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Supreme Court rules Trump can deport illegal migrants
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Florida biker caught on video in highway drive-by shooting
[FoxNews] A man driving on a Florida interstate early Sunday morning was subjected to gunfire as he recorded several motorcyclists driving erratically, according to police.

"A 34-year-old St. Petersburg man, driving a Honda CR-V westbound on Interstate 4, observed several motorcyclists who were operating erratically with another unidentified vehicle west of Interstate 275," Florida Highway Patrol said in a statement.

"The driver began to film the motorcyclists with a cell phone when one of the motorcyclists, now traveling adjacent to the victim, discharged several rounds from a handgun," the statement said. "Multiple rounds impacted the Honda, but no injuries were suffered by the victim."

One round penetrated the rear gate of SUV and entered into the left rear quarter panel.

Police said that the suspected shooter is a White male with a medium build who was wearing a jacket with an "Outlaws MC" logo.
From their website:
…an international outlaw motorcycle club. Founded in McCook, Illinois in 1935, the Outlaws MC is the oldest outlaw biker club in the world. With 441 chapters located in 43 countries, and a membership of over 3,000, the club is also the third-largest in the world, behind the Hells Angels and the Bandidos. Outlaws members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
They are asking for the public's help in identifying the shooter.

Fox News Digital obtained photos of the victim's vehicle from the Florida Highway Patrol.

The Outlaws MC is well known in the southwest Florida region, according to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The organization apparently thrived in the 1980s and 1990s.

The court has a page dedicated to Outlaws MC members who have been convicted of crimes.

"Between 1981 and 2003, five significant criminal trials involving the Outlaws Motorcycle Club were conducted in the Tampa Courthouse," the page says. "All of the indictments alleged violations of the federal racketeering laws and the trial evidence included testimony about prostitution, drugs, guns, extortion, and murder."

During that time, Harry Bowman was the international leader of the gang and was responsible for killings, bombings and intimidation. He was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list in 1998 and was captured in Michigan in 1999. He was convicted of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder and for crimes involving drugs, guns, extortion, assault and arson, and is now serving a life sentence.

Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2025 08:55 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11141 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They seem to be surprised that outlaw bikers are in fact, outlaws.
Posted by: ed in texas || 04/08/2025 14:43 Comments || Top||


Fundraiser for suspect in stabbing death of Texas teen rakes in over $160,000

[THEPOSTMILLENNIAL] A fundraiser for the 17-year-old who reportedly admitted to fatally stabbing Austin Metcalf at a Texas track meet has now raised over $160,000 in total donations on GiveSendGo.

Last week, there were multiple GoFundMe webpages that were set up, raising over $16,000 before multiple were taken offline. At the same time, a GiveSendGo that has remained active has raised over $160,000 to support murder suspect Karmelo Anthony and his family.

As of Monday morning, the fundraiser had amassed over $161,000 and the goal has been set to $200,000. Anthony has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held on a $1,000,000 bond in Collin County Jail.

The GiveSendGo webpage reads, "This is the Official Support Fund for Karmelo and his family during this challenging and difficult time. The narrative being spread is false, unjust, and harmful. As a family of faith, we are deeply grateful for all of your support during this trying period. Your prayers and assistance mean more to us now more than ever."

Last week, it was reported that Metcalf saw Anthony under his team's tent at a Texas track meet and as a result, a confrontation occurred. Witnesses said that Anthony was told to leave by Metcalf after he walked over to the tent and then Anthony reached in his bag, telling Metcalf, "Touch me and see what happens." One witness said that Metcalf touched Anthony, another said he grabbed him, and then Anthony stabbed Metcalf and ran off, later telling police that he "did it" but said that he thought it was self-defense.
Posted by: Fred || 04/08/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11214 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The supporters of this should be outed. Afterall, they believed in this cause--what could be wrong with letting their support be known?
Posted by: Crusader || 04/08/2025 0:11 Comments || Top||

#2  A civil suit for damages should be filed
Posted by: Frank G || 04/08/2025 3:08 Comments || Top||

