Using the bathroom or having a cry is about to become more expensive for North Americans as the US and Canada enter a full-fledged trade war that threatens to flush away decades of peaceful trading between the two nations.
...
Paper products are among the hardest-hit sectors, with Canada threatening to put tariffs of between 25% and 50% on “toilet paper or face tissue stock” from 8 September in retaliation for a 50% hike from Washington DC.

Though American toilet paper and tissues are often made domestically, they heavily rely on lumber-rich Canada for raw materials.

Dang. I thought toilet paper was already expensive.

From Sep 7, 2011. Narrated by Tom Hanks.

I found this after reading the New York Times story about "The Tour Guide Who Lived Through 9/11".

We thought, and hoped, she would live a lot longer. An inspiration. Tennessee, and especially East Tennessee, can't thank her enough.

Dolly Parton, Superstar Whose Songs Spoke to Millions, Dies at 80.

A photo of Dolly taken by the Mr. at the 75th Anniversary Rededication of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2009.

This slice of God’s country could soon be destroyed because of data centers... But here’s the twist: [the] County doesn’t even have a data center, nor does it have plans for one... And yet residents... are set to have their land, and their scenic vistas, taken from them against their will by eminent domain to make way for monstrous new power lines: 12 story-tall towers carrying the highest voltage lines that exist in the United States to bring electricity to data centers ..., some 100 miles away.

[The utility company] has proposed to build the largest gas-fueled power plant in the state, with 300-foot smokestacks and a water intake averaging 800,000 gallons a day — also to provide electricity for far-away data centers. And, in the ultimate insult, residents here and across the [area] could well end up paying for this construction in the form of higher utility rates. Ordinary [citizens] would be forced to subsidize the multitrillion-dollar AI industry even more than they do with their taxes today.

Knox News visited multiple food vendors at the South Knoxville destination (Kern's Food Hall) Aug. 19 and found additional fees varied by business, ranging from 4% to 10%, while some charged none at all.

Kern's manager Grant Belback told Knox News "said he saw the Reddit post and understands that "nobody likes paying higher prices." But South Knoxville is "growing fast," he said, and "as we grow, costs grow too."

Irvey's Ice Cream is doing the same thing, adding a 10% "experience fee. "

...customers who prefer not to pay the fee at [at Irvey's Ice Cream] and Cochran's businesses can ask to have it removed."

Just do it.

Oh, do Downtown and/or West Knox food services charge an "experience fee"?

Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, "Tens of thousands of residents in northwest Indiana were in survival mode Thursday as they endured a ninth day without power..."
...
Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said 68,000 customers were still without power as of Thursday morning, the majority of them in Lake County beside the Illinois border... power is not expected to be fully restored until Tuesday in some places, including Gary, IN.
...
“We’re always in survival mode in Gary. And I think that’s probably why it wasn’t so much of an uproar because the first few days, it was like, ‘OK, we’re used to this .... but this is the second week now,” Hardin said. “It’s not OK for us to continually be in survival mode, doing the best that we can.”

It's reported often that residents and businesses alike are leaving California in droves.

They must be doing something right.

California Draws More Startup Investment Than All Other 49 States Combined.

I wish I could afford to live there and it wasn't so far from the East coast.

We live in a neighborhood. There are no thru streets. The speed limit is 20 mph. We have lots of walkers. Our neighbors, via email, have been cautioned numerous times to slow down.

Some of our neighbors in the back of the neighborhood don't care.

I put up a cute flag that says, Slow - Bunny Crossing.
I did this because we do have several bunnies in our yard that cross the street. In addition, I was trying to subtly ask everyone to slow down. It takes an extra 1-3 minutes to go the speed limit and get thru the neighborhood from the farthest back spot.

Sadly, one or two months into displaying this flag, yes, someone ran over a bunny right in front of my flag. I have no idea if it could have been avoided. I do know the sun was up. I do know it happened in the morning when people are leaving for work.

I definitely don't want people wrecking to avoid animals.

Whatta ya gonna do? I've noticed some neighborhoods in West Knoxville install mini-roundabouts. We'll see. That's Knox County, we're in Blount County.

We've been getting a lot of fake, scam phone calls. They are really good. The bot sounds real. They even insert a little throat clearing.

Some of the calls say they're updating Medicare data, some say you are due a Medicare benefit, the last one said we haven't used a Medicare coupon.

They ask, "Do you have Part A and Part B?"

It's all lies. Don't respond to any prompts. If you do, it will give them a lead to use your data. If you say Yes, they'll use the Yes to say you agreed to whatever they arecselliny.

Be careful out there.

In 2018, registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans by about 250,000 voters. Today, Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 1.5 million voters.

In that time frame, the Florida population has increased by approximately 2 million people, with a net migration to the state of approximately 1.5 million in the 8 years.

Is Florida now only a Republican paradise?

Saw these at the Ladies of Charity Thrift Store. They are so cute. One bike has heart shaped pedals with a doll seat on the back. You have to wonder what is the backstory. They all look dirty like they were dug up out of the ground or the garbage dump.

