Category: Animals / Insects / Water Life / Plants / Nature

They’re doing it again, they are so messed up and hurtful. They are destroying everything they touch Part 2

House Panel Approves Sale Of UT And NV Public Land
OK Resolution Asks SCOTUS To Overturn Obergefell
Trump Admin Uses Tariffs To Extort Starlink Contracts
Anti-Vax “Wellness Influencer” Named Surgeon General
US Demands That Stockholm End Diversity Policies

“A Preference for Pines”

I share that!

Pine Warbler

Super Salmon!

Pharmaceutical Pollution Is Shifting the Balance of Ocean Ecosystems

April 15, 2025 Written by Matthew Russell

In rivers and oceans across the globe, fish are behaving strangely. Some swim faster than they should. Others take risks they’d normally avoid. Many abandon the social structures that once protected them. These shifts are not random. They point to an invisible threat flowing just beneath the surface: pharmaceutical pollution.

Drugs designed for human anxiety, pain, and insomnia are entering the world’s water systems through sewage, manufacturing waste, and improper disposal. Once there, they don’t vanish. They linger, affect wildlife, and disrupt entire ecosystems.

Bold Fish, Bigger Risks

Juvenile salmon migrating from Sweden’s River Dal to the Baltic Sea have become an unexpected case study. Researchers implanted hundreds of these fish with tiny slow-release doses of clobazam, an anti-anxiety drug commonly prescribed to humans. Tracking tags revealed something remarkable: salmon exposed to the drug completed their journey faster and in greater numbers than their drug-free peers.

According to Jack Brand, a researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, these medicated salmon passed through hydropower dams two to three times faster than untreated fish, likely because they were less hesitant around the turbines, NPR reports.

This boldness might sound like a survival advantage. But in ecosystems, risk-taking has consequences. When predators lurk or conditions shift, impulsive behavior can turn deadly.

Anti-anxiety drugs are altering fish behavior in the wild.

A Global Cocktail of Contaminants

The scope of contamination is staggering. Almost 1,000 pharmaceutical compounds have been detected in waterways around the world—including Antarctica. A Cary Institute report found that up to 80% of streams in the U.S. alone are polluted with pharmaceuticals and personal care products.

These compounds are potent by design. Many target receptors in the human brain, and those same receptors are found in fish and other species. Drugs like benzodiazepines, used to treat anxiety in people, also alter the stress response in fish. As a result, animals become less risk-averse, change their migration timing, or fail to form protective schools—shifts that can affect survival.

Drugged salmon are taking dangerous risks during migration.

From Lab to Wild

Previous experiments hinted at these effects. In labs, fish exposed to psychoactive drugs became more isolated and less cautious. But the new field studies from Sweden show that these behavioral changes persist—and even intensify—in the wild.

A follow-up experiment revealed that drugged salmon formed looser groups, even when a predator was nearby. The tighter a school, the safer its members. Disrupted shoaling behavior means more fish swimming solo—making them easier prey.

Michael Bertram, an ecologist leading the study, described the salmon’s altered behavior as a form of “unnatural selection,” The New York Times reports. If bolder fish survive migration but die later in predator-rich waters, the long-term outcome could be population decline, not resilience.

Predator-prey dynamics are being disrupted by pharmaceutical waste.

The Long Tail of Human Medicine

Human waste isn’t the only path these drugs take to the water. Wastewater from hospitals, improper drug disposal, and runoff from pharmaceutical manufacturing sites all contribute. Deutsche Welle reports that some wastewater treatment plants near manufacturing facilities have drug levels 1,000 times higher than others.

Yet most treatment plants are not equipped to filter out pharmaceuticals. Some drugs pass through the system unchanged. Others break into byproducts that are just as toxic.

Unknowns Beneath the Surface

Despite years of research, the full ecological impact of pharmaceutical pollution is unknown. Scientists have documented effects on hundreds of species, including reproductive issues and behavioral disruptions. A Cary Institute investigation described how certain antidepressants alter fish breeding cycles, while hormones from birth control pills can cause male fish to develop female egg cells.

