A viral image shared on X claims a man is purportedly suing President Joe Biden over losing $10,000 on “Let’s Go Brandon” merch after Biden announced he was dropping out of the 2024 election. Man says he lost $10,000 in now-worthless “Let’s Go Brandon” merch. So he wants to sue Joe Biden for dropping out. […]

Calling all Patriots!

In a major win for the traditional owners of Australia, the federal government has ordered the end of the land leasing program for the Jabiluka uranium deposit, ensuring that mining will never occur on the land owned by the Mirarr people. At the same time, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his coalition added it to […] The post Uranium Mine Leased for Years Becomes Part of National Park in Historic Win for Native Activists appeared first on Good News Network.

The post Why Do Cats Groom? Pancake, Tiller & the Latest Theories by Dr. Lauren Demos DVM (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. Hi, I’m Dr. Lauren! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my two adventurous cats, Pancake and Tiller. I caught Pancake in the middle of a dramatic grooming session last night. It involved lots of splayed legs, and a determined effort to reach something near her perineum, that actually entailed what I’m pretty sure was an inverted split. Earlier in the week, I’d watched a similarly determined grooming session play out- this time with Tiller making a valiant effort to groom Pancake into sporting a Mohawk. Luckily, “The Pancake” who is a bit Al Pacino Godfather-esque about the bed and sharing it with other cats, tolerated the session well and no blows ensued. If eating and sleeping are two of the most common activities I see both cats engaged in, then grooming is probably a close third. Multiple times daily, after eating, and definitely before sleeping, sometimes at 3:00 am between their various sleep modes, they groom. But just why do cats love grooming so much? Sitting in this position is a favourite grooming technique for Pancake. Why Cats Groom: Speculation and Theories Cats have always been considered fairly clean animals, due to their inherent grooming tendencies. Here are some theories as to why cats groom: The idea that groomers are placed socially higher than groomees. And furthermore, that grooming is a way in social settings to allow cats to act out on aggression issues, without the need for overt violence. This theory comes from a slightly older paper, but interesting nonetheless… A newer paper on a similar topic found that familiarity and genetic relations improved grooming activities from one cat to another. Again suggesting a social or bonding function. Function. To remove external parasites, such as fleas. In one study, grooming activity helped to significantly decrease the numbers of fleas, compared to control cats who wore e-collars and could not groom for the study period. Other theories have proposed the removal of odors, such as after eating, to reduce the risk of being predated. It’s worth noting that grooming can (unintentionally?) spread anal gland secretions on the haircoat. The anal glands contain extremely high quantities of Fel d 1, one of the main feline allergens that contribute to human cat allergies. Don’t forget that grooming can also indicate abnormalities, as well. Flea allergy dermatitis, for instance, can result in large quantities of grooming. So can Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome. And urinary tract infections or urinary crystals can lead to localized, excessive grooming of the perineum. So, next time you catch your cat in a grooming session, consider for a moment if there may be more occurring than meets the eye. It could be a simple lick, relieving an itch, removing an external parasite, or adhering to social structure. But needless to say, cats, as always, are never quite as simple as they may first appear! The post Why Do Cats Groom? Pancake, Tiller & the Latest Theories by Dr. Lauren Demos DVM (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.

