The post Why Does My Cat Sleep in the Bathroom? 8 Possible Reasons by Codee Chessher 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. Cats are strange animals‚ and that’s part of the reason we love them. Sometimes‚ though‚ they can act downright bizarre and become obsessed with the weirdest things. For instance‚ you might be amused and puzzled if you happen to find your cat sleeping in your bathroom when they have a perfectly good pet bed to lounge in. There are actually a lot of reasons your cat might want to sleep in the bathroom‚ from comfort to curiosity and more. Check out the reasons below to shed some light on your cat’s new favorite sleeping spot. The 8 Reasons Why Cats Sleep in the Bathroom 1. It’s Cooler in the Bathroom Bathrooms tend to run a little cooler than the rest of the house‚ and bathrooms with cool tile make the perfect resting spot during hot summers. If the rest of your house is sweltering‚ your cat will seek out the coolest places in your home‚ like a reverse heat-seeking missile. It doesn’t hurt that there’s often a litter box nearby or interesting debris like toilet paper rolls to mess around with. Image Credit: 9CatStudio‚ Shutterstock 2. The Water Is Interesting Cats don’t usually like getting wet‚ but funnily enough‚ they enjoy being near water. The sound of running water seems to be soothing for some cats‚ and having cool‚ potable water nearby is a pretty big plus too. Some more playful kitties might even play with the seemingly magical flows of water that come from your bathroom taps. To all animals‚ having water nearby is a soothing reassurance that they’re provided for‚ and this is also true with our domesticated house cats being attracted to the bathroom. 3. It’s Forbidden If your cat doesn’t have free access to explore your bathroom‚ they might leap at the chance to check out this fascinating room where you spend so much time. It’s not necessarily that they’re rebellious‚ but that your cat is naturally attracted to learning more about things and places in their home. Even if they end up not caring for the bathroom one way or the other‚ a bathroom fixation is perfectly normal. Image Credit: Andreas Gradin‚ Shutterstock 4. They Love Sleeping in the Sink Your bathroom sink may be the perfect shape for your cat to curl up‚ with a cool firm surface that supports their bodies and makes them feel safe. Another likely reason cats love sinks is that they’re elevated and give your cat a better view than they’d get chilling on the floor. Combine all these characteristics and it’s little wonder your cat makes a beeline to nap in your sink. 5. It’s a Quiet‚ Restful Area We all know that cats are private animals that need their space to be independent beings of their own‚ and they can pick up on the fact that your bathroom is a private area. If the rest of your home is bustling with activity‚ such as when you have guests over or throw a birthday party‚ you might find your cat hiding away in the bathroom. It’s rejuvenating for them to spend time alone‚ so don’t take it personally. Image Credit: Konstantin Aksenov‚ Shutterstock 6. Your Cat is Quirky Part of the reason we love cats in the first place is that they’re mysterious‚ quirky characters that do things that don’t always make sense to us humans. Some cats are more prone to behavior like sleeping in the bathroom than others‚ or maybe they just have a specific fondness for the type of air freshener you use in the bathroom. Regardless‚ sometimes your cat does weird stuff like sleep in the bathroom for no particular reason at all. 7. Your Cat Wants Attention Cats are very smart and pay attention to when you give them attention‚ which may be why they sleep in your bathroom. If you’ve previously made a fuss about how adorable they are when sleeping in the bathroom like a weirdo‚ they could be repeating the behavior to try and get more of your attention. Talk about clingy! Image Credit: Danny Chang‚ Pixabay 8. Your Cat May Be Sick If your cat is acting abnormally‚ avoiding you‚ or displaying symptoms of physical discomfort and seeking out the bathroom to sleep‚ it may be a sign that they’re sick. Cats look for private spaces to recuperate where they feel safe‚ and proximity to water is a big plus. Ultimately‚ sleeping in the bathroom by itself isn’t cause for alarm. If accompanied by other worrying signs‚ however‚ it may indicate a health problem to get checked out by a qualified vet. Conclusion Cats sleeping in the bathroom usually do it for one or more of the reasons listed above‚ and you can really only make an educated guess. Sometimes it’s just a cool‚ private oasis in a whirlwind of activity‚ they might have a thing for the sink‚ or any of a number of possible reasons. The good news is that sleeping in the bathroom is almost always perfectly normal and not a sign of concern unless accompanied by other significant medical signs. Sources https://www.hepper.com/why-do-cats-like-to-sleep-in-sinks/ https://catvills.com/why-cats-sleep-in-bathroom/ https://www.thesprucepets.com/cats-in-the-bathroom-554029   Featured Image Credit: Burunduk’s‚ Shutterstock The post Why Does My Cat Sleep in the Bathroom? 8 Possible Reasons by Codee Chessher 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.

