There's certainly something to be said for vision and persistence. via Goalcast

Vice President JD Vance was criticized after he lashed out at MSNBC host Jen Psaki for saying that "prayer is not freaking enough" to end school shootings after a shooter killed two children and wounded 17 others during the first week of classes at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.
Psaki spoke out on X shortly after the shooting occured, to stress that "thoughts and prayers" don't actually address or prevent mass shootings and gun violence overall:
""Prayer is not freaking enough. Prayers does not end school shootings. prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers."
You can see her post below.
Vance responded soon after, accusing Psaki of "attacking" those who offer thoughts and prayers after these tragedies:
"We pray because our hearts are broken. We pray because we know God listens. We pray because we know that God works in mysterious ways, and can inspire us to further action."
"Why do you feel the need to attack other people for praying when kids were just killed praying?"
In a follow-up post, he added:
"Of all the weird left wing culture wars in the last few years, this is by far the most bizarre. ‘How dare you pray for innocent people in the midst of tragedy?!’ What are you even talking about?"
You can see what Vance wrote below.
But people were quick to remind Vance that prayer isn't action—and that prayer alone won't actually address the epidemic of gun violence nationwide that has resulted in the U.S. once again leading the world in mass shootings.
According to the Mass Shooting Tracker, there have been 339 mass shootings in the U.S. as of this writing—thousands of lives have been altered forever because nothing has been done to promote comprehensive gun control laws even though the rest of the Western world has largely figured this out.
Nor has Vance backed efforts to address gun violence nationwide, prompting many to call him out.
Psaki's remarks echo those of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who criticized politicians who offer "thoughts and prayers" after deadly school shootings.
In remarks to reporters, Frey noted that "thoughts and prayers" didn't do anything to protect the children who died because they were quite literally killed while praying during a morning mass.
Stressing that children "should be able to go to school or church in peace without the risk of violence and their parents should have the same kind of assurance," Frey offered his condolences to all who've been impacted. He added that "these are the sort of basic assurances every family should have every step of the day regardless of where they are in our country."
Whether it was Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, or some other important facet of childhood, most of us found out when we were kids that something we loved did not exist, and it was absolutely devastating and world-changing.
But imagine there being something that you deeply disliked or feared, only for you to find out that it actually exists on the same plane and in the same timeline as you.
TikToker Annabelle Perez caught that devastating moment for her young son, Andy, when she walked in on her husband holding their son in his lap, their son visibly upset.
When she asked him what was wrong, Andy blubbered:
"He said that Donald Trump was real."
Perez confirmed, perhaps too quickly and emphatically, that President Donald Trump was, in fact, real, and the rest of the video was spent with young Andy sobbing on his dad's lap.
You can watch the video here:
@andydouglas.trumpboy Eek 😬 thanks..yes he Is real my sweet boy.
TikTok united in the comments section, totally feeling for Andy and what he must have been going through in discovering that the man he's seen on the news was not, in fact, a fictional character or super villain.
Rather, he's the President of the United States—and serving his second term to boot. Imagine how world-rocking that must have been!
TikTokers found Andy's reaction to be perfectly valid.
Some hugged it out with little Andy in the comments section, saying they were crying, too.
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Others agreed and said the revelation was like something out of a horror movie.
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Some even treated the comments section like a therapy session.
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A few days later, little Andy appeared in another one of his mom's videos, in which he was much happier.
"We're not as sad today, but we do have Cheetos!"
He excitedly ate Flamin' Hot Cheetos and even complimented those watching by saying that they looked like a Hot Cheeto.
@andydouglas.trumpboy We’re not as sad today, but we do have Cheetos!
So there you have it: President Donald Trump might be real, and we might not all like it, but at least we can have Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
We will all have friends who come into our lives for a reason, for a season, or for a lifetime. There are those situational friendships, like from work or school, that dissolve when we exit that space, and there are friendships that might form from knowing the same people.
Then there are those tried-and-true friendships that we think will truly stand the test of time—but even those sometimes fracture under pressure. And sometimes for the most ridiculous reasons.
TikToker @originalsugarphly began filming, speaking to herself in the mirror, and appearing exhausted and devastated.
"23 years. 23 years of being best friends out the window."
"Why?"
She then stepped back and scanned herself up and down, wearing a short, brown t-shirt, and the new American Eagle "mom shorts," which offer a three-inch in-seam, are high-rise, and fully cover the person in the front and the back.
The TikToker appeared flabbergasted.
"[Because of] these shorts."
The previous weekend, TikToker @originalsugarphly flew to Las Vegas to spend time with her best friend, help her best friend prepare for a housewarming party, and go with her best friend and two sons, ages 14 and 17, to do their back-to-school shopping.
She believed everything went well and that everyone had a good time. That was until she received a phone call shortly before this video was filmed.
She recounted the conversation:
"About an hour ago, she calls me, we're having a normal conversation, and then all of a sudden, she mentions her boys were uncomfortable, specifically the younger one."
"I said, 'What do you mean they were uncomfortable?'"
"She said, 'Your shorts were so short. They were inappropriate, and you made them uncomfortable. You could see your whole butt hanging out!'"
"I'm sorry, but you can't see my butt."
She then pivoted to show the back of her shorts in the mirror. The shorts looked high-waisted in the back, too, and her butt and thighs immediately below the buttocks level were totally covered.
The TikToker appeared increasingly frustrated.
"My butt's covered. It's covered. They're mom shorts."
"But I will say, if anyone had mentioned that they thought what I was wearing was inappropriate, I would have changed clothing. But no, everything was fine, and now we're having this conversation."
"I pushed back and said, 'They're not inappropriate. I feel they are appropriate. I feel they are how I normally dress.'"
