I received the following email from a friend. Was this forwarded to warn me, or to hook me? I wonder. Very honestly most of this sounded plausible from what I know of non-poisonous ways to kill ants.

Then as I approached the end, it went over the top in an obvious manner.

Aspartame – The World’s Best Ant Poison
                 – contributed by Jan Jensen of WELLthy Choices

We live in the woods and carpenter ants are a huge problem. We have spent thousands of dollars with Orkin and on ant poisons trying to keep them under control but nothing has helped.

So when I read somewhere that aspartame (Nutrasweet) was actually developed as an ant poison and only changed to being considered non-poisonous after it was realized that a lot more money could be made on it as a sweetener than as an ant poison, I decided to give it a try.

I opened two packets of aspartame sweetener, and dumped one in a corner of each of our bathrooms. That was about 2 years ago and I have not seen any carpenter ants for about 9 to 12 months. It works better than the most deadly poisons I have tried. Any time they show up again, I simply dump another package of Nutrasweet in a corner, and they will be gone for a year or so again.

Since posting this information I have had many people tell me of their success solving ant problems with this substance, when nothing else worked.

We found later that small black ants would not eat the aspartame. It was determined that if you mixed it with apple juice, they would quickly take it back to the nest, and all would be dead within 24 hours, usually. I have found that sometimes it will kill them, and sometimes it does not. Not sure why, may be slightly different species of ants or something.

Fire Ants: We got our first fire ant hill about 2 weeks ago. Poison did not work. We tried aspartame and the ants ignored it until we got a light rain. It was just a sprinkle, enough to moisten the Nutrasweet and ground, but not enough to wash it away. They went crazy, hundreds of them grabbing it and taking it back into the mound. When I checked the mound 2 days later, there was no sign of the fire ants. I even dug the mound up some, and still saw none of them.

How does it Work: Aspartame is a neuropoison. It most likely kills the ants by interfering with their nervous system. It could be direct, like stopping their heart, or something more subtle like killing their sense of taste so they can’t figure out what is eatable, or smell, so they can’t follow their trails, or mis-identify their colonies members, so they start fighting each other. Not sure what causes them to end up dying, just know that for many species of ants it will kill them quickly and effectively.

As with any poison I recommend wearing gloves and washing any skin areas that come in contact with this poison, and avoid getting it in your mouth, despite anything the labeling may indicate.

I suspect it will work for other insects such as yellow jackets as well, but have not tested that yet.

More information on this fantastic poison can be found at: www.dorway.com

Wearing gloves? washing skin? Sounds like something the FDA would approve of as an artificial sweetener . I suppose that water should be banned or at least carry a warning to keep it out of our mouths since it’s the number 1 cause of drowning.

I just had to share the lyrics to this wonderful tribute to the 40th president of the United States. This was part of a larger collaborative project and by admission of the artist the complete work is “rough”.

Although his personal political views are not in agreement with much of President Reagan’s legacy, Christian Kiefer has created a tender, compassionate view of the president and his life.

[excerpted from Ronald Reagan: The Fortieth President of the United States of America 1981-1989]

…

And Ronald remembered
it was such a marvelous dream
impossible it seemed
and so real and perfect
as if it mattered:
a king, no a god, they applaud
as if he’s…

Nancy I woke from such
a marvelous dream
I was President you see
and oh God Nancy
why are you crying?

…

© Christian Kiefer, BMI – www.christiankiefer.com

Thank you Christian Kiefer for this exploration, looking from the inside out, of a world leader and the hope that the tragedy possibly affected the onlookers far more than the victim.

Seven Dwarfs vs. Supreme Court justices

The survey by the Zogby International polling firm, found 77 percent of U.S. residents could name two of Snow White’s dwarfs, whereas only 24 percent could name two Supreme Court justices.

It also found 60 percent knew Homer was the father of the Bart Simpson TV character, compared with 21 percent who could name either the Iliad or the Odyssey, written by Homer, the legendary poet of ancient Greece, Zogby said. Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc.

