Monthly Archives: May 2021

The second Israeli in space: "I’m aware of the risks, but not afraid of the dangers" – Geektime

Posted: May 11, 2021 at 11:21 pm

Barring any unexpected setbacks, SpaceX expects to launch its Falcon 9 rocket this coming January from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The target: The International Space Station; hovering some 275 miles above our heads and traveling through space at approximately 17,000 mph. SpaceXs own Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft will catch a ride aboard the rockets, carrying 4 extremely excited passengers, including among them, Israeli pilot and businessman Eytan Stibbe. He will be the second Israeli leaving the atmosphere, following the tragic loss of the Columbia space shuttle and its 7 astronauts, including pilot and national hero, the late Ilan Ramon.

The launch will mark the first ever private space mission to the International Space Station, leading many of the organizations involved to refrain from referring to Stibbe as an astronaut. Nevertheless, space tourism is not what you think, Stibbes role won't be limited to selfie stick duties; and even though he staked nearly $50 million, taking on most of the missions expenses on his own, Stibbe will use his 10 days in space to carry out over 40 different scientific experiments, which were determined by a scientific committee from the Ramon Foundation. Stibbe will also conduct experiments and research for Israeli startups, Israeli academic institutions, and other educational and research centers in the country.

Among the planned experiments, we find one from the Electric Company and Israeli battery powerhouse Storedot, which will test innovative lithium-ion batteries in a micro-gravitational environment. Another experiment on Stibbes docket comes from the oncological center at Schneider Children's Medical Center, who are looking to characterize leukemia cells at low gravity, and without chemotherapy present. According to the scientific committee, Stibbes space findings will be crossed with a comparable controlled experiment done on earth; monitoring cancer cells and their genetic expression, which could lead to innovative new treatments with less painful side-effects.

Another interesting experiment comes from collaboration between NASA and the Technion University, where Stibbe will investigate leveraging the micro-g environment to solidify a liquid polymer, creating a lens, 10X bigger than existing ones, for telescopes used in space exploration. Winning the award for the most Israeli experiment, Stibbe will attempt to sprout chickpeas at low gravity. Obviously, as preparation for the first wave of hungry Israeli tourists touching down on Mars after a long flight.

In an interview with Geektime, Stibbe shares the origin story behind his space trip, schedule, his vision for the future of space tourism, as well as the fears that accompany his journey to the great beyond.

Where did the idea come from? Has it always been a dream to be an astronaut?

When I was a kid, NASA landed on the moon, and it ignited my imagination to think of humans in other places in the galaxy. But then for years it was hidden, and for me only became a reality again when I met Ilan (Ramon, who was Stibbes former commander in the Air Force) at the space center during his preparation for the mission; when I saw people running back and forth, shuttles taking off and landing, and astronauts training, it was real. Not just on TV. Thats when I saw it was possible.

Tell us about the moment when you got the OK for the mission

Just recently, after Elon Musk privatized the industry, and opened up the race to space beyond governments and administrations; private companies are innovating in space travel, new space infrastructure, and they're even planning on returning to the moon Once he made it possible, then it became a reality. I was on standby, and once they gave me the green light, I immediately said yes.

Describe your day-to-day up in space...

The space station goes by London time. Everyone goes to sleep at the same time, wakes up at the same time, and we eat all our meals together. There are specialists and experts who plan our day, they know where everyone is located at all times. Whos going to the gym, whos in the lab, whos taking pictures with Earth, and all these different variables need to be coordinated There are passengers from Japan, Europe, and Russia. They cant all determine their own schedule. That task is up to the International Space Stations team, ensuring ten people are occupied and accommodated at all times. Of course there are experiments that need to be done live with the team on the ground. I expect surprises.

Youre going to conduct dozens of experiments from cosmic radiations impact on electronics to growing chickpeas. Which experiment do you find most fascinating?

Im more fascinated by the variety of research. Ill be conducting medical device experiments, as well as experiments in materials, communications, cosmic radiation measurements, and more. I cant tell you I have a preferred one. Anything that will hurt though, is definitely going to the bottom of the list The coolest ones are the experiments that kids sent. Experimenting through their rich imagination is going to be super interesting for me. Anyways, most of my time will be dedicated to educational aspects, including live broadcasts, recordings, and a rich curriculum full of lessons. We are trying to get as much live feed as possible.

Tell us a bit about the training and preparation for a mission like this one. Have you met your shuttle mates yet?

Ive met the other people on my mission, with one of them being Michael Lpez-Alegra (a veteran NASA astronaut, the current mission commander and VP at Axiom, the company responsible for the mission) who already has 4 trips to space under his belt, including a 7-month stay at the International Space Station. We met at the SpaceX headquarters during pressure-suite measurements and custom seat adjustments. Well meet again at the next phase, 10 months from now at the G simulator, and in a month the whole team is going bonding in Alaska Trekking through the Alaskan mountains with packs on our backs, and then 4 months of training in Houston, then SpaceX headquarters and the Dragon models But flying is a small part, the big thing is living at the space station; An amazing center of sustainability, a body living in extreme conditions, feeding off solar energy, and recycling anything it can - including over 90% of liquids. Everyone there is energetic and efficient, and its going to be quite interesting to live in a bubble of sustainability.

Where do you see space tourism in the future? The space station orbits nearly 250 miles above us. Can we go any further?