#3  ^Betcha most of the contributors are white.
Posted by: Grom the Affective || 04/08/2025 4:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Not surprise when a rather disturbing number on the Left want Trump and Musk assassinated.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/08/2025 7:02 Comments || Top||


-Great Cultural Revolution
Snow White Box Office Update
[BoxOfficeMojo] Third weekend total domestic was about $6M which is pretty low.
Total domestic after third weekend about $77M

Probably will ultimately gross about $100M domestic, another $130M overseas, and another $40M for streaming and merchandise. Figuring that Disney will get about 50% of gross and 80% for streaming and merchandise, that will amount to about a $100M-200M loss for the corporation.

The reviews (from Rotten Tomatoes) are pretty negative from reviewers (ave about 50% positive) but better with viewers (about 75% positive) and higher still among pre teens.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 04/08/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11172 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Do we have to?", he whined.
Posted by: ed in texas || 04/08/2025 14:49 Comments || Top||

#2  "Knock that off right now or so help me I'm going to pull this car over and take you to Snow White!"
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/08/2025 16:05 Comments || Top||

#3  yesterday, the gross was only about $400k or about $100/theater for the day
Posted by: Lord Garth || 04/08/2025 19:50 Comments || Top||

#4  How soon in the dollar bin at Walmart?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/08/2025 19:52 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Why National Beer Day?
[Wikipedia] National Beer Day is celebrated in the United States every year on April 7, marking the day that the Cullen–Harrison Act came into force after having been signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 22, 1933. April 6, the day before, is known as New Beer's Eve. The 18th Amendment was later repealed by the ratification of the 21st Amendment on December 5 that year, officially ending Prohibition.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2025 08:04 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11144 views] Top|| File under: Mob Rule

#1  National Beer Day is coming up. Any ideas what to do?
Posted by: Glolutch Tingle1702 || 04/08/2025 22:12 Comments || Top||


Economy
Trump says furniture makers coming back to North Carolina as Canadian company moves to state
[THEPOSTMILLENNIAL] Trump has applauded furniture makers moving production to the US amid tariffs, with one company closing its Canadian production facility and shifting all production to the United States, while a North Carolina furniture maker is closing its doors due to ongoing production issues with its main supplier in Mexico, among other issues.

"Those tariffs, next year will make us $1 trillion. In addition to the $1 trillion, thousands of companies are gonna relocate back into the United States. In North Carolina, already furniture people are starting to move back in," Trump said.

Progressive Furniture, a subsidiary of Sauder Woodworking and importer of "budget friendly" furniture from Asia and Mexico, will be closing at the end of the year and laying off around 30 employees, per Furniture Today.

President of the company, Dan Kendrick, told the outlet, "This decision was not made lightly, and we understand the impact it will have on our employees, customers and partners. We are committed to supporting our employees through this transition and will aid where possible to help them find new opportunities."

The closure of the company was blamed on multiple issues, but mainly on the closure of the company's primary supplier in Mexico. Kendrick said, "Obviously, business conditions have been challenging for the past few years, but the closure of our primary supplier in Mexico has made a major impact. This factory supplied 60% of our products."

According to Home News Now, the company's main supplier, Baja Wood, was based in Rosarito, Mexico. In January, around 60 of Baja Wood's 320 employees protested outside of the factory over reduced hours. The factory was shut down as government officials investigated the claims, which required a lengthy interview process. At the end of the investigation, the plant owner decided not to reopen. Baja Wood and Progressive furniture were closely intertwined, with the US company receiving over 50 percent of its wood furniture from the Mexico plant, and Progressive being the plant's primary customer in the US.
Posted by: Fred || 04/08/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11137 views] Top|| File under:


How actual 'fake news' sent Wall Street on a $2.4 trillion rollercoaster in just 15 minutes
[Daily Mail, where America get its news] Wall Street went on a $2.4 trillion joyride Monday— all because of a rogue tweet claiming that President Donald Trump might pause his punishing new tariffs for 90 days.

The massive swing played out in just 15 chaotic minutes before markets snapped back to reality.