As I read this, I have mixed feelings. Does it really matter if I can name the supreme court justices? Does this mean I don’t take an active part in American politics? Heck, I am not even allowed to elect a supreme court justice – it’s not like I don’t know the name of the president.

On the other hand, it does lend an insight into my interests. If I am up on “who’s who” in the national and international arena doesn’t it indicate that I am at least exposing myself to their names enough to hear and understand them and events surrounding them? I may not know anything about Brad and Angelina’s baby (if I even know who they are), but I do know something of American politics.

For me, the final analysis of this issue is that this poll indicates two things:

1. It shows how much often personal conversation and media go toward increasing our name recognition.
2. It shows where interests lie, since we will continue listening to media and participating in conversations that interest us.

Am I concerned? I don’t think so. I guess it depends on what other information regarding the workings of our society are missing, after all there’s no way any of us can keep up with all the information that is bombarding us.

We’ve all been there, we’ve all done it. The dance of not quite deception, not quite truth. But why?

I am specifically referring to the interaction between a husband and wife. She does this, he does that. There is an entire sequence that is so well choreographed that it’s surprising it is not rehearsed. It’s a dance.

The dance, posturing and self-defense at its finest. You didn’t meet my needs, I don’t have to meet yours; so I’m putting in a layer of protection (or attack – aren’t they really the same thing anyway). It can get so complicated. Expectations get higher. Tensions mount.

Why do we do it? Why is it so natural? It’s not healthy for the relationship, yet we persist. How can we stop? Can someone please change the music?

I have to give my final speech for my Communications Studies class tomorrow night. Once again, as I time myself I find that I am way over on time. Of course the time is so limited. How would I do if I had to speak for 30 or 45 minutes? There is just no comparison between a 6 minute speech and 30 minutes. I have typically come up shy on my time when I have given some kind of public speech in the past, so this is a good thing. But is it really? To top it off, this is to be a persuasive speech. If my material is cut short, how can I persuade?

I guess the key question is:”Have I learned how to better present material so there’s some real meat or is it just that I am running against the clock because I’m compressing a meaty subject in so little time.” Hopefully I am better at presenting organized material to put my thoughts into a coherent stream.

Regardless this last speech will be given for class and I will have learned something. That makes it worth it.

(Yes, I do think as randomly as I blog)

• S-18 Class Submarine (Holland-type)
• Keel laid: January 14, 1919 at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., San Francisco, CA
• Launched: July 2, 1919
• Commissioned: September 14, 1923
• Displacement: 854 tons surfaced; 1,062 tons submerged
• Length: 219′ 3″
• Beam: 20′ 8″
• Depth limit: 200′
• Complement: 4 officers, 34 enlisted
• Armament: four 21″ torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes, one 4″/50 deck gun

After commissioning and fitting out, S-39 joined Submarine Force, Battle Fleet; and, from October through December 1923, conducted maneuvers off southern California. With the next year, 1924, she moved south to the Panama Canal, thence proceeded into the Caribbean Sea for final trials, further exercises and training dives. By April, she was back at Mare Island for her first overhaul.

On 17 September, S-39 departed San Francisco, California, for the Philippines. Steaming via Pearl Harbor and Guam she arrived at Manila on 5 November; joined the Asiatic Fleet as a unit of Submarine Division 17 (SubDiv 17); and commenced local operations and drills in the Luzon area. In mid-May 1925, she sailed for the Asiatic mainland with her division; and, after brief stops at Amoy and Hong Kong, arrived at Tsingtao, whence she operated until early September. She then returned to Manila and for the next 16 years maintained, with few interruptions, a similar schedule: summers based at Tsingtao, with patrols along the China coast; and winters in the Philippines, for overhauls, engineering trials, joint Army-Navy maneuvers, type training exercises, and short patrols.

Just prior to the entry of the United States into World War II, S-39 patrolled off southern Luzon. After 8 December, she moved into San Bernardino Strait to impede Japanese mining activities. The escorts screening the minelayers, however, kept the American submarine at bay with persistent depth charging. On 11 December, S-39 endured a day-long pounding. She then turned to a more hopeful mission, cutting into the Japanese supply line. On 13 December, she contacted and attacked an enemy freighter, but, again escorts interfered and her crew was prevented from verifying a sinking. She continued her patrol, unsuccessfully chasing other targets, until 21 December when she returned to Manila.

