Just Stuff From Today

This

TB's legs continue to pain and itch him but they don't feel as hot as they did. I guess TB's going with the assumption he's healing slowly. I'm not sure I agree. I'm worried about the itching and the fact that it's not all clearing up faster and got him to leave a message with the doctor.

We both went together--we travel as a team just about everywhere now--so he could apply for SSD (social security disability) and so I could meet with my DVRS (division of vocational rehabilitation services) counselor to discuss working from home for me or getting into a program to upgrade my clerical skills. We need income and we need it NOW


Thursday Challenge:

This week's challenge is "family" and here are all our grandchildren and a daughter:






That

Well, why should this be any kind of a surprise? Diabetics need to exercise and doctors tell us we should so that we can have better control of our sugar. It also does wonders for the heart and blood pressure. But too many of us don't exercise and it's not because we like being fat or have a particular death wish!

More than half of U.S. adults with diabetes also have arthritis, raising a serious obstacle for diabetic patients urged to exercise, according to a government study.

It's not that we don't want to exercise, there is too much pain and probably not enough of us can afford to join a gym with a pool.

The full article is here.

While we're speaking of diabetes, one of the foods I was afraid I'd haave to give up is fruit. I love fruit, all kinds, and it's one of the healthiest snacks I can find. These are some tips for better ways to eat fruit when you are diabetic:

* Eat fruits raw or cooked, as juice with no sugar added, canned in their own juice, or dried.
* Buy smaller pieces of fruit.
* Choose pieces of fruit more often than fruit juice. Whole fruit is more filling and has more fiber.
* Save high-sugar and high-fat fruit desserts such as peach cobbler or cherry pie for special occasions.

and the other things

Has everyone seen the sinkhole pictures in Texas? This thing has grown to the size of two football fields and is still eating vehicles, parts of buildings, telephone poles and more dirt. It could take about 2 weeks for this thing to stabilize so it could keep right on growing! I guess if there's anything good about this it's that it didn't open up in someone's neighborhood...yet.

Did you hear about the little town in Wyoming (75 people) that has all the air pollution of a big city?

I read an article but lost the link for it about all these wonderful super seeds we created to grow wonderful food to stop world hunger. Wellllll....the problem is we didn't teach anyone about fertilizer nor make it affordable, or about crop rotation and so on so that all these wonderful seeds are withering away in poor soil.

What are we doing to ourselves?

One ray of hope: after all that death and destruction in Myanmar, a baby is born.

Lost

I almost wasn't going to write anything about the show this week. I wasn't crazy about the episode. Dr. Jack was acting like a controlling freak. First he didn't trust anyone to remove his appendix but himself (huh?) but luckily Juliet and Bernard had the smarts to knock him out before that went too far; he got ugly and possessive with Kate and his ghost/zombie father was totally creepy in the episode. Now I know how Claire got separated from her baby but it makes no sense. She is supposed to raise the baby, not Jack and Kate. The whole show was just creepy to me and I was glad when the credits began rolling. I'm not a big Jack fan anyway.

Did You Hear...

...about the massive chunk of ice that collapsed from the Wilkens Ice Shelf in western Antartica? This "chunk" as I call it is about seven times the size of Manhattan! It's been a part of the ice shelf for thousands of years and now it's broken away and is floating around melting.

So who cares?

For one thing, the breakaway ice puts the rest of the Wilkens Ice Shelf at risk by making it weaker. The rest of it is about the size of Connecticult. There's always great chucks of ice breaking away from the main and floating around--icebergs. But these things are collapsing and not reforming.

Scientists said they are not concerned about a rise in sea level from the latest event, but say it's a sign of worsening global warming.

Such occurrences are "more indicative of a tipping point or trigger in the climate system," said Sarah Das, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

"These are things that are not re-forming," Das said. "So once they're gone, they're gone."

The rest of the article is here.



While we may not be facing the consequences of that today or tomorrow, they are coming. If we are concerned about our descendants, grandchildren and forward, we should care.

No global warming? Tell it to the walrus!

I know there's a debate going on over whether or not we're in a period of global warming. I don't have any doubts that we are. Is it just a period the earth would normally go through or is it because we have damaged our environment with poisons in the air and water? If you know me, you know what I think. Rachel Carson was right. Is it too late now to stop what is happening? Maybe...but we should still try!

Receding ice displaces Alaska walrus

By DAN JOLING, Associated Press WriterSat Oct 6, 7:26 PM ET

Thousands of walrus have appeared on Alaska's northwest coast in what conservationists are calling a dramatic consequence of global warming melting the Arctic sea ice.

Alaska's walrus, especially breeding females, in summer and fall are usually found on the Arctic ice pack. But the lowest summer ice cap on record put sea ice far north of the outer continental shelf, the shallow, life-rich shelf of ocean bottom in the Bering and Chukchi seas.

Walrus feed on clams, snails and other bottom dwellers. Given the choice between an ice platform over water beyond their 630-foot diving range or gathering spots on shore, thousands of walrus picked Alaska's rocky beaches.