In space, theres no real difference between cruising 250 miles from the Earth or at 25,000 miles, where the satellites roam. The most interesting thing is the possibility of life on other planets. If we can establish a settlement on the moon, if we can grow food there, extract water somehow, and energy is abundant with advanced technology, everything is possible, then Mars you cant take 3 years worth of food with you. Just think of the concept of cultivating meat - just one of many potential ways of producing food on another planet, all incredibly fascinating. Even in extreme conditions - with sun or without, with water or no water - I truly believe we will find life outside of our planet.

Following the announcement of the mission, an argument erupted over you being a space tourist and private individual, and still receiving the Israeli hug as your mission to space has been nationalized. What are your thoughts on this? How do you define your mission?

Im Israeli. And I intend to go to space. These are the facts. However, since the announcement, everybody wants to jump on board: Universities, hospitals, the scientific community, the Ministry of Technology & Science, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health. All of them sit on different committees For example, sitting on the scientific committee we have the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science, the Israel Space Agency, and they all want something. Different institutions like schools, youth groups, municipalities, startups, and others, all want to try and get a chance to send their experiments up to space. So, I see in all of this as a small example of where Elon Musk is leading us; the global inclusion of the private space sector, where everyone can jump on.

I have the resources and the dream, and mostly, for me, its about the mission and its contribution to science, education, and whoever I can help.

And you have no issues becoming a nationally recognized figure, like some kind of Olympic athlete?

I have no problems with that. Its not my goal. I didnt do this to become famous. I do it for the rush, the experience, to fulfill my dreams, and because of the mission's importance Something I learned in the last 6 months is that space drives people crazy. It ignites their imagination, creativity, I meet kids who go "crazy" talking about space. We have some familiarity with the oceans on Earth, but up in space it's really like leaving our comfort zone, leaving what protects us; from the home of humanity to an unknown and scary place. Its inspiring, and not just for scientists, but also for artists, philosophers, and for the spiritual I didnt expect so many to get behind this mission - everyone wants to contribute someway, somehow, and its really fun to see.

Earlier you mentioned the late Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli in space. Arent you afraid of malfunctions?... As a veteran Air Force pilot and technical individual, you must be quite aware that technology sometimes fails?

Of course, even with my knowledge, theres still fear. But visiting the space center, and meeting the people behind the technology really helped. When youre flying on a 747 or 787, youre trusting Boeing. Its not like youre sitting eating breakfast wondering if the Boeing engineer attached the wing on right. SpaceX has had dozens of successful launches, and even after a few experiments and failures - now everything is working fine. I visited the Crew-2 launching site 2 weeks ago, and it really got the adrenaline rushing, and I was thinking to myself how am I gonna wait 10 months now?... Im definitely aware of the risks, but Im not afraid of the dangers.

No scenarios running through your head?

No.

So for you its just like another combat mission?

I think the Air Force is more dangerous Theyre trying to shoot you down but here, everyone wants to help you succeed. In the F16 its on you but here everything is autonomous.

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Want to become a space tourist? You finally can if you have $250,000 and a will to sign your life away – The Conversation AU

Posted: at 11:21 pm

Billionaire Jeff Bezoss space launch company Blue Origin has announced it will sell its first flights into microgravity to the highest bidder.

Blue Origin and its two greatest competitors in the space tourism field, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, claim to be advancing humanity through the democratisation of space. But these joyrides arent opening up access to space for all.

At face value, the prospect of a space tourism industry is exciting.

It promises an easier path to space than the one followed by astronauts, who must go through higher education, intense training and extremely competitive selection processes. Astronauts must also have the right nationality, because few countries have access to human spaceflight programs.

In theory, the opening up of a commercial spaceflight industry should make space more accessible and democratic. But this is only partly the case; what was once the domain of only the richest countries is now an industry headed predominantly by commercial entities.

Adding to this, these companies are prepared to take more risks than government programs because they dont have to justify their spending or failures to the public. Blue Origin and SpaceX have seen many explosions in past tests, yet fans watch with excitement rather than dismay.

This has pushed the rapid development of space technologies. Reusable rockets particularly SpaceXs Falcon 9, which just made its tenth successful launch have reduced the cost of launching tenfold.

Besides driving down costs, reusable technology is also working to solve the problem of sustainability.

There have been thousands of launches since 1957, when the first human-made object (Sputnik I) was launched by the Soviets. Apart from Falcon 9, however, every single launch vehicle has been used once and disposed of immediately akin to throwing away an aeroplane after one flight.

Launch numbers are increasing each year, with 114 carried out in 2020 alone. Over the weekend, the uncontrolled reentry of debris from Chinas Long March 5B rocket made world news because of its sheer size and the risk of damage. It is just one example of the problems of space debris and traffic management.

Safety is a key issue for human spaceflight. Currently, there are about 3,400 operational satellites in orbit and about 128 million pieces of debris. There are are hundreds of collision risks each day, avoided by expensive and difficult manoeuvres or, if the risk is low enough, operators wait and hope for the best.

If we add more human spaceflight to this traffic, countries will need to adopt stricter requirements to de-orbit satellites at the end of their lives, so they burn up on reentry. Currently, its acceptable to de-orbit after 25 years, or to put a satellite into an unused orbit. But this only delays the problem for the future.