Increased enemy air activity soon rendered naval installations in the area untenable, and S-39 was ordered to Java to join what would become, in mid-January 1942, the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) command. Conducting her second war patrol en route, she arrived at Soerabaja on 24 January; underwent an abbreviated availability; and departed for her third patrol.

Operating in the South China Sea and Java Sea, she reconnoitered Chebia Island, in the former sea, in search of British refugees from Singapore. Unsuccessful, she returned to the Java Sea and, on 4 March, sank Erimo, a 6500-ton tanker. Two weeks later, she arrived at Fremantle, Australia; and, by the end of April, had moved on to Brisbane, whence she departed on her fourth patrol on 10 May. During the next four weeks, she reconnoitered designated areas of the Louisiade Archipelago, then operated in the Solomon Islands.

S-39’s fifth patrol, delayed twice by mechanical failures and once by the necessity of hospitalizing her executive officer, began on 10 August. Assigned station off New Ireland, she made her way across the Coral Sea to the Louisiade Islands. On the night of 13 August-14 August, she grounded on submerged rocks off Rossel Island and took on a 30 degree list to port. Heavy seas pounded her and pushed her farther up on the rocks. Throughout 14 August, 15-to-20-foot breakers broke over the submarine but the crew maintained their fight to refloat the ship. By 15 August, the list had increased to 60 degrees. The heavy seas had not abated; S-39 continued to be pounded against the rocks. Efforts to evacuate the crew were begun. Lieutenant C.N.G. Hendrix and Chief Petty Officer W. L. Schoenrock swam ashore; secured mooring lines for use as riding lines; then assisted other crew members to safety. By noon, 32 men had reached shore. Shortly thereafter, minesweeper HMAS Katoomba arrived and by the same time on 16 August had taken the entire crew of S-39 on board. S-39 was left on the rocks to continue breaking up. Her crew members were taken to Townsville and later reassigned to other submarines.

S-39 earned two battle stars for her World War II service.

Naval Historical Center

Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Patch(es) were obtained from:
NavSource Online (Submarine Photo Archive).
Originally contributed by Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)

• Gato Class Submarine
• Keel laid: October 30, 1942 at Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT
• Launched: July 11, 1943
• Commissioned: October 18, 1943
• Displacement: 1,526 tons surfaced; 2,424 tons submerged
• Length: 311′ 9″
• Beam: 27′ 3″
• Operating depth: 300′
• Complement: 6 officers, 54 enlisted
• Armament: ten 21″ torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3″/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns

Flier reached Pearl Harbor from New London 20 December 1943, and prepared for her first war patrol, sailing 12 January 1944. Damage suffered in a grounding near Midway necessitated her return to the west coast for repairs, and on 21 May she sailed again for action, heading for a patrol area west of Luzon. She made her first contact on 4 June, attacking a well-escorted convoy for five merchantmen. Firing three torpedoes at each of two ships, she sent a large transport to the bottom and scored a hit on another ship, before clearing the area to evade countermeasures.

On 13 June 1944, Flier attacked a convoy of 11 ships, cargo carriers and tankers, guarded by at least six escorts. The alert behavior of the escorts resulted in severe attack on Flier before she could observe what damage she had done to the convoy. On 22 June, she began a long chase after another large convoy, scoring four hits for six torpedoes fired at two cargo ships that day, and three hits for four torpedoes launched against another cargo ship of the same convoy the next day.

Flier put in to Fremantle, Australia, to refit between 5 July 1944 and 2 August, then sailed on her second war patrol, bound for the coast of IndoChina. On the evening of 13 August, as she transited Balabac Strait on the surface, she was rocked by a great explosion. She sank in 1 minute after striking the mine, but 13 officers and men got out of her. Eight of them reached the beach of Mantangula Island after 15 hours in the water. Friendly natives guided them to a coastwatcher, who arranged for them to be picked up by submarine, and on the night of 30-31 August, they were taken on board by Redfin (SS-272).

