Change is afoot along the Pacific Northwest coast. While hordes of crabs and spiders might be invading New York, something slightly different is happening to the whale population on the other side of the country. Scientists studying gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) have found that they seem to be shrinking. Over in the North Atlantic, right whales have already been seen to be shrinking too. The Eastern North Pacific (ENP) population of gray whales is thought to be around 14,500 individuals; a small subset of this group is called the Pacific Coast Feeding Group (PCFG) and consists of around 212 whales that forage in shallow coastal waters between California and Vancouver Island. Using aerial images and data from previous years, the team set about comparing the body size of whales born in different years. The team measured 130 individual gray whales over the seven-year study period. They found that a whale born in 2020 was estimated to reach an average maximum length 1.65 meters (5.4 feet) shorter than any animal born in the 1980s. For a PCFG gray whale that grows to be 11.6-12.5 meters long when fully grown (38-41 feet), that is a loss of more than 13 percent of their total length. The results suggest this decline started around the year 2000.A gray whale born in 2020 is expected to reach an adult body length that is 1.65 meters (5.4 feet) shorter than a gray whale born prior to 2000.Image credit: Oregon State University“This could be an early warning sign that the abundance of this population is starting to decline, or is not healthy,” said K.C. Bierlich, co-author on the study and an assistant professor at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute in Newport, in a statement.The team thinks this decrease in body size will have consequences for the individuals in terms of behavior and ecology. Gray whales rely on energy reserves throughout the winter months – a smaller body size will limit the extent of these reserves and could impact their survival and reproduction. “And whales are considered ecosystem sentinels, so if the whale population isn’t doing well, that might say a lot about the environment itself,” continued Bierlich.The decline in body length was especially pronounced in the females, which used to be typically larger than the male whales, but in the study were found to be the same size or even smaller.  “With them being smaller, there are questions of how effectively these PCFG gray whales can store and allocate energy toward growing and maintaining their health. Importantly, are they able to put enough energy toward reproduction and keep the population growing?” Bierlich said.The team plans to investigate further into what could be causing the decrease in whale size. There is some suggestion that ocean conditions have changed as a response to climate change, which could be contributing; other suggestions include a decrease in habitat quality due to human activities. Two proxies of habitat quality, the mean Pacific Decadal Oscillation index and the mean ratio between upwelling intensity and the number of relaxation events, were highlighted; these are thought to be changing with climate change, which could influence foraging conditions for the gray whales and thus their shortening length. The foraging grounds also need further investigation, write the authors, and they raise questions around why the whales would continue to use these areas if this habitat is associated with a reduction in body length. The study is published in Global Change Biology.

The post 40 People who took their dog to the groomer only to think they got back the wrong dog appeared first on Animal Channel.

It’s been awhile (fortunately) since we’ve had to call out CW’s sports drama, All American. But (unfortunately) this week's episode, “The Next Episode,” regressed into their old, familiar, divisive race baiting as one character proclaims justice is only served when it’s a person of color being prosecuted. The storyline centered around main characters Coop (Bre-Z) and her girlfriend Patience (Chelsea Tavares), both of whom are in the music industry. Patience is a singer and Coop is a rapper, and they’re both dealing with the aftermath of Patience being stalked and almost killed by an obsessed fan, Miko (Courtney Bandeko). Miko’s trial has begun, and when Coop informs Patience that Miko turned down a plea deal, Patience becomes visibly upset. Coop tries to encourage her that justice will be served, but Patience claims, “…justice is only served when it's people like me and you being prosecuted.” Anchor: …as day 1 of The State of California versus Miko Scott" attempted murder trial begins. What can we expect today... Coop: We can expect a lot of stress. How you feeling? Patience: I'm not sure. I'm just ready for all this to be over. Anchor 2: Jury selection will soon begin with the defense hoping to identify jurors sympathetic to their cause who, perhaps... Patience: Yeah. I am over this already, ok? Coop: Look, look. Before we pivot, there's something I need to tell you. Uh, the D.A. offered Miko a plea deal, and she turned it down. Patience: What does that mean? Coop: Nothing good for us. Patience: I hate her. My entire life has been turned upside down. Like, I haven't even been able to set foot in the studio, and she's about to walk free? Coop: Look. There’s still a very strong chance that justice will be served, and she'll get what's coming to her. Patience: Oh, come on, Coop. You and I both know that justice is only served when it's people like me and you being prosecuted. Coop: The best thing we can do is just stay positive, alright? We'll get through this together. Patience: No, no. I have put so much work into not feeling like a victim, but I know the minute that she's acquitted, I'll have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life. Coop: Whatever I gotta do to make you feel safe here, I'll do it. Patience: The safest I've ever felt were those 6 months I lived in New York, so if Miko gets off, I may have to consider moving back. While I’m sure there have been instances of racism and injustice in the legal system, it’s most certainly not the norm. To claim justice is only served when a person of color is being prosecuted is dangerous hyperbole and only serves to harm race relations in this country by stirring up anger and hostility under false pretenses. Hopefully this is just a blip, and the show takes a permanent hiatus from race baiting from here on out.

