ShazzieB
ShazzieB's JournalNeed suggestions for chicken free cat treats.
I'm going to be cat sitting for my daughter and her partner for a few days next month. This will consist of going over to their place each day to refill food and water dishes as needed and scoop out the litter box.
This will be my second time doing this. Banshee and Pooka are very shy little girls, and when I went over to take care of them last year, they spent most of the time I was there hiding. By the last day, they were showing themselves more but would still dart away if I got too close.
I want to make friends with these girls and would like to try offering some yummy treats to help them associate my presence with something positive. The problem is, daughter says Banshee is allergic to chicken, so I need to find something without that (very popular) ingredient.
I have a few weeks to get ready, so I'm starting to research what's available out there. I was wondering if any of the cat lovers in thIs group might have any suggestions.
I'm tired of my grandkitties thinking of me as the strange lady they have to hide from when she comes over and want them to start thinking of me as the lady who comes over every now and then and brings them *DELICIOUS THINGS*! 
People come in all flavors.
I started writing a reply to someone's post but it started getting rather long, so I decided to put my thoughts in an op instead. I was responding to a comment expressing the view that Republican politicians aren't really people. It bothered me for some reason, and in the process of trying to explain why, this is what I came up with.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Those Republicans of which you speak are not good quality people, that's for sure. Some or them are complete garbage people. But whether we like it is not, they are human.
Humans come in a vast array of flavors, like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Like the aforementioned beans, some are delightful, some are quite vile, and many are somewhere in between.
Unlike candy beans, humans have the ability (at least in theory) to make choices about what flavor they're going to be. As we all know, some of them make very bad choices. But candy beans are still candy beans, no matter what they taste like, and humans are humans, regardless of what terrible choices they may made.
This rather silly analogy is just my way of trying to express how I feel about saying any group of people, even truly awful ones, are not people, i.e., human. That kind of thing makes me twitch, because it's the exact strategy that has been used all too often throughout history to convince certain groups of humans that certain other groups of humans are not really human, and that the world would therefore be a better place if those other groups were eradicated.
Tell me I'm too sensitive if you want, but it makes me extremely uncomfortable to see comments like that at DU, even though I'm pretty sure that no one here really thinks that Republicansn (or any other group of humans) literally aren't human. (At least I sure hope so!)
To be honest, if I saw a comment of that sort anywhere other than DU, I'd probably just ignore it. But I feel like we here at DU should hold ourselves to a higher standard. We're Democrats, the party that values all kinds of people, and we never know who might be lurking here, especially in an election year. I thereby suggest that we try to avoid any kind of comment that sounds even almost, kinda, sorta like the kind of comments those vile flavored beans, err, people, sometimes make to vilify the groups they consider inferior to themselves.
I don't expect everyone to agree with me or do what I'm suggesting. But I hope everyone who reads this will just think about it a little. Then go ahead and do what feels right to you.
Peace out.
Next time I see a crying teenager...
Next time I see a crying teenager, I'm going to hug them and tell them it only gets worse.
(From a funny tweet.)
Here's Why The Total Solar Eclipse Has Prompted States Of Emergency In Parts Of U.S.
*snip*
[Indiana Governor] Holcomb’s executive order cited the state’s membership in the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a national mutual aid program that allows states to call on others for assistance or resources when a governor issues a state of emergency.
State of emergency declarations can trigger several potential means of assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including individual assistance for small businesses and households, as well as public assistance programs for road systems, public facilities and other emergency protective measures.
On county and city levels, such declarations allow local officials to get assistance from state emergency management agencies—but local and state governments can directly request assistance from the federal government if needed, including asking the president to declare a major disaster, according to FEMA.
More here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/caileygleeson/2024/04/04/heres-why-the-total-solar-eclipse-has-prompted-states-of-emergency-in-parts-of-us/
Tl/dr: Don't freak out when you hear about states of emergency being declared due to the eclipse. It's nothing to worry about and is intended to provide an extra measure of safety for those in the path of totality (both residents and visitors to affected areas).
Biden to Netanyahu: Protect civilians or else
The 30-minute conversation was the two leaders’ first phone call since an Israeli strike killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in Gaza. The killings have set off a furor inside the White House and Biden has been described as reaching a new level of frustration with Israel’s campaign.
“President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” the White House said in a statement shortly after the call wrapped. “He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
*snip*
The call amounts to perhaps the most serious sign of Biden’s frustration with Israel’s campaign in Gaza, which was launched in the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas. In the time since, more than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry, and grisly reports of civilian deaths are made every day.
More: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/04/politics/biden-netanyahu-call-wck-deaths/index.html
Prosecutors say school shooter Ethan Crumbley's parents show 'chilling lack of remorse' after manslaughter convictions
In two separate sentencing memorandums dated April 3, Oakland County prosecutors asked the judge to sentence each parent to 10 to 15 years in state prison.
