Char Gail

[Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @HelenBranswell]

#USDA reports that Texas has found another 2 herds of dairy cows that are infected with #H5N1 #birdflu. They bring the state's total to 36 and the national total to 1,173 herds in 19 states. https://t.co/2BioBG0wUw

[Give A Shit About Nature @giveashitnature]

Toñi, the oldest known orca in a critically endangered population, was spotted with what appear to be shotgun wounds.

Investigators now believe the 60-year-old orca was shot from a Spanish-flagged boat while she was in Portuguese waters.

They still don't know who pulled the trigger. Sea Shepherd France has offered a €10,000 reward for verifiable information that identifies the person or people responsible for shooting Toñi. Tips can be provided confidentially.

When the story first broke, authorities didn't know where she had been shot. Now, Spain's Environment Ministry says its preliminary investigation points to Portuguese waters and a Spanish vessel.

[Biff #SARSisAirborne 🍉 @Biff234523]

🚨📢 A huge new paper was just released on the IgG4 class-switch that follows repeated mRNA COVID boosters.

As many of you know, we’ve known for a long time that one of the issues created by routine mRNA boosters is the “class switch” to the creation of IgG4 antibodies, instead of the more beneficial IgG1 and IgG3.

Since at least early 2024, we’ve known that both production of IgG4 was an issue with repeated doses of mRNA, and that it was not a concern seen with repeated doses of Novavax/Nuvaxovid: https://t.co/Giohxoytj8

Essentially, IgG1 is what you want the most of, it neutralizes viruses and is good at recruiting immune cells. IgG4 is what you don’t want, and it’s fairly harmful, because it still recognizes the virus and binds to it, but it doesn’t neutralize effectively and it recruits fewer immune cells to help. In short, this is what we call “immune tolerance”. Think of the way that allergy shots work, where repeated doses are given to create a level of immune tolerance so that your body stops reacting to the allergen. That’s obviously extremely bad for a virus, because it means your immune system stops responding and isn’t able to properly clear the infection - something that is an even bigger deal for a virus like SARS-CoV-2 that causes persistence-based Long COVID.

However, that early research was only done with a few doses of mRNA. A couple weeks ago, we got recent research showing that this issue just keeps getting worse as folks get more mRNA boosters over time. This isn’t really surprising…but it’s important to have the confirmation. The study follows a cohort that received 6 mRNA boosters, and the proportion of IgG4 rises all the way to 26.6% (!) of total antibodies after the 6th dose. For context: in general, IgG4 typically sits around 4%, and anything above 10% is considered a high proportion.

Not only is this switch harmful because it creates the aforementioned immune tolerance, but it’s also why you can’t trust studies that do head-to-head comparisons of total antibody levels created by mRNA vs Novavax/Nuvaxovid if they don’t disclose the antibody subtypes. It’s true that mRNA often produces a higher level of antibodies overall, and within the brief window immediately following vaccination, but that’s completely irrelevant if a large portion of them are just IgG4.

Importantly, for the first time, these authors were even able to tie the IgG4 switch to a tangible increase in breakthrough infections - a 1 standard deviation increase in IgG4 proportions raised infection risk by a statistically significant 83%. HR = 1.83 [95% CI= 1.07-3.17], p = 0.028.

Study link: https://t.co/HTIBpxRnDN

[World Central Kitchen @WCKitchen]

Update from Gary, Indiana. 📍
WCK teams mobilized across the city over the weekend alongside food truck partners, taking meals directly to communities impacted by the ongoing power outage. In the Tolleston neighborhood, the team from La Cocinita served rice bowls packed with chicken, beans, and salad with salsa verde. #ChefsForIndiana

[Tracy Shuchart (𝒞𝒽𝒾 ) @chigrl]

🇺🇸⚛️ The nuclear and data center industries are banding together, with more than 52 gigawatts of announced capacity partnerships in the US.

[Tracy Shuchart (𝒞𝒽𝒾 ) @chigrl]

These tariffs dont include oil and gas, but the biggest issue will be with the automobile industry with $F and $GM having major manufacturing plants in Canada and the US.

[ABC News @abcnews]

#BREAKING: South Australian authorities have identified three mass bird mortality events involving more than 1,000 crested terns, which are "presumed" to have died from H5N1 bird flu. https://t.co/YxwVw96dBZ

[Raina MacIntyre @Globalbiosec]

Massive new animal disease lab in Kansas, which is replacing the lab on Plum Island, runs into more delays. https://t.co/n7hsxHqJmM

[Salt River Wild Horse Management Group @srwhmg]

This New York Times investigative Article by Dave Phillips is going quite viral. Below link will let you read it for free.

While it may be un-surprising to horse advocates, many americans new to the issue are shocked. It is hard to understand that this could really be happening at the hands of, or at the very least blind eyes of, the very agencies who are charged with wild horse protection. (the BLM and the Forest Service)
However, it's true. We, SRWHMG, know it firsthand all too well. We go to those auctions where you see formerly glorious wild and free horses, terrorized, while they run them through the sale and later stuff them on the slaughtertrucks. If that's hard to hear, imagine being there, knowing what they are going through, and not being able to save them all.

