Texas Doubles Down on Hate for Trans People

Trans news continues to be overwhelmingly bleak and grim, thanks in no small part to Republicans. Trans folks already face disproportionate levels of violence, live with higher reported rates of depression and suicidal, and are more likely to become homeless and drop out of high school without a diploma. And that’s been the case before the recent onslaught of anti-trans legislation coming out of conservatives. 

Texas SB 1029—filed by Republican state Sen. Bob Hall of Texas, who has a history of outrageous beliefs—there’s a considerable chance almost all forms of safe and age-appropriate gender-affirming health care will be made illegal in the state. And that includes trans adults. In fact, it not only covers both youth and adults but even nonsurgical treatments. The legislation also seeks to allow medical malpractice lawsuits for life against providers and insurers who cover gender-affirming care. This anti-trans health care bill isn't seeking to only bar youth from safe, age-appropriate health care. It’s seeking to stop adults from accessing it, too. 

The bill argues that these procedures are not in the “best interest of the health of the patient” but instead are being offered for the “monetary gain” of “health care facilities.” The bill seeks to ban public funding for any and all gender modifications, including vasectomies, hysterectomies, and castration. 

In terms of possible malpractice claims, the bill seeks to establish providers as liable, including for the patient’s medical, pharmaceutical, and mental health costs post-procedure. This bit isn’t the most eye-catching, admittedly, but it’s deeply concerning because of the possible fallout. It’s hard to find safe and affordable gender-affirming care as it is. If physicians are worried about such a wide-ranging and lifelong liability, it’s entirely possible folks will just ... stop offering it.

It seems that trans issues are also about bodily autonomy and dignity-- and thus the fight for reproductive health is one and the same as the fight for trans rights. 

 

Friday Night Drama

Dolly Parton & Olivia Newton-John - Jolene

Spanish Train Officials Quit Over Massive Blunder

Two top Spanish transport officials have resigned over a botched order for new commuter trains that cost nearly $300M

The trains could not fit into non-standard tunnels in the northern regions of Asturias and Cantabria.  The head of Spain's rail operator Renfe, Isaías Táboas, and the secretary of state for transport, Isabel Pardo de Vera, have resigned from their positions.

The design fuck-up was made public earlier this month. The Spanish government says the mistake was spotted early enough to avoid  greater financial loss. However the region of Cantabria has demanded compensation.  Renfe ordered the trains in 2020 but the following year manufacturer CAF realized that the dimensions it had been given for the trains were inaccurate and stopped further construction.  

The rail network in northern Spain was built in the 19th Century and has tunnels under the mountainous landscape that do not match standard modern tunnel dimensions.  The mistake means the trains will be delivered in 2026, two years late. 

Renfe and infrastructure operator Adif have launched a joint investigation to find out how the error could have happened. Earlier this month, Spain's transport ministry fired a Renfe manager and Adif's head of track technology over the blunder.

 

Dangerous New Drug Hitting the Streets

There’s a new drug in town — and it has deadly consequences.  Xylazine — otherwise known as “tranq,” “tranq dope” and “zombie drug” — is wreaking havoc in major cities across the country with its devastating effects: It can literally rot the user’s skin.  The substance, which seemed to first appear in Philadelphia before migrating west to San Francisco and Los Angeles, was used for cutting heroin, but, most recently, it has been discovered in fentanyl and other illicit drugs.

While approved by the Food and Drug Administration for veterinary use, xylazine, a non-opioid, is not safe for humans, and those who overdose on the drug do not respond to naloxone, or Narcan, the most common overdose reversal treatment.

Xylazine causes sedative-like symptoms, such as excessive sleepiness and respiratory depression, as well as raw wounds that can become severe and spread rapidly with repeated exposure. The crusty ulcerations, which can become dead skin called eschar, can result in amputation if left untreated.    Because it is not listed as a controlled substance for animals or humans, “tranq” lands in a confusing and horrifying gray area — and hospitals rarely test for it with routine toxicology screenings. 

Last month, one Philly user suddenly developed xylazine-specific wounds near her opioid injection sites.  “I’d wake up in the morning crying because my arms were dying,” Tracey McCann, 39, told the New York Times.

The city reported that 90% of lab-tested dope samples from 2021 contained xylazine, which can increase the risk of overdose when combined with other illicit substances.   But the lethal combination of substances is what gives xylazine its appeal — the high of the opioid, such as fentanyl, is extended with the help of “tranq.”

“It’s too late for Philly,” Shawn Westfahl, an outreach worker with Prevention Point Philadelphia, told the Times. “Philly’s supply is saturated. If other places around the country have a choice to avoid it, they need to hear our story.”

“Tranq is basically zombifying people’s bodies,” Sam, 28, told Sky News. “Until nine months ago, I never had wounds. Now, there are holes in my legs and feet.”

The worrying “tranq” trend comes as the New York City Department of Health reported that 2,668 New Yorkers died of overdoses in 2021. Experts warn that xylazine could worsen the ongoing drug epidemic. 

Dr. Gary Tsai, the director of substance abuse prevention and control with the LA County Department of Public Health, believes the drug’s prevalence would increase deaths from overdoses.  “The main concern is we’re already amid the worst overdose crisis in history, nationally and locally,” Tsai told the Los Angeles Times.

