Latest news with #MichaelBailey
Business Insider
27-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
I paid $18.65 for an Etsy witch spell in hopes that 'extreme luck' could help me land an NYC apartment with laundry
I opted against the demonic misfortune curse. Sure, my seatmate on a recent flight made the regrettable decision to eat a whole fried chicken, but she doesn't deserve supernatural torment. It also wasn't worth the $40 price tag. I'm admittedly new to commissioning magic off of Etsy, a website I typically browse to pine after expensive home decor. I'm not big on ghosts, paranormal activity, or superstition. I am, however, curious. The Etsy witches are busy these days. Social media is peppered with people offering spells, testifying about their successful spiritual cleansings, and parodying mystic rituals. The US psychic services industry was worth over $2 billion last year, and that's projected to grow to $4.5 billion by 2033, largely due to online interest. If that projection is right, it's more than Americans spend on dog walking services today, but less than they spend on nail salons. While the recent success of digital hexes could be a sign that people are bored and leaning into internet trends, it also hints at something more serious. "Magic is among the things that people turn to when things are becoming uncontrollable, when things are becoming uncertain, when you know the normal methods you use to shore up your life and provide some certainty don't seem to be working anymore," Michael Bailey, a history professor at Iowa State University who specializes in medieval Europe and witchcraft, told me. I can empathize with that. I, too, have a lot of worries about my future and the world. So I spent $18.65 (plus tax) on a spell to bring me extreme luck. I'm not feeling especially unlucky right now — I have many people that I love, and my boss lets me write things like this during work hours. But it seemed like a reasonable price for some extra good fortune, and I would really like a New York City apartment with laundry in the building. Etsy witches work their magic on your career or love life for prices ranging from $4 to $400 Jamie Mejia, 31, lives in Miami and swears by her Etsy witch results. About a month ago, she enlisted one for a reading about her love life, which cost her about $5 for each question she asked. Mejia had sensed that her partner wasn't ready to commit to a serious relationship, a feeling the witch validated. She said it brought her the closure she needed to end things. When she returned for a second reading, Mejia received good news: 2026 will be a big year for her career and personal life. For prices that range from $4 to $400, the Etsy witches offer anything I might need. I could increase my chances for long-lasting beauty, a dream job, money, protection, warm weather, a perfect wedding, or a loyal sugar daddy. I could inspire an ex to call me or motivate a crush to ask me on a date. Curses were also on the table, including promises of "revenge, pain, and suffering" for my enemies, along with the aforementioned demonic misfortune. Most of the spells, including mine, had extra-long wait times due to a "high volume of requests." I chose to ignore the flood of AI-generated images of the alleged witches: several silvery-haired wrinkled women that didn't look quite human, videos of a sage cleansing ritual where the hand had extra fingers, and perfectly-arranged altars that were too good to be true. It seemed weird that many of the spells were on sale — is it possible to find your soulmate at a discount? For the purposes of this story, it was important that I trust the process. It's worth noting that magic has been banned on Etsy since the mid-2010s. Most of the sellers have disclaimers that their work is for entertainment purposes only. A representative for Etsy didn't respond to my request for comment. Based on the thousands of positive reviews and plentiful social media testimonials, however, there are true believers among the internet-magic curious. "Part of me obviously has lost faith when it comes to relationships, so knowing that it gave me a little bit of hope," Mejia said, adding, "I don't think it's fake, I think it's real." Turning to the mystical when other avenues to success seem blocked Meija told me that she's turning to witches to manifest companionship and job security in a tough market for both. Assuming most of the Etsy reviews are written by real people, she isn't alone. Many of the sellers have thousands of reviews and average between 4.5 and 5 stars. Some happy customers said spells helped them pass an exam, land a new role, dismiss a traffic ticket, have a sunny bachelorette weekend, or feel a little bit less stressed. Most said they are still eagerly awaiting their results. In