Wasps and Hornets

Thought I'd pass this on....  (Think I made a post on this before... too lazy to look today.)

I was listening to a gardening show on the radio today, and a caller wanted help on controlling wasp nests that were invading the north side of his home.

For years, I had the same problem with hornets.  I got stung a couple of times trying to spray their nests with Wasp & Hornet killer, and it seemed to work temporarily, but the hornets would come back to the same nesting area.

I then found out I could get diatomaceous earth which is an FDA approved insecticide.  Diatoms, those tiny little critters floating around in our oceans are made of silica, an extremely hard substance.  The diatoms protect themselves by growing sharp silica spikes on their bodies.

I watched a research project investigating the insecticidal properties of diatomaceous earth (electron micrographs of these critters are cool!) and found out hard shelled bugs get these tiny diatom carcases in their joints.  The diatomaceous earth grinds at their joints to the point where they die of dehydration.

I got some of this stuff and in the evening when it's cool and the hornets aren't active, I sprayed some of this diatomaceous earth into their nests.  It took a few days, but the hornets either left, or died off.  In any event, since I did this, the hornets have disappeared and never came back.  (Two years running.)

Thought you'd like to know.

P.S. Don't kill any beneficial bugs.  (I let "pet" spiders build webs around my house, keeps the moth population down.)

My "pet toads" keep the bugs off of my tomato plants.

Constructive Interference

There is not much in nature that is flat and shiny.

So what?

This is why so what.

We humans like to build things and stretch the limits on what we do with stuff.
So, we build things like metal buildings with flat surfaces that act like mirrors that reflect heat, light,  radio waves and reflections of ourself.

(Guess where I'm going here.)

We also make things that emit waves:  sound waves, electromagnetic waves

and hand waves.

We use cell phones, TV's, radios, garage door openers, microwave ovens and transmission towers for heating food or for communication;  even megaphones so we can be heard.  We use electricity that we get from high voltage wires, transformers on poles, and wiring in our house.  We then sit in front of TV's and computer screens and X-boxes for hours in an environment where we are bombarded with electromagnetic waves of all frequencies.

The electromagnetic radiation we expose ourselves to is much, much higher than natural.

You say... So what?  I don't feel anything.

This is why so what......

Electromagnetic radiation of the right frequency and intensity can break chemical bonds.  You know, the bonds that hold us together.

Now the radiation we are exposed to from a TV, for example, is not much.  The intensity isn't strong enough to do much damage to our tissue.

Now, here is my BUT........ (not BUTT or anterior sit down pad like me.)

We have all kinds of other low intensity emitters all around us... which are bombarding use from all directions.

This can be a problem.  Here's why.  Waves cross each other and there are points where they cancel each other out and others points where they augment each other.  (Drop three stones into a smooth as glass pond and watch the ripples.  Where the ripples intersect, there are bumps, higher points in the water... = constructive interference.)  Then there are troughs = destructive interference.

 Note: Not the best illustration on purpose.

Where the lines cross, the intensity of the electromotive force at the same frequency (or multiples of the frequency) is either augmented or diminished. If the frequencies are high enough and augmented, these points can break chemical bonds or cause a chemical reaction to take place.  Sunlight's UV = Skin cancer, another frequency = Vitamin D.

I picture these spots of constructive interference as "Sparklies".

If we consider our human made electromagnetic waves come from above at all angles, are reflected from all angles and sides... I can visualize some pretty hot hot spots.

If these hot spots cause an unnatural chemical reaction in our body, or splits a molecule apart, two scenarios can exist.  Our immune system can recognize the new molecule as unfriendly and deal with it accordingly, or not recognize it because it mimics something that is supposed to be in our body.  It is these unrecognized molecules that can wreak havoc on our bodily processes.

So, there is no telling what can be manifested out of the billions of simultaneous reactions going on at one time, especially when we continue to increase the amount of electromagnetic disturbances into our environment.  All it would take is one or two genes to be modified slightly where they are now the blueprint for a new/different gene to be replicated in our body.  Tumors, modified hormones, modified enzymes, learning disabilities, ...  NO TELLING,  anything can happen (Maybe that's why I am the way I am).  There is an equal chance that these changes are beneficial.

