Open Thread - Thurs 01 Aug 2024 - This is Why!
1 August 2024 - This is Why!
The Lever recently published an article, called 'The Toxic Harvest', which examines a new study, amongst others, about agricultural chemicals, basically pesticides (and herbicides), and how exposure to them may be as bad for a human as smoking in terms of health consequences.
Applying Pesticides. Image from The Lever article.
Frankly, this is not surprising, is it? Many, many years ago, when I was just a kid or teenager some of the effects of pesticides and herbicides and such started to become obvious. Some of those effects had been obvious before, so maybe it was just that I was paying attention. Maybe the effects of Agent Orange, used in the Vietnam War, were becoming more and more apparent to some people. I don't know. But I did pay attention and it did bother me and eventually led to my taking up very small scale organic farming and gardening.
One of the herbicides in Agent Orange, 2,4-D, is still widely used. And it's dangerous. Many people I know, such as my own father use(d) it, or compounds including it. Same thing with Roundup, glyphosate - another dangerous chemical. My father used it all the time, it kept his place looking nice, he said. He wanted to know why I wouldn't use it. 'Scares me, I think it's dangerous,' I would reply. 'But it's easy and it works,' was the response I'd often get. And that was why it scared me. Did it go away after it was used? Did it change the plants and animals that were exposed to it? If it did, why couldn't it change or hurt humans? Are we really that special? What do you think?
Anyway, The Lever article is very good, and well worth a deep dive.
In some fun stuff, Nikko is 18 weeks and 1 day old today, 4.5 months! Boy, has he changed as he's grown. He's about half the size he'll be when full grown now. He's over 15 pounds! Here's a pic from yesterday, as he waits for me to finish the morning chores before we go out to play.
Nikko sez, 'Yawn' 
Thanks for reading! Here's the open thread - remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!
Comments
Happy, Hot, Thursday!
It's going from cool and misty to hot and sunny here. So we'll be like a lot of the rest of the country. Good for working outside!
Nikko is almost done with his first set of training classes. These were intro classes for puppies. But, he knows sit, down, around (spin in a circle), walking on a loose leash and is starting to learn heel, leave it, off, floor (don't jump up), and stay. Pretty good for 4 and a half months! He's smart, like Jaska was. I am so lucky!
Hope your Thursday is great, and you're gearing up for a good weekend!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Remember the effects of DDT used in the fields
.
on the farm in MI. Once it was banned, the pheasant and quail populations
rebounded. We use a vinegar / salt / soap solution to control the weeds now.
I thought Round-up was taken off the market. If it wasn't, it should be.
Thanks for the OT!
Vinegar/Salt/Soap...
We use this too. And it works! As far as I know, Round-up hasn't been banned. Some places stopped selling it, others haven't. Also, it's used a lot on some crops, as the nbc article/map shows. Bleh.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning Sima. We weed the garden beds
manually, and use a weed popper for dandelions and thistles on the "yard" proper. Beyond that, we tend to acknowledge that "weeds" are mostly such plants as the farmer or landscaper doesn't wish to have present, such as oats in the rye, or, conversely, rye in the oats, as the case may be. Excepting oxalis pestiferous, or whatever it is, we encourage such weeds as are known wildflowers and/or otherwise beneficials (milkweed, clover, and other plants such as feed pollinators or the soil). I would run wild in the "yard" with while clover if my spouse would let me, and have propagated a few very small patches that continue to come back. For a few years, I had Italian Parsley that kept re-seeding itself - those were the days.
For bugs we mostly let natural predators get after them, but will, on occasion use hot sauce or neem oil solution.
The US has a decades (centuries?) long problem with artificial weed and insect solutions because of the massive spread of industrial/plantation agrigulture. You can't manually weed a 500 acre farm without a sizeable labor force, which means a significant labor cost. It is no longer feasible to hire the neighborhood kids to do it after school (what neighborhood?).
Say "hi" to the pup.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Your gardening sounds like ours..
It was hard at first, letting the aphids go after the roses (in the spring) for a few weeks, until the ladybugs and other predators took control. Once they did, there was/is balance, the roses do well, the bugs do well and so on. Only trouble we have is when ants farm/ranch the aphids, and that's on the fruit trees. Safer-soap takes care of that. Although, this year, the ladybugs have disappeared. So we had to spray soap/etc on the tomatoes and peppers because of the aphids. No idea where the ladybugs are, and that is kinda scary. We weed by hand too. Hard work!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
This subject calls
for a little Paramore...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Good song!
Thanks for the introduction to it. THe song kinda fits me
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Some F-16 are now in Ukiestan. The Rus have said that the
only answer is to destroy them. These are not bush planes, they need actual runways. At some point the Rus will almost certainly consider simply launching simultaneous strkes against every single airport in Ukiestan. That sounds a bit brutal, but these are an existential threat. They can be up-armed to carry nukes or CBW at any time and neither NATO nor Ukiestan is above such options.
be well and have a good one .
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Driving Ukiestan back into the Middle Ages..
or worse. I really wish we could stop this, somehow.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Not a fan of poison,
except for ant beds and wasp nests. I have a bad reaction to their stings.
If I wanted a golf course looking yard, I would be in trouble!
I used Round Up on the edge of the patio years ago before the truth came out about it causing cancer. I disposed of it. Afterwards, I had 4 dogs die from various cancers. They were all outdoor dogs.
I have no idea how long it stays in the ground, and will not acquire any cats or dogs until I know they environment is safe.
I will enjoy Nikko and Sam vicariously!
Thanks for the OT, sima!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Golf Course Looking Yard...
exactly! I don't want one either, I love the patches of wildflowers, the clover, it's great. And anything that is weedy, except thistles, the goats will take care of, naturally :).
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
A piano piece I learned when I was 10.
Ok, this guy didn't play the dramatic runs, the magic ending, but considering where he was, Jungle in Thailand, and his audience, an 80 year old mostly blind elephant, I will give him a bye.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
that was wonderful!
Thank you!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so