According to a 2022 report, xylazine has been discovered in 36 states. In New York City alone, the drug was found in 25% of samples, per the Times.  Earlier this month, the San Francisco Department of Health announced that low levels of xylazine were found in the systems of four people who overdosed, suggesting that the substance can be hidden in drugs unbeknownst to the users.   “It’s possible that [there's] more out there,” warned Tsai.

 

Anti-Government Jerks Demanding Government Bailout

The libertarian paradise of Rio Verde Foothills is nestled out in the desert near Scottsdale, Arizona.  It was formed specifically to avoid the rules and regulations required for civilized society, but it is situated in dry, harsh conditions.  Arizona law requires developers to plan for 100 years of water use, and every new development has to engage in a process for securing water rights in compliance with the law. 

But Rio Verde Foothills avoided that requirement by exploiting a big loophole in the law: It only requires it for subdivisions larger than five homes.  Guess what developers in Rio Verde Foothills did to circumvent that—they built five-home lots. For them, it was an easy payday, and the self-styled “rugged individualists” who chose to live there could brag about keeping government off their backs and paying fewer taxes. The area doesn’t even have a government. 

For a while, all was good; Rio Verde Foothills was supplied by Scottsdale. Water trucks would roll out to a tap at the edge of town, fill up, then truck that water to individual homes, filling a standard 5,000-gallon tank buried in their yards.  But for years, the city warned that the agreement could not continue in perpetuity. It needed the water for its own growth. Rio Verde Foothills ignored the issue—until the day that Scottsdale finally cut them off.  "We've been telling them for five years since this began that we are not their permanent water solution," said Valerie Schneider, Scottsdale Water's Public information officer. "At some point, we have to realize this is our water, we're in a drought, we're in a Colorado River shortage so we have to take a stance."

One resident hilariously told The Guardian that “her community didn’t ‘want a handout’ from Scottsdale. They want time to figure out a plan and, to her, Scottsdale shutting the water off is unneighborly and un-American.” Apparently, five years of warning wasn’t enough.   Nothing says “AMERICA FUCK YEAH” more than putting up a house in the middle of a desert, without any regard to infrastructure, in a place designed to avoid laws, regulations, and government, and then crying when someone else won’t cater to your needs and whims.

Residents have several options: one, have the private water haulers find other sources of water, which they’ve already done. But those sources are further out and are just as subject to being cut off, as Scottsdale did. This increases uncertainty and costs. Libertarian free-market principles can get pricey! 

Another option was, well, government.  Incorporating could give the community more options for water supply in future but forming an official town or city brings requirements, such as paved roads, street lights, more taxation and rules. Horrors!

Another option would be to create a new water district.  When some residents proposed forming their own self-funded water provider, other residents revolted, saying the idea would foist an expensive, freedom-stealing new arm of government on them. The idea collapsed.

Rio Verde residents are now suing the city of Scottsdale to force them to continue providing water, because while they don’t want government on their doorstep, they fully expect some other government to cater to their needs. You know, because they’re such rugged individualists. This story is being repeated all around Arizona, from Kingman in the Mojave desert, to Cochise County near the Mexican border. It always pits deep-red conservative-libertarian regions against a sudden realization that maybe government rules and regulations exist for a reason, that society can’t exist without them. As one Republican quoted in the Kingman article says, “We are very conservative – I think we’re one of the reddest areas of a red state right now. I don’t think securing your water supply is a partisan issue, or it shouldn’t be.” You see, once they are affected, it’s no longer partisan.

Scottsdale is about to agree to a three-year extension of Rio Verde Foothills’ water, assuming it can get  additional water from outside sources.  Ironically, those rugged Rio Verde libertarians will get a temporary reprieve because of—you know it—government.

Another GOP Liar in the House

There appears to be another serial liar to keep George Santos company in the halls of the House of Representatives.  Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles appears to have fabricated large portions of his life, with WTVF's Phil Williams writing that the freshman Republican has claimed to be "an economist, a nationally recognized expert in tax policy and health care, a trained police officer, even an expert in international sex crimes"—none of which appears to be true. Ogles won his first term last year in a newly gerrymandered Middle Tennessee district, and he went on to oppose Kevin McCarthy for speaker on 11 straight ballots before finally falling into line.   During last year's primary, Ogles presented himself "as a former member of law enforcement" in a debate, saying he'd "worked in international sex crimes, specifically child trafficking." He also made similar claims during the campaign and in his first weeks in office.

The only law enforcement background Ogles had was his brief service as a volunteer reserve deputy in the Williamson County Sheriff's Office starting in 2009―a gig that ended just two years later after he failed to meet the minimum requirements for participation or even attend meetings. A spokesperson for the sheriff added, "There is nothing in Mr. Ogles' training or personnel file that indicates he had any involvement in 'international sex trafficking' in his capacity as a reserve deputy."

In late January, the Tennessee Lookout's Sam Stockard reported that Ogles claimed to be a graduate of Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management when records show he only went through the school's executive education program. 

Ogles' campaign finances are also a shambles. The month after his win, the Federal Election Commission threatened to audit the incoming congressman over his fundraising reports; among other things, he failed to properly identify donors and recorded accepting multiple contributions over the legal $2,900 limit. Williams further reported last month that Ogles has also failed to file the personal financial disclosures that all federal candidates are required to submit.