I've always distrusted studies that did not consider side effects.   For instance, a study could be to determine if microwaves cause cancer.  So rats are exposed to microwaves and no cancer occurs and it is declared that microwaves don't cause cancer.  Based on these incomplete studies, the FCC or other regulating agency will give the go-ahead for a new electronic communication device (Smart Meters?) without any concern that we will get cancer, but nothing is said about our future children having three legs and one arm due to the extra radiation, because it wasn't looked for.  (Thalidomide was not studied for birth defects, the intelligence of the rats was not studied after fed aspartame. Aspartame was approved because the rats didn't die.)  Dogs love antifreeze, tastes good, but it gives them an agonizing death. Search term: aspartame conspiracy

I get poo-pooed by those telling me what I'm saying here is B.S.  (Bachelor of Science?).

I get references that are statements made by major medical researchers or government agencies, of just plain opinions without any specific reasons.  They say there is no data that links, let's say aspartame, to any of the claims made by people.  However, there is no real science to explain the physics, chemistry (same thing as physics, to me.) behind their statements.  They talk about "population studies" that just use statistics which can only describe the effects of the variables studied. Statistics do not cover all possibilities, physics cannot predict three legs and one arm, but it can show that there can be an almost infinite number of possibilities that something can go wrong.  Busting molecules apart is real, what the molecules will do cannot be determined except in the simplest systems.  The main active ingredients are wonderful for your health, but the preservative will kill you.  (And Surprise! The placebo effect is about as good as the treatment.)

We've got a lot to learn.!

Paid Up Credit Cards

What would happen if we all paid off our credit card debt?

(Starve The Beast Strategy)

1) We'd end up with more money to spend on stuff we want instead of interest.
     (Great for the economy and jobs.)

2) The credit card companies would make less profit.
     (Bad for them and for anyone who invested in them.)

     I would expect, if the credit card companies lost  interest income, they would go to Washington and  try to get money from the taxpayers because they  are too big to fail.

BEEN THERE-DONE THAT.

(I think another bailout would tick off voters enough to default on  their credit card  debt.  Credit card debt is unsecured, isn't it?)

If the  banks (credit card companies) started to fail, there would be a big sell off of thier stock because their stock would be a bad investment. Retirement funds would be impacted for those not paying attention.

The only  recourse the credit card companies would have is to raise their interest rates on any of the customers (suckers) they have left.. but you know where that leads to... fewer customers, less income for them.  Jobs will be lost in the financial sector. (But who really feels good about working for a company that sucks as much money as they can from their customers?)

Some of the credit  card companies just might try to suck customers from their competitors to  survive by offering lower interest rates.  There could be a feeding frenzy as bank after bank fed upon themselves by lowering interest rates?  They'd almost have to lower interest rates because the momentum towards paid off credit cards would already be in place.

I would expect the biggest credit card companies would be most affected by this loss of interest revenue.

As more and more people paid off their credit card debt, they would have more money and could actually start a savings account!

WOW!  This would be GREAT for the banks because they could loan more money and make a profit that way.  They could loan money for mortgages, new businesses, and to help certain industries survive seasonal money crunches until their profits come in to  pay off their loans.. (Inventors, Christmas gift companies, farmers, fireworks companies.)

As more mortgage money becomes available, more homes and businesses would be built... MORE JOBS!,

More Homes would  be built to provide a better quality of life for more people. Banks would get rich in a good way and working for them would be honorable.

If I look at our currency, one side of the bill seems reserved for good and the other side for evil?

Hmm, I only have $20's in my wallet...

Hey, it has "In God We Trust" on one side over a picture of the White House.  Hmm, seems the designer wanted God there. Was Andrew Jackson considered a bad guy?

Radioactivity

I've been getting emails suggesting that I am confused between radioactive radiation versus electromagnetic radiation.

So, here goes....  radioactivity has basically three components to it...

Alpha Particles:  Positively Charged Particles (Example: He++  like Helium with two electrons stripped off of it.)

Beta Particles:  electrons

Gamma Radiation:   PART OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM... just a higher frequency of electromagnetic radiation ... above X-Rays.  POWERFUL STUFF!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/EM_Spectrum_Properties_edit.svg

P.S.

Just to let you know.. "CAT SCANS"  X-RAYS..... FROM WIKIPEDIA...

 "It is estimated that 0.4% of current cancers in the United States are due to CTs performed in the past and that this may increase to as high as 1.5-2% with 2007 rates of CT usage;^[5] however, this estimate is disputed.<sup>[6]'   --- REALLY?
  

P.S.S.  Isn't it curious that if we think of the frequency of sound waves... the LOWER FREQUENCIES travel farther than the higher frequencies... EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FREQUENCIES...  That's why Drum Fish use low frequency sound and whales use low frequency sound to communicate long distances.. One for a good time, the other for who knows what?</sup>

A Story I Wrote

The Death of the Power Grid

A fictional story on how our country collapsed and the dawn of a new era began.

