Ending the year with an opinion and a quote

 

I made it, though sometimes I wasn't sure I could or would. I've posted at a rate of a post a day, even though some days I had to post a lot of them to make that rate. But this is likely the last one.

As you might expect, the subject is Donald Trump, and the danger he poses to democracy in the United States. We knew he would before he was elected, we were sure he would the day he was inaugurated, and nothing that has happened since has changed that certainty, though the dangers he poses to world peace and the global environment, and human rights and human health (with the help of his catastrophic cadre) are now more clear.

But back to democracy. Here's the piece:

The real cost of an unchecked president

Blind partisanship is eroding the nation’s system of checks and balances.

And here is the operative quote:

"For all the protections built into our government, an imperious president has always been the biggest threat to checks and balances."

Why?

"The end product, in the hands of an unchecked president, is a government that prioritizes partisan solidarity over constitutional democracy, subverting competition between the branches and parties alike. That is the end of checks and balances."

And we have seen this happening, because the gerrymandering to try to maintain a Congressional majority, prioritizing party over the voting populace, could result in a Congress that continues to be servile to the President. We will have to wait and see if the Supreme Court, perhaps reasserting a degree of independence as well as discernment, will rule against the President on several important issues. I can hope, but I'm not counting on it.

Democracy is in danger.  The next year will be intensely crucial.

Are you ready?

Are we ready?

WE the people had better be.

What wolf apples can do

 

In the previous post, I discussed how I learned about the existence of maned wolves after first discovering the existence of wolf apples.  So why did I discover the existence of wolf apples?

Because of this article:

Characterization of Solanum lycocarpum Starch and Its Application as Edible Coating in Minimally Processed Baby Carrots

Yes, that sounds sexy, doesn't it?  First of all, S. lycocarpum is the wolf apple. See the "lyco" in there?  Now, why is this of interest to the average human?

To put it simply, the starch can be converted into a powder, which can be made into a coating that maintains food edibility (as well as appearance) for a good long period of time, and this is done without plastic. So it's good for the environment for two reasons;  reducing food waste and reducing the use of plastic which is used to reduce food waste.

That is indeed sexy.

My question is:  can wolf apple cultivation be expanded, and can it be expanded and agriculturalized (if that's a word) so that there are still enough wolf apples for the maned wolves?

So the article doesn't get into that. It suggest that this could be done regionally (i.e., where wolf apples grow).  But if this catches on, wolf apple cultivation should be expanded to other places where they can be grown and harvested, and the starch processed to reduce food waste in other countries, like the good ol' USA.

Wolf apple

This wolf eats apples

 

It was only a very short time ago that I discovered the existence of a creature named the maned wolf.  I don't remember ever seeing it in a zoo, though some zoos have them.

It lives in the grasslands of South America. It also eats wolf apples, so named because the maned wolf eats them.

This article has more information about it:

The Verge Review of animals:  the maned wolf

I borrowed their picture:

So, the whole reason I found out about maned wolves and wolf apples will be apparent in the next post, which I plan to post before the year ends.  I have two days left.

Lighthouse of the Week, 12/28/25 - 1/3/26, South Buffalo Southside Lighthouse, New York, USA

 

In case you aren't familiar with geography and weather, the reason that Buffalo, New York gets so much lake-effect snow is that it's located at the eastern end of Lake Erie, and when winds blow over open water, the air gets moister and moister, and when that moist air hits the cold shore, SNOW happens. 

So, if you're thinking there might be lighthouses around Buffalo, you're right. It has a famous one (I'll feature that next week). And it has this less famous one too.

Google Maps calls it what I've called it in the title;  the Lighthouse Directory calls it the Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light.

It's located south of Buffalo, amazingly enough.