the most recently available 2017 Pew survey of American adults, 41% of respondents said they believed in psychics, 42% said they thought spiritual energy could be located in physical things, and 29% said they believed in astrology. A 2019 IPSOS survey also found that nearly half of respondents said they believed in ghosts. My colleague Emily Stewart wrote about this last summer: It isn't new that people are willing to shell out money on magic. But the latest success of Etsy witches may be a sign of the times. Americans of all ages have told Business Insider in recent months that they're frustrated by long job searches, feeling nervous about finances, or holding off on big life decisions like having babies and starting a business because the economy feels unpredictable. Consumer sentiment markers dipped in July, and employees are less confident in their companies lately. Another Pew survey conducted last September found that 16% of adults feel lonely all or most of the time, with higher rates among Gen Z and millennials. Bailey said he isn't surprised that people are keen for an extra chance at financial stability, love, and relationships right now. "When you're feeling particularly uncertain, you're more inclined to the 'try anything' approach," he said, adding that magic has long been a way people try to "swing the odds in their favor." Thirty-six hours after I submitted my order, my witch sent me photo proof that my spell had been cast: an altar with a brightly-lit green candle, some crystals, and a couple of tarot cards. Over DM on the Etsy website, she told me I have "powerful support from the Universe," and the "The Luck Alignment Ritual" has been activated, "so it is done, Amen." All she needed from me was my birthday, two sentences about my intention, and a working credit card. We never talked, and I don't know what she looks like. That seems to be the case for most witches: you can order luck off the internet with a transaction that looks a lot like buying a Shein haul or bowl of DoorDashed pad thai. The whole thing felt spooky, and I'm not convinced Etsy magic is the healthiest way to cope with anxiety. But if I find an affordable apartment with laundry, I might be willing to credit divine intervention.
USA Today
10-07-2025
- Health
- USA Today
The government plans to drop a horde of flies over Texas border. Here's why.
By dropping the sterile, fully developed flies, the USDA plans to prevent flesh-eating maggots from reaching the United States. Here's how. The United States plans to bring back a somewhat shocking, but very effective, campaign to fight a flesh-eating parasitic fly that's been sighted in Mexico. The plan: Breed millions of sterilized flies and drop them over the Texas-Mexican border to protect the more than $100 billion U.S. cattle and beef industry from the New World screwworm. "This can kill a thousand-pound cow in two weeks," said Dr. Michael Bailey, president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association. "The federal government is being very aggressive in working to contain this." It's not as crazy as it sounds. A similar effort worked well decades ago. As the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a release, "The U.S. has defeated NWS before and can successfully do it again." The effort works by sterilizing male screwworm flies so that when they mate with females the resulting eggs are infertile. Over time so few fertile eggs are created that the fly is eradicated altogether. An effort across the United States, Mexico and Central America that began in the 1950s was so successful this flying menace was totally eradicated north of Panama, except for a few tiny outbreaks. The U.S control program cost $32 million and was ended in the 1960s. But this past November, Mexico's Chief Veterinary Officer notified the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that a New World screwworm had been found in a cow in southern Mexico close to the border with Guatemala. This set off blazing alarm bells for the entire U.S. cattle and beef industry. So once again, USDA is ramping up its protective program to blanket the potential path of this reemerging threat onto the United States with a rain of sterile males to stop what USDA calls "a devastating pest." What is the New World Screwworm? So far, the screwworms have only been seen in Mexico. "We have not seen any screwworms cross over the border into the U.S. and we're trying hard to prevent that," said Bailey. By dropping the sterile, fully developed flies, the USDA plans to keep the maggots from ever reaching the border. The New World Screwworm, or the NWS for short, is about the size common housefly. It has orange eyes, a metallic blue or green body and three dark stripes along their backs, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The