cheryl

just a boring normie here for the takes.

[Kendall Baker @kendallbaker]

Great column.

[Austinsseus @awoodustin]

It’s a shame Robert Pattinson is white because he’s the only person alive who could properly play Diddy in a BIGGIE biopic

[chaotic evil orc barbarian @orc_mode]

in college i went to an event called "ask an imam anything". learned a lot. for like a month after that i was referring to any minor challenge in my life as "my jihad" and people really did not like that

[Holly Blake @hollycurates]

need you all to know that in june 2027 The Whale by Dorte Mandrup opens in Andenes, Norway. it’ll be an immersive museum dedicated to whales and the ocean, and the building is designed to look like it’s emerging from the Arctic coastline, like a whale. also, the curved roof will be walkable

[David Sirota @davidsirota]

If you are a Democrat proudly tweeting out a column from conservative George Will published by Jeff Bezos’s oped page, then let’s be clear: you are telling on yourself.

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal.

[Ro Khanna @RoKhanna]

Christian towns around Bethlehem are surrounded on all sides by settlers who steal their water and attack their families. They cannot freely move across their land and are blocked from going to holy sites in Jerusalem.

Listen to the mayors of these towns share their stories.

[Adam Carlson @admcrlsn]

Or if you’re more of a visual person:

[State of Palestine @Palestine_UN]

🇵🇸 ❤️💛🇪🇸

[Dr. Abdul El-Sayed @AbdulElSayed]

My family's roots in mid-Michigan trace back to the early 1800s. I lived with Grandma and Grandpa during my time at Michigan. And they’ve always had my back. They mean the world to me❤️

I’m honored to introduce them to you, too, in our new ad:

[vale 🍂 @villaneles]

Emmy nominees <3

[Renzo™ @fwrenzo1]

The "Middle Class" was a 50-year fluke designed to prevent a communist revolution during the Cold War. Now that the threat is gone, the elites are systematically dismantling it. You aren't "falling behind"; you’re being pushed back into the peasantry.

[𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚕𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛 @KLobstar]

sometimes my dogshit timeline is blessed by a short reprieve of a guy just fuckin killing it

[Horse Nomad (Chicago-style) ⚔️ @Nomads4Pritzker]

So, I've worked in the beef industry. I have a fairly detailed knowledge of beef markets, the supply chain, parasites and parasiticides, etc. Suffice it to say, this is a nightmare scenario, but one we've known was coming since at least 2022.

New World Screwworm was eradicated from North and Central America in the mid-90's. The US gov't (APHIS) funded a program of screwworm drops, where they bred sterile males so that extant populations couldn't reproduce and move northwards. But in 2022 NWS jumped the Darien gap and started moving northwards once again. It's most likely that they came undetected on livestock brought alongside migrants fleeing political instability in South and Central America. Elon Musk/DOGE, of course, cut several monitoring programs that would have detected this exact scenario. The screwworm drops are still funded, but the monitoring programs are what have been cut - a stupid move if there ever was one.

A serious Central/South America policy would have worked hand-in-hand with CA/SA governments to help contain this, but we've never had a serious policy towards South America, not during the Biden years, and especially not under Trump. The USDA broke ground on a sterile screwworm facility in Texas... last month. I worry it's too little, too late.

Screwworm is so dangerous because, unlike other fly larvae, they lay eggs and feed on living flesh. So something like a small scratch (or even bug bite) can quickly becomes infested, and the larvae will burrow into the flesh, growing the wound and attracting more screwworm. They don't only parasitize cattle, but will also feed on wildlife, domestic pets, even humans. Since they have detected screwworms in domesticated cattle right now, it's likely that there is a wild reservoir as well. We can quarantine herds and pets, but we can't quarantine deer and armadillos. They will move, and so will the NWS.

Under normal circumstances, cattle are moved around - a lot. Calves will be sent to stockers through their adolescence, then shipped to feedlots for finishing. A lot of calving operations (like 70%) are small, and small-time producers don't always catch parasite infestations. Cattle moved in-state don't require a certificate of veterinary inspection, so it's easy for an infested animal to be moved without being noticed. Animals crossing state lines do need a CVI, but Texas has such an enormous cattle population (something like 13 million head) that as goes Texas, so goes the nation.

Fortunately, we have a lot of drugs that treat NWS. The FDA has issued several emergency use authorizations in the last year or so. But every input raises the price of beef, and treatment only makes a difference if producers catch an infestation early. If an infestation spreads unnoticed on a large feedlot, it can hit hard, both in terms of cattle that have to be killed, and treatments that then have to be deployed. Producers will spend days at a time running cattle through the chute, inspecting them and applying parasiticides. It costs a lot of money, which is then passed on to the consumer.

What does that mean for you? Beef is a commodity, and just because there's no NWS up here in Illinois doesn't mean that prices won't skyrocket - and they will skyrocket. US herd size is already at record lows, and this will result in culls. Consumer prices also run 18-24 months behind, which means that shocks to the supply chain now are still going to be felt by consumers in 2028.

It's hard to say if our government will be able to muster an effective response - though I don't trust our current administration, which can't even throw a 250th anniversary party, to be able to deal with an ecological issue of this magnitude. It doesn't help that our current USDA secretary is a lawyer and think-tank creature. I don't much trust the state government of Texas either. The industry has also taken the workforce of large animal veterinarians for granted - a monopoly/market power issue that I just can't get in to here.

For me, it comes back to our federal government having an incoherent policy on Central and South America. We knew what was coming, we know what's going to happen, but we cut the program meant to prevent this scenario. Instead of taking those countries seriously as partners, the government has been stupid and domineering.

Here's the kicker: this is what the industry voted for. They might scream, they might get bailed out, but all that means is that you, the consumer, are going to be paying more for beef, plus whatever bailout gets shoveled their way. Until the industry accepts that they are part of a larger system; that they cannot eternally privatize the gains and publicize the losses of beef production; that they need to consider sustainability and stewardship in the management of their operations, this is only going to keep happening. Eventually, they may find that there is very little goodwill for them among the public, and people will decide that a Brazilian ribeye tastes just as good as one from Texas.

[O’Shea Jackson Jr @OsheaJacksonJr]

I saw it. Now you have to see it. His name is Samuel. And he…is a king.

[Dr. Abdul El-Sayed @AbdulElSayed]

Do you ever wonder why your hospital keeps changing its name?

[Democrats Deliver @DemzDeliver]

🚨 NEW: Zohran Mamdani to permanently fund NYC libraries and parks.

Libraries will no longer have to plead for funding each year.

[Mohammad @MargBarAmerica]

many people affirm their self worth through “hard work” and suffering bc of the calvinist mindset baked in all americans. it pains them to see glp-1’s work and also confirm that fat people are biologically prone to metabolic issues, worsened by our bad food production standards.