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 [Purple Heart Day] will be nationally observed on Friday, August 7th. It will open memories and experiences identifying the enormous suffering and loss of life that has been endured by our soldiers in the field of combat. Scars and injuries that are shared across a soldier’s life and that of his family’s forever.
Gold Star family members will have provided to them their loved one’s remains and a Purple Heart Medal affixed to a burial flag designating their loss. This will serve as a ‘remembrance’ of the precious life they birthed and cared for, until it was mortally taken or injured in combat. Perhaps, during our busy and stressful day will find a moment to pause and reflect on August 7th , remembering the blood sacrifices endured by these Veterans of the Purple Heart. |
 [War] Are fighter jets and bombers obsolete? Drone and missile warfare seems to be the only thing that’s happening in the wars. We bombed the hell out of Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iran and lost all three wars.Bombing no longer works against a determined enemy. The USA is not determined; soldiers didn’t even know where those countries are or why they were fighting them. Those countries we lost against were determined. How can our leaders not know that—when I do? |
| TV actors are famous actors who have bypassed their sell by date. Once the general public knows an actor’s name, the actor is overexposed and the public is looking for new faces and TV is their only work option. |
 [Too Hot!] August 1st was the first time the temperature reached 95° in the 60 plus years I’ve been keeping weather records on Big Pine Key. |
| [Friday Joke] I complain about my wife’s terrible handwriting and her response was, “It’s just a different font.” |
 [How Long Ago Is Ancient] Are the American colonists ancient at 300 years? Of does something have to be over a thousand years old? |
| [Polestar Banned] Federal regulators recently banned Volvo electric vehicle spinoff Polestar — which is owned by Chinese automaker Geely — from selling new vehicles in the U.S. The ban stems from a Biden administration rule blocking the sale of vehicles that use “connected” technology originating in China. German automaker Mercedes-Benz is concerned about a bipartisan bill in Congress that could ban it from selling vehicles in the U.S. since it has major Chinese shareholders. |
 No more sewing machine repair. You have to buy a new one. The sewing machine is one of the world’s best inventions and changed industry. |
| [Overused Plot] Terrible crimes bring Detective BlaBla back to her hometown where she faces her innermost secrets and she and her childhood boyfriend reunite. This is so typical of detective novels these days. Names and genders change but the same unimaginative plot continues to fill bookstores. |
 [Wrongly Persecuted] A veteran Alaska bush pilot who has spent more than a decade battling to stop the state from confiscating his prized airplane over a passenger’s six-pack of beer is finally getting his day before the US Supreme Court.Kenneth Jouppi, now in his 80s, has been locked in a legal battle following a 2012 flight to Beaver, one of Alaska’s remote ‘dry’ villages, where he was convicted on a misdemeanor alcohol transportation charge. While the offense resulted in a short jail sentence and a modest fine, state authorities sought to seize his 1969 Cessna aircraft – worth just under $100,000 – arguing it had been used to facilitate the ‘crime’. Picture: Jouppi was putting gas in his aircraft in Fairbanks, Alaska, in April 2012 when state troopers arrived and noticed a six pack of beer concealed in his passengers luggage. The veteran pilot had been preparing to fly a client to Beaver a remote village where alcohol was banned. Link |
| Labor Day weekend at the historic William Weech American Legion Post 168 will host the official Friends of Bubba After Party for the 2026 Just a Few Friends Key West festival. Following the festival’s signature free Party in the Park concert featuring Coral Reefer Mac McAnally on Sunday, September 6, pianist, vocalist and interactive entertainer Aaron Luka will lead “Songs We Know By Heart,” an audience-request sing-along celebrating Jimmy Buffett favorites, Trop Rock classics and the island songs that have become the soundtrack of generations of Parrotheads. Link |
 Ariana Grande taking a ‘step back’ from public life after tour over social media saying she’s too skinny and has an eating disorder. Link |
| [China Cars] The U.S. auto industry’s connections to China are becoming more problematic — financially, politically or both — prompting potentially seismic shifts in corporate strategy. Washington is applying bipartisan scrutiny to automakers that use Chinese technology or have Chinese shareholders. Tesla is reportedly considering a sale of its China business ahead of a potential merger with SpaceX. It’s unclear whether the U.S. would tolerate SpaceX, a major defense contractor, owning a significant Chinese operation — and whether China would tolerate an automaker with local operations having close ties to an American military contractor. As a result, “Tesla advisers have discussed possible options for a separation, including a spinoff, sale or closure” of its Chinese business. |
 [BPK Book Club] The August book club selection is Heart The Lover by Lily King. Full Menu > Book Club |
