Today is Halloween, which is a celebration of a "cross-quarter" day. These dates, which fall roughly half-way between a solstice and an equinox, mark the middle of the seasons on the modern calendar. In ancient times, though, they often represented a season's beginning.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Saturday, October 31, 2009
What Really Scares People: Top 10 Phobias
Whether you jump at the sight of a spider or work up a sweat at the mere mention of getting on an airplane, fears and phobias abound. About 19.2 million American adults ages 18 and over, or some 8.7 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have some type of specific phobia, or extreme fear. Here are some of the worst.
The Dentist
Not many people jump for joy at the thought of an intense session of plaque removal. And between 9 percent and 20 percent of Americans say they avoid going to the dentist because of anxiety or fear, according to WebMD.
Full-blown dental phobia is a more serious condition in which a person avoids the dentist at all costs. People suffering from the phobia usually only show up at the dentist when forced by excruciating pain.
Various factors can keep someone from the dental chair, including a bad experience in the past, fear of injections, and feelings of helplessness (think dental chair and drill in mouth). How to get to the dentist before you have a mouth full of rotting teeth? Realize a dentist can work with you to make you more comfortable during cleaning and other procedures. For instance, you can set up a hand wave that signals the dentist to stop a procedure immediately.
Dogs
From tiny, purse-size pups to buff German shepherds, any flavor of man's best friend can scare the pants off some who suffer from cynophobia, or extreme fear of dogs. Typically, people tend to develop fear of dogs as a result of being bitten themselves or seeing somebody get bitten, according to psychology professor Brad Schmidt of Ohio State University. Some dog phobics, however, became fearful of pooches because they know dogs do sometimes bite. Treatment generally involves coming maw-to-maw with the barkers.
Frightful Flight
There's no such thing as "the friendly skies" for the 25 million or so people in the United States who suffer from some form of flying fear. Such fears range from just a bit of anxiety to an extreme flying phobia called aviophobia that can keep a person off airplanes at any cost.
These frightful fliers fall into two evenly split groups: those who are afraid of plane crashes and those who are claustrophobic and risk a panic attack inside a plane's tight cabin quarters, according to Barbara Rothbaum, professor in psychiatry and director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program at Emory University School of Medicine.
Like other phobias, reason plays little role in calming such crash fears. For instance, the lifetime odds of dying in an air travel accident are 1-in-20,000 compared with 1-in-100 for an auto accident and 1-in-5 from heart disease (based on 2001 statistics). However, treatment for flight fears -- sans a drunken stupor -- which includes virtual reality therapy and other forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy has shown much success, Rothbaum notes.
Thunder and Lightning
The crackling of thunder and lightning can lead to a heart-pounding, sweaty-palm meltdown for individuals with severe weather phobia. In fact, some even pack up and move to regions known for calm weather, according to John Westefeld of the University of Iowa.
Westefeld reported on a survey of mostly college-age students in 2006 in which 73 percent of participants had "a little bit" or "moderate" fear of weather. "I think there are more people out there who have [severe weather phobia] than most people might assume," Westefeld told LiveScience. "A lot of the folks I interviewed indicated they were very embarrassed about this so that they hadn't told anybody about it. In some cases they indicated their spouses didn't even know about it."
In terms of treatment, Westefeld recommends "a combination of social support and accurate information, and training in ways of coping with anxiety and panic." That way, those with intense storm frights can reach a middle ground, where they have enough fear to keep them safe without debilitating them.
The Dark
For many kids, lights out can mean immediate distress that the boogey man, or some variation, will pop out from beneath the bed or behind a closet door. In fact, being afraid of the dark is one of kids' most common fears. "What always amazes us are the thoughts or beliefs that kids have," said Thomas Ollendick, professor of psychology and director of the Child Study Center at Virginia Tech. "Kids believe everything imaginable, that in the dark robbers might come or they could get kidnapped, or someone might come and take their toys away." Essentially, their fears stem from "the unexpected," he said. While kids grow out of such fears, if the anxiety reaches extreme levels and is considered a phobia, called nyctophobia, Ollendick says that can last through adulthood if left untreated.
Harrowing Heights
If you get the heebie-jeebies when standing on a rooftop or looking up at a tall building, you're not alone. Fear of heights is one of the most common phobias (followed by public speaking) with an estimated 3 percent to 5 percent of the population suffering so-called acrophobia.
While scientists had thought such phobia was the result of an irrational fear to normal stimuli, new research is suggesting otherwise.
In the study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, participants had to judge the height of a building when standing at ground level and when atop the building. Compared with participants who scored lowest on an acrophobia test, those most afraid of heights judged the building to be about 10 feet (3 meters) higher at ground level and 40 feet (12 meters) taller from the top of the building. So the building actually seems taller to acrophobics, it seems.
Other People
Does the thought of speaking in front of an audience color your face a bright red, send sweat pouring from your pores and bring a sick feeling to your gut? Those are just a few of the signs of social phobia, which affects about 15 million American adults, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. And it's not limited to public speaking: Those affected can get the sweats over eating or drinking in front of others, or a general anxiety when around almost anyone other than family members. The fear begins in childhood or adolescence, usually around the age of 13.
Scary Spaces
About 1.8 million American adults over 18 years of age suffer agoraphobia, which involves intense fear and anxiety of any place or situation where escape might be difficult, according to a 2008 report by the National Institute of Mental Health. Commonly feared spots and activities include: elevators, sporting events, bridges, public transportation, driving, shopping malls and airplanes, according to the Mayo Clinic. The fear can lead a person to avoid leaving their home, traveling in a car or being in a crowded area.
Creepy Crawlies
While most would at least flinch at the sight of Aragog, the human-eating spider depicted in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," the everyday spider can cause the same fear in some people. And it turns out, women are four times more likely to fear such arachnids than men.
In a study being published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, David Rakison of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh found that 11-month-old girls quickly learned to associate images of spiders and snakes with a fearful facial expression, while baby boys did not.
From an evolutionary perspective, this makes sense, as women would have encountered such creepy crawlies regularly while gathering food, Rakison speculates. And, he says, the cringe factor could keep both moms and their infants safe. Macho men, on the other hand, would have needed to take frequent risks when hunting and so evolutionary pressure to jump at the sight of a spider would be less than beneficial.
Slithering Snakes
Considered one of the most common phobias, an extreme fear of snakes could be evolutionarily imprinted in people, studies suggest. Long ago, spotting a snake (or even a spider) would have been an advantage to a person's survival, according to one study in which adults and children could pick out images of snakes among various non-threatening objects more quickly than they could pinpoint frogs and flowers. The ability to spot a snake in the blink of an eye, the researchers say, likely helped our ancestors survive in the wild.
source....
The Dentist
Not many people jump for joy at the thought of an intense session of plaque removal. And between 9 percent and 20 percent of Americans say they avoid going to the dentist because of anxiety or fear, according to WebMD.
Full-blown dental phobia is a more serious condition in which a person avoids the dentist at all costs. People suffering from the phobia usually only show up at the dentist when forced by excruciating pain.
Various factors can keep someone from the dental chair, including a bad experience in the past, fear of injections, and feelings of helplessness (think dental chair and drill in mouth). How to get to the dentist before you have a mouth full of rotting teeth? Realize a dentist can work with you to make you more comfortable during cleaning and other procedures. For instance, you can set up a hand wave that signals the dentist to stop a procedure immediately.
Dogs
From tiny, purse-size pups to buff German shepherds, any flavor of man's best friend can scare the pants off some who suffer from cynophobia, or extreme fear of dogs. Typically, people tend to develop fear of dogs as a result of being bitten themselves or seeing somebody get bitten, according to psychology professor Brad Schmidt of Ohio State University. Some dog phobics, however, became fearful of pooches because they know dogs do sometimes bite. Treatment generally involves coming maw-to-maw with the barkers.
Frightful Flight
There's no such thing as "the friendly skies" for the 25 million or so people in the United States who suffer from some form of flying fear. Such fears range from just a bit of anxiety to an extreme flying phobia called aviophobia that can keep a person off airplanes at any cost.
These frightful fliers fall into two evenly split groups: those who are afraid of plane crashes and those who are claustrophobic and risk a panic attack inside a plane's tight cabin quarters, according to Barbara Rothbaum, professor in psychiatry and director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program at Emory University School of Medicine.
Like other phobias, reason plays little role in calming such crash fears. For instance, the lifetime odds of dying in an air travel accident are 1-in-20,000 compared with 1-in-100 for an auto accident and 1-in-5 from heart disease (based on 2001 statistics). However, treatment for flight fears -- sans a drunken stupor -- which includes virtual reality therapy and other forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy has shown much success, Rothbaum notes.
Thunder and Lightning
The crackling of thunder and lightning can lead to a heart-pounding, sweaty-palm meltdown for individuals with severe weather phobia. In fact, some even pack up and move to regions known for calm weather, according to John Westefeld of the University of Iowa.
Westefeld reported on a survey of mostly college-age students in 2006 in which 73 percent of participants had "a little bit" or "moderate" fear of weather. "I think there are more people out there who have [severe weather phobia] than most people might assume," Westefeld told LiveScience. "A lot of the folks I interviewed indicated they were very embarrassed about this so that they hadn't told anybody about it. In some cases they indicated their spouses didn't even know about it."
In terms of treatment, Westefeld recommends "a combination of social support and accurate information, and training in ways of coping with anxiety and panic." That way, those with intense storm frights can reach a middle ground, where they have enough fear to keep them safe without debilitating them.
The Dark
For many kids, lights out can mean immediate distress that the boogey man, or some variation, will pop out from beneath the bed or behind a closet door. In fact, being afraid of the dark is one of kids' most common fears. "What always amazes us are the thoughts or beliefs that kids have," said Thomas Ollendick, professor of psychology and director of the Child Study Center at Virginia Tech. "Kids believe everything imaginable, that in the dark robbers might come or they could get kidnapped, or someone might come and take their toys away." Essentially, their fears stem from "the unexpected," he said. While kids grow out of such fears, if the anxiety reaches extreme levels and is considered a phobia, called nyctophobia, Ollendick says that can last through adulthood if left untreated.
Harrowing Heights
If you get the heebie-jeebies when standing on a rooftop or looking up at a tall building, you're not alone. Fear of heights is one of the most common phobias (followed by public speaking) with an estimated 3 percent to 5 percent of the population suffering so-called acrophobia.
While scientists had thought such phobia was the result of an irrational fear to normal stimuli, new research is suggesting otherwise.
In the study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, participants had to judge the height of a building when standing at ground level and when atop the building. Compared with participants who scored lowest on an acrophobia test, those most afraid of heights judged the building to be about 10 feet (3 meters) higher at ground level and 40 feet (12 meters) taller from the top of the building. So the building actually seems taller to acrophobics, it seems.
Other People
Does the thought of speaking in front of an audience color your face a bright red, send sweat pouring from your pores and bring a sick feeling to your gut? Those are just a few of the signs of social phobia, which affects about 15 million American adults, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. And it's not limited to public speaking: Those affected can get the sweats over eating or drinking in front of others, or a general anxiety when around almost anyone other than family members. The fear begins in childhood or adolescence, usually around the age of 13.
Scary Spaces
About 1.8 million American adults over 18 years of age suffer agoraphobia, which involves intense fear and anxiety of any place or situation where escape might be difficult, according to a 2008 report by the National Institute of Mental Health. Commonly feared spots and activities include: elevators, sporting events, bridges, public transportation, driving, shopping malls and airplanes, according to the Mayo Clinic. The fear can lead a person to avoid leaving their home, traveling in a car or being in a crowded area.