Flier received one battle star for World War II service on her single war patrol, designated “Successful.” She is credited with having sunk 10,380 tons of Japanese shipping.

Naval Historical Center

Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Patch(es) were obtained from:
NavSource Online (Submarine Photo Archive).
Originally contributed by Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)

The Sydney Morning Herald reports:
“One giant blunder for mankind: how NASA lost moon pictures”

THE heart-stopping moments when Neil Armstrong took his first tentative steps onto another world are defining images of the 20th century: grainy, fuzzy, unforgettable.

But just 37 years after Apollo 11, it is feared the magnetic tapes that recorded the first moon walk – beamed to the world via three tracking stations, [...] – have gone missing at NASA’s Goddard Space Centre in Maryland.

A desperate search has begun amid concerns the tapes will disintegrate to dust before they can be found.
Richard Macey – August 5, 2006

According the rest of the piece the original tapes were of a vastly superior quality than what the world remembers. I guess that due to technology compatibility issues between what NASA broadcast and television format the “solution” was to put a television camera in front of a NASA monitor. Ok, so now I understand why the scan lines are so clearly visible.

You might think that I would be concerned that by October the last piece of equipment that can read these aging (and possibly decaying) magnetic tapes is scheduled to be replaced. You would think that someone would have the sense to preserve this equipment in working order until we can find the tapes and get one last read to digitize the information. I’m not all that concerned, someone will find them and read the tapes. Well… maybe someone will save that machine – you know how it is when everyone is expecting someone to get the job done.

I do have one troubling thought. Of the six sources that Google News had indexed for this story why were only two from US news sources? A paper in Oregon and another in New Hampshire. This article from Australia was the first I’d heard about this. Maybe we should let these other countries comb through the national archives, you never know what they’ll turn up.

“If you want self-esteem, impress yourself.”
Not my quote. I have to attribute this to Dr. Laura. What a jewel. Over the years I have heard similar statements like this. One memorable one is: “If you want self-esteem, earn it.” How true these statements ring. If we’re feeling in despair, isn’t it always therapeutic to reach out to others and take our eyes off of self?

I wonder if that’s really where the self-esteem comes from, from knowing that we’ve made a difference.

This is a followup to my previous post Should California Split into Multiple States?
As I am diving into this for my upcoming group speech I found some interesting data.

In the 2004 presidential election California’s 55 electoral votes went to John Kerry. Popular vote in California was 54%-Kerry, 44%-Bush. On the surface this seems equitable, at least in the winner-take-all electoral vote climate. Now understand the winner of a presidential vote needs only 270 electoral votes. California is a pretty big prize at 1/5 the total. In this case, it just wasn’t enough to sway the election – but that still is an awful lot of power in the hands of one state.

Granted California is the most populous state with 34 million people. #2 and #3 are Texas and New York respectively. By the way did you know that the populations of Texas PLUS New York is only slightly larger than California. I say this so you can put into perspective the sheer voting power of the state.

Now to my point. There are 58 counties in California, most are rural. There are two large metropolitan areas: Los Angeles basin and San Francisco Bay area.

The seven counties in the LA basin comprise 57% of the CA vote.
In the LA basin 3,476,830 votes were cast for Kerry, 3,102,073 votes were cast for Bush.
In the Bay area: A total of 3,063,091 votes were cast for Bush, Kerry and all other candidates combined!
In the rural counties: A total of 2,759,466 votes were cast for Bush, Kerry and all other candidates combined!

Do you see something in the above numbers. IF ALL OF THE 40 rural counties voted for Bush or Kerry they do not have the power to override what LA decides. The same goes for the SF Bay area. It really doesn’t matter. LA carries the vote.

That’s a representative democracy. Hey wait, you know those 51 other California counties? They have more voters than Hawaii, South Dakota, Delaware, North Dakota, Vermont, Alaska, Wyoming and the District of Columbia COMBINED! 7 states and D.C. get more say than 5 million voters in 51 counties of California.

Splitting California into 2 or 3 states would provide for more representation for the diverse needs and wants of rural vs. urban.