As compounds accumulate in fish, they climb up the food chain. Birds, mammals, and even humans may be exposed through drinking water or consumption of contaminated seafood.

Solutions and Setbacks

There are potential fixes. Advanced treatment technologies like ozonation and membrane filtration can help. But they’re expensive and rare. Designing drugs that biodegrade safely—an approach known as green chemistry—is promising, though slow to implement.

Policy change is another lever. Currently, pharmaceutical companies are responsible for testing their own products for environmental safety. Critics argue that these reviews are insufficient and underregulated.

Improved drug disposal practices, public education, and cross-agency coordination could all make a difference. But as things stand, no pharmaceuticals are currently regulated under the EPA’s primary drinking water standards, Cary Institute reports.

The Cost of Inaction

The salmon darting through Swedish dams may seem like a scientific curiosity. But they are just one visible indicator of a much larger, invisible crisis. Every flushed pill, every untreated discharge, adds to a global experiment with no control group and no reset button.

What happens in rivers doesn’t stay there. It shapes the ocean, the land, and the web of life that connects them all.

Click and help us keep our oceans clean! (Note from A: this is a simple free Greater Good organization click-to-donate; the easily ignored ads help pay for cleaning the ocean. I’ll never know whether you click or not, I just wanted to let you know what it is.)

Black Hole Week!

These pages are awesome! Here are some snippets:

Black holes are one of our favorite cosmic objects

So we created Black Hole Week to celebrate them.

Throughout the week, science communicators from across the globe will be sharing news, videos, and social media posts about black holes. Our goal is that no matter where people turn that week, they’ll run into a black hole. (Figuratively, of course — we don’t want anyone falling in!) (snip)

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First Tip: Don’t Visit Black Holes!

But if you must, read our safety guide.

Learn more about black holes, how to find them, and how to stay safe on your travels!Read More snip) Enjoy!

https://science.nasa.gov/un (snipiverse/black-hole-week

“Stripe-Headed Skulker”

Worm-eating Warbler

Three From Clay Jones

Preaching, Praying, Grifting by Clay Jones

Our international embarrassment continues Read on Substack

For just $59.99, with the Pope discount, you too can be buried with your very own Trump Bible. It’s the number-one Bible favored by dead popes, and will help you skip the line as it’ll impress St. Peter. Be the envy of all the other dead popes with your very own Trump Bible. For a limited time only, you can get two Trump Bibles for $119.00 in what we call the MyPillow Special! Act fast, as supplies are limited and tariffs are coming. The Trump Bible is the Popeiest!

I feel I need to remind everyone that having a grifter president (sic) is not normal and is an international embarrassment, which Trump excels. But just in case the grifting wasn’t enough of an embarrassment, Trump doubled and tripled down.

The dress code for Pope Francis’ funeral was black…all black. Melania followed the code. Naturally, Trump did not. Trump, who was placed in the front row to embarrass us further, wore blue, but at least the $97 Trump suit was dark blue. Trump talked about his Catholic voters before the trip, but wearing blue at the Pope’s funeral only showed them disrespect. (snip-MORE)

Negative Criminals by Clay Jones

Deporting underage US Citizens won’t make your polls go up Read on Substack

One reason Donald Trump will never be a good negotiator is that he cares about the polls too much.

Before he shut down the government in his first term, he boasted to Nancy Pelosi that he would take the blame. After he shut down the government and the polls blamed him, he couldn’t take it, and he caved. He got none of his demands, and Nancy played him like a cheap pair of cards. Other nations notice this. China notices.

Question: Who cares more about what their people think about them, Donald Trump or Xi Jinping? Do you remember the last time citizens protested in China? Tanks were involved. Trump is trying to deport protesters, but we haven’t gotten to the tanks yet.

Usually, when a president has low poll numbers, they avoid talking about it. Not Donald Trump. He can’t stop talking about it. When Trump has higher ratings, which is rare, he exploits it as much as he can and praises himself. When the same polls give him very low numbers, he calls them “rigged” polls. His supporters say you can’t trust those polls, even if they’re the same ones they cited months ago.

