President Donald Trump’s renewed focus on border security has led to a near-total elimination of the catch-and-release policy at the U.S.-Mexico border, marking a 99.99% reduction compared to peak levels…

Nevada lawmakers have advanced legislation aimed at curbing microplastic pollution in Lake Tahoe by restricting the sale and distribution of large plastic water bottles, a plastic bottle ban. Senate Bill…

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The exoplanet K2-18b is generating headlines because researchers announced what could be evidence of life on the planet. The JWST detected a pair of atmospheric chemicals that on Earth are produced by living organisms. The astronomers responsible for the results are quick to remind everyone that they have not found life, only chemicals that could indicate the presence of life. The results beg a larger question, though: Can the JWST really ever detect life?

Let’s turn the sun into a telescope. In fact, we don’t have to do any work – we just have to be in the right spot.

The post RAPS Cat Sanctuary – A Forever Home For the Cats No One Wanted (with Video) by Dr. Karyn Kanowski BVSc MRCVS (Veterinarian) appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com. Did you know that there are more pet cats in Canada than dogs? In 2024, approximately 8.9 million felines were to be found in Canadian homes, compared to 8.3 million dogs.1 Unfortunately, there are also between 1.4 and 4.2 million stray and feral cats in the north,2 with Canadian shelters taking in around three times as many stray cats as dogs.3 Of these cats, some are safely returned to their relieved owners, and many find new, loving homes, but what about those cats who have been abandoned, surrendered, or born in the wild who, for a variety of reasons, are unsuitable or unlikely to be rehomed? Much of the time, these cats would be destined for euthanasia. Faced with obstacles like overcrowding, scarce resources, disease risk, and medical costs, most animal shelters need to adopt a ‘triage’ approach to the animals that come through their doors, and behavioral issues, health problems, physical defects, and old age can turn into a death sentence. This is partly due to financial constraints and lack of space, but also the ethical dilemma of leaving cats in short-term accommodation for extended periods. However, thanks to a very special group of people at the Regional Animal Protection Society in Canada, many of these cats are given the chance to live out their lives in peace and good health. The Evolution of RAPS During the 1980s, in response to the rising number of stray and feral cats in Richmond, Vancouver, a small group of dedicated cat lovers formed the Richmond Homeless Cats Society. These volunteers worked tirelessly to provide food, shelter, vet care, and, most importantly, spay/neuter services to the growing feline population. This group became the Richmond Animal Protection Society, who, in 2007, were awarded the City of Richmond Animal Shelter contract, where they established a no-kill policy. 2017 saw a final name change to the Regional Animal Protection Society, which better reflects the work they do for the wider community. This is NOT your typical cat shelter (Image By: Regional Animal Protection Society) The RAPS Cat Sanctuary To provide a long-term solution for cats who required long-term or permanent accommodation in the animal shelter, RAPS established its Cat Sanctuary in 1999. It is the only facility of its kind in Canada and one of the very few in North America. Knowing that their feline inhabitants were unlikely to be rehomed, the sanctuary is designed with permanent residents in mind. Even cats with illnesses such as feline leukemia and FIV are provided for in separate facilities to keep them and the other feline inhabitants safe. Home to more than 500 cats, the RAPS Cat Sanctuary is faced with a problem echoed by human healthcare: the rising medical costs of an ageing population. Many of the cats at the sanctuary are living with geriatric health issues such as dental disease, kidney problems, diabetes, arthritis, and hyperthyroidism, and treatment doesn’t come cheap. RAPS depends on donations and sponsorships, income from their thrift stores and fundraisers, and their hundreds of dedicated volunteers to provide the facilities, equipment, food, healthcare, and love these cats need. The cats at RAPS Sanctuary living extraordinary lives (Image By: Regional Animal Protection Society) How Is a Cat Sanctuary Different from a Shelter? Picture in your mind an animal shelter. Now erase that picture, because this sanctuary is so much more than a shelter. It is a veritable haven for cats to live their lives, not just bide their time. Verdant archways, sunny verandahs, high perches, and cozy cubbies provide space for cats to explore and stretch their legs and minimize the stress of shared habitats. Different personalities and temperaments are accommodated, and each cat is free to do as much – or as little – as they please. The sanctuary is also open to visitors, with entry fees helping to keep the organization running, and the interaction enriching both human and feline lives. Visitor numbers are carefully managed to ensure the cats do not feel overwhelmed, and strict guidelines ensure that the well-being of the feline inhabitants is put first. The cats at the sanctuary are available for adoption, should the right match present itself, but it is not the top priority here. In contrast to an animal shelter, where the primary focus is to find cats a forever home as quickly as possible, here at the RAPS Cat Sanctuary, they already have. Just a few of the many feline faces of RAPS (Image By: Regional Animal Protection Society) Visit the RAPS Cat Sanctuary website for more information on how you can support the wonderful work they do, including a one-off donation or monthly commitment, sponsoring a cat, volunteering at the sanctuary, corporate sponsorship, or visiting the cats. Sources https://www.statista.com/statistics/1015882/number-of-pet-cats-and-dogs-canada/ https://www.cwhc-rcsf.ca/docs/fact_sheets/Cats%20and%20wildlife.pdf https://aka-humane-canada-prod.