Vance: We All Know Why Harris Didn't Pick Shapiro

Tim Walz and Kamala Harris Are the Pro-Rioter Ticket

Recently, the mission team behind NASA’s Perseverance announced the detection of an exciting rock formation. Nicknamed Cheyava Falls, the arrowhead-shaped rock is the most promising find in the search for ancient life on Mars yet. There are structures visible in the rock that are consistent with being modified by microorganisms – it doesn’t mean that this is a discovery of life, but there is plenty to be excited about.Before we get into the intriguing details of the discovery, it is important to consider two things. First is NASA’s Confidence of Life Detection (CoLD) scale, which has seven steps. The first one is detecting a possible signal, followed by ruling out contamination, making sure that the biology is possible, and ruling out a non-biological explanation. The final three are the discovery of an additional independent signal, ruling out other hypotheses, and finally an independent confirmation. Cheyava Falls is a detection of a possible signal, so step 1 – but a good step 1.The CoLD scale, worth keeping in mind any time there are claims of alien life.Image Credit: NASA/Aaron GronstalThere are chemical changes happening making the minerals go from red to white, this often happens due to microbial activity. Often, not always!Professor Sanjeev GuptaAnalysis from Perseverance immediately showed there was something to be excited about, and that the weird structures in the rocks were going to raise eyebrows the moment they were made available to the general public. The rock sample was collected on July 21, and the press release was shared on July 25. It was important to immediately contextualize what was visible in these images but also provide plenty of reasons to be excited about them.“We looked at this rock, pinkish in color, which had lots of veins running through it and we saw these little spots. The spots are white with a black rim. We call them leopard spots because they look like the spots on a leopard,” Professor Sanjeev Gupta, part of the Perseverance team from Imperial College London, told IFLScience.The main color of the rock is due to hematite, a common iron mineral. The leopard spots are also made up of iron minerals, but minerals that have undergone chemical reactions. This was the first intriguing find followed by more contextual evidence for a possible biosignature.“Basically there are chemical changes happening making the minerals go from red to white, this often happens due to microbial activity. Often, not always,” Professor Gupta continued. “Then we saw the black halos containing iron and phosphate, which are important minerals and elements for life. Also, the SHERLOC instrument detected organics in these rocks.”This is why this rock is so exciting, and got on the first step of the CoLD scale. While there is no guarantee that what was seen was created by living organisms, the rock is potentially the most important rock investigated by Perseverance yet.“The fact that we had two things, we had organics present and these spots which on Earth are related to chemical changes in the rock, led us to suggest that this was what we call a potential biosignature,” Professor Gupta told IFLScience.                 We could find compelling evidence for biological processes, that's possible. It's also possible that even after we bring the rocks back, we still have questions. Professor David FlanneryThe question now is can we move this detection higher on the CoLD scale? The answer we are getting is a solid maybe. Based on the rover's capabilities and mission plan, what has been observed and is being analyzed won’t dramatically change the announced findings. However, the sample has been collected and placed in a canister for future analysis.Everything going well, that analysis won’t be performed on Mars, but rather on Earth. The samples will be collected by the troubled Mars Sample Return mission (troubled because it has experienced severe delays and spiraling costs). The project to collect the samples taken or dropped by Perseverance is certainly ambitious.The discovery of this rock certainly shows the importance of a sample return mission. To find out more about this sample, we need Earth’s laboratories. That doesn’t mean we would know if life was at work here, or if there is (or was) life on Mars.“There are no guarantees and there are many possibilities. One thing I think we can be certain about is that we need to get these rocks back to study in our laboratories on Earth before we can start to answer some of these questions,” Professor David Flannery, also a member of the Perseverance team from the Queensland University of Technology, told IFLScience. “We could find compelling evidence for biological processes, that's possible. It's also possible that even after we bring the rocks back, we still have questions. And one of the reasons that's a significant possibility, I think, is that we don't have much experience with this particular type of biosignature on Earth.”On Earth, the focus has been on seeing structures that ancient microbes formed on the surface, such as stromatolites. There have been plenty of controversies when it comes to evidence of life in ancient rock samples. A single rock sample from Mars might not suddenly show beyond any doubt that life existed there, but this is sample 23 out of 43 canisters. Together, they can paint a picture of what ancient Mars was like and if life above or below the surface existed. Perseverance will continue to study the edge of Jezero Crater, and is going to approach rocks that settled there more than 3.5 billion years ago. There are only a handful of regions older than that on Earth, so the industrious rover is not only on a quest to understand the possibilities of life beyond Earth but also to understand what rocky planets were like in infancy. These questions have implications for how our world and the creatures that live in it came to be. 

