Calling all Patriots!

'The court just told thousands of Maryland parents they have no say in what their children are taught in public schools'

The ‘Decaf’ option features the former Trump attorney lounging at the beach with a drink in hand

A viral video shared on X purports to show Palestinians faking medical injuries in Gaza. (Warning: Graphic content) Verdict: False The claim is false. The video was originally shared on Facebook in 2018 and shows a staged medical training event at the Islamic University College of Medicine. Fact Check: The U.S. military recently set up […]

'Donald Trump knows how to run a talent show'

The post Birdsbesafe Breakaway Collar & Cover Review 2024: A Detailed Look by Shelby Loeppky 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 About Birdsbesafe Key Features Product Reviews Our Experience Our Final Verdict We give Birdsbesafe products an overall rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. Quality: 4.5/5 Variety: 5/5 Value: 5/5 Check Price on Birdsbesafe We’ve all watched National Geographic, which shows a lioness bolting from the brush to her unsuspecting prey. Such a cat’s agility, speed, timing, and precision is something to see. Which we do, albeit in a much smaller version; our domesticated companion, the house cat. While they may be smaller and hunt different game than their Saharan counterparts, the damage they can do to the ecosystem is still notable (and now changeable). Birdsbesafe decided to study the prey of cats, such as songbirds, and find a way to give them the leg (or wing) up in the game of predator vs. prey. They studied the eye anatomy of songbirds and discovered they have more rods and cones than the human eye. Songbirds see an array of colors we cannot, especially in low-light conditions. What makes a cat easier to see at dawn and during the day? A vibrant, colorful collar cover, of course! At a Glance: What We Reviewed Image Product Details Birdsbesafe Crayon & Funky Collar Cover Lively patterned covers Floral pattern free - do not attract bees or hummingbirds Safe to wear with a breakaway collar CHECK PRICE Birdsbesafe Nylon breakaway cat collar & bell Largest reflective stripe, great for outdoor cats in urban areas Requires little pressure for the clasp to break Cat face clasp CHECK PRICE Birdsbesafe Full stretch breakaway cat collar & bell Requires moderate pressure to release Safety stretch allows cats to release themselves before the collar breaks Reflective threading helps cats become more visible to birds and vehicles CHECK PRICE About Birdsbesafe Who Makes Birdsbesafe and Where Are They Produced? It began with a cat named George. A ferocious hunter, George brought Ms.Brennan many songbirds from the Vermont woods surrounding their home. After sporting bells, with little success, Ms. Brennan fashioned a lively tube cover for the collar to alert songbirds to George’s presence. The test was a success! George no longer brought birds in through his cat door. In 2009, Birdsbesafe was launched, with scientific studies and backing recorded in 2015 and beyond. Birdsbesafe products are made proudly in the USA. In 2023, Birdsbesafe was sold to The Power of Gratitude LLC with plans to continue and expand on this terrific product. Which Types of Pets Is Birdsbesafe Best Suited For? If you have an indoor-only cat, the extravagant collar cover may not best suit your needs (unless you’d like to use it as a fashion statement, of course). The collar cover is explicitly designed to reduce the success of predation on outdoor, native species of birds. The breakaway collars, however, are safe and useable for everyone with a feline friend, indoors or out. Birdsbesafe Product & Brand Features Check Price on Birdsbesafe The lively colors and safety features of Birdsbesafe colors have caught our attention (and that of songbirds), but to be sure, we added some FAQs and pertinent info for you to know before you buy. Materials The breakaway collars are made of Nylon with reflective thread or tape throughout. The option to have an easy breakaway clasp or a more traditional clasp requiring moderate pressure may be best suited for different types of cats. For example, the Full-Stretch breakaway collar may be better suited for cats who spend most of their time indoors or have a safe outdoor area like a catio. Each Birdsbesafe collar cover is made of cotton, a very familiar material. If you’re wondering why the material is not waterproof, Birdsbesafe explains that waterproof fabric damages a cat’s whiskers—and we don’t want that for Floofy. Shipping & Delivery You can purchase Birdsbesafe collars and covers (and a few extra goodies like whisker-friendly cat bowls and pet shampoo bars) on their website, birdsbesafe.com, or Amazon. The products come in a plastic bag with an interesting fact sheet on the Birdsbesafe design. Quality The collars are made of durable material with sturdy plastic clasps. The collar covers are stitched together in approximately 20” lengths, so they ruffle around the collar for better visibility. If you’ve purchased cat collars before, some can be so flimsy they will not buckle after the first use. These collars have been on and off all cats multiple times, without fail. How To Assemble & Wear The collars fit together using either a side-release buckle or a quick-release clasp with a removable bell. Each collar should be fitted to allow for one finger width between it and your cat’s neck. The key is ensuring it is not so tight that it bothers your cat but not so loose that it could become snagged on something or catch a wayward paw. The collar cover simply slides over the breakaway collar, with ample length for ruffling. The collar cover does not close in any way, meaning if the breakaway collar releases, the collar cover will as well. Reviews of the 3 Best Birdsbesafe Products 1. Birdsbesafe Collar Covers Check Price on Birdsbesafe Each Birdsbesafe Collar Cover is made of cotton for quick drying and a lightweight design. The color patterns vary, but floral patterns are never included on the off chance they could encourage garden-friendly insects like bees and butterflies to approach the cat. The patterns make them hummingbird-safe, too! The collar covers sport a reflective strip around the outside of the collar, so if your cat wears them