This is a little old, but I’m catching up on email.  Jeb Bush’s cronies have downgraded manatees from "Endangered" to "Threatened," over the objections of knowledgable scientists.

The most likely result?  More dead manatees, and very possibly long-term extinction, courtesy the Bush family.

Thanks to Slim for the tip.

UPDATE: Alert reader Paul points us to a recent Carl Hiaasen article in the Miami Herald for more.

Some people look at the way Easter Islanders destroyed themselves by deforesting their own land completely and wonder, "what the hell were they possibly thinking?"

I don’t wonder at all.  The answer is in the newspaper.  Every goddam day.