Nations will also need to implement the 2019 United Nations guidelines on the Long-term Sustainability of Activities in Outer Space.

Read more: Space can solve our looming resource crisis but the space industry itself must be sustainable

The environmental impact of launches are another important factor. SpaceXs Falcon 9 burns as much fuel as an average car would over 200 years, for a single launch.

On the ground there are impacts on terrain and waterways, which we have to keep in mind when building future launch sites in Australia. Launch permits currently require environmental impact statements, but these should include long-term effects and carbon footprints as well.

In the coming years, it will be crucial for independent spaceflight companies to be tightly regulated.

Virgin Galactic has long advocated a shirtsleeve environment wherein customers can experience the luxury of spaceflight unhindered by awkward spacesuits. But the death of one of its test pilots in 2014 is evidence spaceflight remains dangerous. High altitudes and pressure require more precaution and less concern for comfort.

Although regulators such as the US Federal Aviation Administration have strict safety requirements for space tourism, pressurised spacesuits are not among them but they should be. Also, space tourism operators can require passengers to sign legal waivers of liability, in case of accident.

And while its laudable SpaceX and Blue Origin are making technological leaps, there is little in their business plans that speaks to diversity, inclusivity and global accessibility. The first space tourists were all wealthy entrepreneurs.

In 2001 Dennis Tito paid his way to a seat on a Russian Soyuz rocket to visit the International Space Station (ISS). Since then, there have been eight more space tourists, each paying between US$20 million and US$30 million to fly through the Russian program.

In 2022, the Axiom crew is scheduled to fly on a SpaceX Dragon flight to the ISS. Each of the three wealthy, white, male passengers will have paid US$55 million for the privilege. Meanwhile, Blue Origins upcoming auction will last five weeks, the highest bidder winning a seat for a few minutes of microgravity.

Virgin Galactics 90-minute joyrides, also scheduled to fly as early as 2022, have already sold for US$250,000. Future tickets are expected to cost more.

Of course, conventional recreational air travel was also originally for the wealthy. Early cross-continental flights in the United States costed about half the price of a new car. But technological advances and commercial competition meant by 2019 (pre-COVID) there were nearly five million people flying daily.

Perhaps its only a matter of time before space tourism becomes similarly accessible. Ideally, this would mean being able to fly from Sydney to London in a matter of hours.

Then again, spaceflight carries much greater risks and much greater costs than airflight, even with reusable rockets. Its going to be a long time before these costs are driven down enough to allow the democratisation of space.

This is a compelling narrative which commercial spaceflight companies are eager to adopt. But there will always be a portion of society that wont have access to this future. Indeed, as many science-fiction stories predict, human spaceflight or habitation in space may only ever be accessible to the very wealthy.

We know there are benefits to space-based technologies from tracking climate change, to enabling global communications and health services, to learning from scientific experiments on the ISS. But when it comes to space tourism, the payback for the average person is less clear.

Read more: Yuri Gagarin's boomerang: the tale of the first person to return from space, and his brief encounter with Aussie culture

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Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter Lands at the National Air and Space Museum – Smithsonian Magazine

Posted: at 11:21 pm

SMITHSONIANMAG.COM | May 10, 2021, 4:28 p.m.

As visitors observe the work of museum conservators in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, they may hear the echoing refrain Use The Force, Luke. Let go! in the background of the cavernous facility, part of the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, which recently reopened after being closed due to Covid-19. It might not be the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but rather a wisecracking visitor staring at the Smithsonians newest artifact: an X-Wing Starfighter.

The famous but fictional spacecraft of the blockbuster Star Wars film franchise is on long-term loan to the Smithsonian from Lucasfilm Ltd. Fans can now watch while the X-Wing undergoes conservation at the Restoration Hangar alongside World War II aircraft and other historic airplanes and space vehicles. Late next year, the famed film prop will go on display outside the Albert Einstein Planetarium at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

We are thrilled to have an X-Wing on exhibit, says Margaret Weitekamp, space history chair at the museum. It is a real screen-used vehicle from the 2019 film Rise of Skywalker. This display speaks to that crossover connection between people who are excited about space flight and have been inspired by the visions Star Wars has been putting out since 1977.

The massive movie prop, which has a wingspan of 37 feet, is being cleaned and checked closely for any damage that may have occurred while in transit from Industrial Light & Magic, the LucasFilm division that created and built the X-Wing Starfighter. The full-size model was shipped in pieces and is being reassembled so it can be hung by rigging from the ceiling at the National Air and Space Museum building in Washington, D.C., in 2022.

Star Wars is a lived-in universe, Weitekamps says. This is a battle-scarred X-Wing fighter. We want to distinguish between any scratches that occurred during shipping versus something that was built into the vehicle.

I was on the floor looking at it and I pointed out a place where it looked like it had what pilots would call hangar rash. Thats where you get scrape marks on the side of aircraft when they are moved around. I pointed it out to the conservator, who had a big smile and said, No, thats simulated. Its part of the detail by the artist!

This is not the first time a Star Wars artifact has been displayed at the Smithsonian. In 1997, the museum exhibited props and costumes in the Star Wars: The Magic of Myth exhibition, which also explored the legendary themes of George Lucas, director, producer and screenwriter of the film franchise.

