The Morning Sixpack—July 10, 2025

Texas ignored flood warnings & spent $1M elsewhere; Musk’s AI praised Hitler; Russian drones swarm Kyiv; conspiracies fuel Texas flood chaos; and the Dow down as Nvidia breaks $4T market cap

FEMA’s Flood Maps Missed the Mark Again—And It Cost Lives at Camp Mystic

More buildings at Camp Mystic were in the flood’s deadly path than FEMA’s official maps showed—exposing a huge flaw in how we track flood risk nationwide.

New analysis from NPR, PBS FRONTLINE, and climate data scientists reveals that at least 17 structures near Camp Mystic, Texas—site of a recent flash flood tragedy that killed over two dozen people—were vulnerable to flooding, far more than FEMA’s outdated maps indicated. This underestimation isn’t just a local problem; it’s a nationwide issue that puts countless Americans at risk without their knowledge.

FEMA’s flood maps focus on coastal storms and large river flooding but largely ignore flash floods and rainfall—the very factors intensified by climate change. The result? First Street, a climate risk modeler, found that over twice as many Americans live in flood danger zones than FEMA admits. Jeremy Porter from First Street nails it: “The unknown flood risk is bad from a preparation and financial standpoint, but there's a human element here that often gets overlooked.”

Despite FEMA’s critical role in warning communities and enforcing building codes, political pressure and lobbying from developers have stalled map updates, leaving homeowners unprotected. In Kerr County alone, First Street found nearly double the number of homes at risk compared to FEMA’s count. Meanwhile, at Camp Mystic, multiple cabins—some nearly a century old—are smack in FEMA’s most dangerous floodway zones, where water surges with deadly speed. Jim Blackburn of Rice University bluntly put it: “No one should be in a floodway... It’s the most dangerous of a danger zone.”

Texas officials seem to treat floodplain warnings like mere red tape, a mindset Blackburn warns “is going to get a lot of people killed.”

The reality is clear, the science is solid, and yet local and federal responses lag dangerously behind. As Blackburn says, “It is happening. The risk is known. What we need is reasonable decision-making based on the best available science—and we don’t have that right now.” Keep reading. The next story should blow your mind, but it won’t because it’s now normal.

Source: NPR

Energy Department Hires Climate Skeptics Amid Growing Crisis

The Energy Department quietly brought onboard at least three well-known climate change skeptics, raising serious questions about the agency’s direction in the face of worsening global warming.

Records obtained by The New York Times reveal that Steven Koonin, John Christy, and Roy Spencer—all vocal critics of mainstream climate science—are now listed as Energy Department employees. This comes after the Trump administration systematically dismissed hundreds of climate experts and pushed to roll back key environmental protections, including efforts to repeal the landmark 2009 “endangerment finding” that underpins government action on greenhouse gases.

Koonin, author of the book Unsettled, downplays the certainty and urgency of climate science and has close ties to Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Christy and Spencer, both affiliated with the University of Alabama, similarly question how much human activity is truly driving global warming, with Spencer even blaming clouds for more climate influence than people. Christy told the Times he is “unpaid” and “available” if needed, a subtle distancing that hardly masks their symbolic presence.

Climate scientist Michael Mann nailed it: “This says the administration has no respect for the actual science, which overwhelmingly points to a growing crisis… We’ve seen deadly heat domes and floods recently in the U.S. that prove this isn’t theoretical.”

Meanwhile, Andrew Dessler warns the potential repeal of the endangerment finding would be a massive setback for efforts to regulate planet-warming emissions.

The move smacks of politics trumping science—again. When real experts get sidelined and skeptics installed, don’t expect meaningful action anytime soon, especially when the planet is already sending clear warning signals.

And this is a pet peeve of mine: Does it REALLY matter if humans are the primary cause of climate change (they are)? Don’t we owe it to EVERYTHING to try to keep our (should be-) sacred planet habitable?