"She goes off and tells me that because of the things that have happened, her 14-year-old is going to need therapy to deal with how he's feeling, and they're not used to seeing people dressed like this and dressed so inappropriately."
"I'm like, 'They live in Las Vegas. You live in Vegas. You're telling me they don't see this?'"
"And she said, 'No, they're never around it. Your whole butt was out, and it was so inappropriate.'"
You can watch the video here:
@originalsugarphly 23 years of friendship gone, because of shorts. 💔😢💔 #sad #hurt #unfriended #bestfriend #shorts #storytime #momshorts #americaneagle
Some reassured the TikToker that the jeans were totally appropriate and not the problem.
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Others agreed and were sure there were deeper problems or insecurities at work.
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Everyone has a different sense of what makes them comfortable and what they believe is appropriate, but everyone could agree that they couldn't understand how this was friendship-ending.
Rather, it seemed that there was some other problem going on with the TikToker's friend. And honestly, it sounds like she might be better off without that "friend."
Imagine hitting that afternoon slump and seeking out your favorite caffeinated beverage: a highlight in an otherwise dumpster fire kind of day. But then you arrive at your coffeehouse of choice—and there's literally a fire.
TikToker Cristina Conklin was waiting in line for a beverage at Dunkin' Donuts in Warwick, New York, when she became either a villain or a hero, depending on who was watching her TikTok video.
She began recording a video while waiting in line, panning back and forth between the Dunkin' Donuts kitchen, where a flame was climbing out of the very top stacked oven, the flame nearly touching the ceiling, and the front counter, where none of the Dunkin' staff was paying the flame any mind.
One Dunkin' employee did address the flame somewhat, as she walked to the back of the kitchen, grabbed a broom, and proceeded to fan the flame with the handle end of the broom. This elicited a laugh from a coworker, but when the broom did not help, the employee gave up and went back to work.
Conklin then spoke up, addressing another Dunkin' employee and asking if they had a fire extinguisher. The employee did not at first seem to even know where the fire extinguisher was located, but then found it on the wall right next to where the fire was happening.
The TikToker set down her phone, still recording, showed the staff member how to use the fire extinguisher, and thoroughly sprayed the oven, which caused a plume of smoke and fire extinguisher kickback throughout the Dunkin' Donuts. She then informed the employees that they'd also need to call the fire department.
You can watch the video here:
@nurse_xtina129 So I put a fire out today at my local Dunkin’ Donuts @Dunkin' 💪🏼 thank god everyone was ok! ☕️🍩 #fy #dunkindonuts #firesafety #PASS #smallfire #viralvideo
Some were shocked by how the Dunkin' staff ignored the flame and were grateful that Conklin was there to help.
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But others were critical of what Conklin had done, certain that this impacted the flow of operations for the rest of the day at that Dunkin' Donuts location.
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In response to the criticism, Conklin shared a quick follow-up video, where she said that she did the best she could.
She explained in the video that she was just trying to help and that the staff appeared thankful for her to help them.
She called the fire department after because of the state of the restaurant, and everything checked out, and the restaurant was open and operating again the next day.
You can watch the follow-up video here:
@nurse_xtina129 Replying to @robbieswann88
It must be shocking to walk into a restaurant and witness a fire, and it seems that the only people who were comfortable with the concept were those who have worked in fast food or coffeehouses and witnessed fires in the past.
But perhaps it was a "better safe than sorry" situation, in which at least Conklin stepped up and helped while so many people just stood there and watched.
Between constant conversations about generations not looking their age, and a resurgence of "skinnytok" and "beautytok," there's this renewed pressure for everyone to look their best, for them to refresh their look, and most importantly, to look a decade younger than they actually are.
Stories have been circulating about Americans going to Mexico, specifically Guadalajara, in search of quality and affordable plastic surgery to give them a fresh look, but patients are walking away looking much younger than you might expect.
The latest in the series of patients to have gone viral is 56-year-old David Dickson, who after extreme weight loss felt that he was quickly beginning to look like he was in his late sixties, due to the loose skin on his face and body.
When he came across some of these viral stories, he did his own research and decided to go to Guadalajara, where he partnered with popular plastic surgeon, Dr. Maribel Belmontes Castillo.
According to Dickson, Castillo's "impeccable" work included a lower facelift, a neck lift, lower earlobe reduction, an upper blepharoplasty, which involves the eyelids and eyebrows, and CO2 laser treatment all over his face and neck.
The results were undeniably pretty unbelievable.
In his first before-and-after video, Dickson showed a brief video clip from 2024 before going to Guadalajara, emphasizing his neck and jawline, followed by a clip of how he looked after healing from his multiple procedures.
Here's how Dickson looked before his surgery:
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And after his surgery:
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If you have a TikTok account, you can watch the video here.
In a second video, Dickson showed his side profile, showing his earlobe shape, jawline, and neck prior to the procedure, followed by his newly defined jawline, neck, and even collarbone after the procedure.
You can watch the second video here:
@new.beginnings639 I found myself after visiting Guadalajara and @Dra Maribel Belmontes - #fyp #faceliftjourney #facelift #guadalajaramexico #lowerfacelift #deepplanenecklift #medicalprocedure #tiktok #renewal
Fellow TikTokers were shocked by the extremeness of Dickson's transformation.
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Dickson has been incredibly transparent about his journey, including his weight loss, research for a plastic surgeon, travel arrangements, healing from the procedures, and of course, the costs to get all of this done.
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Dickson is now researching a plastic surgeon in Guadalajara to transform his body now that he's reached his goal weight, as well as another doctor to address his thinning hair.
The marvels of modern medicine will never cease.