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/attachments/clxui1vdo6s9611mqg2igdp4y-hc-animal-shelter-statistics-2021.pdf The post RAPS Cat Sanctuary – A Forever Home For the Cats No One Wanted (with Video) by Dr. Karyn Kanowski BVSc MRCVS (Veterinarian) appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

During oral arguments Tuesday in the case of Mahmoud v. Taylor, Justice Samuel Alito asked about the ages of Maryland elementary school students taught from LGBTQ books in their class.  “These books were approved for pre-K, which in Montgomery County could start as early as three if they are going to turn four that fall,” answered Eric Baxter, the attorney for a group of Maryland parents suing the Montgomery County public school system. He noted it goes up to the sixth grade.  Alito clarified, “So you’re talking about children in ages 5 to 11 or 4 to 11.” Here are four takeaways from today’s arguments. A decision is expected by the end of June. 1. Coersion or mere exposure? Age aside, the oral arguments before the Supreme Court centered on whether the books were mere exposure or coercion violating the religious beliefs of parents.  The Maryland LGBTQ book case before the Supreme Court?? is not just about the presence of books in a library.@becketfund attorney @esbax explains that the school board has required teachers to discuss the books in school.https://t.co/Ekbm92o9Da pic.twitter.com/ymBM4vlHRC— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) April 22, 2025 Later during the argument Chief Justice John Roberts pressed Alan Schoenfield, attorney for Montgomery County Public Schools. “You said that nothing in the policy requires students to affirm what is being taught or what is being presented in the books. Is that a realistic concept when you are talking about a five-year old?” Roberts asked. “Do you want to say, you don’t have to follow the teacher’s instructions? You don’t have to agree with the teacher?” Schoenfield framed this as similar to a 1943 Supreme Court precedent on the Pledge of Allegiance in the case of Barnette v. West Virginia State Board of Education.  “I would point the court to Barnette. The kids were young. They were eight and 10, and the court made a distinction between being required to pledge allegiance and affirm a belief in a graven image and merely being required to remain passive during the pledge ceremony, and being instructed on what the pledge was, what the flag was and what it meant,” Schoenfield said.  Justice Neil Gorsuch followed, noting that teacher guidance says that if a student says a boy can’t be a girl, a teacher should respond that such a comment is “hurtful,” and you shouldn’t use negative words to talk about someone’s identity.   “Is that exposure, or is that something else for a 3-5-year-old?” Gorsuch asked.  Schoenfield replied, “These were recommended potential answers for questions that students might pose.”  Gorsuch followed, “Let’s say a teacher does as instructed and uses that. Is that exposure or is it coercion?” Schoenfield replied, “It is exposure to particular ideas in teaching students to be civil in the classroom.” 2. Pull your child from public school, if you don’t like it During the arguments, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson suggested to Baxter, the lawyer for the parents, that it’s not coercion because children can attend private schools or be homeschooled.  “Assuming there is no opt-out in this environment, are students being coerced into being in that school at all?” Brown asked.  “We could have set up a constitutional framework in which all students are required to attend public school. They have to go to public school,” Jackson continued. “In that situation, you would have a pretty strong argument that it burdens a parent’s religious exercise if a public school teaches a student something that contradicts a parent’s religious beliefs. … I’m struggling to see how it burdens a parent’s religious exercise if the school teaches something the parent disagrees with. You have a choice. You can put them in another situation. You can homeschool them. How is that a burden on the parent?” Baxter replied: “In the world we live in, most parents don’t have that option. We have two working parents. That’s the reality for our parents.”  Jackson countered, “In so many other constitutional doctrines, we don’t focus on whether people can afford to protect their rights.” 3. Are the books just there, or are kids being taught out of the books? Justice Clarence Thomas asked, “Are the books just there and no more, or are they actually being taught out of the books.”  Baxter affirmed the books were required to be taught since being introduced in August of 2022, and said the board of education suggested the books be used five times before the end of the school year. “One of the schools, the Sherwood school in June for Pride Month, said that they were going to read one book each day to celebrate Pride Month,” Baxter said. “That was the entire point of withdrawing the opt outs and removing even notifying parents who were not allowed to know, it was so that every student would be taught from the inclusivity textbooks.”  