Seedmore

When is it time to just say no to options?

I hope this guy has a navigator!  LOL

… and you wonder where I’ve been?!?

Crypt packed with carvings, ceramics, textiles and bones of six children

A well-preserved tomb believed to be the final resting place of an ancient Mayan king has been discovered in Guatemala, scientists announced last week.

The 1,600-year-old tomb was discovered on May 29 beneath the El Diablo pyramid in the city of El Zotz. It is packed with carvings, ceramics, textiles, and the bones of six children, who might have been sacrificed at the time of the king’s death.

However, much more work is needed before the scientists can piece together all the clues about the tomb’s owner.

“We still have a great deal of work to do,” said Stephen Houston an archaeologist at Brown University in Rhode Island. “We’ve only been out of the field for a few weeks, and we’re still catching our breath after a very difficult, technical excavation. Royal tombs are hugely dense with information and require years of study to understand.”

Tomb discovery
Before making the actual discovery, Houston said the team thought “something odd” was happening in the deposit where they were digging. They knew a small temple had been built in front of a sprawling structure dedicated to the sun god, an emblem of Maya rulership.

“When we sunk a pit into the small chamber of the temple, we hit almost immediately a series of ‘caches’ blood-red bowls containing human fingers and teeth, all wrapped in some kind of organic substance that left an impression in the plaster. We then dug through layer after layer of flat stones, alternating with mud, which probably is what kept the tomb so intact and airtight.”

Eventually the scientists unearthed the final layer to reveal a small hole.

They lowered a bare lightbulb into the hole, and suddenly Houston saw “an explosion of color in all directions reds, greens, yellows.” It was a royal tomb filled with organics that Houston says he’d never seen before: pieces of wood, textiles, and thin layers of painted stucco.

“When we opened the tomb, I poked my head in and there was still, to my astonishment, a smell of putrification and a chill that went to my bones,” Houston said. “The chamber had been so well sealed, for over 1600 years, that no air and little water had entered.”

The tomb itself is about 6 feet high, 12 feet long, and four feet wide. “I can lie down comfortably in it,” Houston said, “although I wouldn’t want to stay there.”

The Seven Wonders of the World are certainly treasures. However, thanks to the ingenuity of people worldwide, there are way more than seven. Here we have featured some of these extraordinary man-made feats of engineering for you marvel and enjoyment.

I guess if you live in Florida and you’re handicapped, this would be a good sign to notice by that ramp next to the swamp, or downtown? Strangely enough, this is no where near Florida, as if… you couldn’t tell. So… WTF!

Good-lookin’-out, Guys!

Here’s how to make sure you don’t get bitten by the thriving pest-control industry.

By Ken Bensinger of SmartMoney

1. “I love global warming!”
Experts agree it’s a great time to be in the pest-control business. Tighter restrictions on pesticides, changing weather patterns, the emergence of treatment-resistant insects and regional epidemics have converged, creating a perfect storm for exterminators in many parts of the country. And it’s spraying the business with cash: According to the National Pest Management Association, bug zapping had grown into a $6.7 billion industry by 2007, up 28% since 2000.

Two issues in particular seem to be driving growth, according to Austin Frishman, an entomologist and industry consultant. Recent temperature increases allow pests to thrive in an ever-extending geographical area, Frishman says. Case in point: fire ants as far north as Virginia. Even more important, he says, are the movements and migration of people: Travelers can bring new kinds of pests into the country, and population shifts have trended toward the Sun Belt states and other areas where insects thrive.

The number of pest-control firms topped 19,000 in 2007, up more than 7% since 2000, and has continued to rise. “There’s a lot of business opportunity,” Frishman says.

2. “Bedbugs are back — and I have no idea how to treat them.”
Ellyn Sullivan awoke one summer morning to find itchy welts all over her skin. Her doctor was mystified, but with some online research, the Brooklyn, N.Y., publishing assistant discovered to her horror that she had bedbugs. “I didn’t even know they existed anymore,” she says. Indeed, the fabled bloodsuckers are making a comeback. In New York City, bedbug complaints from renters more than doubled in 2006 to 4,638, and according to the National Pest Management Association, nationwide complaints rose 71% from 2000 to 2005.

