'Trump has had a very sinister philosophy'

A video shared on Threads claims 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz purportedly ordered police to enforce COVID-19 curfews by shooting Minnesota residents with paintball guns in 2020.   Post by @jaxinfraredphotographer View on Threads   Verdict: False The claim is false. The original video, shared on X, indicates police enforced […]

'I agree with the charges'

There is no evidence Wahlberg said this.

Houthi envoys arrived in Moscow in August for the negotiations

'I was gone. Like that. I didn’t have a pulse'

Depression is an overwhelming emotional state that can manifest in many forms, from feelings of deep sadness and despair to a sense of numbness and disconnection from the world. It can be a temporary response to hardship or a long-lasting mental health struggle, but its effects are universally heavy. Musicians, often acting as storytellers of the human experience, have long channeled their own battles with depression into their music or have written songs that capture the weight of these emotions. Whether drawing from personal anguish or offering a voice to those who can’t speak for themselves, these songs strive to The post 10 Best Rock Songs About Depression appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

From Spain in the west to Cyprus in the east, the Mediterranean has witnessed a record rise in sea turtle nesting. It’s taken immense dedication, benefited from technological advances, and needed a long time to come to fruition; nowhere is this truer than on the Greek island of Zakynthos, described as the largest loggerhead turtle […] The post Sharp Increase in the Numbers of Nesting Sea Turtles Rewards a Generation of Hard Work in Greece appeared first on Good News Network.

The post Words Your Cat Understands: Olga’s Language Skills by Christopher Bays 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. Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga. Felines aren’t usually admired for their grasp of human language, and compared to dogs and primates, they’re not very responsive to our commands and pleas. Some blame this on their independent nature or ambivalence; others think cats don’t listen to humans unless they feed them. Cats are intelligent and can sense our emotions, but they’re not eager to please, and they don’t mind ignoring us when we call their names. My cat responds to some words, including her name, and she’s familiar with my body language. She’ll never learn 2,000 words like Koko, and although she’s less affectionate than my Siamese cat, she’s more responsive when I call her. Olga’s Understanding of English One of the first, and undoubtedly her favorite, words she learned was “hungry.” If she’s asleep, and I ask her if she’s hungry, she wakes up instantly, whines, and runs over to me. She’s rarely asleep when it’s dinner time, but the few times she was, I tried it and was surprised at how quickly she reacted. Please stop working. It’s dinnertime! She understands what “no” means, but most of the time, she doesn’t care about the meaning and continues tearing up the blinds, scratching the recliner, or shredding the toilet paper. She’ll move away briefly and give me an irritated look, but she doesn’t stop the destruction unless I approach her. I don’t usually scream at her when she’s misbehaving, and if I do, she doesn’t get very upset. Unlike my previous cat, Olga doesn’t hold a grudge and isn’t frightened by loud voices. She seems to understand “good girl” since she wags her tail when I say it but doesn’t respond to “bad girl!” Since she’s slow to move her head when I close the back door, I have to say, “Move,” and she usually moves out of the way. I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what “Get off my dirty clothes” means. Disciplining With Lectures That’s the extent of her language skills, and I don’t think most cat owners expect their pets to respond to many words or phrases. However, I know a few who think disciplining their pets by lecturing them for several minutes is worthwhile. It’s not, and I’ve only seen it work in the movies since cats and dogs respond better to words or short phrases than paragraphs and essays. It’s entertaining to watch them explain to their cats that their behavior is inappropriate, they won’t get any treats if they keep acting up, and they’re disappointed in them. Lassie and other fictional heroes can understand compound sentences, and you may have seen a film or show where an injured or trapped character gives complex instructions to an animal. The dog or cat runs miles to find rescuers or someone to defuse a bomb. Having a brilliant pet who understands everything you say may seem appealing, but I’m glad Olga only knows a few words. She wouldn’t be as happy if she listened to me talk to other people about her. She would know when I was leaving the country, taking her to the vet, or switching her wet food to a different brand. This article is a part of Christopher and Olga's series. Read his previous article: When Cats Eat a Wet Food-Only Diet: Olga’s Preferences The post Words Your Cat Understands: Olga’s Language Skills by Christopher Bays 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.