Here's some of what the Lighthouse Directory has on it:

"1903. Inactive since 1993. 29 ft (9 m) round steel tower with lantern and gallery, mounted on a concrete platform on the Stony Point Breakwater. The original 4th order Fresnel lens was transferred to the Buffalo Main light in 1987; in 2013 it was removed, restored, and displayed at the Heritage Discovery Center in South Buffalo. The lighthouse has been replaced by a post light (focal plane 36 ft; white flash every 6 s) at the end of the breakwater. ... In 2008 this poorly-known lighthouse became available for transfer under NHLPA. The Buffalo Lighthouse Association applied for ownership and its application was approved. In 2012 the Association was seeking $185,000 for an initial project to stabilize the lighthouse. According to the Association, "An $850,000 project is planned to restore the station and reuse it for maritime education in partnership with the M.A.I.N. Foundation, as a shoreline study center and as a site for amateur radio activities." In 2014 volunteers worked to secure the lighthouse, patching the roof and replacing windows. In 2022 restoration was boosted by a grant of $137,800 from the Buffalo and Erie County Greenway Funding Committee. The photo at right shows the lighthouse repainted in 2024 and restoration will continue in 2025."

 Lighthouse Friends has a page too: Buffalo South Entrance South Side, NY

 I have pictures!  I tried to find just the ones with the new paint, as there are several showing it looking badly in need of a paint job.

Seen on the door

 

OK, so I just happened to notice this unusual grain pattern in a wooden door.

I wonder what Georgia O'Keefe would think of it.

Georgia O'Keefe, one of the "Black Iris" series

Explaining the Pacific Northwest owl controversy

 

This is a longish article about why there is a proposed barred owl hunt-and-kill to help spotted owls.

Owl vs. Owl

A Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to save northern spotted owls by killing barred owls splits conservationists and wildlife lovers 

Here's an interesting part:

"THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE points to the outcome of the initial experiment as a reason to scale the strategy up. Robin Bown, the barred owl management lead, said that in areas where barred owls were killed, spotted owls experienced a population stabilization, compared with a 12 percent decline in populations where barred owls were not. She also pointed out that the loss of even 470,000 barred owls won’t make a significant dent in that species’ total numbers. “We’re not going to eliminate them from the West, and we’re not trying to,” Bown said. “But if we manage them, and if we can find pockets of areas where we can keep our native spotted owls—at least for now—then we will have both our species.”

“Ethically, it’s not comfortable for people,” Bown continued. “But if we don’t do it, we lose our species. If we do it, we can have both.”

The fact remains that under the Endangered Species Act, FWS has a legal obligation to do something. “There’s not a clause in the act that says, ‘things are so bad, we’re going to give up,’” said Katherine Fitzgerald, the northern spotted owl recovery lead with the FWS. “What it says is that we should conserve threatened and endangered species, which means work toward recovery. That’s what we’re obligated to do, and that’s what we’ll do.”

And we don't want to lose them.  Turn up the sound.  While you're listening, remember that climate change-related wildfire intensity increase has also diminished northern spotted owl habitat.

Don't take the train

 

I'm not planning on it, after reading this.

We Should All Be Embarrassed By This Train

Large excerpt:

"It’s worth looking into a specific comparison to see how flat [Amtrak] NextGen falls. Tokyo to Hiroshima is about a 500-mile journey. Direct Shinkansen service is bookable for the route with trips ranging between 3.5 and 4 hours in duration. The trains run about every 15 minutes during peak times, and on a recent day when I searched for pricing, they cost $133.

Washington, D.C. to Boston is a 450-mile drive. NextGen train service between the two cities has a scheduled time of 7 hours and 5 minutes. I cannot stress this enough: for some unholy reason, the trip is 11 minutes longer than the “quickest” traditional Acela departure running the same route on the same day. Huh? Glad we got those sweet new trains!

Including traditional Acela and NextGen service, there were a grand total of eight departures on a weekday. Tickets a month in advance started from $217 for the lowest fare business seats and ranged up to $526. Prices skyrocket further on short-notice bookings. Shinkansen fares, meanwhile, remained within a few bucks of $133 whether I was searching for today, tomorrow, next week, or next month. Did I mention they run every 15 minutes? And get you there in half the time?

Then there’s the reliability to consider. Japanese bullet trains operate on a precise schedule and are the epitome of dependability. I’ve ridden dozens without arriving more than a few minutes before or after a scheduled ETA. Amtrak ETAs are like plumber appointments; you can expect to arrive within a theoretical four-hour window on your chosen day.

To be fair, though, both systems are devout about their timetables: Shinkansen trains are religiously on time. On Amtrak, arriving at your scheduled ETA is considered a sanctified miracle.