Prescription drug prices record sharpest drop in more than 60 years.

While overall medical costs continued to rise, prescription drug prices fell by 3.1 percent in the year ending in July, the steepest annual decline since 1963.
...
The White House took credit for the good news, saying President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash drug prices were working. Some experts said a Biden-era policy that requires Medicare to negotiate prices for some popular prescription drugs is more likely to be driving down costs.

Headlines?

The President "earlier Thursday directed the Navy to return to steam-powered catapults and hydraulic systems on its Ford-class aircraft carriers, ditching the newer electromagnetic technology."

Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona responds, "I've launched off the front of aircraft carriers hundreds of times, have a Master's degree in aeronautical engineering, and am a test pilot and even I wouldn't suggest to the Navy how to engineer specific systems on its ships."

The President "should stick to what he knows best — ballrooms, bankruptcy, and bulls---."

The President wants to put golden seals on White House ballroom.

The President shrugs off concerns about dismal conditions on USS Abraham Lincoln.

Am I biased? Probably. I cannot understand those who continue to support this administration.

Nearly 20 million eggs were recalled in July over salmonella concerns. The new classification signals a “reasonable probability” of “serious adverse health consequences or death.”

The eggs were sold in bulk and retail sizes of 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, and 60 eggs with sell by or best by dates between July 20, 2026 and August 17, 2026. Recalled eggs were sold under Country Morning, Cal-Maine Sunups, Brookshire’s, Simple Truth, and Kroger brand names.

Product Distribution*: AR, LA, MS, NM, OK, and TX
*Distribution of recalled products has been confirmed for states listed, but product could have been distributed further, reaching additional states.

...for the first time, the money coming from the lottery has not kept up with the cost of the scholarship programs it helps fund
...
"inflation-adjusted net lottery proceeds fell about 22% over the last three years... whereas "the number of students receiving scholarships grew."

Officials said part of the shift may come down to changing gambling habits, including the rise of sports betting.

"Last year, sports betting taxes filled a lot of the funding gap, even leaving behind a surplus.

Starting July 1, state lawmakers have redirected most of that money to K-12 school maintenance and construction costs."

On August 12th, in South Knoxville, a woman was found dead in her car at Suttree Landing Park along the river.

On August 12th, North of Knoxville, a woman was found dead along the 1600 block of Wilson Road.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest data, the U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, and while the unemployment rate inched lower, to 4.1%, even this was discouraging: The “improved” rate was the result of the labor force participation rate dropping, as opposed to additional hiring.
...
On Friday, shortly after the job numbers were released, Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council and the top economist in the White House, told Fox News that if we exclude the part of the economy that lost jobs, “you actually had a number that was about plus 100,000.”

Huh?

334,029 - 6/2026 - Knox County Voter Registration (69,551 considered Inactive)
Number of registered voters increased by 4.1% over 2024.

85,351 - Knox County votes cast in August 6, 2026, Primary and Local General

25.5% of Knox County registered voters voted in the August 6, 2026, election

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320,933 - 6/2024 - Knox County Voter Registration (18,700 considered Inactive?)

54,848 - Knox County votes cast in August 1, 2024, Primary and Local General

17.1% of Knox County registered voters voted in the August 1, 2024, election

Interesting how the Republicans did not bother putting up a candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives District 15. The Democrats and Sam McKenzie seem to have that wrapped up.

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100,818 - 6/2026 - Blount County Voter Registration (12,923 considered Inactive)
Number of registered voters increased by 5% over 2024.

21,819 - Blount County votes cast in August 6, 2026, Primary and Local General

21.6% of Blount County registered voters voted in the August 6, 2026, election
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95,917 - 6/2024 - Blount County Voter Registration (4,393 considered Inactive)

15,462 - Blount County votes cast in August 1, 2024, Primary and Local General

16.1% of Blount County registered voters voted in the August 1, 2024, election

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Numbers of Registered Voters provided by the State of TN Secretary of State

According to the TN Secretary of State, Div. of Elections, "Voters may be made inactive if the county election commission receives notice that the voter may no longer reside at the address of their voter registration.  A notice is sent to the voter requesting that they update their address." "Since a voter may update their address on Election Day, an inactive voter would be considered eligible to vote on Election Day.  If the county election commission does not hear from the voter in the inactive status before two (2) Federal November General elections have passed, the voter will automatically be purged from the voter files when the county election commission completes its annual maintenance of voter files."

The Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced they weren't able to do their job resulting in huge recalls of beef and bacon.

Nearly 30,000 pounds of raw beef products imported from Argentina have been recalled in two states because they entered the United States without undergoing a required inspection.

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) sent out a recall notice for over 22,000 pounds of Maple Leaf Foods bacon product from Canada that made its way onto store shelves without going through required U.S. inspection.

Is it a message to punish Canada and Argentina? Is it the USDA FSIS can't/won't do their job?