While the Salt River wild horses will continue to run wild and free in the Tonto National Forest, we currently still have a lawsuit against the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest for the way they handled the zeroing out of the Alpine wild horse herd. Approximately 600 of them were sold at auctions, where we had to bid against multiple kill buyers, just so we could place them in sanctuaries all over the country. (Which the Forest Service themselves should have and could have done.) We managed to save 422 of them, but it cost us and our donors dearly, and we are still wondering about the ones we documented in the forest, that never actually showed up in the auctions put on by Rail Lazy H.

Currently, that same Apache Sitgreaves Forest Service is trying to do the same thing with the Heber wild horses. There is a lawsuit underway about that currently, (by ISPMB) so a judge will get to decide. We do not believe, and we hope the USFS will not get away with the loopholes that circumvent the wild free roaming horse and burro act.

To us, it's just incredibly sad that these agencies can stoop so low. Especially because there is no reason for it, because THERE ARE BETTER WAYS. More sustainable, more affordable and more humane ways of lowering a population. We know, because thats what we do, every day. We've prevented more than 1000 births of Salt River wild horses, and with that we believe we've prevented more than 1000 deaths of Salt River wild horses, while at the same time affording the rest of the herd the legal right to continue to roam free. All that, can be done on a much larger scale across America as well. #managewildhorseshumanely

Here is the beginning of the very viral New York Times Article, exposing how the BLM is using loopholes to "get rid" of as many wild horses as possible. Thank you for sharing:
= > "They once had run free through the desert mountains of the West, a multicolored band of 68 wild mustangs that had never been saddled or corralled.

Then the federal government rounded them up with helicopters, as it has with tens of thousands of other mustangs, in an attempt to control wild populations on public lands. The horses were held for years in a feed lot in Idaho while the government tried to find them what it called “loving homes.”

Abruptly this March, the government found a home. Whether it was loving didn’t seem to matter.

The horses were packed into echoing metal trailers and trucked 1,800 miles east to the pens of a hard-luck livestock trader in Ohio named Brandon Jones, who bought them for $25 each.

A day later, two double-decker cattle trucks pulled up at midnight, loaded the mustangs and quickly drove off into the night.

MORE IN COMMENTS

https://t.co/ejDo4Rcsf4

[AprilDRyan @AprilDRyan]

“Frustration, anger, and fear”  is the description Gary, Indiana Mayor Eddie Melton, uses to describe the current state of the city. 18,000 people are still without power almost two weeks after the August 11th storm, which brought 100 mph winds and knocked out 90% of the city's power.

Mayor Melton and Indiana’s governor have declared a state of emergency for the city and state. Melton told this reporter he’s also waiting for President Trump and Congress to finalize the State of Emergency Executive Order for Gary, Indiana, and expects FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to step in as well.

Melton wants “answers and resources,” saying the electric company, NIPSCO (Northern Indiana Public Service Company), has left “gaps” in restoring power in his working-class city. Public outcry and social media, the mayor acknowledges, have pressured the power company, which has sent 80 to 100 linemen from surrounding areas to work on the almost two-week-old Indiana outage.

68-thousand people call Gary home. At the height of the storm, 90 percent of the population was without power.

Melton is hopeful to see power restored by Sunday. However, NIPSCO said it will restore power by Tuesday. And he acknowledges the northern Indiana power company has gaps in its restoration “gaps” in the energy companies restoration of electrical power for the city compared to the electric power restoration to more fluid ZIP Codes.   The power company NIPSCP has said “no service territory is the same. “ #garyindiana #poweroutage #stateofemergency

[Isaac G. Bryan @ib2_real]

Black residents in Gary, IN have been without power for 11 days. The federal government is failing to meet the immediate needs of the people. Trump hasn’t said a word. Grocery store shelves are empty, seniors are at risk, and basic needs are not being met.

We are all Gary

[World Central Kitchen @WCKitchen]

WCK is responding in Gary, Indiana, where thousands of residents have been without power for over a week. On August 11, a storm whipped through the state, damaging power lines and roads. WCK and our local partners are working to serve meals to families without access to food.

Read More: https://t.co/7dzmF3ljK3 #ChefsForIndiana

[HaliMuse @hali_muse]

Keith Lee and Tyrese Haliburton are throwing an event in Gary, Indiana to give out food and supplies to the community as they’ve been without power for 9 days.

“Tyrese Haliburton found out what we was doing, and he matching our contributions” ❤️

Details in the video below

[Skydog Sanctuary @skydogsanctuary]

1/ We call on @dougburgum for an immediate suspension of @BLMNational’s Wild Horse & Burro Sale Authority program following an investigation published today by Dave Philipps @nytimes

[Darrell Bailey @thehappymailman]

Here’s an idea. When you see an idiotic post with a blue checkmark; click on the 3 dots in upper right corner. Then hit not interested in post. Reduce their reach. Most are grifters looking for clicks to add to their X money anyway.