Now, Trump wants the latest polls “investigated,” and accuses the pollsters of election fraud, as if they had called a state election official and asked for more votes. (snip-MORE)

Fredericksburg is for the Birds by Clay Jones

Don’t feed the birds? Feed the birds? Read on Substack

This was drawn for the FXBG Advance.

Sometimes, when a cartoonist draws a cartoon for a local audience, they don’t expect readers outside the area to understand it. That’s the case for today’s cartoon, and I’m OK with that. I would like all my regulars to understand every cartoon I draw (because I love them), even if they weren’t drawn for them. I have a policy of not explaining my cartoons to people who don’t understand them. Not out of anger or arrogance, but out of acceptance that the cartoon probably didn’t work and they should wait for the next one. But that policy doesn’t apply to the local cartoons, so I’m going to try to explain this one.

I’m also concerned that local readers won’t get this one unless they’re all Advance readers (not advanced readers, but readers of the FXBG Advance, though I’m sure anyone reading my work or the Advance are advanced readers). The reason I’m concerned about local readers not getting this is that the story broke late Friday, and I’m not giving any back story in the cartoon.

The city of Fredericksburg sent out a public health notice that said, “Do not feed the birds.” Why? Because Avian Flu has invaded Virginia like a bunch of no-good Kristi-Noem-Gucci-Handbag-stealing illegals (sarcasm). (snip-MORE)

This Is Beautiful-

go see the entire post! 🐙

Octopus – enshrouded

“Mighty Monarch”

Western Kingbird

China cancels 12,000 metric tons of US pork shipments

China cancels 12,000 metric tons of US pork shipments 

by Filip Timotija – 04/24/25 4:32 PM ET

China canceled 12,000 metric tons of United States pork shipments amid a high-stakes trade standoff between the superpowers, according to data released Thursday.

China, one of the biggest U.S. trading partners, axed 12,000 metric tons of U.S. pork orders, the data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows.

The move represents the biggest cancellation of pork orders since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains and stalled economies around the world, Bloomberg News reported.

China, behind Mexico and Japan, was the U.S.’s third-biggest market for pork in 2024, importing some 475,000 metric tons valued at more than $1.1 billion.

China is the world’s biggest producer of pork, accounting for nearly 50 percent of global supply at around 57 million metric tons, according to the USDA. The U.S. was ranked third at 11 percent with 12 million metric tons.

President Trump shook the global trading system by imposing sweeping tariffs earlier this month on dozens of countries. He slapped a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods coming into the U.S., prompting China to fire back with its own 125 percent duty.

China said Thursday that the U.S. is not engaged in talks to come up with a new trade deal, a characterization that Trump rejected later in the day.

“They had meetings this morning, and we’ve been meeting with China. And, so I think you have … as usual, I think you have your reporting wrong,” Trump told reporters Thursday.

After the tariff hikes, China inked two agricultural trade agreements with Spain, for pork and cherries, as Beijing looks to strengthen relations with European countries, Reuters reported.

U.S. pork imports are now facing a 172 percent tariff, the U.S. Meat Export Federation said, according to Bloomberg News.

Indeed, Why Not? Makes Good Sense To Me!

AOC 2028: Because Why The Hell Not? by Oliver Willis

Just Do It Read on Substack

I think Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should run for president in 2028. Honestly, it is hard to look at the turnout for her “Fight Oligarchy” tour with Sen. Bernie Sanders and the extremely slick videos her campaign is pushing out and come away thinking she isn’t running. This doesn’t feel like someone merely running for another term in Congress or even as a challenger for Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Senate seat. This feels like something more on the level of the 2007-2008 Obama campaign, or even Barry Goldwater’s 1964 crusade.

Personally, I think Ocasio-Cortez should run because the Democratic Party and America overall needs it to happen. Right now, under Donald Trump we are in the vice grips of a racist, authoritarian cult. But Trump didn’t come out of nowhere. Trump’s actions are built on decades of conservative groundwork, from the aforementioned Goldwater campaign to the Reagan presidency, to the Bush presidency, and yes – including the Romney and McCain campaigns. All of it.