Books book recommendations Five Entertaining SFF Stories With Relatively Low Stakes The whole world doesn’t need to be in imminent danger for a story to be compelling, as these more personal adventures demonstrate… By James Davis Nicoll | Published on July 31, 2024 Legends and Lattes cover art by Claire Bartlett Comment 0 Share New Share Legends and Lattes cover art by Claire Bartlett It is no mystery why so many fantasy authors resort to high-stakes conflicts. Nothing engages the reader quite like having the entire world at stake. For proof, consider how very well The Lord of the Rings has sold for so very long, not to mention the popularity of the legions of blatant knock-offs works inspired by The Lord of the Rings. And yet, offering nothing but world-saving is a bit like offering nothing but 100-decibel high notes. Eventually one becomes numb to what should be thrilling. Also, high stakes series raise legitimate questions about the Big Bad’s competence. If Evil launches seven different apocalypses, all of which are foiled by the same small group of high school- and college-age teens, one has to wonder if maybe Evil should consider pursuing opportunities in a different field. Fortunately, it is perfectly possible to write works and series in which the stakes, while important to the protagonist(s), are merely personal. Regardless of what happens in the stories, the world will tick on. As long as the outcome matters to the protagonists, it will matter to the reader. Consider these five works. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (2022) Tiring of playing meat-shield for adventuring parties delving into hazardous dungeons, Viv invests her future in One Last Job. Contrary to One Last Job conventions, not only is Viv’s One Last Job a success, it truly is the orc barbarian’s last job, at least in the field of adventuring. A new life awaits! In food services. Viv has an entrepreneurial vision: she will make and sell coffee, which people will then buy. Can someone used to hacking her way past impediments deal with logistical and marketing challenges? Or is launching a novel endeavor in an untested market without the applicable skills doomed to failure? Many book covers lie. In this case, Baldree’s cover promises an orc and a succubus selling coffee and pastries and the novel delivers an orc and a succubus selling coffee and pastries. Likewise, the tagline, “A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes,” is accurate. No Dread Lords to be found here. In fact, the book is so obviously an example of the sort of thing I am discussing that I am mentioning it first, purely to avoid having twenty people mention it in the comments. RuriDragon by Masaoki Shindo (2022– onward) Schoolgirl Ruri is nonplussed to discover that she has sprouted two razor-sharp horns in her sleep. Ruri’s mother provides a perfectly reasonable explanation. Ruri is half dragon, and the horns are a manifestation of her father’s lineage. At school, Ruri discovers that she has inherited a second draconic trait. Happily, the student on whom Ruri breathes fire is not seriously injured1. Ruri may be the first human-dragon hybrid. Just how her two heritages will manifest is a mystery2. However, no matter how extraordinary Ruri is, she’s still a high school student, expected to juggle academia and her personal life on her way to adulthood. One of the remarkable aspects of this amiable manga is how nonchalantly Ruri’s schoolmates (even the one she set on fire) react to the revelation Ruri isn’t fully human. It makes one wonder what else is going on in their lives that a half-dragon chum gets a “Oh, that’s kind of cool, I guess,” reaction. Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono (1985) Half-human, half-witch, Kiki chose to embrace her witchy mother’s heritage. At age thirteen, Kiki faces the rite of passage all thirteen-year-old witches endure: Kiki must leave her family behind and make a new life in some unfamiliar community. Were this not sufficient challenge, Kiki is lacking in the magical powers department. Kiki has mastered a single arcane ability: flying a broom. How to parlay this knack into something that will endear Kiki to her new community is unclear. Kiki is determined to prevail. Something that was left out of the Studio Ghibli anime adaptation of this manga: the parlous state of witchcraft in the modern world. Lacking any sort of formal system to preserve and pass on witchcraft, each generation knows less than the one before. It’s probably for the best that the manga’s focus is on one witch who does very well for herself and not on witches in general, who probably should be placed on the endangered list. Cyrion by Tanith Lee (1982) Cyrion’s world is full of magic and wonders. Cyrion’s world is also full of greed and scheming. Life in a world of conniving sorcerers, devious conspirators, and a surprising abundance of cursed items is never boring; it is, however, often short. Enter Cyrion, who in another world might have called himself a consulting detective. Brilliant Cyrion wields an impressive array of skills, from deduction to disguise to rapid improvisation. As these eight stories demonstrate, it is always a mistake to underestimate Cyrion… but so many do. Cyrion is one part Sherlock Holmes (minus Watson) to one part Batman (minus Robin). Like both characters, Cyrion is famous, so it’s weird how many villains have plans that boil down to “Outthink the guy whose schtick is that he is always, always, always the smartest man in the room.” Hope springs eternal3. Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber (collection 1970) Fafhrd is a skilled barbarian from the frigid north. The Gray Mouser is a talented thief and duelist, with a smattering of magical arts. Neither giant Northman nor crafty Southerner is on a first-name basis with ethics or prudence4. Perfect adventurers for decadent Nehwon. Swords recounts a few early incidents in the two adventurers’ lives, as they make what were in retrospect terrible decisions, and then, however implausibly, survive them. It’s good to be series protagonists, especially in stories set early in their careers5. Swords and Deviltry is a sword and sorcery work. That genre usually features fairly low stakes (at least compared to The Lord of the Rings). At one point S&S seemed to be the dominant mode for American fantasy—so I was surprised to discover how recently S&S got its name. Of late, S&S seems to be enjoying a resurgence, which I applaud. These are but five examples of low-stakes fantasy. No doubt many of you are fond of works that I have unjustly ignored6, works whose absence makes you question the very foundations of Western civilization. Feel free to mention your faves in comments below.[end-mark] Generally speaking, supernatural abilities come packaged with secondary characteristics needed to survive having those specific abilities. As Ruri discovers immediately after breathing fire, her mouth and lungs aren’t fireproof, at least not immediately. She does, however, have a prodigious healing ability, enough to keep her alive while she is toughening up. It makes one wonder if Ruri is really the first human-dragon hybrid, or just the first one to survive. ︎There are in fact many mysteries about Ruri, not least of which is “how could a normal human female and a bus-sized dragon manage to have procreative sex?” The manga studiously declines to answer, although I imagine “very carefully” probably played a role. ︎Perhaps the malefactors’ confidence is bolstered by the knowledge that Cyrion, like Holmes, died once. They should further consider the fact that Cyrion, like Holmes, got better. ︎In the pair’s defense, even had they tried to be cautious, fate (also known as Fritz Leiber, Jr.) would have steered them towards adventure. To that end, Leiber provided Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser with advisors Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face, both of whom are avid plot instigators. ︎Alas, the pair’s loved ones do not share the same immunity. Fridging may have been named in 1999, but it is an ancient narrative convention that long predates its formal recognition. ︎If any of your examples are the five I mentioned above, you might get a hard (virtual) stare. If it is Legends & Lattes, I might yell in frustration. In all caps. ︎The post Five Entertaining SFF Stories With Relatively Low Stakes appeared first on Reactor.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A Denver high school allows students to take classes such as Queer Literature and Gender Studies to earn a “Seal of Diversity” award. Students can submit a short, five-minute application to be part of the program, then take “diversity, equity, and inclusion”-related classes and engage with a DEI-related club or organization on campus to receive the award, according to documents obtained by The Daily Signal through a Colorado Open Records Act request. “This award, to me, represents who we are, and should all aspire to be at East [High School], and I’m so proud of how many of you live that every day,” social studies teacher Dylan Fehrman said to members of the program in a message on March 23, 2023. The Colorado Parent Advocacy Network told The Daily Signal it’s calling for an investigation into the classes, lesson plans, books, articles, and other materials used in the Seal of Diversity program. “Our children deserve an education that prepares them for the real world, not one that pushes political agendas,” said Lori Gimelshteyn, executive director of the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network. “The Seal of Diversity program undermines the essential academic foundation our children need and fosters division, rather than unity.” A petition calling for an external investigation is available on the parents network’s website as of Tuesday evening. In September 2022, nearly 500 East High School students were members of the Seal of Diversity program, with 150 more applying to join. East High has a total of 2,505 students. Classes include Honors Queer Literature, an upper-level English course for juniors and seniors that explores “the historical, political, economic, and cultural context of the LGBTQ+ community.” Since it’s part of the Seal of Diversity program, students can “add to their digital portfolio to outline their awareness and engagement with issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the LGBTQ+ community.” “The course will seek to improve understanding of how this context influences the ‘queer experience’ through the use of various literary sources (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, mythology, and digital media),” the course description in the 2024-2025 catalog says. Course materials include “Paris is Burning,” a movie about gay and transgender individuals who attend a ball for drag queens that is rated R for nudity and sex. The class provides students with “guidance, structure, and an in-depth experience” to analyze LGBTQ issues. “In the modern political climate, LGBTQ issues and concerns are paramount and present in the daily lives of the students,” the description says. “As more and more students are exploring their personal identities, it