It’s bad enough when prominent leftist media outlets try to rationalize insane communist ideas in the name of fighting climate change. But it’s downright terrifying when artificial intelligence does it on its own. MRC Free Speech America researchers probed Meta AI on the merits of so-called “degrowth communism” as a climate change solution after leftist magazine The Atlantic promoted the idea on its platform. Researchers simply entered the headline of MRC Free Speech America’s write-up of The Atlantic, “The Atlantic Justified ‘Degrowth Communism’ to Fight Climate Change … Yes, You Read That Right.” Meta AI knew that the prompt was a headline — which it called “provocative” — and then attempted to justify “degrowth communism”as nothing short of an “idea” to “prioritize social and environmental well-being over economic growth and profit.” Thus we get watermelon communism: Green climate change propaganda on the outside; red communism on the inside.  Like The Atlantic, Meta AI pathetically attempted to appear even-handed by pointing out that this neo-communism has its critics, but it was tempered by its glowing syntax pushing how “some argue that degrowth communism could be an effective way to address climate change and environmental degradation.”  MRC researchers continued to probe the chatbot by asking if “the benefits of degrowth communism in fighting climate change outweigh the economic risks.” Meta AI again attempted to justify the psychotic idea by laying out a string of “potential benefits” next to a list of risks, as if the concept deserves any real consideration and shouldn’t be relegated to the trash bin of history: “Reduced greenhouse gas emissions: Degrowth communism aims to reduce economic activity, which could lead to significant emissions reductions. “Resource conservation: Decreased consumption and production could conserve natural resources.  “Increased equality: Degrowth communism prioritizes social equity, which could lead to more equal access to resources and opportunities.” Climate Depot Founder Marc Morano told MRC Free Speech America that he had to “give Meta AI credit. It has a great tone that sounds very unbiased and analytical as it spews pure propaganda.”  If Meta AI’s answers weren’t already telling enough, it even provided a roadmap for policymakers to carefully implement the idea to account for the economic risks undergirding degrowth communism. “It's important to note that degrowth communism is a complex and controversial approach, and its implementation would require careful consideration of various factors,” Meta AI claimed. It listed the so-called “factors” that necessitated consideration: “Gradual implementation “Social safety nets “Investment in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure “Global cooperation” What would lead Meta AI to attempt to legitimize the mutated variant of the hammer-and-sickle worldview? MRC researchers explored that question too, inquiring of the chatbot whether man-made climate change was real. Not only did the chatbot answer with an emphatic “Yes, man-made climate change is real,” it did so without providing any weight to counter-arguments from scientists who challenge the leftist concept. Instead, Meta AI censored any criticism of the idea and pushed activist talking points: The scientific consensus is clear: human activities are the dominant cause of climate change. The evidence is based on decades of research and data from multiple lines of evidence. Morano repudiated Meta AI for “cherry-picking science to support the idea that climate is in crisis, and we need to act on it and that there's some kind of consensus.” But, as Morano observed, “the consensus and the climate cases are about as real as AI is. The real irony here is that the power usage needed to power Big Tech's goal of AI becoming dominant is going to destroy and derail the green agenda because it lays the fact that solar and wind and renewable energy cannot possibly power the AI-powered demands, let alone modern society.”  