Politics have always been controversial and it is hard not to pay attention to some of it.

  Jake started listening to the news after 9/11 and ended up listening to what was happening in Iraq. It wasn’t long before he ended up listening to the U.S. news.  He became addicted to the soap opera of the day and began to form opinions on who was right and who was wrong.

The news was always negative and it never told the whole story, just the scary parts and a cliff-hanger to get him to watch for the next breaking news on the subject.

As time went on, the economy crashed, jobs were lost and people started to lose their life savings due to inflation and drop in home prices.  To survive the day, they had to rely on credit cards to buy food and it didn’t take long for the cards to be maxed out and couldn’t pay anymore.

In response to the number of people going broke, the credit card companies began raising interest rates to keep their profit margins up and increased the rate of the number of people defaulting on their payments.  Now the survival of the banks was threatened, and many banks failed.  Those that survived did so by getting bailouts from the government.

The government did not get the tax revenue it needed to function at the status quo because of job loss and had to borrow from foreign countries in order to pay its bills.  This caused the value of the dollar to fall which caused the price of oil to increase.  The higher cost of oil impacted the price of everything in the country.  Food prices went up.  Social Security benefits lagged way behind the increased cost of living and more and more people fell into poverty causing the national debt to climb to dangerous heights.  The value of retirement funds fell precipitously in terms of purchasing power.

Meanwhile, the legislators in Washington, insulated from many of the problems faced by their constituents, continued their job of writing new laws which further hampered the ability of job creators to hire people.  This snowball of destruction continued without any stops as the country continued to go deeper in debt without any hope of stopping the train to destruction. Laws started to show up that criminalized such things as sharing surplus squashes from your garden with your neighbor.  The consequence of sharing the squash was $5000.00.  Another revenue source for our government.

Companies tried everything to improve efficiencies and cut corners wherever they could.  They laid off people, reduced the quality or quantity of the products they sold which put their customers deeper in debt.

Jake was watching this happen and felt helpless to stop it.   Politicians lied all the time, twisted facts to gain an unfair advantage and promised the moon to anyone interested in listening to them.  Pandering was rampant and promises were made which could never be implemented.  Special interest groups donated vast sums of money behind their candidate of choice with the expectation of having a better chance of survival than their counterparts. Laws were not enforced uniformly and only enforced for a political advantage.  The normal taxpaying citizen be damned.

Then one day, Jake noticed that his electric meter was changed. No more dials!  Just an LED display that blinked several times a minute.  He didn’t pay attention to it, everything seemed normal until he accidently came across a website that showed the same meter that was installed on his home.  

In big, bold letters, the site said “Say No to the Smart Meter”.   This caught Jake’s attention and read on.  What was presented on the site were videos of dangerous radiation being pulsed from the meters, and complaints on how these meters invade privacy and break privacy laws.  There were people talking about how their health has been impacted the moment their Smart Meters were installed and the lawsuits that were won against the electric companies that installed these meters.

Jake’s curiosity kept him looking at this issue and soon found out that there were many ways this smart meter system could be abused.  Jake knew then why his electric bill came within two days of the reading of it. The bill mailed from the main office, no more meter readers.

During this time, Jake’s financial situation was also getting worse.  He depended on credit cards to manage his finances, but as the interest rates climbed, he found himself in a financial bind.  He tried  everything he could to reduce his expenses and soon this endeavor became an adventure, a passion to reduce as many expenses as he could to see how far he could go without losing the comforts and freedoms he was used to.  He discovered how “Lower Cost” anything raised rates and fees slowly until he paid much more than he should for a service.  Jake also found out that what he believed was necessary to be comfortable was a lie.  His experiments to reduce costs had him place Styrofoam on his south facing windows to keep the heat out, how to manage heat by using a fan and a wet T-Shirt.  He was pleased with the newly found ways to stay comfortable without spending a ton on heating or cooling with almost no effort.  5 minutes a day max.

One day, Jake scraped enough money to pay off his electric bill and used his banking service to pay his electric company through it.  He paid the bank in plenty of time for the bill to get to the electric company, but noticed a day later that the money was going to be delivered to the electric company one day past the due date.  Jake decided to call his electric company to forewarn them of the day late and to not be concerned about his bill being paid… the money was in the mail.