The current Shinkansen trains aren’t in their final iteration, either. Like an episode of the country’s beloved Dragonball Z, they are still powering up to reach a new form. Japan has been steadfast about improving its train service throughout the decades. When the Shinkansen debuted in 1964, it topped out at 130 miles per hour. Today it hits 200 mph. Not complacent with that, the country has long been developing its SCMaglev service, which has been tested at speeds up to 375 mph. In practice during operation, it’s planned to top out at a mere 314 mph."

Nope. Not gonna do it.  But I'll take the train if I go to Japan.

Which is sad, because the NextGen Acela does look somewhat cool.

Update on the Fanal Forest

 

The famous Fanal Forest on the island of Madeira (a part of Spain) is an ancient laurel forest. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has become a popular tourist destination in recent years.  Increased visitor traffic has endangered the fragility of the unique forest.

So, like parts of Yellowstone that are fragile and unique, and also a few other wild and isolated and weird places, the protectors have put in protections.  You can read about that in this article.

I was fascinated by the Lagoa de Fanal a nearly circular body of water (sometimes) that's inside one of the volcanic craters on the island, which is in the forest as well. 

Let's take a look at Sneja Mnatsakanian

 

She's aka snejanajens on Instagram, and she's most definitely in love with (and it appears recently engaged to) a very fortunate man. She doesn't show her face much, instead preferring to provide images of a rather extraordinary figure.  I've chosen a couple of examples for perusal below.  But first, I'll note that one of her picture sets is from a vacation trip to Italy's Dolomite region -- which makes her my kind of person and makes them my kind of people.

Lighthouse of the Week, December 21-27, 2025: Rock of Ages Lighthouse, Michigan, USA

 

First of all, this Lake Superior lighthouse is roughly 20 miles from the coast of Minnesota (actually the Grand Portage Reservation, but Minnesota on the big map), and it's roughly double that to the nearest part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan shore. Officially, though, it's in Michigan. Go figure that out.

Here's where it is -- judge for yourself.

Checking to see if the Lighthouse Directory has more about this apparent mislocation:

"1910. Active; focal plane 130 ft (39.5 m); white flash every 10 s. 117 ft (35.5 m) round "bottle" style steel tower with lantern and gallery, incorporating keeper's quarters, mounted on a concrete and steel caisson; 300 mm lens (1985). The original 2nd order Fresnel lens, removed in 1985, is on display at the national park's Windigo Information Station. Tower painted white; lantern, gallery and watch room painted black. The tower also carries an array of weather instruments as a NOAA C-MAN station" ... "The design of this lighthouse is unique, although it bears some resemblence to the 1893 Chicago Harbor Light. In 2008 the Rock of Ages Lighthouse Preservation Society was formed to work for restoration of the lighthouse, and since then society members have worked to restore the interior of the building. It's a slow, room by room process, but the plan is to bring the lighthouse into shape to open to visitors. In 2023, with the help of a $46,000 state grant, a contractor was hired to restore and repaint the exterior of the tower. Located off the western end of Isle Royale. Accessible only by boat."

Another site:  Rock of Ages, MI (?) (Lighthouse Friends)

I'm not sure if it has been repainted yet; I couldn't find any pictures that clearly indicated it had been. But Lighthouse Friends provided the cool diagram.  Pictures are below it.

Fish oil helps grow coral

 

We are so hungry

Science forges on, making discoveries that I would never have expected. In this case, scientists found that giving Omega-3 to little baby corals, the same substance associated with fish oil, helps the baby corals grow.

Omega-3 Supplements Boost the Survival of Baby Coral

"Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have discovered that coral larvae fed with tailored lipid supplements, including omega-3-rich oils and essential sterols, are stronger, faster, and more likely to survive and settle onto reefs."

"Dr. [Jennifer] Matthews was recently nominated for NSW Australian of the Year for her pioneering work on protecting reef ecosystems."

“These field trials are helping us understand how nutritional support can be scaled up to real-world restoration,” said Dr Matthews. “It’s a wonderful collaboration between researchers, Traditional Owners and reef practitioners, with everyone working together to give corals a fighting chance.”

While no single solution can halt reef decline, Dr Matthews believes nutritional science could become a vital tool in the broader restoration toolkit.

“As oceans warm, we need every advantage we can give these corals,” she said. “Enhancing their early survival through better nutrition could help tip the balance toward recovery rather than loss.”