fly gets its name for how its maggots feed on the living flesh of an animal by burrowing, or screwing, into an open wound, creating "extensive damage by tearing at the hosts' tissue with sharp mouth hooks," the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service states. This results in long, deep wounds in the surrounding flesh that are also susceptible to secondary bacterial infections, causing severe pain, and potentially death if left untreated. Livestock, pets and wildlife are all threatened, as are humans in rare cases. "To give you the heebie-jeebies, you can actually see the skin moving. And it smells rank," said Bailey. Animals at greatest risk include those that have recently given birth, have open wounds, or have undergone surgery or management procedures such as dehorning or branding, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. It's dangerous enough that veterinarians are urged to wear disposable gloves when treating affected animals. How do sterile male flies help? The screwworm first became a significant problem in the United States in 1933, according to the USDA. By the early 1960s, Southeast cattle producers had lost between $50-$100 million because of screwworm infestations. Beginning in the 1950s, the federal government established the Sterile Insect Technique, a method that utilized radiation to sterilize male flies. These mass-produced sterile males were released into target areas. They mated with females, resulting in unfertilized eggs. No fertile eggs meant no more screwworms. Similar programs have been created to release sterile mosquitos. The screwworm program was a stunning success. The insect was officially eradicated in the United States by 1966, at a cost of $32 million to complete – protecting the U.S. cattle and beef industry, worth more than $80 billion today. With the screwworm's return to Mexico, USDA on June 18 announced the launch an $8.5 million sterile fly dispersal facility in South Texas. It's anticipated to begin producing sterile males by the end of the year. In addition, USDA is working with Mexico to begin producing sterile screwworms. The agency is investing $21 million to renovate an existing fruit fly production facility in Metapa, Mexico. It will be able to produce between 60 and 100 million sterile flies each week within a year. It's the first step toward producing the estimated 400 to 500 million flies needed each week to re-establish the new New World Screwworm barrier at the Darien Gap at the border of Panama and Columbia – and stop the movement of the flies. Pets, especially dogs, are vulnerable to the screwworm Wildlife, including deer, are vulnerable to the maggots as are pets – and especially dogs. "There's a treatment availalbe, but it takes several days in quarantine if a dog comes down with this," Bailey said. The treatment can only be used in non-food animals, which is why cattle simply have to be euthanized if they're infected. The goal is for the new effort will stop the screwworms long before they threaten the United States again. "Hopefully, this becomes another 'I remember when' story for veterinarians," Bailey said. Contributing: John Bacon, David Baratz, Greta Cross, Janet Loehrke, George Petras and Mike Snider.
The Herald Scotland
10-07-2025
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
US to fight New World screwworm by dropping millions of flies
"This can kill a thousand-pound cow in two weeks," said Dr. Michael Bailey, president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association. "The federal government is being very aggressive in working to contain this." It's not as crazy as it sounds. A similar effort worked well decades ago. As the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a release, "The U.S. has defeated NWS before and can successfully do it again." The effort works by sterilizing male screwworm flies so that when they mate with females the resulting eggs are infertile. Over time so few fertile eggs are created that the fly is eradicated altogether. An effort across the U.S., Mexico and Central America that began in the 1950s was so successful this flying menace was totally eradicated north of Panama, except for a few tiny outbreaks. The U.S control program cost $32 million and was ended in the 1960s. But this past November, Mexico's Chief Veterinary Officer notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that a New World screwworm had been found in a cow in southern Mexico close to the border with Guatemala. This set off blazing alarm bells for the entire U.S. cattle and beef industry. So once again, USDA is ramping up its protective program to blanket the potential path of this reemerging threat onto the United States with a rain of sterile males to stop what USDA calls "a devastating