That's because, per the Trib, among new Tex-ass laws taking effect over the next two months, you can get ivermectin without a scrip starting today.
That — unsurprisingly — isn't the most loony or wingnut law that will be taking effect over the next month or two.
Texas Monthly wrote late last month about parents demanding accountability from Camp Mystic and the other camps in the Hill Country, flooded out last summer with massive loss of life — much of that preventable if many camps hadn't built new cabins in floodplains, had better emergency systems, and were in counties with better emergency systems.
Here's the nutgraf, about one-third in.
[E] ven as they reached out to one another, parents of the girls who died at Camp Mystic say they were cut off from its owners, the Eastlands. Their questions went unanswered. As they learned more about the timeline and events of that night, comparing accounts and reviewing the camp’s safety protocols, they concluded that members of the multigenerational Eastland family had acted irresponsibly. On November 10, the Hollises and the families of seventeen other Mystic campers and two counselors filed the first round of negligence and wrongful death lawsuits, claiming that the camp ignored flood warnings and failed to enact adequate safety measures. Attorney Mikal Watts, who is representing the Eastlands, reiterated to me what he has said in multiple media interviews: The camp’s shelter-in-place orders were based on what was learned in past floods and were in line with FEMA and other government agencies’ flood protocols.
I've written about the Eastlands before, along with some of the other sites — including getting the Obama-era FEMA to pencil-whip floodplain maps. So, Tweety Eastland and descendants posturing as "we were hurt too" can go fuck themselves.
And, that's where the story takes off. Yes, Dick Eastland died trying to save a camp kid. Yes, Tweety has been to at least one camper funeral. But, the families above note? Trying to get information, you know, like about possibly building in a floodplain, just hasn't been happening.
On the legal controls side, the Trib then reports on the new camp regulation statutes the Department of State Health Services has just proposed. The biggie is a massive increase in camp licensing and relicensing fees. It's "progressive" based on camp size, so it won't drive smaller camps out of business. That hasn't stopped smaller camps from bitching, cuz Tex-ass, cheapness and capitalism.
Here's the Trib's pull-outs:
Last month, the Department of State Health Services teased the dramatic change during a meeting to discuss the rollout of a pair of camp safety bills that the Legislature passed in response to the July 4 Hill Country floods that killed at least 137 people, including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic.
At that meeting and in a survey the state conducted in the fall, several camp operators said such licensing fees and other new requirements could put many in the industry out of business because most camps are small nonprofits.
“This causes an undue burden for smaller or more remote camps,” according to a survey response from Livingston-based Boxwoods camp obtained by The Texas Tribune. “All the costs that are a result of this legislation should not be passed on to camps.”
Also proposed Tuesday is an overhaul of the little-known Youth Camp Advisory Committee, which meets semiannually to request rule changes to the state health agency and to lawmakers when they are in session. The Texas Tribune found that the makeup of this committee for many years has been mostly camp leadership and that while members can’t make rules, they can influence how much rules impact the industry. Camp Mystic’s Britt Eastland is a current member.
The proposed change to the nine-person advisory committee would reduce the number of camp operators on the board from seven to four, and would replace them with specialized positions, such as one for a parent who has attended camp in the past two years. It also requires a person specialized in camp activities, and someone who is a child abuse expert, a pediatric psychologist or a psychiatrist to be on the committee.
Actually, yes, the cost of legislation SHOULD be pushed to you; that's the whole point of regulation like this. And, if you're running your camp on such small margins this really would fiscally injure you, you probably should shut down anyway.
There's this on the floodplain:
Other proposed changes include prohibiting a youth camp from placing a cabin within a Federal Emergency Management Agency-identified 100-year floodplain unless it’s located on a still body of water, such as a lake or pond, or is not connected to a watercourse, such as a river or stream, and the resulting water is dammed. Even if the cabin falls into these exceptions, it must be 1,000 feet away from a floodway, and the youth camp operator must install and maintain emergency ladders capable of providing access to the cabin’s roof.
Not onerous.
And, this, more so, on the emergency communications:
A youth camp operator will also be required to provide and maintain broadband internet services using end-to-end fiber-optic facilities and a secondary broadband internet connection.
Multiple camp operators said in the state survey they were concerned about the broadband requirements because of how geographically remote they are.
“We contacted AT&T (our local internet provider) to receive an estimate for fiber optic installation and were quoted the exorbitant cost of $1.7 million. This is cost-prohibitive and virtually impossible for us to access,” according to a response from Huntsville-based Forest Glen Camps.
