simplehiker

Most people are surprised to learn that we have more than one source for our imagery. We collect it via airplane and satellite, but also just about any way you can imagine getting a camera above the Earth’s surface: hot air balloons, model airplanes – even kites. The traditional aerial survey involves mounting a special gyroscopic, stabilized camera in the belly of an airplane and flying it at an elevation of between 15,000 feet and 30,000 feet, depending on the resolution of imagery you’re interested in. As the plane takes a predefined route over the desired area, it forms a series of parallel lines with about 40 percent overlap between lines and 60 percent overlap in the direction of flight. This overlap of images is what provides us with enough detail to remove distortions caused by the varying shape of the Earth’s surface.Google Earth: From Space to Your Face… and Beyond via /.

This is what happens with giving one company an inch, then next one also wants an inch until you have 12 companies giving you 5 feet of toxic waste.

Yes, the great minds at Indiana Department of “Environmental Management” have done it again making choices that affect all the Great Lake States and the largest reservoir of fresh water in the world. This time they are giving US Steel a free pass.

“Experts who have analyzed the mill’s proposed new permit say that at some points where the steel mill discharges waste into the Grand Calumet, Indiana regulators eliminated or failed to include limits on toxic chemicals and metals that have turned the river into one of the most contaminated sites along the Great Lakes.

Specifically, U.S. Steel reports discharging oil and grease, lead, arsenic, benzene, fluoride and nitrates from waste-water pipes at the mill, yet the draft permit fails to limit emissions of these pollutants at all discharge points.

The permit also relaxes the limits on chromium, a heavy metal that builds up in fish over time. In humans, long-term exposure can damage the liver, kidneys and nervous system. The average allowable amount of chromium discharged from one waste-water pipe into the Grand Calumet would increase by 62 percent, to 17,702 pounds a year, and the permit does not require U.S. Steel to curb discharges from other pipes.

For other pollutants, regulators agreed to give U.S. Steel an additional five years to meet federal standards that have been on the books for more than a decade. Mercury, cyanide, ammonia, zinc, copper and a chemical called benzo(a)pyrene fall into that category.”

This is my favorite part, they are not even going to regulate some of the pipes polluting directly into the water supply.

“…no limits are set on several pipes where U.S. Steel reports the pollutants are discharged into the river. Historical dumping of oil and grease is one reason why the Grand Calumet remains one of the region’s most polluted waterways.”
“Critics contend that the lack of more stringent standards for the Gary Works violates the Clean Water Act. The Grand Calumet carries the mill’s pollution into Lake Michigan, the source of drinking water for Chicago and scores of other communities.”

This part is pretty great also… the company said they were cutting pollution so there is no more need to monitor this cancer causing benzene they are dumping.

“In a document posted on the Internet, Indiana regulators wrote that they removed some pollution limits from the old U.S. Steel permit because they concluded the mill wasn’t likely to exceed them in the future.

For instance, the document states that the company’s coke plant is a major source of benzene, a toxic chemical that can damage the immune system and cause cancer. U.S. Steel reported to federal regulators that it released 220 pounds of benzene into the Grand Calumet in 2005.

Yet regulators said they eliminated specific limits for benzene in the new permit after the company provided data showing it “no longer shows reasonable potential to exceed water quality standards.”"

How do nightmares like this even happen today? Do people have any morals, ethics or brains left? Why is the weak promise of “more jobs” a reason to allow dumping of cancer causing chemicals into a supply of drinking water. Why do we even worry about terrorist attacking out drinking water when we have our own business and governments doing it for us?

Sell your soul and the environment for 80 jobs @ simplehiker.com

Indiana giving lake polluter a break @ Chicago Tribune (via Tree Hugger)

The last week was full of celebrities and organizations getting a chance to open there big mouths and show how big of misinformed, cruel, and uncompassionate they are out the recent Michael Vick charges of animal cruelty and violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Yes, if you have not been closely following the new the straw that broke the quarterbacks back was the threat of a RICO charge if the case went to court. Why would a dog torturing quarterback get be charged with a offense created for prosecution of organized crime? Well because he create a business with fellow conspirators to profit off a criminal enterprise that included cruelty to animals and betting all with some nice money laundering thrown in to boot.

