Beautiful weather today.

[conuly]

Labor day we used a grill for the first time ever. Yesterday I started wondering if I could put the old charcoal in the compost, and the answer is "yes, if you use organic charcoal with no iffy additives". Apparently, organic, sustainable charcoal is a thing. I called Jenn to suggest that when we run through this bag we buy that, and she laughed for five minutes straight.

(Not in a bad way, I deliberately phrased it in the funniest way possible. "On a scale of 'bird friendly coffee' to 'our door full of teas'....")

Anyway, anybody have any recommendations? All these companies say that theirs tastes better (or, rather, that it produces better food - I don't think any of them recommend that you eat their product) but of course they would say that.

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Burger King and Ronald McDonald share a kiss in new Helsinki ad campaign

Japan Is Combating Rural Decline With a National Network of Ice Cream

An Ode to what they call “Duck Architecture” (With lots of pics!)

We need to get the internet to everyone in America. Here’s what it would take to do it.

How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

Caster Semenya is being forced to alter her body to make slower runners feel secure in their womanhood

Nigeria's opportunity for return of Benin Bronzes

Centuries After Their Loss and Theft, Native American Seeds Are Reuniting With Their Tribes

The United States has its best opportunity in 150 years to belatedly fulfill its promise as a multiracial democracy.

Faces of Power: 80% Are White, Even as U.S. Becomes More Diverse (In some examples the percentage non-white is close to or above the national percentage of non-whites. However, in those examples you'll note that they still don't manage to match local demographics.)

With Rule Changes, Trump Launches ‘an Attack on Fair Housing From All Sides’

Chiefs, Texans booed as racial justice stand sparks outrage (You wanna talk about cramming politics down people's throats, why exactly do we play the national anthem before sportsball events? We don't play it at the start of movies or plays as they do in some countries, or from loudspeakers in our streets every hour, or at the start of every trial.)

Over a Dozen Black and Latino Men Accused a Cop of Humiliating, Invasive Strip Searches. The NYPD Kept Promoting Him.

The Children in the Shadows: New York City’s Homeless Students

How a small group of U.S. lawyers pushed voter fraud fears into the mainstream

Waiting to be thrown out

In California’s Wine Country, Undocumented Grape Pickers Forced to Work in Fire Evacuation Zones

Crews battling California fires head to devastated areas

Myanmar soldiers tell of Rohingya killings, rapes and mass burials

Comments

[gingicat]

The answer to the anthem thing, as to many weird patriotic things, is World War I.
https://www.history.com/news/why-the-star-spangled-banner-is-played-at-sporting-events

[conuly]

That figures.

[peristaltor]

Organic char is more than a thing, it might be THE thing! Biochar!

I shared this years ago, only to have a researcher add a link to my LJ comments.

To entice those who have heard nothing of this stuff, imagine making an organic compound that, when applied properly, will increase crop yields at the same time it sequesters carbon for thousands of years.

[conuly]

Thanks :)

[raino]

Biochar is so good, from all that I've read, that I'm almost getting suspicious. Can anything in this maggoty world actually have so many upsides?

[peristaltor]

Since I wrote that post, I've read the book. If even half of what Bates wrote is correct, the maggoty reality upside count is… a tentative yes.

[adafrog]

I've never heard of organic charcoal. Thought it was just parts of tree. huh

[conuly]

Apparently some charcoal has additives. Additionally, not all charcoal is sustainably harvested.

[amaebi]

"Politics" always seems to be "What I don't like." People seem to frame their opinions as Adherence to Objective Truth.

[marahmarie]

I'd probably say that, too. I've never failed to notice a chemical taste and/or smell to standard briquettes. Maybe the organic people are onto something with that (would love to try an organic version myself, no idea it existed).

[conuly]

I read this comment several times, and each time except the last it persistently scanned to me as "I've failed to ever notice...." which, consequently, meant it made no sense.

When we run out of this charcoal I'll report back to everybody.

[marahmarie]

Someone was pointing out after I discussed it with them that there are chemically-enhanced briquettes for charcoal-lighting purposes, but there are ones that are not. So it seems I must be thinking of the former when I say I always notice a chemical smell and/or taste.

Which makes sense, but then they went on to suggest organic charcoal does not exist. Which haha yeah, whatever dude *buys all the organic charcoal to show them*