Among household pests, bedbugs are particularly insidious. They can test your sanity — “I felt like they were all over me, all the time,” Sullivan says — and they’re extremely difficult to get rid of. “There’s nothing tougher than bedbugs,” says Phil Cooper of Cooper Pest Solutions in Lawrenceville, N.J. “And very few (exterminators) know how, or are willing, to do it right.” Proper treatment isn’t cheap — as much as $500 a room — and often requires multiple visits. But lowballing the job isn’t recommended. “With sleep on the line,” Cooper says, be prepared to “pay through the nose.”

3. “You can’t sue me — my contract’s ironclad.”
When Elizabeth Allen of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., discovered that termites had seriously damaged her house despite a lifetime guarantee from Orkin, she wanted to sue. The contract was supposed to cover repairs, but the damage was so extensive that the house had to be bulldozed. What’s worse, litigation was out of the question, thanks to a clause in the contract limiting her to binding arbitration. Allen did get a cash award, which she can’t disclose, but feels the process didn’t favor her. “It was brutal,” Allen says. “I felt I couldn’t have justice.” (Orkin says this litigation “is not indicative of the way Orkin does business.”)

Termites are responsible for an estimated $5 billion in property loss per year, so being aware of your legal rights before signing with a pest-control firm is key. When cases do go to court, as was the case for Allen’s neighbor, Collier Black, the damages can be huge: He walked away with $4.6 million. “There’s a reason these companies go to such lengths to avoid lawsuits,” says Pennsylvania entomologist Thomas Parker, who has consulted on nearly 550 disputes between clients and pest-control providers.

4. “Either I’m not using enough juice for the job …”
The pesticide industry has come a long way since Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” led to the 1972 ban on DDT, and the industry is creating new products all the time. Problem is, they aren’t cheap. Thanks to strict regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture, it now costs roughly $100 million to develop a new pesticide, according to Frishman. And while most exterminators buy and use the right stuff for the job, some have been known to skimp once a contract’s been signed. A classic example: termite pretreatment for homes under construction, says Steven Dwinell, president of the Association of Structural Pest Control Regulatory Officials. “It might cost 40 cents per square foot to treat a foundation,” he says, “but the contractor offers five cents. Whoever wins that bid isn’t using pure juice.”

In some cases exterminators have been known to mix milk into white-colored pesticides, like that used to treat termites; in others they might use a different product than promised. The best defense is to pick a reputable service: Ask for references, and interview a few firms before hiring one.

5. “… or else I’m using waaay too much.”
In 1996, the Trimpers of Rotterdam, N.Y., had their house treated twice for termites — only to suffer serious health problems later. “They used enough pesticide for a warehouse,” says Bruce Trimper, who blames his and his wife’s ills — including two miscarriages, chronic headaches and fevers, and fatigue — on fumes that lingered in their house for a year and were so strong that friends found it unbearable to visit. The Trimpers took legal action against Terminix and received an undisclosed cash settlement: “We got some money, but now our health is wrecked forever.” (Terminix wouldn’t comment on the case, saying only that it works “diligently to meet the needs of our customers and provide them with the best service and protection available.”)

Pesticides are “highly dangerous poisons” that have been linked with everything from autism to memory loss, says Kaye Kilburn, a toxicologist specializing in chemical exposure. Don’t rely only on an exterminator’s word about their safety; do your own research. One great resource: the National Pesticide Information Center (800-858-7378), which answers specific questions about everything from rat poison to mosquito spraying.

6. “If your neighbors don’t hire me, too, this treatment is worthless.”
Pests have no respect for property lines. Indeed, many people get infested directly from their neighbors. Cockroaches, fleas, rats and even bedbugs can move from house to house with ease. Dan Suiter, an entomology professor who does community-based fieldwork, says he’s measured Argentine ant trails 350 feet in length, more than enough to go from house to house, while carpenter ants can crawl 150 feet. As a result, he says, treating one home doesn’t always solve the problem, as ants thriving next door will return once your “ant-proof halo” wears off.