The prosecutors allege Crumbley’s father has repeatedly threatened Prosecuting Attorney Karen McDonald and has said “there will be retribution,” while the mother has asked to serve her sentence under house arrest in her defense attorney’s home.
James and Jennifer Crumbley were both found guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter in two separate trials this year for their roles in their son’s mass shooting at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021. Jurors found they were both grossly negligent in allowing their teenage son to have a gun and ignoring signs of his spiraling mental health. Ethan, who was 15 at the time, killed four classmates – Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17 – and injured seven other people.
Lots more here: https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/03/us/crumbley-parents-michigan-shooting-prosecutors-sentence/index.html
The whole thing is worth a read if you have the time.
These people are...strange. I actually feel sorry for Ethan. With parents like these, he never really had a chance.
ELECTION RFK Jr. campaign disowns its fundraising email calling Jan. 6 rioters 'activists'
Source: NBC News
WASHINGTON — The campaign of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent out with a fundraising email Thursday referring to Jan. 6 defendants as "activists" who have been "stripped of their Constitutional liberties," echoing former President Donald Trump's rhetoric about the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
In the appeal sent to supporters, signed by "Team Kennedy," the campaign called for the exoneration of "political prisoner Julian Assange," the founder of WikiLeaks, suggesting he and Jan. 6 defendants are victims of prosecutorial abuse.
*snip*
After publication of this piece, Kennedy spokesperson Stephanie Spear told NBC News that the language was an "error."
“That statement was an error that does not reflect Mr. Kennedy’s views. It was inserted by a new marketing contractor and slipped through the normal approval process,” she said.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/rfk-jr-campaign-jan-6-activists-stripped-constitutional-liberties-rcna146445
ELECTION RFK Jr. campaign disowns its fundraising email calling Jan. 6 rioters 'activists'
Source: NBC News
WASHINGTON — The campaign of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent out with a fundraising email Thursday referring to Jan. 6 defendants as "activists" who have been "stripped of their Constitutional liberties," echoing former President Donald Trump's rhetoric about the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
In the appeal sent to supporters, signed by "Team Kennedy," the campaign called for the exoneration of "political prisoner Julian Assange," the founder of WikiLeaks, suggesting he and Jan. 6 defendants are victims of prosecutorial abuse.
*snip*
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/rfk-jr-campaign-jan-6-activists-stripped-constitutional-liberties-rcna146445
Kennedy family set to step up its efforts to help Biden's campaign
Some members of the extended Kennedy clan already have issued statements making it clear they stand with Biden this fall. But a gathering of dozens of Kennedys at the White House last weekend marked the beginning of a more active effort by the family to boost Biden’s re-election effort and push back against one of their own.
“There was a point of having everybody there,” a senior member of the Kennedy family said of their gathering at the White House on St. Patrick's Day. The visit, which was captured in a photograph with Biden on the steps of the Rose Garden, included three generations and four branches of RFK Jr.'s relatives.
*snip*
It’s an effort the White House and the Biden campaign are welcoming, though not directing themselves. Multiple sources familiar with the family’s advocacy say the Biden team is letting the Kennedys take the lead on helping the president's candidacy and then working to support them as needed.
More here: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/kennedy-family-rfk-biden-2024-election-rcna144163
Thanks, Kennedys, for being willing to take a stand against your deranged family member!
Chuck Todd Chides NBC News Over Handling Of Ronna McDaniel Hire; Network Gets Backlash Over Decision...
Chuck Todd Chides NBC News Over Handling Of Ronna McDaniel Hire; Network Gets Backlash Over Decision To Retain Former RNC Chair As Analyst
*snip*
McDaniel appeared on NBC News’ Meet the Press this morning for a sometimes contentious sit down interview with moderator Kristen Welker. Welker had told viewers that the interview was scheduled weeks before it was announced that McDaniel was joining the network. “This will be a news interview, and I was not involved in her hiring,” Welker said.
*snip*
Later on Meet the Press, Chuck Todd, the former moderator of the show and NBC News’ chief political analyst, criticized the network as he took part in a panel. He told Welker that “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation.”
Todd said, “She is now a paid contributor by NBC News. I have no idea whether any answer she gave to you was because she didn’t want to mess up her contract. She wantsus to believe that she was speaking for the RNC when the RNC was paying for her. So she has she has credibility issues that she still has to deal with. Is she speaking for herself or is she speaking on behalf of who’s paying her?
Lots more here: https://deadline.com/2024/03/nbc-news-ronna-mcdaniel-paid-contributor-1235866884/
Profile Information
Name: SharonGender: Female
Hometown: Chicago area, IL
Home country: USA
Member since: Tue Mar 26, 2013, 04:18 AM
Number of posts: 19,756