PLAYING GOLF WHILE THE PLANET DRYS UP; CRAZY!

How crazy is this? Much like Nero fiddling while Rome was engulfed in flames we continue to drain the planet of a much needed resource (water) just to be able to chase little white balls up and down acres and acres of green grass that suck up billions of gallons of water. Even the President seems to be oblivious to the problem Obama Plays Water Guzzling Desert Golf Courses Amid California Drought

Matters of Scale - Planet Golf | Worldwatch Institute

Amount of water it would take, per day, to support 4.7 billion people at the UN daily minimum
2.5 billion gallons

Amount of water used, per day, to irrigate the world’s golf courses
2.5 billion gallons

Closer to home; California is in crisis facing one of its worse ever droughts in recorded history;

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “The average American family of four uses 400 gallons of water per day.” The average golf course uses 312,000 gallons of water, according to Audobon International, meaning each one uses as much water as 780 families of four. In Palm Springs—immediately adjacent to a place called PalmDesert—NPR reported that each of the city's 57 courses use about a million gallons a day, or about the same as 2,500 families of four.

Looking statewide, the numbers really get fun. California is second only to Florida in the number of golf courses it has: 921. Together, those courses use as much water as 2.8 million people, or about 7 percent of the state's population. While middle-class homeowners risk fines for watering their lawns, millions upon millions of gallons of water are wasted every day on a boring leisure sport for the wealthy.

“Golf courses are a huge problem,” said Adam Keats of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental advocacy group. And part of that huge problem is the people who play it. “They're a wealthy elite that have no connection to want or lack,” Keats, head of the center's California Water Law Project, told me over the phone. “Golfers live in a world of excess.”

FLORIDA-SPRING-PARTIES-GUNS-DRUGS-ALCOHOL = RECIPE FOR DISASTER

If you plan to partee in Florida, the "stand your ground" state that is a haven for the NRA don't expect nothing less than a full blown, all out, shit-fest. Here's how the town's sheriff describes it;

 He called it a “recipe for disaster.”

“We have drunk people under the influence of drugs, on our beaches, with guns and no respect for themselves, others and most of all authority,” McKeithen said.

Local authorities including Florida Highway Patrol have made more than 700 arrests along the long stretch of the panhandle's beaches during this year’s out-of-control spring break festivities.

McKeithen says 130 of the arrests were drug-related.

“This will not end well. We will then be subjected to a separate issue that none of us want or need,” McKeithen added, fearing violence against his officers.

The shooting followed a Thursday hearing where angry neighbors asked the city to put a ban on drinking along the beach, where spring break visitors typically congregate in March, according to the News Herald.

Seven People Shot at Panama City Beach Spring Break Party

FRANCIS; A ROLE MODEL FOR THE 1%

Just in case the "haves" are confused about how to help those that "have not" Pope Francis  is offering a few suggestions.

Vatican to open its museums and the Sistine Chapel to the homeless | CathNewsUSA

First Pope Francis gave the homeless in and around St. Peter’s Square sleeping bags to mark his birthday last December. Then the Vatican built showers and got barbers and hairdressers to give them free haircuts and shaves. And now it’s planning to throw open the doors of its museums and the Sistine Chapel to them.

The initiative comes from Polish Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, the man appointed by Pope Francis as his personal representative in aiding the poor.

This week, Krajewski announced that on Thursday, a group of 150 homeless men and women will get a guided visit of the museums and take part in a private prayer in the Sistine Chapel, followed by a free dinner at the museum’s restaurant.

KAMAKAZI REDUX

Planes falling out of the sky; in this case verify-ably deliberate, is begining to occur more often than not these days. Add to this several unexplained crashes and you have to ask. Are passenger planes being used as weapons?

Germanwings plane crash: Co-pilot 'wanted to destroy plane'

The co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps, named as Andreas Lubitz, appeared to want to "destroy the plane", officials said.

Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, citing information from the "black box" voice recorder, said the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit.

He intentionally started a descent while the pilot was locked out.

Mr Robin said there was "absolute silence in the cockpit" as the pilot fought to re-enter it.

He said air traffic controllers made repeated attempts to contact the aircraft, but to no avail. Passengers could be heard screaming just before the crash, he added.