Creepy Crawlies
While most would at least flinch at the sight of Aragog, the human-eating spider depicted in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," the everyday spider can cause the same fear in some people. And it turns out, women are four times more likely to fear such arachnids than men.
In a study being published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, David Rakison of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh found that 11-month-old girls quickly learned to associate images of spiders and snakes with a fearful facial expression, while baby boys did not.
From an evolutionary perspective, this makes sense, as women would have encountered such creepy crawlies regularly while gathering food, Rakison speculates. And, he says, the cringe factor could keep both moms and their infants safe. Macho men, on the other hand, would have needed to take frequent risks when hunting and so evolutionary pressure to jump at the sight of a spider would be less than beneficial.
Slithering Snakes
Considered one of the most common phobias, an extreme fear of snakes could be evolutionarily imprinted in people, studies suggest. Long ago, spotting a snake (or even a spider) would have been an advantage to a person's survival, according to one study in which adults and children could pick out images of snakes among various non-threatening objects more quickly than they could pinpoint frogs and flowers. The ability to spot a snake in the blink of an eye, the researchers say, likely helped our ancestors survive in the wild.
source....
Friday, October 30, 2009
demon star rises
A demon star rises in the northeast around sunset tonight: Algol, in the constellation Perseus. Its name comes from the Arabic name Ra's al Ghul, "the demon's head." The Greeks called the star Medusa, after a menacing creature whose hair was a mass of writhing snakes.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Amelia Earhart's Scarf Flying to Space
As a new major motion picture about famed female pilot Amelia Earhart launches onto movie theater screens, a scarf she wore is being readied for its own liftoff, flying on the space shuttle with the astronaut grandson of her personal photographer.
Randy Bresnik, whose grandfather Albert was recruited by Earhart in 1932 to be her only authorized photographer, is set to take the scarf on shuttle Atlantis when it departs with supplies and spare parts for the International Space Station (ISS) in November.
"We are flying Amelia Earhart's favorite scarf that she unfortunately did not take with her on her final mission," revealed the STS-129 astronaut during an interview with collectSPACE.com. "Fortunately, she also decided not to take her photographer with her otherwise I might not be here today."
As the film "Amelia" starring Hilary Swank in the title role recounts, Earhart, who made the first transatlantic solo flight by a woman in 1933, and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean during an attempt in 1937 to become the first female to fly around the world.
Scarves in space
Earhart's scarf accompanying Bresnik on STS-129 is on loan from the Museum of Women Pilots in Oklahoma City, which displays the history of the Ninety-Nines, the international organization of female aviators founded in 1929 by 99 women pilots led by Earhart as president.
"It has the Ninety-Nines' symbol, the intertwined nines in the center of it," described Carolyn Smith, chairman of the Ninety-Nines' Board of Trustees for the museum, of the red and white scarf.
"We know that she wore the scarf," continued Smith. "We don't have any pictures of her wearing that exact scarf but it was given to us either by her mother or her sister when they gave us a number of other items of Amelia's. So we know that it was her scarf and she wore it, but we do not know exactly when."
The Ninety-Nines have at least one other of Earhart's worn scarves and it too has been carried into space. The first American woman to pilot and command the space shuttle, Eileen Collins, flew that scarf on her first mission in 1995.
Yet another scarf -- a brown, gold, and orange silk square belonging to Purdue University -- flew on the 1990 mission to deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. And a watch that Earhart wore is slated to launch to the space station with astronaut Shannon Walker in the spring of 2010.
Completing the journey
So for the Ninety-Nines, it is less this time that the scarf is flying to orbit than it is who is taking it there.
"It is interesting and maybe a little bit completing a story," explained Smith.
"Why we're really interested in Randy taking the scarf up into space is because of his unique relationship to Amelia through his grandfather," said Smith. "It's very unique that his grandfather took all of these pictures and that we have these pictures, and that the grandson of that photographer is actually an astronaut who is going to be taking it up into space. That's where the real unique connection is, Randy taking it up into space."
That connection will be doubly represented on Atlantis, as Bresnik is also flying one of his grandfather's photographs for the Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison, Kansas, which is also operated by the Ninety-Nines.
According to Smith, once Bresnik returns the scarf, it will be part of a new display at the Museum of Women Pilots dedicated to his grandfather's photographs.
For his part, Bresnik is also planning to capture a special photo of his own.
"The other thing he told us is that he has the coordinates for Howland Island," shared Smith, referencing the island that Earhart was trying to find and land at when she disappeared. "He is going to try to take a picture of [the island] as they overfly it in the space shuttle."
"He said, 'If nothing else, some part of Amelia will have finished her around-the-world trip.' I thought that kind of neat," said Smith.
"Wherever she is, wherever she ended up on that final flight, we'll be within 200 miles of it," said Bresnik. "Her scarf will be that much closer to her during this flight. That will be pretty neat."
source....
Randy Bresnik, whose grandfather Albert was recruited by Earhart in 1932 to be her only authorized photographer, is set to take the scarf on shuttle Atlantis when it departs with supplies and spare parts for the International Space Station (ISS) in November.
"We are flying Amelia Earhart's favorite scarf that she unfortunately did not take with her on her final mission," revealed the STS-129 astronaut during an interview with collectSPACE.com. "Fortunately, she also decided not to take her photographer with her otherwise I might not be here today."
As the film "Amelia" starring Hilary Swank in the title role recounts, Earhart, who made the first transatlantic solo flight by a woman in 1933, and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean during an attempt in 1937 to become the first female to fly around the world.
Scarves in space
Earhart's scarf accompanying Bresnik on STS-129 is on loan from the Museum of Women Pilots in Oklahoma City, which displays the history of the Ninety-Nines, the international organization of female aviators founded in 1929 by 99 women pilots led by Earhart as president.
"It has the Ninety-Nines' symbol, the intertwined nines in the center of it," described Carolyn Smith, chairman of the Ninety-Nines' Board of Trustees for the museum, of the red and white scarf.
"We know that she wore the scarf," continued Smith. "We don't have any pictures of her wearing that exact scarf but it was given to us either by her mother or her sister when they gave us a number of other items of Amelia's. So we know that it was her scarf and she wore it, but we do not know exactly when."
The Ninety-Nines have at least one other of Earhart's worn scarves and it too has been carried into space. The first American woman to pilot and command the space shuttle, Eileen Collins, flew that scarf on her first mission in 1995.
Yet another scarf -- a brown, gold, and orange silk square belonging to Purdue University -- flew on the 1990 mission to deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. And a watch that Earhart wore is slated to launch to the space station with astronaut Shannon Walker in the spring of 2010.
Completing the journey
So for the Ninety-Nines, it is less this time that the scarf is flying to orbit than it is who is taking it there.
"It is interesting and maybe a little bit completing a story," explained Smith.
"Why we're really interested in Randy taking the scarf up into space is because of his unique relationship to Amelia through his grandfather," said Smith. "It's very unique that his grandfather took all of these pictures and that we have these pictures, and that the grandson of that photographer is actually an astronaut who is going to be taking it up into space. That's where the real unique connection is, Randy taking it up into space."
That connection will be doubly represented on Atlantis, as Bresnik is also flying one of his grandfather's photographs for the Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison, Kansas, which is also operated by the Ninety-Nines.
According to Smith, once Bresnik returns the scarf, it will be part of a new display at the Museum of Women Pilots dedicated to his grandfather's photographs.
For his part, Bresnik is also planning to capture a special photo of his own.
"The other thing he told us is that he has the coordinates for Howland Island," shared Smith, referencing the island that Earhart was trying to find and land at when she disappeared. "He is going to try to take a picture of [the island] as they overfly it in the space shuttle."
"He said, 'If nothing else, some part of Amelia will have finished her around-the-world trip.' I thought that kind of neat," said Smith.
"Wherever she is, wherever she ended up on that final flight, we'll be within 200 miles of it," said Bresnik. "Her scarf will be that much closer to her during this flight. That will be pretty neat."
source....
Trick or Treat Times
Adams
Oct. 31
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Hancock
Oct. 31
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Nekoosa
Oct. 31
4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Plainfield
Oct. 31
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Port Edwards
Oct. 31
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Wisconsin Rapids
Oct. 31
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Trick or Treat Safety Tips
• Map out the route that you plan to roam, so adults are assured you will find your way home!
• From the bravest of superheroes to the noblest of knights, everyone should remember to bring their
flashlights!
• If you visit a house where a stranger resides, accept treats at the door and, please, don’t go inside.
• When you get ready to put on your disguise, use face paint instead of masks, which will cover
your eyes.
• Always remember, before you embark, to wear light-colored clothing to be seen in the dark! (And
remember to use reflective tape, even on bikes, skateboards and brooms!)
• Whether you walk, slither or sneak, do it on the sidewalks and not in the street.
• As you roam through the neighborhood collecting your treats, please look both ways before
crossing the street! (And cross from the corner!)
• Wigs, capes and costumes are flammable attire, so avoid open flames to prevent a fire!
• Use a glow stick instead of a candle so your jack-o-lantern isn’t a safety gamble!
• You may fly on a broom or a space ship from Mars, but please be on the lookout for drivers in
cars! (And don’t hide between parked vehicles).
• Monsters and zombies should stay off the lawn, and only visit homes with their porch lights turned
on!
• You may be dressed as a werewolf, a cat or a frog, but be cautious around strange animals,
especially dogs.
• Have a grown-up inspect your candy when you’re done trick-or-treating to remove open packages
and choking hazards before eating.
Source....
Oct. 31
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Hancock
Oct. 31
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Nekoosa
Oct. 31
4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Plainfield
Oct. 31
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Port Edwards
Oct. 31
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Wisconsin Rapids
Oct. 31
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Trick or Treat Safety Tips
• Map out the route that you plan to roam, so adults are assured you will find your way home!
• From the bravest of superheroes to the noblest of knights, everyone should remember to bring their
flashlights!
• If you visit a house where a stranger resides, accept treats at the door and, please, don’t go inside.
• When you get ready to put on your disguise, use face paint instead of masks, which will cover
your eyes.
• Always remember, before you embark, to wear light-colored clothing to be seen in the dark! (And
remember to use reflective tape, even on bikes, skateboards and brooms!)
• Whether you walk, slither or sneak, do it on the sidewalks and not in the street.
• As you roam through the neighborhood collecting your treats, please look both ways before
crossing the street! (And cross from the corner!)
• Wigs, capes and costumes are flammable attire, so avoid open flames to prevent a fire!
• Use a glow stick instead of a candle so your jack-o-lantern isn’t a safety gamble!
• You may fly on a broom or a space ship from Mars, but please be on the lookout for drivers in
cars! (And don’t hide between parked vehicles).
• Monsters and zombies should stay off the lawn, and only visit homes with their porch lights turned
on!
• You may be dressed as a werewolf, a cat or a frog, but be cautious around strange animals,
especially dogs.
• Have a grown-up inspect your candy when you’re done trick-or-treating to remove open packages
and choking hazards before eating.
Source....
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Moon is covered with oceans, lakes, and seas
The Moon is covered with oceans, lakes, and seas. You can see many of them tonight as the gibbous Moon sails high across the south. They form the dark blue-gray spots on the lunar surface. They are "seas" not of water, though, but of volcanic rock.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Curtis & Leroy
Curtis & Leroy saw an ad in the The Oxford Eagle Newspaper in OXFORD,
MS.
and bought a mule for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the
next day.The next morning the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry, fellers,
I have some bad news, the mule died last night. Curtis & Leroy replied,
"Well, then just give us our money back." The farmer said, "Can't do
that. I went and spent it already." They said, "OK then, just bring us
the dead mule." The farmer asked, "What in the world ya'll gonna do with
a dead mule?"