In response to this multi-decade assault facilitated via operations like Fox News, Democrats have been tepid at best. The party simply does not know how to fight, and it constantly promotes from the ranks of the “don’t fight” caucus. Just a few weeks ago, still coasting from his attachment to Bill Clinton in a campaign that was conducted nearly four decades ago, James Carville told Democrats to lie down and play dead in a New York Times op-ed. Carville’s world view is not an outlier. Democrats have been playing dead for most of my adult life and I’m just a few years short of fifty.

Coming off of the Clinton 2016 and Harris 2024 losses, the party needs a come to Jesus moment, a full-throated fight to determine what, if anything, it stands for and how it intends to conduct itself in the future. The recent DNC chair race solved none of this, because DNC chair is not an ideological position – it’s all about basic party function. The ideology of the party is still determined by leaders like Schumer, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Right now that ideology is – to be blunt – weak shit.

Ocasio-Cortez is a progressive and to be sure that is why I like her, but what I like about her even more is that she isn’t afraid of it. I’m tired of liberalism that is afraid to say what it is out loud, or that insists that every celebration of liberal ideology has to be balanced by some mealy-mouthed statement acknowledging the purported legitimacy of the conservative world view. It isn’t legitimate and more Democrats need to act that way.

The arguments against Ocasio-Cortez running for president don’t feel very compelling to me.

She’s a woman. This is the weakest counterargument and the most un-American. America is all about doing the big thing that hasn’t been done before and fighting for it. Simply because two women lost the election after getting the nomination, we’re just supposed to stop? If, after a robust primary process the voters within the Democratic Party decide that a woman is the best person to do the job, then she deserves the nomination – but we can’t simply let misogyny win out again because we are unwilling to fight.

She’s a progressive/socialist. The Democratic Party has been nominating centrists for decades. If political ideology was all about matching the candidate to the country, we would be discussing the easy presidential wins from former Presidents Gore, Kerry, Clinton, and Harris. Democrats should pick the best candidate who appeals to the world they believe in – because that kind of pure belief is far better than playing fantasy campaign manager, selecting a nominee based on what you think is most acceptable to some mythical middle America voter.

She needs more experience. This is a really ridiculous one. Back in 2007 when Obama was first debating entering the race, I prayed he would do it because I fear what the Senate does to the mind of a human being. Look at Kerry and his Republican counterpart in terminal Senate brain, John McCain. I look at the Senate as a zombie that sucks the charisma out of people and turns them into near-automatons spouting nonsense about an amendment they offered in committee and other things normal people don’t understand.

Ocasio-Cortez understands the inner workings of the government far more than the average person. Several years of getting stifled by the Senate won’t change that. Similarly, I don’t see the logic in letting her linger in the House, even if she eventually ends up in a senior leadership position like Speaker.

To use a sports analogy, in the past NFL teams would draft a quarterback and let them sit on the sidelines, purportedly learning the ropes from a veteran signal caller. But in the modern NFL, a guy is drafted and immediately thrown into the deep end to see if they can sink or swim. To be certain, many times that leads to a spectacular bust – or, like in the case of my favorite team the Washington Commanders – a rookie takes you to within one game of the Super Bowl in his first year.

Both Obama and Trump jumped into their races when they had grassroots momentum. They both beat back the establishment candidate (Clinton for Obama, Jeb! for Trump). The rallies, along with years of well received rhetoric and attacks from the right-wing machine say to me that Ocasio-Cortez has that “juice” and it would be a shame to let it wither.

I’m not arguing that she would win the nomination or even the general election. Who even knows if we can have free and fair elections anymore? But the fact that this cornerstone of American democracy is even in question at this point sort of makes the case that the same old, same old cannot continue to be the answer.

Something more needs to be done, and as Ocasio-Cortez keeps saying “a better world is possible.” So maybe let’s try it. (snip-MORE + photo of the cutest dachshund doggy ever)