pest." What is the New World Screwworm? So far the screwworms have only been seen in Mexico. "We have not seen any screwworms cross over the border into the U.S. and we're trying hard to prevent that," said Bailey. By dropping the sterile, fully developed flies, the USDA plans to keep the maggots from ever reaching the border. The New World Screwworm, or the NWS for short, is about the size common housefly. It has orange eyes, a metallic blue or green body and three dark stripes along their backs, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The fly gets its name for how its maggots feed on the living flesh of an animal by burrowing, or screwing, into an open wound, creating "extensive damage by tearing at the hosts' tissue with sharp mouth hooks," the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service states. This results in long, deep wounds in the surrounding flesh that are also susceptible to secondary bacterial infections, causing severe pain, and potentially death if left untreated. Livestock, pets and wildlife are all threatened, as are humans in rare cases. "To give you the heebie-jeebies, you can actually see the skin moving. And it smells rank," said Bailey. Animals at greatest risk include those that have recently given birth, have open wounds, or have undergone surgery or management procedures such as dehorning or branding, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. It's dangerous enough that veterinarians are urged to wear disposable gloves when treating affected animals. How do sterile male flies help? The screwworm first became a significant problem in the United States in 1933, according to the USDA. By the early 1960s, Southeast cattle producers had lost between $50-100 million because of screwworm infestations. Beginning in the 1950s, the federal government established the Sterile Insect Technique, a method that utilized radiation to sterilize male flies. These mass-produced sterile males were released into target areas. They mated with females, resulting in unfertilized eggs. No fertile eggs meant no more screwworms. Similar programs have been created to release sterile mosquitos. The screwworm program was a stunning success. The insect was officially eradicated in the United States by 1966, at a cost of $32 million to complete - protecting the U.S. cattle and beef industry, worth more than $80 billion today. With the screwworm's return to Mexico, USDA on June 18 announced the launch an $8.5 million sterile fly dispersal facility in South Texas. It's anticipated to begin producing sterile males by the end of the year. In addition, USDA is working with Mexico to begin producing sterile screwworms. The agency is investing $21 million to renovate an existing fruit fly production facility in Metapa, Mexico. It will be able to produce between 60 and 100 million sterile flies each week within a year. It's the first step towards producing the estimated 400 to 500 million flies needed each week to re-establish the new New World Screwworm barrier at the Darien Gap at the border of Panama and Columbia - and stop the movement of the flies. Pets, especially dogs, are vulnerable to the screwworm Wildlife, including deer, are vulnerable to the maggots as are pets - and especially dogs. "There's a treatment availalbe, but it takes several days in quarantine if a dog comes down with this," Bailey said. The treatment can only be used in non-food animals, which is why cattle simply have to be euthanized if they're infected. The goal is for the new effort will stop the screwworms long before they threaten the United States again. "Hopefully this becomes another 'I remember when' story for veterinarians," said Bailey. Contributing: John Bacon, David Baratz, Greta Cross, Janet Loehrke, George Petras and Mike Snider.
USA Today
09-07-2025
- Science
- USA Today
The US plans to drop millions of flies at the Texas border to fight a flesh-eating maggot
By dropping the sterile, fully developed flies, the USDA plans to prevent flesh-eating maggots from reaching the United States. Here's how. The United States plans to bring back a somewhat shocking, but very effective, campaign to fight a flesh-eating parasitic fly that's been sighted in Mexico. The plan: Breed millions of sterilized flies and drop them over the Texas-Mexican border to protect the more than $100 billion U.S. cattle and beef industry from the New World screwworm (NWS). "This can kill a thousand-pound cow in two weeks," said Dr. Michael Bailey, president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association. "The federal government is being very aggressive in working to contain this." It's not as crazy as it sounds. A similar effort worked well decades ago. As the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a release, "The U.S. has defeated