An uncontacted tribe has attacked loggers using bows and arrows in a contested part of the Peruvian Amazon, according to a local Indigenous coalition. The organization is sharing news of the incident to highlight how the government hasn't done enough to protect the territory of the Mashco Piro from the extraction of forest resources.FENAMAD, a federation of tribes that live around the Madre de Dios River, claims that at least one logger was seriously injured by an arrow fired by a member of the Mashco Piro tribe on July 27 in the basin of the Pariamanu River in Peru.The violence reportedly occurred inside part of the rainforest that's acknowledged by the government to be Mashco Piro territory, but has not received formal protection, according to Survival International.FENAMAD has asked the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, which is responsible for the protection of Indigenous peoples, to coordinate “urgent intervention” to ensure the safety of the Mashco Piro people and prevent future clashes. “The attack provides further evidence of just how important – and urgent – it is for the whole Mashco Piro territory to be properly protected. It reinforces the need for all the logging licenses in the Mashco Piro territory to be revoked, as it is impossible to protect the lives of either the Mashco Piro or the logging workers,” Survival International, an NGO supporting Indigenous and tribal peoples' rights, said in a statement sent to IFLScience.                The Mashco Piro people are a community of nomadic hunter-gatherers who live in the rainforests of southeast Peru, thought to be one of the largest uncontacted tribes in the world with an estimated 750 members.The reclusive tribe has good reason to be dubious of outsiders. In the late 19th century, the tribe endured huge suffering at the hands of colonial rubber barons in the western Amazon. Thousands were enslaved, while countless others were hunted down, beaten, chained, robbed, raped, and murdered. Many of these horrors are documented in the book The Putumayo, the Devil's Paradise by Walter Ernest Hardenburg, first published in 1912. It reads: “They are flogged inhumanly until their bones are laid bare, and great raw sores cover them. They are given no medical treatment, but are left to die, eaten by maggots, when they serve as food for the chiefs’ dogs. They are castrated and mutilated, and their ears, fingers, arms, and legs are cut off. They are tortured by means of fire and water, and by tying them up, crucified head down. Their houses and crops are burned and destroyed wantonly and for amusement.”Today, the tribe is facing a new threat: deforestation and illegal logging. Just last month, Survival released photographs showing how members of the Mashco Piro tribe were living “dangerously close” to parts of the forest being eyed up by logging companies.“This is a humanitarian disaster in the making – it’s absolutely vital that the loggers are thrown out, and the Mashco Piro’s territory is properly protected at last,” Caroline Pearce, Survival International Director, said in a statement in July.

On Tuesday's CNN Newsroom Jim Acosta hosted Van Jones who commented on Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) being announced as Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate for president. Shockingly, he called out the pick as an appeal to "the darker parts in the party" in terms of "anti-Jewish bigots" and claimed they will vote for Walz regardless. Acosta teed up Jones's take on the pick by noting that some doubt that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) would "offer his full support" behind Waltz. He asked Jones if he thought it was a “little risky” that Harris didn’t go with Shapiro. Jones responded “hey listen the Conservatives, the right-wing Republicans, they were chewing their fingernails down to the knuckle because they were afraid of a Josh Shapiro.”     Pivoting to Walz, Jones then went on to say that Muslims and Arabs have not “felt seen by the Biden administration” as reason Harris picked him. Clearly understanding that he was going to ruffle a lot of feathers with what he was about to admit, Jones lamented: "People don't want to talk about it -- we got to talk about it." He then proceeded to call out the Walz pick as blatant appeasement of "anti-Semitism": On the one hand, you have a lot of young people who are concerned about Gaza. You have a lot of Muslims and Arabs and others, they have not felt seen by the Biden administration. You started hearing that genocide joke, that was building that was building and so those folks needed to have a candidate that they could feel comfortable with. This helps him in that regard. But you also have anti-Semitism that has gotten marbled into this party. You can be for the Palestinians without being an anti-Jewish bigot. But there are some anti-Jewish bigots out there and there's some disquiet now and there has to be. How much of what just happened is caving into some of these darker parts in the party? So that's going to have to get worked out. It’s going to have to get talked through. Jones concluded that these things will need to be “worked out.” He praised Shapiro a little more by saying he has a “magnificent future in this party.” Click "Expand" to view the transcript: CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta 8/6/2024 10:27:01 – 10:29:26 AM JIM ACOSTA: I suppose we might – VAN JONES: That’s that. ACOSTA: Yeah we might see the governor out there in Philadelphia later today. Maybe we won't, we'll find out about that. But I mean, it seems to be -- to be a stretch that there would be sour grapes here and that Shapiro is not going to offer his full support. JONES: Look, Josh Shapiro is a class act from beginning to end. He’s a rising star in this party. He's done an extraordinary job. He gets Republican votes, independent voters, moderate votes, smurfs vote for him, muppets vote for him, I mean, the guy is a vote magnet and there's a reason for that. He is a class act. He's a -- he's a true American, and he's going to show up and he's gonna – ACOSTA: Do you think it was a little risky though, Van, that she didn't go with Shapiro to kind of lock down Pennsylvania? I mean yes, David Chalian you were saying earlier just because you pick him as your running mate, doesn't mean you automatically win Pennsylvania. But I got to think it would have helped just a little bit. JONES: Hey listen that – the -- the Conservatives, the right-wing Republicans, they were chewing their fingernails down to the knuckle because they were afraid of a Josh Shapiro, they were afraid of a mark Kelly, they're not as afraid of this new governor because they think they can define him but so here's the challenge you've got in this party, and you know, people don't want to talk about it -- we got to talk about it. On the one hand, you have a lot of young people who are concerned about Gaza. You have a lot of Muslims and Arabs and others, they have not felt seen by the Biden administration. You started hearing that genocide joke, that was building that was building and so those folks needed to have a candidate that they could feel comfortable with. This helps him in that regard. But you also have anti-Semitism that has gotten marbled into this party. You can be for the Palestinians without being an anti-Jewish bigot. But there are some anti-Jewish bigots out there and there's some disquiet now and there has to be. How much of what just happened is caving into some of these darker parts in the party? So that's going to have to get worked out. It’s going to have to get talked through. But I tell you what, if you have a Josh Shapiro who says, you know what I give this my stamp. I give this my support. I believe in this ticket that's going to help a great deal. And Josh Shapiro has a magnificent future in this party regardless. But this is -- it's mostly positive. You’re seeing mostly enthusiasm, but there is some disquiet and conversation we got to have inside this party. ACOSTA: Interesting. All right Van Jones I know that conversation will continue I'm sure there are a lot of folks in the Harris campaign who will push back on some of those notions there. But we'll keep that conversation going, Van Jones.