Reference: Matthews JL, Bartels N, Kish H, et al. Sterols are key to coral larvae survival, swimming capacity, and thermal tolerance. Communications Biology, 2025, 8(1). doi:10.1038/s42003-025-08965-1

There's one little problem with this: one of the best sources of Omega-3 fish oil is menhaden, an overfished resource that also needs to be conserved.

What is the Aiguilles Marbrées?

 

This is NOT a place I expect to visit, particularly the peak, but maybe I'd travel near enough to see it. It is located right on the France/Italy border, with Chamonix to the north, Courmayeur to the south, and Mont Blanc just to the west.  The best road in the neighborhood goes basically underneath it (through a tunnel).

It's very photogenic.

The stony spike on the left is the Dent du Géant (guessable, because it means "Giant's Tooth").

I know I'll never be at the top of that, but it would be cool to have the skills, time, and equipment to get there.

Ummmm ... wow !?

 

This headline really caught my eye.  It's news, but is it newsworthy (like in the big media)? 

New Malaria Antibody Yields Full Protection in Human Trial

"Malaria remains one of the leading causes of death among children in sub-Saharan Africa, claiming more than 600,000 lives each year worldwide with limited efficacy in currently available treatments and vaccines. Now a new early-stage clinical trial found that a novel monoclonal antibody provided dose-dependent full protection against the malaria parasite with minimal side effects.

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) conducted the trial in healthy volunteers who were exposed, in a controlled manner, to bites, from mosquitos infected with the malaria parasite."

This is fantastic news. Will the Trump administration allow this research to proceed?

Here's the reference to it.

Lyke KE, Berry AA, Laurens MB, et al. Human monoclonal antibody MAM01 for protection against malaria in adults in the USA: a first-in-human, phase 1, dose-escalation, double-blind, placebo-controlled, adaptive trial. Lancet Infect Dis. 2025:S1473-3099(25)00481-5. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(25)00481-5

And here's the enemy.

Donald Trump's appreciation of art

 

Donald Trump's allies on the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted to put his name on it. They justify it by saying that Trump budgeted money to renovate it.  Well, a good president would do that without trying to put his name on the building. A good president would recognize that the building is a memorial to a president who was assassinated.  A good president would realize all the damage he is doing to the arts, particularly those trapped in having to perform there, like the National Symphony Orchestra. 

Trump is none of those things. Furthermore, he has no regard for the arts, as demonstrated by his previous disregard for them.

Donald Trump Has a History of Pulverizing Historic Buildings

"Close to the top of the 11-story building there were two limestone relief panels of two nearly naked women brandishing large scarves, as if dancing, in which the Metropolitan Museum of Art had expressed a strong interest for its sculpture collection. The Metropolitan, one of the largest and most important museums in the world, had also wanted to add to its department of applied 20th century art the six-by-nine meter, geometric-patterned bronze latticework that hung over the entrance at Bonwit Teller. By all accounts, Trump had agreed to donate both, if his workers were able to remove them from the walls.

The New York Times and The Washington Post reconstructed what happened next. Their investigations demonstrated not just that Trump broke his promise and destroyed valuable art. The journalists discovered that, when his cultural crime caused an uproar, Trump hid behind a pseudonym and lied to the public: “What followed was a display of arrogance, excuse-making and avoidance of tough questions that is familiar to anyone who has observed Trump’s interactions with the media throughout his campaign for the White House.”

Here's what he destroyed.

Republicans and women

 

Interesting and disappointing opinion piece from the New York Times.

Republican Women Suddenly Realize They’re Surrounded by Misogynists

Why disappointing?  Because a lot of Republican women will stay with the party despite this.

"It’s tempting to roll one’s eyes at women who are shocked, shocked to discover sexism in a political party led by Donald Trump. But it’s a sign of progress that these women are not responding as Schlafly did, demurely accepting their subordinate position within conservatism. They may not all call themselves feminists — though at times Mace has — but they’ve internalized basic feminist assumptions about their entitlement to equal treatment. What they’ve failed to understand, however, is that those aren’t assumptions their party shares."

"There are still plenty of opportunities in the MAGA movement for women who embody Trump’s preferred style of hyper-femininity, espouse traditional gender roles, or both. Indeed, the president’s obsession with aesthetics can open doors for women who might otherwise never have careers in politics. Many Republicans like having beautiful women around, and they appreciate being able to put a feminine face on their culture war crusades. But as some women in the party are realizing, there’s a big difference between being useful and being respected."

