What's going on in your city/country/region?

[Madrigal]

Jon Bon Jovi talked a woman off a bridge today. I wonder if he said take my hand we'll make it I swear.

[Roger Mexico]

Trump Assassination Attempt Number 2

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/ ... index.html

[HighlyIrregular II]

"Secret Service admits not searching golf course perimeter"

[HighlyIrregular II]

https://people.com/boars-head-closes-pl ... st-8713230

"Boar’s Head Discontinues Liverwurst...'This is a dark moment in our company’s history'"

[Madrigal]

https://people.com/boars-head-closes-pl ... st-8713230

"Boar’s Head Discontinues Liverwurst...'This is a dark moment in our company’s history'"

The amount of contaminated food I keep reading about is staggering. I hardly use processed foods but it seems like nothing's safe.

[Catoptric]

A Real Estate Broker offered Half Price Books a complete set of unused material in 15 volumes that he would have likely bought for around $3,500 in 2006. Of course, I found it in the trash.

Listed for $500 on Amazon:
Nouveau Riche - Residential Real Estate Encyclopedia (R2E2). (The R2E2™ is a 15- Volume series of the essential information you need to implement real estate investment systems for higher profit and fewer mistakes., Each topic includes audio CDs, or DVDs, and a student workbook.) by Curtis DeYoung

Unsurprisingly, the content creator is responsible for this:

Victims decry 10-year sentence for Draper man who stole $25M in retirement funds (2014)
https://www.ksl.com/article/42310999/vi ... ment-funds

SEC Charges Utah IRA Plan Administrator with Fraud (2016)
https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/almID/1202653603622/

Utah man who bilked victims out of millions gets to leave federal prison early (2022)
https://kutv.com/news/2news-investigate ... -christmas

It reminds me of various gimmicky systems people sold around that time, such as speed learning/reading programs, or Zygon / MindWare ("Brain Supercharger" which I kind of actually liked.) Or meditative light and sound programs claiming odd affirmation nonsense.

[Senseye]

Listed for $500 on Amazon:
Nouveau Riche - Residential Real Estate Encyclopedia (R2E2). (The R2E2™ is a 15- Volume series of the essential information you need to implement real estate investment systems for higher profit and fewer mistakes., Each topic includes audio CDs, or DVDs, and a student workbook.) by Curtis DeYoung

With these things the obvious question to ask is, if it works so well, why aren't you just using your own system to get wealthy instead of selling books about it?

And the obvious answer is: because the system doesn't work worth shit. Little surprise this guy went on to another fraud scheme to enrich himself.

[Catoptric]

Though I do believe the toy company did copy the music group's likeness (and clearly the name was an inspiration) only vaguely, since whoever designed the dolls probably was just skimming through images of the group, and took bits and pieces of their wardrobe dysfunction as a vague representation,) this is the kind of lawsuit that could easily overreach into other areas of legal disputes (though you can't really call exploiting ones likeness in this manner, as satire which has more creative liberties unless something stupid like POP! figurine bobbleheads are satire.) If you read the comments on Reddit, they discuss the sleazy nature of the music group and wonder if the settlement would benefit other members of the group (if the lawsuit is upheld, and whether or not it's legally binding given this is the 3rd lawsuit off and on.)

L.O.L. dolls lose in court (MGA which makes Bratz)
https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/lol ... t-6323201/




They must have been inspired by the (at some point $1 Billion?) Bratz/MGA and Mattel lawsuit which initially had around $88 million plus $100 million in "damages" (which was advertising that increased their sales but ultimately would result in $300 million paid by Mattel to MGA/Bratz?) in favor of Bratz who were sued by Mattel (since it was basically considered prototype intellectual design someone took when they left Mattel with an idea for the doll they didn't want to create, but then countersued. Some parallels in history could be Apple Computers and Steve Wozniak who was working with HP, or SpaceX technology being developed by Raytheon or whatever company and redeveloped as an actual concept to be used (which might have been too difficult to pull off unless they had a rocket company to do so, and is basically just an intercontinental missile redeployed as a satellite company.)

Case Study: Barbie v. Bratz
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-notes/19020005


Mattel owed MGA $300 million
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018 ... %20damages.

Who hasn't profited handsomely from degenerate standards?

Google AI summary (which left out many of the details)

Spoiler

Show

MGA Entertainment, the company that makes Bratz dolls, has been involved in several lawsuits and controversies, including:
Lawsuit with Mattel
In 2004, MGA and Mattel began a series of court cases over the Bratz line. Mattel claimed that MGA stole its trade secrets and intellectual property, including Bratz designs and prototypes. In 2008, a federal judge ruled in favor of Mattel, ordering MGA to stop selling the Bratz dolls and pay Mattel $100 million in damages.
Lawsuit with T.I. and Tiny
In 2010, MGA announced plans to release a doll line based on the girl group "Where the Boys At?". However, MGA never reached a deal with the group's management. In 2019, MGA released OMG Fashion Dolls, which were accused of copying the image, name, and trade dress of OMG Girlz. The case went to trial multiple times, and in September 2023, a federal judge granted T.I. and Tiny a retrial.
Legal dispute with Lady Gaga
In 2012, MGA sued Lady Gaga over a contract breach, claiming that she and her management wanted to focus on marketing a perfume instead of their figurines

"Insane Companies No One Talks About" Episode 2: MGA Entertainment
https://julieyoung.substack.com/p/insan ... alks-about

Billions in revenue (lawsuits are a "drop in the bucket.")



************

A local home listed for sale, looks like a liquor store.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local ... cd8f5e2a5e

[Catoptric]

Mostly North Carolina (and of course Lebanon, Gaza, et al.)

Helene Leaves Path of Destruction, With at Least 95 Dead; Israeli Strikes Kill More Hezbollah Commanders
https://www.theepochtimes.com/epochtv/n ... st-5732604




A year after a hazardous truck was driven off the side of the road, and pierced, causing 5 to die, a girl admits to driving 90 mph with her Mother and brother in the car, to meet up with Mommy's boyfriend. . . What kind of degenerate mother allows their kid to drive in a no pass lane in an attempt to skip past a chemical tanker, and denies it for over a year despite knowing they caused egregious destruction and put people's lives at risk?

Shit happens I guess.

This video makes it a little more clear what happened (a period of time where the traffic seemed to clear up, they thought it was safe, and the truck veers off trying to avoid damage, but it was too late.)

https://www.livenowfox.com/news/totally ... l-killed-5

[HighlyIrregular II]

US president of the late 70s, Jimmy Carter, turned 100. I wrote him two letters in 1977, or else I made two points in one letter. One point encouraged him to take action on investigating UFOs. I think the other was about pollution. I had his picture framed on my dresser. I had Regan's framed after Carter. I think I had Bush's framed too. IIRC, Clinton encouraged letters and I wrote him a long one and asked for a picture at the end, which I never received.