etudiant

4 hours ago, LibertyBell said:

I know I know but I deserved it but I said it knowing I would deserve it LOL

I've been freezing my ass off and had the space heater in my bedroom on since last night.

I have two of them, but I plugged in the wrong one first (the one which has green gook oozing out of the wire-- no idea what that stuff is, but I also saw that green gook in the outlet it was plugged into)- as soon as I turned that one on there was  a loud crackling noise like firecrackers and I saw a bright spark near the plug, so I unplugged that one right away and won't use it anymore (of course lol).  The other one works fine even though I saw a little smoke coming out of it in the beginning but after awhile that went away and it ran fine for the rest of the night and was on until this morning.  I thought the sun would be out all day so I turned it off at 10 but then the clouds and wind came which I did not expect.  I guess it needs to be cleaned from nonuse over the summer? I think that's why there was a little smoke and a slight burning smell when I first turned it on.

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. 

8 hours ago, rclab said:

 

 

Good morning Will, Liberty, Long Beach. The ailanthus, tree of heaven grew like a weed. You found it growing out of sewer grates, subway air shafts, your roof. As a kid in the early 50’s because of the pungent odor, when you broke a branch, we called it the Brooklyn stink tree. Even though the ailanthus seemed to rarely reach hard wide trunk adulthood it never seemed to lose its ability to multiply. My young opinion of it changed when I watched the movie ‘A Tree Grows In Brooklyn’ I never thought of it as a stink tree after that. Battered, bruised, cut, maligned and it still continued to struggle to grow. As always ……

Note that this was before the Spotted Lantern Fly arrived on these shores....;

3 hours ago, IrishRob17 said:

Not gonna lie, I had to Google that LOL

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.

21 hours ago, Will - Rutgers said:

you just know someone, somewhere, at sometime, tried it

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.

19 hours ago, Will - Rutgers said:

they should replace the July 4th hot dog eating contest with a spotted lanternfly eating contest

 

No worse than shrimp, plus they only feed on pure juices, unlike shrimp that will eat anything.

Maybe baked, with a nice Chianti??

26 minutes ago, donsutherland1 said:

Amidst cloudy skies and a stiff breeze that held temperatures in the middle 60s, the New York Botanical Garden is continuing its autumn transition.

Thank you, Don, for these reminders that fall is wonderful, beautiful flowers and wonderful insects, birds and mammals.

54 minutes ago, forkyfork said:

you might be on to something. it took 5 years to get to this point though:

https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-spotted-lanternflies-missing-20211005-et63t7utlja5xj3hthvcu7l7wu-story.html

Additionally, he said, some of the trees of heaven that were missed were found dead, possibly because spotted lanternflies ate them to death.

 

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.

11 hours ago, LibertyBell said:

Yeah they'll get rid of the mosquitoes, but it's a horror show to have them in your house.

I sleep with my bedroom lights on as it is.  And if I see something crawling on my walls I can't sleep at all.

I have read that some of these critters can actually get inside your mouth or ears and lay eggs in there?

If these things are coming from exotic countries why can't we just ban products from those countries until they control these pests themselves and keep them from coming here?

 

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.

13 minutes ago, LibertyBell said:

Since most of the people down there own guns cant they just shoot them all with their AK47s?

 

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.

9 hours ago, donsutherland1 said:

With 0.25" rain through 12:08 pm, New York City's Central Park has now reached 10.01" rain for September.

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".

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.

54 minutes ago, Typhoon Tip said:

It's all about momentum ... op ed as we will, opine and whine... but in the end, you have an industrialized world with 7+billion on board -

I made this metaphor several weeks ago in a diatribe - it's hard to turn a fully loaded sea-tanker around inside 1.5 mi, when we only have .75 miles before the edge of the world.  

That's basically it ... that symbolism means, there is too much ballast going in the direction of FF for energy.   This denial and those asshat "conditional sociopaths" all of it is just part of that momentum.  Oh, it'll abate eventually ... in lieu of the new world order. Whether that is by force or choice remains to be seen, but in either case, ...it'll take time.

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?

56 minutes ago, LibertyBell said:

cant spray anything on them to kill these pests en masse?  I'd look for the strongest available pesticide and douse them with it

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.

57 minutes ago, LibertyBell said:

Yes and unfortunately they are looking for any "solution" that avoids that.