In other words, be seen, but shut up.

Or just be incompetent, but still pretty.

Lighthouse of the Week, December 14-20, 2025: Cap Barbaria, Formentera, Spain

 

There are apparently two lighthouses on the Spanish island of Formentera in the Mediterranean Sea (an island in the Balearic archipelago, south of Ibiza).  I already featured one of them, the Far de la Mola.  So this is about the other one, the Cap Barbaria lighthouse.

First of all, as is my custom, you can find it here.

The Lighthouse Directory tells us this about it:

"1972 (Rafael Soler). Active; focal plane 78 m (256 ft); two white flashes every 15 s. 19 m (62 ft) round cylindrical tower with lantern and double gallery, rising from a circular 1-story equipment room. Lighthouse painted white; lantern is gray metallic. ... Located at the southwestern tip of the island, about 10 km (6 mi) southwest of the town of Formentera; accessible by road."

The pictures are below.

 

And on that note

 

Dasha Boyko is another one of those amazingly hot Russian models.

Clearly, she's real, and also clearly, she has a guy who she's intimate enough with to allow him to tie her bikini top on (see image below). That might also mean he has untying privileges, but I can't confirm that. I suspect he does.

Instagram:  Dasha Boyko

Samples:

Amicalola Falls is HOW high?

 

Do you notice how I occasionally write about places I haven't seen, or heard of, but when I do hear about them, I'd like to go see them?   Well, if you haven't noticed, I do that.  This particular post is about a place that I've been relatively close to, a couple of times, but never knew it was there.  Now, I don't know if I had known it was there if I would have tried to get there, but it's possible.

So, as you might have figured out from the title of the post, the place I've just heard of is Amicalola Falls. It's in Georgia, north of Atlanta in the Chattahoochee National Forest, and actually located in a state park that's named for it.  It is a popular park, by description, as it has a lodge with a restaurant and apparently quite a few activities, in addition to falls-gazing.

The falls are described as being a 729-foot tall cascading waterfall, the third-highest of that kind east of the Mississippi River. I did a short check on that and I could not determine the names and locations of the ones that are deemed to be higher.  That "third-highest" stat is actually off the website above. One that might be considered higher is Whitewater Falls in North Carolina, which as a system of falls is likely over 800 feet, but it seems there is some dispute over whether that's the right way to measure them, or if the Whitewater Falls "system" should at least be considered two distinct waterfalls.  And I couldn't find a candidate for the other one.

Getting back to Amicalola Falls, I've been to Atlanta, and I've driven through and past Atlanta on I-75, and I've also been to upstate South Carolina.  I've even visited Whitewater Falls!  However, not knowing about the existence of the Amicalola cascade, none of these visits put me on their road.

So, as you might guess, I've got a picture and a video below. Enjoy, and if you're in the neighborhood, go see them, especially during the high flow months in the spring.  The picture shows some of the 729-foot drop of this geological spectacle.

I feel this loss

 

As I've noted before, I'm still a couple of months behind on the daily news. I noted this passing when it happened, but didn't have a chance to comment.

Samantha Eggar died in October at the age of 86.  I remembered her from my childhood, particularly her role in "Doctor Dolittle", but she had a huge career.  The IMDb list of her various parts is remarkable. (She was the voice of M in a James Bond video game!)  Plus, she was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Aware for her role in The Collector, a somewhat bizarre kidnapping movie.

I mentioned her here:  Six Samanthas

Looking back through the list, she also played the sister-in-law of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the starship Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation.  And another role that caught my eye was that of Mary Watson, Dr. Watson's wife, in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution.  If you haven't heard of that (the novel or the movie), I recommend them. Read the book first.

She was wholesomely sexy -- slim and leggy, and as I noted in the other article, she resembled Diana Rigg a bit.  A lot of her online pictures are black-and-white, which doesn't do her justice.

Have you ever heard of this early Keira Knightley film?

 

This particular movie slipped by my awareness like a thief in the night.

The Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer doesn't give it a score;  the audience ratings give it an average just over 50%.  I tend to think I won't ever see this one.