The dizzying market U-turn exposed just how jittery Wall Street has become — where even a hint of hope sends stocks soaring, only for rumors to trigger a crash minutes later.

By the close, the Dow Jones was down 1 percent, the S&P 500 had slipped 0.2 percent, and the Nasdaq just green. It was hardly a good day on Wall Street — but it was far better than feared. At one point, there were whispers of a repeat of 1987's Black Monday.

In the morning, all three major U.S. indexes touched their lowest levels in more than a year, while the VIX — Wall Street's fear gauge — hit its highest level since August 2024.

It was fuelled by Trump doubling-down on his sweeping new tariffs. Mid morning, the President threatened to hike tariffs on China by an additional 50 percent.

Then came the twist. Stocks abruptly reversed course after White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett was reported as saying Trump was considering a tariff pause on all countries except China.

CNBC anchors read the headline live on air as they tried to make sense of the sudden market surge. In total, the S&P 500 jumped nearly 6 percent from its level just before the mysterious headline appeared.

The false tweet spread quickly on X and investors poured money into stocks on the news. Not long after, the White House shot it down — calling the delay 'fake news.'

Stocks slumped immediately on the administration's clarification and then whipsawed for an hour before settling down to be largely flat on the day.

The false posts appear to have stemmed from a real Fox News interview with Hassett around 8.30am ET.

When asked if Trump might consider a 90-day pause in tariffs, Hassett vaguely replied, 'The president is going to decide what the president is going to decide.'

The tweet at 10.10am ET read:'HASSETT: TRUMP IS CONSIDERING A 90-DAY PAUSE IN TARIFFS FOR ALL COUNTRIES EXCEPT CHINA.'

Initially, it had looked like US stocks would be slammed for a third trading day in a row as Trump said he wouldn't back down on his sweeping new tariffs. In fact, just after 11am the President threatened to hike tariffs on China by an additional 50 percent.

The wild moves meant trillions is being wiped off then added to the value of US stocks, which are a key component of Americans' 401(K)s and other savings accounts.

Trading floors across Asia and Europe were all down. Hong Kong led the collapse, crashing 13.2 percent — its worst drop in nearly 30 years. Tokyo was down 8 percent.

There were fears of a repeat of 1987's Black Monday. 'Black Monday' started trending on X - a reference to the global and severe stock market crash of 1987, as uncertainty grows before the US markets open at 9.30am EST Monday.

'The underlying problem of the market is that the administration's approach to trade imbalances is to try a cure that's worse than the disease,' said Rick Meckler, partner, Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey.

'It's clear that investors favor either a pause or a different look at how to do this. It's very telling that of the many Trump supporters in the investment and business community, it doesn't look like there's anybody stepping up and endorsing the administration's approach to tariffs.'

In the two days following Trump's tariff announcements last week, stocks cratered.

It was the worst two-day wipeout in US stock market history — with $6.6 trillion wiped off the value companies.

Trump's 10 percent 'baseline' tariff began Saturday, hitting all US imports except goods from Mexico and Canada. Come April 9, higher levies on goods from 57 larger trading partners — including the European Union — begin.

Bill Dudley, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said Monday that stagflation is now the 'best case scenario' for the US economy.
I suspect not, but nobody has ever paid me for my opinion, even if I were good at money.
Stagflation is the combination of economic stag-nation and in-flation. Prices continue to soar at the same time as economic growth slows and unemployment rises.

Many economists consider stagflation, which was last seen in the US in the 1970s, to be worse than a recession.

Dudley, who served as the president of the New York Fed from 2009 to 2018, made the comments in a column for Bloomberg.

'Don't expect the Federal Reserve to rescue the US economy from the epic tariffs the Trump administration has imposed on imports from most of the world. The only question now is how bad the damage will be,' he wrote.

'All told, stagflation is the optimistic scenario. More likely, the US will end up in a full-blown recession accompanied by higher inflation.'