"It looks to me like animals are shifting their distribution to find prey," said Tim Ragen, executive director of the federal Marine Mammal Commission. "The big question is whether they will be able to find sufficient prey in areas where they are looking."

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, September sea ice was 39 percent below the long-term average from 1979 to 2000. Sea ice cover is in a downward spiral and may have passed the point of no return, with a possible ice-free Arctic Ocean by summer 2030, senior scientist Mark Serreze said.

Starting in July, several thousand walrus abandoned the ice pack for gathering spots known as haulouts between Barrow and Cape Lisburne, a remote, 300-mile stretch of Alaska coastline.

The immediate concern of new, massive walrus groups for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is danger to the animals from stampedes. Panic caused by a low-flying airplane, a boat or an approaching polar bear can send a herd rushing to the sea. Young animals can be crushed by adults weighing 2,000 pounds or more.

Longer term, biologists fear walrus will suffer nutritional stress if they are concentrated on shoreline rather than spread over thousands of miles of sea ice.

Walrus need either ice or land to rest. Unlike seals, they cannot swim indefinitely and must pause after foraging.

Historically, Ragen said, walrus have used the edge of the ice pack like a conveyor belt. As the ice edge melts and moves north in spring and summer, sea ice gives calves a platform on which to rest while females dive to feed.

There's no conveyor belt for walrus on shore.

"If they've got to travel farther, it's going to cost more energy. That's less energy that's available for other functions," Ragen said.

Deborah Williams — who was an Interior Department special assistant for Alaska under former President Bill Clinton, and who is now president of the nonprofit Alaska Conservation Solutions — said melting of sea ice and its effects on wildlife were never even discussed during her federal service from 1995 to 2000.

"That's what so breathtaking about this," she said. "This has all happened faster than anyone could have predicted. That's why it's so urgent action must be taken."

Walrus observers on the Russian side of the Chukchi Sea have also reported more walrus at haulouts and alerted Alaska wildlife officials to the problems with the animals being spooked and stampeded.

If lack of sea ice is at the heart of upcoming problems for walrus, Ragen said, there's no solution likely available other than prevention.

"The primary problem of maintaining ice habitat, that's something way, way, way beyond us," he said. "To reverse things will require an effort on virtually everyone's part."

"Rock Snot" Algae in Connecticut

Where do we get this stuff from? When I saw the headline, I was thinking this must be more evidence of pollution but according to my understanding of the article, this disgusting stuff originated in British Columbia. So why is it showing up in New England and other states? Apparently this algae is very "contagious" and you can transport it on your clothes and fishing gear without even realizing it! This stuff sounds as bad as the pfiesteria plague in the Chesapeake Bay region about 10 years back.

Read on:

By LISA RATHKE, Associated Press WriterSun Aug 26, 2:58 AM ET

It looks like a clump of soiled sheep's wool, a cottony green or white mass that's turning up on rocks and river bottoms, snarling waterways. Already a scourge in New Zealand and parts of the American South and West, the aquatic algae called "rock snot" is creeping into New England, where it is turning up in pristine rivers and alarming fishermen and wildlife biologists.

"It scares me," said Lawton Weber, a fly fishing guide, who first spotted it on the Connecticut River in northern Vermont in June. "It's an aesthetic eyesore when it's in full bloom mode and its impact on the trout population is going to be significant."

Over the past 10 years, the algae with a scientific name of Didymosphenia geminata, or didymo, has turned up in California, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, the Dakotas, Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee.

"We're starting to realize it's all over the place," said Karl Hermann, a regional waste monitoring and assessment coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency in Denver.

What started out in Vancouver Island in British Columbia "has suddenly just skyrocketed," he said.

The algae has the potential to bloom into thick masses with long stalks, blanketing the bottoms of some streams, threatening aquatic insect and fish populations by smothering food sources.

In New England, it has turned up in the White River, Connecticut River and the Batten Kill, a trout fishing mecca in southern Vermont that's famed for its hard-to-catch fish. Quebec is grappling with it in Matapedia River in the lower St. Lawrence.

There's no easy way to get rid of it. Experts say the only hope is to keep it from spreading. But that's a lofty challenge, since a single cell carried on absorbent fishing gear or clothing can be transferred — unknowingly — into other waters.

Vermont and New Hampshire have launched a radio campaign urging river users to scour their boats and clean their gear.

"Please don't take chances, disinfect your fishing gear," said Scott Decker, program supervisor with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

It's unknown yet what effect, if any, the algae will have on fish populations, according to Sarah Spaulding, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and the EPA. But many are concerned.

"Once you remove (insects), young fish don't have anything to eat," said David Deen, a Vermont lawmaker who is a fishing guide and river steward for the Connecticut River Watershed Council. "Growth is slowed at best, and at worst they could starve to death."

In South Dakota, the algae is suspected of decimating brown trout populations in some spots.

Not only does rock snot threaten fish, but it's an unsightly nuisance. Fishermen complain that they can't cast their lines or they pull them up covered in gunk.

