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 [Constructing “The Bridge”] As usual we were working off the 411 barge forming up columns for the new 7-mile-bridge. Someone spotted something in water, it turned out to be a Stearns life vest that had been in water a long time. We got it onboard and it was a vest from some commercial boat. There was $600 in a wallet in the vest pocket. Poor Capt. did not get notified but we split the money up amongst the crew. I think it was Guy Almerico (who I believe is still in the Keys somewhere if he still lives). Anyway, he was gimped up due to a wrist injury from falling off a box pier formwork and broke his wrist, so he was in charge of separating all the bills that were mushed together. He had to take them to the bank to verify the serial numbers because the bills were becoming deteriorated. As usual, most of money probably helped support Fanny’s Bar an various other dens of iniquity and probably some coke dealers too. Any way another tale of “The Bridge”. |
| Five snorkelers have died this year so far in the Keys. One of them in only 4 feet of water off Mule Key. |
 [Good Health Clinic] We are pleased to announce the appointment of our new Medical Director, Dr. Tom Morrison. |
| The trial of Doral real estate broker George Pino — who crashed his boat into a channel marker, killing a teen girl in 2022 — will move forward after a Miami-Dade judge on Thursday denied Pino’s bid to dismiss the case. Link |
 [King Tutankhamun’s ‘Alien Glass’] The strange yellow material, known as Libyan Desert Glass, is scattered across parts of Egypt and Libya and is believed to have formed during an extreme cosmic event around 29 million years ago. Now, researchers have discovered a rare zircon structure hidden inside the glass that appears to have formed after the mineral completely melted and rapidly crystallized again. Link |
| Driving myths too many people believe. The zipper merge is your friend. Link |
 France arrested over four hundred fans as they rioted after winning the soccer championship. It’s stupid to riot. The team is made up of mostly foreigners with no connection to France. What and who are they rooting for? Google ‘soccer riots’ and there are pages and pages of reports. It seems soccer fans will riot if their team wins or loses. They just want the violence. Video |
| [Inflation] Since the current administration took office inflation has doubled to 4.2% |
 Humans have weirdly white eyes. Here’s why. No other animals have eyes like ours. The theory was that the white part of the eye (the sclera) helps us communicate because it makes it easier to tell where someone is looking. The contrast between the white sclera and dark pupil makes the outline of the eye more visible. We also have more elongated eyes than other animals, which makes it even easier to tell where someone may be looking. Link |
| [Runaway Boat] Three teens thrown from runaway boat. Three teenagers were thrown from a runaway vessel off Islamorada Sunday, marking the second time people were tossed from a flats boat in the Florida Keys in less than three weeks. None of the teenagers were hurt, but the unmanned boat kept traveling at around 35 mph “in a congested area on a busy afternoon. Link |
 [Thermacell Mosquito Repeller] It helped create a more bite-free outdoor space without messy sprays or smoky candles. Whether you’re camping, grilling or relaxing on the patio, this gadget could be your summer MVP. It keeps no-see-ums away as well. |
| How to permanently stop spam. Some of these really work! Best is to get the spamer and send them a “package that ticks”! Link |
 [Ego Money] The Treasury Department reportedly reassigned a senior U.S. currency official after she raised objections to a proposed $250 bill featuring President Donald Trump’s face. Another narcissist tried something similar in the 1930s and it too didn’t go well for him |
| [Use of Key West’s Outer Mole Pier] We attended the Navy’s Industry Forum at the Outer Mole on May 20. Also in the room: Mark Walsh’s team from the Pier B Cruiseport, Margaritaville at Sea, Historic Tours of America, and the former ship’s agent for large cruise operations at the Outer Mole. All these entities are tied directly to the large, foreign-flagged cruise ship industry or dependent on large cruise ship passenger volume. They include those who sued in federal court to stop citizens from voting on cruise limits in the 2020 referendums and, when that failed and a supermajority of voters enacted the referendums, bankrolled the Tallahassee lobbying effort that overturned our election, sweetened by a $1 million donation to the Florida governor. Link |
 The remote-controlled aircraft is roughly the same size as a human-piloted Cessna 150. The world’s largest RC Boeing 777-9X takes flight. Filmmaker Tyler Perry piloted the remote-controlled behemoth, which weighs 630 pounds with a 33-foot wingspan. Video |
| AARP calendar of events for June is here. Full Menu > Ongoing Events > AARP |
 [Muxcard] A fully working computer that is literally the size of a credit card. Built around an ESP32-C3, e-paper display and NFC. The video shows a little visual demo on just a few things that could be possible. Video |
| [Parasailing Death] Supraja Alaparthi died in a parasailing tragedy after a boat captain cut the parasailing cable tethering her to a vessel off the Florida Keys. A federal grand jury charged 52-year-old Daniel Couch, the boat captain, with the death of the Illinois woman who was killed after the parasail she and two children were attached to slammed into the Old Seven Mile Bridge on Memorial Day in 2022. The Captain cut the cable and the wind dragged the parasail with the family in tow for miles before they crashed into the iconic span. Link |
 [Steelhead Are Back] Decades of effort restore Steelhead and Salmon Passage on California’s Alameda Creek. A NOAA-funded project removed the final barrier on an urban San Francisco Bay Area creek that was once the Bay’s largest producer of steelhead and Chinook salmon. Link |
| [Three of the Biggest IPOs Ever] Can the stock market swallow Anthropic, SpaceX and OpenAI? Watch out for indigestion. Link |
 [Age Verification For Social Media] The big tech social media companies are bad. Their business model is bad; it is based on mass surveillance and manipulation, and they cooperate with governments in mapping entire populations. But age verification is fundamentally the wrong approach to preventing children from using big tech social media platforms. Introducing age verification is based on the state being able to force social media companies to verify their users’ identities. But the big tech social media platforms already know which of their users are children. Their business model depends on knowing this. They know how old users are, who their friends are and what ice cream they like. As age verification is based on coercion of the social media platforms, politicians could instead force them to stop doing the things politicians consider harmful to children, or force them to block children (again, they know who they are) from using their services. But instead, politicians seek to massively invade everyone’s privacy and undermine democratic rights on a global scale. In other words, the latter is the real objective – they do not want to protect children; they want to impose control |
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| [Stop Ruining It] Paul McGowan makes stereos. To paraphrase his insight: The musicality isn’t a feature you add to an amplifier. It’s what’s left when you stop ruining it. To expand: Customer delight isn’t something we add to our projects. It’s what’s left if we don’t ruin it. Curiosity isn’t simply what’s left after a complete education. It’s still there if the system doesn’t ruin it. Or perhaps: Satisfaction in our work isn’t created by the boss. It’s what’s left if they don’t ruin it. And one last one: Trust isn’t something a brand builds with an ad campaign. It’s what’s left if the marketers don’t ruin it. |
| The current Coconut Telegraph was published on 6/2/26 at 9:32 am. |
| 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. |
