Daily Archives: February 23, 2025
DOGE Email Throws Federal Agencies Into Chaos and Confusion
On Saturday, employees throughout the federal government received an email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), demanding a reply with “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week.” On X, Elon Musk posted that failure to respond, “will be taken as a resignation.” The result? Confusion, chaos, and resentment among a federal workforce that increasingly feels under attack. “So f-ing dumb,” says one air traffic controller who received the email and was granted anonymity for fear of retribution. Leaders of many agencies appear to have been caught off guard. At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which houses the National Weather Service, some managers initially cautioned against replying to the email in case it was a phishing attempt. Another NOAA employee says they were cautioned not to log onto their work email after receiving it. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:27
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Pause
When your friends think you wrong and your opponents are saying nice things, a reevaluation of your position might be in order. Did it. It was still correct for the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy to put Virginia’s energy ratepayers first and express concern for the financial harm they might suffer if a wind turbine project gets cancelled. Dominion Energy Virginia’s offshore wind project, now with a $10.7 billion price tag (not including decades of profit), is about half complete. A call to pause and perhaps cancel it was issued by a consortium of wind energy opponents from multiple states. President Donald Trump’s Executive Order has called for a review of pending projects, but it apparently did not pause Dominion’s and three other projects already under construction. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:25
How Atlantic Canada came to rule the slimy, slippery, squirmy big business of baby eels
During his lifetime, Philip Holland was known as a dedicated Crown prosecutor who put the bad guys behind bars. But his legacy could very well be the lucrative baby eel industry he started in Canada under the most modest of circumstances, keeping the tiny, squirmy critters he had plucked from cold New Brunswick rivers alive in plastic tubs in his basement before shipping them to Asia. And yet, more than two decades after his death and 36 years since he was granted an experimental licence to capture glass eels, the elver industry in Atlantic Canada has become deliriously successful, worth millions. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:17
The History of the Louisiana Menhaden Industry
Few people realize that one of Louisiana’s most valuable fisheries isn’t for shrimp, oysters, or crab—but for a small, unassuming fish that has fueled our state and local economies: the menhaden. The first large-scale menhaden fishery in the U.S. began on the East Coast in the early 1800s, where the fish were processed for oil and fertilizer. By the late 19th century, the industry expanded into the Gulf, where Louisiana’s nutrient-rich estuaries provided an ideal habitat for vast menhaden populations. Processing plants soon emerged along the coast, and by the early 20th century, the Gulf menhaden fishery was a booming industry, supplying fish oil for industrial uses and fish meal for livestock feed. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:03
