The Department of Agriculture is set to pay $50,000 to encourage children and young adults who identify as transgender, lesbian, gay, or bisexual to go on wilderness conservation trips in the Pacific Northwest. The grant, which started in 2022 and runs through 2026, was awarded to the Northwest Youth Corps, a conservation organization based in Eugene, Oregon, that works to “diversify the outdoors.” The grant funds “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer inclusion and sound to summit crews,” in an apparent reference to two different programs. The Northwest Youth Corps explains how it intends to “diversify the outdoors,” adding that “a key element of our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is fielding single-identity affinity crews and internships to support communities historically under-served in the outdoor space.” The group hosts LGBT-specific conservation groups for those as young as 16 years old. “Unlike some facets of identity, such as perceived race or ability, people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or “questioning” are often an invisible demographic,” the organization says. “Our move to create a single-identity LGBTQ+ crew began when we recognized the need to be much more purposeful in supporting this community.” “There is no such thing as a truly safe space, there are only safer spaces,” one of the attendees said in a video promoting the program. “The fact that there is a corp for queer people to explore their identities … is not only important, it is essential.” The program was also celebrated in a National Geographic article. “Having the support of an organization that provides safe spaces and opportunities for queer youth is essential for queer youth, especially during a time when transgender youth care is banned in numerous states and legislation transgender youth from participating in sports,” the piece states. Various federal agencies have spent taxpayer money promoting transgender identification among minors, including with one $700k grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to create “an inclusive teen pregnancy program for transgender boys.” “Youth who are assigned female at birth … are at risk for negative sexual health outcomes yet are effectively excluded from sexual health programs because gender-diverse youth do not experience the cisgender, heteronormative teen sexual education messaging available to them as salient or applicable,” the award description states. The Biden-Harris administration’s National Institutes of Health agreed to spend over $3 million to expand access to sex change operations for minors as young as 13-years-old. The Department of Agriculture and the Northwest Youth Corps did not respond to a request for comment. 

Who will win this intense game of kitten air hockey? We don’t know, but we can’t stop watching these adorable, four-legged athletes! A cat mom on social media shared the most hilarious video of her two pets challenging each other on the rink — er, table. They got the hang of the game surprisingly quickly! In this hysterical video, two cats positioned themselves on opposite ends of the playfield for a round of air hockey, kitten style. Each time they batted the puck with their paws, they watched it with curiosity as the item magically made its way across the flat surface. It was way too cute to see these animals pounce on the plastic disk as soon as it got close enough! @misunderstoodapricot making this a series #fyp #kittensoftiktok #airhockey ♬ Monkeyshine-JP – Lt FitzGibbons Men This cat mom was pretty surprised to see her kittens playing air hockey together. When she brought the table out, it was supposed to be for human use! However, it seems that the felines have pretty much comandeered the setup for themselves. “You put up an old air hockey table not realizing your kittens would use it the most,” she wrote over the video. Everyone is falling in love with these tiny air hockey champions! Screengrab from TikTok Social media users loved seeing these two cats sending the puck back and forth. In fact, the video has received over 11 million views! “I’d bet real money on a cat air hockey game,” joked one commenter. Another added, “This should be on ESPN.” Since so many people fell in love with these two kittens playing air hockey, Mom decided to go live with one of the games. To hype people up for the sports match, she shared a hilarious “meet the players” video introducing her cats, Ru and Loa. In this clip, she included some fun facts about the athletes. For example, Ru apparently “loves showers,” while Loa is “heavily food motivated.” @misunderstoodapricot meet the girls! due to popular demand we will be live tomorrow (9/19) at 8:30pm CT weekly content to come soon! #fyp #kittens #airhockey ♬ the cat from ipanema – j1gggs It sounds like Mom will be posting even more kitten air hockey content where that came from, so stay tuned! You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Furry Nemeses Face Off In Heated Air Hockey Battle For Supremacy appeared first on InspireMore.