Meanwhile, one of Fox News' most respected business experts has admitted Donald Trump's tariffs may well cause a recession, hours after providing a cheerier outlook before Monday's opening bell.

Maria Bartiromo acknowledged the potential economic nightmare live on-air Monday morning, as a ticker next to her face showed the Dow Jones stock index plunging in real-time.

Earlier in the day, Jamie Dimon, 69, the CEO of JPMorgan, has sounded the alarm on tariffs.

The banker wrote to his shareholders saying that President Trump's import taxes would 'slow down growth.'
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11143 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sometimes it's difficult for the media to distinguish economics from OrangeManBad.
Posted by: Bobby || 04/08/2025 9:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Who made the call? These people work from herd mentality and rarely operate without consensus.
Posted by: mossomo || 04/08/2025 12:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Yup, embarrassing.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/08/2025 12:29 Comments || Top||

#4  The Duke Brothers, Mortimer and Randolph.

Get back in there and sell, sell, sell
Posted by: Beavis || 04/08/2025 12:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Well, it is CNBC, the home of Jim "Bear Stearns" Cramer.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 04/08/2025 22:39 Comments || Top||


Global stock market sell-offs deepen amid expectations of new tariffs
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The sell-offs on global stock markets intensified on the morning of April 7. In particular, according to the platforms, at the opening of trading in Europe, the German DAX 40 index fell by 10.42%, the British benchmark FTSE 100 — by 6.33%, and the French CAC 40 — by 7.03%.

Futures on the main American indices (S&P 500, NASDAQ, Dow Jones Industrial Average) fell by 4-6%. The Nikkei index of leading Japanese companies fell by 7.83%, the Chinese CSI 300 index at trading in Shanghai fell by 7.05%, and the key index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hang Seng, fell by 13.22%.

In addition, the price of June Brent oil futures on the London ICE exchange fell by 4.54% to $62.6 per barrel. Such a low figure was recorded for the first time since 2021.

The sell-off on global stock markets began after US President Donald Trump announced the introduction of duties of 10-50% on 211 countries and territories. Later, the Chinese authorities announced the introduction of retaliatory duties of 34% on imports from the US. The EU authorities also announced the possible adoption of retaliatory measures. The US stock market lost $6.6 trillion in two days.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov earlier stated that due to the US decision to introduce duties, the situation in the global economy is “extremely unsettled, tense and emotionally overloaded.” He emphasized that the Russian authorities in these conditions will do everything necessary to minimize the consequences of the international economic storm for the country.

Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov noted that the global trading system is in crisis, and attempts to create new trade regulations contradict WTO rules. He emphasized that the situation in the global energy and food sectors has already worsened.

Posted by: badanov || 04/08/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11136 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The US stock market lost $6.6 trillion in two days.

Lemmings Penguins
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2025 8:13 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
DOGE cuts $51M from US African Development Foundation, including $229K to market shea butter
[FoxNews] The money went toward mango drying facilities and marketing for pineapple juice and shea butter

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced $51 million in cuts from the U.S. African Development Foundation, which included hundreds of thousands of dollars for marketing shea butter and pineapple juice, as well as mango drying facilities.

DOGE made the announcement on X, highlighting several initiatives the money was put toward.

For instance, $229,296 was used to market 100% organic shea butter in Burkina Faso; $246,217 was spent on mango drying facilities in the Ivory Coast; and $239,738 was spent on marketing pineapple juice in Benin.

The department also said $99,566 was spent to increase yogurt production in Uganda; $84,059 was spent on a business incubator for spa and wellness entrepreneurs in Nigeria; $50,000 was spent to train farmers how to grow dragon fruit in Senegal; and $48,406 was spent on a WhatsApp marketing chatbot in Kenya.

Late last month, DOGE shared that it had terminated 113 contracts valued at $4.7 billion, including a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) consulting contract valued at $145,000 for Peru climate change activities.

The funding that was canceled also included $10 million for "gender equity in the Mexican workplace," $12.2 million for "worker empowerment in South America" and $6.25 million for "improving respect for workers' rights in agricultural supply chains" in the countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

The department has canceled numerous diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at federal agencies, consulting contracts, leases for underused federal buildings and duplicate agencies and programs.