will be supportive and prudent of schools to allow for a safe space in the context of learning and education.” The Queer Lit teacher, Gregg Velasquez, did not respond to The Daily Signal’s two requests for comment. In summer of 2023, a teacher offered “Women and Social Action,” a five-week summer course for the Seal of Diversity program. The course “enables students to gain an understanding of the role of the systems of oppression in society and avenues available to them to create both individual and collective change through social action.” “Each student becomes aware of their ability to enact change and the empowerment that process provides,” the course description says. “We will explore issues of diversity including, but not limited to, race, class, gender, age, and disability. The course emphasizes critical thinking skills and is informed byfeminist pedagogy.” Other East High classes that fulfill Seal of Diversity requirements include African American Literature Honors, Hispanic American Literature Honors, Women’s Literature, Gender Studies, Intro to Ethnic Studies Honors, History of Now, and Native American History. Intro to Ethnic Studies covers the themes of “race and racism, power and privilege, oppression, and intersectionality,” according to the course description. Fehrman instructed teachers to make connections in their Seal of Diversity classes to the program’s themes of “Identity, Diversity, Justice, and Action.” An emailed request to Fehrman for comment returned with an “Out of Office” message. Neither the East High School nor the Denver Public Schools websites contain any information on the Seal of Diversity program. Scott Pribble, director of external communications for Denver Public Schools, said it is not on the website because it is “not an official group.” “The group started with some students who were taking some optional history courses and wanted to have extended conversations outside of class,” Pribble told The Daily Signal in an email. “Students who complete all of the criteria receive a paper certificate. It does not appear on their transcript.” Denver Public Schools are failing children by focusing on diversity instead of improving low reading and math scores, Gimelshteyn told The Daily Signal. Less than 40% of Denver students are proficient in reading and writing, and only 29% are proficient in math. “Given these numbers, it’s disheartening to see that, instead of concentrating on a rigorous, non-political, educational framework, Denver schools are promoting divisive and ideologically driven curricula,” Gimelshteyn said. The post EXCLUSIVE: Denver Students Can Earn ‘Seal of Diversity’ for Taking Queer Lit, Gender Studies Classes appeared first on The Daily Signal.

A new study by a team of University of Southern California researchers claims that children exposed to poor air quality are at greater risk of (self-reported) bronchitis symptoms than are adults. But this health claim is tenuous. Published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the study uses data sets from a 30-year-old Southern California Children’s Health Study cohort—with a long length of time between exposure and presumed response of self-reported bronchitis. In addition to the time delay, the study—led by professor Erika Garcia—suffers from other problems. First, it contains a heavy crossover between asthma, which is an allergic disease, and bronchitis. Patients who claimed they suffered from bronchitis (but were treated for asthma) have seen their symptoms disappear. Further, doctors know that inhaling irritating substances, such as industrial fumes, causes bronchitis. In addition to irritant substances, causes and other risk factors include viruses, bacteria, cigarette smoke, low immunity, and repeated bouts of severe heartburn. The notion that self-reported bronchitis symptoms are due to air quality components alone—and air quality components from childhood—is worthless. Second, self-reported symptoms are known to be unreliable health indicators because of “awareness bias,” meaning a bias in environmental health research. This is the tendency to report illness or symptoms because of concerns arising from proximity to a hazard in the absence of a measurable biological effect. Self-reported symptoms can’t be considered objective unless they can be confirmed with other more credible measures, such as a physician’s diagnosis. Third, academic researchers today have virtually infinite flexibility to manipulate study methods to get preferred results. Substantial reporting has flagged flaws in research methods because of questionable practices. Below, we discuss two questionable practices that corrupt the Garcia study, but more may exist. Take, for instance, dredging. Scallops are harvested commercially using specialized equipment called dredges, in which a metal frame with a mesh bag is dragged along a seafloor to collect scallops. In dredging this way for scallops, other material called bycatch is unintentionally collected. Collecting this bycatch may cause harm to marine ecosystems. Academic research has its own form of both data dredging and serious harm. This involves using questionable research practices known as fishing expeditions, p?hacking, cherry picking, and HARKing. All of these involve searching through data using unplanned analyses and then reporting significant findings without properly describing the methods and processes by which the findings were obtained. The Garcia study is p-hacked by reanalyzing a subset of data when, after the researchers’ main analysis, they further examined statistical associations between prenatal exposure to poor air quality and self-reported bronchitis symptoms later in life. One bias that corrupts environmental health observational studies, including the Garcia study, is called multiple testing and multiple modeling, or MTMM. This bias may occur when academics use their data set to test multiple outcomes, multiple predictors, different population subgroups, multiple statistical cause-effect models, or multiple confounders to cause-effect associations. The bias increases the likelihood of making a Type I (false positive) error. This bias also is referred to in the literature as multiple comparisons or multiplicity. The number of statistical comparisons made in a study, referred to as Search Space, may be estimated to assess the potential for multiple testing biases. These estimation procedures are well-established for observational studies of air quality and heart attacks, asthma attacks, and development of asthma, and for gas stoves and asthma attacks. The Search Space was estimated for the Garcia study. Researchers’ main analysis performed an estimated 131,072 statistical comparisons, while their secondary analysis (data subset re-analysis) performed an additional 262,144 statistical comparisons. The total number of statistical comparisons is 393,216. The study also noted that researchers made no statistical correction for this bias. The Garcia study is a perfect example of data dredging that is corrupted with numerous biases. Spot-checking in Google Scholar of other (almost 300) publications that used the Southern California Children’s Health Study cohort data set reveals the same multiple testing bias problems. A single published study for a particular cohort data set may address only the tip of the iceberg of statistical comparisons. Overall, other hypotheses may be at issue, considering that the same cohort data set may be used many times for research. Many publications in the literature for a single cohort data set suggest a large number of statistical comparisons examined with possibilities for large numbers of false positive (chance) findings present overall. The Garcia study claims that children exposed to poor air quality are at greater risk of self-reported bronchitis symptoms as adults. But the conclusion reveals a clear lack of causation between exposure and response, and this study shouldn’t be used as the basis for policy. The post Bias Lurks in Study Linking Bronchitis in Children With Poor Air Quality appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Iran to Israel: You'll Pay For This 'Cowardly Act'

A new study suggests that perceived political polarization in the USA is influenced by a focus on difference, rather than similarities.In just over three months, US voters will be asked to choose their new President. For most, the question is binary: Democrat or Republican? At the time of writing only 20 percent of independent voters are reportedly still undecided about who they will vote for. It's a choice that has come to polarize the American population. In 2019, eight in ten US adults saw the divisions between the parties increasing and expressed concern over this trend. The lines have been drawn, or so it seems. This is a story about how different ways of presenting the same data can strongly influence people’s opinions.“There’s a general perception that Republican and Democratic voters are deeply divided but our new study suggests these differences of opinion between the two groups are greatly exaggerated and that the groups are actually very similar in the values they hold as important,” said author Dr Lukas Wolf from the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath in a statement.In their study the team set out to investigate how presentation of similarity in values impacts voters' perception of their differences. Dr Wolf believes that “Generally, the media and social scientists compare groups by describing differences, for example by using barplots, which ignore overlap and show exaggerated divisions in US society.”Presentation of the same results in different ways.Image credit: University of BathThe researchers used data from a previous study polling Democrats and Republicans on their values, and presented it to the participants in one of two ways. One group was shown the results as overlapping distributions, thereby highlighting the similarities. The other group was shown bar plots of the mean of the distributions, with the y-axis truncated to strongly emphasize the differences. The participants who were shown distributions felt that Democrats and Republicans were more similar, and had more similar values. Importantly, this “increased their sense of hope about the future and inspired trust in people they have seen as fundamentally different to them,” said Dr Wolf. Perceived similarities also increased their perceived potential for compromise.Unfortunately, the group that was shown the truncated barplot performed similarly to participants who were shown no data. This shows that people’s baseline assumptions are in line with large differences between the two parties. Dr Wolf added: “This perceived polarisation has detrimental consequences because people expect the worst from interactions with the other group and actively avoid them. It also means people become pessimistic about the future because the division in society stands in the way of compromise and cooperation for a better future.”There is great responsibility in how data is presented to the public, which can have a societal impact.This study is published in Social Psychological and Personality Science.