BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM New Year’s resolutions often come with high hopes and, let’s face it, high failure rates. For many, they’ve become synonymous with frustration and unmet expectations. But what if the problem isn’t you, but the concept itself? According to change coach Niamh Ennis, there’s a better way to approach self-improvement: setting intentions. “An intention is, at its heart, a guiding value for how you want to be and feel,” Ennis explains. Unlike resolutions, which are often rigid and goal-oriented, intentions tap into the deeper essence of what matters most to you. They reflect how you want to show up in the world and align your actions with your values, creating meaningful and lasting change. What are intentions? Intentions are not goals, nor are they the trendy, often oversimplified act of manifestation. Instead, they’re rooted in how you wish to feel and what you want to embody. Ennis suggests examples such as “forgive myself for not getting everything done” or “let go of the constant self-judgment and criticism of myself and others.” Intentions are less about checking off a box and more about nurturing a way of being. “Their measure can’t be something tangible,” Ennis says. Instead, they evoke feelings and provide a compass for navigating your personal journey. How to set intentions that stick Ready to try intention-setting? Start by reflecting on your core values and asking yourself what truly matters. Here are some questions Ennis recommends for clarity: What matters most to me right now? How do I want to show up in the world? What would I like to build, create, or nurture more of in my life? What am I ready to release and let go of? From there, choose a word, phrase, or wish that resonates deeply with you. It could be something simple, like “freedom” or “vulnerability,” or a more specific aspiration, like “spread more love” or “embrace joy.” Ennis advises keeping intentions positive and rooted in abundance rather than scarcity. Instead of “stop judging others,” try reframing it as “open my heart more to others.” This shift in language fosters a mindset of growth and self-compassion. Why intentions work better than resolutions Resolutions often set us up for failure by focusing on external achievements or arbitrary benchmarks. Intentions, on the other hand, are grounded in personal values and are intrinsically motivating. They’re less about what you “should” do and more about how you want to live. “When you align your thoughts about what is important with what you want to create in your life, your intention appears,” Ennis says. This alignment allows you to chart a personal path that feels authentic and empowering. Unlike resolutions, which are frequently abandoned by February, intentions can evolve and grow with you throughout the year. By coming from a place of love and curiosity, intention-setting creates a sustainable practice for self-discovery and personal growth. A sprinkle of magic While intention-setting is grounded in self-reflection and action, Ennis encourages embracing a touch of magic. “Of course, we need to show up and do the work, but we also have to lean into the magic of the universe,” she says. This balance between effort and trust helps bring intentions to life. Start small, stay curious, and allow yourself to grow into the changes you’re seeking. As William Butler Yeats beautifully put it, “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” This year, forget the resolutions that never stick. Instead, set intentions that align your heart and mind, and watch as they transform your life.The post Forget new year’s resolutions: why setting intentions is the key to a fulfilling year first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