Go figure. Meteorologist  Dr. Roy Spencer also noted that in “the case of global warming, [the so-called ‘scientific consensus’] is nearly worthless.” He continued: “The climate system is so complex that the vast majority of climate scientists — usually experts in [a] variety of specialized fields — assume there are more knowledgeable scientists, and they are just supporting the opinions of their colleagues.” Spencer concluded that “among that small group of most knowledgeable experts, there is a considerable element of groupthink, herd mentality, peer pressure, political pressure, support of certain energy policies, and desire to Save the Earth — whether it needs to be saved or not.” MRC researchers continued to press Meta AI and ask how it could square the so-called “scientific consensus” with statements made by then-Secretary of State under President Barack Obama John Kerry in 2015. Kerry conceded that industrial countries reaching net zero carbon emissions would achieve virtually nothing during the 2015 COP21 conference in Paris. “If all the industrial nations went down to zero emissions – remember what I just said, all the industrial nations went down to zero emissions – it wouldn’t be enough,” Kerry said.   Once again, Meta AI spun itself silly trying to reinterpret Kerry’s words. “Kerry's statement acknowledges that industrial nations reducing emissions to zero would be a significant step, but it wouldn't solo be enough to completely solve the problem,” claimed the Meta AI program. “It would require a global effort.”  But a “significant step” towards achieving nothing is still nothing. Meta AI apparently didn't  immediately catch its own contradiction. Instead, it doubled down on its climate fanaticism, reiterating its condemnation of humanity for being supposedly responsible for the earth’s climate plight: The scientific consensus remains clear: human activities cause climate change, and reducing emissions is essential. Kerry's statement emphasizes the need for a comprehensive, global approach to address the complexity and scale of the issue. No wonder Meta AI would ever consider an imbecilic notion like degrowth communism to be serious scholarship worthy of consideration. Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using MRC Free Speech America’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.  

On Wednesday’s edition of The Late Show on CBS, host Stephen Colbert reported that he will be part of a group of 105 comedians from 15 countries to travel to the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Francis, but before he does that, he lamented, “Pope Francis is less pro-LGBTQ than NASCAR.” Colbert began, “If you are longtime viewers of the show, you know I'm a Catholic, which means I believe that one of the virtues is humility. Well, tonight I've got something to be extra humble about, because I can announce that this weekend Pope Francis is going to meet me at the Vatican! Right? I mean, come on. I mean, am I excited? Is the pope Catholic? I'll let you know after I meet the freakin' pope!”     Longtime viewers also know that Colbert uses his Catholicism to push un-Catholic progressive culture war issues on everything from abortion to gender ideology, but on Wednesday, it was same-sex marriage and homosexuality that were on Colbert’s agenda, “Of course, meeting the pope is a huge honor, and absolutely nothing could possibly sully the joy of this trip.” That led to a clip of CBS’s Errol Barnett declaring that “Italian media reports Pope Francis used a homophobic slur once again on Tuesday.” Colbert reacted, “Happy pride? Why? Why, Pope Frankie, why? You're the progressive pope. You've made landmark statements in support of same-sex civil unions, conducted LGBTQ+ outreach, and said of gay priests, 'Who am I to judge?' Evidently, you were the pope! But you're supposed to be the cool pope! The Vatican ally!” Expressing his displeasure, Colbert added, “I can't believe that I am alive for the first time anyone's ever been disappointed by the Catholic Church. 