A 13-year-old boy was flown to a Baltimore hospital after he was bitten by a beaver Sunday morning at Cunningham Falls State Park in Frederick County, according to officials. The incident occurred around 9:10 a.m. in the William Houck Area near the lake’s North Beach, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The boy suffered injuries to his hands and chest and was flown to Johns Hopkins Hospital for treatment.
The swimming beach was closed immediately as Maryland Park Service staff and Maryland Natural Resources Police searched for the beaver so it could be tested for rabies. Officials said one beaver had been located, but crews continued searching the area to determine whether additional beavers were present and to confirm the captured animal was the one involved in the attack. Rabies testing will be coordinated through the Frederick County Health Department.
The Department of Natural Resources said its Wildlife and Heritage Service provided support and guidance throughout the response and will work with the Maryland Park Service and Natural Resources Police to determine when the swimming area can safely reopen. All other areas of Cunningham Falls State Park remain open to visitors.
Those teeth are no joke. But you wonder what a 13 year old boy might have done to provoke that response. I know I might have at that age.
The Democratic National Committee Is Imploding says PJM's Matt Margolis, hopefully. "According to a New York Times report, the Democratic National Committee can't pay its bills and Chairman Ken Martin is paranoid and unhinged. In other words, the committee is drowning in internal chaos."
Don Surber on Journalism 2026, "Any time President Trump gives a speech, it must be described as rambling." To be fair, it usually is, but he knows where he's going.
Whether tattoo artists have a constitutional right to ink near churches and
schools is the central question of a federal lawsuit challenging a
decades-old state law.
South Carolina became the
second-to-last state
in the nation to allow tattooing in 2004, following only Oklahoma.
The law
legalizing the practice set parameters, including that parlors needed to
stay at least
1,000 feet away
from any nearby churches, schools and playgrounds, and no artist could
tattoo on the
neck, face or head.
In a
lawsuit filed July 17
in federal court, a tattoo shop and two people who want to get inked are
arguing those rules violate the First Amendment right of self-expression.
The state Department of Public Health and attorney general’s office, named
as the defendants, have not yet filed responses.
“Whether
artwork appears on canvas, paper, or skin, the Constitution protects both
the artist’s right to create it and the customer’s right to receive it,” the
lawsuit reads.
Well, duh! What if you want to get a head and neck tattoo after church!
As Maryland grapples with soaring electricity demand and rising energy costs, a Rockville-based nuclear company is betting that a new generation of small reactors could eventually help power the state — even as its first projects are being developed hundreds of miles away.
X-Energy Inc., with a Rockville headquarters and Frederick testing center, has plans in Texas and Washington state to generate electricity for chemicals giant Dow Inc. and retail behemoth Amazon. But its technology could be a fit for Maryland’s energy landscape, the company said in a recent interview with The Baltimore Sun.
The company is among developers of a range of new nuclear reactor technologies touted as compact, safe and flexible enough for a variety of sites but not yet in commercial use in the United States.
“Small modular reactors” cost less to build than traditional plants but can operate around the clock to generate carbon-free electricity, proponents say. Much smaller than conventional nuclear plants (typically under 300 megawatts), SMRs can be factory-built and assembled on-site, potentially reducing costs and construction time. They can be added in stages as electricity demand grows. ... Baltimore-based Constellation, for one, the nation’s largest operator of nuclear plants, is in talks with developers about co-locating modular reactors at power plants across its U.S. portfolio, including at Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center in Calvert County. No deals have been announced.
“New nuclear and SMRs are going to be part of America’s future, and, we’re very hopeful, also part of Maryland’s future,” said David Dardis, a Constellation senior executive vice president and chief external affairs and growth officer. “Maryland has some pretty great advantages.”
“New nuclear” is a broad term for a new generation of nuclear energy technologies and business models that differ from the large, traditional nuclear power plants built mainly between the 1960s and 1990s.
Locating small reactors at existing plants makes sense, Dardis said. Calvert Cliffs would offer adjacent land, existing electrical infrastructure and water, used as a coolant.
I would be shocked if the regulators would let them tap into Calvert Cliffs cooling water. I thought many of the "small" reactor designs used air cooling systems. I could see a small reactor on the Calvert Cliffs reservation, which is pretty big, right next to the AI data center that is also being considered on the the site.
A friend, and neighbor, former nuclear navy, works at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and is gung-ho for small reactors. I hope he gets to see this.
News Wax hears CENTCOM Chief Urged Iran Strike Halt. "Cooper told administration officials that most of the military's designated targets in the Strait of Hormuz region had already been struck, leaving relatively few remaining objectives." Make the rubble bounce. Responsible Statecraft sees Aiming at the Gulf, Iran shoots itself in the foot. "Tehran's attacks on its Arab neighbors have increased their reliance on the US rather than reducing it." RedState's Nick Arama hears Mike Waltz Reveals Why Iran's Regime Is in Even Deeper Trouble "President Donald Trump announced that they were going to use any of the Iranian regime money they could lay their hands on to pay off any damage that Iran was causing, such as with shipping. And they've been going after Iran's money big time, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has explained, even tracking down Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei's "money man," and freezing regime-related accounts. Bessent said they were preserving that money for "the American people." Bessent explained how they've been tracking accounts all over the world, and now they've also frozen a crypto wallet containing about $130 million linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)." Trump and Bessent understand money can be a weapon. At Hat Hair, Larry Elder notices Trump's War Critics Discuss Everything -- Except the Point, stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons, and the means to use them. News Wax cites Waltz: Saudi Nuclear Deal Includes 'No Enrichment' Capability, not that Waltz, the other Waltz.