In 2016, the Star Trek television series and movies were featured in the Boldly Go 50 display, which included the studio model of the Starship Enterprise. Other exhibitions have included displays on the publics fascination with space travel through science fiction, including early literary works, film and television series.

The X-Wing Starfighter made its debut in the very first film in 1977, which has been redubbed Star Wars: Episode IVA New Hope. Pilots used the spacecraft to battle Imperial TIE Fighters and attack the Death Star before it could deliver a lethal blow to a rebel base.

It has since been reprised in various forms in eight other Star Wars films, including the last one in 2019, The Rise of Skywalker. This model is a more advanced version of the first X-Wing Starfighter that zoomed across the big screen nearly 35 years ago. Apparently, even fictional attack spacecraft have to have technological improvements.

This is a T-70 X-Wing, Weitekamp says. Its the next generation. The one Luke Skywalker flew in the original trilogy was a T-65B. The big visible difference is the X-foils that split apart. Each had an engine. The T-70 was designed to include one large engine on each wing. When X-attack formation is deployed, the engine splits into two semi-hemispheres.

There was even a third-generation X-Wing Starfighter: the T-85, which appeared in the Star Wars Resistance television series in 2018.

No matter which model is displayed, Star Wars fans are likely to recall the X-Wing Starfighter in the climactic battle scene of the very first movie. Luke Skywalker, portrayed by Mark Hamill, is leading a suicidal attack to disable the Death Stars superlaser, which is preparing to destroy the planet Yarvin.

The Rebel Alliance is trying to exploit a weakness in the Death Stars design by dropping proton torpedoes in a thermal exhaust port. Several attempts have already failed and many pilots have been killed in the process.

Luke decides to lead a desperate final assault on the Death Star as time ticks down. With archvillain Darth Vader ready to blast our hero into nanoparticles, Luke suddenly feels the presence of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the deceased Jedi Knight who was once his mentor. He speaks to Luke from another dimension, urging him to forgo technology and rely on The Force, the supernatural Power of the Cosmos that can guide him to success:

Use the force, Luke. Let go!

Luke flips up his blast visor, turns off his targeting sensor, closes his eyes and lets The Force lead him to victory from the cockpit of his X-Wing Starfighter.

And if you close your eyes again while standing near this fabled spacecraft in the Restoration Hangar, you just might see this scene play out once more a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

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Trumps Social Media Magic Appears to Be Wearing Off – Vanity Fair

Posted: at 11:19 pm

Donald Trumps new digital-media play is not exactly the social networking juggernaut one mightve expected him to try and unleash since leaving the White House. Instead, the former president has launched a personal communications platform, otherwise known as a bloga throwback to the style of pre-Instagram personal websites that celebrities once used to share their daily goings-on with fans.No longer able to post on Twitter and Facebook, both of which have currently banned him following the Capitol riot, the 45th president is now serving up his many grudges and grievances under the heading, From the Desk of Donald J. Trump. The site's launch took place several weeks after Trump adviser Jason Miller claimed that Trump would soon completely redefine" the social media game by creating a new platform, a P.R. promise that, so far, could not be further from reality.

There is noticeably less engagement and far fewer visitors on Trump's new site than the attention he recieved on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, according to NBC News. Using data compiled by the online analytics company BuzzSumo, the NBC report noted that the platform has only netted a little over 212,000 engagements. In comparison, one post on the former presidents Twitter account to his 88 million followers could receive more than a million likes, mainlining his every musing to consume the news cycle and the nations attention. Even the Trump name brand has severely deflated online since he was dropped by Facebook and Twitter in January. NewsWhip, an agency that researches social media use, recently reported that social media entries mentioning Trump have dropped by roughly 91%, per Axios. Amid this decline, the Trump campaign has utilized old-school email blasts that include short statements from Trump on stories in the newsincluding a recent note calling this years scandalized Kentucky Derby winner a junky horsewhich reporters then share on Twitter via screenshots, providing the former president with a back door into the social media conversation.

From the Desk users can like entries and share them on more popular platformsas in, the ones that Trump isnt allowed to use anymore. But unlike most blogging platforms, readers cannot comment or otherwise interact with the posts. In the case of Trumps new platform, it is so technologically primitive that there is no way for his followers to even migrate, said Binghamton University tech professor Jeremy Blackburn in a comment to NBC News.

Still, Trumps new blog has at least one avid reader so far. Senator Marco Rubio tried pimping his America First authenticity in an email to supporters that noted he was lucky enough to be [mentioned in] one of his first posts, referring to the former presidents new platform.

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Bennet Wants White House Review Of Trump’s Decision To Move Space Command Away From Colorado Springs – Colorado Public Radio

Posted: at 11:19 pm

Its no secret that Colorados politicians want the Biden administration to reverse the former administrations decision to move Space Command headquarters out of Colorado Springs.

Now U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, chair of the committee, specifically want to find out if the Trump Administration took into account how the move will impact intelligence capabilities and missions when making the decision to move the headquarters to Huntsville, Alabama.

We are concerned this decision did not take into account how such a move may affect Intelligence Community (IC) dependencies and missions, they wrote to President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

The two are asking Biden to review the process that led to the decision to move Space Command headquarters out of Colorado.