'Cause now all of a sudden, Pope Francis is less pro-LGBTQ than NASCAR. Don't believe me? They sell shirts that say ‘yaaaascar.’ It's not easy to be less tolerant than NASCAR. You know their slogan: ‘Pretty sure our fans did January 6th.’” Further explaining the situation, Colbert reported, “Yesterday at a closed-door Vatican meeting, Francis allegedly used a highly offensive Italian term to describe gay men. And to make matters worse, this happened just two weeks after the Vatican issued an apology amid reports that he had used the same word in an earlier meeting with bishops. The bishops tried to stop him, but they couldn't get to him in time because they can only move diagonally.” Ultimately, Colbert’s disappointment over the term may be real, but it is still a façade for his movement to get the Church to embrace social liberalism. Meanwhile, some of Colbert’s fellow comedians also making the trip to the Vatican include ABC’s The View’s Whoopi Goldberg and NBC’s host of The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon. Here is a transcript for the June 12 show: CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 6/12/2024 11:37 PM ET STEPHEN COLBERT: If you are longtime viewers of the show, you know I'm a Catholic, which means I believe that one of the virtues is humility. Well, tonight I've got something to be extra humble about, because I can announce that this weekend Pope Francis is going to meet me at the Vatican! Right? I mean, come on. I mean, am I excited? Is the pope Catholic? I'll let you know after I meet the freakin' pope! I will be joining an incredible delegation of 105 comics and humorists from 15 countries, as part of a meeting to establish a link between the Catholic Church and comic artists. The pope, the Vatican, comedy, I can't wait.  I hope we get to meet the original priest and rabbi that walked into that bar! Find out what happened. Never found out what happened. This invitation was extended by the Vatican's Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Communication. In my opinion, the top two funniest dicasteries.  I know that's controversial. I'm going with some of my buddies, because among others, the U.S. Delegation includes Jim Gaffigan, Conan O'Brien, Tig Notaro, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, and Chris Rock. Chris, Chris please, for safety's sake, I would just keep Mary Magdalene's name out of your mouth. 'Cause the pope wears a big ring.  Of course, meeting the pope is a huge honor, and absolutely nothing could possibly sully the joy of this trip. ERROL BARNETT:  Italian media reports Pope Francis used a homophobic slur once again on Tuesday. COLBERT: Happy pride? Why? Why, Pope Frankie, why? You're the progressive pope. You've made landmark statements in support of same-sex civil unions, conducted LGBTQ+ outreach, and said of gay priests "Who am I to judge?" Evidently, you were the pope! But you're supposed to be the cool pope! The Vatican ally! You were -- how do I put this? EWAN MCGREGOR [as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith]: You were the chosen one! COLBERT: I can't believe that I am alive for the first time anyone's ever been disappointed by the Catholic Church. 'Cause now all of a sudden, Pope Francis is less pro-LGBTQ than NASCAR. Don't believe me? They sell shirts that say "yaaaascar." It's not easy to be less tolerant than NASCAR. You know their slogan: "Pretty sure our fans did January 6th." Here’s what happened, I’m not saying definitely, that’s their motto, they said that, not men, they said that. Here's what happened. Yesterday at a closed-door Vatican meeting, Francis allegedly used a highly offensive Italian term to describe gay men. And to make matters worse, this happened just two weeks after the Vatican issued an apology amid reports that he had used the same word in an earlier meeting with bishops. The bishops tried to stop him, but they couldn't get to him in time because they can only move diagonally. 