Curtis said, "We gonna raffle him off."
The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead mule!" Leroy said, "We
shore can! Heck, we don't hafta tell nobody he's dead!" A couple of
weeks later, the farmer ran into Curtis & Leroy at the Piggly Wiggly
grocery store and asked. What'd you fellers ever do with that dead
mule?"
Curtis said,"We raffled him off like we said we wuz gonna do."
Leroy said, "Shucks, we sold 500 tickets fer two dollars apiece and made
a profit of $898."
The farmer said,"My Lord, didn't anyone complain?"
Curtis said, "Well, the feller who won got upset. So we gave him his two
dollars back."
Curtis and Leroy now work for the government.
They're overseeing the Bailout Program.
Limit all US politicians to two terms. One in office One in prison!
Illinois already does this!
Thanks Terry!
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
MS.
and bought a mule for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the
next day.The next morning the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry, fellers,
I have some bad news, the mule died last night. Curtis & Leroy replied,
"Well, then just give us our money back." The farmer said, "Can't do
that. I went and spent it already." They said, "OK then, just bring us
the dead mule." The farmer asked, "What in the world ya'll gonna do with
a dead mule?"
Curtis said, "We gonna raffle him off."
The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead mule!" Leroy said, "We
shore can! Heck, we don't hafta tell nobody he's dead!" A couple of
weeks later, the farmer ran into Curtis & Leroy at the Piggly Wiggly
grocery store and asked. What'd you fellers ever do with that dead
mule?"
Curtis said,"We raffled him off like we said we wuz gonna do."
Leroy said, "Shucks, we sold 500 tickets fer two dollars apiece and made
a profit of $898."
The farmer said,"My Lord, didn't anyone complain?"
Curtis said, "Well, the feller who won got upset. So we gave him his two
dollars back."
Curtis and Leroy now work for the government.
They're overseeing the Bailout Program.
Limit all US politicians to two terms. One in office One in prison!
Illinois already does this!
Thanks Terry!
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Record-breaking pumpkin thought to be world's largest weighs in at 1,725 pounds
Talk about a great pumpkin. With Halloween around the corner, two Ohio pumpkin growers may have a world record-breaking gourd on their hands.
Nick and Christy Harp of Jackson Township, near Canton, brought a pumpkin weighing 1,725 pounds to the annual Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers weighoff last Saturday, making them a shoo-in for the biggest pumpkin title -- and possibly a Guinness-certified World Record.
"I kind of knew I had a good shot at the world record, but when it hit the scale, it was just happy, I was crying, thought I was gonna pass out," Christy Harp told Cleveland's Fox News affiliate, as reported on Fox8.com. She has been growing pumpkins since the eighth grade, and has a friendly rivalry with husband Nick.
"Last year he beat me by 200 pounds. This year I beat him by 400 pounds," Christy said. "Very good year! My pumpkin, my side of the patch! We separate the patch and never step foot on the other side!"
At one point in August, the massive pumpkin was growing 33 pounds a day, Christy told Fox News. She kept it going by plying the soil with a mix of compost, coffee grounds and cow manure, though seeds with good genetics are also key.
Taking the pumpkin-growing title was a thrill for the entire family.
"Nick got emotional, Christy got emotional and I have to admit her mother and I did, too," Christy's father, Denny Dieffenbaugh, told Fox News. "It was a very proud moment for us."
Contest organizers told The Associated Press that the Harps' entry topped the 1,689-pound world record-holder grown in 2007 by Joe Jutras of North Scituate, R.I.
And, according to the AP, some lucky folks can score a piece of the prize-winning pumpkin: The seeds will be dried and given to anyone who asks.
source....
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Treasure hunters seek Lake Superior's 'Holy Grail'
Ninety years after their disappearance in a Lake Superior blizzard, shipwreck hunters are trying to find two French warships that vanished without a trace, taking two Canadian Great Lakes captains and 78 French sailors with them.
The wrecks of the Inkerman and Cerisoles, newly built at the Canada Car foundry in what was then called Fort William, Ont., caused the greatest single loss of life in a marine accident on Lake Superior.
No one knows what happened to the 50-metre ships and their crews after they left Thunder Bay in late November 1918.
Legendary shipwreck hunter Tom Farnquist has taken up the challenge of finding the two minesweepers, the last warships to be lost on the Great Lakes. He wants to answer one of the great mysteries of the Great Lakes: how could two warships built for the Atlantic Ocean simply disappear?
The ships were Navarin-type minesweepers designed for clearing the thousands of German and Allied mines laid along the French coast and in the English Channel during World War I.
Canada Car had a contract to build 12 of the ships under supervision of French naval engineers. Each ship carried two 100 mm guns with a range of 20 kilometres.
The Inkerman, the Cerisoles and their sister ship the Sebastopol, which left Thunder Bay with them, were named after famous French victories. The ships' crews were reluctant conscripts pulled from the trenches of Flanders, who arrived at the Lakehead by train shortly before their ships were to make their maiden voyages.
They left Thunder Bay less than a month after the war ended, sailing together into what Farnquist, executive director of the Great lakes Shipwreck Museum in northern Michigan, calls "a classic Lake Superior storm."
Canadian Great Lakes skippers Capt. R. Wilson and Capt. W.J. Murphy were on the two ships as advisers.
The storm that hit them was packing dense snow pushed by 80 km/h winds that whipped up waves the size of houses.
The few ships still on the lake raced for safe harbours while the minesweepers struggled southeast toward Sault Ste. Marie.
Two days after the storm hit, the Sebastopol emerged from the storm on the Michigan side of the lake, but the Inkerman and Cerisoles disappeared.
Marius Mallor, a French sailor on the Sebastopol, later wrote, "We had to get out the life boats and put on lifebelts ... the boat almost sank – and it was nearly `goodbye' to anyone hearing from us again.
"You can believe me, I will always remember that day. I can tell you that I had already given myself up to God."
Water had poured into the Sebastopol, flooding part of her engine room and nearly putting out the coal fires in her boilers.
After taking shelter near Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, the Sebastopol struggled through pounding seas for two days before finally reaching Sault Ste. Marie.
Capt. De Vaisseaux Leclerc, overall leader of the expedition, waited in vain for the other two ships.
The search for the missing ships began Dec. 3, 10 days after the three ships left the Lakehead.
Fort William's mayor at the time, Harry Murphy, hinted the two ships might still be sailing somewhere on the Great Lakes, under a shroud of censorship and official secrecy.
In the next few days, rumours swept Fort William that the ships could have secretly moved through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie without being registered because they were naval vessels
Stories that the two lost ships had been seen together at Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior by the crew of the steamer Osler also spread along the city's waterfront.
There were false reports that the ships were on Lake Huron or Erie, or headed for the Welland Canal. The speculation has never ended.
Here's what we do know.
In the few weeks between the disappearance of the Inkerman and the Cerisoles and the winter freeze-up, tugboats searched the islands and shoreline of northern Lake Superior. On the U.S. side of the lake, searchers were misled by wreckage cast ashore by the storm that turned out to be from another ship.
After that initial search, neither Canada nor France lifted a finger to try to find the resting place of the ships and their crews. Presumably, the two are French war graves.
Even in those early days, people connected with the wreck acted mysteriously. Leclerc, the expedition commander, sent a telegram to Thunder Bay suggesting the ships had turned up at the Lake Erie end of the Welland Canal.
People in Thunder Bay wondered what was in the sealed orders given to each captain by French authorities as they left Thunder Bay. They were not allowed to open them until they cleared the harbour.
If the French government, the Canadian navy and the bureaucrats in charge of investigating shipwrecks did take any interest in the wrecks, their correspondence has been purged from Canadian archives.
The federal government's Great Lakes shipwreck registry book, now held in the collection of Library and Archives Canada, has a one-line entry saying the ships disappeared on Lake Ontario.
Except for photographs of their construction, Canada Car's records of them have disappeared.
Outside of Thunder Bay, there was virtually no press coverage of the loss of the ships. Wartime censorship lasted in Canada until late 1919.
Rumour replaced fact. People in Thunder Bay said the ships were built poorly, and a rumour persists that, because of wartime shortages, they were held together with wooden pegs instead of steel bolts.
Peter McCorkindale, representative of Lloyd's Insurance Co., which held a policy on the ships until they left Canadian waters, watched the construction project and denied the ships were unseaworthy.
"The French minesweepers built at the Canadian Car and Foundry Co.'s shipyards were structurally strong and seaworthy, and as perfect a type of boat that I have ever inspected," he told a Thunder Bay reporter.
In 1918, there were even wilder rumours: somehow a German U-boat had made it into Lake Superior; the minesweepers had been seized by the Americans.
In recent years, attention has shifted to UFOs and the so-called "Lake Superior Triangle" that consumes ships and airplanes.
Meanwhile, marine historians have tried to find the two ships.
Some have speculated they foundered on Lake Superior Shoal, a patch of shallow water near the middle of the lake that was not charted until more than a decade after the minesweepers were lost.
Most, however, like Farnquist, believe the ships foundered in U.S. waters near the spot where the Sebastopol emerged from the blizzard.
"It must have happened fast. They had wireless radios, but they had no chance to use them," said Farnquist, known for salvaging the bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1996.
The discovery of the minesweeper wrecks would be a career-making achievement for shipwreck hunters, who have scoured French and Canadian archives for clues.
They've also tracked down rumour after rumour, some of them published, that parts of the wrecks have been found and that bodies have been discovered. So far, all have been dead ends.
There is a range of opinions on the site of the wrecks. Some sailors said at the time they saw the Inkerman and the Cerisoles near Manitou Island, Mich., in the southwest part of the lake, which could place them near the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Farnquist believes they are further to the north and west, off the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Farnquist, who also heads the Great Lakes Shipwreck Society, is determined to find the two warships. He has led one attempt to hunt them down and plans to try again, using state-of-the-art underwater scanning.
That search will likely take place in August 2010. Early August is usually the most tranquil time on the temperamental lake.
"This is the Holy Grail of Lake Superior, to find two 155-foot brand spanking new minesweepers with 5-inch guns fore and aft," he says.
"One might have got into trouble and the other went to help it and was swamped when it turned its side into the wind. If we're lucky, they'll be close together."
Farnquist is pinning some hope on Ottawa, which will send frigates into the Great Lakes next summer in celebration of the centennial of Canada's navy. He hopes they can help him "mow the lawn," using high-tech equipment to do grid searches of the lake bed.
"This would be a good project for a partnership between the Canadian, French and U.S. navies, since the ships were built in Canada for the French and were lost in U.S. waters."
source....
The wrecks of the Inkerman and Cerisoles, newly built at the Canada Car foundry in what was then called Fort William, Ont., caused the greatest single loss of life in a marine accident on Lake Superior.
No one knows what happened to the 50-metre ships and their crews after they left Thunder Bay in late November 1918.
Legendary shipwreck hunter Tom Farnquist has taken up the challenge of finding the two minesweepers, the last warships to be lost on the Great Lakes. He wants to answer one of the great mysteries of the Great Lakes: how could two warships built for the Atlantic Ocean simply disappear?
The ships were Navarin-type minesweepers designed for clearing the thousands of German and Allied mines laid along the French coast and in the English Channel during World War I.
Canada Car had a contract to build 12 of the ships under supervision of French naval engineers. Each ship carried two 100 mm guns with a range of 20 kilometres.
The Inkerman, the Cerisoles and their sister ship the Sebastopol, which left Thunder Bay with them, were named after famous French victories. The ships' crews were reluctant conscripts pulled from the trenches of Flanders, who arrived at the Lakehead by train shortly before their ships were to make their maiden voyages.
They left Thunder Bay less than a month after the war ended, sailing together into what Farnquist, executive director of the Great lakes Shipwreck Museum in northern Michigan, calls "a classic Lake Superior storm."
Canadian Great Lakes skippers Capt. R. Wilson and Capt. W.J. Murphy were on the two ships as advisers.
The storm that hit them was packing dense snow pushed by 80 km/h winds that whipped up waves the size of houses.
The few ships still on the lake raced for safe harbours while the minesweepers struggled southeast toward Sault Ste. Marie.
Two days after the storm hit, the Sebastopol emerged from the storm on the Michigan side of the lake, but the Inkerman and Cerisoles disappeared.
Marius Mallor, a French sailor on the Sebastopol, later wrote, "We had to get out the life boats and put on lifebelts ... the boat almost sank – and it was nearly `goodbye' to anyone hearing from us again.
"You can believe me, I will always remember that day. I can tell you that I had already given myself up to God."
Water had poured into the Sebastopol, flooding part of her engine room and nearly putting out the coal fires in her boilers.
After taking shelter near Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, the Sebastopol struggled through pounding seas for two days before finally reaching Sault Ste. Marie.
Capt. De Vaisseaux Leclerc, overall leader of the expedition, waited in vain for the other two ships.
The search for the missing ships began Dec. 3, 10 days after the three ships left the Lakehead.
Fort William's mayor at the time, Harry Murphy, hinted the two ships might still be sailing somewhere on the Great Lakes, under a shroud of censorship and official secrecy.
In the next few days, rumours swept Fort William that the ships could have secretly moved through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie without being registered because they were naval vessels
Stories that the two lost ships had been seen together at Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior by the crew of the steamer Osler also spread along the city's waterfront.
There were false reports that the ships were on Lake Huron or Erie, or headed for the Welland Canal. The speculation has never ended.
Here's what we do know.
In the few weeks between the disappearance of the Inkerman and the Cerisoles and the winter freeze-up, tugboats searched the islands and shoreline of northern Lake Superior. On the U.S. side of the lake, searchers were misled by wreckage cast ashore by the storm that turned out to be from another ship.
After that initial search, neither Canada nor France lifted a finger to try to find the resting place of the ships and their crews. Presumably, the two are French war graves.
Even in those early days, people connected with the wreck acted mysteriously. Leclerc, the expedition commander, sent a telegram to Thunder Bay suggesting the ships had turned up at the Lake Erie end of the Welland Canal.
People in Thunder Bay wondered what was in the sealed orders given to each captain by French authorities as they left Thunder Bay. They were not allowed to open them until they cleared the harbour.
If the French government, the Canadian navy and the bureaucrats in charge of investigating shipwrecks did take any interest in the wrecks, their correspondence has been purged from Canadian archives.
The federal government's Great Lakes shipwreck registry book, now held in the collection of Library and Archives Canada, has a one-line entry saying the ships disappeared on Lake Ontario.
Except for photographs of their construction, Canada Car's records of them have disappeared.
Outside of Thunder Bay, there was virtually no press coverage of the loss of the ships. Wartime censorship lasted in Canada until late 1919.
Rumour replaced fact. People in Thunder Bay said the ships were built poorly, and a rumour persists that, because of wartime shortages, they were held together with wooden pegs instead of steel bolts.
Peter McCorkindale, representative of Lloyd's Insurance Co., which held a policy on the ships until they left Canadian waters, watched the construction project and denied the ships were unseaworthy.
"The French minesweepers built at the Canadian Car and Foundry Co.'s shipyards were structurally strong and seaworthy, and as perfect a type of boat that I have ever inspected," he told a Thunder Bay reporter.
In 1918, there were even wilder rumours: somehow a German U-boat had made it into Lake Superior; the minesweepers had been seized by the Americans.
In recent years, attention has shifted to UFOs and the so-called "Lake Superior Triangle" that consumes ships and airplanes.
Meanwhile, marine historians have tried to find the two ships.
Some have speculated they foundered on Lake Superior Shoal, a patch of shallow water near the middle of the lake that was not charted until more than a decade after the minesweepers were lost.
Most, however, like Farnquist, believe the ships foundered in U.S. waters near the spot where the Sebastopol emerged from the blizzard.
"It must have happened fast. They had wireless radios, but they had no chance to use them," said Farnquist, known for salvaging the bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1996.
The discovery of the minesweeper wrecks would be a career-making achievement for shipwreck hunters, who have scoured French and Canadian archives for clues.
They've also tracked down rumour after rumour, some of them published, that parts of the wrecks have been found and that bodies have been discovered. So far, all have been dead ends.
There is a range of opinions on the site of the wrecks. Some sailors said at the time they saw the Inkerman and the Cerisoles near Manitou Island, Mich., in the southwest part of the lake, which could place them near the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Farnquist believes they are further to the north and west, off the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Farnquist, who also heads the Great Lakes Shipwreck Society, is determined to find the two warships. He has led one attempt to hunt them down and plans to try again, using state-of-the-art underwater scanning.
That search will likely take place in August 2010. Early August is usually the most tranquil time on the temperamental lake.
"This is the Holy Grail of Lake Superior, to find two 155-foot brand spanking new minesweepers with 5-inch guns fore and aft," he says.
"One might have got into trouble and the other went to help it and was swamped when it turned its side into the wind. If we're lucky, they'll be close together."
Farnquist is pinning some hope on Ottawa, which will send frigates into the Great Lakes next summer in celebration of the centennial of Canada's navy. He hopes they can help him "mow the lawn," using high-tech equipment to do grid searches of the lake bed.
"This would be a good project for a partnership between the Canadian, French and U.S. navies, since the ships were built in Canada for the French and were lost in U.S. waters."
source....
ISS Tomorrow Morning
29 Oct -3.3 05:56:04 SSW 61
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
ISS Tomorrow Morning
28 Oct -2.0 05:33:19 ENE 40
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Mars rises around midnight
Mars rises around midnight and stands high in the south at first light. It looks like a bright orange star. Keep an eye on it through the rest of autumn and into winter, when the planet will shine at its brightest.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Bracelets 'useless' in arthritis
Copper bracelets and magnetic wrist straps are useless for relieving pain in people with arthritis, say University of York researchers.
In the first tightly controlled trial to look at both alternative therapies, there was no benefit to their use for pain or stiffness.
All 45 patients tested a copper bracelet, two different magnetic wrist straps, and a demagnetised version.
An arthritis charity said people should not waste their money on the therapies.
Study leader Stewart Richmond, a research fellow in the Department of Health Sciences, said there had only been one other randomised controlled trial - comparing the treatment with placebo - on copper bracelets and that was done in the 1970s.
The market - particularly in magnetic devices which can cost £25 and £65 for the wrist straps - is worth billions of dollars worldwide.
In the trial, 45 people aged 50 or over, who were all diagnosed as suffering from osteoarthritis wore each of the four devices in a random order over a 16-week period.
They were all ineffective in terms of pain, stiffness and physical function, the researchers reported in the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine.
"It appears that any perceived benefit obtained from wearing a magnetic or copper bracelet can be attributed to psychological placebo effects," said Mr Richmond.
"People tend to buy them when they are in a lot of pain, then when the pain eases off over time they attribute this to the device.
"However, our findings suggest that such devices have no real advantage over placebo wrist straps that are not magnetic and do not contain copper."
He said the marketing of the devices was often to vulnerable elderly people.
Jane Tadman from the Arthritis Research Campaign said although many people with arthritis wore copper bracelets, there was no current research that supports their use.
"Although there is a big public appetite for non-drug treatments from arthritis patients, we would not encourage them to spend a lot of money on products for which there is very little scientific evidence," she added.
The charity is in the process of compiling a report on the effectiveness of complementary therapies and arthritis.
source....
In the first tightly controlled trial to look at both alternative therapies, there was no benefit to their use for pain or stiffness.
All 45 patients tested a copper bracelet, two different magnetic wrist straps, and a demagnetised version.
An arthritis charity said people should not waste their money on the therapies.
Study leader Stewart Richmond, a research fellow in the Department of Health Sciences, said there had only been one other randomised controlled trial - comparing the treatment with placebo - on copper bracelets and that was done in the 1970s.
The market - particularly in magnetic devices which can cost £25 and £65 for the wrist straps - is worth billions of dollars worldwide.
In the trial, 45 people aged 50 or over, who were all diagnosed as suffering from osteoarthritis wore each of the four devices in a random order over a 16-week period.
They were all ineffective in terms of pain, stiffness and physical function, the researchers reported in the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine.
"It appears that any perceived benefit obtained from wearing a magnetic or copper bracelet can be attributed to psychological placebo effects," said Mr Richmond.
"People tend to buy them when they are in a lot of pain, then when the pain eases off over time they attribute this to the device.
"However, our findings suggest that such devices have no real advantage over placebo wrist straps that are not magnetic and do not contain copper."
He said the marketing of the devices was often to vulnerable elderly people.
Jane Tadman from the Arthritis Research Campaign said although many people with arthritis wore copper bracelets, there was no current research that supports their use.
"Although there is a big public appetite for non-drug treatments from arthritis patients, we would not encourage them to spend a lot of money on products for which there is very little scientific evidence," she added.
The charity is in the process of compiling a report on the effectiveness of complementary therapies and arthritis.
source....
Monday, October 26, 2009
Jupiter looks like a brilliant star near the Moon
The planet Jupiter looks like a brilliant star near the Moon as darkness falls. They remain close together as they sail across the southern sky before setting in the wee hours of the morning.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
ISS Tomorrow Morning
27 Oct -3.2 06:42:05 WNW 61
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Sunday, October 25, 2009
ISS Tomorrow Morning
26 Oct -2.6 06:19:25 NW 48
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Meet future woman: shorter, plumper, more fertile
Women of the future are likely to be slightly shorter and plumper, have healthier hearts and longer reproductive windows. These changes are predicted by the strongest proof to date that humans are still evolving.
Medical advances mean that many people who once would have died young now live to a ripe old age. This has led to a belief that natural selection no longer affects humans and, therefore, that we have stopped evolving.
"That's just plain false," says Stephen Stearns, an evolutionary biologist at Yale University. He says although differences in survival may no longer select "fitter" humans and their genes, differences in reproduction still can. The question is whether women who have more children have distinguishing traits which they pass on to their offspring.
To find out, Stearns and his colleagues turned to data from the Framingham Heart Study, which has tracked the medical histories of more than 14,000 residents of the town of Framingham, Massachusetts, since 1948 – spanning three generations in some families.
The team studied 2238 women who had passed menopause and so completed their reproductive lives. For this group, Stearns's team tested whether a woman's height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol or other traits correlated with the number of children she had borne. They controlled for changes due to social and cultural factors to calculate how strongly natural selection is shaping these traits.
Quite a lot, it turns out. Shorter, heavier women tended to have more children, on average, than taller, lighter ones. Women with lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels likewise reared more children, and – not surprisingly – so did women who had their first child at a younger age or who entered menopause later. Strikingly, these traits were passed on to their daughters, who in turn also had more children.
If these trends continue for 10 generations, Stearns calculates, the average woman in 2409 will be 2 centimetres shorter and 1 kilogram heavier than she is today. She will bear her first child about 5 months earlier and enter menopause 10 months later.
It's hard to say what is selecting for these traits, and to discern whether they are being passed down through the women's genes, but because Stearns controlled for many social and cultural factors, it is likely that his results document genetic, rather than cultural evolution at work.
It is not the first study to conclude that natural selection is operating on humans today; the difference is that much of the earlier work has drawn that conclusion from geographic differences in gene frequencies, rather than from direct measurements of reproductive success. That leaves Stearns's study as perhaps the most detailed measure of evolution in humans today.
"It's interesting that the underlying biological framework is still detectable beneath the culture," he says. Analyses of other long-term medical data sets could shed more light on the interplay between genetics and culture.
source....
Medical advances mean that many people who once would have died young now live to a ripe old age. This has led to a belief that natural selection no longer affects humans and, therefore, that we have stopped evolving.
"That's just plain false," says Stephen Stearns, an evolutionary biologist at Yale University. He says although differences in survival may no longer select "fitter" humans and their genes, differences in reproduction still can. The question is whether women who have more children have distinguishing traits which they pass on to their offspring.
To find out, Stearns and his colleagues turned to data from the Framingham Heart Study, which has tracked the medical histories of more than 14,000 residents of the town of Framingham, Massachusetts, since 1948 – spanning three generations in some families.
The team studied 2238 women who had passed menopause and so completed their reproductive lives. For this group, Stearns's team tested whether a woman's height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol or other traits correlated with the number of children she had borne. They controlled for changes due to social and cultural factors to calculate how strongly natural selection is shaping these traits.
Quite a lot, it turns out. Shorter, heavier women tended to have more children, on average, than taller, lighter ones. Women with lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels likewise reared more children, and – not surprisingly – so did women who had their first child at a younger age or who entered menopause later. Strikingly, these traits were passed on to their daughters, who in turn also had more children.
If these trends continue for 10 generations, Stearns calculates, the average woman in 2409 will be 2 centimetres shorter and 1 kilogram heavier than she is today. She will bear her first child about 5 months earlier and enter menopause 10 months later.
It's hard to say what is selecting for these traits, and to discern whether they are being passed down through the women's genes, but because Stearns controlled for many social and cultural factors, it is likely that his results document genetic, rather than cultural evolution at work.
It is not the first study to conclude that natural selection is operating on humans today; the difference is that much of the earlier work has drawn that conclusion from geographic differences in gene frequencies, rather than from direct measurements of reproductive success. That leaves Stearns's study as perhaps the most detailed measure of evolution in humans today.
"It's interesting that the underlying biological framework is still detectable beneath the culture," he says. Analyses of other long-term medical data sets could shed more light on the interplay between genetics and culture.
source....
Saturday, October 24, 2009
increased Influenza activity in the past 2 weeks in Juneau County
Juneau County Health Department reports that there has been increased Influenza activity in the past 2 weeks in Juneau County. This is similar to the present overall increase in influenza cases throughout the state of Wisconsin and the country. Most of the Juneau County schools have started to experience an increase in student absences due to influenza – like - symptoms. St Paul’s Lutheran School in Wonewoc will be closed October 22 – 23 due to influenza –like-illness in 30% of the students. Although there have been limited confirmed cases of H1N1 in this county, 99% of influenza cases in Wisconsin have been identified as 2009 Novel H1N1.
Juneau County is following the Wisconsin Division of Public Health and CDC guidelines in H1N1 vaccination efforts. The H1N1 vaccine has started to arrive in very limited quantity. Juneau County Health Department, along with Mile Bluff Medical Center and local clinics are currently vaccinating health care workers and EMS.
The target groups for the next shipments of vaccine are: pregnant women, caregivers of infants less than 6 months, children under 5 years of age, and children 6 months – 18 years old with chronic illness. This group has been included in the initial shipment of vaccine as they are at greatest risk to develop severe complications from H1N1 influenza. Juneau County Health Department plans to conduct H1N1 vaccination clinics in the school setting, however, clinic dates cannot be de determined until ample vaccine arrives. The Health Department and local partners continue to plan and work together to make the H1N1 vaccination campaigns as efficient as possible. Although the exact timeframe is not known, enough vaccine has been ordered at the federal level so that everyone who wants the vaccine will eventually be able to get it.
During this time, we ask the public to protect themselves and others by following simple public health measures such as covering your cough and sneezes, wash your hands frequently, and avoid those who are ill. If you think you have H1N1 influenza, stay home at least until your fever is gone for 24 hours. Staying home means that you should not leave your home except to seek medical care. This means avoiding normal activities, including work, school, travel, shopping, social events, and public gatherings. If you think you should be tested for H1N1 CALL your health provider BEFORE you go. Testing is most likely NOT necessary. Your provider will determine if testing or treatment is needed. If you have severe illness or you are at high risk for flu complications, call your health care provider or seek immediate medical attention.
For more information of the H1N1 vaccine, target groups and how to protect yourself from the H1N1 influenza virus go to www.pandemic.wisconsin.gov or call 2-1-1.
source....
Juneau County is following the Wisconsin Division of Public Health and CDC guidelines in H1N1 vaccination efforts. The H1N1 vaccine has started to arrive in very limited quantity. Juneau County Health Department, along with Mile Bluff Medical Center and local clinics are currently vaccinating health care workers and EMS.
The target groups for the next shipments of vaccine are: pregnant women, caregivers of infants less than 6 months, children under 5 years of age, and children 6 months – 18 years old with chronic illness. This group has been included in the initial shipment of vaccine as they are at greatest risk to develop severe complications from H1N1 influenza. Juneau County Health Department plans to conduct H1N1 vaccination clinics in the school setting, however, clinic dates cannot be de determined until ample vaccine arrives. The Health Department and local partners continue to plan and work together to make the H1N1 vaccination campaigns as efficient as possible. Although the exact timeframe is not known, enough vaccine has been ordered at the federal level so that everyone who wants the vaccine will eventually be able to get it.
During this time, we ask the public to protect themselves and others by following simple public health measures such as covering your cough and sneezes, wash your hands frequently, and avoid those who are ill. If you think you have H1N1 influenza, stay home at least until your fever is gone for 24 hours. Staying home means that you should not leave your home except to seek medical care. This means avoiding normal activities, including work, school, travel, shopping, social events, and public gatherings. If you think you should be tested for H1N1 CALL your health provider BEFORE you go. Testing is most likely NOT necessary. Your provider will determine if testing or treatment is needed. If you have severe illness or you are at high risk for flu complications, call your health care provider or seek immediate medical attention.
For more information of the H1N1 vaccine, target groups and how to protect yourself from the H1N1 influenza virus go to www.pandemic.wisconsin.gov or call 2-1-1.
source....
Geoengineering Moscow Mayor Promises No Snow This Winter
Controlling the weather with cloud seeding has previously proved popular with Chinese and Russian officials, but Moscow's mayor does not seem content with just keeping the rain off his roofs. Now Mayor Yury Luzhkov has hired the cash-strapped Russian Air Force to chemically spray clouds so that no snow will fall within his city limits.
Moscow already keeps the Russian Air Force on hire to prevent rain during parades on Victory Day in May and City Day in September. Time Magazine reports that the city easily coughs up $2 to $3 million for the convenience out of its $40 billion budget.
The Air Force arsenal for spraying the clouds includes cement powder, dry ice and silver iodide. Moscow residents can only hope that there's no repeat of an incident that happened in June 2008, when Reuters reported that a Russian cargo plane accidentally dropped a 55-pound bag of cement through a suburban home's roof.
This latest scheme represents only the latest development in Russia's love-hate relationship with winter weather. Moscow residents typically trudge through the snow from November to March, but the harsh winters have historically proved handy at least twice in freezing invaders in their tracks: Napoleon's Grand Armee and Hitler's Panzers each eventually ground to a halt.
So far Luzhkov has touted the benefits of his snow-stop plan for both city residents and farmers outside the city who would receive additional moisture. But suburban residents have begun lodging protests and concerns.
If the idea sounds somewhat extreme, just keep in mind that Russia has no monopoly on wacky schemes -- a geoengineering scheme to reduce hurricanes, courtesy of a certain U.S. billionaire.
source....
Moscow already keeps the Russian Air Force on hire to prevent rain during parades on Victory Day in May and City Day in September. Time Magazine reports that the city easily coughs up $2 to $3 million for the convenience out of its $40 billion budget.
The Air Force arsenal for spraying the clouds includes cement powder, dry ice and silver iodide. Moscow residents can only hope that there's no repeat of an incident that happened in June 2008, when Reuters reported that a Russian cargo plane accidentally dropped a 55-pound bag of cement through a suburban home's roof.
This latest scheme represents only the latest development in Russia's love-hate relationship with winter weather. Moscow residents typically trudge through the snow from November to March, but the harsh winters have historically proved handy at least twice in freezing invaders in their tracks: Napoleon's Grand Armee and Hitler's Panzers each eventually ground to a halt.
So far Luzhkov has touted the benefits of his snow-stop plan for both city residents and farmers outside the city who would receive additional moisture. But suburban residents have begun lodging protests and concerns.
If the idea sounds somewhat extreme, just keep in mind that Russia has no monopoly on wacky schemes -- a geoengineering scheme to reduce hurricanes, courtesy of a certain U.S. billionaire.
source....
Friday, October 23, 2009
whooping cranes are at Stopover #1
As of Sunday, October 18th...11-young whooping cranes are at Stopover #1 and 9 are still at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge....waiting to begin their 1250-mile migration flight to Florida. According to the Operation Migration website....due to the high winds and wet weather last week...only 7 birds on Friday and 4 on Saturday will able to fly from the Refuge to their first stopover behind an ultra-light aircraft. Operation Migration has played a leading role in the reintroduction of endangered whooping cranes into eastern North America since 2001. In the 1940's....the species was reduced to just 15-birds.
source....
Thursday, October 22, 2009
A Few Early Morning Pictures (couple days old)
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Ever Dream This Man?
At least 2,000 people around the world claim to have seen this man in their dreams, though they don't know who he is, according to the website thisman.org. It began, they write, in January 2006, when a psychiatrist's patient first made the sketch and said she'd been having recurring dreams with "This Man," as he later became known.
source....
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Orionid meteor shower
The Orionid meteor shower lights up the skies the next night or two. There is no Moon to get in the way, so this should be a good year for it. The meteors are bits of rocky debris from Halley's Comet that burn up as they streak into Earth's upper atmosphere.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Monday, October 19, 2009
One of the most famous objects in the sky
One of the most famous objects in the sky climbs into good view by mid-evening. The Pleiades (Seven Sisters) is a cluster of several hundred stars. About a half-dozen of them are visible to the unaided eye, forming a tiny dipper that is low in the east-northeast by 9 p.m.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Still time to enjoy a colorful Autumn in Wisconsin
Weather conditions are signaling fall in the Badger State. But there is still plenty of time to enjoy colorama here. The majority of Wisconsin counties are in the 40-to-60-percent range and are reporting they will reach peak color later this month on the Department of Tourism's Fall Color Report.
Counties in central and southern Wisconsin, such as Portage, Waupaca, Richland, Columbia, and Washington Counties, are reporting they’ve already reached peak color earlier than usual. Buffalo, Green Lake, Waukesha, and Green counties report less than 25 percent of their trees have changed color.
Forecasting when leaves will change color and how long colorama will last is an inexact science.
“When a region sees a lot of rain and wind, autumn leaves are likely to fall off of trees sooner than if the weather is sunny during daytime hours and cooler in the evening,” according to Virginia M. Mayo Black, a DNR Forestry Division communication specialist. “Warm days and cool evenings are the conditions that bring about the change in color. And that change is an indication a tree is preparing itself for winter.”
A single year’s weather conditions is only one factor affecting the changing of a tree’s leaf color.
“Drought, particularly long-term drought conditions, flooding, tree diseases, and physical injuries to trees caused by animals and humans are stress factors that can cause trees to change color and lose their leaves earlier than usual,” Mayo Black said. “Reports from DNR staff at the state forests and state parks and local chambers of commerce have indicated colorama in most areas of the state is pretty much following the usual north-to-south progression.”
Because of increasing rainfall throughout the state, current fire conditions in Wisconsin are reported as being low, according to information on Forestry’s Current Fire Danger Web page. “But the effects of long-term drought conditions such as Wisconsin has experienced for a number of years aren’t completely mitigated by recent rainfall.
“Everyone walking in any wooded area needs to do their part to protect the valuable resource that is Wisconsin’s forests,” Mayo Black said. “Until snow is on the ground, there is always some level of wildfire danger. There is also a danger of carrying out seeds invasive plants on shoes and clothing. The publication of Wisconsin’s forestry, recreational forest user, and urban forestry Best Management Practices are a timely reminder of the role we all play in preventing the spread of invasive plants and insects.”
source....
Counties in central and southern Wisconsin, such as Portage, Waupaca, Richland, Columbia, and Washington Counties, are reporting they’ve already reached peak color earlier than usual. Buffalo, Green Lake, Waukesha, and Green counties report less than 25 percent of their trees have changed color.
Forecasting when leaves will change color and how long colorama will last is an inexact science.
“When a region sees a lot of rain and wind, autumn leaves are likely to fall off of trees sooner than if the weather is sunny during daytime hours and cooler in the evening,” according to Virginia M. Mayo Black, a DNR Forestry Division communication specialist. “Warm days and cool evenings are the conditions that bring about the change in color. And that change is an indication a tree is preparing itself for winter.”
A single year’s weather conditions is only one factor affecting the changing of a tree’s leaf color.
“Drought, particularly long-term drought conditions, flooding, tree diseases, and physical injuries to trees caused by animals and humans are stress factors that can cause trees to change color and lose their leaves earlier than usual,” Mayo Black said. “Reports from DNR staff at the state forests and state parks and local chambers of commerce have indicated colorama in most areas of the state is pretty much following the usual north-to-south progression.”
Because of increasing rainfall throughout the state, current fire conditions in Wisconsin are reported as being low, according to information on Forestry’s Current Fire Danger Web page. “But the effects of long-term drought conditions such as Wisconsin has experienced for a number of years aren’t completely mitigated by recent rainfall.
“Everyone walking in any wooded area needs to do their part to protect the valuable resource that is Wisconsin’s forests,” Mayo Black said. “Until snow is on the ground, there is always some level of wildfire danger. There is also a danger of carrying out seeds invasive plants on shoes and clothing. The publication of Wisconsin’s forestry, recreational forest user, and urban forestry Best Management Practices are a timely reminder of the role we all play in preventing the spread of invasive plants and insects.”
source....
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Black River State Forest Conditions as of Thursday, October 15, 2009
All-terrain Vehicle (ATV) Trails
The ATV trail system is closed for the season. Trails will re-open on Dec. 15 providing the ground is frozen. Crews are wrapping up ATV trail reconstruction for the season. We have been working on several wetland crossings between Campground road and the Clay school parking lot. We plan on finishing these repairs next spring and then we will begin working on crossings between Wildcat Road and the Highway 54 parking lot. These projects will protect the long term sustainability of the trails and limit weather related closures which have been common the past three years.
source....
The ATV trail system is closed for the season. Trails will re-open on Dec. 15 providing the ground is frozen. Crews are wrapping up ATV trail reconstruction for the season. We have been working on several wetland crossings between Campground road and the Clay school parking lot. We plan on finishing these repairs next spring and then we will begin working on crossings between Wildcat Road and the Highway 54 parking lot. These projects will protect the long term sustainability of the trails and limit weather related closures which have been common the past three years.
source....
'Veggie' spider shuns meat diet
A spider that dines almost exclusively on plants has been described by scientists.
It is the first-known predominantly vegetarian spider; all of the other known 40,000 spider species are thought to be mainly carnivorous.
Bagheera kiplingi, which is found in Central America and Mexico, bucks the meat-eating trend by feasting on acacia plants.
The research is published in the journal Current Biology.
The herbivorous spider was filmed on high-definition camera.
Running the gauntlet
The jumping arachnid, which is 5-6mm long, has developed a taste for the tips of the acacia plants - known as Beltian bodies - which are packed full of protein.
This is the only spider we know that deliberately only goes after plants.
But to reach this leafy fare, the spider has to evade the attention of ants, which live in the hollow spines of the tree.
The ants and acacia trees have co-evolved to form a mutually beneficial relationship: the aggressive ants protect the trees from predators, swarming to attack any invaders; and in return for acting as bodyguards, the ants get to gorge on the acacias' Beltian bodies themselves.
But the crafty Bagheera kiplingi has found a way to exploit this symbiotic relationship.
One of the study's authors, Professor Robert Curry, from Villanova University, Pennsylvania, told BBC News: "The spiders basically dodge the ants.
"The spiders live on the plants - but way out on the tips of the old leaves, where the ants don't spend a lot of time, because there isn't any food on those leaves."
But when they get hungry, the spiders head to the newer leaves, and get ready to run the ant gauntlet.
Professor Curry said: "And they wait for an opening - they watch the ants move around, and they watch to see that there are not any ants in the local area that they are going after.
"And then they zip in and grab one of these Beltian bodies and then clip it off, hold it in their mouths and run away.
"And then they retreat to one of the undefended parts of the plant to eat it."
Like other species of jumping spider, Bagheera kiplingi has keen eyesight, is especially fast and agile and is thought to have good cognitive skills, which allows it to "hunt" down this plant food.
Fierce competition
The spider's herbivorous diet was first discovered in Costa Rica in 2001 by Eric Olsen from Brandeis University, and was then independently observed again in 2007 by Christopher Meehan, at that time an undergraduate student at Villanova University.
Competition in the tropics is pretty fierce so there are always advantages to do what someone else isn't already doing
The team then collaborated to describe the spider for the first time in this Current Biology paper.
Professor Curry said he was extremely surprised when he found out about its unusual behaviour.
He said: "This is the only spider we know that deliberately only goes after plants."
While some spiders will occasionally supplement their diet with a little nectar or pollen, Bagheera kiplingi's diet is almost completely vegetarian - although occasionally topped up with a little ant larvae at times.
Professor Curry said there were numerous reasons why this spider might have turned away from meaty meals.
He said: "Competition in the tropics is pretty fierce so there are always advantages to doing what someone else isn't already doing.
"They are jumping spiders, so they don't build a web to catch food, so they have to catch their prey through pursuit. And the Beltian bodies are not moving - they are stuck - so it is a very predictable food supply."
Acacias also produce leaves throughout the year - even through the dry season - which would make them attractive.
And Professor Curry added: "Because the plants are protected by ants, they have none of their own chemical defences that other plants do."
source....
Friday, October 16, 2009
ISS Tomorrow Morning
17 Oct -2.4 05:57:24 NW 35
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
most distant object
The most distant object that is readily visible to human eyes stands almost directly overhead late this evening. The Andromeda galaxy looks like a faint, fuzzy blob. It is the combined glow of hundreds of billions of stars that are about 2.5 million light-years away.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Thursday, October 15, 2009
ISS Tomorrow Morning
16 Oct -3.3 05:34:08 NE 78
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
ISS Tomorrow Morning
15 Oct -2.5 06:42:33 W 36
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
the she-goat
One of the brightest stars in the northern half of the sky is climbing to prominence this month: Capella, the she-goat, the leading light of Auriga, the charioteer. It rises in early evening, and is in good view in the northeast by around 10 p.m.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
The Last Load of the Day
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
TV Antenna Rotator..........Continued
After the air temperature warmed to above freezing the other morning, my TV antenna rotator started turning again. So I made that sucker look like a lawnmower blade up there! I whipped it around and around and around. Then I looked at the new one in the box that I broke when I had all that trouble before. I think I see how water could be getting into it. There is a seal on top of the box that isn't designed very well. It doesn't seal tightly enough under the mast mount. I can't see any way to fix it other than maybe smearing it with grease. An umbrella thing like Dad made for his wouldn't work on this one, unless I plugged the top of the mast too, maybe.
Anyway, this morning down in the 20s°F again......and the rotator turns! There is also icicles hanging from it due to the snow/rain we had last night and it still turned. So maybe my lawnmower blade lookalike method of repairing it did did the trick. We'll see.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Anyway, this morning down in the 20s°F again......and the rotator turns! There is also icicles hanging from it due to the snow/rain we had last night and it still turned. So maybe my lawnmower blade lookalike method of repairing it did did the trick. We'll see.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
ISS Tomorrow Morning
14 Oct -3.4 06:18:38 WSW 88
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Milwaukee/NARI Offers Ten Tips to Prepare Your Home for Winter
Are you ready for another Wisconsin winter? Prevent potential hazards and prepare your home for the season with these tips from members of the Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Council, Inc., the area’s leading home improvement and remodeling industry resource for more than 48 years.
1. Furnace: Have an HVAC professional inspect the heating system (for safety checks, cleaning, and operation checks, recommended at least annually), change the filter, brush and vacuum the blower blades, and seal potential leaks around air ducts.
2. Windows & Doors: Install storm windows and doors (if you have them), and make sure storm doors are working smoothly. Switch out summer screens with glass. Use weather-stripping around doors and caulk the windows to prevent cold air from entering the home. Protect basement window wells with plastic shields.
3. Roof & Siding: Replace missing or damaged roof tiles, inspect flashing, and check siding for cracks, separations, and damage. If the paint appears to be peeling or blistering, touch it up or call a painting contractor.
4. Gutters & Downspouts: Clean clogged gutters to prevent water damage and basement flooding. Use a hose to spray water down the downspouts to clear away debris. Consider installing leaf guards to direct water away from the home.
5. Landscaping & Driveways: Trim trees if branches are too close to the home or electrical wires. Ask a landscaper about pruning and caring for trees and plants to prevent winter damage. Seal driveways, wood decks, and brick patios.
6. Chimney & Fireplace: Call a professional to clean the chimney to prevent chimney fires, check the mortar, and inspect the damper. Cap or screen the top of the chimney to keep out birds and rodents. Stock up on firewood and keep it in a dry place away from the home’s exterior.
7. Foundation: Rake debris away from the foundation and seal up entry points and cracks to keep animals out. Check for areas where water may puddle. Consider mud jacking to correct foundation problems.
8. Insulation & Ventilation: The best defense against ice dams may be to keep the attic cool with good ventilation and adequate insulation. R-40 insulation (about 15 inches) is suggested. Close all air leaks into the attic and check ventilation openings – there should be about one square foot of ventilation per 150 square feet of attic floor space.
9. Pipes: Drain and shut off outdoor water faucets and drain all garden hoses. Insulate exposed plumbing pipes.
10. Supplies: Replace the batteries in the carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, check fire extinguishers, stock up on salt and shovels, drain the gas from lawnmowers, service or tune up snow blowers, and prepare an emergency kit of candles, bottled water, non-perishable food (and pet food), a first-aid kit, and blankets.
Bring your questions to Milwaukee/NARI’s free seminar on the topic, Wednesday, October 14, in the Ron Ziglinski, CR Education Center, 11815 W. Dearbourn Ave., Wauwatosa, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. A panel of five experts will talk with attendees and offer more tips on making sure a home is ready for Wisconsin’s winter.
The Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Council was chartered in July 1961, as a Chapter of the National Home Improvement Council. In May of 1982, the National Home Improvement Council merged with the National Remodelers Association to form NARI – the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.
The Council’s goals of encouraging ethical conduct, professionalism, and sound business practices in the remodeling industry have led to the remodeling industry’s growth and made NARI a recognized authority in that industry. With over 900 members, the Milwaukee Chapter is the nation’s largest.
For more information or to receive a free copy of an annual membership roster listing all members alphabetically and by category, and the booklet, “Milwaukee/NARI's Remodeling Guide,” call (414) 771-4071 or visit the Council’s Web site at www.milwaukeenari.org.
source....
1. Furnace: Have an HVAC professional inspect the heating system (for safety checks, cleaning, and operation checks, recommended at least annually), change the filter, brush and vacuum the blower blades, and seal potential leaks around air ducts.
2. Windows & Doors: Install storm windows and doors (if you have them), and make sure storm doors are working smoothly. Switch out summer screens with glass. Use weather-stripping around doors and caulk the windows to prevent cold air from entering the home. Protect basement window wells with plastic shields.
3. Roof & Siding: Replace missing or damaged roof tiles, inspect flashing, and check siding for cracks, separations, and damage. If the paint appears to be peeling or blistering, touch it up or call a painting contractor.
4. Gutters & Downspouts: Clean clogged gutters to prevent water damage and basement flooding. Use a hose to spray water down the downspouts to clear away debris. Consider installing leaf guards to direct water away from the home.
5. Landscaping & Driveways: Trim trees if branches are too close to the home or electrical wires. Ask a landscaper about pruning and caring for trees and plants to prevent winter damage. Seal driveways, wood decks, and brick patios.
6. Chimney & Fireplace: Call a professional to clean the chimney to prevent chimney fires, check the mortar, and inspect the damper. Cap or screen the top of the chimney to keep out birds and rodents. Stock up on firewood and keep it in a dry place away from the home’s exterior.
7. Foundation: Rake debris away from the foundation and seal up entry points and cracks to keep animals out. Check for areas where water may puddle. Consider mud jacking to correct foundation problems.
8. Insulation & Ventilation: The best defense against ice dams may be to keep the attic cool with good ventilation and adequate insulation. R-40 insulation (about 15 inches) is suggested. Close all air leaks into the attic and check ventilation openings – there should be about one square foot of ventilation per 150 square feet of attic floor space.
9. Pipes: Drain and shut off outdoor water faucets and drain all garden hoses. Insulate exposed plumbing pipes.
10. Supplies: Replace the batteries in the carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, check fire extinguishers, stock up on salt and shovels, drain the gas from lawnmowers, service or tune up snow blowers, and prepare an emergency kit of candles, bottled water, non-perishable food (and pet food), a first-aid kit, and blankets.
Bring your questions to Milwaukee/NARI’s free seminar on the topic, Wednesday, October 14, in the Ron Ziglinski, CR Education Center, 11815 W. Dearbourn Ave., Wauwatosa, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. A panel of five experts will talk with attendees and offer more tips on making sure a home is ready for Wisconsin’s winter.
The Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Council was chartered in July 1961, as a Chapter of the National Home Improvement Council. In May of 1982, the National Home Improvement Council merged with the National Remodelers Association to form NARI – the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.
The Council’s goals of encouraging ethical conduct, professionalism, and sound business practices in the remodeling industry have led to the remodeling industry’s growth and made NARI a recognized authority in that industry. With over 900 members, the Milwaukee Chapter is the nation’s largest.
For more information or to receive a free copy of an annual membership roster listing all members alphabetically and by category, and the booklet, “Milwaukee/NARI's Remodeling Guide,” call (414) 771-4071 or visit the Council’s Web site at www.milwaukeenari.org.
source....
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
What the hell?
Some of you may remember all the trouble I had when I decided to put a rotator on my TV antenna. I had never had one before and thought it would be nice to be able to turn it and see how many of these new digital channels I could get. Well, 4 months old, and this morning it was 22°F. Go to turn the antenna....and it won't turn! The control turns, but the antenna doesn't budge. I assume there is water/ice in it, but how? Shit. Guess I'll have to take it down today and see what I can do to fix it. Seems like when I was a kid, Dad had the same trouble with one of his. I remember him making an umbrella type thing out of an old inner tube and putting it above the rotator to shed the water.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Castle Rock Family ATV Club Fall Poker Run Pictures
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Fond Memories
Some of my fondest memories are of gathering firewood.
Dad and I would head out into the woods in his 1949 Willy's Jeep with the snowplow on the front, pulling an old trailer. When there was snow on the ground, he'd plow a path to where he'd be cutting. As he cut, I'd split the wood and pile the brush and limbs. Then he'd start the brush pile on fire so we could warm ourselves.
He grew his own popcorn and always carried a couple ears of it with him when we cut firewood in the snow. He also carried an old shovel in the Willy's in case we got stuck. Dad would shell some kernels off an ear of popcorn and place them on the shovel. Then he would hold the shovel in the fire, and as the corn popped and flew up from the shovel, we had great fun trying to catch it and eat it.
Many of my fond memories are of things as simple as that.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Dad and I would head out into the woods in his 1949 Willy's Jeep with the snowplow on the front, pulling an old trailer. When there was snow on the ground, he'd plow a path to where he'd be cutting. As he cut, I'd split the wood and pile the brush and limbs. Then he'd start the brush pile on fire so we could warm ourselves.
He grew his own popcorn and always carried a couple ears of it with him when we cut firewood in the snow. He also carried an old shovel in the Willy's in case we got stuck. Dad would shell some kernels off an ear of popcorn and place them on the shovel. Then he would hold the shovel in the fire, and as the corn popped and flew up from the shovel, we had great fun trying to catch it and eat it.
Many of my fond memories are of things as simple as that.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Custom made fire poker, way better than that funky pointy thing!
My homemade fire poker from the teenage years! It works way better than any of those factory made pointed pokers. And it's really heavy, so you just kind of let it plop down, then pull, and everything has no choice but to be raked forward!
It was built as a joint effort one fine evening between me and some of my partying buddies. It's outlived several stoves, but we originally designed it for an old barrel stove in my repair shop. After that, a cheap Ben Franklin cast iron fireplace, an airtight automatic draft heater, and a trash burner/box stove. I use it in the house now, but I have to hide it in the ash bucket behind the wood box. I'm told it's too ugly to have it prominently displayed, but to me it's a work of art filled with good memories! And fully functional too!
The fancy handle, recycled from a broken pitchfork. Note the equally impressive cotter pin securing it the metal rod. Also, it has a hole for hanging by the stove which we originally looped a leather shoelace through.
The working end, with partying teenager precision welding. The holes serve no purpose; they were already in the piece of scrap metal we used to make it.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
It was built as a joint effort one fine evening between me and some of my partying buddies. It's outlived several stoves, but we originally designed it for an old barrel stove in my repair shop. After that, a cheap Ben Franklin cast iron fireplace, an airtight automatic draft heater, and a trash burner/box stove. I use it in the house now, but I have to hide it in the ash bucket behind the wood box. I'm told it's too ugly to have it prominently displayed, but to me it's a work of art filled with good memories! And fully functional too!
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Friday, October 9, 2009
Visual Difference Between Two Week Old Firewood And Two Months Old
Looking at one of my woodpiles, I thought it was interesting how easily I can already see the difference between the firewood I cut two months ago and what I cut two weeks ago!
Can you see it?
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Magnificent Splitting Maul!
Being healthy enough to use it (my 100lb wife cannot swing it and will never need to), the splitting maul has for decades proven itself as an invaluable tool. Less expensive than other splitting alternatives, and more versatile; I can use it anywhere, even in the woods and splitting directly on the ground. Because of it's sufficiently long handle and it's indifference to a dull edge that never requires sharpening, there is no reason to haul my rounds to a designated splitting block, nor attempt to balance one round on top of the other out in the woods. It's heavy enough to have adequate momentum for carrying itself through the round, instead of sinking in the wood just to get stuck, like lighter and sharper tools do.
I am very happy with my splitting maul.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
I am very happy with my splitting maul.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Iran downs strange bright craft over Persian Gulf
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has targeted and downed an unidentified shining object after sighting it over Persian Gulf waters.
"Glowing objects were sighted over the Persian Gulf. IRGC air defense targeted one of the objects successfully, forcing it to plummet and sink in the seas off Boushehr (Province)," said top regional commander, Brigadier Ali Razmjou.
"The three bright objects were detected by our radars when flying over the Persian Gulf Islands of Khark and Khargou," he added, according to a Monday report posted on IRNA.
Brig. Razmjou explained that when the radars indicated that they were not Iranian aircrafts, the IRGC fired at the three objects. He also added that the fallen objects' remains have not been found yet.
The exact time and location of the sighting and downing of the weird aircraft has not been announced.
source....
"Glowing objects were sighted over the Persian Gulf. IRGC air defense targeted one of the objects successfully, forcing it to plummet and sink in the seas off Boushehr (Province)," said top regional commander, Brigadier Ali Razmjou.
"The three bright objects were detected by our radars when flying over the Persian Gulf Islands of Khark and Khargou," he added, according to a Monday report posted on IRNA.
Brig. Razmjou explained that when the radars indicated that they were not Iranian aircrafts, the IRGC fired at the three objects. He also added that the fallen objects' remains have not been found yet.
The exact time and location of the sighting and downing of the weird aircraft has not been announced.
source....
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Jackson County seeks funds for ATV trail improvements
Jackson County has applied to the state Department of Natural Resources for an all-terrain vehicle program grant of $78,100 to upgrade the Bell Mound All-Terrain Vehicle Trail.
The county proposes to rehabilitate approximately two miles of the year-round ATV trail. The project would include trail surfacing, culverts, equipment rental and labor. The project is located south of Castle Mound Road and east of U.S. 94 in the Town of Brockway, an area known locally as Bell Mound.
The proposed project is not anticipated to result in significant adverse environmental effects. The DNR has made a preliminary determination that neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement will be required for this action.
source....
The county proposes to rehabilitate approximately two miles of the year-round ATV trail. The project would include trail surfacing, culverts, equipment rental and labor. The project is located south of Castle Mound Road and east of U.S. 94 in the Town of Brockway, an area known locally as Bell Mound.
The proposed project is not anticipated to result in significant adverse environmental effects. The DNR has made a preliminary determination that neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement will be required for this action.
source....
Monday, October 5, 2009
Splitting With A Fiskars
What?! You say the handle on your Fiskars is too short? No way. There must be something wrong with your technique. I'm 7'8" tall and it's the perfect size for me:
You're not actually swinging your Fiskars, are you? The Fiskars works too good for that. It's also the reason why the handle is so short. It's a "splitting wand", not meant to be swung, but waved. The proper way to use it is to pass it gently yet meaningfully over the round, Harry Potter style, and utter the phrase "hocus pocus likity split" and tada! ;-)
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
You're not actually swinging your Fiskars, are you? The Fiskars works too good for that. It's also the reason why the handle is so short. It's a "splitting wand", not meant to be swung, but waved. The proper way to use it is to pass it gently yet meaningfully over the round, Harry Potter style, and utter the phrase "hocus pocus likity split" and tada! ;-)
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Three planets
Three planets congregate in the east at dawn the next few mornings. The brightest is Venus, the "morning star." Mercury and Saturn stretch to the lower left of Venus tomorrow. Mercury is the brighter of the two and is slightly higher in the sky.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
When will I have quality, affordable broadband where I live?
