On Lake Michigan, a coal-burning steamship gets a pass

But every day it sails between this old shipbuilding port and Ludington, Mich., the Badger dumps nearly 4 tons of coal ash into Lake Michigan — waste concentrated with arsenic, lead, mercury and other toxic metals. During its spring-to-fall season, federal records show, the amount far exceeds the coal, iron and limestone waste jettisoned by all 125 other big ships on the Great Lakes combined.

[…]

As the last season before the EPA’s deadline comes to an end, the owners instead are seeking an exemption from the federal Clean Water Act that would delay a fix until at least 2017.

Not sure why this boat is still allowed on the water. It should’ve been docked years ago. Worse still is that people rally behind the SS Badger.

#corporatedollars

JMo writes:

Amazing, beautiful.

Feed them yourselves! www.alaskadiscoverytours.com.

#videos #naturerocks

More than 700 arrested in Wall Street protest

The arrests took place when a large group of marchers, participating in a second week of protests by the Occupy Wall Street movement, broke off from others on the bridge’s pedestrian walkway and headed across the Brooklyn-bound lanes.

Occupy Wall Street has a live stream of goodness.

Elsewhere:

• Occupying Wall Street, demanding accountability
• The Occupy Wall Street Movement Is Really A Very Stupid Thing

#politics

I don’t know where this came from but I <3 it.

#starwars

sgc writes:

One Two Three Kings
What strange friends the starlight brings

One Two Three Kings
So many mangers to bless
So many psalms to sing

One Two Three Kings
Myriad expeditions
To brave
And arrange
As the pendulum swings
Through time
Through dreams
And time
And
Time again

#sgc

The new Kindle Fire looks way cool, got everything you’d want in a 7” tablet with a not too shabby UI.

But WiFi only? The webpage lists 9 references to the word “cloud.” How much of that data up in AWS is going to be accessible when you don’t have a WiFi signal?

Amazon Silk, now that’s revolution in the browser wars – not hiding the http:// bits in the address bar.

Elsewhere:

• Amazon’s Silk Web Browser Adds New Twist to Old Idea
• Silk a Possible Fireball
• Kindle Fire: Take three tablets and call me in the morning

#amazon

Just ignore the 15 second intro commercial.

I don’t know why they call this stuff hamburger helper. It does just fine by itself, huh? I like it better than tuna helper myself, don’t you, Clark?

#foodies

While out on our Autumn Fair adventure today, we saw this little fellar:

He’s a full-grown male screech owl, perfectly camouflaged when perched in a tree.

#photos #animalkingdom

All articles now have corresponding like and dislike buttons for your clicking pleasure! Use and abuse them. Counts coming soon.

#tcr

I was once a Facebook fool

I never really talked about what happened to Audio; however, in seeing that so many businesses and people seem hell-bent on integrating ever-further with Facebook, I figured I’d provide a cautionary tale.

…

If you are entrusting your life data to Facebook, or if you are depending on Facebook and its platform for your livelihood, beware. In the real Facebook world, there is no trust, and there is no friendship — there is only money and power. Think really hard — really, think — before trusting Facebook or its employees with anything.

More from Numair Faraz:

Life is pretty awesome when you live it outside. Get off Facebook, get rid of your TV, and go be interesting. Don’t try to capture your interesting moments in a zillion contrived photos; don’t try to hold on to the people you meet through some ridiculous virtual stamp collection; don’t broadcast a message to your friends to brag about what just happened. Live your life as though it is the world’s best-kept secret, as though you are living in an amazing TV show with an audience of one. Don’t run a virtual background check on new people; appreciate them as mysterious new characters that add new twists to the story of your life. Take a chance on reality.

The above is geeky-nerd stuff but others will delight.

In other news: Autumn Fair, 11am - 3pm, Peck Farm Park. “Featuring pony rides, crafts, musical entertainment, hayrides, a birds of prey exhibit and Cow-Chip BINGO!”

Elsewhere:

• With ‘real-time’ apps, Facebook is always watching
• Facebook is scaring me

#facebook #privacynews