However, what the electric company person told him was that if the bill was not paid on the due date, they would shut off the electricity.  Which they could do immediately from the main office now with the flick of a switch.  That comment sparked a lot of questions in Jake’s mind so he asked, “Do you mean that you will cut off the electricity of people who depend on it for survival like those in his area that depended on iron lungs and oxygen machines?  The answer he got gave him chills down his spine, “If the bill is not paid on time, we cut off the electricity?”  Jake asked again thinking he was misunderstood and he got the same answer!  Then Jake asked to talk with her supervisor to confirm what he was just told.  He got the same answer from the supervisor.  He asked to speak again to her supervisor and when he asked the same question, he got the same answer.  Jake asked, “Do you mean you will turn off electricity to a home knowing that you will kill someone?  The answer he got was “We will turn off the electricity if the bill is not paid on time.”

Anger rose up inside Jake that changed his life forever!!!

He now had a civic duty to let as many people as he could know what he heard.  He called his lawyer to see if there were any laws that would protect people from being murdered by their electric company and she dutifully and professionally perused the law and tried to find any prior cases related to this new SMART METER.   She found only two instances where the courts ruled in favor of the citizens and only two laws that provided any control over this new Smart Meter technology.  There were many legal reviews on the situation by law professors at various universities, but the fact of the matter was there were no laws that made the citizen safe from all of the dangers of the Smart Meter and or any valid studies that showed the radiation coming from the Smart Meter was safe.

One woman in Maine was told she had to get rid of her refrigerator and buy a new one because her old refrigerator did not have a chip in it for the Smart Meter to read. 

One day Jake decided to put in any keyword he could think of and decided to put in the part number listed on the meter as a search term.  He didn’t expect to find anything, but he did!  It was a Security and Exchange Commission Form 8-K dated June 3, 2010 which gave approval to the company that has installed 100’s of millions of these meters around the world to present at a Credit Suisse “Future of Energy Conference” June 23, 2010 to prospective investors about the capabilities of the new Smart Meter.  The Powerpoint presentation was attached for reference.

  

In that presentation, Jake found out that this new Smart Meter technology has been installed in 7 million homes in the U.S. and had 100’s of millions of these meters installed around the world. They had meters for electricity, natural gas, and water.  Each capable of being turned on or off with the flick of a switch from a main office or the companies main office.  In other words, the whole world’s electric, water, and natural gas could be shut off from one place!

This system could control thermostats, water heaters, air conditioners, and on the company’s main website there were other items that could be controlled by their “technology”.  Cars could be shut off, toasters, the new florescent light bulbs, almost any device that uses electricity.  Data can be collected about when you watch TV, when you go to bed, when you get up, what devices you use during the day, and when you are not home.  Jake hated the idea that his every move was monitored… for ANY REASON.

Plans were presented showing the expected and planned installation of the Smart Grid all over the world to get the people at the Credit Suisse conference in Washington, DC to invest in the construction of the Smart Grid with promises of excellent returns.

Jake didn’t stop, he continually searched for any hope of a backup plan to get himself and his loved ones out from under this controlling and threatening situation.

Then one day, he had an idea that could bring this whole system down.  And that was to get off the grid.  He knew he could stay cool with a wet T-shirt and a fan, and he knew he could stay warm in the winter with a simple infra-red heat lamp, and stay warm in bed with a 5 watt heating pad.  He also knew he could keep his pipes from freezing with simple pipe heating cable available at any hardware store, and knew he could change out his lightbulbs to a twelve volt system that was already available at camper retailers.

Jake also knew that he could live without hot water, but could heat it with a simple solar water heater or camp fire. Jake could cook outside with wood picket up from his yard  using a modified 55 gallon drum.  Jake also knew he could get enough electrical power from a charged up car battery to run his well long enough to get a day’s supply of water.  Jake also knew that, once done, he could live pretty much the same lifestyle he was used to with little expense or effort.

Jake knew that if he passed on what he knew on how to get off the grid, he could share this information. If he passed his knowledge to enough people who would go off the grid immediately, he could affect an immediate and devastating impact on the bottom line of the electric companies equipped with this technology to the point where they would have to increase rates in order to satisfy investors.  This cannot last for long, because as they lose customers because of increasing rates, their source of money would disappear.   Investors would drop them like a rock as a bad risk and the company would go down.  In other words, he could manifest the same problems the big banks have with their consumer killing interest rates, he could stop this insidious technology in its tracks.

Jake managed to get enough people to share what he learned.  Thousands of people had a new way to live and they started inventing even more efficient ways to get the comforts they wanted. 

People learned that what they thought was important to them was not important at all.  Money was no longer a symbol of success.  Nor were big homes with all the expense and work involved with keeping them up. 