There are two other reviews into the decision already happening. One is spearheaded by the Government Accountability Office, Congresss watchdog group, which began at the request of Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, and which Bennet and Sen. John Hickenlooper also support. The other review is being conducted by the Defense Departments Office of the Inspector General.

In the new request to the White House from Bennet and Warner, aside from suggesting the Trump administration did not look at how intelligence operations will be impacted, they argue that building a new headquarters in Alabama will be expensive, and that a move disrupts the workforce.

We are keenly aware of the threats in space and the criticality of maintaining U.S. superiority in the face of an evolving threat landscape, the senators wrote to Biden. Space is a critical national security issue, and we cannot squander time, talent, or money on unnecessary expenditures or delays.

The two Democrats argue there is valuable collaboration between the intelligence community and Defense Department that occurs in Colorado Springs because of past investments to foster that kind of collaboration at joint sites, such as the National Space Defense Center located at Schriever Air Force Base. And the two said both agencies benefit from communities of expertise in the area.

The Senate Intelligence committee will continue to examine how the intelligence community is postured to support U.S. superiority and leadership in space. Bennet is focused on ensuring these issues are duly considered in the decision making process on Space Command, said a Bennet spokesperson.

Lamborn, Bennet, Hickenlooper and others fear that political concerns, and not defense ones, led former President Donald Trump to override the Air Force recommendation that would have kept Space Command in Colorado Springs.

Bipartisan members of the states congressional delegation have pointed to press reports indicating Peterson Air Force Base had topped the list for the permanent headquarters, but that Trump ordered it to move to Alabama, a state that had voted for Trump in the 2020 election and which had several lawmakers support the former presidents election objections.

Local leaders in Colorado Springs share those concerns. Reggie Ash, chief defense development officer at the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, also heard from people that the Air Forces first choice was Colorado Springs.

Our delegation did a whole lot [on advocating for Colorado]. And ultimately it came down to electoral politics, he said.

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Mike Pence looks at the 2024 presidential race but sees Donald Trump everywhere – South Bend Tribune

Posted: at 11:19 pm

COLUMBIA, S.C. As Mike Pence discussed his tenure as vice president with about 500 religious Republicans, some listeners couldn't help but wonder if they were seeing a preview of coming attractions.

I said to my husband, Did you think this was a trial run for a campaign speech? said Beth Atwater, an attorney from Lexington, South Carolina, who attended Pence's speech before the Palmetto Family Council last week.

Republicans across the country are pondering Pence's chances of becoming president thanks in part to the man who remains at the heart of GOP politics and made Pence vice president: Donald Trump.

Trump and some allies criticize Pence for refusing Trump's demands that he help overturn his election loss of Joe Biden. The insurrection by pro-Trump rioters Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol put Pence's life in danger.

Republicans who want the party to move on from Trump see the former vice president as part of the problem a loyalist who too often enabled the president.

Pence hasn't said he's running for president, but he raised eyebrows with his reemergence in public in South Carolina, home of a key GOP primary in 2024. He has a lineup of events in the coming months that looks like an attempt to appeal to Trump voters without alienating their leader.

Building a base for a presidential run is always challenging, Republicans said, but Pence's predicament is unique.

"I just don't see the path," said Denver Riggleman, a former GOP congressman from Virginia and an outspoken critic of Trump.

Making the moves

Pence is one of several Republicans making the kind of moves one does when exploring a presidential run.

The former vice president has created a political committee, Advancing American Freedom, to promote and defend the policies of the Trump-Pence administration. It has run web ads featuring Pence on issues such as border security.

Young America's Foundation, a conservative group, announced that Pence will give the keynote address at its National Conservative Student Conference in August in Houston. Pence plans to campaign for Republican candidates in the 2022 congressional races.

The former vice president is writing an autobiography scheduled to be published in 2023, a year before the presidential election.

In deciding where to make his first first speech since leaving office, Pence picked South Carolina home of the first-in-the-South primary that has been pivotal in Republican nomination battles.

Friday, Pence will attend an early cattle call of eight potential Republican candidates not named Trump. Texas Republicans organized a private meeting of donors to hear from Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio, Tim Scott and Rick Scott.

Sarah Longwell, a GOP strategist who ran a group called Republican Voters Against Trump in 2020, said Pence's challenges in a 2024 race are many.

"No. 1, Trump is going to attack him as insufficiently loyal," she said, and Trump voters who believe the election was stolen will blame Pence.

Republicans who want to shed Trump see Pence as complicit in the administration's actions, including the drawn-out protests of the election.

Longwell said, "People who love Trump don't like him, and people who hate Trump don't like him."

'A Christian, a Conservative, a Republican in that order'

During his half-hour speech in a downtown Columbia ballroom last week, Pence said that serving alongside Trump was "the greatest honor of my life," though he didn't mention the ex-president's name that much. He spoke more about the administration's record and criticized the Biden administration over immigration, spending, taxes, abortion and religious freedom.

In his opening, Pence recited a standard self-description: "I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican in that order."

Though vice presidents often find it hard to emerge from the shadow of the presidents they served, the job has become a stepping stone toward the Oval Office. Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush and Joe Biden were elected to the presidency as former vice presidents. Hubert Humphrey (1968), Walter Mondale (1984) and Al Gore (2000) won the Democratic nominations but fell short in the general elections.

None of those former veeps faced the kind of obstacle within their own party that Pence has in Trump.

