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Big Pharma Chemist Pivots to Mission to Save Gila Monsters (Maria)
The author writes, “The diabetes drug Ozempic has been a blockbuster, racking up billions of dollars in annual sales. In the U.S. alone, pharmacies fill millions of prescriptions for Ozempic and related drugs, which have become popular for their weight-loss effects, every month. … The Gila monster, which is native to the deserts of North America, can survive on just a few meals a year, thanks to a digestion-slowing hormone in its venom. The discovery of this hormone paved the way for Ozempic, making the Gila monster an enormously profitable gift to modern medicine. And last summer, one particular Gila monster, a former pet named Pebbles, needed medicine in return.”
There’s a Term for What Trump and Musk Are Doing (Gerry)
The author writes, “Despite its name, the Department of Government Efficiency is not, so far, primarily interested in efficiency. DOGE and its boss, Elon Musk, have instead focused their activity on the eradication of the federal civil service, along with its culture and values, and its replacement with something different. In other words: regime change. No one should be surprised or insulted by this phrase, because this is exactly what Trump and many who support him have long desired.”
Elon Musk’s DOGE Posts Classified Data on Its New Website (Sean)
The author writes, “Elon Musk’s team at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency has posted classified information about the size and staff of a U.S. intelligence agency on its new website, raising bigger concerns about where Musk’s programmers got this information and what they are doing with it.”
The $400 Million Armored Tesla Story Is a Fake Scandal in a Sea of Real Graft and Horror (Dana)
From Gizmodo: “[Last week] Drop Site News pointed out a strange line item in the State Department’s procurement forecast for 2025. State planned to spend $400 million on ‘Armored Teslas.’ This isn’t too weird, State buys a lot of vehicles and spends a lot of money putting armor on them. What was weird was that someone edited the spreadsheet so it didn’t mention Tesla and then re-uploaded it.”
Aging Members of Congress Refuse to Disclose Details of Their Top Secret Hospital (DonkeyHotey)
From The American Prospect: “What has eluded attention is the highly secretive hospital, housed on Capitol Hill and funded by taxpayers, that provides both emergency and primary care to an aging political class, which some have come to describe as a gerontocracy. It also runs classified programs known only to some members of Congress.”
How Climate Change Could Upend the American Dream (Laura)
From ProPublica: “Americans have long accumulated wealth by owning their homes, but a new study predicts that spiking insurance rates and climate disasters now herald an era of widespread losses.”
A Humpback Whale Briefly Swallows Kayaker in Chilean Patagonia — and It’s All Captured on Camera (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “A humpback whale briefly swallowed a kayaker off Chilean Patagonia before quickly releasing him unharmed. The incident, caught on camera, quickly went viral. … Adrián Simancas was kayaking with his father, Dell, in Bahía El Águila near the San Isidro Lighthouse in the Strait of Magellan when a humpback whale surfaced, engulfing Adrián and his yellow kayak for a few seconds before letting him go.”