The problem, Suiter says, is that “the whole business model of pest control is treating individual properties.” Some parts of the country are experimenting with neighborhood treatment for ants, including a fire-ant-specific program in Louisiana. For those in a hurry to kill off mobile pests, it’s important to talk to your neighbors. Offer to split costs or organize a blockwide effort. “If the whole neighborhood doesn’t cooperate, everyone will have the same problem,” says Wayne Cowart, a Georgia industry consultant.

7. “We’ll spray even when you don’t need it.”
Speaking of ants, more than 20 species afflict American homeowners, swarming into dwellings and, in the case of carpenter ants, burrowing through structural wood, making them the top property threat after termites. And although they can be a horrible problem, most aren’t active in areas with a true winter. That doesn’t seem to stop many exterminators, however, from pushing contracts for monthly year-round treatment, a level of care critics say has an upside for only one party: the exterminator. Quarterly spraying is usually more than enough — unless you live in South Florida, says Frank Meek, technical director at Orkin.

“Good pest control is detective work, not brute force,” says entomologist Parker, who advocates the “six-pack-and-a-lawn-chair method” of observational pest control. In the case of ants, they generally use a single point of entry into a house, following a chemical trail. Placing a small amount of ant-killing gel in the path of that trail, ensuring the poison is brought back to the colony, is far more effective than generalized spraying. “Most cases don’t require overkill,” Parker says.

8. “I’ll bungle your home inspection — but you’ll pay for it.”
There’s nary a bank in the land that will approve a mortgage without a presale termite-damage check, making such inspections a top source of revenue for the pest-control industry. In theory, the extermination company is responsible for any pre-existing, or “old,” damage not caught during inspection, yet buried in their contracts is tricky language that can make it difficult to win a claim. Because such problems can take a while to become evident to a new homeowner, pest-control firms often argue the damage is “new,” making it a matter of a consumer’s word versus an expert’s.

That pretty much sums up the experience of Carla Virga, of Yuba City, Calif., who says a Terminix inspection on her new home missed $20,000 in damage, including a gaping hole in the roof. Virga filed a claim, and Terminix sent out a manager, who agreed there was damage, Virga says, but refused responsibility and would not repair it. Virga sued (her contract didn’t bind her to arbitration), but the case was thrown out for lack of evidence. “I got nothing but frustration for something that wasn’t my fault,” she says. (Terminix declined to comment, saying its “guarantee ensures that if any issues arise, we will work to resolve the issues to our customer’s satisfaction.”) Industry consultant Cowart explains that because these inspections are for visual evidence of damage only, it’s important to be present during the process. If you’re the buyer, ask to pick your own inspector, and pay for it yourself, which reduces the possibility of a conflict of interest.

9. “I’m not above preying on your vulnerability.”
We understand: The last thing you want to think about after spotting some creature skittering across the floor is homework. But that’s exactly what you should do. Spend some time online to research the critter in question so you’ll be prepared when talking to exterminators. Then don’t call one; call several. Have them perform an inspection, giving you a written estimate of what they plan to do and how much it’ll cost.

Also, contact the local Better Business Bureau to see if any complaints have been filed against the company you prefer. Most important, says Michael Weisburger, president of the nation’s largest pest-control insurer, check credentials, because the extermination industry is plagued with fly-by-night operators. “It definitely attracts some crooks,” he says. Any legitimate operator will be state-certified and will have proof of insurance; top-quality operators also will have an entomologist on staff and certify every field technician.

10. “You don’t need to call me for every bug you see.”
Serious, chronic infestations such as bedbugs or termites demand professional help, but you usually can treat “nuisance” pests, including roaches, beetles and rodents, yourself. Start by keeping your kitchen crumb-free and removing sources of water. When shopping for chemicals, eschew contact-kill sprays in favor of residual products like dusts and gels, which insects walk through or ingest, then take back to share with their pals.

For rats and mice, exterminators agree that snap- and glue-traps, placed under the sink or in the basement, are more effective and safer than highly toxic rodenticides. “It’s not personal. They’re just looking for food,” says New Jersey exterminator Cooper. “If you make conditions inhospitable, they’ll look somewhere else.”