Details are emerging of the German co-pilot's past - although his apparent motives for causing the crash remain a mystery

THE FRAT BRAT DEFENSE; NOT A RACIST; JUST RACIST WORDS.

It's becoming the defense of choice for people who get caught doing/saying bad things.



Pettit, who actually took a few questions from the gathered media following his statement, would not discuss the events leading up to the bus ride. He would not discuss the chant or say where he learned it or who taught it to him.

Former OU Frat Member Apologizes for Racist Chant

"There are no excuses for my behavior. I never thought of myself as a racist. I never considered it a possibility. But the bottom line is that the words I said in the chant were mean, hateful and racist."

CAMPING OUT AT WALMART

Arizona Walmart Shooting: Police Shoot One Dead In 17-Person Walmart Fight At A Cottonwood Parking Lot [Video]



When police officers arrived, the Walmart brawl spilled out onto the parking lot, and one suspect was shot and killed during the large 17-person fight. Witnesses say they heard screaming and saw people running around while firing guns. Another suspect was shot in the abdomen while the Walmart employee sustained a broken arm.

“We do believe that there was a struggle for an officer’s weapon, there is an ongoing investigation on that,” said DPS spokesman Bart Graves, according to AZ Central. “This is a very complex investigation, we are still sorting things out and there are a lot of witnesses to talk to, so we are in the early stages. We were asked by Cottonwood police to conduct a criminal investigation.”

During the Walmart fight, one police officer was shot in the leg and was flown to Flagstaff Medical Center for surgery. The Walmart shooting victim is 31-years-old and has been with the Cottonwood Police Department for 10 years. The veteran police officer is expected to make a full recovery.

A total of seven people were taken into custody. The condition of the suspect shot in the stomach is currently unknown. The Walmart shooting suspects have refused to release their real names to authorities, but it is believed the five adult males, a woman, and a female juvenile are all part of the same family.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1947832/arizona-walmart-shooting-police-shoot-one-dead-in-17-person-walmart-fight-at-a-cottonwood-parking-lot-video/#8EqkQcrzuAlmOOdI.99

RACISTS LYNCH STARBUCKS

Starbucks made a fatal mistake when it started a campaign to "talk about" racism in America. It was based on the assumption that; as SCOTUS recently declared, racism does not exist in America.



WRONG!



It's sparkling clear that the last thing Americans want to admit is that racism is alive and well in America. S, what's there to talk about?

Starbucks drops 'Race Together' coffee cups

Starbucks baristas will no longer write “Race Together” on customers' cups, ending a visible component of the company's diversity and racial inequality campaign that sparked widespread criticism in the week since it took effect.

The campaign didn't sit well with some Starbucks customers. Many voiced on social media and elsewhere that they didn't want a debate with their brew.

At a Starbucks in Pittsfield Township, Mich., near Ann Arbor, two customers said Sunday they didn't think a coffee shop was the right place for race relations dialogue.

Ninette Musili, a junior bio-molecular science major at the University of Michigan, said the campaign seemed to her like an insincere publicity stunt that wasn't executed properly.

Like many who criticized Starbucks, she goes to the shops either before class or later in the day to study. At neither time does she want to discuss race relations.

“Most people come to Starbucks for coffee,” said Musili, who is 19 and black. “Race is an uncomfortable thing to bring up, especially in a Starbucks.”

She said such discussions are important, and that Starbucks should have set aside time during the evenings for race discussions and invited people to attend.

Another customer, Shane Mulholland, 46, of Ann Arbor, also said Starbucks isn't the venue to talk about race.

“They're here for coffee. They're not here to push their political agenda,” he said. “I even contemplated not coming here because of it.”

He said Starbucks should remain neutral on such topics because it's an established brand, rather than risk alienating customers. “There are other ways you can go about doing things to stimulate interest in what you're doing,” said Mulholland, who is white and runs an edible mushroom-growing business. “They must be doing so well they don't have to worry about losing customers over that,” he said.

The campaign, he said, didn't start any discussions about race with him.

Discussions about race are necessary, but getting a message about it on a coffee cup is silly, Stephanie Nelson, 45, said at a Starbucks in Seattle, the chain's home.