Hasta La Gadget!

Someone once said that the dog was “man’s best friend,” and the expression stuck. Well… not for everyone! A lot of us out there are on Team Cat! Yes, cats can be kind of aloof. And, sure, they lie down on the job a lot. But to us, they’re purr-fect. In fact, the brain structure that controls their emotions is practically identical to ours! Which may be why we so easily forgive our adorable kitties for all sorts of behavior — because deep down we know that our furry friends truly love us. That’s why we’ve partnered with Tidy Cats to pinpoint nine crazy ways our cats are actually making our lives better.

1. They Protect Us From Ourselves

When we need reminders to step away from technology, cats are our brave warriors. They’ll lie across our computer keyboards or sit in front of our television screens, shielding us from our vices. They intervene ― by jumping on us ― when we fall down the internet-browsing rabbit hole because they know we might waste hours that could instead be spent petting them! And when the time comes, they know we’ll return the favor and save them from the vacuum.

2. They Make Sure We’re On Time

Got an early morning interview? Need to catch the bus? No worries, because you have a furry alarm clock at home to wake you a few hours early! There’s no snooze button, and cats can produce more than 100 different sounds to get your attention at the crack of dawn. Some may argue that their meowing is a demand for breakfast, but we know better; they meow to make sure we’re out the door on time in order to earn our paychecks. And when it comes to alarm clocks, they’re cuter than any gadget on the market.

3. They Help Us Unwind After A Hard Day

 Professional relaxation treatments can break the bank, but cat parents often find themselves at the mercy of their kitty’s kneading paws. Who needs acupuncture when you’ve got your own ball of fluff lovingly digging their claws into your legs? While in their trance-like state, the frequency of your cat’s purrs may even encourage muscle healing! So sit back on the couch and relax as your kitty massages away the tension.

4. Their Shenanigans Crack Us Up

Cats are incredibly curious. They want to see and touch everything. Now combine their curiosity with a free-floating clavicle bone that allows them to squeeze into tight spaces, and you’ll often find your cat stuck in weird situations. In fact, at some point, it’s likely that you’ve paused mid-Netflix binge to wonder aloud, “Where are you, Mr. Snuffleupagus?” ― only to find your adventurous feline sprawled between coat hangers or lounging inside dresser drawers. The variety and ambition of their ninja stunts never cease to make us laugh (and give us great photos).

5. They Shred Paper Like A Boss

Our cats don’t like to see us feeling down. And they know that we sure look glum after opening certain kinds of mail. They stand with us in solidarity by tearing up those pesky bills ― phone, electric, gas, department store, dental ― that come all too often. They take the bills (and whatever other paperwork they can get their paws on) and transform them into confetti instead of reminders of just how much we went over our smartphone data plan this month.

6. They Respect Our Time

It’s 7 o’clock on a Saturday morning, it’s probably raining, and your purring puss knows that you would prefer to stay in bed rather than venture outside. Therefore, our thoughtful fuzz balls choose to use a civilized litter box instead of pestering to use the great outhouse – unlike some pets. Caterwauling for food, however, should be anticipated at any and all hours of the day because cats require a lot of fuel to sleep that much.

7. They Show Us How We Could Live Our Best Lives

Cats chill hard. They sleep about seventy percent of the day. Now those are sleep goals! While we’re cleaning their litter boxes or washing the dishes, we side-eye them in envy as they contort into sleeping positions that put our shaky yoga moves to shame. It’s a stirring reminder to get our priorities straight ― beauty sleep is essential!

8. Their Tastes Are Unpretentious

When you buy that expensive cat castle, who’s the one who prefers to sit in the old shoebox? Your pragmatic cat! Their down-to-earth philosophy sets an example for all of us living in a materialistic world. What’s more, there’s no need to spend copious amounts of time preparing that special blend of salmon or canned charcuterie each day when your cat walks in with a dead bird or mouse. Cats are not only self-sufficient, they were also into the local-food movement before the local-food movement was cool.