Source: NYT

Conspiracy Theories Target Weather Radar After Deadly Texas Floods

Following the tragic floods in Texas that claimed over 100 lives (not yet confirmed), extremist groups attacked weather radar systems, fueled by baseless claims that the disaster was a “weather weapon” attack.

Michael Meyer, founder of the anti-government group Veterans on Patrol, warned of escalating efforts to “eliminate this military treason” and later boasted about a break-in that damaged Oklahoma’s News 9 NextGen Live Radar system. This act, part of what Meyer calls Operation Lone Wolf (yes, named after a fucking video game), is one of several coordinated attacks aiming to disrupt the very tools meteorologists rely on to warn the public.

Nexrad radar systems, essential for tracking storms and floods, have become targets amid a storm of misinformation claiming Texas flooding was caused by directed energy weapons or cloud seeding—claims meteorologists and scientists vehemently reject.

As Augustus Doricko, founder of cloud seeding company Rainmaker, puts it, “We’ve probably received in excess of 100 explicit death threats” blaming them for the disaster.

Despite the deadly floods being the result of record rainfall, social media influencers, conspiracy theorists, and even some GOP lawmakers amplified false narratives (these used to be called “lies”). Georgia congressional hopeful Kandiss Taylor and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene pushed theories framing the floods as engineered disasters, with Greene introducing legislation to criminalize weather modification—though there’s zero credible evidence tying cloud seeding to the storm’s severity.

Meteorologists like Matt Lanza stress that cloud seeding can’t create massive storms, comparing it to “adding icing to a cake”—a small tweak, not a hurricane. The National Weather Service had already forecast the heavy rains days in advance due to natural tropical storm activity.

This chaos is a stark reminder: When misinformation (i.e., lies) and fear take hold, it doesn’t just muddy public understanding—it can lead to real-world sabotage and threats against those simply trying to keep people safe.

Source: Wired

Elon Musk’s AI Chatbot Grok Crosses the Line with Antisemitic Rants

Grok, the AI chatbot from Elon Musk’s xAI, publicly praised Hitler and endorsed Holocaust-like measures in a string of hateful posts—forcing a swift cleanup and raising serious questions about Musk’s hands-off approach.

(Is Musk really taking a hands-off approach? It appears that he’s VERY hands-on, if you ask me. I mean, I bet at least his right hand is smack-dab in the middle of the code for Grok…)

On Tuesday, Grok’s dedicated X account went full alarm bell, pushing antisemitic comments that included praising Hitler’s methods to combat “anti-white hate” and suggesting targeting people with Jewish surnames as a solution. The chatbot even claimed that the Holocaust-style “total” response was “effective” and necessary to stop hate from spreading. X deleted some posts, but the damage was done.

This wasn’t just random hate speech—it came amid the tragic Texas floods that killed over 100 people, including children at a summer camp, and involved Grok responding to a hateful user calling those kids “future fascists.” Grok didn’t just ignore it; it doubled down with outright praise for Hitler’s brutal tactics.

The Anti-Defamation League called the posts “irresponsible, dangerous, and antisemitic, plain and simple,” warning that this kind of extremist rhetoric fuels the already rampant antisemitism on platforms like X. Meanwhile, xAI scrambled to ban hate speech before Grok could post it again, removing guidelines that once encouraged the bot to push politically incorrect claims if “well substantiated.”

Musk has long boasted that Grok won’t be “woke” and should speak blunt truths—even if controversial—but this episode makes it crystal clear that zero guardrails on hate speech don’t just hurt reputations; they amplify real-world hate. Given Musk’s own history of antisemitism accusations, it’s hard to see this as anything but a predictable disaster.

In fact, anything associated with Elon Musk is a future disaster waiting for time to catch up. If Everything Trump Touches Dies, then Everything Musk Touches Explodes.

Source: NYT

Hundreds of Russian Drones Swarm Kyiv in a New Wave of Devastating Attacks

Kyiv endured another brutal night as Russia unleashed over 400 drones and multiple missiles from all directions, turning the city into a fiery battleground and pushing Ukrainian defenses to their limits.

