Politics

This Tiny Fish’s Mistaken Identity Halted a Dam’s Construction

Published

1 year ago

January 3, 2025

This Tiny Fish’s Mistaken Identity Halted a Dam’s Construction

For such a tiny fish, the snail darter has haunted Tennessee. It was the endangered species that swam its way to the Supreme Court in a vitriolic battle during the 1970s that temporarily blocked the construction of a dam.

On Friday, a team of researchers argued that the fish was a phantom all along.

“There is, technically, no snail darter,” said Thomas Near, curator of ichthyology at the Yale Peabody Museum.

Dr. Near, also a professor who leads a fish biology lab at Yale, and his colleagues report in the journal Current Biology that the snail darter, Percina tanasi, is neither a distinct species nor a subspecies. Rather, it is an eastern population of Percina uranidea, known also as the stargazing darter, which is not considered endangered.

Dr. Near contends that early researchers “squinted their eyes a bit” when describing the fish, because it represented a way to fight the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to build the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River, about 20 miles southwest of Knoxville.

“I feel it was the first and probably the most famous example of what I would call the ‘conservation species concept,’ where people are going to decide a species should be distinct because it will have a downstream conservation implication,” Dr. Near said.

The T.V.A. began building the Tellico Dam in 1967. Environmentalists, lawyers, farmers and the Cherokee, whose archaeological sites faced flooding, were eager to halt the project. In August 1973, they stumbled upon a solution.

David Etnier, a dam opponent and a zoologist at the University of Tennessee, went snorkeling with students in the Little Tennessee River at Coytee Spring, not far from Tellico. There, they found a fish on the river bottom that Dr. Etnier said he had never seen before, and he named it the snail darter.

The fish became a “David” to pit against “Goliath” — because if it were to be protected under the Endangered Species Act, the dam’s construction would be blocked.

“Here’s a little fish that might save your farm,” Dr. Etnier told a local farmer, according to the book “The Snail Darter and the Dam,” by Zygmunt Plater, an emeritus law professor at Boston College.

Elected officials were eager to finish the dam, and grew increasingly frustrated.

“This two-inch fish, which surely kept the lowest profile of all God’s creatures until a few years ago, has been the bane of my existence and the nemesis of what I fondly hoped would be my golden years,” Senator Howard H. Baker Jr., of Tennessee said about the snail darter in 1979.

That year, Representative John Duncan Sr., a Tennessee Republican, also described the snail darter as a “worthless, unsightly, minute, inedible minnow.”

After the Supreme Court upheld the protection of the snail darter, President Jimmy Carter signed a bill that exempted the Tellico Dam from the Endangered Species Act. The dam began operating in 1979.

Jeffrey Simmons, an author of the study who formerly worked as a biologist at the T.V.A., discovered what appeared to be snail darters in 2015 on the border of Alabama and Mississippi, far from the Tellico Dam.

“Holy crap, do you know what this is?” Mr. Simmons said to a colleague in the creek that day.

Mr. Simmons knew it shouldn’t be there if it were truly a snail darter.

Ava Ghezelayagh, now at the University of Chicago, and colleagues conducted analysis of the fish’s DNA and compared snail darter physical traits with other fish. That led to confirmation that it was a match with the stargazing darter.

Dr. Plater, who also argued successfully for the fish in the Supreme Court case, took issue with the Yale study. He said the approach favored by Dr. Near and colleagues makes them genetic “lumpers” instead of “splitters,” meaning they reduce species instead of making more. He believes the findings also lean too heavily on genetics.

“Whether he intends it or not, lumping is a great way to cut back on the Endangered Species Act,” Dr. Plater said of Dr. Near.

Dr. Near said being described as a “lumper” was a pejorative in his world, and he added that most of the research he and colleagues had performed had resulted in speciation splits, including a 2022 study.

“The work strengthens the Endangered Species Act, because it shows how science can be revised with additional information and newer perspectives,” he said. “The methods we use in this study are leading to the discovery of scores of new species, many of which are more endangered.”

Decades after the Tellico Dam battle, the fish formerly known as the snail darter is thriving. It left the endangered species list in 2020.

“This is still a success story,” Mr. Simmons said. “Its listing under the Endangered Species Act worked, regardless of what you call this fish.”

While Mr. Duncan died in 1988, his son, former Representative John J. Duncan Jr., known as Jimmy, said his father would have felt vindicated.

“He felt the project should have never been stopped by that little snail darter,” he said.

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Politics

Schumer gambit fails as DHS shutdown hits 36 days and airport lines grow

Published

2 hours ago

March 21, 2026

Press Room

Schumer gambit fails as DHS shutdown hits 36 days and airport lines grow

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Senate Republicans blocked an attempt by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to only pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers as the Homeland Security shutdown drags on.