As of Monday, DOGE claims on its site that it has saved Americans $140 billion, or about $870 per taxpayer.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2025 08:48 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11194 views] Top|| File under:



GOP senators file bill to create Education Savings Accounts for military families
[JustTheNews] The bill also “supports military readiness by helping attract and retain top talent, ensuring service members don’t have to sacrifice their children’s education,” Banks said.

Republican U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Jim Banks, R-Ind. introduced a bill to create Education Savings Accounts for the children of active-duty service members.

The bill would amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow parents of eligible military-dependent children to establish Military Education Savings Accounts.

“School choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century, and parents should never have to choose between serving their country and ensuring that their children have access to a quality education,” Cruz said, adding that the bill “will ensure that military families are empowered to choose and secure the right education for their children.”

The bill also “supports military readiness by helping attract and retain top talent, ensuring service members don’t have to sacrifice their children’s education,” Banks said.

It would direct the secretaries of the departments of Education and Defense to carry out the program ‘‘at the request of a parent of an eligible military dependent child, establish an account on behalf of such child … into which the Secretary shall deposit funds” and “establish a procedure under which the parent of the child may use funds in the account to pay for the educational expenses of the child in accordance” with the law, according to the bill language.

It would create ESAs for up to $6,000 to apply to reading, writing, language, mathematics, science and social studies instruction. The amount would increase over time in accordance with inflation, apply for one academic year and can be renewed, according to the bill language.

The bill also would create a lottery system if the appropriated funds are insufficient to fully fund the program. It prioritizes siblings of children already benefitting from the ESA program, children of enlisted members, warrant officers and then commissioned officers.

ESAs provide taxpayer subsidies for families to use for educational purposes. The bill would prohibit ESA funds from being used for public school education. Applicants are prohibited from enrolling their child “in a public elementary school or a public secondary school, on a full-time basis while participating in the program,” the bill states.

ESA funds are permitted to be used for private elementary or secondary school tuition; educational co-op, micro-school, learning pod, or hybrid school tuition, including religious schools; private online learning programs; private tutoring; individual classes, extracurricular activities, athletic programs, and educational trips; summer camps and academic camps; materials prescribed by educational therapists or medical professionals; textbooks, curriculum programs, or other instructional materials; computer hardware, software or other technological devices for educational purposes; private school uniforms; fees for nationally standardized tests, advanced placement exams, college or university admission exams; education transportation costs; apprenticeship or vocational training program costs; contributions to a college savings account, among others.

Unused funds would roll over from year to year; funds left over after students graduate high school could be used to finance higher education tuition or costs associated with an alternative professional training, according to the bill language.

The bill also includes stipulations for the Education Secretary to administer the program, includes fraud prevention and reporting requirements, and prohibits religion-based discrimination. It doesn’t apply to National Guard members’ children, excludes postsecondary education, and limits the program to students once they turn 22 or 26, if disabled.

The military ESAs are also tax exempt.

Cruz previously introduced the Education Savings Accounts for Military Families Act in 2023, which went nowhere in a Democratic-controlled Senate during the Biden administration.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2025 01:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11144 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Or they could be payed a decent wage so they wouldn't need to work a second job to buy diapers.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2025 1:58 Comments || Top||


Noem presents buyout offers for DHS employees ahead of workforce reduction
[JustTheNews] DHS employees considering leaving the department early can choose among three buyout options: A cash incentive to retire early or quit, or a deferred resignation with a brief period of paid administrative leave.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday night offered buyout options to department employees, as the Trump administration continues to drastically reduce the size and scope of the federal workforce.

The internal memo, which was reviewed by Politico, does not indicate how wide the workforce reduction would be, but it could include employees at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

DHS employees considering leaving the department early can choose among three buyout options: A cash incentive to retire early or quit, or a deferred resignation with a brief period of paid administrative leave.