Since there is until Dec. 19 for input, if there's some way that one can reasonably be modified, I'm OK. If this were adult-only camps, I'd be OK with eliminating it, even.
As for Kerr County's refusal of state emergency update money in the past? The Trib and Pro Publica report they were far from alone, and that some legiscritters acknowledge the bill was flawed, both on relative high local match share requirements and other stringencies.
Off the Kuff observes how Ken Paxton is filing lawsuits in small counties, in search of favorable judges.
SocraticGadfly looks at the decline and possible fall of Southwest Airlines.
Petard-hoisting time! The Trump Admin is massively cutting federal money for rural broadband expansion in Texas (and of course presumably elsewhere in what is heavily "red" country nationally). Havana Ted Cruz blusters about the petard-hoist at the link.
Nutter Troy Nehls is the latest GOP wingnut to say they're leaving Congress. It's OK, though; his nutter and less politically successful twin wants to replace him.
Mike Morath wants more Charlie Kirk in Texas schools.
Forest Wilder looks at Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's big expansion — an expansion that apparently continues to ignore officially acquiring the lakes and surrounding land of many old coal-fired power plants that make up parks in East Texas all on rented land.
Meet Pam Perillo — formerly on Texas' death row.
Evil MoPac quantified the best and worst things about Thanksgiving.
Bay Area Houston celebrates the end of DOGE.
The Texas Signal examines what it means when Texas counties partner with ICE.
Daou continues to be an odd duck in his own way, and perhaps has ditched electoral politics entirely? No posts on his Substack since the start of 2024, not even after the end of the election. He's pretty prolific on Shitter, still, and in terms of politics, if you had a left-wing version of a European Christian Democrat party, I think that would be him right now. Seriously, look at his Shitter. (And that will probably change in two years, as he does his own version of Justin Raimondo.)
That said, two years ago, I thought he was 75 percent full of bullshit when he announced he was leaving West's campaign. Of course, West himself was 98 percent full of bullshit when he left the Green Party two years ago, which I think is about average for him. And Daou chose to tag along. Per another piece at about the same time, I think that it was not only West who didn't want to do ass-kissing but Daou. Or maybe even wanted ass-kissing — OF him by Stein and other Greens.
This is a few weeks late, but I'm sure that, per this HCN story, the deadline for states to renegotiate the Colorado River Compact has passed.
So, the feds step in, right?
Well, theoretically:
Scott Cameron, acting leader of the Bureau of Reclamation, has said the federal government expects a finalized plan in May or June 2026. This gives policymakers time to get the necessary approval from state legislators and to implement any changes before the new water year begins next fall. Should the states fail to produce a joint plan, though, he said that the feds will step in. But the details of how they’d intervene are unclear and the administration’s complete dismissal of climate change and recent cuts to funding have only added confusion about how much federal support there will be moving forward.
That said, here's where we're at bad assumptions, starting with HCN never mentioning the name "Donald J. Trump."
Will he have BuRec step in, or are we first due for a round of his "personal negotiations"? If so, will small-water states like Nevada, with Trump personal friends like Miriam Adelson, to whose late husband he owes his 2016 election, per James Bamford, step in and upset the applecart?
Also, per the "acting" with Mr. Cameron, how many directors might BuRec go through in the next few years?
I've long thought that the Drake equation in its original was too fuzzy on some parameters, and both the original and various tweaks were too optimistic. It's kind of like Gnu Atheism, I think. There, many Gnus are also Jesus mythicists, like they have to prove his nonexistence to prove atheism.
With SETI types, it's like they have to prove the existence of life on other planets to disprove creationism.
Well, one potential misassumption, which I didn't think of before, but pointed out recently by Nautilus, is that perhaps the speed of evolution is different in various places, and so many otherwise Earthlike planets may simply have not gotten reasonably intelligent life developed before their sun went to red giant and then steps beyond.
Or, the flip side is true. Due to loss of information about evolution here on Earth, we may assume certain key steps were unique and they actually weren't.
The flip side to both of these flip sides is that SETI searches appear to assume biological development elsewhere will in general be relatively Earthlike.
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A new gel that can actually rebuild tooth enamel? Huge if it can be brought to market. Especially huge for the "developing world" if that's true and also capitalists don't try to charge an arm and a leg. Here's why:
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 3.7 billion people worldwide have some form of oral disease, and the erosion of enamel – the tough, mineralized protective outer layer of our teeth – is a massive contributor to one of the largest issues, tooth decay.
Even in the developed world, even in countries more enlightened than the US with some sort of national health care, dental care is usually NOT part of the bag. It is for minor children and/or senior citizens in some countries and that's it.
