective_952
"He showed up in one of those ‘Are We Dating the Same Guy’ Facebook groups and he didn’t treat women well."
"I switched after that."- drulaps
"Scheduled an appointment for me on a holiday when the office wasn't even open then tried to penalize me for no call/no showing."- MistressLiliana
"Sympathized with my coercive ex-husband and emotionally abusive ex-husband."
"The relationship got to a point where I couldn’t have sex with him due to things that had happened; she told me to just give in and have sex and that by doing it, I’d get over it."
"She didn’t bother trying to understand the disconnect and discomfort. Just simply, 'put out."- mykneescrack
I Have No Idea Whatever GIF by MOODMANGiphy
"I went through a pretty rough patch a few years back. I got pretty depressed and gained a bunch of weight."
"To get out of it, I started seeing this therapist. I started pulling myself out of the depression."
"I was doing better, and I'd dropped a fair amount of my excess weight. I mentioned it to the therapist."
"I guess I should mention that this therapist was a bigger person."
"Maybe bordering on obese."
"I didn't care, but she was."
"So when I mentioned that I'd lost weight, her response was to go on and on for about 15 minutes about unrealistic body expectations, then ask me if I'd ever watched My 600 Pound Life."
"I said no, and she told me all about how the people on there were super-heavy and none of them had ever had a heart attack."
"I realized I was firmly in Her Problem territory, not mine."
"I tried to change the subject, but she kept talking about it."
"Covid shut us down a week or two later, and I wasn't sorry to be done with her."- edgarpickle
"Took the side of the employer that I won a claim against when they were assigned to help me with the issues the employer caused after I had already won."- ChaoticMaplesyrup
If you think you need therapy, there is no shame to be had.
But after starting therapy, it doesn't take too long to realize that no therapy at all is more effective than having a bad therapist...
Tennessee Republican Andy Ogles was called out after he shared a letter he sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi urging her to denaturalize and deport New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani over a lyric in a rap song Mamdani released in 2017.
Mamdani ran a campaign centered around economic populism, arguing that the city, a global financial center, has grown unaffordable for everyday residents, citing soaring rents and grocery prices, and outlining policies aimed at reducing the cost of living.
His efforts paid off—he ultimately bested former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a seismic win for progressives that has reverberated across the country. But Mamdani's win has also ignited an Islamophobic backlash against him, including from Ogles.
Taking to X, Ogles wrote:
"Zohran "little muhammad" Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York. He needs to be DEPORTED. Which is why I am calling for him to be subject to denaturalization proceedings."
Ogles shared images of a letter he sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging the Department of Justice to investigate whether Mamdani should be stripped of his U.S. citizenship. In the letter, he alleged that Mamdani may have obtained naturalization fraudulently by willfully misrepresenting or concealing "material support for terrorism," even referencing a rap song Mamdani released in 2017.
His letter said, in part:
“According to public reports, including a June 21, 2025 New York Post article, Mr. Mamdani expressed open solidarity with individuals convicted of terrorism-related offenses prior to becoming a U.S. citizen. Specifically, he rapped: ‘Free the Holy Land Five / My guys."
“Publicly praising the Foundation’s convicted leadership as ‘my guys’ raises serious concerns about whether Mr. Mamdani held affiliations or sympathies he failed to disclose during the naturalization process."
“While I understand that some may raise First Amendment concerns about taking legal action based on expressive conduct, such as rap lyrics, speech alone does not preclude accountability where it reasonably suggests underlying conduct relevant to eligibility for naturalization.”
The term “Holy Land Five” refers to five senior officials from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, once the largest Muslim charity in the United States. In 2008, a federal jury convicted them of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas.
You can see Ogles' post and read the letter below.
@RepOgles/X
@RepOgles/X
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development "was shut down by the Bush administration and designated as a terrorist organization in the wake of 9/11, even though it donated money to Palestinian charities that the U.S. government itself supported. Its leaders are serving sentences of up to 65 years in federal prison."
The organization notes that the defendants "were never accused of directly funding terrorist organizations or terrorist attacks, nor were the Palestinian charities they funded accused of doing so. Despite this, "they were prosecuted under US 'material support' legislation on the notion that the social programs they financed help win the 'hearts and minds' of Palestinian people for Hamas."
Mamdani's stance has drawn backlash, including from some Jewish organizations who argue his views and Muslim identity reflect antisemitism—a charge Mamdani rejects. He has spoken publicly about receiving hate messages, including ones declaring, “the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.”
Many have condemned Ogles' action, saying it's ultimately rooted in Islamophobia.
Mamdani previously addressed the weaponization of antisemitism and the divisive tone of the race during his victory speech, saying the mayoral campaign “filled our airwaves with millions in smears and slander.”
The New York Police Department confirmed that Mamdani has been the target of repeated car bomb threats left in voicemails by an unknown individual making anti-Muslim remarks.
As part of his platform, Mamdani has pledged to increase funding for the city’s anti-hate crime program by 800 percent, aiming to more aggressively combat both Islamophobia and antisemitism, among other hate-fueled threats.
For as often as U.S. schools declare that they will not tolerate bullying, maybe school systems need to be called out for not practicing what they preach.
TikToker Sarah Delaney recently caught her younger sister, a brand-new high school graduate, doing just that as she crossed the stage for her graduation. When her name was called, she gracefully stepped onto the stage and accepted her diploma before crossing to greet the school's two principals and several other school officials.
Notably, as she approached the two principals, she waved their outreached hands away, refusing to exchange a handshake. She did, however, greet and share a handshake with the other officials who appeared after them, before stepping off the other end of the stage.
According to Delaney, her younger sister had been bullied throughout her high school experience, and her principals refused to help her, even when she reached out.
The text overlay of the video read:
"POV: Your baby sister was bullied all year and her principals did nothing to help, so she refused to shake their hands at her graduation."
You can watch the video here:
@sarahdhammond @🎀Laura🎀 So proud of you for this bold move!! It’s definitely giving rep era! 🖤
Fellow TikTokers experienced a range of emotions from watching the video, all rooted in celebration.
Some rooted for the young woman and found the lack of a handshake to be humorous, as well as a boss move.
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Others applauded Delaney's sister for only sharing the respectful gesture with those who had earned it.
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Some also assumed, based on her appearance and confidence at the ceremony, why she had been bullied at school, choosing to compliment her instead.
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After seeing the influx of comments, compliments, and celebratory notes, Delaney shared a follow-up carousel of images, thanking everyone for the support and sharing a few photos that really captured her sister's personality.
@saradhammond/TikTok
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This just goes to show that while there may be some people in your life who are supposed to help you and won't, there will be countless others who will rise to the occasion instead.
Not only did Delaney's sister do something incredibly empowering for herself as she walked across that stage, but, undoubtedly, seeing so many heartfelt comments rooting from her would surely point her in the right direction for an incredible future.