Pence has to answer one question first: Will he run if Trump does? The former president said he is considering another race in 2024 but won't make an announcement until after the 2022 congressional races.

Normally, a former vice president would be in "the top spot" for the next election, but "in a Trump GOP, it is more complicated," said Mike DuHaime, former political director for the Republican National Committee.

Despite Pence's "fealty over the four years," DuHaime said, "Trump may have forever damaged his reputation with Trump supporters by calling him out during the election lie and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6."

Pence, who frequently talks about his religious faith, does have support from at least one important Republican constituency: evangelical voters such as the ones who saw him speak at the Palmetto Family Council.

Tim Miller, a former Republican political strategist who saw Pence in Columbia, said he has "a base of support with evangelicals, which is better than most have, but can he expand out of that?"

Members of Trump's "Make America Great Again" caucus may remain suspicious.

"Hard to imagine the MAGA voters are ever going to love him," Miller said.

'He did the right thing ... And it's going to cost him'

One of Pence's biggest hurdles to a potential run isn't just his association with Trump but Trump's own criticisms of him.

At a Republican donor conference last month at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said he was still "disappointed" that Pence did not move to block the counting of electoral votes from states that went for Biden.

In a statement this week attacking Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Trump said the election result would have been different "had Mike Pence referred the information on six states (only need two) back to State Legislatures."

Trump denounced his vice president at a rally Jan. 6 that preceded the insurrection at the Capitol, where some Trump supporters roamed the halls looking for Pence and calling him a traitor.

Riggleman, the former congressman from Virginia, said he has seen Trump-Pence yard signs in his district with the vice president's name painted over or otherwise vandalized.

He said he likes Pence and believes the vice president acted honorably in refusing to interfere Jan. 6 when Congress met to confirm Biden's victory. "He did the right thing for the country that day," Riggleman said. "And it's going to cost him."

One thing potentially working in Pence's favor: Few people are paying attention to the Republican presidential race.

Jenny Beth Martin, honorary chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action, said reporters and political activists are interested in the early jockeying, but most Americans are worried about things such as schools opening once the COVID-19 pandemic is under control.

When the time for attention comes, she said, "the grassroots would want to know first and foremost whether Trump is going to want to run."

'A long time away'

At the Columbia Convention Center, South Carolina Republicans said they believe compatriots in their state and elsewhere places such as Iowa and New Hampshire will judge Pence on his merits. They are intrigued by how Pence might navigate the issue of Trump.

Kelly Ross, who works for a nonprofit company in Greenville, said Pence's base of voters is different from Trump's, and the election "is a long time away" in any event.

Others said the Pence-Trump dispute over Jan. 6 will mean little to Republicans in 2024.

"I think people forget things and get over them and move on to what's best for the country," said Cathy Wells, a housewife from Lexington.

In short, many said, they'll wait and see.

"It's kind of hard to tell," said Atwater, the attorney from Lexington. "You know, politics changes so quickly."

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Glaring Problem With GOP’s Trump Obsession. He Doesn’t Need Them Anymore – Business Insider

Posted: at 11:19 pm

This week, Republicans are expected to vote to oust Rep. Liz Cheney from her position as conference chair, House Republicans' third highest-ranking leadership position. Her crime is that she won't stop saying former President Trump has been lying about the alleged theft of the 2020 election.

When people talk about an inability to quit Trump as an ongoing political problem for Republicans, they tend to mean that Trump is unpopular and continued association with him though pleasing to the Republican base is off-putting to most voters. And this is true as far as it goes, though we saw in 2020 how close the pro-Trump coalition came to electing a House majority and re-electing Trump.

But there's a second problem with the Trump fixation that's less noticed and may be hurting Republicans more. Since he left office, Trump's interests have diverged from the interests of elected Republicans. He no longer needs them to win their own elections like he did when he was president. And he has objectives like seeking revenge on Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp that have nothing in particular to do with advancing the Republican party's interests.

With his idiosyncratic, revenge-focused agenda, he's distracting Republicans from trying to win the next election.

Back when Trump was president, his relations with congressional Republicans were sometimes rocky, but held together by shared interests. Trump needed Republicans to win elections so that they could quash congressional investigations,pass his legislative agenda, and block his removal from office.

But as the Washington Post notes, much of his energy in recent months has been focused on "revenge endorsements" that is, efforts to defeat incumbent Republicans he sees as insufficiently loyal to him. At best, for Republicans, this is a distraction from beating Democrats in November. At worst, it may divide the party enough to throw general elections to Democrats a particularly serious risk in Georgia, a blue-trending state where Kemp only defeated Stacey Abrams by a modest margin in 2018's gubernatorial race.

Trump's meddling has also caused trouble for Republicans in Georgia's next Senate election, set to be held in 2022. Top-tier GOP officials continue to pass on enteringthe race while Trump's preferred candidate to challenge Sen. Raphael Warnock football great Herschel Walker, currently a resident of Texas ponders whether he wants to move back to Georgia and run for Senate. CNN reports that Republicans in Washington are concerned Trump "is propping up a candidate simply because he has been a loyal friend, rather than assessing the former NFL running back's electoral viability in a pivotal battleground."