9. They Know No Boundaries

Cats can have a funny way of showing their love, particularly when they are head-butting you. Yet the aggressive move (actually known as “bunting”) and the invasion of your personal space means that they like you a whole heck of a lot. Enjoy this moment ― even if you’re picking hair out of your mouth later ― because it means you’ve earned their unconditional affection. Yes, you’re on Team Cat. And they’re on Team You.

Not only do cats make life more pleasant, they also make our lives better. So make sure that you are doing your part by giving your fuzz ball the best. New Tidy Cats LightWeight with Glade Tough Odor Solutions Clean Blossoms helps keep your home smelling fresh ― which is something that both you and your favorite feline can smile about. Now that’s the power of pleasant.

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ESPN’s decision to lay off as many as 100 people on Wednesday, while expected, set off rounds of media commentary about the company’s future. Some on the political right saw the layoffs as a symptom of a specific problem: what they perceive as ESPN’s “politicization of sports” and its “too liberal” political stances.

In this view, ESPN’s coverage of events like LGBTQ athletes coming out and Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest and its occasional refusal to “stick to sports” have turned off droves of viewers looking for an escape from the real world.

No one trumpets this view louder than Clay Travis, a Fox Sports writer who was back at it on Wednesday morning. ESPN’s collapse, Travis wrote, has been “aided” by its turn toward liberal politics.

“Middle America wants to pop a beer and listen to sports talk, they don’t want to be lectured about why Caitlyn Jenner is a hero, Michael Sam is the new Jackie Robinson of sports, and Colin Kaepernick is the Rosa Parks of football,” Travis wrote. “ESPN made the mistake of trying to make liberal social media losers happy and as a result lost millions of viewers.”

But Travis is wrong on this point. There’s a much simpler explanation for the cuts.

The self-proclaimed “Worldwide Leader in Sports” has indeed lost more than 12 million subscribers since 2011, according to Nielsen estimates, and those losses have accelerated in recent months. In October and November alone, ESPN lost more than 1 million subscribers.

But such losses aren’t abnormal at cable channels as Americans’ television viewing habits change. In 2016, 70 percent of cable channels lost subscribers, with average declines between 2 and 3 percent, meaning ESPN exceeded the average but not drastically so.

For sports channels in particular, the outlook is just as dire. In October and November 2016, when ESPN lost those million-plus subscribers, just three of the sports cable channels that Nielsen monitors each month ― the NFL Network, the Golf Channel and BeIN Sport Espanol ― gained subscribers. The rest ― everyone from NBC Sports to the MLB Network and NBA TV ― suffered, with many of them taking proportionally larger hits than ESPN.

The fate of Fox Sports was no different. Over those two months, Fox Sports 1 lost 573,000 subscribers, according to Nielsen. Fox Sports 2 lost 1.4 million. In February of this year, ESPN lost 422,000 subscribers. FS1, which was already in fewer homes, exceeded that drop, losing 565,000. FS1 had spent much of the last few years gaining on ESPN, but that trend reversed itself recently: February was the third consecutive month in which FS1 lost more subscribers than ESPN (though FS2 has been gaining subscribers). And over the last two years, Fox Sports has undertaken multiple rounds of job cuts itself. 

In other words, cable networks that aren’t allegedly seeking to spread the liberal gospel through sports are losing too.

Still, National Review Online’s Dan McLaughlin attempted to build on Travis’ argument, lecturing ESPN about its supposed political leanings. “‘Stick to sports’ is not just good manners for sports journalism,” McLaughlin wrote Wednesday, “it’s good business advice.”

“ESPN’s layoffs demonstrate that the network understands it has a business problem,” McLaughlin concluded. “It’s too soon to tell if it also understands it has a politics problem. … But its business model allows subscribers to vote with their feet in a way that has an immediate bottom-line impact. Maybe it should start listening.”

Like Travis, McLaughlin is projecting his own beliefs onto ESPN and ignoring the basic reality facing the network and the broader cable industry. Set aside the fact that ESPN is not particularly “liberal” ― and hardly monolithic ― when it comes to political issues and their intersection with sports, even if some of its loudest and most prominent voices are. Just run the numbers on its business.