NWS before and can successfully do it again." The effort works by sterilizing male screwworm flies so that when they mate with females the resulting eggs are infertile. Over time so few fertile eggs are created that the fly is eradicated altogether. An effort across the U.S., Mexico and Central America that began in the 1950s was so successful this flying menace was totally eradicated north of Panama, except for a few tiny outbreaks. The U.S control program cost $32 million and was ended in the 1960s. But this past November, Mexico's Chief Veterinary Officer notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that a New World screwworm had been found in a cow in southern Mexico close to the border with Guatemala. This set off blazing alarm bells for the entire U.S. cattle and beef industry. So once again, USDA is ramping up its protective program to blanket the potential path of this reemerging threat onto the United States with a rain of sterile males to stop what USDA calls "a devastating pest." What is the New World Screwworm? So far the screwworms have only been seen in Mexico. "We have not seen any screwworms cross over the border into the U.S. and we're trying hard to prevent that," said Bailey. By dropping the sterile, fully developed flies, the USDA plans to keep the maggots from ever reaching the border. The New World Screwworm, or the NWS for short, is about the size common housefly. It has orange eyes, a metallic blue or green body and three dark stripes along their backs, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The fly gets its name for how its maggots feed on the living flesh of an animal by burrowing, or screwing, into an open wound, creating "extensive damage by tearing at the hosts' tissue with sharp mouth hooks," the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service states. This results in long, deep wounds in the surrounding flesh that are also susceptible to secondary bacterial infections, causing severe pain, and potentially death if left untreated. Livestock, pets and wildlife are all threatened, as are humans in rare cases. "To give you the heebie-jeebies, you can actually see the skin moving. And it smells rank," said Bailey. Animals at greatest risk include those that have recently given birth, have open wounds, or have undergone surgery or management procedures such as dehorning or branding, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. It's dangerous enough that veterinarians are urged to wear disposable gloves when treating affected animals. How do sterile male flies help? The screwworm first became a significant problem in the United States in 1933, according to the USDA. By the early 1960s, Southeast cattle producers had lost between $50-100 million because of screwworm infestations. Beginning in the 1950s, the federal government established the Sterile Insect Technique, a method that utilized radiation to sterilize male flies. These mass-produced sterile males were released into target areas. They mated with females, resulting in unfertilized eggs. No fertile eggs meant no more screwworms. Similar programs have been created to release sterile mosquitos. The screwworm program was a stunning success. The insect was officially eradicated in the United States by 1966, at a cost of $32 million to complete – protecting the U.S. cattle and beef industry, worth more than $80 billion today. With the screwworm's return to Mexico, USDA on June 18 announced the launch an $8.5 million sterile fly dispersal facility in South Texas. It's anticipated to begin producing sterile males by the end of the year. In addition, USDA is working with Mexico to begin producing sterile screwworms. The agency is investing $21 million to renovate an existing fruit fly production facility in Metapa, Mexico. It will be able to produce between 60 and 100 million sterile flies each week within a year. It's the first step towards producing the estimated 400 to 500 million flies needed each week to re-establish the new New World Screwworm barrier at the Darien Gap at the border of Panama and Columbia – and stop the movement of the flies. Pets, especially dogs, are vulnerable to the screwworm Wildlife, including deer, are vulnerable to the maggots as are pets – and especially dogs. "There's a treatment availalbe, but it takes several days in quarantine if a dog comes down with this," Bailey said. The treatment can only be used in non-food animals, which is why cattle simply have to be euthanized if they're infected. The goal is for the new effort will stop the screwworms long before they threaten the United States again. "Hopefully this becomes another 'I remember when' story for veterinarians," said Bailey. Contributing: John Bacon, David Baratz, Greta Cross, Janet Loehrke, George Petras and Mike Snider.