Despite being in the minority and not controlling the Senate floor, Schumer used an arcane tactic to force a procedural vote to allow the Senate to get onto the bill in Democrats’ move to shift the narrative of the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.

“It is unacceptable for workers and travelers and entire airports to get taken hostage in political games,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “But that’s what the Republicans are doing. It is unacceptable to say we will only pay TSA workers if it is attached to a bill that funds ICE with no reforms, but that’s what the Republicans have been doing.”

GOP SENATOR’S GAMBIT EXPOSES FALSE DEM CLAIMS ABOUT SUPPORTING VOTER ID

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., forced a rarely used procedural tactic to pay TSA workers, which Senate Republicans blocked in their quest to fully reopen DHS. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

The shutdown entered its 36th day on Saturday as the ongoing partial closure hurtles toward matching the record-breaking full government shutdown from last year. Schumer’s failed gambit follows increasingly long wait times at airports as thousands of TSA agents go without pay.

Senate Democrats have dug in deep in their demands for stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and have so far refused to reopen the agency or temporarily extend funding to end the closure until they get what they want.

Senate Republicans and the White House made a new compromise offer to Democrats on Friday night after an open letter from the administration on several reforms to immigration operations was revealed earlier this week. The letter spurred two back-to-back meetings on Capitol Hill with Republicans, Democrats and administration officials.

THUNE ACCUSES CRITICS OF ‘CREATING FALSE EXPECTATIONS’ AMID BACKLASH OVER STALLED SAVE AMERICA ACT

Travelers wait in line at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Whether they accept that offer or counter remains in the air for now. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who was in the meeting, said that she hoped there would be another soon.

“That will be up to them, but I hope so,” Britt said.

Still, Republicans tried and failed for a fifth time to fully reopen the agency on Friday. In the background, there have been several attempts by Senate Democrats to move forward with standalone funding bills — like Schumer’s gambit — to open parts of DHS, save for immigration enforcement.

DHS SHUTDOWN TIED FOR SECOND-LONGEST EVER AS DEMS AGAIN BLOCK FUNDING AMID AIRPORT CHAOS, TERRORISM CONCERNS

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during the Senate Republicans’ news conference in the Ohio Clock Corridor in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Time is also running out for lawmakers to find middle ground on reopening the agency, given that they are set to leave Washington, D.C., for a two-week break at the end of next week.

At a press conference earlier Saturday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital that it’d be “very, very hard to explain if we leave town this next week without having funded the Department of Homeland Security.”

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“At some point the Democrats are going to be held accountable for this,” Thune said.

“I know they think it’s, as has been described by one of their leaders, ‘very serene, very serene’ with their position,” he continued. “Well, I’m telling you something, the people who are sitting in those lines at the airports right now don’t see it as very serene. This needs to be resolved.”

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

Politics

California considers restrictions on social media for kids

Published

2 hours ago

March 21, 2026

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California considers restrictions on social media for kids

Meta, YouTube and Snapchat are already under scrutiny for risks they pose for young people. Now they are facing another hurdle in their home state.

California lawmakers are considering legislation to restrict social media use for teens and children under 16 years old. Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and others introduced a bipartisan bill that would bar social media platforms from allowing users under 16 years old from creating or maintaining accounts.

The legislation comes amid mounting concerns about how social networks impact the mental health of young people. Anxiety among parents and lawmakers has heightened as platforms and AI chatbots become more intertwined with people’s daily life.

Last month, tech executives, including Meta’s chief executive and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, testified in a landmark trial in Los Angeles over a lawsuit that alleges social media is addictive and harms children.

The trial centers on whether tech companies such as Instagram, which is owned by Meta, and YouTube can be held liable for allegedly promoting a harmful product and addicting users to their platforms.

California has passed legislation before aimed at making social media platforms and chatbots safer but faced pushback from tech industry groups that have sued to stop new laws from taking effect. Tech companies are have responded by releasing more parental controls and restrictions for young users.

Other countries have been moving forward with restrictions on social media. Last year, Australia barred children under 16 years old from having social media accounts.

TechNet, whose members include Meta and Google, said in a statement that it hasn’t taken a position on the California bill but doesn’t believe a ban will effectively achieve the Legislature’s goal’s.

“We support balanced, evidence-based solutions that strengthen protections for young people, equip parents with meaningful tools, and ensure accountability across platforms. Our companies have made significant investments in teen safety and parental controls, and we remain committed to building on that progress,” said Robert Boykin, TechNet Executive Director for California and the Southwest in a statement.

The use of social media by young people has divided tech executives.