Book Recommendations space exploration Five Ways Authors Motivate Characters to Leave Earth Behind Say goodbye to your home planet and hello to the grim void of space… By James Davis Nicoll | Published on February 1‚ 2024 “Earthrise” (NASA/Bill Anders‚ 1968) icon-comment 7 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed “Earthrise” (NASA/Bill Anders‚ 1968) Few challenges are as vexing to ardent space colonization fans as the continued existence of Earth. Earth possesses a notoriously socialistic biosphere‚ one where even peons can breathe unmetered air‚ where food literally grows out of the ground‚ where the magnetosphere and a thick blanket of air protects even the undeserving poor from an endless sleet of radiation. How to attract workers to toxic‚ nearly airless‚ radiation-bombarded Mars‚ hellish Venus‚ or even the bone-eroding microgravity of the asteroids when there’s a perfectly habitable planet available? To borrow a phrase attributed to a notable public figure‚ “No planet‚ no problem.” If for some reason Earth is not available‚ then workers would have no choice but to accept life on alien worlds for as long as it takes to kill them. Some of you might think Earth is pretty big and hard to get rid of. SF says: Hold my beer! There seem to be five primary strategies available to eliminate Earth from the equation. In order of increasing apocalyptivity‚ they are as follows… Unaffordability The existence of a life-sustaining biosphere is only one aspect of living on Earth. Most of the other elements involving transferring money from one’s own pocket to someone else’s. Provided steps are taken to enhance the income-extraction aspects of living on Earth‚ moving to a place with metered air may seem like the lesser of two evils. Cost-of-living enhancements can vary from morally unjustifiable taxes squandered to prevent the remnants of Earth’s biosphere from collapsing to more tolerable micropayments required to maintain the license on one’s Kreb’s cycle. The exact details do not matter as long as the end result is that the characters cannot afford the fees for living on Earth. Some centuries prior to the main plot of William Barton’s Acts of Conscience‚ residence was made expensive enough that only Earth society’s wealthiest could afford the fees. For the other forty billion people‚ there was an abundance of small‚ expensive habitats in space and the other rocky worlds of the Solar System. Gaetan du Cheyne is a master mechanic but he isn’t rich. Thus‚ he has no choice but to live in cramped quarters in a moderately hazardous space facility. It’s no surprise that when ownership of a functioning starship falls into his lap‚ he swiftly takes advantage. Intolerability An equally functional (and more common) alternative is to provide Earth with a culture or government that is intolerable. Although this often involves conditions such as rampant violence‚ crime‚ or political and/or religious repression‚ history shows that one can achieve much the same results with an excess of will-power-sapping positive qualities1. The important thing is that characters find themselves out of step with their surroundings‚ to the point that the environmental challenges of another world appear the better choice. Readers might wonder why the inhabitants of 25 Phocaea in M.J. Locke’s Up Against It opted for their precarious existence in space. Life in the asteroid belt is an endless quest for volatiles‚ complicated by the necessity to fend off hostile takeover bids from borderline criminal organizations. The answer is that as challenging as the belt can be‚ life down in violence-ravaged America2 is even worse. Presumably the US is not alone in providing contexts which make space habitats seem like a good deal. Forced Migration It does not really matter where people prefer to live if they are given no choice in the matter. History is rich in examples in which states have decided for one reason or another that the state’s interests would be enhanced by shuffling populations around like pieces on a game board. This practice goes back at least as far as the Iron Age and probably earlier. A century and a half before Alan E. Nourse’s Trouble on Titan begins‚ a small but hardy population was exiled to Titan precisely because Titan was so inhospitable. Titan seemed an ideal location for a prison. When valuable rubidium ore was subsequently discovered‚ the prisoners and their descendants were a convenient labor force. Intent on cost-cutting‚ Earth authorities decided that the descendants of the prisoners were just as villainous and unworthy of high wages as the original criminals. There will be‚ however‚ consequences for mistreating the workers on whom Earth’s energy security depends. Inaccessibility Space colonists have no choice but to make a life in space if for some reason they are barred from access to the