More people could live in their own home and not be at the mercy of their landlords.  More people realized that the only thing left that gave the government dictatorial control over them were property taxes and eminent domain laws.  They found their total freedom after they voted in those “politicians” who got rid of these tyrannical laws. School systems were no longer needed and home schooling courses were selling like hot cakes.  No longer could the government decide what your children are taught.  You had control over the destiny of your child who would one day take  care of you.

And, these newly efficient technologies sold like hotcakes all over the world which raised the standard of living of every person on the planet.

Life was good.

Not Afraid to Look the Fool!

 NOTE: See followup after this article.......

I called Dr. Electric on WTN today and asked if I could talk about the smart meter, and if not, that's OK.

His response was that he wasn't familiar with them. (HUH?) and I mentioned Sen. Alexander's allowing EPA regulations to stay in place meaning we'll all have to pay up to 27% more for our electricity.,  I remember if he installed LED systems to keep electrical cost down.. couldn't remember what he said..

Then!!  I shared my wet T-shirt way to keep cool... and I was surprised at how comfortable I was.  I told him that I had not had my air conditioner on yet this summer and have been surprisingly comfortable... I was my own swamp cooler....

Dr. Electric said something on the order of "Hey, you're going to put me out of business."

And as I was going to say it was a great opportunity for him... WTN hung up on me, and I heard them LAUGHING at me!!!   HA HA HA HA   WET T-SHIRT....

Here's my take on this.... He doesn't see the opportunity for himself, and he will ridicule anyone who might impact his profits.

Here he is giving absolutely, wonderfully expensive and labor intensive solutions where there are much easier and cheaper ways for listeners to solve their problems.

Why is it people cannot see solutions beyond what might be the consequence of a change in the way we do things?

I am not afraid of being called a fool... Turns out, Dr. Electric made a fool of himself.  A lot of his listeners were talking about reducing expenses...  and they heard me.

And to promote Christ Jesus after the end of the show seems sorta out of place, doesn't it?

Update: June 28, 2012.. Still comfortable, learning some more tricks, saving a ton of money. Highest outdoor thermometer reading 105.8 F.

Update: June 30, 2012

I listened to the Dr. Electric show today, and they read my email response to the "ridicule" I perceived.  Not a word was edited out....  THIS IS A GOOD THING and this tells me these guys are OK.

I sent a thank you email with some more comments and Dr. Electric professionally and kindly responded to my email.  He also followed up with more information regarding cooling off with a fan blowing over container of ice.  This is true professionalism!!!

NO MORE LAWS!!! Laws Create Lawbreakers

Washington thinks its job is to pass laws.  NOT!!!

It's job should be to SIMPLIFY our laws and improve efficiency in everything they get involved in.

Every day, it seems there's a hundred new laws passed that cannot be enforced due to the massive oversight needed to enforce them.

The complexity caused by this process increases exponentially and us poor citizens have to obey every one of them  "or else".

Each new tax, each new reporting requirement, each new law has threats with it to anyone who doesn't comply.  Do we pay taxes to get threatened?

I want our government to ONLY PASS LAWS THAT THEY CAN UNIFORMLY AND COMPLETELY ENFORCE.  If the government cannot afford to enforce all the laws they pass, the ones we cannot afford to enforce uniformly and completely should not be on the books.

I'd like to see Washington, and our states  revamp our legal system so that the laws on the books are all enforced uniformly to everyone, and any law that cannot be enforced in such a way be taken down.

This would mean, Washington needs to reduce the complexities they introduce with each law and concentrate on the most important laws that will best provide the rights and freedoms of us citizens.

Three laws should cover it.....

1) Jail to anyone who lies, cheats, steals, hurts, or murders anyone.

2) Citizens have a right to protect themselves from harm (guns included) and to report liars, cheaters, and crooks.

3) Taxes ONLY for National Defense and enforcement of laws 1 and 2.

These three should cost us no more than 1/20th of our GDP...

Government employees will cringe at this thought..  "What about MY JOB!".  If laws are simplified, I'll lose my job!

My comeback:  "Then get another, productive job."

If we hired people with expectations reduced, there would be no assumption that a job will last forever and do two things:

1) Keep employees on their toes. ("Why work hard if I don't have to, my job is secure, they can't fire me."  I saw this working in a union shop.)

2) Draw those individuals who understand the expectations and adjust accordingly.  (i.e. understanding that a job isn't permanent means there will be no surprises or disappointments if it ends.  Much like a Day Job.  You don't see those working day jobs whining and complaining that the job only lasted a day.  That was expected.)

Stupid spew, I know, but we've got to get off this lawmaking bandwagon and simplify them to where us citizens and job creators can breath!!   GEESH!!!