Disease That Decimated American Elms May Help Bring Them Back

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Disease That Decimated American Elms May Help Bring Them Back (Maria)

The author writes, “The very disease that decimated millions of elms in the U.S. is being used to bring the iconic trees back. … Scientists with the Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy Vermont spent the summer injecting 6,000 young elms with Dutch elm disease spores to test their resistance. The survivors will be sent to a breeding program with the goal of growing the genetic diversity of disease-tolerant elms to restore forests, riverbanks and backyards.”

What Darline Graham’s Ugly, Viral Outburst About Death Really Reveals (Bethany)

From The New Republic: “Darline Graham, who just sashayed into the Senate seat of her late brother, Lindsey Graham, likes to tell a story about her parents. They both passed away fairly suddenly—her mother of Hodgkin’s lymphoma and her father of a heart attack. She was a preteen at the time, and it’s a compelling tale that lands well with audiences. But its latest iteration has gone viral for another reason: She juxtaposed her parents’ death with a condemnation of ‘government-run health care’ in a way that inadvertently makes a strong case in its favor. And a glance back at Lindsey Graham’s 2015 self-published memoir — which extensively recounts the passing of the parents — further reinforces the point.”

‘Cuba Is Opening Up.’ Reforms Begin as US Tightens Grip (Reader Jim)

From USA Today: “Cuba is preparing to loosen some of the tightest controls over its communist economy, allowing private companies to trade directly with foreign businesses, giving foreign investors greater freedom to hire workers and expanding their ability to develop real estate on the island. The changes, expected to begin taking effect as early as this week, would make recently announced reforms into law. And it could amount to a significant opening of Cuba’s economy at a time when the Trump administration is choking the country with an oil blockade and economic sanctions.”

Explosive Motive Unmasked by DOJ Insiders as Michael Cohen Crawls Back to Trump (DonkeyHotey)

The author writes, “The Department of Justice has discussed using former attorney Michael Cohen — who has seemingly come crawling back — as a witness to build new criminal cases against President Donald Trump’s legal adversaries, according to a new report. Zeteo’s Asawin Suebsaeng, who has a personal history with Cohen, the president’s longtime personal attorney and fixer, reported that Trump administration officials are hoping to leverage his testimony to bring criminal prosecutions against New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg — both of whom successfully battled Trump in court.”

How Florida Quietly Removed Climate Change Content From Textbooks (Laura)

From The Hechinger Report: “Had Florida’s high school marine biology students read the original draft of their textbook, they would have learned about research that found climate change is killing at least 150,000 people per year, and another 1 degree Celsius of warming would double that. Instead, they learned that ‘human health will also be affected by the increase in CO2 and another 1 degree Celsius will further increase the impact.’ In another spot in McGraw Hill’s Marine Science book, ‘climate change’ was altered to ‘changes in the environment.’ An environmental science textbook by publisher Cengage removed the word ‘polluting’ in front of ‘coal burning power plants.’ … These count among the changes that Florida education officials asked science textbook publishers to make in the summer of 2024 that either watered down or eliminated content about the climate crisis.”

How This Massachusetts Sanctuary Takes in Hundreds of Guinea Pigs From Across the US (Dana)

The author writes, “Kimie Smothermon begins each day greeted by the squeals, chirps and purrs of nearly 400 guinea pigs. Depending on who you ask, tending to the daily barrage of guinea pig needs can be either a fairy tale or a horror show. For Smothermon, it’s often a mix of both. ‘If I could figure out how to get out of this at this point, I probably would,’ Smothermon joked. ‘But I do believe that to a certain extent, I probably wouldn’t get out of bed if I didn’t have this.’ Smothermon is the owner of the Guinea Pig Sanctuary, in Salisbury, Massachusetts, roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Boston. On any given day, 350 to 400 guinea pigs are housed in a modest workspace, split into cages stacked from the floor to ceiling.”