Want to know what gardening tools are perfect for your garden? It's easy to be swept away with buying the latest gardening tools but it will just take up more space, extra amount of money, and sometimes not even necessary to have. Let me assist you in getting the basic gardening tools that will help you with almost everything in your gardening venture. 23 Gardening Tools Every Gardener Should Know This post is courtesy of Garden Season and shared with permission. Do you mean business with your gardening? Then you should go full gear with your gardening tools and fill-up your tool shed. Gardening tools will not only make your workload lighter and faster but can provide protection for you too. Check out this list to find out if you’re missing an essential gardening tool or two! Can you imagine gardening without the essential gardening tools? I’m sure you can’t. Gardeners fill the world with love in the plants and greens that they grow. To spread the love, they need the assistance of simple gardening tools to aid them along the way. Here are the gardening tools that should fill up your tool shed.   1. Trowels And Soil Scoops image via fotodeck Don’t take what these cute garden tools can do too lightly. They come in handy for keeping your garden soil healthy. They also make everything convenient when it comes to the actual planting. Trowels and soil scoops are perfect for transplanting and digging small holes to plant seedlings or seeds.   2. Garden Forks image via tastefulgarden In keeping up with your garden’s growth, you’ll need the help of this little garden tool. It helps loosen the soil around your plants to let air and moisture through.   3. Garden Trimmers [Limb Loppers, Pruning Shears, And Hedge Shears] image via fiskarsDon’t ruin your household scissors or bruise your very own hand just to cut through thick branches. Use the limb lopper for tall tree branches, the hedge shears for trimming your hedge, and the pruning shears for cutting smaller branches.   4. Sprinkler Or Soaker Hose image via gardena This amazing tool has hundreds of tiny holes through the hose where water is slowly released. It can also water more plants at the same time. The soaker hose is ideal for raised bed gardens and will save you water, time, and money.   5. Watering Can | Used for generations by planters, this reliable watering garden tool is one you can’t do without in your garden. The sprout, with its many holes, allows water to be released from the can like rain. This helps avoid garden soil run-offs.   6. Digging Shovels image via gizmodo Digging and scooping larger amount of dirt or soil will be hard to do without the shovels. If you’re transplanting small trees or shrubs, use the square point shovel. The rest you can use for scooping up larger amounts of soil and plants.   Be a happier homesteader this year. Find out how self-sufficiency can make you one today! https://t.co/YY7aRZvMir — Homesteading (@HomesteadingUSA) January 6, 2017   7. Wheelbarrow or Garden Cart image via 1001gardens Gardening will require you a lot of hauling. For areas with limited space like your greenhouse, use the wheelbarrow. Its one-wheel design can fit through smaller spaces. For carrying tools or transferring plants use the steadier two-wheels or four-wheel garden cart.   8. Plant Markers image via gardenclub Plant markers should help you with identifying your plants, especially if you have lots of them or if they’re still in their seedling stage. You can make plant markers by yourself.   9. Garden Knife image via mygoodknife While knives have limited uses for actual gardening, they can also be very useful for small tasks like harvesting vegetables, cutting strings, light pruning, and so much more you can think of.   10. Step Edgers image via gizmodo Like pizza slicers, the half-moon shape of this useful garden tool cuts through shrubberies and grass lawns. You can prevent grass from invading your special plants with a garden edger. This tool is also a huge help with landscaping.   11. Paving Knife | Weeds are stubborn, they will invade even your pavement and rock walkways. The solution? Paving knives which are specially designed to uproot weeds found in crevices and cracks.   12. Garden Rakes image via articlesweb To help clear falling leaves in autumn or gather grass clippings, your tool shed has to have these sweeping tools. These trusty tools are cheap and easy to use.   Want to see the full list? Check it out on our sister site Garden Season!   Want to know how to recognize your gardening tools and its uses? Check out this video from HowCast: Although the burdens of gardening cannot be entirely avoided, you can make it lighter and faster with gardening tools. If you want the complete list of gardening tools, download it here for FREE by clicking the bar below. Happy gardening! Did you find this list helpful? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments section below. Since we're talking about gardening tools, why not also check out the 34 Must-Have Tools for Homesteaders. See if you got all the essential tools for a successful homesteader.  Follow us on instagram, twitter, pinterest, and facebook!   Featured image via hoshanarabbah

MicroRNAs are key to the normal functions of our bodies, as well as certain diseases and conditions.

After Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz, PolitiFact was at it again, rating Vance false 91 percent of the time and Walz false 29 percent of the time. While defenders of professional fact-checking may say, “Aha, that proves Vance lies more,” there were problems with PolitiFact’s assessments of both candidates. The PolitiFact team assigned five false, five mostly-false, and one half-true rating to Vance, or ten on the wrong side of the truth-o-meter and one in the middle. By contrast, Walz received one false, one mostly false, two mostly true, and three true ratings. That is two in the red and five in the green. As for the fact-checks themselves, PolitiFact ran into some issues. For example, Vance claimed, “There's a Federal Reserve study … that really drills down on the connection between increased levels of migration, especially illegal immigration, and higher housing prices." Rating that most-false, PolitiFact wrote, “Experts agree that increased immigration leads to higher demand for limited housing, but it is not solely, or predominantly, responsible for higher housing prices. Instead, they point to the shortage of affordable housing as the main driver of higher housing costs.” The funny thing is, Vance would agree. Immediately after PolitiFact’s final quote mark, Vance added, “Now, of course, Margaret, that's not the entire driver of higher housing prices. It's also the regulatory regime of Kamala Harris. Look, we are a country of builders.” Another claim that got Vance the “false” label was, “As I read the Minnesota law that (Walz) signed into law … it says that a doctor who presides over an abortion where the baby survives, the doctor is under no obligation to provide lifesaving care to a baby who survives a botched late-term abortion." PolitiFact’s response begins with a non-sequitur about how rare late-term abortions are before citing a previous PolitiFact article, “When there are fetal anomalies that make it likely the fetus will die before or soon after birth, some parents decide to terminate the pregnancy by inducing childbirth so that they can hold their dying baby, Democratic Minnesota state Sen. Erin Maye Quade told PolitiFact in September.” In other words, Vance is correct, but PolitiFact claims the baby was going to die anyway, so life-saving care is not required. In its original article, PolitiFact wrote, “Experts said cases in which babies are born following an abortion attempt are rare.” It also cited Law Professor Laura Hermer, ‘“Post-viability abortions are very uncommon in Minnesota, as elsewhere, though they do occasionally occur. Abortions resulting in live births, while hypothetically possible, are vanishingly rare,’ Hermer said, citing data from the Minnesota Department of Health.” “Rare,” does not mean "never,” and the new law repealed reporting requirements for births related to failed abortions. Elsewhere, PolitiFact refused to give Walz any sort of false label for his Tiananmen Square tale where he claimed to be in China during the 1989 protests, accepting Walz’s line that he “misspoke” despite Walz's history of making things up on everything from his military experience, rank, political origin story, to his endorsements. Walz also claimed, “Trump ‘gave the tax cuts that predominantly went to the top class. What happened there was an $8 trillion increase in the national debt, the largest ever.’" PolitiFact rated this “mostly true” and spent its entire summary talking about who benefited most from the tax cuts, but it never mentioned the words “COVID” or “pandemic.” While Trump added $8.4 trillion to the debt, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said that $3.6 trillion came from COVID-related spending while $2.5 trillion came from the tax cuts. If one were to add those to Walz’s tally, instead of two out of seven being false, you would get four out of eight or 50 percent. Moving the two Vance claims to the true side, would result in a false rating of 72 percent. If you were to throw in claims PolitiFact didn’t check, such as Vance’s true claim the U.S. has built only one new nuclear facility in 40 years, or other false ones from Walz, such as blaming pro-lifers for Amber Thurmond’s death, the numbers would be even closer.