[Give A Shit About Nature @giveashitnature]

Idaho's attorney general has formally asked the federal government to strip Endangered Species Act protection from grizzly bears.

There are roughly 2,000 grizzlies left in the lower 48. Before bounty programs and poisoning campaigns, there were around 50,000.

On July 14, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stood in grizzly country north of Yellowstone with the governors of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming and proposed handing day-to-day grizzly management to the states. The bears stay listed as threatened, but the states get far more latitude over when a bear gets killed. AG Raúl Labrador's position is that it doesn't go far enough.

Greater Yellowstone had an estimated 300 to 400 bears when grizzlies were listed in 1975. It's around 1,055 now. But a bigger population number isn't a recovered species.

Those bears live in isolated islands of habitat. Yellowstone, the Northern Continental Divide, the Cabinet-Yaak, the Selkirks. Between them is highway, subdivision, and ranchland.

Isolated populations don't share genes. Over enough generations, that's how you lose a species. Connecting them is the part of grizzly recovery, and it's unfinished.

There's already a preview of what state management looks like. Montana passed a law letting livestock owners kill a grizzly that's threatening livestock, including on public land, miles from anyone's ranch.

Grizzlies took 50 years to get from 300 to 1,000 in one corner of Wyoming. They can be undone a lot faster than that.

[Dr Tom Montgomery @DrTOMontgomery]

Our national forests belong to America—not Trump.

But he's removing decades of protection from logging and development across 45 million acres.

Old-growth forests develop over centuries—and when humans have more access—they will be trashed.

This cannot be allowed. We must protect them.

Below: a bear cub dozes on a moss-covered branch, watched over by a juvenile bald eagle.

[Ryan Amerio @ryemike_merio]

Here's how you know you need to incorporate mindfulness into your life.

If you have animals, cat - dog, whatever, and when they seek attention you find yourself getting annoyed. Big red flag.

I highly recommend Your Dog is Your Mirror by Kevin Behan.

In the book it talks about the idea that it is our underlying cognitive bias that is bringing out the worst in our pets and really ultimately tells us a lot about ourselves, our need for control and how we tend to project that.

Anyways, this is one of my favorite books. It's a great listen on Audible as well.

[Dr Tom Montgomery @DrTOMontgomery]

We all love seeing an orphaned bear cub rehabilitated and released into the wild, but they're being sent to their deaths.

Dr Lana Ciarniello, a research biologist, tracked 13 rewilded bears:
Only two survived the monitoring period, one had an unknown fate and 10 died (83%).
75% of the bears failed even to survive to first denning.

Mortalities resulted mostly from human-bear conflicts (50%), illegal killings (20%), and intraspecific killing by wild bears (30%).

Her impressive study—the only systematically monitored program of its kind in North America—has identified problems in how we treat them during captivity, including how their habituation to humans does not fade as expected.

Her recommendations should help improve the outcome for other orphaned bears.

Article and original research in 🧵

[Becca Derex 📸 @beccaderex]

I feel absolutely heartbroken and sick to my stomach posting this.

It’s rare that I ever feel a “bond” with the wild animals I photograph. But this family of grizzly bears, a mom and three yearling cubs, was different.

I spent hours with this family on five different occasions earlier this year, sometimes completely alone in the forest with no other people around. I’ll never forget watching the babies wrestle, or the way they settled into a large cuddle pile to go to sleep right in front of me, or their playful curiosity as they learned about the world around them. I’ll never forget their mom’s gentle patience. I will be forever grateful for each and every time she decided I was allowed to hang with them.

None of them had names; this isn’t Yellowstone. But everyone in Eagle River knew about them.

One irresponsible resident bought chickens before having their property secured against bears. The most basic precautionary steps you NEED to take if you attempt to raise livestock in Alaska, in the heart of grizzly territory, were ignored. After the first attack, apparently the resident moved his surviving chickens inside his house. The bears followed, broke inside, and had to all be shot by Alaska Fish and Game (AFD made the right call, they are not the bad guys here).

Four beautiful, incredible bears. Gone. I’m devastated. I can’t imagine the pain and confusion of their final moments.

I tried to explain to a friend earlier the impact this was having on me and I just… couldn’t. How could I? How can I explain to someone who’s never been around bears like that what it means when a mother grizzly decides you’re safe enough to fall asleep in front of— how do you even begin to describe what that feeling is like? And then how do you describe it being cruelly ripped away?

We went to Eagle River together today and it seemed like the mountains were crying with me. It was dark and cloudy, the wind violently ripped through the valley, and you could hear grizzlies roaring in the distance on the river. The landscape mourned with me. You just can’t make this stuff up.

Spending time with these bears fundamentally changed something inside of me. They were such a defining part of my early experiences in Alaska. I can’t believe they’re gone, I won’t get to see the babies grow up, and she’ll never have another litter.