"[The buyout options] reflect our commitment to aligning our workforce with the evolving mission needs while supporting the personal and professional goals of our dedicated employees," Noem wrote in the memo.

The offer comes after Noem stated at a Cabinet meeting last month that she was looking to eliminate FEMA, which has been accused of improperly spending money to house illegal migrants, instead of using it to respond to natural disasters.

Employees have until April 14 to opt into the buyout option.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2025 01:43 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11143 views] Top|| File under:


#2 
Posted by: Grom the Affective || 04/08/2025 2:16 Comments || Top||

#3  For those FEMA employees out there, I would recommend take the buyout while you can.
Just a suggestion.
Posted by: ed in texas || 04/08/2025 14:48 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Starliner's flight to the space station was far wilder than most of us thought
From April 1st.
[ArsTechnica] As it flew up toward the International Space Station last summer, the Starliner spacecraft lost four thrusters. A NASA astronaut, Butch Wilmore, had to take manual control of the vehicle. But as Starliner's thrusters failed, Wilmore lost the ability to move the spacecraft in the direction he wanted to go.

He and his fellow astronaut, Suni Williams, knew where they wanted to go. Starliner had flown to within a stone's throw of the space station, a safe harbor, if only they could reach it. But already, the failure of so many thrusters violated the mission's flight rules. In such an instance, they were supposed to turn around and come back to Earth. Approaching the station was deemed too risky for Wilmore and Williams, aboard Starliner, as well as for the astronauts on the $100 billion space station.

But what if it was not safe to come home, either?

"I don't know that we can come back to Earth at that point," Wilmore said in an interview. "I don't know if we can. And matter of fact, I'm thinking we probably can't."

STARLINER ASTRONAUTS MEET WITH THE MEDIA
On Monday, for the first time since they returned to Earth on a Crew Dragon vehicle two weeks ago, Wilmore and Williams participated in a news conference at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Afterward, they spent hours conducting short, 10-minute interviews with reporters from around the world, describing their mission. I spoke with both of them.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2025 08:42 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11137 views] Top|| File under:


The Return of the Dire Wolf
[Time] Romulus and Remus are doing what puppies do: chasing, tussling, nipping, nuzzling. But there’s something very un-puppylike about the snowy white 6-month olds—their size, for starters. At their young age they already measure nearly 4 ft. long, tip the scales at 80 lb., and could grow to 6 ft. and 150 lb. Then there’s their behavior: the angelic exuberance puppies exhibit in the presence of humans—trotting up for hugs, belly rubs, kisses—is completely absent. They keep their distance, retreating if a person approaches. Even one of the handlers who raised them from birth can get only so close before Romulus and Remus flinch and retreat. This isn’t domestic canine behavior, this is wild lupine behavior: the pups are wolves. Not only that, they’re dire wolves—which means they have cause to be lonely.

The dire wolf once roamed an American range that extended as far south as Venezuela and as far north as Canada, but not a single one has been seen in over 10,000 years, when the species went extinct. Plenty of dire wolf remains have been discovered across the Americas, however, and that presented an opportunity for a company named Colossal Biosciences.

Relying on deft genetic engineering and ancient, preserved DNA, Colossal scientists deciphered the dire wolf genome, rewrote the genetic code of the common gray wolf to match it, and, using domestic dogs as surrogate mothers, brought Romulus, Remus, and their sister, 2-month-old Khaleesi, into the world during three separate births last fall and this winter—effectively for the first time de-extincting a line of beasts whose live gene pool long ago vanished. TIME met the males (Khaleesi was not present due to her young age) at a fenced field in a U.S. wildlife facility on March 24, on the condition that their location remain a secret to protect the animals from prying eyes.

The dire wolf isn’t the only animal that Colossal, which was founded in 2021 and currently employs 130 scientists, wants to bring back. Also on their de-extinction wish list is the woolly mammoth, the dodo, and the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger. Already, in March, the company surprised the science community with the news that it had copied mammoth DNA to create a woolly mouse, a chimeric critter with the long, golden coat and the accelerated fat metabolism of the mammoth.