Earth. While plunking the characters down sans maps in some remote region of the galaxy is a common gambit‚ people within the Solar System can be deterred from returning to the Earth via such rudimentary methods as technology-inhibiting fields or a propulsion regime entirely unsuited to landing on planets like Earth. The backstory to John Varley’s Eight Worlds novels‚ for example‚ involves first contact with judgmental aliens. Preferring cetaceans to primates‚ the aliens simply turn off all advanced technology on Earth. An astonished Lunar colony is forced to survive without Earth. Fortunately the Lunars were up to the task.3 Uninhabitability The simplest method of removing Earth as a factor is to render it utterly uninhabitable (non-existent is a specific subset of uninhabitable). Whether by nuclear war‚ runaway nanotech‚ rampaging hypernova‚ or micro-black hole mishaps‚ the main thing is to force people to move elsewhere by making it lethal to remain on Earth. Malka Older’s The Mimicking of Known Successes features a community in the clouds of Jupiter4. Why settle such a challenging world? Because humans in their exuberance rendered Earth even more uninhabitable than Jupiter. Go team human! * * * Perhaps there are plot-enabling stratagems that I have omitted or examples better than the ones I selected. Feel free to expound on them in comments below. The obvious example being Pilgrims fleeing the Netherlands lest their children be tempted into scandalous ways. Provide the Earth of tomorrow with a sufficiently licentious society and prim protagonists might well opt to flee for some more modest community in space. ︎Canada seems to be pleasant enough‚ although that may only be in comparison with the United States. There are many reasons why people might choose space over Canada‚ starting with the complete absence in space of Canada geese. ︎Possibly because it would have been very hard to sell a series set in space if all the space-dwelling humans had died off centuries before. Sure‚ there’s the George Stewart approach of personifying natural events (as seen in Fire and Storm) but is there a market for Solar Flare? or A Billion Years of Uneventful Near-Misses Amongst Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids? Although I’ve seen a Jupiter-centric simulation of asteroid orbits and it is very hypnotic. ︎The planet is called “Giant” in the novel‚ but as it is orbited by Jupiter’s moons‚ it seems likely that it is Jupiter. Of incidental note: while most of the giant planets in the Solar System have close to Earthlike gravity‚ Jupiter doesn’t. ︎The post Five Ways Authors Motivate Characters to Leave Earth Behind appeared first on Reactor.

News Star Wars Ahsoka Ahsoka’s Wes Chatham Drops a Sly Hint About Captain Enoch’s Future Thrawn’s right-hand man may not stay so loyal By Molly Templeton | Published on February 1‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed If you‚ like me‚ were very excited when The Expanse’s Wes Chatham was cast on Ahsoka‚ and then somewhat let down by his relatively small role in the show—you may have reason to get your hopes up again. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly‚ Chatham mentioned a detail about Enoch’s appearance that may turn out to be very meaningful. That gold mask of his is not‚ as it turns out‚ just a weird-looking metal stormtrooper faceplate. “When I saw the Captain Enoch uniform for the first time‚ it reminded me of Excalibur‚” Chatham told EW‚ continuing‚ “And I remember having a conversation with [showrunner] Dave Filoni and he was excited that I picked up that detail.” Excalibur fans may also have picked up that detail‚ but it seems quite notable that Chatham mentioned it to the press: This is something he thinks you should know. Or else he’s just teasing us! But I want to believe. Here’s the thing: Who wears a gold mask (and armor) in Excalibur? That would be Mordred‚ son of Morgana. If you know your Arthurian mythology‚ you probably just went Ohhhhhhh‚ I see. If you do not know your Arthuriana‚ then the rest of this post might be considered hypothetical spoilers. Mordred is also Arthur’s bastard son‚ who later demands his father’s crown. When the two eventually meet on the battlefield‚ no one really walks away from the fight. I’m not sure I think this means Enoch is Thrawn’s son‚ but if the mask is to hide a blue visage‚ well‚ that would be one interesting reason for it. But I do think this means there is much more to Enoch than we saw in the first season‚ and that he will not stay loyal to Thrawn forever. If you’d like to layer in additional theories‚ you might also consider the origin of his name. Ahsoka will return for a second season eventually. You can watch the first season on Disney Plus. The post <;i>;Ahsoka<;/i>;’s Wes Chatham Drops a Sly Hint About Captain Enoch’s Future appeared first on Reactor.