The company, which charges cable providers roughly $7 a month per subscriber just to carry its flagship channel, derives as much as two-thirds of its annual revenue from subscriber fees, so the departure of those subscribers is a direct hit on its bottom line. Advertising rates are also falling. Meanwhile, ESPN is paying more to broadcast live sports. It will spend $7.3 billion on broadcast rights fees to major sports leagues this year.

ESPN got some major gambles wrong, and with revenues dropping and costs increasing, something had to give. On Wednesday, that something was 100 employees ― even if, as Deadspin’s Tom Ley noted, it won’t be enough mathematically to do anything more than temporarily reassure ESPN’s corporate overlords at Disney.

ESPN’s losses are bigger and have a bigger impact than those of other channels in part because of its own business decisions and in part because ESPN is a bigger company that has a bigger impact on the industry around it.

Sure, it’s possible a handful of people saw Michael Sam kiss his boyfriend and, instead of celebrating with him, decided that was too much for them. A few other viewers may have cut the cord because certain ESPN personalities actually discussed the meaning of Kaepernick’s protest instead of simply blasting him.

But half-baked theories about the politicization of sports really only work for those who prefer to ignore that big-league sports has an inherently political side. The reality is that ESPN is facing the same uncertain future as the rest of the cable industry for many of the same reasons.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Fed up with her 10-year-old daughter’s heavy homework load, a mom decided to do something about it.

On Tuesday, mom and blogger Bunmi Laditan posted a screenshot of an email she sent to her daughter Maya’s teachers on Facebook.

In the email, she wrote:

“Hello Maya’s teachers,

Maya will be drastically reducing the amount of homework she does this year. She’s been very stressed and is starting to have physical symptoms such as chest pain and waking up at 4 a.m. worrying about her school workload. 

She’s not behind academically and very much enjoys school. We consulted with a tutor and a therapist suggested we lighten her workload. Doing 2-3 hours of homework after getting home at 4:30 is leaving little time for her to just be a child and enjoy family time and we’d like to avoid her sinking into a depression over this.

Thank you for understanding.

warmly, Bunmi

In the photo caption, Laditan further explained her decision.

“How does homework until 6:30, then dinner, then an hour to relax (or finish the homework) before bed make any sense at all?” she asked. “Is family time not important? Is time spent just being a child relaxing at home not important? Or should she become some kind of junior workaholic at 10 years old?”

The mom noted that kids need downtime after school, just as adults do after work. “They need to play with their siblings,” she wrote. “They need to bond with their parents in a relaxed atmosphere, not one where everyone is stressed about fractions because ― SURPRISE ― I’m not a teacher.”

She also clarified that although she wrote “drastically reduce” in the email, she was just being polite. “My kid is done with homework,” Laditan explained.

Though the mom hasn’t shared the school’s response to her email, she noted in the post that she was nervous about the reaction and hoped she wouldn’t have to resort to homeschooling. 

“We all want our children to grow up and succeed in the world. While I believe in education, I don’t believe for one second that academics should consume a child’s life,” she wrote, adding that she doesn’t care if her daughter “goes to Harvard one day.”

“I just want her to be intelligent, well-rounded, kind, inspired, charitable, spiritual and have balance in her life,” Laditan added. “I want her to be mentally and emotionally healthy. I want her to know that work is not life, it’s part of life. Work will not fulfill you. It will not keep you warm ― family, friends, community, giving back, and being a good person do that.”

She concluded simply, “My kid needs to be a kid.”

In a follow-up comment, Laditan noted that she does not blame her daughter’s teachers but rather the system that dictates the way they do things. And though Maya’s dad is a behavioral therapist who has worked to help reduce her stress, the workload remains a problem. “Something has to change,” she wrote. 

The mom’s post received over 55,000 likes, and the comments section is filled with positive responses from educators, child psychologists and fellow parents. 

Here’s hoping Laditan and Maya’s school can work out a good solution!

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