Damn near lost my coffee this morning after reading this one…

(CNN) -At a botanical garden in Phoenix some cactuses can’t take the heat.

Record-high temperatures in Arizona, combined with a lack of seasonal monsoons, have caused saguaro cactuses at the Desert Botanical Garden to become “highly stressed,” according to Chief Science Officer Kimberlie McCue. She said a saguaro can appear “fairly normal” or feel somewhat squishy before it suddenly collapses and reveals it has been rotting from the inside out due to heat-related stress.

Every February, the Desert Botanical Garden takes inventory of its saguaro cactuses and assesses each one’s condition. McCue said since 2020, when record temperatures caused stress in many of the saguaros, she and her team have seen more of the garden’s cactuses die. Present-day heat records are sending some of those previously affected cactuses over the edge, causing them to lose limbs and even collapse.

Wednesday night ended a record streak of 16 days above 90 degrees in Phoenix. The city is forecast to see temperatures over 110 degrees again on Thursday, which would make for the 28th consecutive day.

Cactuses carry out essential functions at night. That’s when they open their stomata, or pores, and carry out a gas exchange in which they take in the carbon dioxide they use to photosynthesize during the day. But because nights in Phoenix have experienced record-high heat, McCue said this suffocates and stresses out the saguaros, which dehydrates them and makes them more susceptible to infections and insects.

cnn.com/cnn/2023/07/27/us/phoenix-arizona-heat-saguaro-cactuses/index.html

The union representing pilots flying cargo planes for UPS say they will not cross picket lines if Teamsters strike next month, a spokesperson for the Independent Pilots Association confirmed to CNN.

The union representing 3,400 pilots has vowed solidarity “by not ‘turning an aircraft wheel’ on behalf of the company,” which could spell even deeper disruptions for the worldwide shipper. The heads of the two unions say in letters to each other that their support proved pivotal during a previous Teamsters strike in 1997.

This does not mean UPS pilots are going on strike, rather there will be a work stoppage as they vow not to fly UPS cargo. UPS has said negotiations with Teamsters will continue next week and says it “prepared to increase our industry-leading pay and benefits.”

The loss of UPS’ air unit will make it very difficult for the company to operate with thousands of non-union members they are training to move packages in the event of a strike.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/20/business/ups-pilots/index.html

https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1672716909463195649

HOUSTON (Reuters) -U.S. oil bosses generally collected huge paychecks last year on the back of high energy prices and record profits, with Exxon Mobil Corp's chief executive winning a 52% increase.

The largest U.S. oil company on Thursday disclosed Chief Executive Darren Woods was paid $35.9 million last year.

Oil company workers did not see the same level of increases with median annual compensation for workers declining at several big energy companies. The median pay for an Exxon worker fell 9% last year to $171,582 while Chevron's median worker pay dropped 12%, to $161,488, filings showed.

The two largest U.S. oil majors posted record profits in 2022 on high energy prices and costs cuts measures including payroll reductions. Exxon posted the most among Western oil majors, $56 billion. Chevron's profit more than doubled in 2022 to a record $36.5 billion.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exxon-paid-ceo-woods-35-144612188.html

Next time you're filling up...

NEW YORK (AP) — Al Jaffee, Mad magazine’s award-winning cartoonist and ageless wise guy who delighted millions of kids with the sneaky fun of the Fold-In and the snark of “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions,” has died. He was 102.

Jaffee died Monday in Manhattan from multiple organ failure, according to his granddaughter, Fani Thomson. He had retired at the age of 99.

Mad magazine, with its wry, sometimes pointed send-ups of politics and culture, was essential reading for teens and preteens during the baby-boom era and inspiration for countless future comedians. Few of the magazine’s self-billed “Usual Gang of Idiots” contributed as much — and as dependably — as the impish, bearded cartoonist. For decades, virtually every issue featured new material by Jaffee. His collected “Fold-Ins,” taking on everyone in his unmistakably broad visual style from the Beatles to TMZ, was enough for a four-volume box set published in 2011.

Readers savored his Fold-Ins like dessert, turning to them on the inside back cover after looking through such other favorites as Antonio Prohías’ “Spy vs. Spy” and Dave Berg’s “The Lighter Side.” The premise, originally a spoof of the old Sports Illustrated and Playboy magazine foldouts, was that you started with a full-page drawing and question on top, folded two designated points toward the middle and produced a new and surprising image, along with the answer.

https://apnews.com/article/al-jafee-mad-magazine-cartoonist-dies-f676fbeb190b44c8aa4abcb0daa5d571

The wrestling entertainment giant WWE, known for its manufactured storylines, is facing real controversy after fans noticed it used an image of the Auschwitz concentration camp to promote a match on Saturday.

The image appeared in a five-minute video introducing a WrestleMania 39 contest between stars Dominik and Rey Mysterio. The shot, which appeared in the pre-show ahead of the live broadcast, was used as b-roll accompanying Dominik's comments about being a hardened criminal.

The Auschwitz Memorial called the WWE "shameless" in a statement on Twitter.

"The fact that [an] Auschwitz image was used to promote a WWE match is hard to call 'an editing mistake,' " the museum wrote. "Exploiting the site that became a symbol of enormous human tragedy is shameless and insults the memory of all victims of Auschwitz."

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/06/1168348949/wwe-wrestlemania-auschwitz-dominik-mysterio?utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=npr&fbclid=IwAR3tPB3SFU7yzD3J8bgRw-WBY6etkNk2INprHTJoyhmnnr-vRK7_sV70Agg

Source: Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s government on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to “counter the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail” after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry condemned the move in a statement Sunday and demanded an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

“Ukraine expects effective action to counter the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail by the U.K., China, the U.S. and France,” the statement read, saying these countries “have a special responsibility” regarding nuclear aggression.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, tweeted Sunday that Putin’s announcement was “a step towards internal destabilization” of Belarus that maximized “the level of negative perception and public rejection” of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society. The Kremlin, Danilov added, “took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-belarus-tactical-nuclear-weapons-3aed32661ae3c218c59117d1ce593777?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab#lfpusznhoo36blqwki

https://twitter.com/AnnevanLeur/status/1637045521033330688