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) failed to show up for a debate with his Republican opponent for the U.S. Senate, Kari Lake. It was hardly a hostile venue for a Democrat -- Arizona PBS.  This would seem like a big deal...unless you are writing cover for him at the Arizona Republic in Phoenix, the state's largest newspaper (owned by Gannett). The headline about the scheduled debate published on their azcentral.com website does not even mention the no-show by Gallego: "Kari Lake assails economic data, Ruben Gallego and media host in new interview." It wasn't until four paragraphs down that reporter Ronald J. Hansen quickly brought up and then discarded (with no further mention) that Gallego was a no-show.   Lake appeared on the show alone after Gallego, a five-term member of Congress, declined to join her for what would have been a debate. This has been a Democrat habit with Lake. Two years ago, Gov. Katie Hobbs refused to debate her on Arizona PBS, so Lake got her own interview. Then PBS granted Hobbs her own interview anyway, making sure she was unpunished for skipping out.  So despite the Gallego no-show at the debate, the rest of the article comes off as an extended attack ad against the one who actually did show up at the debate, Kari Lake. Here is the plethora the hits at the very start of the story. U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, in a tense, televised interview, challenged the integrity of government data, refused again to acknowledge her 2022 gubernatorial loss and cast her Democratic challenger Ruben Gallego as a nuisance employee years ago. Appearing on Arizona PBS’ "Horizon” Thursday, the Republican nominee and former newscaster took umbrage at host Ted Simons' questions in a 30-minute show that veered into personal exchanges. When Simons cited data pointing to a strong economy, Lake sarcastically told Simons, “You know what? I have a great idea for you. When you retire here, you should go work for Kamala Harris.” Despite the no-show by Gallego, Hansen still got a member of the Gallego campaign to debate Lake from a distance by quoting the campaign spokesperson: Hannah Goss, a Gallego campaign spokesperson, said Lake’s comments in the interview are an example of why she is unfit for office. “Kari Lake will do or say anything to get power, even if it means hurting Arizonans,” she said. “This election is a choice between a Marine combat veteran with a lifetime of service and a power-hungry liar who wants to ban abortion — and that’s exactly why Arizonans are going to elect Ruben Gallego in 32 days.” Um, Ronald. Wouldn't it have been better if Gallego spoke up for himself at the debate rather than you covering up for him by quoting his spokesperson and brushing quickly past the inconvenient fact that he was a debate no-show despite a friendly station host? It was almost as if Hansen was trying to memory-hole the Gallego no-show by smothering it in a toxic stew of Kari Lake hits.

Unless you count extraction games, old-school dungeon crawlers have gone the way of the dodo. Back in the day, we were blessed with the likes of King's Field, Arx Fatalis, Wizardry, Might and Magic, and many more. Harkening back to that golden era is Monomyth, with a completely reactive world, immersive sim tendencies, and an emphasis on freedom. If, like me, you're a recovering Skyrim dungeon diver, you'll even find something to love. Monomyth is out now in Steam Early Access, and there's even a demo you can try first. Continue reading New dungeon crawler Monomyth is like Arx Fatalis by way of immersive sim Skyrim MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best story games, Best RPGs, Best single-player games

The spooky season has arrived, and Humble Bundle is fully embracing the chills by offering The Callisto Protocol at 70% off, alongside various other great deals in its Week of Terror sale. Known for its gruesome visuals and intense combat, this underrated title taps into our deepest fears: What if biophages take over? What if I’m wrongfully imprisoned? What if my life is meaningless? If you're in search of a spine-tingling thrill, this is a must-add to your Steam library. Continue reading Get this hugely underrated 2022 horror game at its lowest price yet MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The Callisto Protocol review, Best horror games, The Callisto Protocol system requirements

While Amazon Prime Day will soon steal the spotlight, one gaming headset deal has arrived ahead of the event, and it's a big one. The Razer Blackshark V2 Hyperspeed has dropped from $129.99 to just $99.99, and it's a deal well worth grabbing while you can, rather than waiting for Prime Day where there is no guarantee of a better deal. In my Razer Blackshark V2 Hyperspeed review, I point out how this supposedly mid-tier headset improved upon its big sibling the V2 Pro, in many ways. Provided that you're okay with no RGB lighting and slightly different earcup material, the Razer Blackshark V2 Hyperspeed is arguably a better all-around headset for most gamers, and it costs almost half the price right now. Continue reading Don’t wait for Prime Day, save $30 on this Razer gaming headset right now MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Razer Viper V2 Pro review, Razer BlackShark V2 Pro (2023) review, Best gaming mouse

The anniversary of October 7 is an important reminder.