Hurricane Earl took aim at North Carolina on Thursday and is on track to lash its barrier islands with dangerous winds and pounding surf before cutting a path up the U.S. East Coast.If you hear a distant fanfare this weekend as you huddle around the last barbecue of summer, chances are it is Labor Day signaling the start of the home stretch to the Congressional mid-term elections. From here on out, we’ll see more ads, more posturing, more mudslinging, and great herds of political pundits thundering across the land with all the enthusiasm and grace of buffaloes in a rut. And no one will be more aware of all that than a man whose name is not on any ballot, and yet has everything on the line: President Barack Obama.An oil and gas platform operated by Mariner Energy burst into flames on Thursday and unleashed a mile-long oil sheen into the Gulf of Mexico, in the region’s first major offshore disaster since BP’s oil spill began in April.Coming fresh off of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” reunion (did you all catch that horror show? One word: cray-cray) is the announcement that Bravo is set to release yet another Real Housewives franchise, “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” next month.Hollywood loves a good formula, and this fall movie season is rife with tried-and-true plot setups that will give you deja vu.From Baltimore to Lancaster avenues and along Market Street in between, University City is abuzz from the arrivals of college students and professors back after summer vacation.Tiger Woods fans have put up with the philandering, the text messages and the domestic spats. Now comes what may be the hardest thing of all to tolerate: losing.While breast-enhancing surgery has become almost a norm for American women, men are also heading to the plastic surgeon’s office more often — to have their man-boobs (moobs) removed. If you are what you eat, then most Cape Codders would be a clam — or maybe a lobster roll A land named for a type of fish should abound with chances to sample tasty seafood, and Cape Cod does not disappointSo you squandered an estate note on a bachelor’s degree, then trudged through more entry-level hardships and thankless internships than should be legally permissable, only to backslide into a self-esteem shattering, résumé-derailing grind, several tax brackets below your dignity. 
The 1.8-mile Gowanus Canal’s legacy of noxious pollutants from the manufactured gas plants, oil refineries, tanneries and other industries was acknowledged with a federal Superfund designation this month, but it’s just one of many toxic sites across the city, large and small.
There are scores of bygone manufactured gas plant sites — with possibly carcinogenic remnants from coal tar — across the city, including one in East Harlem where two schools now sit. There’s a park in the South Bronx where children play in the shadow of a foul-smelling sewage treatment plant and a fertilizer facility. There’s a developer on the North Shore of Staten Island trying to build homes where uranium spilled en route to Los Alamos for the Manhattan Project.
And then there’s Newtown Creek, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is now considering for Superfund status. The 3.8-mile, once-bustling waterway between Brooklyn and Queens, once had more than 50 oil refineries, glue factories and coal yards and is still a raw sewage dumping ground.
Lurking beneath the creek is one of the world’s largest oil spills.
“New York City’s pollution problems are often quite localized,” Eric Goldstein, of the Natural Resources Defense Council said. “While overall air and water pollution threats have diminished as whole, there are stubborn pockets of pollution scattered throughout the five boroughs.”
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In the July MMMpod, Young Veins talk about breaking away from Panic! at the Disco, Keith Lockhart talks about Buckwheat Zydeco throwing the Boston Pops for a loop, Zooey Deschanel talks about how Roy Orbison inspired a She & Him song, Derek Miller of Sleigh Bells talks about how awesome Funkadelic is, and we talk about how awesome Jimmy Cliff is, who in turn talks about Sam Cooke and divine intervention. An explosive show for July! Oh yeah, and we also test your knowledge of America songs in the MMMPod medley.
