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Would you rip up your lawn for $6 a square foot? Welcome to drought-stricken California https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/19/us/california-drought-lawns/index.html Grass is the single largest irrigated "crop" in America, surpassing corn and wheat, a frequently-cited study from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found. It noted by the early 2000s, turfgrass, mostly in front lawns, spanned about 63,000 square miles, an area larger than the state of Georgia. I just let my grass do it's thing. If it dries it dries... never felt the need to get all that fancy treatment and waste all that water to make it look immaculate and artificial! And there is growing concern the current shortage system is not enough to save the river in the face of a historic, climate change-driven drought. Colorado River stakeholders, including Southern California, are now negotiating drastic cuts which could slash water deliveries by 25%. Yup. California will be needing to build numerous desalination plants in the near future.

I suspect that the most likely scenario is that Embracer will just be the parent company and LRG will just continue their thing.

My Kickstarter rewards arrived

Apparently Embracer is a Swedish company. https://embracer.com/about/ Other than that, I really don't know anything about them. As @DarkTone noted - could be bad or good for collectors.

Off-topic, but the show, Hoarders, is really quite interesting!

Why does Mar-a-Lago deserve that? Originally Mar-a-Lago was bequeathed to the National Park Service, but they decided not to keep it (booo) and hence it was put on the market and purchased by he-who-must-not-be-named. Hopefully in all this fallout, he-who-must-not-be-named will have to sell Mar-a-Lago and then it will become once more a visitable historic site - or so I hope!

A Delaware gardener named Jeff Premar noticed someone was stealing his vegetables. So, he set up a security camera – and realized the culprit was a groundhog. "He would get right up into the camera and chomp on the veggies in your face like, 'Yeah I’m eating your veggies, what are you gonna do about it, Gardener Jeff?'" Premar told CBS News. Eventually, have gave up and built the groundhog, whom he named Chunk, a mini table to dine at. well, apparently crime does sometimes pay

Trump, Who Once Said ‘the Mob Takes the Fifth,’ Takes the Fifth https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/08/trump-takes-the-fifth.html Trump has suggested on many occasions that people who invoke their right against self-incrimination are guilty. “You see the mob takes the Fifth,” Trump said during a 2016 rally in Iowa. “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”

"Are there any lessons we can take from Mork & Mindy?"

Illinois GOP nominee for governor Darren Bailey defends comparing abortion to Holocaust https://www.yahoo.com/news/darren-bailey-compares-abortion-to-holocaust-jewish-community-rabbis-190150083.html Facing criticism for past comments comparing abortion to the Holocaust, the Republican nominee for governor in Illinois is refusing to apologize — and claiming that a group of rabbis backed the comparison. Bailey said that “the attempted extermination of the Jews of World War II doesn’t even compare on a shadow of the life that has been lost with abortion since its legalization.” “Darren Bailey’s disgusting assertion that a woman determining her own reproductive future is worse than the Nazis’ genocide of 6 million Jews is offensive to Illinoisans everywhere,” Eliza Glezer, press secretary for Pritzker’s campaign, said in a statement. I just don't understand how someone can say something so ridiculous and then defend it. Hope for the sake of Illinois he loses BIG TIME.

Updated Aug 9, 2022

Air Canada is refusing to compensate passengers for cancellations thanks to a policy that lets them call staff shortages a safety problem https://www.yahoo.com/news/air-canada-refusing-compensate-passengers-003022013.html Air Canada is refusing to compensate passengers for cancellations thanks to a policy it introduced during COVID-19 that allows the airline to call staff shortages a safety problem, The Canadian Press reported. In Canada, the Air Passenger Protection Regulations require airlines to pay up $1,000 in compensation for cancellations or significant delays that are within the carrier's control when the notification comes 14 days or less before departure. Airlines do not have to provide any payment if the change was required for safety purposes. Gabor Lukacs, president of the Air Passenger Rights advocacy group, told the news organization that Canada's largest airline is unlawfully exploiting the federal regulation to avoid paying compensation and called on the transport regulator for stronger enforcement. In the US, there are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide passengers with money or other compensation when their flights are delayed, according to the US Department of Transportation. Of course here in the USA there are NO laws providing passengers with compensation

American Airlines couldn't find a passenger's bag after canceling his flight even though it never left the airport https://www.yahoo.com/news/american-airlines-couldnt-passengers-bag-091556498.html About 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time of 3.30 p.m., passengers already on the plane were told that no pilot was available so it was delayed by an hour. Passengers waited on the aircraft for about three and a half hours after the pilot arrived only to be told about 7.30 p.m. that the flight had been canceled due to "a combination of weather conditions and not having enough gas". Close to midnight security officers told passengers that baggage claim area was closing and that they must return the following day to retrieve their missing luggage. "Security was called down before they made the announcement that no one would get their bags until the next day in anticipation of a mob scene because lots of people were very upset, cursing and crying," Werner said. He said they spent about 12 hours at the airport and felt the situation was "extremely mismanaged", with American Airlines being "completely understaffed". Well don't you worry! American Airlines CEO Doug Parker was paid $7.24 million in compensation in 2021. I'm sure he's so hard-working, he's bound to just hand-deliver any missed luggage because he cares. Yup, can't you tell, they really and truly care about you. In summary:

Utah-based company ripped out 'Made in China' tags, replaced with 'Made in USA,' officials say https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2022/08/08/made-china-made-usa-tags-swap/10264036002/ An apparel company known for inflammatory apparel championing the Second Amendment and Donald Trump has been fined after the Federal Trade Commission found the company falsely claimed its imported apparel is made in the U.S. Utah-based Lions Not Sheep and its owner, SeanWhalen, were slapped with a $211,335 fine last week after the FTC found the company removed “Made in China” tags, replacing them with fake “Made in the USA” labels, according to a FTC news release. The fine comes on the heels of a complaint filed by the FTC in May. According to the FTC, the company added phony Made in USA labels to clothing imported from China and other countries. The FTC release did not not identify the other countries.

An icon -

Ex-counselor at GA youth-detention center who had sex with teen says, ‘I was not thinking’ https://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article264216501.html A former counselor at a youth-detention center here pleaded guilty Friday to having sexual intercourse and engaging in other carnal acts with an 18-year-old inmate she was counseling at the facility last year. Upon pleading guilty Friday in Baldwin County Superior Court to four counts of sexual contact by an employee or agent in the first degree, Williamson was sentenced five years in prison followed by 20 more on probation. Williamson sobbed at times while testifying Friday. “She made a mistake,” Griffin said. “She made a horrible mistake. It’s the worst mistake that she’s made in her life. And, judge, I just don’t think that any of us should be defined by the worst thing that we’ve done. ... But as is the nature of criminal charges, this has become the thing that defines her. Her life as she knew it before this incident is completely over.” Fuck her (NOT literally) and her shit defendant! This was NOT a mistake -- she knew exactly what she was doing. She abused her position of power. Who knows what damage she inflicted upon the 18-year old. At the end of the day, any fallout from this will be paid in full by taxpayers. I'm not saying she did not receive a fair sentence, but at the same time, it's a well documented fact that on average, men receive over a 60% increase in incarceration for similar crimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentencing_disparity

1992 Baby!

Statue of Russian President Vladimir Putin appears in New York City playground https://www.yahoo.com/news/statue-russian-president-vladimir-putin-203537299.html "This sculpture aims at denouncing the absurdity of war and at highlighting children's courage when faced with violent, catastrophic situations triggered by others," the street artist wrote in an Instagram post about the statue.

My Dad published a book --