Don’t Mess in Texas

This is an actual response to an environmental complaint in Texas. It was referred to a county judge, and his response is attached verbatim. The complaint is so-so; the response is priceless.

TCEQ Complaint Report

Incident No: 136928
Media Type: Water
Start Date: 3/7/2010
Received Date: 03/09/2010
Priority: Refer or Do Not Respond

Regulated Entity: Generic Incident Zip Code 76687
RN104041538
Address: Limestone County

Number Complaining: 1
Frequency: Current
Program Group: Water Quality – High Level
Nature: Ossf
Effect: Environmental

Initial Problem

Limestone County

On 03/09/2010 a complaint was received at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Waco Regional Office. The complainant alleged that David Cousins had been leasing out a hunting cabin and allowing the hunters to deficate [sic] in the woods. It also alleged that there is no restroom, and Mr. Cousins is planning to extend plumbing into a creek next to cabin. The cabin is located at [address deleted].

Action Taken

This incident was received by the Region 9 Water Section and assigned to an investigator.

Pursuant to the Texas Administrative Code Title 30 §285.71(a) – Authorized Agent Enforcement of OSSF Complaint, this complaint is within the jurisdiction of the local code enforcement authority of Limestone County, Texas.

On 03/17/2010 this complaint was referred to the Judge Daniel Burkeen, Authorized Agent, Limestone County, for further investigation.

---

Response from Judge Burkeen

State of Texas
Limestone County
March 31, 2010

Daniel Burkeen
County JudgeMr. Tim Blackmon
Water and Waste Section Work Leader
Waco Regional Office
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

RE: TCEQ Incident No. 136926

Dear Tim:

We have had some delay in our investigation of the incidents alleged in the complaint which you kindly forwarded to us. The problem is, we have recently had a rash of reports of cows, horses, sheep and goats defecating at will in pastures throughout the county. On top of this, we suspect that wild hogs, deer, and all sorts of other animals are defecating without even trying to find a proper facility. In addition, I have personal proof on my windshield of a mischievous bird defecating in flight. The culprit flew away, but I did get a description. It was red. The gift it left was white.

In order to complete our investigation, I must ask, we should inquire into urination, or only defecation? I strongly believe that both are taking place, since hunters have long been suspected of taking a good amount of liquid refreshments with them into the woods. Also, we are collecting samples of the activities of these diabolical, defecating, reprobates. Should we send these to you, or directly to Austin?

Lastly, please allow us to handle this at the local level, and do not involve the federal government. When it comes to matter of excessive defecation, Washington bureaucrats would only add to our misery.

“Don’t Mess in Texas.”

Very truly yours,
signed
Daniel Burkeen

- – -

Yes, it’s true. Feel free to download a copy of the state paperwork (PDF, 56K)

Lesser Known Metric Units

Despite never having adopted the metric system for day to day life, Americans are familiar with the basic units, like grams (especially kilograms), meters and such. But when it comes to lesser known units, they’re clueless, so we thought we’d help the educational process along a bit.

• 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope

Ratio of an igloo’s circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi 2,000 pounds of Chinese soup = Won ton Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling Half of a large intestine = 1 semicolon 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz Basic unit of laryngitis = 1 hoarsepower

• Shortest distance between two jokes = 1 straight line
• 453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake
• 1 million-million microphones = 1 megaphone
• 2 million bicycles = 2 megacycles
• 365.25 days = 1 unicycle
• 2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds
• 52 cards = 1 decacards
• 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 FigNewton
• 1,000 milliliters of wet socks = 1 literhosen
• 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche
• 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin
• 10 rations = 1 decoration
• 100 rations = 1 C-ration
• 2 monograms = 1 diagram
• 4 nickels = 1 paradigms
• 2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital = 1 IV League

and…

• 100 Senators = Not 1 good decision

The Bronze Rat

One of my favorite oldies, which I rarely see circulating in the wild…

A tourist wanders into a back-alley antique shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Picking through the objects on display he discovers a detailed, life-sized bronze sculpture of a rat. The sculpture is so interesting and unique that he picks it up and asks the shop owner what it costs.

