Warren Buffett's trusted confidante Charlie Munger died on Tuesday at age 99, leaving a void at Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) that investors said would be impossible to fill despite the conglomerate's well-established succession plan.

Charlie Munger, who was Warren Buffett's right-hand man at Berkshire, dies at 99

Baby it's cold outside.

The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that all new automobiles come equipped with technology meant to make speeding difficult or impossible, a move that comes after an accident in Las Vegas killed nine people.

Should cars have built-in speed limits? Some think it’s time

These pictures are from Alabama. There are many fields like this in Georgia and Mississippi.

Raw cotton goes for about $0.80 a pound. These bales weight around 5,000 pounds. That's about $4,000 per bale. A single truck can carry 3-4 bales. That's $12,000 to $16,000 per truck.

I love driving through the country side looking at the different types of crops. We drove a little over 400 miles in three days with no interstate. It's a beautiful thing.

The electronics retailer with nearly 1,000 stores says it is preventing shoplifting through higher staffing levels in stores, full-service cashier lanes, security staff at entrances and other strategies, CEO Corie Barry said Tuesday.

“The more retailers go toward reducing their labor costs and putting more of the energy on shoppers, the higher the shoplifting,” Eck said.

Best Buy’s simple strategy for beating shoplifting: More workers in stores

Thanks to all who read KnoxViews. Thanks to all who contribute to KnoxViews. Thank for caring. Thanks for doing.

Thanks to President Biden. Thanks to the Democratic Party.

Thanks to those who work so hard every day to make our lives better and/or easier. Thanks to our healthcare workers. They don't get enough appreciation. Thanks to our first responders, EMTs, fire, police, sheriff’s office. Thanks to our military. Thanks to the unions. Thanks to volunteers and non-profits.

To all those that I give thanks and others who do good works, please don't give up.

Tennessee’s hands-free law makes it illegal for a driver to hold a cell phone or mobile device with any part of their body.

“For hands-free, it’s three points on your license and a moving violation,” Simpson said. “So just being on your cell phone, it’s not worth it for your insurance to go up to me.”

Tennessee distracted driving rate is 5x the national average, THP says

There is a lot more wrong with it than that...

A Republican-drawn map for Tennessee's Senate seats violates the state Constitution because lawmakers incorrectly numbered the legislative districts in left-leaning Nashville, which affects which years those seats are on the ballot, a panel of judges ruled Wednesday.

Judges rule against Tennessee Senate redistricting map over treatment of Nashville seats

FDA warns consumers not to purchase or use certain eye drops from several major brands due to risk of eye infection

Recalled eye drop brands include:
CVS, Rite Aid, Target, Leader, Rugby, Velocity and Walmart (Equate)

From CBS News, "Bloomberg News reported that Kilitch produced the eye drops in an unsanitary factory in India where some workers went barefoot and others made up test results that purported to show the products were sterile."

From the New York Times, "Two brands of eyedrops were pulled from shelves in January and February after they were linked to a drug-resistant bacteria strain that has been found to have caused at least four deaths and serious health issues in several others. Weeks later, two other types of eyedrops were recalled because they posed a different kind of contamination risk."

It seems a little scary to buy store brands of medicines. I used to think the name brand manufacturers provided the store brand products. Apparently not so.

From CNBC and the American Farm Bureau Federation,

"A Thanksgiving dinner this year will gobble up less of your wallet, thanks in large part to lower turkey prices. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the average cost of a dinner for 10 people will be $61.17, down 4.5% from last year’s record of $64.05."

In the South the cost is $59.10. Yay!

"...a 16-pound turkey is averaging $27.35, down 5.6% from a year ago."
"... prices for cranberries have dropped 18%."

“Labor is up, no two ways about it,” New Jersey Turkey farmer Ronnie Lee said. Employees at his farm make at least $20 an hour. Even so, he added, “finding people to do it can be difficult.”

Such a gracious lady. She will be remembered.

From NPR,

"Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished," the former president said in a statement. "She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me."
...
"She also revolutionized and professionalized the first lady role by expanding the office beyond hostess duties."