| [Vinyl Records] A pressing issue: why are vinyl albums becoming so different from their digital versions? They’re expensive, elaborate – and may not contain all the music. After Olivia Rodrigo, Charli xcx and more sent out incomplete or unfinished vinyl versions, fans are feeling shortchanged. Link |
 [Buckminster Fuller] During the last two weeks of January 1975 Buckminster Fuller gave an extraordinary series of lectures concerning his entire life’s work. Everything I Know |
| Written by Ray Bradbury. Master of imagination and science fiction, author of timeless classics, champion of intellectual freedom and creativity. “There Will Come Soft Rains: In the living room the voice-clock sang, Tick-tock, seven o’clock, time to get up, time to get up, seven o’clock! As if it were afraid that nobody would. Seven-nine, breakfast time, seven-nine!…” continued |
 Police sirens started with a 19th century French scientist. The type of siren you hear depends on where you live. Link |
| [Cyberpunk Video Games] As there are numerous video games that have overlapping themes or settings that could be argued to be cyberpunk, particularly in the First Person Shooting gameplay type, this list has been truncated to those titles with heavily involved narratives with settings and themes that are decidedly within the genre. Collection |
 [Amazon Civilization] The first hint that sprawling ancient populations once occupied the Amazon rainforest in Brazil was found through the most mundane of happenstances. More than 20 years ago, geographer Alceu Ranzi, now at the University of Acre, sat on the right side of a plane flying over the ocean of green. Looking down, he saw a perfect circle inscribed on the ground, an unnatural shape produced only, he felt certain, by humans. He was right. Link |
| [AI Blogs] I have a growing hatred for AI-generated images in blogs. It makes me wonder if the text in the blog posts is AI-generated to some extent. It’s always disappointing seeing these images in blogs run by individuals. I expect this from corporate blogs but not indie blogs. |
 Beef sales are plunging, but processors continue to raise prices as a yearslong cattle shortage strains the industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to lift its temporary pause on Mexican cattle imports after a period of concern over the screwworm, which could put downward pressure on prices. |
| Brain teaser from a Microsoft employment interview: You have 12 marbles and a balance scale. One of the 12 marbles is inconsistent with the others, meaning it could be heavier or lighter than its peers of normal weight. You are allowed to use the balance scale exactly 3 times to identify which of the 12 marbles is irregular AND determine whether it is heavier or lighter than normal. Link |
 Ugly architecture stops homes getting built. Western countries used to let landowners build almost anything anywhere. Now, strict rules freeze the character of most neighborhoods, banning change and densification. Why? One theory is that modern buildings tend to be ugly, leading residents to support rules that exclude them from their neighborhoods. If this is true, then designing beautiful buildings could lead to more development. Housing reformists have vigorously debated this theory. Many British reformists are sympathetic, whereas Australian reformists tend to be skeptical, and Americans come down on both sides. Link |
| [Word Of The Day] Nobelitis. Nobel disease is an informal term for the embrace of strange or scientifically unsound ideas by some Nobel Prize winners, usually later in life. It has been argued that the effect results, in part, from a tendency for Nobel winners to feel empowered by the award to speak on topics outside their specific area of expertise, although it is unknown whether Nobel Prize winners are more prone to this tendency than other individuals. Link |
 [Salmon Sushi] By the mid-1980s, Norway had finally bred a type of Atlantic salmon that it could keep in pens. This was no small feat given salmon are notoriously savage. After years of unsuccessful breeding attempts resulting in the wild salmon attacking each other, farmers and scientists had created the perfect fish: a fast-growing breed of salmon that was also more docile than its wild ancestors. Now they just needed to sell it — but here was the problem: Norway’s biggest untapped market, Japan, hated raw salmon.Sushi has been consumed in Japan for more than 1,000 years but the Japanese had historically preferred tuna, seeing raw salmon as parasite-ridden and unpleasant to the palette. So Norway’s government came up with a plan … Link |
| The current Coconut Telegraph was published on 8/4/26 at 9:08 am. |
 [For Sale] Pellet Gun Gamo Swarm Maxxim 10X GEN 2 Multi-Shot Air Rifle. Two 10-round .177 clips. 3 x 9 variable scope. Box of pellets. $200 new. Half price used $100. b33043@outlook.com Video |
 [For Sale] Folding scaffold 30L x 12w x 20h. 4 scaffolds (not sold separately) New $200, Big Pine Key pick-up half-price: $100. Excellent condition.b33043@outlook.com Link |
 [For Sale] Crossman P1377 American Classic Variable-Pump .177-Caliber Pellet Air Pistol. New $70. For Sale $25. 800 feet per second. Pick up on Big Pine Key. b33043@outlook.com Video |
| Snapshots taken from Big Pine Key looking North between Annette Key and Mayo Key every Friday evening since 2023. You may hover to view a photo, see the date of the photo, or use the left or right arrows on the images. |