If all this seems to smack of a P.T. Barnum, the company has a reply. Colossal claims that the same techniques it uses to summon back species from the dead could prevent existing but endangered animals from slipping into extinction themselves. What they learn restoring the mammoth, they say, could help them engineer more robust elephants that can better survive the climatic ravages of a warming world. Bring back the thylacine and you might help preserve the related marsupial known as the quoll. Techniques learned restoring the dire wolf can similarly be used to support the endangered red wolf.

"We are an evolutionary force at this point," says Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s chief science officer, speaking of humanity as a whole. "We are deciding what the future of these species will be." The Center for Biological Diversity suggests that 30% of the planet’s genetic diversity will be lost by 2050, and Shapiro and Colossal CEO Ben Lamm insist that genetic engineering is a vital tool to reverse this. Company executives often frame the technology not just as a moral good, but a moral imperative—a way for humans, who have driven so many species to the brink of extinction, to get square with nature. "If we want a future that is both bionumerous and filled with people," Shapiro says, "we should be giving ourselves the opportunity to see what our big brains can do to reverse some of the bad things that we’ve done to the world already."

The woolly mouse, to a minor extent, and the dire wolves, to a scientifically seismic one, are first steps in that direction. But not everyone agrees. Scientific history is rife with examples of newly introduced species becoming invasive species—the doctrine of unintended consequences biting humans when we played too cute with other animals. An exotic pet escapes and multiplies, decimating native species. A toad brought in to kill off beetles ends up killing off the marsupials that eat the toads. And genetic engineering is still a nascent field. Nearly 30 years after Dolly the sheep was cloned, the technology still produces problems in cloned animals, such as large birth size, organ defects, premature aging, and immune-system problems. What’s more, cloning can be hard on the surrogate mother that gestates the cloned embryo.

"There’s a risk of death. There’s a risk of side effects that are severe," says Robert Klitzman, professor of psychiatry and director of the bioethics master's program at Columbia University. "There’s a lot of suffering involved in that. There are going to be miscarriages."

Still, Colossal’s scientists believe they are on to something powerful. Matt James, the company’s chief animal officer—who once worked as senior director of animal care at the Dallas Zoo and Zoo Miami, where he managed the welfare of 7,000 animals representing 500 species—felt the significance of the science when Romulus and Remus were just 5 or 6 weeks old. The staff was weighing the little pups, and one of the veterinary techs began singing a song from The Little Mermaid. When she reached a point at which she vocalized first up, then down, Romulus and Remus turned her way and began howling in response.

"For me," James says, "it was sort of a shocking, chilling moment." These pups were the first to produce a howl that hadn’t been heard on earth in over 10,000 years.

It takes surprisingly few genetic changes to spell the difference between a living species and an extinct one. Like other canids, a wolf has about 19,000 genes. (Humans and mice have about 30,000.) Creating the dire wolves called for making just 20 edits in 14 genes in the common gray wolf, but those tweaks gave rise to a host of differences, including Romulus’ and Remus’ white coat, larger size, more powerful shoulders, wider head, larger teeth and jaws, more-muscular legs, and characteristic vocalizations, especially howling and whining.

The dire wolf genome analyzed to determine what those changes were was extracted from two ancient samples—one a 13,000-year-old tooth found in Sheridan Pit, Ohio, the other a 72,000-year-old ear bone unearthed in American Falls, Idaho. The samples were lent by the museums that house them. The lab work that happened next was painstaking.

Cloning typically requires snipping a tissue sample from a donor animal and then isolating a single cell. The nucleus of that cell—which contains all of the animal’s DNA—is then extracted and inserted into an ovum whose own nucleus has been removed. That ovum is allowed to develop into an embryo and then implanted in a surrogate mother’s womb. The baby that results from that is an exact genetic duplicate of the original donor animal. This is the way the first cloned animal, Dolly, was created in 1996. Since then, pigs, cats, deer, horses, mice, goats, gray wolves, and more than 1,500 dogs have been cloned using the same technology.