Next November, Republicans will hope that Trump works hard to elect them. But we've already seen what Trump looks like in a post-loss general election. In last year's Georgia Senate runoff elections, Trump was lackadaisical, focused on a message about the presidential election he had already lost that had nothing to do with turning out voters for the runoff and Republicans' reward was a turnout gap large enough to cost them two senate seats.

Trump's similar reluctance to engage in this year's Virginia state elections also bodes ill for Republicans during next year's midterms.

Insider's Warren Rojas and Tom LoBianco report the former president chose not to endorse a candidate in the party's nominating contest ultimately won on Monday by former Carlyle Group co-CEO Glenn Youngkin in part "because the team is worried the Republican pick may lose in November," citing Trump advisers. This unwillingness to engage for fear of losing means there's even less of a chance Trump helps drive low-propensity GOP voters come November, potentially harming Youngkin's chances in the state.

Last time there was a new Democratic president, in 2009, Republicans picked up the governor's mansions in both Virginia and New Jersey the only two states that elect governors one year after presidential elections. Republicans are serious underdogs in both states this year, but Virginia should not be completely out of reach, and a strong gubernatorial campaign would boost the GOP's chances of retaking the state's house of delegateseven if they lose the governor's race.

But then, what's Trump's reason to care who controls the Virginia legislature?

His longstanding insistence on total loyalty a reason that Republican candidates for governor ran extremely Trumpy primary campaigns in a state he lost by 10 points last year has not helped in Virginia either.

There is another reason Republicans are cozying up to Trump, despite this blas attitude towards winning elections. Earlier this year, Trump had a message for Republican campaign committees: stop using my name and likeness to raise money.

Unusually for a former president, Trump continues to actively raise money. And he has urged Republican donors to direct their money to entities he controls. This complicates GOP efforts to raise money during the 2022 midterms and gives Trump a lot of control over how political money intended for Republicans will be spent.

What is Trump's incentive to spend this money in a way that helps Republicans win elections, rather than in a way that helps him settle scores, rewards politicians who say nice things about him, and enriches himself?

Liz Cheney is obviously correct on the merits in her commentary about former President Trump. His conspiracizing about the 2020 election is both false and dangerous. But since Republicans are committed to their alliance with him, I get why they wouldn't want her in leadership anymore. She hasn't signed onto the party's political strategy, odious as it may be.

Replacing her with Rep. Elise Stefanik a recent convert to extreme Trump boosterism, who even voted against his tax cut bill in 2017 will reduce the amount of time Republicans spend arguing with each other about him.

But what it doesn't do is align Trump's incentives with the party's.

I don't think Republicans have a better strategic option than trying to make nice with Trump. If the party tries to repudiate him, his political actions will be even more of an obstacle to the party's strategy, and Republican voters, who overwhelmingly approve of Trump, will punish Republican officials.

But don't confuse a situation where Republicans appease Trump with one where he is a net political asset to the party. Out of office, it's not even clear that his best benefit to Republicans an ability to drive turnout among voters whose primary loyalty is not to the party but to him will persist if he is not featured on the ballot.

And as we're seeing in Georgia and Virginia, he's not necessarily going to apply himself.

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Glaring Problem With GOP's Trump Obsession. He Doesn't Need Them Anymore - Business Insider

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Is there a Snapple Fact that says that Donald Trump lost? Lid tweet goes viral! – HITC – Football, Gaming, Movies, TV, Music

Posted: at 11:19 pm

In May 2021, a tweet began circulating around the internet showing a picture of the inside of a Snapple drink lid, with a fact about Donald Trump.

People have been liking and retweeting the photograph, but many internet users have been questioning the legitimacy of the picture, with some claiming that it is photoshopped.

Snapple is known for the facts featured on their bottles and website. The Snapple website describes their facts: Theyre real. Theyre fun. Theyre really fun facts.

To receive Snapple facts regularly, you can text realfact to 762-775 for a new fact each day.

In May 2021, a photograph of the inside of a Snapple lid went viral. The fact inside it read: Trump lost and the election was not stolen.

According to Fact Checker site Snopes, a look through the online Snapplereal facts databasedid not return any results matching the viral image.

Furthermore, many people were quick to point out that the fact looked photoshopped, as the font of the fact does not match the font of the other words on the lid.

Therefore, we cannot confirm that the picture is a real Snapple fact.

Regarding their facts, the Snapple website explains:

Sometimes new information may be discovered that disproves one of our Real Facts, or a Real Fact may become outdated over time. When this happens, the only responsible thing to do is to retire that fact.

The Snapple website states that the facts on their bottles are real. It reads:

We call them Real Facts because they are just that: real facts. We check the validity of our Real Facts before we put them into circulation but if you find a fact that may be inaccurate, please let us know. We will have our fact-checking team look into any discrepancies.

On May 10th, a Twitter user shared a picture of the Snapple lid, and captioned it: Even Snapple is tired of the bulls**t.

The tweet received 10 thousand retweets and over 73 thousand likes.

One user retweeted the image, and stated: And this is another good reason I drink Snapple.

Another user wrote: Havent had a Snapple in years. Going to the store to stock up on my lunch.

In other news, Who is Alastair Campbells wife Fiona Millar? New Good Morning Britain host marries partner of 42 years!