Even the industry is promising us new and breakthrough techniques to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.....this only means anything if they stop continuing to put it there.....

 

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?

1 hour ago, Will - Rutgers said:

oh, you will.

i'm not really sure what is supposed to stop their march north.  tree-of-heaven can be found throughout SNE and it's not like our climate is that different.  there's no natural predators yet.

they are an amazingly prolific bug when they get a foothold.

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.

22 hours ago, GrindOutWins said:

I thought getting the vaccine was what one had to do in order to demonstrate that they care about others. Now, we have to continue to isolate ourselves and let each other "be", even after vaccination? Why? Either the vaccine prevents the illness or it does not. 

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.

6 hours ago, LibertyBell said:

I use water filters they work to remove the high metal content crap in my water thats causing my pipes to corrode.  The 6 stage filter is right where the water comes inside on the main pipe.  Before that the water was so bad that I was replacing my boiler every 5 years because of corrosion.

Also water from paper containers is far better than plastic bottles ugh.

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.

3 hours ago, donsutherland1 said:

Through 2 pm, Central Park has picked up 0.22” of rain, bringing the September total to 7.47”. Central Park needs another 2.53” to reach 10” for a record third consecutive month. Since record-keeping began in 1869, 65 (43%) of years saw 2.53” or more in the September 10-30 timeframe. However, 30 (60%) during the wetter 1971-2020 period saw at least 2.53”.

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.

2 hours ago, gravitylover said:

I don't know what is worse, having to conserve water because the pressure in the well is inconsistent or constant wetness, mold, mildew and a failing garden. I'm gonna go with too wet is worse... I'm really tired of this year... #bringbackthedrought

Trust me, wet is better. You'll agree when your well produces only sand and gravel, with associated bills.

12 hours ago, LibertyBell said:

 

I almost consider the climate change crisis as a failure of National and Global Security ...  It is becoming clear, there is going to be a huge population correction, either by choice                 ... or force        

          ( it's like "Gaia" is giving Humanity a choice like "Gozer" in Ghost Busters: "Choose .. Choose the form of the destructor") 

... But, humor and metaphor aside, the lack of vision of Nat/Global security et al, in taking the subject seriously decades ago - it's hard to know where the origin of that incredulity was.  But, you better believe, Climate Change IS not only a National Security matter at this point, it is in fact a World order event.

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? 

1 hour ago, doncat said:

Yeah just poorly written...failing to mention that the heavy rain tornado threat is from a separate system. Again as with most journalists nowadays, no effort to investigate and get the facts right.

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.

1 minute ago, Juliancolton said:

Growing sweet corn this year was one of the best decisions I've ever made. So, so much better than store-bought, even from local sources. When you snap an ear off the stalk and bake it within the hour, it's like eating caramel.

You're missing out. This stuff eats great right off the cob, no need to heat.

56 minutes ago, Windspeed said:

Edit: I might also add that the Younger Dryas still took several thousand years to unfold, not ~200. 

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. 

1 hour ago, Windspeed said:

1 hour ago, Prospero said:

Climates have been changing since the beginning of our planet. Obviously what we are doing as a species has some kind of effect on our environment. We know we can kill a river or lake very quickly, etc. We cut down forests and plant fields. We cut into mountains and build roads. We build large cities. We definitely change the atmosphere on some level.
But maybe the climate is changing anyway as it always has.
I get curious, if the oceans keep heating up and hurricanes become less effective at cooling them down, what happens?
More storms, bigger storms, so on at first. But I suppose a hurricane can only become so big or so powerful.
I wonder if on the Earth over the past billions of years there were storms more powerful than hurricanes. What would they be like? A Jupiter like storm maybe?

Note that I stated "anthropogenic"; that was for a reason. Clearly climates change over time, but very slowly and on the geological scale of ages such a glacial and interglacial periods. 

I'd been under the impression that very sharp climate swings were the norm, as evidenced by the very abrupt temperature changes during the most recent ice age and the 'Younger Dryas' cold snap. 

6 minutes ago, yotaman said:

Leaders were listening but the people were not. Many of those who died lived in basement apartments. People were driving thru flooded roads like the water wasn't there. 

I'd like to believe that, but I don't recollect any actions by the NYC government taken in advance. No road closures, no suggested evacuations, not a hint of concern about the impending downpour. Just post storm blather about global warming.