The San Joaquin Valley's natural water supply, always suibject to flood/drought fluctuations, has been plundered for a century by reckless and unaccountable agriculture that treats land, after the paradigm of the cotton industry, as a sterile medium to which one adds fertilizer and water to make money, until it all runs out. South of the Tehachapis, they add houses to what was once the richest agricultural county in the state, and beyond that county, they add houses to the desert.

While we were somewhat surprised that President Trump did not rename Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Feinstein, in the wake of the latest revelations about his Supreme Court nomination, we knew it was only an oversight. Perhaps no one in the White House realized the hurricane was an f-word. The White House spelling problem continutes. ^1.
Nonetheless, there is plenty more evidence that our president, called in these pages Don T. Culo with respect for his criminal associations, is in the words of Bob Woodward, "detached from reality,"

 
8-3-18
The Independent (UK)
National Honey Bee Day 2018:
What's being done to save the species in Britain
Pollinators may be in decline, but there’s plenty of new ideas, and time, to turn the tide. Ahead of the day on August 18, Jo Lamiri finds the new buzz around bees
Jo Lamiri
 

 “Is this going to change anybody’s pumping next year? Not to my knowledge,” said Chris Scheuring, general counsel at the California Farm Bureau Federation. -- Kasler, Sacramento Bee, Sept. 17, 2018

 Denham, R-Calif., and his wiry 32-year-old Democratic opponent are locked in one of America’s most competitive congressional races, playing out here in this almond-picking, culturally conservative swath of California’s Central Valley. And yes, Josh Harder was until last year a venture capitalist. -- Schleifer, Recode, Sept. 20, 2018