Pinterest Chief Executive Bill Ready wrote in an op-ed in TIME published on Friday that governments should follow Australia’s lead and ban social media for kids under 16 years old if tech companies don’t prioritize safety.

“Social media, as it’s configured today, is not safe for young people under 16,” he said.”Instead, it’s been designed to maximize view time, keeping kids glued to a screen with little regard for their well-being.”

Lowenthal’s bill cited social media’s dangers such as “exposure to harmful content, compulsive use patterns, exploitation, and adverse impacts on mental health and well-being.”

“Existing age-based restrictions that rely primarily on user self-attestation have proven ineffective and place an unreasonable burden on children and families rather than on the entities that design, operate, and profit from social media platforms,” the bill states.

A spokesman for Lowenthal didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Politics

NYC Mayor Mamdani’s wife glorified terrorists in online posts, criticized US military: report

Published

14 hours ago

March 21, 2026

Press Room

NYC Mayor Mamdani’s wife glorified terrorists in online posts, criticized US military: report

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The wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reportedly celebrated terrorists in a series of social media posts as a teenager and young adult as scrutiny over her online history continues.

In September 2017, Rama Duwaji posted a photo on her Tumblr account of Leila Khaled, longtime active leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who participated in two plane hijackings in 1969 and 1970.

“If it does good for my cause, I’ll be happy to accept death,” the caption said.

CITY-RUN BOARD CANCELS LEASE OF ISRAEL DRONE SUPPLIER, SPARKING BACKLASH TOWARD MAMDANI: ‘LUDICROUS’

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and wife Rama Duwaji wave after his ceremonial inauguration as mayor at City Hall Jan. 1 in New York. Duwaji has come under scrutiny over her past social media posts criticizing Israel. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Khaled is the first woman to hijack an airplane and is revered by terrorists for her role in the crimes.

Many of her posts were made in her early 20s, the Washing Free Beacon reported, noting that Duwaji, now 28, spent her early childhood in New Jersey before moving with her family to Dubai.

In March 2015, when she was 17, Duwaji reposted a tweet on International Women’s Day praising the terrorist Shadia Abu Ghazaleh. An image in the post shows Ghazaleh, who participated in the bombing of an Israeli bus and led several other terrorist attacks.

The image showed her posing with a rifle. She was killed in 1968 when a bomb she was building in her home accidentally exploded. The device that killed her was allegedly intended to blow up a building in Tel Aviv.

Other posts include someone wearing keffiyeh clothing while sewing a flag.

“Photography: ‘A Palestinian demonstrator sews a Palestinian Liberation Organization flag before a protest during the first Intifada’, February, 1988,” the caption says.

Another showed a Bangladeshi postage stamp that said, “We salute the valiant freedom fighters of Palestine.”

A July 2015 post criticized the U.S. military presence abroad.

“*taps mic* American soldiers fighting in imperialist wars are not brave nor are they fighting for anyone’s freedom,” the post said. “They are mercilessly slaughtering 3rd world civilians and fighting to maintain American hegemony. That is all, thank you! *drops mic*”

ISRAEL ACCUSES MAMDANI OF POURING ‘ANTISEMITIC GASOLINE’ AFTER HE REVOKES ADAMS EXECUTIVE ORDERS

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, administers the oath of office to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, right, as Rama Duwaji, center, holds the Quran during Mamdani’s inauguration ceremony, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (Andres Kudacki/AP Photo)

Later that same year, Duwaji reposted a Tumblr user.

“You can’t blame muslims for terrorism because they didn’t construct, fund nor train Al-Qaeda,” the user wrote. “White People did that too.”

In another 2015 post, she reposted a criticism of Snapchat for adding Tel Aviv to its live story feature.

“But in all reality, @Snapchat has disappointed me. F*** #TelAviv. Shouldn’t exist in the first place. They’re occupiers. You celebrate them,” a post retweeted by Duwaji said.

“And finally. Hey @Snapchat, as you give Israelis an outlet to celebrate their atrocities, youre supporting a genocidal state. Bye. #TelAviv.”

Duwaji, who was born in Houston and identifies as Syrian, married Mamdani in 2025,. She drew national attention after revelations she liked several posts in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack that were critical of Israel.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani stands on stage with wife Rama Duwaji after he was ceremonially sworn in as New York City’s 112th mayor at City Hall. (Getty Images)

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On the day of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, Duwaji liked an Instagram post showing images from participants who livestreamed footage of the onslaught, which left 1,200 Israelis dead, including young children.

She also allegedly liked a February 2024 Instagram post claiming The New York Times’ investigation into sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attack was “fabricated,”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the mayor’s office.