The post The Dreaded F-Word: Ivy’s Experience with Fleas by Crystal Uys 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. Welcome to the Wednesday Cats of Catster! Every week, we share a story from one of our cat-loving Catsters. This week is about Crystal and her soul cat, Ivy. The last time we spoke, I shared some of my favorite memories of Ivy during her first couple of months with us. This week, I wanted to touch on one of my not-so-favorite memories: Ivy’s flea infestation. Have you ever seen one of those buggers up close in one of those extremely zoomed-in images? Those things are straight out of a nightmare! And, very difficult to get rid of. Ivy is a rescue kitty, and seeing as though she was still a kitten when she was given up, she didn’t have any vaccinations and wasn’t spayed. As I’ve mentioned before, she got her vaccinations, and was fixed before I picked her up. It honestly never occurred to me that her previous family wouldn’t have given her tick or flea medication, either, but it should have! One morning, I awoke and had some cuddle time with Ivy in bed. She was sitting on my chest purring away, and all was well. That’s when I spotted it. A tiny black fleck moved across her little white chest. I initially thought it was just a speck of dirt, but upon closer inspection, I saw that it was definitely moving. I parted her fur and surprise, surprise: there were more! Also worth mentioning here is that since we got her, she was very energetic and did strange things. Some things in particular stood out and made more sense upon my flea discovery. In the previous days, she would scratch herself against every surface in the house. She would be laying calmly, sleeping soundly, and then suddenly wake up, ferociously lick herself and start darting around. What seemed like normal, kitten behavior at first (which I’m sure some of it was), actually was her trying to rid herself of the itching the fleas caused. Knowing what signs to look out for when it comes to your cat having fleas is very important! Panic mode ensued. She had been on every surface in the house by then, exploring and snoozing on the couch and in bed with us. I immediately went to our local pet store and got the necessary supplies to get rid of these horrible little critters. She got flea and tick medication, and within a couple of hours, the fleas were dying off. I could literally pick them out of her fur with a tweezer—which I did—and she was already acting calmer. One of the culprits It hadn’t occurred to me to check her fur when I first got her because I was just so overwhelmed by the excitement that the thought didn’t even cross my mind. I felt horrible for a while about it, knowing that she was probably extremely uncomfortable and itchy, and we didn’t do anything to help sooner. After the flea-bus (Ivy) was treated, it was time to tackle the rest of the house. I put everything she had touched in the washing machine and disinfected all of the surfaces, including the couch and the bed. My skin was crawling at this point, and it felt like the fleas had infested me, too! After scrubbing the house, myself, and medicating Ivy, things calmed down. For the next couple of days after that, Ivy had her fur parted and checked hundreds of times a day until, eventually, there were no more signs of fleas, including the poo and the dead ones. It was also evident that she was much more comfortable, and she no longer jumped up when sleeping or scratched herself against surfaces as often. I told Ivy to please speak up next time something was wrong, and she replied with silence. As expected. Tick-less and happy PSA to all cat owners, new ones and seasoned ones: check your cat for fleas regularly, be consistent with their tick and flea medication, and don’t ignore behavior you think is even a little bit out of the ordinary. If the fleas remain untreated, it can lead to serious health problems and even death for your kitty. Fleas can also be harmful to humans and carry some diseases. In this case, it’s absolutely better to be safe than sorry. Have you ever had to deal with a flea infestation? I sure hope not, but feel free to share your story with us if you have! Thanks for reading, Catsters! We’ll catch you next time on Catster.com! CHECK YOUR CAT FOR FLEAS! Okay, bye! This article features Crystal and Ivy in our Wednesday Cats of Catster series. Read her previous article: Ivy Settling In: Some of My Favorite Memories The post The Dreaded F-Word: Ivy’s Experience with Fleas by Crystal Uys 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.

The post Could Vegan Cats Help Feed 70 Million People? Exploring the Veganuary Debate by Nicole Cosgrove 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. Click to Skip Ahead Potential Benefits of a Vegan Diet For Cats Nutritional Challenges Environmental Impacts Ethical Considerations Have you heard of Veganuary? Each January, millions of people worldwide embrace vegan diets as part of the Veganuary campaign. In 2024, approximately 25 million people sought a fresh start for their health and the environment by adopting plant-based eating habits. While Veganuary has primarily focused on human participants since its inception in 2014, veterinary Professor Andrew Knight, a Veterinary Professor for Animal Welfare, is now advocating for an extension of the initiative to include pets.1 Potential Health Benefits of Vegan Diets for Cats and Dogs In his recent article in The Conversation, Professor Knight highlights the potential health benefits of vegan diets for pets. “By late 2024, 11 studies in dogs, three in cats, and one systematic review covering both had all demonstrated that dogs and cats thrive on modern vegan or vegetarian diets,” he writes. According to Knight, consistent health benefits include “a reduction in obesity and of conditions that may be triggered by animal-sourced allergens, like itchy skin and ears and gastrointestinal problems.” However, he stresses that “all diets, including vegan diets, should be manufactured by reputable pet food companies which carefully formulate their food to be nutritionally sound.” Image Credit: Guajillo studio, Shutterstock Cats and the Nutritional Challenges Despite these findings, transitioning cats to vegan diets remains controversial. Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they require specific nutrients like taurine and arachidonic acid, typically derived from animal sources. Critics argue that even well-formulated vegan cat foods may not fully replicate the nutritional profile of a natural diet, potentially leading to deficiencies. Supporters of vegan pet diets counter that modern advancements in pet food science can address these concerns. Synthetic versions of essential nutrients can now be added to vegan formulations, making them nutritionally complete. However, experts still emphasize the importance of consulting a veterinarian before making dietary changes, particularly for cats. Environmental Impact of Pet Diets Professor Knight’s most recent research sheds light on the environmental implications of pet food. In high pet ownership nations like the U.S., pet food accounts for around 20% of all land animals killed for food, as well as billions of fish and marine animals. Globally, this figure is approximately 9%, even after accounting for by-products of human food production. The scale of this impact is staggering. According to Knight, feeding the world’s approximately 470 million pet dogs with nutritionally sound vegan food could save six billion land animals annually. Such a transition would also spare 0.57 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases each year—1.5 times the emissions of the UK in 2023. While the environmental benefits are smaller for the world’s roughly 370 million pet cats, they remain significant. Knight estimates that a global shift to vegan cat food could save enough food energy to feed 70 million people annually, equivalent to the population of the UK. Image Credit: Okssi, Shutterstock Ethical Considerations and Controversies As mentioned earlier, the idea of vegan cats sparks ethical and practical debates. On one hand, reducing the demand for animal-based pet foods aligns with broader environmental and ethical goals. “An average-sized dog can consume as much meat as a person,” notes Knight. “If you want better health and environmental outcomes in 2025, try Veganuary—and please don’t forget your pets!” However, critics contend that imposing vegan diets on obligate carnivores like cats prioritizes human values over animal welfare. They caution against overlooking the physiological differences between species in the pursuit of sustainability. But if it can be done in a way that prioritizes animal welfare, as Professor Knight suggests, then it surely is a win-win. Moving Forward with Informed Choices For pet owners considering a vegan diet for their cats or dogs, Knight advises seeking professional guidance. Advice is available via his website. The Veganuary campaign’s growing influence invites a broader conversation about the role pets play in sustainability efforts. Whether or not cats and dogs should embrace plant-based diets, the dialogue highlights the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health. The choices we make—for ourselves and our pets—could shape a more sustainable future for us all. What are your thoughts? Is this something you would like to adopt for your cat? In January, or long-term? We’d love to hear from you in the comment section below. The post Could Vegan Cats Help Feed 70 Million People? Exploring the Veganuary Debate by Nicole Cosgrove 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.

Toenails are an unsung hero of our species' evolution (well, kinda).

A new method of moving through space will allow us to reach the nearest star not in thousands of years, but in just a few decades. Physicists have proposed a new way to deliver spacecraft to nearby stars in a relatively short time using relativistic electron beams. The study was published in the journal Acta Astronautica. Without better space travel, dreams of reaching even the closest stars may remain just dreams. The closest star to us, Proxima Centauri, is about 4 light years away. It is orbited by a potentially habitable planet, Proxima Centauri b. To study both the planet and the star at close range, a space probe would need to be sent there. If this probe were to travel at the speed of, say, the most distant human spacecraft, Voyager 1, the journey would take more than 70,000 years. There are ideas now that involve sending spacecraft to the stars at relatively high speeds equipped with a light sail using a laser beam. This beam should push the sail and allow the probe to gain very high speeds to move through space. But such projects assume that the size and weight of the space probe will be small, which means that it cannot accommodate many scientific instruments. Therefore, such a probe cannot collect much valuable information about nearby stars and their planets. On the other hand, the cost of launching such a laser beam is quite high and such a beam will also dissipate over a large distance, which reduces its effectiveness. Current designs, which rely on a light sail and a laser beam, suggest that the beam can only effectively push the probe to a distance of 0.1 astronomical units, while the distance to Proxima Centauri is approximately 270,000 astronomical units. Although even such a small distance should be enough to accelerate the spacecraft to a very high speed. But the laser beam, as already mentioned, will dissipate, and therefore there is no guarantee that the probe will reach the nearest star in a reasonable time. Therefore, physicists have proposed using beams of electrons or electron beams that would be accelerated to relativistic speeds to move a large probe with a light sail. This is a speed that is close to the speed of light. In this way, it would be possible to send a probe of much greater size and mass to the nearest stars. According to physicists, such a beam will allow the probe to accumulate more energy and its speed could be up to 10% of the speed of light. Electrons are relatively easy to accelerate to speeds close to the speed of light. And the scattering of the electron beam can be avoided using an effect well studied in particle accelerators. Calculations by scientists show that such a beam will be able to push a space probe to a distance of 100 and even 1000 astronomical units. Thus, thanks to the obtained speed, the probe will be able to reach the star Proxima Centauri in about 40 years. But accelerating the electron beam to relativistic speeds and keeping it pointed straight at the probe is still a challenge that needs to be solved, physicists say. To create such a beam, a lot of energy is needed, and therefore scientists propose placing another spacecraft close to the Sun, which will rotate around our star and create the necessary electron beam, which will be directed at the probe flying to the stars. According to scientists, minimal improvements to existing technologies will allow humanity to reach the nearest stars fairly quickly. The post Physicists Propose New Tech to Reach the Nearest Star 1000 Times Faster appeared first on Anomalien.com.

Imagine local sheriffs who actually comply with federal immigration law. What a concept.  Perhaps The New Yorker magazine is more comfortable with local police officials who defy such laws because their jurisdiction is in sanctuary cities. However, when faced with the reality that many sheriffs around the nation are more than willing to comply with federal law in order to protect their citizens, the New Yorker finds this problematic as you can see in their Thursday story by Jessica Pishko, "How Sheriffs Might Power Trump’s Deportation Machine." Pishko finds it highly problematic that local sheriffs are willing to cooperate with the deportation policies of incoming President Donald Trump and his designated no-nonsense "Border Czar" Tom Homan. Both Trump and Homan have indicated that local law enforcement would be involved in carrying out the mass-deportation plan. Ryan Zinke, a Republican representative for Montana, who served as Trump’s first Secretary of the Interior, declared, “The sheriffs know the bad characters.” And there’s an advantage to the county sheriff in particular: nearly all of them are elected officers who are not beholden to other officials, even blue-state governors, many of whom have shown a willingness to work with Trump anyway. Because immigration is in the realm of federal law, the role of local law enforcement in policing the border has historically been limited. But, in 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which expanded the criminal charges for which a person could be subject to deportation. As immigration became linked to criminal law, local law enforcement—especially county sheriffs, who enjoy relative autonomy free from direct oversight and have jurisdiction over much larger areas than, say, urban police departments—began to play a critical role in the deportation machine. In counties along the U.S. border, sheriffs receive funding, through a FEMA grant program called Operation Stonegarden, to purchase equipment such as snowmobiles and squad cars for use in conjunction with Border Patrol. Ironic that it was a Democrat president who made it easier for sheriff's to aid in the deportation of those in the USA illegally. Of course, that was an era before Democrats encouraged open border policies to the extent of defying federal immigration law via sanctuary cities. Because most sheriffs are elected, governors or attorneys general have little power over them. They are excluded from the Hatch Act, which bars some government employees from engaging in political activity while on the job, and largely permitted to campaign in uniform. They can make decisions about department policy without seeking approval and with low risk of public opprobrium. They often voice political opinions; before the Presidential election, one Ohio sheriff went so far as to threaten residents who publicly supported Kamala Harris. In a 2021 fund-raising letter, the Claremont Institute—a conservative think tank that the Times has called a “nerve center of the American right,” and a part of the advisory board for Project 2025—asserted that sheriffs have “jurisdictional latitude.” In the institute’s view, this “places them on the front lines of the defense of civilization.” For that reason, Claremont—alongside other anti-immigration groups, such as FAIR, whose new “law enforcement advisor” is Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, a Homan collaborator—has turned its focus to recruiting and training sheriffs to help execute its agenda. In 2021, it created an annual weeklong retreat called the Sheriffs Fellowship, which received funding from Betsy DeVos, “to study and discuss the political-philosophical, institutional, and historical arc leading from the American Founding to today’s militant progressivism and multiculturalism,” according to a promotional brochure sent to potential applicants. Notice that conflation of "anti-immigration" with enforcing immigration law by Pishko? We saw what you did there. Oh, and nice touch by nefariously describing Sheriff Mark Lamb as a  "Homan collaborator." You can almost read swastikas between the lines.

Thanks But No Thanks: Two Murderers Granted Clemency By Biden Sue to Stay On Death Row

A woman with a known nut allergy had a severe allergic reaction after sex, even though her partner bathed and brushed his teeth first. Here's why.

PHILADELPHIA—The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, as they cycled on a rural New Jersey road pleaded not guilty to the indictment Tuesday after…

A budget reconciliation bill allows major spending changes by a simple majority vote. That may be difficult given disagreements on fiscal policy within the GOP.Congressional Republicans intend to use…