During a June 15 community roundtable event in Detroit, Michigan, 2024 presumptive Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump claimed the U.S. purportedly left $85 billion worth of brand-new military equipment in Afghanistan when it withdrew from the country in 2021. Verdict: Misleading Multiple sources and experts indicate that Trump conflated the $88.61 billion the […]

Happy 80th Birthday to The Kinks co-founder and frontman Ray Davies. Regarded as one of the most influential British songwriters, Davies wrote the 1964 No.1 hit You Really Got Me, along with All Day and All of the Night, and Victoria. In the next two years, he wrote Set Me Free and Sunny Afternoon—and, later, Lola […] The post Good News in History, June 21 appeared first on Good News Network.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Protections for the unborn belong at the forefront of the federal budget, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote in a letter sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday. “As the Senate Appropriations Committee continues to work on legislation for fiscal year 2025, we urge the committee to ensure that long-standing, bipartisan pro-life provisions are included as bill text,” says Blackburn’s letter, co-signed by Republicans Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Roger Marshall of Kansas, and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, and shared with The Daily Signal. “These provisions have been enshrined in law every year for decades, and it is essential that we continue this bipartisan work to protect our nation’s most vulnerable—the unborn,” the letter continues. 6.21.24.20Blackburn20Letter20to20Senate20Appropiations20Committee20Regarding20Pro-Life20Riders2028final29Download Blackburn and the other senators urged the committee to renew pro-life policies such as the Hyde Amendment, which has prohibited taxpayer funding of most abortions since 1976, in the annual appropriations bill. “A procedure intended to end a human life cannot credibly be considered a form of health care,” the letter says. “A majority of Americans, including majorities of Republicans and independents, oppose the use of taxpayer dollars to bankroll abortions.” Americans should not have to fund procedures that many consider to be murder, the letter says, citing a Gallup poll showing 57% of Americans agree abortion is murder. The Hyde Amendment, which is in the language of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, “safeguards the ethical, moral, and religious convictions of millions of Americans.” Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the American Family Action Network, Americans United for Life, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and Students for Life Action endorsed the letter. “For decades, Congress has ensured that the dignity of human life is upheld through these important appropriations riders,” said Penny Nance, CEO and president of Concerned Women for America. “In a post-Roe world that recognizes there is no federal right to abortion, legislators should fight harder than ever to keep taxpayer dollars out of the abortion industry. These provisions are commonsense, bipartisan, and are critical to protect life.” The senators advocated for the committee to keep other provisions that also protect life in the bill: The Smith Amendment, which bans taxpayers’ dollars from funding abortions for federal employees The Dornan Amendment, which prohibits taxpayers’ funds from paying for abortions in the District of Columbia Abortion Funding for Prisoners, which restricts taxpayers’ dollars from funding abortions for federal prisoners The Helms Amendment, which bars taxpayers’ funds from financing abortions in foreign aid The Siljander Amendment, which prohibits taxpayers’ dollars from paying for any lobbying regarding abortion The Kemp-Kasten Amendment, which grants the president the discretion to ban organizations that promote coercive abortion from receiving U.S. funds The Weldon Amendment, which permits health care and insurance providers to opt out of participating in elective abortion procedures based on their religious and moral beliefs Retaining long-standing pro-life provisions in the appropriations bill “follows decades-long precedent and honors the desires of most Americans not to financially support this life-ending procedure,” the letter says. The appropriations bill will likely be enacted by the end of September. Fiscal 2025 begins Oct. 1. The post EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Blackburn Leads Push for Pro-Life Protections in 2025 Budget appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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The relationships between animals and their environments are some of the most complex and fascinating that exist. From whales taking time for spa trips, to orangutans using local plants to treat wounds, animals' knowledge of what local flora can make them feel better is pretty damn impressive. New research suggests that Norfolk Island green parrots are also partial to a bit of the local foliage, and have been using plant bark to remove parasites – and maybe even getting themselves high in the process. Unfortunately, being a Norfolk Island green parrot (Cyanoramphus cookii) is pretty tricky with the amount of ectoparasites you have to look out for. These include things like feather-feeding lice, blood-feeding mites, ticks and fleas, fungi, and bacteria. Not only are these unwanted hitchhikers an annoyance, but they can transmit disease and affect reproductive success and, ultimately, survival. To remove these pests, birdkind is known to use ants in a process known as “anting”, as well as taking dust and more traditional water baths. Throughout the literature there have been a few reported cases of parrots stripping leaves off plants and either covering their feathers in the resulting juice, or placing the leaves themselves between their feathers. In the new study, the team observed the parrots visiting young pepper trees (Piper excelsum), where they self-anointed with the vegetation from the pepper trees. Separate observations, one in the winter of 2015 and a series over two summers from 2018-19 to 2019-20, saw birds visit these pepper trees. Once there, the birds bit a section off the lateral shoots and chewed a portion; they then proceeded to preen their feathers, often using preen oil from the uropygial gland. The team saw in their observations that the preen oil and the aromatics from the tree were combined and mixed through the feathers.             The pepper trees contain lots of smelly compounds including piperine, which is known to repel insects as well as having antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. As well as the obvious benefits with regards to parasites, the team think there might be more to this behavior than hygiene.In an article in The Conversation, study first author Penny Olson explains that the parrots are enjoying themselves during their interactions with the pepper trees and could be getting an extra benefit from the components. Olson suggests that anting, in which the birds are subjected to formic acid, could have a similar effect, with the birds getting high off the fumes. “Likening green parrots rubbing aromatic vegetation through their plumage to inebriated pigeons falling from trees may seem a stretch. But nature rewards behaviour that offers evolutionary advantage, often, it seems by tapping into animals’ pleasure centres. The pursuit of pleasure is an important, usually overlooked, aspect of animal behaviour, worthy of attention and further research,” concluded Olson. The study is published in Austral Ecology.