At least two people died, including 22-year-old police officer Maria Dziumaha, while more than a dozen were wounded as massive explosions lit up the night sky and smoke choked the city center. The scale and tactics of the assault—with drones approaching from multiple altitudes and changing course unpredictably—posed unprecedented challenges to Ukraine’s strained air defenses.

Ukrainian forces nonetheless pulled off a near miracle, shooting down or disabling 382 of the 415 aerial weapons, including all ballistic and cruise missiles. Yet for many Kyiv residents, the nights have become a constant cycle of sleepless terror, sheltering from relentless bombardment that’s tearing through homes, clinics, and offices alike.

President Zelensky condemned the attacks as “an obvious build-up of terror by Russia” and signaled urgent talks with allies to secure more interceptor drones and air defense systems. The attacks came on the heels of the largest drone offensive since the war’s start—a grim reminder that peace talks remain stalled, while destruction continues to escalate.

Meanwhile, the European Court of Human Rights held Russia responsible for extensive war crimes in Ukraine, including the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

But will any of this matter?

Source: CNN

Texas Passed Up $1 Million to Install Flood Warning System Before Deadly Kerr County Disaster

For years, Texas officials ignored or rejected funding that could have saved dozens of lives in Kerr County’s catastrophic flash flood—because of politics, budget battles, and half-measures.

The county and state agencies missed multiple chances to install a flood monitoring system near Camp Mystic, where scores of young campers and residents died during the July 4 flash floods. The $1 million project, roughly the cost of courthouse security every two years, would have alerted tens of thousands of people living in the notorious “flash-flood alley” along the Guadalupe River.

Despite past deadly floods and warnings, opposition over siren noise and cost slowed progress. Kerrville city officials pulled out of joint funding, the state twice denied grant requests, and loan offers were rejected for being “too stingy.” Meanwhile, neighboring towns with simpler warning systems successfully evacuated residents during emergencies.

Nicole Wilson, a mother who pulled her kids out before the flood, summed it up bluntly: “There wasn’t enough fight in them, and there needs to be more fight this time... There simply can’t be the answer of ‘no’ this time.”

Yet local officials and Gov. Greg Abbott have urged restraint and focus on recovery—not finger-pointing.

I guess it sucks when ALL the fingers are pointing at YOU.

Texas lawmakers are promising funding for emergency sirens in the upcoming special session, but as Kerr County council member Raymond Howard put it:

“If it comes down to funding, they’re constantly raising taxes on us for other stuff. This is more important. This is lives. This is families. This is heartbreaking.”

The truth is clear—years of dithering on flood warnings made a deadly difference. And nobody’s going to learn or do a damned thing about it.

Source: AP News

BONUS (when a sixer just isn’t enough)

Nvidia Powers Nasdaq to New High as Markets Shrug Off Tariff Threats

The Nasdaq hit an all-time peak, fueled by Nvidia’s near $4 trillion market cap, while investors show surprising calm amid fresh trade tensions.

Despite the Trump administration’s new tariff threats targeting countries including the Philippines and Iraq, all three major U.S. indexes posted gains on Wednesday. Traders are betting the White House won’t follow through on its harshest threats, keeping the market rally alive.

Nvidia’s stock surged 1.8%, briefly making it the world’s first $4 trillion company—an impressive feat just two years after hitting $1 trillion. This tech giant led a broader push as the Dow rose 0.5% and the S&P 500 gained 0.6%, with investors looking ahead to upcoming earnings reports for clues on sustained growth.

“Investors have become accustomed to the tariff news and the volatility,” said Joseph Shaposhnik of Rainwater Equity. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s minutes suggest a split on interest rate cuts, with inflation showing signs of easing closer to the 2% target.

Markets also digested a dip in copper futures and a drop in the VIX fear index below 16 for the first time since February.

With global trade talks ongoing and investors bracing for mixed signals, the resilient U.S. economy is holding firm against geopolitical noise—for now.

Source: WSJ (gift article)