Jeff Williams, Arkansas' trout program supervisor, said out-of-staters were disappointed to find that the White River "wasn't as clean of a river as it used to be. The gravel is covered with didymo."

Once rare, the algae is perplexing scientists with the frequency of nuisance blooms.

"It seems to be something different — this expansion and production of big masses in the U.S.," Spaulding said.

Where it once preferred high-altitude, low-nutrient rivers, rock snot has shown up in rivers in Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee, raising questions about what triggers its growth. Dammed rivers provide a constant water flow for it to bloom, and drought and changes in sunlight may also play a role.

"We think there are other factors that we don't yet know about," said Spaulding.

In New Zealand, the algae has infested as many as 55 waterways on South Island, growing up to 7 inches thick. Scientists are trying a copper treatment to manage it, and anyone who knowingly spreads the algae is treated as a criminal. The penalty: up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $100,000.

For now, the algae is in its early stages in New England, forming nubby brown growths on rocks.

"I think all of the Northeast is tuned in to see what the effects will be, so they can start taking preventive measures," said Mary Russ, executive director of the White River Partnership.

_____

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the increasing blooms aren't caused somehow by pollutants in the air and water!

History repeating itself a.k.a. people can be so stupid!

By BECKY BOHRER, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 39 minutes ago

Deep underground, an unseen crisis is threatening New Orleans' already troubled recovery.

The city's 3,200-mile system of water and sewer lines — old, leaky and in need of improvements long before Hurricane Katrina — was damaged by the torrent of pipe-corroding salt water.

The city Sewerage & Water Board says at least 50 million gallons of water a day are now being lost to leaks, or 2 1/2 times pre-Katrina levels. S&WB officials also believe raw sewage is leaking out in places, though the extent of the problem is unclear.

The larger fear is that if some water pumps fail — whether because of a power outage, some other kind of mechanical trouble, or another Katrina-like storm — a drastic drop in pressure could allow raw sewage or other pollutants to back up into the water system through the leaks. And that could contaminate the drinking water in some neighborhoods for days or even weeks.

"We don't have the confidence now to say the system won't fail," S&WB spokesman Robert Jackson said. "We're basically holding it together by tape, by glue, by spit, whatever we can get a hold of."

Two years after Katrina, major breaks are being repaired. But the water system continues to leak, and sewer lines in some areas are dripping, too.

As the city's population continues to grow — it is estimated at 262,000, well below the 455,000 before Katrina — the stress on the system is expected to increase.

The city says the tap water is safe to drink, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says New Orleans' drinking supply meets federal standards.

But environmentalists are suing the federal government to obtain monitoring data and are calling for an independent study. And some skeptical residents are drinking bottled water.

Patricia Jones, a mother of two who is rebuilding her home in the hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward, said she is spending $80 a month on bottled water because she doesn't trust the city's assurances.

"It's not something I personally prefer to take a risk on," she said.

S&WB estimates that rebuilding and improving the water, sewer and drainage systems will cost $5.7 billion over 25 years — money the agency doesn't have.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has set aside about $150 million so far and expects to commit tens of millions of dollars more. But the agency won't cover the entire cost; FEMA says that under federal law, it only has to pay to bring the system back up to its pre-Katrina level.

S&WB is acting to raise money on its own, proposing a phased-in increase in water rates that would bring in about $100 million over four years and cause some customers' bills to rise by 80 percent.

Some business owners and residents, burdened since Katrina by higher costs for insurance, electricity and housing, are fighting the proposed increase.

"As long as you can turn the water on and take a bath and flush toilets, people are happy," S&WB general superintendent Joseph Sullivan said.

When Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005, 80 percent of New Orleans was inundated. The surge of water caused water, sewer and drainage lines below the streets to shift, loosening joints and causing countless breaks. The salt water also began corroding the steel pipes.

In addition, vibrations from the heavy construction equipment that has been rumbling over New Orleans' cracked and uneven streets since the catastrophe have damaged the pipes even further.

Fixing them will be not only costly but complex, given the miles and miles of underground plumbing. And it will almost certainly require the tearing up of streets throughout the city.

In the 1990s, the sewer system was deemed so poorly maintained that the EPA ordered what amounted to roughly $650 million in improvements. The city was working on that project when Katrina dealt the entire system a setback. The original 2010 deadline is no longer considered doable.

For much of this year, just two of the three pumps that draw water from the Mississippi River for purification at the city's east bank plant were operating. Officials worried that if one pump failed, and water pressure fell sharply, contaminants could enter the drinking water.

To keep the pressure high and offset the water losses, S&WB has been producing more water a day than it was before Katrina, officials say.

The system has been getting by on what S&WB executive director Marcia St. Martin called "day-to-day little miracles."

"At this point now, we're out of options," deputy general superintendent Joe Becker said. "We're struggling to meet costs for chemicals, struggling to meet costs to pay employees. We're putting off maintenance activities that are needed. It's a matter of time before that lack of maintenance will result in failures, and we don't have the equipment to back that up."

Why do we never learn from our mistakes?

It's tough to argue with this...

Interesting Argument About Global Warming - Watch more free videos