outdoors overnight, you don’t have to sacrifice the reflective strip for vehicles or our sing-at-dawn songbirds. The collar covers are long and wide enough (20” x 2”) that feeding the breakaway collar through the cover is simple, and placing it on the cat requires minimal extra effort than a breakaway collar alone. On the Birdsbesafe website, you can purchase covers as a package deal, so if one cover is damp, you have a second cover to place on your cat before sending them back outside. With the lively color patterns, hanging them on a hook by the door makes them visible as a reminder to outfit your cat with one, and much harder to lose! However, like all collars, the cover is subject to loss if your cat frequents scrubby or brush-filled areas with many collar-snag opportunities. Pros Lightweight design Beneficial insect & hummingbird safe Reflective strip around the outside of the collar Easy to use Cons Could lose on densely forested property 2. Nylon Breakaway Collars Check Price on Birdsbesafe The nylon material used in Birdsbesafe collars makes them durable and more likely usable even after the breakaway clasp opens. The reflective band around the center of the collar is highly visible to songbirds and vehicles for nighttime dwellers. The clasp, designed as a cute cat face, requires very little pressure to release, making it the perfect collar for outdoor-only cats, as the likelihood their collar gets snagged on something is greater. The removable bell alerts songbirds of a cat’s presence, especially if they try to gain distance before pouncing. However, for indoor cats, the jingle may not be necessary. I take Annie’s off in the evenings as she enjoys nighttime rounds around the house, leading to tiny jingling steps into the wee hours of the morning. The collars are easily adjustable to suit cats as they grow and come in various colors, including black, yellow, blue, green, red, and pink. The thin band is, however, somewhat hard to see on a longer-haired cat. Pros Durable material Reflective band increases visibility Quick-release clasp Removable bell Adjustable Cons Hard to see on long-haired cat 3. Full-Stretch Breakaway Collar Check Price on Birdsbesafe The full-stretch breakaway collar is made of durable nylon, and the stretch material is also reflective for increased visibility on roadways. The side release clip is easy to use and requires moderate pressure to release. Each collar is outfitted with a metal ring to attach a Cat ID, so if your furry friend gets too far away, they will be easily identified. The collar adjusts from 8” to 12”, so it fits most cats. The feedback does mention that, as with any breakaway collar, the likelihood of losing it is much greater than that of a regular collar. However, the breakaway design has likely saved countless cats from injury. The thin design makes it harder to see longhaired cats. Pros High visibility collar ID metal loop attached Adjustable Cons Higher chance of losing collars with a breakaway clasp More challenging to see on long-haired cats Our Experience With Birdsbesafe Breakaway Collars & Collar Covers My two cats, Annie and Teal, have two very different personalities. We often laugh at the fact that our indoor/outdoor furry friend of 8 years, Annie, refuses to step paw outside in the winter months. To be fair, it’s cold here in the mountains of BC, Canada. However, come spring, as things dry up and the world sprouts anew, so does Annie from her warm basket by the fire; with this spring vigor comes the likelihood that birds return, fledglings leave their nest… and the hunting begins. Some cats hunt to survive, but I can guarantee these two do not have the need; it just doesn’t stop them from trying (and, prior to sporting a Birdsbesafe collar cover, succeeding). Annie never strays far from the house, but neither do the robins, black-capped chickadees, warblers, sparrows, swallows, finches, and more. They often perch in our honeysuckle, apple, and nectarine trees, and despite the added effort of removing brush underneath, Annie was still relatively successful in catching a bird occasionally. I outfitted her with the collar cover and watched from the window as she attempted to stalk an unsuspecting chickadee in the honeysuckle. From approximately 4 feet away, the bird took flight. Annie, perplexed, stood from her stoop and tried again. Surely the robin wouldn’t see her coming, she thought, and again, within 5 feet, the bird took flight. I have not seen one bird (or feathers) on our front lawn since outfitting her and Teal with the collars. Teal, on the other hand, though raised indoors (with many kids for cuddles and love), remains mostly outdoors and spans our entire 10 acres regularly, only returning for her bowl of food every day or two. More often than not, an excellent, agile, compact hunter, Teal evidenced her hunting prowess with mice, voles, and moles from the garden but would show up with a bird or two every few weeks. I sent her out using a Birdsbesafe collar and collar cover, and to my surprise, when she returned two days later from one of her many journeys, the cover was still in place, and she had nothing with her and has not since wearing one. Interestingly, Teal had kittens a year ago. Many of the kittens found homes with our neighbors, and happily—they’re now interested in purchasing their own Birdsbesafe collars to soften Teal’s legacy of hunting and decimating our native bird populations. Conclusion Just as you have the responsibility to provide care, food, and love to your cats, it’s also important that we, as cat owners, own what our cats do when they’re not curled up in our laps. An outdoor cat can, on average, kill 2-3 birds per month, if not more, and that doesn’t look great for native songbird numbers in our regions. With Birdsbesafe’s collars and covers, outdoor cats can still enjoy the enrichment of the outdoors without playing a role in ruining it. Birdsbesafe’s products are backed by multiple scientific studies worldwide, and they prove their effectiveness time and time again. The affordable, easy-to-use, and low-maintenance products are perfect for any cat owner in your life. The post Birdsbesafe Breakaway Collar & Cover Review 2024: A Detailed Look by Shelby Loeppky 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.

Rereads and Rewatches Terry Pratchett Book Club Terry Pratchett Book Club: I Shall Wear Midnight, Part III Nanny Ogg has arrived and she will be giving all the pre-wedding advice, as is right and good. By Emmet Asher-Perrin | Published on May 17, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share The hare runs into fire… Summary Tiffany and Letitia talk about how she can do magic and where it might come from in her family. They have to head back to her home because that’s where she left the spell she cast on Tiffany. On getting there, Tiffany finds that Letitia is absolutely a witch and helps all the ghosts at her estate. They head to the family library where Tiffany smells something awful and they find Letitia’s spell and the answer to why it worked: She cast it next to the book written by the Omnian priest who became the Cunning Man. That is the reason why all this has happened. Tiffany tells Letitia that she has to tell Roman what she did and clean up her own messes, like a witch should. Tiffany sleeps in the dungeon to find that Preston keeps entering to take care of her. When she wakes, he tells her that the Baron wants to see her, but Tiffany insists on seeing the old Baron first, and making the cellar cold enough to preserve his body. She learns that Preston has a talent for healing, but he can’t become a doctor because it’s too expensive. Roland apologizes to her after being told about the plot against Tiffany by his wife-to-be, and Tiffany accidentally says she’ll marry him. They both ignore this, and agree and everything is incredibly fraught at the moment—they must get on with the funeral and the wedding. Letitia ask to see Tiffany privately, and Tiffany realizes that she needs to have the birds and bees conversation before her wedding. Then Tiffany talks to the Feegle, currently being managed by Wee Mad Arthur who has decided to give up his badge and stay home. Tiffany promises that the Feegle mound will never be threatened again. She’s looking at an old war tapestry in the castle and sees the Cunning Man moving toward her through it. She hinks to burn it, but she wakes up inside the tapestry, in “the traveling” with Eskarina. The wizard warns her that if Tiffany fails to stop the Cunning Man, the other witches will have to kill her or all witches will fall with her. Tiffany threatens the tapestry and the Cunning Man backs off, afraid of fire. Preston tells Tiffany that he was watching over her while she had witch business, and demands that she rest. Back int the city, Mrs. Proust finds out that a man who was supposed to hang broke out of jail in a manner most disconcerting. She makes to grab her broom, knowing she needs to go to the country immediately. It’s the day of the funeral and Granny and Nanny have arrived with Verence and Magrat for no reason at all. Nanny gets the funeral in high spirits with music and happens to notice Preston and Tiffany, of course. Mrs. Proust lands on the roof with Mrs. Happenstance in tow along with her apprentice Miss Cambric, and warns Tiffany that the Cunning Man now has a body to control. She also recognizes the Duchess and knows that the woman used to be a dancer in a music hall. Tiffany invites her to go downstairs and meet the other witches, then finds that Nanny took her suggestion to give Letitia a more informative birds and bees talk. The Duchess is a bit drunk and apologizes to Tiffany for how she’s behaved; Tiffany tells Letitia to go speak to her mother. Granny tells Tiffany that the witches are wondering if they shouldn’t insist on helping her (they’re all here to kill her if she fails), but Tiffany is adamant that she can handle this mess. Nanny says the men came back from the stag night without Roland, so Tiffany tells Preston. She has to leave and fight a monster; he insists on going with her to protect her. Tiffany tells the Feegles they have to stay out, but brings Preston along. They find a drunk Roland in a pigsty, and Letitia comes out too, searching for him. Tiffany tells them they have to do what she says if they want to live, which they agree to, but aren’t happy about. As they run, Preston sets fire to the stubbles. The land begins to burn. Tiffany holds the couple’s hands and marries them as they jump through the fire—fast enough not to be seriously harmed by it, but the fire burns the Cunning Man. Tiffany sees him off. The wedding occurs, and Tiffany learns that Preston has asked around about how old she is (he is a year older). Roland says that Miss Spruce was caught with the money the old Baron left to Tiffany, who tells Roland to keep it with a few requests on her end: that Amber get a dowry so her young man can apprentice to a master craftsman (he made Letitia’s wedding dress); that other young people on the Chalk get the same opportunity; that the old barn on Home Farm be made into a school (where sex ed gets taught) and that Preston be its first teacher, so he can earn enough money to become a doctor; and that the downland be given in law to the Feegle. Roland agrees to all these terms. Tiffany is brought to the traveling again by Eskarina to meet her older self wearing a golden hare necklace. She tries to ask a question, but is only told to listen. Granny tells Tiffany she did a woman’s job today, and that she should start training witches herself soon. The next year at the fair, Amber and her husband give Tiffany a gift—William made her a beautiful black dress. Then Preston stops by to talk to her about his doctor’s apprenticeship and gifts her the golden hare necklace. He asks her what the sound of love is, and she tells him… to listen. Commentary The thing is that Preston is good and Preston is smart and those are lovely qualities to be sure… but Preston is the right person for Tiffany because he’s the only person outside her parents who reminds her to sleep and eat. He asks when she last did both and when Tiffany lets him know that she had an hour of sleep last night and a snack the day before, he tells her that snacks and naps are not ways to live—“it’s how people die!” And that’s a beautiful thing to have in this book aimed at younger readers because far too many of us get raised on romcom love, which is cute, but all about chemistry. Chemistry is great. It makes for snappy dialogue and the belief that folks would climb into bed together. It does not give people any idea of what it means to have a partner in life. Which is ninety percent about helping to keep another person alive because you love them. That’s it. That’s the whole thing. It’s not glamorous or exciting, but it is beautiful. I am literally saying this as my partner deposits dinner in front of me because I would probably eat once a day without intervention. I forget! That is not my strong suit in a relationship. This is why I’m alive, and it would be underselling to say that I find that considerably more romantic than “chemistry.” Not that chemistry has no value, but it’s an extra, yes? Like a car sunroof. It’s fun, but you don’t need it—you need an engine that runs. And that puts me too close to Nanny Ogg joke territory for comfort, so I’ll move on. The point is, Preston is great and great for Tiffany specifically. Outside of that, this book is largely about how community functions, and when and how it doesn’t, and how we can protect ourselves from its dysfunction when it arises. One of the places where this begins to stick out to me is in Tiffany watching Nanny Ogg do what she does best at the funeral, and musing over how she doesn’t have those skills: I wanted to learn fire and pain, but I should have learned people. Tiffany is only half-right in this instance because every witch has her strengths, but the acknowledgment that knowing people is a precious skill is still central to a lot of the themes here. Nanny is the key example there, because she’s essentially a Bacchus-ian retrofit unto herself. She accesses people through wine, women, and song, which is more fun in this instance because she’s the woman in question, or she’s giving other women tips on how to be the women in question (i.e. her helping Letitia). She knows people by doing her best to engage them where they’re at their best, in moments of merriment, laughter, and connection. But there are ways of understanding that lean toward solemnity, and Tiffany sees that’s a different sort of magic at the funeral: It was magic; magic had turned a hall full of people who mostly did not know very many of the other people there into human beings who knew they were among other human beings and, right now, that was all that needed to matter. It’s a perfect description of those moments, which often do feel like magic. The places where we come together because we know we’re all the same. Even if they don’t last, they have a resonance, a different wavelength. We need them to feel safe. Just like Tiffany’s first story, there’s couching emotions and attributes that people often frame as selfish or undesirable as heroic traits. Tiffany thinks that to beat the Cunning Man, she has pride, trust, fear, and fire. Pride and fear in particular would normally not rank high on a heroic list, but they should—particularly against a foe like the Cunning Man, who is a codified representation of hatred of the other made whole. Tiffany has no kindness in her heart for this figure, unlike the hiver or the Wintersmith, because Pratchett philosophy makes no room for this kind of bigotry—he aligns it with poison, and knows that it never fully dies: […] and though we will never be rid of you, we can certainly make your life hell. That is the way you combat it. You destroy it with extreme prejudice. There’s no “tolerate my intolerance” argument to be had here. Only destruction without pity or sorrow. And it’s good that Tiffany is always shown to be unyielding in the face of that manner of monstrosity. That we can count of her to live up to Granny Aching’s example in every way. Asides and little thoughts: On omens: And it wasn’t good manners, she was sure, to ask for a second sign to tell you if the first sign wasn’t just a coincidence, was it? That’s fair though, they should come in triplicate, some of us are nervous. It’s just really important that Tiffany asks for sex education in her school, I’m just saying. Real damn important to frame that here as normal and net good and needed. After Preston talks of loving the word susurration, as Tiffany does, it pops up several times in the narrative as we go. Pratchettisms: There must have been reservoirs in Letitia. She was never more than a teacup away from a tear. It was one of those things that the brain files under “something I would rather not have seen.” “Miss Aching, you are showing an almost sinful self-assurance and overwhelming pride and certainty, and maybe I say that I wouldn’t expect anything less of a witch.” “Can’t abide broomsticks,” she said. “They give me calluses in places where nobody should have calluses.” We pride ourselves on making a good history of our lives, a good story to be told. Next week we start the final Watch book: Snuff. We’ll read up to: He thought Ah, yes, contraband! and, feeling cheerful, and hopeful for the future, he gently closed the window and went back to bed. [end-mark] The post Terry Pratchett Book Club: <i>I Shall Wear Midnight</i>, Part III appeared first on Reactor.

You ever seen someone turn up to a function with a YoYo and just immediately dominate the room? We all have, and we all with we could be that guy. Once you find the YoYo and learn how to use it in Animal Well, you’ll instantly be the coolest blob in the game, I guarantee. Where to find the YoYo tool in Animal Well I actually didn’t pick this tool up for a very long time in the game simply because I missed it. It was only once I got to certain unpassable areas that I realised it wasn’t a skill issue; I was just unprepared. So, back into the depths of Animal Well I went to find the YoYo, which can be located here on the map. Screenshot: PC Invasion However, getting there is a trick. You will be entering the area from above, also marked on the map, making your way through a room with a bird dedicated to eating you. Entering this room from the right side, immediately drop down the first hole in the floor and run to the first button. Wait on the button until th...

Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 is the long-awaited sequel to the hit Ninja Theory game, but is this sequel compatible with the Steam Deck? Not only must you wonder if Valve has Verified it, but can your Steam Deck even handle this Unreal Engine 5 game? Can you play Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 on the Steam Deck? Unfortunately, at this time, we don’t know if Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2 is Steam Deck compatible. Once this Ninja Theory game drops on May 21, players will get the chance to see what Valve has rated Hellblade 2 on its Verification scale. Games on the Steam Deck can have four Verification levels: Verified, Playable, Unsupported, and Unknown. My guess is that Hellblade 2 will either be Playable or Verified on launch. If it ends up being Playable, you can expect this game to eventually get Verified due to the fact that Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice is Verified. Image: Ninja Theory Although, the first game was released in 2017 and the Steam Deck can ...

As Wuthering Waves crawls closer to launch, more characters are getting revealed to us courtesy of the Wuthering Waves X account. The latest is Jinhsi, and it’s caused quite the stir. Jinhsi revealed for Wuthering Waves Today, only some hours ago, the official Wuthering Waves X account posted about Jinhsi, the 1.1 Banner Huanglong Resonator. YouTube, Reddit, and the comment section exploded with excitement and discussion around Jinhsi. Lots is still to be confirmed about Jinhsi, such as her rarity or weapon, but thanks to prior art of the character, we can specualate. Jinhsi is likely to wield a sword, and considering the dragon art and iconography surrounding her, it’s safe to assume that she’ll be powerful and a 5-star rarity character. I must clarify that it’s technically not officially confirmed that Jinhsi will be a playable resonator, as not all resonators with the tacet mark are playable, but after considering everything I can’t see ...