Short Takes – 2-25-25

No increase in dust explosion incidents last year, decrease in injuries. AG.Purdue.edu article. Pull quoted: “In 2024, two explosions originated from smoldering grain. Once grain is harvested, Ambrose urges people to pay close attention to the conditions the grain is kept in. Improper aeration leads to fungal growth, which causes grain and feed to smolder, increasing the risk of igniting dust in the grain bins.”

Measles alerts issued in San Antonio, New Braunfels and San Marcos as Texas outbreak spreads. TPR.org article. Pull quote: “Health officials say anyone at these public locations (areas/times visited by known infected person) during these times or up to two hours afterward should monitor for symptoms.

Removal of National Environmental Policy Act Implementing Regulations. Federal Register CEQ interim final rule. Summary: “This interim final rule removes the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) from the Code of Federal Regulations. In addition, this interim final rule requests comments on this action and related matters to inform CEQ's decision making.” Effective Date: April 11^th, 2025.

H5N1 Demands Coordination, Not Confusion. ThinkGlobalHealth.com article. Pull quote: “Bird flu has been circulating for decades, but with an escalating frequency of outbreaks in wild birds and poultry and emerging transmission in mammals, including humans, in recent years. The current outbreak began during the Joe Biden administration, which experts criticized for its failure to intervene quickly, allowing cases to spread unchecked. The Donald Trump administration's recent decisions to ban federal health agencies from external communications, end collaboration with the World Health Organization, and accidentally fire members of the avian influenza response severely undermine public health efforts, exacerbating mistrust and confusion. These shortcomings leave the United States woefully unprepared to address outbreaks—even of familiar pathogens—and the looming possibility of a new pandemic.”

At least we're not Canadian. AlienSideBoob.Substack.com article. Australian view commentary on Trump Administration. Pull quote: “Sadly, while National Security Cabinet works through this Wagnerian grief cycle—currently somewhere between desperately searching for Greg Norman’s mobile number and stabbing each other in the neck for a last suck-of-the-box-wine bladder—the world of real things isn’t pausing to let them catch up. The Western alliance system, on which rests your great privilege to never really think about the Western alliance system, isn’t just fraying; it’s undergoing a rapid, unscheduled disassembly in real-time while we gallant little Vegemiters stand in the falling debris field trying to read the fine print on a national insurance policy to see if it covers “acts of malignant idiocy.””

Silicone wristbands for assessing personal chemical exposures: impacts of movement on chemical uptake rates. PubsRSC.org journal article. Abstract summary: “Silicone wristbands are utilized as personal passive sampling devices for exposure assessments of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). While research demonstrates that accumulation of SVOCs on the wristbands correlates with internal dose for many different chemical classes, the mechanisms of accumulation remain poorly understood. Multiple factors such as movement of the individual lead to variable mass transfer conditions at the sampler interface. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of air flow velocity across the wristband surface on SVOC uptake rates and to evaluate if enhanced rates vary between compounds with a range physicochemical properties.”

House Republicans’ Big Open Secret: They’re Voting by ‘Proxy’ All the Time. NOTUS.org article. Pull quote: “That this is such a common practice is striking, given the situation of one current lawmaker. Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen, who did not comment specifically on members handing off their cards, is currently missing votes because she had a baby last week — the 14th lawmaker ever to do so while serving in Congress. (She posted on X last month that “it’s clear Congress wasn’t designed with young families and parents in mind.”)”

EO 14217 - Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy. Federal Register.

EO 14218 - Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders. Federal Register.

EO 14219 - Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Deregulatory Initiative. Federal Register.