“Twelve dollars for the rat, sir,” says the shop owner, “and a thousand dollars more for the story behind it.”

“You can keep the story, old man,” he replies, “but I’ll take the rat.”

The transaction complete, the tourist leaves the store with the bronze rat under his arm. As he crosses the street in front of the store, two live rats emerge from a sewer drain and fall into step behind him. Nervously looking over his shoulder, he begins to walk faster, but every time he passes another sewer drain, more rats come out and follow him.

By the time he’s walked two blocks, at least a hundred rats are at his heels, and people begin to point and shout. He walks even faster, and soon breaks into a trot as multitudes of rats swarm from sewers, basements, vacant lots, and abandoned cars. Rats by the thousands are at his heels, and as he sees the waterfront at the bottom of the hill, he panics and starts to run full tilt.

No matter how fast he runs, the rats keep up, squealing hideously, now not just thousands but millions, so that by the time he comes rushing up to the water’s edge a trail of rats twelve city blocks long is behind him. Making a mighty leap, he jumps up onto a light post, grasping it with one arm while he hurls the bronze rat into San Francisco Bay with the other, as far as he can heave it.

Pulling his legs up and clinging to the light post, he watches in amazement as the seething tide of rats surges over the breakwater into the sea, where they drown.

Shaken and mumbling, he makes his way back to the antique shop.

“Ah, so you’ve come back for the rest of the story,” says the owner.

“No,” says the tourist. “I was wondering if you have a bronze lawyer.”

updated 9:37 a.m. PT, Fri., May 14, 2010

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Certain diet sodas may have the potential to prevent the most common type of kidney stone, if new lab research is correct.

In the study, researchers found that the diet versions of several popular citrus-flavored sodas — like 7Up, Sunkist and Sprite — contained relatively high amounts of a compound called citrate. Citrate, in turn, is known to inhibit the formation of calcium oxalate stones, the most common form of kidney stone.

The findings, reported in the Journal of Urology, suggest that diet sodas could stand as an extra weapon for some people prone to forming kidney stones.

Kidney stones develop when the urine contains more crystal-forming substances — such as calcium, uric acid and a compound called oxalate — than can be diluted by the available fluid. Most kidney stones are calcium-based, usually in combination with oxalate.

One reason that certain people are prone to being “stone-formers” is that their urine contains relatively little citrate, explained Dr. Brian H. Eisner, a urologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and the lead researcher on the new study.

Potassium citrate supplements have long been a common treatment for preventing calcium oxalate stones, as well as another type of stone called uric acid stones, in people who are prone to them. And in a study 10 years ago, one of Eisner’s fellow researchers found that a homemade lemonade concoction was effective at raising stone-formers’

urine citrate levels.

Exactly how effective “lemonade therapy” is at preventing stones remains unclear, but some doctors do recommend it to patients, according to Eisner.

The goal of the current study, he told Reuters Health, was to see whether any commercially available drinks had a similar citrate content as the homemade lemonade. The researchers chose diet soda, rather than regular, to avoid the high sugar and calorie content of the former.

Overall, the study found, citrus-based diet sodas — including 7Up, Sunkist Orange, Sprite, Fresca and Canada Dry ginger ale — had somewhat higher citrate levels than the homemade lemonade.

Dark colas, on the other hand, had little to no citrate.

Whether citrus-flavored diet sodas can actually help prevent kidney stones is still unknown. Eisner said he and his colleagues are currently conducting a study to try to answer that question.

For now, the researcher said he is not advocating that stone-formers “run out and get diet soda.” However, he pointed out that patients are routinely advised to get 2 to 3 liters of water or other fluids each day.

“If drinking these sodas helps people reach that goal, then that may be a good thing,” Eisner said.

He added that even in people who do not have naturally low urinary citrate levels, moderate amounts of the diet sodas are unlikely to do harm as far as stone formation goes. Many sodas do contain some sodium and/or caffeine; but again, Eisner and his colleagues say, when it comes to stone formation, there is no evidence that the sodium and caffeine levels in diet soda would present a risk.