What Biden Is Doing WRONG with AI | Kara Frederick | Zero Hour | Ep 29 www.youtube.com Over the past decade, China has emerged as an economic superpower, threatening the claim of the United States to global leadership. In the age of digital technology and artificial intelligence, China is expanding its influence by leveraging these tools. Meanwhile, the United States is lagging behind. Many in the U.S., regardless of ideology, are cautious and suspicious of AI, worried the technology may be dangerous and harmful to society. But others view the threat of China and America’s waning global leadership position as a crisis pre-eminent over AI’s risks, however large. On "Zero Hour with James Poulos," Kara Frederick, director of tech policy for the Heritage Foundation, discussed the technology challenges that America faces. Frederick contends that innovative technology is not inherently at odds with America’s form of government and way of life. “If we can design these products with our values, then that is our strategic advantage,” she said. As people across the world grow wary about the privacy concerns with modern technology, Frederick sees a window of opportunity for America to take the lead. “If … the United States and our allies solve that privacy solution, imbuing these products with our values of transparency and openness,” Frederick argued, the West can “dictate the design of these products that the rest of the world wants to use.” Unfortunately, America has not fully capitalized on this opportunity, leaving Communist China to dominate. “We've ceded a lot of that power to China. … We haven’t been as active,” she said. To hear more from Kara Frederick on China, automation, crypto, privacy, and more, watch the full episode of "Zero Hour with James Poulos." America was convinced tech would complete our mastery of the world. Instead, we got catastrophe — constant crises from politics and the economy down to the spiritual fiber of our being. Time’s up for the era we grew up in. How do we pick ourselves up and begin again? To find out, visionary author and media theorist James Poulos cracks open the minds — and hearts — of today’s top figures in politics, tech, ideas, and culture on "Zero Hour" on BlazeTV.

Congressional Republicans rolled their eyes after the Biden-Harris administration announced it would pare back the use of plastic cups and utensils at federal agencies in hopes of curtailing so-called "climate change."Last month, the Biden-Harris team announced that it has been taking "ambitious action" to address plastic pollution at every phase of the plastic life cycle. As part of those efforts, officials want to phase out "procurement" of all single-use plastic food-service and packaging items from federal agencies by 2027 and "from all federal operations" by 2035.'It’s more messaging and ridiculousness, and it’s a direct shot to that whole industry.'Such single-use plastic and polystyrene straws, cups, cutlery, packaging, and disposable bags contribute to what a White House statement called a "plastic pollution crisis" that "disproportionately impact[s] communities with environmental justice concerns."Biden and Harris carved out exceptions for cases of "national security." Apparently, single-use plastic cups and straws may be critical in protecting intelligence sources and undercover law enforcement from "unauthorized disclosure.""Today’s actions further leverage the purchasing power of the federal government to reduce emissions, protect public health, and spur markets for new sustainable products. They also enhance domestic initiatives that reinforce United States leadership in ongoing international efforts to develop a strong agreement to tackle the plastic pollution crisis across the globe," the statement added.Republicans laughed off these measures as "absurd" and impractical."It’s more messaging and ridiculousness, and it’s a direct shot to that whole industry," said Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma. "It’s also clearly not where everybody is. It’s going to raise costs for a lot of folks, so it seems to be just irrelevant on deficit issues."Sen. Mike Lee of Utah suggested that Biden and Harris redirect their efforts toward reducing the size of government rather than the use of plastics. "They should shrink the government if they want it to be less of a consumer," Lee said.As the new policy is most likely to impact "military bases" and other "government workplaces," Sen. Lee further wondered, "What about people who need things to go?"Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota indicated that the timing of the announcement — less than a week after former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated and less than a month before global stock markets tanked on news of a pending U.S. recession — could not have been worse."The world’s on fire and he’s worried about plastic forks," Rounds quipped."'Look, I certainly understand that plastics are a pollutant; we need to do a better job with it. But I'm a little bit hesitant to say that this plastic ban will be a good thing."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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