So here is what some people had to say about the recent plea bargain…

R.L. White, president of the Atlanta chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is quoted by CNN saying that he didn’t understand the uproar over dogfighting, when hunting deer and other animals is perfectly acceptable. He urged the National Football League, the Atlanta Falcons and Vick’s commercial sponsors not to dump the troubled athlete.
First as you may or may not know I am a vegetarian working on becoming vegan but in my youth I was much into the outdoors as I still am. In my youth outdoors meant hunting so I am actually certified in hunter safety and have spent many hours with hunters and reading about hunting. Thank god that I actually never went hunting and killed any animal myself. But my point is that when you are learning to be a “good” highly skilled hunter one of the most important things is a quick, clean kill of the animal. No hunter I have ever seen or met was out in the woods for the sport of seeing how much they could make an animal suffer. On the contrary considered a poorly skilled and unethical hunter to attempt to kill an animal in a manor that is slow or sloppy. Though I personally highly disagree with the practice of hunting it would be nice to see some hunter lobby respond that no sorry, we are not into the hobby of breeding animals to fight and kill each other and it is only an unethical and poorly skilled hunter to takes a shot that does not kill the animal quickly.
Second why is the NAACP an organizing that should be supporting strong ethical positive African American role models sticking up for this dirt bag? He is a criminal who enjoys the torture and suffering of animals! This is the kind of stuff the average American bigot can point at use to cite against a important and much needed organization such as the NAACP. STOP STICKING UP FOR SCUMBALLS AND STICK UP FOR REAL HARD WORKING POSITIVE ETHICAL BLACK AMERICANS!

New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury (via AP) said…
“I think it’s tough,” Marbury said, according to Albany TV station Capital News 9. “I think, you know, we don’t say anything about people who shoot deer or shoot other animals. You know, from what I hear, dogfighting is a sport. It’s just behind closed doors.” “I think it’s tough that we build Michael Vick up and then we break him down,” Marbury said. “I think he’s one of the superb athletes, and he’s a good human being. I just think that he fell into a bad situation.”
Again, “he’s a good human being”. A man that enjoys and profits from breeding and fighting animals to the death then when the Dogs are not breed to be vicious fighers to his liking executes them in various cruel manors like he was on a sadistic game show. Hey, but hes a superb athlete we should really let this one slide…

Then we come to White America’s Beloved Jamie Foxx (via IMDB)
“It’s a cultural thing… I used to see dogs fighting in the neighborhood all the time… Mike probably just didn’t read his handbook on what not to do as a black star. I know that cruelty to animals is bad, but sometimes people shoot people and kill people and don’t get time… I give Mike the benefit of the doubt.”
Why would you place blame of Vick unbranched savagery and in the process cheapen black culture. To many nonblack Americans Jamie Foxx is an example of a prodominate, respected African American and for him to chalk up Vick’s behavior on the grounds of culture is simply irresponsible and reckless on his part.

I was glad to see some people put there ethics where there mouth is and publicly denounced the acts of Vick. Civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton, hip-hop mogul and vegan Russell Simmons both join on to sign a letter written by PETA to the NFL and Vick’s (no former) sponsors. (Via CNN)

Heavyweight Boxing Champ Lamon Brewster also threw his name in the ring making this Anti-Dog fighting PSA for PETA.

You can check out the “Walking score” of your current home or somewhere you are looking to move at Walk Score a Google Maps mashup which locates your address then the distance to common points of interest such as grocery stores, coffee shops and even bars.For example I used my boyhood home in Port Huron which is located in Michigan’s thumb at the mouth of the St. Clair River where it meets Lake Huron. Your may have been though Port Huron not even knowing it by use of the Blue Water Bridge during travel to or from Canada.

One thing I noticed right away is that the mileage listed is as the crow flies not via a Google location to location route. Which makes sense because your walking not driving but because of this approach it can give inaccurate walking distances. In the picture above it lists the Port Huron Township park as being 0.5 miles from my home, but in reality is much further because their is no way to cross the river “Black River” with out walking WAY around. This even goes with out saying that many of the roads in the area are not well equipped for pedestrian traffic. A quick example of the mileage inaccuracy is my old home to Port Huron Hospital, listed on walkscore as 1.27m but a quick Google Maps point to point search comes in at 1.7m and the route is pretty much the optimum walking route.

While there are many conceptual problems wrong with the site, I feel it’s heart is in the right place. Walk Score was quick to show me that many places I THINK are far away are MUCH closer then my lazy mind would like them to be. It is also a great tool to learn what great business (hopefully locally owned) are around your home. I would love to see this site be bought out by Yelp and be integrated into their features. I will definitely be bookmarking this site to use next time I go on vacation. This is a great tool to find all the closes necessities in one quick search.

Walk Score via KevinHasABlog via Digg

I am saddened to pass on this news as I, like many others, have spent a few episodes
stupefied as the Man vs. Wild star Bear Grylls portrays crazy survival stunts such as jumping into an ice covered lake or drinking water straight from an elephant dropping all in the name of survival. But it looks like their may be some tarnish on the Man vs. Wild / Born Survivor show now in its second season. BBC news is reporting that some of the keynote scenes in last years seasons were fudged! The two mentioned are: Grylls building a raft, which is stated to have been put together and tested then disassembled (which I am guessing comes from the Deserted Island episode) and supposedly the wild horse in the Sierra Nevada episode came from a local hiking outfit company so it was not a wild horse as portrayed.