Lunaris is a Pal that only appears as a Field Boss in Palworld. This means that it’s rather tricky to catch one‚ and you’ll have to keep waiting for the boss to respawn in between attempts. It looks like breeding is the only other option. Lunaris breeding combinations in Palworld Most Pals in Palworld have numerous breeding combinations ‚ and Lunaris isn’t any different. Breeding offers a way to streamline the process of acquiring the Pals you want‚ even before the recommended levels of catching them in the wild. As the results of breeding are fixed‚ you can rinse and repeat this to get as many Lunarises as your heart desires. There are many breeding combinations for Lunaris‚ but I’ll present the easiest ones that don’t require super powerful Pals — or Lunaris herself. Screenshot: PC Invasion Rushoar and Gobfin Mau and Tombat Rushoar and Beegarde Lifmunk and Arsox Lifmunk and Chillet Tombat and...

As a live service game‚ Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is set to get a ton of new content in post-launch patches containing new characters‚ locations‚ weapons‚ and more. The game is currently in Season Zero‚ but Season One is arriving soon with more content for players to enjoy. Suicide Squad Season One Release Date Season One of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is set to launch in March 2024. There isn’t a specific date available yet‚ but fans have been speculating that the season will release on March 5‚ 2024. This is the day that the game releases on the Epic Games Store as well as the end of the current Twitch Drops campaign featuring skins for the four base game characters. Because everything lines up perfectly (and that date also marks five weeks after the early access launch of the game)‚ it’s a safe assumption that Season One of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will begin on March 5‚ 2024. If it doesn’t kick off exactl...

One of the new Aspects introduced in Season 3 of Diablo 4‚ but how can you get it for yourself? This Legendary Aspect is a Defensive type usable by any class. You can attach this Aspect onto Chest Armor‚ Pants‚ Helms‚ Shields‚ and Amulets‚ and it’ll help boost your defense. Here’s how to get it. Diablo 4: Where to get Juggernaut’s Aspect Some players online have been confused as to how they can get their hands on this Legendary Aspect. It’s a lot easier than you may realize. You can get the Juggernaut’s Aspect in Diablo 4 through the Season 3 Journey rewards. Although you have a chance of gaining this Aspect through random Legendary item drops‚ your chances are slim. You’d have to farm multiple Dungeons and World Bosses just for the chance of seeing it. The better way of obtaining the Juggernaut’s Aspect is to simply complete the fifth Chapter called “Slayer” in the Season 3 Journey. Screensh...

In Palworld‚ the Legend Passive Skill is undoubtedly one of the best ones to have. Naturally‚ then‚ it is one of the hardest ones to get. But once you have it‚ you have it‚ and you can soon have a base of nothing but Legendary Pals. Getting the Legend Passive Skill in Palworld All of the Passive Skills in Palworld are randomly attributed to any Pals that you capture. All‚ aside from the Legend Passive Skill. This one is reserved exclusively to four Pals that make the four “Legendary Bosses” of Palworld. The only way to get these Legend Pals is through capturing them. They will always be captured with the Legend Passive Skill that sets them aside from other Pals. The four Legend Pals are: Jormuntide Paladius Frostallion Necromus Screenshot: PC Invasion These Pals are incredible hard to fight‚ and even harder to capture. You’ll be needing the best equipment and Pals‚ as well as many spare Legendary Spheres‚ if you w...