According to a report from Forbes, Tennessee is ranked 11th highest in retail theft.

In Tennessee,
Total value of goods stolen in 2021, per resident = $246.85
Larceny/theft incidents per 100,000 residents in 2021 = 1,653

Highest in the Southeast U.S., unless you count D.C.

SpaceX's uncrewed spacecraft Starship, developed to carry astronauts to the moon and beyond, failed in space shortly after lifting off on Saturday, cutting short its second test but making it further than an earlier attempt that ended in an explosion.

The Starship system made it much farther into flight than the first attempt in April.

We Meant To Do That
Every time SpaceX has some sort of fuckup, everyone involved pretends that it was supposed to happen and they got great data and shut up. Journalists often shift their stories very quickly.

The Atlantic has an article alluding to "SpaceX is Holding up America's Lunar Ambitions."

The RCS (Rich Communication Services) texting option popped up on my Android phone the other day. I'm wondering what new hell are they now introducing. A couple of features included are where it will send a message back to let the sender know you read the message and typing indicators to let recipients know when you're typing. Another rumored feature allows users to share their location. I don't see that feature on my phone, but who knows.

The big news is,

After a long holdout, Apple will finally adopt the RCS messaging standard for iPhones through a software update next year, the company told multiple news outlets, bringing a wider range of texting features to conversations between iPhone and Android users...

I didn't know there were issues when texting between Apple and Android. I text regularly using my Android phone with an Apple user. Haven't heard any complaints.

I've turned off the RCS chat texting feature. I don't want people to know when I've read their message. I certainly don't care when they are typing. I could leave RCS on and turn off these features. However, I haven't done all the research to know what else is behind the scenes I don't want.

ProPublica's report says leaders at the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center flouted rules around using seclusion as punishment and was still allowed to operate.

State lawmakers demand answers after 'damning' report on Knox Co. juvenile facility's punishments

This Youth Detention Center Superintendent Illegally Locks Kids Alone in Cells. No One Has Forced Him to Stop.

Tennessee is expected to get a response back from the federal government by the end of the year.

Federal government evaluating Tennessee’s statewide railway proposa

GOP Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee accused former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of elbowing him in the back Tuesday morning while Burchett was talking to a reporter, the latest sign of how tense the dynamics are in the House GOP conference.

GOP Rep. Tim Burchett accuses Kevin McCarthy of elbowing him in the kidneys, ex-speaker denies it

“The U.S. Department of Education was not invited by the working group co-chairs to testify,” a department spokesperson wrote in a statement to News 2. “However, the Department has offered to provide technical assistance to members of the legislature.”

‘What’s their plan?’: Speaker of the House slams critics calling TN to infuse federal education money with state surplus

..."in Claremont, New Hampshire, on Saturday, Trump, who is seeking a second term in the White House, said: "We will put America first and today, especially in honor of our great veterans on Veterans Day, we pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country."

He accused these groups of doing anything "to destroy America and to destroy the American dream" and he went on to repeat his baseless claims of election fraud.
...
"Trump's comments are remarkably evocative particularly of Hitler's rants against Marxists and socialists -- Hitler also decried pro-democratic forces as Marxist," Yale University professor Jason Stanley, author of "How Fascism Works, told ABC News."

How is it possible that such a man gets so much attention? How is it this person gets away with so much? How is it the Republican Party stands aside to let this man destroy our country?

Honda Motor said on Friday it would give production workers at its U.S. facilities an 11% pay hike starting in January, a decision announced a couple of weeks after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and the Detroit Three automakers agreed to new contracts.

Toyota Motor said on Wednesday it is raising the wages of nonunion U.S. factory workers just days after the United Auto Workers union won major pay and benefit hikes from the Detroit Three automakers.

Hyundai Motor said on Monday it will hike wages for nonunion production workers at its Alabama factory by 25% by 2028, weeks after the United Auto Workers won new contracts with the Detroit Three automakers.

It's like those workers that benefited from the UAW workers going without pay while on strike should donate to the UAW.