PJM's Matt Margolis observes Tucker Carlson Has Gone Bat Poop Crazy, Wants Trump Tried for Treason. Stacy McCain has his Own Tucker Carlson Theory, which basically boils down to spite. "And it seems to me that such strictly personal grievances, related to his being fired from Fox News in 2023, make much more sense in explaining what happened to Carlson than any speculation about secret payments from Qatar."
From the Victory Girls,
Jewish Democrats In Michigan Plan To Back Republican If El-Sayed Wins
Primary. We've been waiting for the majority of Jews to wise up for a long time.
Data Republican at Substack, explore Chinese infiltration of US politics,
Apax Partners: The Money Linking Singham and the DNC, "Apax Partners, Neville Roy Singham, and the sovereign investors
surrounding the DNC’s most important political database." "Apax Partners’
management company — the entity that sits above every fund, including the one
holding Democratic campaign infrastructure — counts China’s CIC and
Singapore’s GIC among its owners. CIC is subject to China’s 2017 National
Intelligence Law, which requires all organizations to “support, assist, and
cooperate with national intelligence work.” GIC’s board is chaired by
Singapore’s sitting Prime Minister, who also oversees the country’s
intelligence services."
At
Coffee and Covid News, "You had to scroll all the way down this morning’s New York Times web page
to find it, but the story reported, “Hawaii Lt. Gov. Is Indicted in Corruption Investigation.” The short article is almost mind-numbingly boring, packed with
passive-tense, soft verbs, and a distinct absence of outrage. Maybe the
reserved tone was because the indictments were more Democrats, including the
highest-ranking Democrat official under indictment yet."
This leads us to a larger point about Trump 2.0’s Department of Justice. While
many in the MAGA base are still spreading “waiting for someone to get
arrested” memes, high-profile, state-level arrests are happening all over the
country.
How? The Trump administration systematically dismantled
the so-called “ethical” gatekeepers in D.C. The DOJ’s Public Integrity Section
—which historically acted as a brake and a bottleneck, protecting favored
politicians and shutting down local investigations— was slashed from 36
lawyers down to just two. The long-standing requirement that local prosecutors
consult with D.C. before indicting any local political figures was
suspended.
By removing the federal roadblock, the Trump DOJ
effectively unleashed state-level corruption prosecutions. The Hawaii case,
for example, is being prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s Special
Investigation and Prosecution Division, using evidence provided by the feds.
Leslie Eastman at LI is gratified
Trump Demands Review of ‘Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence’ Used by
Federal Judges, "Meanwhile, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
investigates the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
(NASEM) over its stewardship of this nation’s scientific efforts."
Conquest's Second Law: Any organization not explicitly and constitutionally right-wing will sooner
or later become left-wing. With Fritz's addendum, "With explicitly right-wing
organization, it takes a little longer."
At Twitchy,
Judges Enter Orders Preventing DHS From Terminating TPS for Ethiopia, South
Sudan
, despite the Supreme Court telling them, more or less directly, to cut that
shit out. John Hinderacker at Power Line, compares
Trump’s Success, and AI’s Bias
on immigration. "My colleague David Zimmer dug into the
data
to assess the success of President Trump’s immigration policies. He
found them
to be very successful, indeed:... I thought I’d put AI to the test to see what
its response would be regarding the data I presented above. It responded twice
that I was misrepresenting the data relevant to both the number and percentage
of illegal aliens detained who had either a criminal history or pending
criminal charge. AI referenced the CATO Institute and the Migration Policy
Institute as source documents for refuting my conclusions. I then provided the
link to the DHS raw data and asked AI to calculate the figures and get back to
me. Here’s AI’s response – I’ll take the win!..."
Three charred palm trees remain in front of a home nearly burned by the
Creelman fire on Wednesday, a reminder of the danger they pose when they go
untrimmed or catch on fire. Retired fire captain Bob Lyon says the incident
is a reminder of why trimming palm trees during fire season is critical.
Lyon
said certain varieties of palm trees are especially vulnerable to catching
fire. "Some of the Spanish ones that have the fronds that go all
the way up ... those are susceptible to fire embers getting into those, and
it will get going, and then the whole tree goes off because it's really
dry," Lyon said.
Lyon said an untrimmed palm tree can quickly
become an extreme danger. "Some of them are 30 or 40 feet tall,
so you'll get a 30 or 40-foot flame going straight into the air," Lyon
said.
There were some striking videos of burning palm trees from the LA fires.
They kind of caught me by surprise with the rescheduled White House Correspondents Dinner. I guess I wasn't paying attention, again. Any, it was held last night at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington DC. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair heard Trump to Recognize Secret Service Officer Shot at First WHCA Dinner at Nerd Prom, Take 2. Seems reasonable. As you might remember, the Secret Service agent Victor Gonzales survived the close range shotgun blast thanks to his vest. He also runs down the list of administration attendees, which notably does not include JD Vance and Marco Rubio. RedState's Jen O'Connell has Hot Takes: Media's Reaction to Redo of the White House Correspondents' Dinner Was As Expected. Aw, he was mean to the poor babies. Althouse host's Trump's routine (I hesitate to call it a speech) and offers her opinions of some of it in "Is this supposed to be fun? Am I supposed to be serious? Am I supposed to be a comedian?" "Trump finally gets his White House Correspondents' Dinner speech. ... And here's the joke I thought was the best: "Under my administration, a once-feared and powerful regime that relentlessly attacked America has finally been toppled. Their former leaders have been removed and they're now being run by a gay dictator facing internal divisions. But I for one wish Bari Weiss all the best at CBS News. She's a wonderful woman."
The Guardian whines about a British-born man living in US since age of nine held by ICE under threat of deportation, "Connor Read, who is married and has two children, was detained in June during residency permit interview." Also, an extensive, but pretty petty criminal record. But just for kicks, he should claim asylum based on England's censorship policies.