Plaintiffs suing on religious grounds including Catholic, Muslim, and Ukrainian Orthodox. Plaintiffs say they were initially offered the chance to opt out, but the school district reversed the offer. The school district has said it tried to accommodate, but the parent requests became unworkable.  The plaintiffs referred to the 1972 precedent of Wisconsin v. Yoder, where the high court held Amish families couldn’t be forced to send children to school after the eighth grade. Parents say they are asking for a far more narrow First Amendment accommodation. However, the Montgomery County school district contends this would mean no limit for accomodations.  4. Debating “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” Both Justices Alito and Sonia Sotomayor referred to one of the books, “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” about a same-sex wedding.  Sotomayor asked, “So, what you’re saying is that the exposure of children to the fact that two people are getting married is coercion, that two people of the same sex is coercion?”  Baxter clarified, “Our clients have not raised that objection.” Baxter stressed that the high court’s ruling in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges case that legalized same-sex marriage, that “parents would be able to teach what this court called decent and honorable beliefs that same-sex marriage is immoral, according to their beliefs.” “It’s a far stretch from that for schools to compel students to attend,” he said.  Alito argued that the book “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” didn’t present a factual case to leave it up to the students.  “The book has a clear message. And a lot of people think it’s a good message, and maybe it is a good message. But it’s a message that a lot of people who hold onto traditional religious beliefs don’t agree with,” Alito said. “I don’t think anyone can read that and think, well this is just telling children that there are occasions when men marry other men. … Everyone accepts this except for little Chloe who has reservations about this. And her mother corrects her. It has a clear moral message.”  Sotomayor later objected that she interpreted the book differently to mean that the little girl was worried her uncle would spend more time with his husband than her. The post 4 Takeaways as Supreme Court Hears Maryland LGBT School Books Case appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The White House has “18 proposals on paper” from foreign countries for trade deals, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday. “Again, these are proposals on paper that countries have proposed to the Trump administration and to our government,” Leavitt said. “You have Secretary Bessent, Secretary Lutnick, Ambassador Greer, Director Hassett and Peter Navarro, the entire trade team meeting with 34 countries this week alone.” She was referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, and presidential counselor Peter Navarro. “We are moving at Trump speed to ensure these deals are made on behalf of the American worker and the American people,” Leavitt added. On Monday, Vice President JD Vance announced terms of reference for a trade deal with India. Leavitt said it was a “disservice” that the mainstream media did not cover that. “We know when we look at the numbers, the monetary trade barriers and the nonmonetary trade barriers from India, they have been ripping off the United States and American workers for a very long time,” Leavitt said. “So, the fact the vice president with [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi on that trip in India announced these terms of reference, which is essentially a framework to move the ball forward, to sign a good trade deal between our two nations, is great progress,” Leavitt continued, “and it speaks to the work ethic and the real labor that’s being put into this effort by the president’s trade team.” President Donald Trump announced on April 9 a 90-day pause on tariffs for more than 75 trading partners that did not retaliate. There is now a 10% baseline tariff rate on most imported goods. Chinese imports face an additional 125% tariff rate on top of existing tariffs because Beijing imposed retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. Hassett told “Fox and Friends” last week there are now “offers on the table” with 15 countries—though he declined to specify which—and negotiations are “moving fast.” Japan’s chief trade negotiator and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni both met with Trump last week to discuss deals. Trump said he had a “very productive meeting” with Japanese Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawaas as well as with Meloni, who said she was “sure” the U.S. and European Union could reach an agreement. The post ‘Moving at Trump Speed’: White House Has 18 Trade Deal Proposals, Leavitt Says appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Carved into the stone of the Black Hills of South Dakota, four faces look down upon this great nation: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt. Four American heroes, revered, respected, and representing the noblest aspirations of the American people. The gentleman farmer-turned- general who took down the most powerful army in the world, then shepherded the newborn nation through its infancy. The folksy woodsman who freed a race of people and ensured the United States would move forward as one. The inventor, political