A report citing WNBA sources, including an executive from one of the teams, revealed that despite the league's wall-to-wall coverage, it will still lose $50 million for the 2024 season.With the basketball association reportedly taking in between $180-$200 million the previous season, it is still just a fraction of the $10 billion+ earned by the NBA.Given that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in 2018 that the WNBA loses about $10 million per year, that would amount to at least $200 million and upwards of $260 million in losses since the league's inception in 1997.The report by the Washington Post detailed that the WNBA is expected to lose $50 million from the current season, citing two unnamed sources who are aware of the financial figures. The sources told the outlet that they did not have permission to publicly discuss the league's financial status. 'The truth is, this league would be hard-pressed to exist without the NBA.'WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said publicly that the NBA provides a "huge advantage" for the women's league in terms of marketing, "especially with streaming services who rely on a 12-month subscription model.""If we're only there for 4½ months ... how attractive is that? But we and the NBA are maybe the only sports properties that can give 330 days of live programming — almost the entire year. That’s hugely valuable to a subscription platform."Despite this, another anonymous WNBA team executive admitted in the report that WNBA likely would cease to exist without the financial backing of the NBA, an idea that has been the theory of sports fans for some time."The truth is, this league would be hard-pressed to exist without the NBA."Even with all the apparent success, it doesn't seem like the league can be pushed into the black simply by the existence of star Caitlin Clark, who has been a marketing sensation for the WNBA.Recent attendance reports noted that as of June 11, 2024, Clark sparked an 87% increase in attendance in away games compared to her opponent's average home attendance. Her presence also accounts for 33.5% of the WNBA's total attendance in 2024, according to Sportscasting. Average attendance of Clark's games are double the league average, as well. The league brings in 7,645 fans on average, but that number increases by 105% for Clark, to 15,142 at her games. These latest figures confirm a recent sample size, where Clark's games saw twice the attendance of other games that were played the same weekend.The Clark bump also equates to more eyes on screens. Through the first weekend of June 2024, WNBA games that featured Clark had an average of 1.099 million viewers. Games without her averaged only 414,000 viewers.Given all this information, WNBA players may want to be cautious when making complaints about Clark's favoritism, as the league is seemingly a long way from profit.Complaints about charter planes not being luxurious enough could easily result in that expense being axed, which reportedly costs around $25 million per year.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The AG is not withholding Hur’s work. He is withholding his own work.

BINGO BONGO BOOM! This Huge WIN for RNC and Election Integrity Means Huge LOSS for Democrats (Thread)

Biden's Awkward, Embarrassing Moments With Other Leaders at G7

Now that Apple is taking more cues from Android—the addition of a customizable home screen and a few other features coming to iOS 18 have been available in Android for years now—it’s time for the company to look at other features it can nick, and I’ve got the perfect one: I’d love to see reverse phone number lookup on iPhone. Spam calls are a huge problem in this day and age, and being able to look up phone numbers quickly and easily is a huge boon. This is something Google is leaning heavily into with a newly released feature on the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and Pixel 8a. I know we’re only into the first beta for iOS 18, and we’ve already seen some big reveals of what to expect. All of the AI features coming with Apple Intelligence are exciting. But I can’t help but hope Apple is already taking notes about what features it should start working on in future iOS updates, and I think reverse phone number lookup on the iPhone would be a great option. Google added reverse phone number lookup to the Pixel 8's recent call log. Image source: Google It’s really easy to see just how useful this feature could be. Yeah, we already have the option to silence spam calls—a huge boon that I take advantage of daily. But, being able to go back and look up those phone numbers and make sure we aren’t missing an important call right from our recent calls? That would be a game-changer. I get it; putting reverse phone number lookup on iPhone is probably a bit more work than ripping off that cute little Pixel 8 snapshot feature I talked about a couple of weeks ago. Still, if Apple wants to keep building on the features that will be useful for users without solely relying on AI to do that, this feature seems like a good direction to go. Of course, there are a thousand other little minute features I could list here, and I’m sure we’ll all end up talking about those at some point. I'm sure I could probably make a shortcut to do something similar to this, but that isn't a solution that will easily be available to everyone. So, for now, I can’t help but look a bit enviously at the Pixel 8 Pro collecting dust in my review drawer and wish I could take advantage of some of those newer features on my iPhone, too. But maybe I'm just being greedy. Don't Miss: Scientists found a new species of long-tailed sea creatures off the coast of Japan The post Forget AI, I want my iPhone to steal this must-have feature from Android appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Today’s deals: $189 AirPods Pro, $169 TP-Link WiFi 6 mesh system, $45 KitchenAid hand blender, more Best Echo Dot deals for June 2024 Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales Today’s deals: $20 Amazon credit, $79 AirPods, $20 Echo Pop, $899 M3 MacBook Air, $289 iScooter, more