Yomiuri Shimbun
09-07-2025
- Science
- Yomiuri Shimbun
U.S. Plans to Begin Breeding Billions of Flies to Fight Pest
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The U.S. government is preparing to breed billions of flies and dump them out of airplanes over Mexico and southern Texas to fight a flesh-eating maggot. That sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but it is part of the government's plans for protecting the U.S. from a bug that could devastate its beef industry, decimate wildlife and even kill household pets. This weird science has worked well before. 'It's an exceptionally good technology,' said Edwin Burgess, an assistant professor at the University of Florida who studies parasites in animals, particularly livestock. 'It's an all-time great in terms of translating science to solve some kind of large problem.' The targeted pest is the flesh-eating larva of the New World Screwworm fly. The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to ramp up the breeding and distribution of adult male flies — sterilizing them with radiation before releasing them — so they can mate ineffectively with females and over time cause the population to die out. It is more effective and environmentally friendly than spraying the pest into oblivion, and it is how the U.S. and other nations north of Panama eradicated the same pest decades ago. Sterile flies from a factory in Panama kept the flies contained there for years, but the pest appeared in southern Mexico late last year. The USDA expects a new screwworm fly factory to be up and running in southern Mexico by July 2026. It plans to open a fly distribution center in southern Texas by the end of the year so that it can import and distribute flies from Panama if necessary. Fly feeds on live flesh Most fly larvae feed on dead flesh, making the New World screwworm fly and its Old World counterpart in Asia and Africa outliers — and for the American beef industry, a serious threat. Females lay their eggs in wounds and, sometimes, exposed mucus. 'A thousand-pound bovine can be dead from this in two weeks,' said Michael Bailey, president elect of the American Veterinary Medicine Association. Veterinarians have effective treatments for infested animals, but an infestation can still be unpleasant — and cripple an animal with pain. Don Hineman, a retired western Kansas rancher, recalled infected cattle as a youngster on his family's farm. 'It smelled nasty,' he said. 'Like rotting meat.' Using the fly's biology against it The New World screwworm fly is a tropical species, unable to survive Midwestern or Great Plains winters, so it was a seasonal scourge. Still, the U.S. and Mexico bred and released more than 94 billion sterile flies from 1962 through 1975 to eradicate the pest, according to the USDA. The numbers need to be large enough that females in the wild can't help but hook up with sterile males for mating. One biological trait gives fly fighters a crucial wing up: Females mate only once in their weekslong adult lives. Why U.S. wants to breed more flies Alarmed about the fly's migration north, the U.S. temporarily closed its southern border in May to imports of live cattle, horses and bison and it won't be fully open again at least until mid-September. But female flies can lay their eggs in wounds on any warm-blooded animal, and that includes humans. Decades ago, the U.S. had fly factories in Florida and Texas, but they closed as the pest was eradicated. The Panama fly factory can breed up to 117 million a week, but the USDA wants the capacity to breed at least 400 million a week. It plans to spend $8.5 million on the Texas site and $21 million to convert a facility in southern Mexico for breeding sterile fruit flies into one for screwworm flies. Raising hundreds of millions of flies In one sense, raising a large colony of flies is relatively easy, said Cassandra Olds, an assistant professor of entomology at Kansas State University. But, she added, 'You've got to give the female the cues that she needs to lay her eggs, and then the larvae have to have enough nutrients.' Fly factories once fed larvae horse meat and honey and then moved to a mix of dried eggs and either honey or molasses, according to past USDA research. Later, the Panama factory used a mix that included egg powder and red blood cells and plasma from cattle. In the wild, larvae ready for the equivalent of a butterfly's cocoon stage drop off their hosts and onto the ground, burrow just below the surface and grow to adulthood inside a protective casing making them resemble a dark brown Tic Tac mint. In the Panama factory, workers drop them into trays of sawdust. Security is an issue. Sonja Swiger, an entomologist with Texas A&M University's Extension Service, said a breeding facility must prevent any fertile adults kept for breeding stock from escaping. How to drop flies from airplane Dropping flies from the air can be dangerous. Last month, a plane freeing sterile flies crashed near Mexico's border with Guatemala, killing three people. In test runs in the 1950s, according to the USDA, scientists put the flies in paper cups and then dropped the cups out of planes using special chutes. Later, they loaded them into boxes with a machine known as a 'Whiz Packer.' The method is still much the same: Light planes with crates of flies drop those crates. Burgess called the development of sterile fly breeding and distribution in the 1950s and 1960s one of the USDA's 'crowning achievements.' Some agriculture officials argue now that new factories shouldn't be shuttered after another successful fight. 'Something we think we have complete control over — and we have declared a triumph and victory over — can always rear its ugly head again,' Burgess said. Mexico to open sterile fly plant MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — Mexico's government said on Monday that it has started to build a $51 million facility in the country's south as part of an effort to combat screwworm, a pest that has disrupted Mexican exports of cattle to the United States. Mexico's agriculture ministry said in a statement that the plant, a joint project with the U.S., will produce 100 million sterile screwworm flies per week once completed in the first half of 2026.