philosopher, genius whose poetry turned a statement of independence into a declaration more powerful than any weapon against tyranny the world has ever known.The brash adventurer whose swagger and smarts best captures the can-do American spirit. This is America’s Mount Rushmore. Sadly, today’s Left and it appears the entire Democratic Party have carved in recent days their own Mount Rushmore: Luigi Mangione, Karmelo Anthony, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and Mahmoud Khalil. A cold-blooded killer who shot a father of two in the back because he didn’t like the American health care system. A cold-blooded killer who allegedly stabbed a fellow teenager in the chest because he felt challenged and disrespected. An illegal immigrant, MS-13 gang-member, alleged human trafficker, who happened to be put back on the wrong plane back to his home country. And did we mention he’s an accused wife beater? An operative of a terrorist organization that promotes the genocide of Jews, who led violent protests against Jewish students … a guest in our country, who allegedly lied on his visa application. These are the Left’s new heroes. This is the Left’s new Mount Rushmore. (Sorry, George Floyd. You’re yesterday’s news.) This Mount Rushmore has visitors … and souvenirs! Approximately three million people a year visit Mount Rushmore. Visitor numbers for the Left’s Mount Rushmore aren’t quite that. Yet. But you did have a U.S. senator travel 2,000 miles to visit Abrego Garcia, with a gaggle of House Democrats soon following. You did have thousands visiting the courthouse holding pro-Hamas Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, and tens of thousands gathering around the country to protest his arrest. You did have over 13,400 people visiting the GiveSendGo site of Karmelo Anthony, dropping enough coin to afford Anthony to not only pay his bail, but rent a $900,000 crib for his family and a hot new ride for himself. Over $455,000 raised because he stabbed a white kid in the chest. And you have countless women gathering at the courthouse to support and swoon over Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, like he was the freshly single member of a boy band. Like the original Mount Rushmore, you can buy souvenirs for the Left’s Mount Rushmore. Don’t want a T-shirt of Jefferson, Washington, Lincoln or Roosevelt? You can get a St. Luigi T-shirt, mugs, and hats. Etsy’s full of “Free Mahmoud Khalil T-shirts. A website was set up to sell Karmelo Anthony swag. The phrase “Maryland Dad” is said with the same reverence by the media as “Honest Abe.” Luigi’s motto “Deny Defend Depose” is the Left’s new “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” A mountain of lunacy This isn’t even about Mangione, Abrego Garcia, Anthony or Khalil. Killers are going to kill, terrorists are going to terrorize and gangbangers are going to gangbang. They no more earned the adoration than Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Roosevelt carved their own faces on Mount Rushmore. This isn’t even about the small fringe drawn to the worst among us. Even serial killers get love letters. This is about the mindset of the Left that tears down statues of our Founders but lifts up lowlifes. Who throw their lot in with Maryland Dad to spite the Orange Man. Who declare that because America’s a racist nation it’s OK for a black kid to plunge a knife into a white kid. How is it that despite the carnage MS-13 has done in the state of Maryland, one of its senators, Chris Van Hollen, went to El Salvador on our dime in a failed bid to win Abrego Garcia’s release. And even after the Department of Justice dropped a load of documents from the Prince George’s County Police Department’s gang unit further proving Abrego Garcia’s MS-13 ties, after the Tennessee Star reported how he was pulled over in 2022, suspected of human trafficking, after documents were released where his wife swore he repeatedly beat her, Van Hollen vowed to continue to fight for his release. And, indeed, met with him Thursday for a tropical sit-down as cozy as anything you’d see on “The Bachelor.” Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the “death camps” & “torture”, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!? pic.twitter.com/r6VWc6Fjtn— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) April 18, 2025 We’re not talking about a lonely woman infatuated with a dreamy bad boy fantasizing about a Hallmark romance. (But enough about Taylor Lorenz.) We’re talking about a United States senator, an elected representative. And not some Squad Member either, but a white-haired patriarchal figure of the mainstream Democratic Party. A spirit, but not of 1776 A cynical part of me wants to say follow the money. If Al Capone could have politicians in his pocket, why not MS-13? But the pattern of the party’s embrace of illegal immigrants and violent criminals over their victims, terrorists over the terrorized, felons over the Founders, speaks to party lost in darkness. Given over to a foul spirit. The spirit that shouts “Free Abrego Garcia! Free Luigi Mangione! Free Karmelo Anthony! Free Mahmoud Khalil” we know well. Especially after this weekend. It’s the same spirit that shouted, “Free Barabbas.” Yes, we can join Jesus and say, “Forgive them, Father, for the know not what they do.” But like Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt, we can swear “eternal vigilance” against this spirit that would tear this nation apart. The post The Left’s Mount Rushmore appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Rubio Remaking the State Department