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Conservatives in Congress condemned the Biden administration in the wake of the revelation that a high-ranking Department of Education official met with the Southern Poverty Law Center one year before the SPLC added parental rights groups‚ including Moms for Liberty‚ to its “hate map” that includes conservatives along with KKK groups. “Moms for Liberty and the whole parental rights movement is a force to be reckoned with. These patriotic parents turned Virginia red‚ and the Left is terrified that they will help take our country back in 2024‚” Sen. Ted Cruz told The Daily Signal in a written statement Monday. Cruz’s remarks came after The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project released documents Monday revealing that two SPLC staffers met in 2022 with the Biden administration official in charge of a White House initiative on historically black colleges and universities. (The Daily Signal is The Heritage Foundation’s news outlet.) “They have a huge target on their back because they are effective‚” Cruz said of parental rights groups. “The Left knows that they cannot win a fair fight since their policies are so terrible. Instead of debating on policy‚ the Biden administration deployed their attack dogs at the Southern Poverty Law Center to smear these parental rights groups by listing them alongside the KKK as hate groups.” The Texas Republican also shamed the legacy media for failing to cover stories such as this one about the Biden Department of Education’s collaboration with the SPLC. “I am grateful for [The Daily Signal’s] fantastic work exposing the SPLC for the fraud that it is‚” he said. “I challenge the so-called reporters in the corporate media: Have an ounce of honesty and cover this story.” The SPLC‚ which has weaponized the program it used against the KKK in the 1980s to attack mainstream conservative and Christian organizations‚ in June added parental rights groups to its so-called hate map‚ among them Moms for Liberty‚ Parents Defending Education‚ Purple for Parents‚ and Courage Is a Habit. The White House previously targeted parents who spoke out to school boards amid school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic‚ helping to draft the (later rescinded) National School Boards Association letter to President Joe Biden comparing concerned parents to domestic terrorists. The SPLC stopped short of calling these parental rights organizations “hate groups‚” instead branding them “antigovernment extremist groups” as part of an “anti-student inclusion movement.” Yet the SPLC compared the parents groups to “uptown klans” of the 1950s‚ which opposed school integration in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision. The documents released Monday by Heritage’s Oversight Project show that Dietra Trent‚ executive director of the White House initiative on historically black colleges and universities‚ met July 5‚ 2022‚ with SPLC staffers LaShawn Warren‚ chief policy officer‚ and Michael Lieberman‚ senior policy counsel for hate and extremism. Department of Education staff set up the meeting using Trent’s email address at that agency. ??New Evidence: The @USEDGOV is targeting @Moms4Liberty Docs obtained from our lawsuit show the Dep't of Education‚ at the highest levels‚ is keeping close tabs on the leader of the parental rights movementHere‚ @SecCardona is briefed on their impact on local elections https://t.co/7Xgm6xYmmX pic.twitter.com/05QH8XLRTw— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) January 29‚ 2024 “The SPLC’s libelous tactics are despicable‚ and it is disgusting that the Biden administration would use them to attack American citizens who believe in parental rights‚” Cruz said. “The SPLC’s tactics are dangerous‚ and it even led to an angry leftist showing up with a gun at the Family Research Council. Thankfully‚ no one was killed‚ but these libelous smear tactics have real consequences.” The Texas senator was referring to a 2012 incident in which a terrorist gunman used the SPLC “hate map” to target the the Family Research Council‚ a Christian nonprofit. He planned to shoot everyone in the building‚ but the building manager successfully foiled his plan. Although the SPLC condemned the attack‚ it kept FRC on its map. ‘Our Opposition’ Heritage’s Oversight Project also unearthed slides from what appears to be a training session run at the Department of Education by the pro-LGBTQ group Equality Federation. (The department did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.) The document‚ titled “The Legal Assault on Trans Youth &; How to Fight Back‚” describes conservative organizations as “our opposition.” The Equality Federation highlights Alliance Defending Freedom‚ an organization SPLC has branded an “anti-LGBTQ hate group‚” as well as Moms for Liberty‚ The Heritage Foundation‚ and the American Principles Project. The Department of Education also divulged what appears to be a training document about "The Legal Assault on Trans Youth &; How to Fight Back‚" describing "Our Opposition" as: @ADFLegal @Heritage @Moms4Liberty @WomensLibFront &; @approject pic.twitter.com/zBWtroP6Ea— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 