Princess of Thieves

Keira looked pretty cute in this 2001 release, and also looked suitably like a young daughter. We learned she is credible with a bow and arrow in King Arthur, which was much more widely viewed.

Yeah, don't listen to what he says

 

Even though I subscribe to Daily Kos email messages, I don't commonly quote them here. But I can't pass this one up.

Not 'fair' to quote Trump, says House speaker

Here's the most interesting part:

"  “Hold on a second,” he [George Stephanopoulos] said. “As speaker of the House, do you believe it's appropriate to use American cities as ‘training grounds’ for the U.S. military—calling those people in the American cities the ‘enemy within’?”

“I'm not going to comment on your characterization of what the president said,” Johnson responded.

“Those are quotes,” Stephanopoulos pointed out. “They’re not a characterization.”

“Well, you can take his quotes out of context, which you often do, and I don't think that's fair to the president,” Johnson said."

Johnson is rapidly becoming completely worthless, which is a step down from nearly worthless.

Worth supporting

 

The Ka La‘i Ola project on Maui, a disaster recovery effort following the horrific Lahaina fires, is a charity project worth supporting.

"The name Ka La‘i Ola, gifted by Kumu Pueo Pata, means the Place of Peaceful Recovery. It ties the history of the ʻāina to the future of this community and reflects the purpose of the village as a place where families can recover and begin again. 

The project was created through a public and private partnership that included the State of Hawai‘i, the Department of Human Services, HomeAid Hawai‘i, the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, and community partners. In 2029, the site and its infrastructure will transfer to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, accelerating housing for Native Hawaiians by 17 years. 

Today, nearly 900 people call the village home. Many arrived after moving through half a dozen temporary residences. Here, stability is allowing families to reestablish daily routines, while mental health support remains critical because recovery can be more traumatic than the disaster itself."

A view of the modular homes in the project is below.

 

Jodhi May was in "Defiance"

 

I was watching the movie Defiance a couple of days ago, and I happened to notice in the cast credits the name Jodhi May.  Now, Jodhi may perhaps be most famous for dropping off a cliff (literally) in The Last of the Mohicans movie as her negative response to the offer of becoming the bride of a Native American in the New World.  By the way, Jodhi was most recently in Dune: Prophecy.

The cast of that movie was interesting. Eric Steig, who played Uncas, did some interesting things with his life. Obviously, Daniel Day-Lewis had a massive career, and Madeline Stowe did quite a lot, too. This was the first movie role for Native American activist Russell Means, who did a few other things after that (including Turok: Son of Stone, Pocahontas, and Thomas [the Tank Engine] and the Magic Railroad as Billy TwoFeathers).  Plus, it had esteemed Native American actor Wes Studi, who ended up on the wrong end of a battle axe wielded by Means.

So, back to Jodhi.  I couldn't find a lot of pictures of her in the movie, but here's one, with Alexa Davalos (the back of her head, at least).

For the sake of memory, here's on of the last views of Jodhi (as Alice Munro) in The Last of the Mohicans.

Lighthouse of the Week, December 7-13, 2025: Linoma Light, Nebraska, USA

 

While doing this Lighthouse of the Week feature for so many years, I've occasionally featured lighthouses that aren't really lighthouses -- that is, they aren't doing what lighthouses are primarily supposed to do, which is to warn ships and sailors from putting their ship onto a dangerous rock or reef, or guiding a ship into a harbor.

This is an example of a lighthouse that isn't a lighthouse, but it's still near water (the Platte River and a lake). It's the Linoma Light, a tourist attraction, and also on the National Register of Historic Places (actually, the "beach" it is located on is on the register, but part of the reason for that is the tourist attraction lighthouse).

This is where you can find it:  the Linoma Light in Nebraska. As you can see, it's southwest of Omaha.

Because it's not a real lighthouse, the Lighthouse Directory doesn't have a lot to say about it; here's what it has:

[located] "beside US 6 at the Platte River, halfway between Lincoln and Omaha, has never been an aid to navigation. A 2010 photo is available and Google has a street view (seen at right) and a satellite view. The 100 ft (30.5 m) octagonal concrete lighthouse was built as part of a privately owned resort. The current owners have formed a foundation to manage the lighthouse and are working to restore it."

The Wikipedia entry on Linoma Beach has more information.

I have pictures below, and a video too.

The video: