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etudiant

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Everything posted by etudiant

  1. Feral Monk Parakeets are well established residents in the NY area. They build large communal nests, often around transformers which then act as central heating during the winter. Con Ed is consequently not fond of them.
  2. Hey Liberty, that is seriously not good. These inexpensive heaters are a huge risk for fires. My recommendation is switch to one of the Intertherm heaters, they are decent quality and, most important, have no red hot elements. (Looking for them on Amazon, it seems they are replaced (renamed) as Farenheit. Not sure they are the same.) The concept is that the heating element is sealed in a non flammable silicon oil, which heats the room by convection. It looks like a baseboard heater, so very unobtrusive. I use a couple and have had them for maybe 20 years, so they last pretty well.
  3. Note that this was before the Spotted Lantern Fly arrived on these shores....;
  4. The virtues of the classics, one remembers what septuagenarian actually means.... That said, it is a condition to be avoided, if possible, don't ever fall while in that state, you will regret it seriously.
  5. So I can count on you to sponsor the event? Will Rutgers's Spotted Lantern Fly eating contest. A NY/New England ecological action. I'll happily front the initial $100 prize. Double it if 200 are eaten.
  6. No worse than shrimp, plus they only feed on pure juices, unlike shrimp that will eat anything. Maybe baked, with a nice Chianti??
  7. Thank you, Don, for these reminders that fall is wonderful, beautiful flowers and wonderful insects, birds and mammals.
  8. That is exactly what the US govt researchers fear, that once the preferred prey species has become too scarce, the Lanternflies become less choosy. There is no impediment to them sucking the lifeblood from other trees, just habit, which hunger will modify.
  9. Spiders are usually pretty protective of their eggs, you may have seen them lugging their egg sack around, so think that your mouth is safe. That said, exotic pests get free global transportation courtesy of world trade. The early examples of Dutch elm disease and Chestnut blight were not sufficient to cause us to reconsider the wisdom of a one world approach. Instead, the process is accelerating, think Spotted Lantern Fly, Emerald Ash Borer and Asian Long Horned Beetle just in the past few years.
  10. Trouble is that the spiders are actually pretty small and really hard to hit. An AK-47 is entirely the wrong tool, a shotgun with a minimal charge and using dust shot would be better, but the cleanup would be wicked. I say just learn to live with them, they will suppress the other creepy crawlies that usually are the norm south of the Mason Dixon line.
  11. That's just squeaking by imho, but I guess it passes muster.... On the East side, near 72nd St, I don't think it came close to 0.25".
  12. Forecasting is difficult, especially about the future. That said, I do agree that the forecasters as well as the reporters understandably focus on the extreme events, but those rarely coincide with the location of the reporters on the ground. Maybe drones could improve the coverage and thus reduce the discrepancy, but I'm not optimistic. For instance, hurricane reporting is totally distorted by the absurd focus on peak winds, which we cannot even agree to define in a consistent way between the Atlantic and the Asia/Pacific storms. A more useful report would emphasize the size of the storm, the amount of precipitation and the extent of the surge expected. Thankfully those data are provided by the NHC, but they do not get the media focus they deserve.
  13. The frenzy about a small incremental oil lease sale is just laughably disconnected from reality. We buy a half trillion dollars worth of Chinese goods every year, so much that China is short of power for its factories and hence is massively expanding its coal fired generating capacity. Sadly China too has discovered that nuclear, although excellent in terms of the CO2 footprint, is totally uncompetitive in terms of cost and time to build. A solution might be a 200% tariff on Chinese imports, which would crush these planned coal fired generation projects. Does anyone advocate that?
  14. Better option would be to find a bug or bird that really relishes Lantern Flies. That has minimal side effects and is pretty much self regulating, Maybe China would sell it to us cheap, seen that they gave us the Lantern Fly and the Emerald Ash Borer.
  15. Honestly, this is surreal. China is building more new coal fired capacity annually than we and Europe currently operate together, while we argue about ways to limit sunlight input. Does not anyone see a problem here?
  16. Think most bugs are that way, amazingly prolific. The trick is to find their natural predator and take it in simultaneously. The problem is when the 'natural predator' finds some hugely more attractive local prey species. Then you have both the new pest and the new unchecked predator. Look up mongoose and tree rats in Hawaii for a cautionary tale. I won't go to Australia and cane toads, because Australia has absolutely the worlds record for incompetent biological management. Their efforts there are unblemished by success afaik.
  17. In fairness, I do think GrindOutWins has a point. The vaccines do have some risk of serious side effects, so if they do not keep one from being infectious and do not protect against future infections, they may not be fit for the purpose. I recognize the claims that they reduce the risk of dying if infected, but that is a thin reed to lean on imho.
  18. Been there, done that, at least until Homeland Security(??) decided that potassium permanganate, which was used to regenerate the iron filters, was a terrorist threat.... If you live in the ''burbs and get your own water,, you know it is a nightmare fluid, it takes up every possible contaminant available. Getting it clean is a never ending task.
  19. Don, Just have to say "Thank you!' for your admirable focus on what actually has happened, as opposed to speculation. We learn from your disciplined approach, otherwise it is just hand waving.
  20. Trust me, wet is better. You'll agree when your well produces only sand and gravel, with associated bills.
  21. I find it surprising that there is no discussion of the thinking behind the massive ongoing investments in coal based power generation in Asia. Sec. Kerry attempted to engage China on this issue and was promptly rebuffed, essentially told that China would be willing to talk to the US about this if the US made concessions elsewhere. Obviously that means China does not take the threat seriously, even though global warming would surely hurt China and India more than countries in colder latitudes. Can anyone shed light on this?
  22. Don't blame the journalists, they get paid a pittance and are on relentless production deadlines so they produce makeshift stuff. The quality control editing that used to be there got cut to save costs. Stripped of their want ads income, newspapers are generally unprofitable, so they have become vanity properties for rich owners such as Bezos or Carlos Slim, guys who do not like to spend too much.
  23. You're missing out. This stuff eats great right off the cob, no need to heat.
  24. I don't believe that that is true. Afaik, the actual swings in temperature are so fast that they are mushed by the process of ice forming and melting , with the associated gas diffusion. Basically, the cores show very abrupt changes, which we are struggling to understand.
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