State Senator Dale Schultz hears that question daily and in response helped form a regional economic development effort to make broadband internet service available to 'the last mile' of rural Wisconsin. The goal of extending broadband statewide took on new hope with the federal stimulus package that includes 7.2-billion dollars in grants, loans, and loan guarantees to extend broadband to un-served and underserved areas. Among them include Dave Bangert of Reedsburg, owner of Wi-Connect Wireless, submitted a proposal that would extend wireless internet service throughout Sauk and Richland Counties. Bangert's system currently serves areas of western Sauk and into Richland County. Hilbert Communications of Green Bay submitted a plan to extend wireless broadband to 26-rural counties including the entire southwest region. Under a plan with Sauk County....Hilbert may build-off the County's public safety system of nine towers linked by fiber optic cable. Hilbert told a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter that 'with or without stimulus money, we are pursuing broadband in rural areas'. The Reedsburg Utility Commission submitted a Reedsburg fiber optic network expansion plan to extend advanced communications service to rural areas having limited dial-up internet access.
Source....
Source....
Saturday, October 3, 2009
The most famous full Moon of all
The most famous full Moon of all lights the sky tonight: the Harvest Moon, which is the full Moon closest to the first day of Autumn. Most years, the Harvest Moon occurs in September, but this year, October gets the honor.
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Four Swine Flu Lies Told by the Mainstream Media
The mainstream media is engaged in what we Americans call "bald faced lies" about swine flu. It seems to be true with this issue more than any other, and it became apparent to me recently when a colleague of mine -- a nationally-syndicated newspaper columnist -- told me their column on natural defenses for swine flu was rejected by newspapers all across the country. Many newspapers refused to run the column and, instead, ran an ad for "free vaccine clinics" in the same space.
The media, it seems, is so deeply in bed with the culture of vaccinations that they will do almost anything to keep the public misinformed. And that includes lying about swine flu vaccines.
There are four key lies that continue to be told by the mainstream media (MSM) about swine flu and swine flu vaccines.
Lie #1 - There are no adjuvants used in the vaccines
I was recently being interviewed by a major U.S. news network when the reporter interviewing me came up with this humdinger: There are no adjuvants being used in the swine flu vaccines, he said!
I assured him that adjuvants were, indeed, a crucial part of the vaccine recipe, and they were being widely used by drug companies to "stretch" the vaccine supply. It's no secret. But he insisted he had been directly told by a drug company rep that no adjuvants were being used at all. And he believed them! So everything being published by this large news network about swine flu vaccines now assumes there are no adjuvants in the vaccines at all.
Lie #2 - The swine flu is more dangerous than seasonal flu
This lie is finally starting to unravel. I admit that in the early days of this pandemic, even I was concerned this could be a global killer. But after observing the very mild impact the virus was having on people in the real world, it became obvious that this was a mild flu, no more dangerous than a seasonal flu.
The MSM, however, continues to promote H1N1 swine flu as being super dangerous, driving fear into the minds of people and encouraging them to rush out and get a vaccine shot for a flu that's really no more likely to kill them than the regular winter sniffles. Sure, the virus could still mutate into something far worse, but if it does that, the current vaccine could be rendered obsolete anyway!
Lie #3 - Vaccines protect you from swine flu
This is the biggest lie of all, and the media pushes it hard. Getting a vaccine, they insist, will protect you from the swine flu. But it's just flat-out false. Even if the vaccine produces antibodies, that's not the same thing as real-world immunity from a live virus, especially if the virus mutates (as they often do).
As I pointed out in a recent article, statistically speaking the average American is 40 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to have their life saved by a swine flu vaccine.
Lie #4 - Vaccines are safe
And how would any journalists actually know this? None of the vaccines have been subjected to real-world testing for any meaningful duration. The "safety" of these vaccines is nothing more than wishful thinking.
The MSM also doesn't want you to know what's in the vaccines. Some vaccines are made from viral fragments grown in diseased African monkeys.
source....
The media, it seems, is so deeply in bed with the culture of vaccinations that they will do almost anything to keep the public misinformed. And that includes lying about swine flu vaccines.
There are four key lies that continue to be told by the mainstream media (MSM) about swine flu and swine flu vaccines.
Lie #1 - There are no adjuvants used in the vaccines
I was recently being interviewed by a major U.S. news network when the reporter interviewing me came up with this humdinger: There are no adjuvants being used in the swine flu vaccines, he said!
I assured him that adjuvants were, indeed, a crucial part of the vaccine recipe, and they were being widely used by drug companies to "stretch" the vaccine supply. It's no secret. But he insisted he had been directly told by a drug company rep that no adjuvants were being used at all. And he believed them! So everything being published by this large news network about swine flu vaccines now assumes there are no adjuvants in the vaccines at all.
Lie #2 - The swine flu is more dangerous than seasonal flu
This lie is finally starting to unravel. I admit that in the early days of this pandemic, even I was concerned this could be a global killer. But after observing the very mild impact the virus was having on people in the real world, it became obvious that this was a mild flu, no more dangerous than a seasonal flu.
The MSM, however, continues to promote H1N1 swine flu as being super dangerous, driving fear into the minds of people and encouraging them to rush out and get a vaccine shot for a flu that's really no more likely to kill them than the regular winter sniffles. Sure, the virus could still mutate into something far worse, but if it does that, the current vaccine could be rendered obsolete anyway!
Lie #3 - Vaccines protect you from swine flu
This is the biggest lie of all, and the media pushes it hard. Getting a vaccine, they insist, will protect you from the swine flu. But it's just flat-out false. Even if the vaccine produces antibodies, that's not the same thing as real-world immunity from a live virus, especially if the virus mutates (as they often do).
As I pointed out in a recent article, statistically speaking the average American is 40 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to have their life saved by a swine flu vaccine.
Lie #4 - Vaccines are safe
And how would any journalists actually know this? None of the vaccines have been subjected to real-world testing for any meaningful duration. The "safety" of these vaccines is nothing more than wishful thinking.
The MSM also doesn't want you to know what's in the vaccines. Some vaccines are made from viral fragments grown in diseased African monkeys.
source....
Friday, October 2, 2009
The Dolphin
Mrs. Reverend's favorite constellation, Delphinus the dolphin is a constellation in the northern sky, close to the celestial equator. It is one of the smaller constellations, ranked 69th in size out of 88. Delphinus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 1st century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains among the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union.
Canon Powershot camera optics only, no scope. Stacked with Deep Sky Stacker and resized for posting, image is otherwise unedited.
Stack: 101 light frame JPEGs, in-camera dark subtraction
ISO speed rating: 1600
Shutter speed: 15.0 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Zoom (Focal length): 139mm (equiv.)*
Exposure bias: +0.0 EV
Original image size: 1600 x 1200 Pixels
Flash used: No
Date taken: Friday, September 18, 2009
Time taken: 9:50 PM
Camera make: Canon
Camera model: Canon PowerShot SX100 IS
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Canon Powershot camera optics only, no scope. Stacked with Deep Sky Stacker and resized for posting, image is otherwise unedited.
Stack: 101 light frame JPEGs, in-camera dark subtraction
ISO speed rating: 1600
Shutter speed: 15.0 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Zoom (Focal length): 139mm (equiv.)*
Exposure bias: +0.0 EV
Original image size: 1600 x 1200 Pixels
Flash used: No
Date taken: Friday, September 18, 2009
Time taken: 9:50 PM
Camera make: Canon
Camera model: Canon PowerShot SX100 IS
- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Lightweight utility vehicle test program ends
DNR to report results to legislature by January 2010
A program to test the use of lightweight utility vehicles on all-terrain vehicle trails and routes in five northern counties officially ends Sept. 30, 2009.
The pilot program was passed as part of the 2007-09 Wisconsin State Budget which named the DNR as program administrator. The Department of Natural Resources will submit a report to the Legislature regarding the overall results of the program. The report is due to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2010.
The five counties in the program are Florence, Sawyer, Marinette, Lincoln and Washburn. Lightweight utility vehicles, or LUVs, also are commonly referred to as "side by sides" or "utility vehicles."
“It's important for the public to know as of Oct. 1, 2009, it will be illegal to operate these vehicles on ATV trails and routes within the five test counties,” said Gary Eddy, DNR ATV Administrator. "The public will have to wait until the DNR report is submitted. And that the Legislature has time to review that report and decide where they want to go from there. Any updates to the program will be posted on the Light Utility Vehicle Program page of the DNR Web.
source....
A program to test the use of lightweight utility vehicles on all-terrain vehicle trails and routes in five northern counties officially ends Sept. 30, 2009.
The pilot program was passed as part of the 2007-09 Wisconsin State Budget which named the DNR as program administrator. The Department of Natural Resources will submit a report to the Legislature regarding the overall results of the program. The report is due to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2010.
The five counties in the program are Florence, Sawyer, Marinette, Lincoln and Washburn. Lightweight utility vehicles, or LUVs, also are commonly referred to as "side by sides" or "utility vehicles."
“It's important for the public to know as of Oct. 1, 2009, it will be illegal to operate these vehicles on ATV trails and routes within the five test counties,” said Gary Eddy, DNR ATV Administrator. "The public will have to wait until the DNR report is submitted. And that the Legislature has time to review that report and decide where they want to go from there. Any updates to the program will be posted on the Light Utility Vehicle Program page of the DNR Web.
source....
researchers have studied both Democrat and Republican partisans using brain scans and other techniques
When we contemplate contradictions in the rhetoric of the opposition party’s candidate, the rational centers of our brains are active, but contradictions from our own party’s candidate set off a different reaction: the emotional centers light up and levels of feel-good dopamine surge.
With our rational faculties muted, sometimes the unwelcome evidence doesn’t even register, and sometimes we use marvelous logic to get around the facts.
In one study, Republicans who blamed Saddam Hussein for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were presented with strong counterevidence, including a statement from President George W. Bush absolving Hussein. But most of the people in the study went on blaming Hussein anyway, as the researchers report in the current issue of Sociological Inquiry.
Some of the people ignored or rejected the counterevidence; some “counterargued” that Hussein was evil enough to do it; some flatly said they were entitled to counterfactual opinions. And some came up with an especially creative form of motivated reasoning that the psychologists labeled “inferred justification”: because the United States went to war against Hussein, the reasoning went, it must therefore have been provoked by his attack on Sept. 11.
source....
With our rational faculties muted, sometimes the unwelcome evidence doesn’t even register, and sometimes we use marvelous logic to get around the facts.
In one study, Republicans who blamed Saddam Hussein for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were presented with strong counterevidence, including a statement from President George W. Bush absolving Hussein. But most of the people in the study went on blaming Hussein anyway, as the researchers report in the current issue of Sociological Inquiry.
Some of the people ignored or rejected the counterevidence; some “counterargued” that Hussein was evil enough to do it; some flatly said they were entitled to counterfactual opinions. And some came up with an especially creative form of motivated reasoning that the psychologists labeled “inferred justification”: because the United States went to war against Hussein, the reasoning went, it must therefore have been provoked by his attack on Sept. 11.
source....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)