Colossal’s dire wolf work took a less invasive approach, isolating cells not from a tissue sample of a donor gray wolf, but from its blood. The cells they selected are known as endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which form the lining of blood vessels.

The scientists then rewrote the 14 key genes in the cell’s nucleus to match those of the dire wolf; no ancient dire wolf DNA was actually spliced into the gray wolf’s genome. The edited nucleus was then transferred into a denucleated ovum. The scientists produced 45 engineered ova, which were allowed to develop into embryos in the lab. Those embryos were inserted into the wombs of two surrogate hound mixes, chosen mostly for their overall health and, not insignificantly, their size, since they’d be giving birth to large pups. In each mother, one embryo took hold and proceeded to a full-term pregnancy. (No dogs experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth.) On Oct. 1, 2024, the surrogates birthed Romulus and Remus. A few months later, Colossal repeated the procedure with another clutch of embryos and another surrogate mother. On Jan. 30, 2025, that dog gave birth to Khaleesi.

RTWT
Posted by: Beavis || 04/08/2025 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11192 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sorry, this sounds like a REALLY BAD IDEA!!
Posted by: Oregon Dave || 04/08/2025 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Oregon Dave, our ancient ancestors obviously hated them so so much they exterminated them all over their range and long before even "nations" form. Dire Wolfs are a horrible choice to bring back from extinction.
Posted by: 3dc || 04/08/2025 2:31 Comments || Top||

#3  I thought they died out when the megafauna disappeared.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/08/2025 2:36 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm waiting for terror birds.
Posted by: Grom the Affective || 04/08/2025 2:39 Comments || Top||

#5  We have chickens — surely that suffices, Grom.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/08/2025 3:12 Comments || Top||

#6  ^😎
Posted by: Grom the Affective || 04/08/2025 4:45 Comments || Top||

#7  If all this seems to smack of a P.T. Barnum, the company has a reply. Colossal claims that the same techniques it uses to summon back species from the dead could prevent existing but endangered animals from slipping into extinction themselves.

Note well. That will kill the Luddites who've obstructed lots of progress with appeals to emotion for rather preservation of 'rare' species. Over a century ago, the concept of species meant one that could mate and reproduce a viable offspring rather than a sterile offspring. Now mere coloring or slight variation in bone structure seems to justify a newly defined species.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/08/2025 6:59 Comments || Top||

#8  Dire Wolfs are a horrible choice to bring back from extinction.

Giants.
Bring back the giants.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2025 7:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Can you pet them?
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/08/2025 8:19 Comments || Top||

#10 
Posted by: Frank G || 04/08/2025 8:20 Comments || Top||

#11  Have these people not seen Jurassic Park? At least they haven't+ brought back a Velociraptor...as far as we know...
Posted by: Warthog || 04/08/2025 9:58 Comments || Top||

#12  When I awoke, the dire wolf
600 pounds of sin
Was grinning at my window
All I said was, "Come on in"
The wolf came in, I got my cards
We sat down for a game
I cut my deck to the Queen of Spades
But the cards were all the same
Posted by: 746 || 04/08/2025 12:14 Comments || Top||

#13  ...if you saw the original 'V' series, I suspect a number of Lefty congresscitters maybe.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/08/2025 12:14 Comments || Top||

#14  Actually, bring back the Auroch so we can taste what our ancestors loved to eat
Posted by: 3dc || 04/08/2025 12:53 Comments || Top||

#15  ^Aurochs: back from extinction to rewild Europe
Posted by: Grom the Affective || 04/08/2025 13:11 Comments || Top||

#16  Next week: the Dire Wolf/Poodle breed. A Dirfapoodle, if you will.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/08/2025 17:57 Comments || Top||

#17  I believe Goering (yeah, him) was involved in a scheme to bring those back to, Grom
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 04/08/2025 18:03 Comments || Top||

#18  At least they haven't+ brought back a Velociraptor...as far as we know...

That would be paleo-dude Jack Horner's Dino Chicken project to genetically reverse engineer a chicken into a dinosaur.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/08/2025 22:44 Comments || Top||



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