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Is there a Snapple Fact that says that Donald Trump lost? Lid tweet goes viral! - HITC - Football, Gaming, Movies, TV, Music

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The Truth About Melania And Donald Trump’s Relationship Today – Nicki Swift

Posted: at 11:19 pm

Former first couple Melania and Donald Trump celebrated Mother's Day with son Barron at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, asPeople reported (though they weren't photographed together). While ex-Trump aide Omarosa Manigault Newman told the Daily Mailin 2020, "Melania is counting every minute until he is out of office and she can divorce," the two seem steadying on ... for now. "She has their relationship down to a science," a source at Mar-a-Lago told People. "She does what she wants and also continues as Mrs. Trump, so it's unlikely to expect much out of the order at this point." Meanwhile, on Donald, the source added, "He is very routine [and] rarely deviates on anything in this area." Fair enough!

The Trumps' post-White House living situation is interesting, with Melania reportedly only occasionally seeing Donald due to their splitting time between New Jersey and Florida for the sake of her son's education. "Melania and her family will spend time with Donald but also continue working with Barron's school and keeping him up to date on his extracurricular activities," the source told People.

Meanwhile, Donald is temporarily closing Mar-a-Lago for the summer and is expected to stay at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. in the meantime, perThe Independent. Does that mean the summer could bring the Trumps closer together? We'll see!

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The Truth About Melania And Donald Trump's Relationship Today - Nicki Swift

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‘Super Sema’ star Lupita Nyong’o: ‘Black Panther … – yahoo.com

Posted: at 11:17 pm

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 12: Lupita Nyong'o attends Marvel Studios Presents: Black Panther Welcome To Wakanda during February 2018 New York Fashion Week: The Shows at Industria Studios on February 12, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/WireImage)

Lupita Nyongo was born in Mexico, raised in Kenya, and then attended college in the United States. So the 38-year-old Oscar winner understands the value and reach of globe-spanning entertainment, having grown up on a very healthy diet of film and television from America, England, Australia and Mexico.

What I didn't grow up with was entertainment that reflected myself or my community, my continent, Nyongo tells Yahoo Entertainment in a new interview. I was robbed of the experience of seeing myself in a show.

Enter Super Sema, the new YouTube kid-targeted animated series Nyongo is helping bring into homes around the world.

I wept tears of joy knowing that such a thing existed, Nyongo says of signing on to executive produce and lend her voice to the equal parts entertaining and educational Sema after being sent some early episodes. It was a no-brainer because this was exactly the kind of thing I want to see in the world.

'Super Sema' (Image courtesy of YouTube)

The show, which releases in five- to six-minute episodes, follows the adventures of the eponymous young African girl who uses the powers of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) to Technovate! (her key catchphrase) and routinely save the day in the futuristic world of Dunia. Produced by Kenyas Kukua edutainment startup, Sema is written by four-time BAFTA winner Claudia Lloyd and directed by Lynne Southerland, who became Disneys first female African-American director when she made Mulan II

There series gets an undoubtable boost from the involvement of Nyongo, the in-demand actress best known for films like 12 Years a Slave, Us and Black Panther, who voices the character of Mama Dunia.

I want to be a part of getting out to the world an imaginative, positive, representation of an African world with a dark-skinned African grow the center of it whose super powers are science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Nyongo says. It just hits so many, so many boxes for me. I want us to evangelize about it because it's the kind of show that I wished I had when I was a little girl, not only to see myself in it, but also a show encouraging kids to be curious and scientific. It's making science more accessible and fun. I think I would have had way more career options if I had this show when I was little.

Story continues

Nyongo sees the globe-spanning import Super Sema as another positive development in the increasing visibility of underrepresented communities in entertainment. I think things are opening up in exciting ways, she says. You have companies that are evaluating their cultural positions. You have people recognizing that both the world is larger than their particular cultural perspective, and therefore the market is demanding what it wants to consume.

Of course, one of the biggest barrier-breaking releases of recent years was another Nyongo project steeped in Afrofuturism, the 2018 mega-hit Black Panther, which became the fourth-highest-grossing movie of all time.

Nyongo will soon return to Wakanda (actually Atlanta) to begin production on Black Panther 2, which is once again being directed by Ryan Coogler. But it will be with the heaviest of hearts having lost Chadwick Boseman, who played Marvels African king, TChalla, and died in August of colon cancer at 43.

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 27: Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman and Lupita Nyong'o attend a panel discussion about the box office smash Black Panther at The Apollo Theater on February 27, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Shahar Azran/WireImage)

The actress grew very close to Boseman over their shooting experience together, and penned a powerful tribute to him after his death.

People will ask me, Are you excited to go back? Excitement isnt the word. I feel like Im in a very pensive and meditative state when it comes to Black Panther 2. His passing is still extremely raw for me, Nyongo says before her voice starts to crack. And I cant even begin to imagine what it will be like to step on set and not have him there.

But at the same time we have a leader in Ryan, who feels very much like we do, who feels the loss in a very, very real way as well. And his idea, the way which he has reshaped the second movie is so respectful of the loss weve all experienced as a cast and as a world. So it feels spiritually and emotionally correct to do this. And hopefully, what I do look forward to, is getting back together and honoring what he started with us and holding his light through it. Because he left us a lot of light that were still going to be bathing in. I know that for sure.

Super Sema is now streaming on YouTube. Watch the trailer:

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'Super Sema' star Lupita Nyong'o: 'Black Panther ... - yahoo.com

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