30‚ 2024 Sen. Katie Britt called this revelation “sickening.” “To see the Biden administration smear parental rights advocates and Christians as the ‘opposition’ is sickening and un-American‚” Britt‚ an Alabama Republican‚ told The Daily Signal in a written statement Monday. “Parents have it tough enough under President Biden’s radical agenda‚ from runaway prices at the grocery store and gas pump to the border crisis endangering our communities and the world continuing to grow less safe by the day‚” Britt added. “This latest revelation confirms that not only are hardworking American families the victims of the Biden administration—they are also the intended targets.” Britt urged concerned parents to keep speaking up despite such attacks. “Moms and dads—who simply want their children to have the opportunity to live their American Dream and reach their God-given potential—should continue to make their voices heard‚” she said. ‘Weaponize the Government’ McKinley Lewis‚ communications director for Sen. Rick Scott‚ R-Fla.‚ also condemned the Department of Education’s association with the SPLC. “The SPLC is a corrupt and vicious tool used by far-left radicals to label anyone they disagree with as hateful or extremist to advance their own extreme political agenda – even parents well within their rights to be involved in the education of their children‚” Lewis told The Daily Signal in a statement Wednesday. “Senator Scott is disturbed by the continued reports of the Biden administration’s close work and coordination with the SPLC‚” she added. “This further proves that Biden is allowing radical groups to weaponize the government against the American people – especially those whom Biden views as political opponents.” ‘Orwellian Executive Overreach’ Rep. Virginia Foxx‚ R-N.C.‚ chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee‚ also condemned the Biden administration’s work with the SPLC. “The Southern Poverty Law Center is nothing more than a sounding board for socialist ideologues who oppose parents who simply want to exercise their God-given rights to raise and protect their children‚” Foxx told The Daily Signal. “Time and again‚ Republicans have stood alongside our nation’s proud moms and dads and pushed back against President Biden’s continued efforts to target and shame them into submission—we have no plans on backing down any time soon.” Another member of the House Education and Workforce Committee‚ Rep. Lisa McClain‚ R-Mich.‚ called the collaboration between the Department of Education and the SPLC “beyond concerning.” “Make no mistake about it‚ the collusion between Biden’s DOE and the SPLC is beyond concerning‚” McClain told The Daily Signal. “If we allow this kind of Orwellian executive overreach to go unanswered then we are no longer a society that values our First Amendment rights.” Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice also responded to the revelations. “We have known for some time the Biden administration has made it their mission to attack parents who publicly advocate for their children’s education‚” Justice told The Daily Signal. “Attending public school board meetings and voicing concerns about our children’s education should not put a target on our backs to be silenced by the federal government.” Biden-SPLC Collusion The Daily Signal previously reported that Margaret Huang‚ SPLC’s president‚ appears in a video bragging to donors at a fall 2021 meeting that many Biden administration agencies had approached the center to craft a domestic terrorism strategy. “I think there’s no question that we are unparalleled in our abilities to track and monitor the hate and extremist groups in the country‚ and I can tell you that we’ve had many agencies in the new Biden administration reaching out to solicit our expertise and our knowledge and information to help shape the policies that the new administration is adopting to counter the domestic terrorism threat‚” Huang said‚ according to the video. The Biden administration’s ties to the SPLC make Huang’s claim credible‚ and neither the White House nor any of the agencies involved in the administration’s domestic terrorism strategy has denied Huang’s assertion. Biden and his team have hosted SPLC leaders and staff at the White House at least 11 times since Jan. 20‚ 2021‚ when Biden became president. Biden nominated an SPLC attorney‚ Nancy Abudu‚ to a federal judgeship. Last year‚ the FBI’s office in Richmond‚ Virginia‚ used the SPLC’s “hate group” list to target “radical-traditional Catholics” in a now-infamous memo. As I wrote in my book “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center‚” the SPLC’s logic suggests that the entire Roman Catholic Church is a “hate group.” Earlier this month‚ the White House touted Vice President Kamala Harris’ meeting “with voting rights leaders.” Among the leaders highlighted: Seth Levi‚ the SPLC’s chief strategy officer. Critics on both the Right and the Left long have accused the Southern Poverty Law Center of exaggerating hate in order to scare donors into ponying up cash. In 2019‚ amid a racial discrimination and sexual harassment scandal‚ a former employee called the SPLC’s “hate” accusations a “highly profitable scam.” Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.  The post Cruz: Biden ‘Deployed Attack Dogs’ Against Parental Rights Groups appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Having served as the chief of police for three suburban law enforcement agencies just outside of Washington‚ D.C.‚ I have watched with concern—though not surprise—as crime in the nation’s capital has skyrocketed over the past year‚ even as the number of police officers serving with the city’s Metropolitan Police Department has dropped to a half-century low. Amid that alarming backdrop‚ it’s no wonder that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council have changed their tune since the start of the “defund and defame the police” movement in 2020—just like so many other politicians in cities nationwide. The knee-jerk reaction in the District of Columbia and in most other major cities after George Floyd’s death in May 2020 was to cut police funding‚ demonize the officers serving‚ and enact soft-on-crime policies. In its aftermath‚ crime has soared to levels not seen in decades‚ and we now have the fewest number of police officers in America per resident than at any time in more than 25 years. Now‚ with the public in an uproar‚ those same elected officials in the District and elsewhere are reversing course. They now want more officers who are properly equipped and trained‚ and they want tougher penalties for criminal behavior. In other words‚ they want things the way they were before the “defund and defame the police” movement. Better late than never‚ I suppose. But‚ for retired law enforcement leaders like me who were sitting on the sidelines while our profession was being vilified and scapegoated over the past few years‚ it was easy to be bitter and frustrated. In 2019‚ our nation had never been safer. The violent crime rate had steadily and dramatically declined since peaking in 1991. The policing ranks were full. Our officers were well-qualified. They were better educated‚ better equipped‚ and better trained than ever before. Policing had earned a reputation of trust and professionalism‚ and the prevailing philosophy among law enforcement leaders was “we want to do even better.”  Before 2020‚ I know from experience‚ there was great pride in wearing the badge‚ and officers knew they had the support of the public‚ their elected leaders‚ and police officials. Now‚ after more than three years of “defunding and defaming‚” I am afraid law enforcement’s rank and file are suffering from an understandable crisis of trust and confidence. Most rightly feel they are on an island when it comes to political‚ media and‚ yes‚ even internal scrutiny of any serious use-of-force case. They not only worry about potential internal sanctions‚ they fear criminal prosecution for simply doing their job. One officer who left the profession explained it this way: “We are one bullet away from death and one mistake away from indictment.” We have all seen rogue‚ unqualified prosecutors winning local elections based upon promises not to get tough on criminals‚ but to more aggressively prosecute police officers. It’s no wonder that we saw a 47% increase in officer resignations from 2019 to 2022‚ along with a 19% rise in retirements during that same period. According to a Police Executive Research Forum survey‚ the number of sworn officers dropped nearly 5% between the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2022. That’s a loss of some 40‚000 officers nationwide. The police shortage crisis that we are now facing is the most glaring unintended consequence of the “defund the police” movement‚ and it’s jeopardizing public safety and placing added stress on a police workforce already stretched thin. To fill vacancies‚ police chiefs have convinced elected officials of the need for hiring bonuses—some as high as $75‚000. Meanwhile‚ many agencies have significantly reduced—or even eliminated—their hiring standards to attract a larger applicant pool. The latter is both reckless and dangerous. While desperate times require desperate measures‚ we must be careful that only those who are committed to policing and fit for the job are given a badge. I have been told by police academy instructors and field training officers that they basically cannot “fail” a poorly performing recruit. And veteran officers understandably do not want to work side-by-side with a new officer that is substandard and incapable of making split-second life-or-death decisions. The future of our profession—and public safety—is at a crossroads. Increased police funding and tougher penalties for criminal acts will help right the ship. But if we fail to reestablish clear and strong support from the public‚ our police leaders‚ and our elected officials for officers who want to do their job without fear of wrongful condemnation‚ termination‚ and prosecution‚ we will lose many more of the good men and women needed to serve and protect our communities. The stakes are high. It’s time to wake up to this crisis of trust and confidence within policing. The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. 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