Now with all this said, I am am still not going to abandon one of the few TV show I watch. I think anyone who thinks everything done on this show could be done with out any planning or forth sight. In the episode criticized where Grylls supposedly creates an ocean raft, then tested it and rebuilt it on set. Just seeing this thing you would immediately understand this is not a raft built quickly by someone with no experience. They took this raft clearly on the open ocean, and comic bookness aside were surrounded by several curious and hungry sharks that were making goes at the raft. If this raft would have collapsed during this filming their is no doubt someone would have been seriously hurt if not killed.

As for the horse, I make no excuses other then the show with out these area specific scenes would get very boring. No matter where the show takes place after six episodes they are very much alike. While I would rather not have fake content, if I was bored I would not be watching. If you have watched the show many of Bear’s crazy tactics can not be faked such as bug eating, peeing on his shirt to make a cool head in face wrap in the desert, or even his extreme equipment free climbing. Hopefully this all gets sorted up honestly and Grylls and the Man vs. Wild crew clean up their act.

Survival show faces ‘fake’ claim @ BBC News (via Digg)
Bear Grylls @ Wikiapedia
Man vs Wild @ Discovery

We can all give a big THANK YOU to the state of Indiana who gave BP an exemption on state environmental laws allowing them to “now be allowed to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of sludge into Lake Michigan every day.” Which is an 54% increase of Ammonia and a 35% increase in sludge. (On a side note, what the hell is sludge anyway? It sounds like slang, not a technical term that is environmentally regulated)

Just in case you were wondering, “Ammonia promotes algae blooms that can kill fish, while sludge is full of concentrated heavy metals.”

So when cancer rates go up again in the Great Lake States and the water is too polluted to swim or there is another adversary to not eat Great Lakes fish thank Indiana.

And what did we gain for this sacrifice of our health, future and natural environment? 80 jobs…  + I guess, more work for local Oncologists.  Also on a satirical note this is to improve crude oil processing, so remember that when you fill your gas tank, and yes they did try and entice the public with the plea that this may help lower gas prices. LAUGH!

BP gets break on dumping in lake @ Chicago Tribune
Via /.

I dispatched my faithful assistant “Scoop” (or you may know him as Siler from Siler’s Path) to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to snap some exclusive photos.

You can catch the rest of the simplehiker PIRO homicide posts here, here and here.

Got off my lazy butt and upgraded to Wordpress Version 2.2.

Check it out at Wordpress.org

Enjoy

wanted to share some links and stories I discovered while catching up on the frequently updated and always well written Two-Heel Drive. Please take a moment of your time to check out Tom Mangan’s blog. I am watching it intently as he is experimenting with changing the focus from general hiking to much tighter area specific offerings. I have been a long time reader of Two-Heel Drive and wish him the best of luck.

American Bushman
American Bushman found a cool collection of hiking videos by a the company Sun Dog Outfitter which he has patronized in the past. This is a quick tarp video to give a little courage to though who have yet to ditch a tent.

Catch the rest of Sun Dog Outfitters Videos here on YouTube.

Moose Jaw sells out..
The highly successfully Michigan based sorority girl apparel hiking shop is no longer majority owned by it’s founding Wolfe family all though Robert Wolfe and his siblings, Jeffrey and Julie will retain substantial shares of the company and remain in management positions with the quirky company. Despite my claim of a sell out, I have never experienced anything but great and friendly service from Moose Jaw and will continue to check out their retail location and their website for many great sales. Michigan needs to support the few business that are staying in state so please show them some love with your cash flow.
Moosejaw Acquired by Private-Equity Firm via retailnet.com
Moosejaw Doing Big Things via Dream Big or Go Home

Patent Pending
This next site I noted down to link, but I don’t even recall what Tom’s original interest was but its really not needed. Patent Pending is one cool and crazy blog from diagrams of old Boy Scout pocket knives to how-tos on foot powered watercraft sitting couches. Be sure to check out the posts on…
Shires Tarptent
The GoRack Car Topper
The Recumbent Couch Cycle

Hiking Dude
Great site with nice check lists, tools and information. Really seems to start beginning hikers on the right track to thinking about the importance of weight and safety before they step on the trail. Plus how can you beat that icon, how cool!

Solo Tick Checking
AtkoMan shares a great idea to check yourself for ticks when out in the backcountry by yourself. Please, Please, Please remember to clear the pictures off your camera before you dump your post hike pics on to Flickr.

PCT Videos on YouTube
wgbatche Has posted 16 videos from a PCT hike on YouTube, hopefully this will replace the need for all these hikers thinking they need to create ten different $30 DVDs for every thru-hiker experience.