Column SFF Bestiary Lake Monsters in the Scoobyverse: Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster Four meddling kids (and their CGI-dog) look for cryptids in Lake Erie… By Judith Tarr | Published on October 7, 2024 Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures Comment 1 Share New Share Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures My search for lake monsters is taking me to some strange places. One of which, somewhat disconcertingly, is the world of Scooby-Doo. I’ve had a passing acquaintance with the animated series, but I had no idea how wide the Scoobyverse was, or how many variations there are, from old-fashioned Saturday-morning cartoons to full-length live-action features. There’s no apparent end to it. Of all the myriad ways Scooby has appeared in film and television (not to mention comic books and games), I happened across one that turned out to be relevant to my interests. Curse of the Lake Monster is one of the live-action features. It stars four obviously-not-teens playing teens, and one painful CGI attempt at a large talking dog. The plot is straight cut-and-paste of numerous episodes before and after it. Our paranormal sleuths travel to an isolated location that turns out to have a paranormal problem. In this case it’s Daphne’s rich playboy uncle’s brand-new country club on Lake Erie, and they all need summer jobs to pay for the barn they burned down during their last adventure. Pretty Daphne, intellectual Velma, jock Fred, and not-so-bright-but-weirdly-wise dork Shaggy, and of course Scooby, plunge immediately into an all too familiar situation. There’s a monster in the lake, though at first they don’t believe it. Lake monsters are just a way for towns to trap the tourists, says Daphne. Naturally the town of Erie Pointe has one, complete with centuries-old legend. In this case, it’s a witch who once lived in the caves under the lake. (Yes, there are caves in Lake Erie.) When the first settlers arrived, she warned them off her land, but they ignored her. Using her witch’s staff and a set of enchanted moonstones, she created a monster to wreak her revenge. Lake Erie has a traditional monster. It’s long, serpentine, usually dark grey, may have fins or arms, and it’s called Bessie. It was last seen in the 1990s. That’s not what the Scooby crew find. Wanda the witch enchanted a frog into a human-sized, fanged monster with a penchant for terrorizing people who invade her territory. She was captured, tried, and burned at the stake, but her creation seems to have lived on. The monster attacks the club on opening night. No one is harmed and no one dies, but the club is in shambles. Half the members cancel their memberships. Uncle Thorny’s latest venture is in danger of closing before it’s even really opened. Scooby and company offer their services as “the best supernatural detectives in the Tristate area.” They’ll track down the monster and save the club. Uncle Thorny hires them on the spot. We, and they, know what the monster looks like, and we pick up the gist of the legend: the witch’s curse and her sworn revenge. But there’s a twist. They know Wanda is long gone, but they learn that she had children who were taken in by the settlers after her death. One of her descendants must be picking up where their ancestor left off. In fact, it’s Wanda herself in spectral form, and she’s possessed someone they know and love. Velma picked up one of the moonstones on the beach on the first day. Wanda used it as a conduit to take her over. That’s why Velma has been calling in sick or hiding in her room when things start to happen. She’s the hooded figure with the moonstone-topped staff who’s seen commanding the giant frog. The rest of the Scooby crew track them to the caves under the lake. Wanda enchants three more frogs, for a total of four monsters. They all end up chasing Fred, Daphne, and Scooby into the labyrinth of passages beyond the cave. Shaggy meanwhile tries to get Velma to overcome the witch’s possession. He sweet-talks her and tells her how smart and strong she is. But what brings her back (and this is me gritting my teeth at the rampant institutional sexism) is his ode to her adorable cuteness. He seals the deal with a duet of the song they sang during the production number in the middle of the film: “By the Light of the Silvery Moon.” That’s exactly as dorky as it sounds. It works well enough to break the witch’s grip on Velma and snap the top off her staff, but Wanda almost gets the stones back and restores herself—until Scooby leaps to the rescue and smashes them all. As she flies shrieking into nothingness, she intones the classic villain’s line of the series: “I would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids and your rotten dog!” And so the club is saved and our heroes (and heroines) get their standard reward, a $10,000 check. The witch is gone forever. The frogs are restored to their normal, frog-sized selves. The world is safe for another day. Until the next episode. And the next mystery. And the next villain who also would get away with it except for those meddling kids and their blasted dog. Personally I’d have liked to see Bessie instead of a giant frog. Even if the frog does have fangs, and even if there’s some resonance with the idea that lake monsters may be amphibians. But that’s how things roll in the Scoobyverse.[end-mark] The post Lake Monsters in the Scoobyverse: <i>Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster</i> appeared first on Reactor.