wiscidea’s Recent Comments

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  1. I was hoping Umbra could tell us whether it is okay to compost facial tissue. I and my wife have been wondering about this for a long time, but never acted on it. Could we put a special container in the house for "snot rags" and add the stuff to the compost pile? Will it spread human pathogens?
  2. Why is the fellow in question pulling stuff out of the container?! We toss all our kitchen scraps -- including paper towel, napkins, grease, old dog kibble -- into a container next to the sink or a bucket in the garage and it starts turning into goo on day one. I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot bamboo pole. I just dump it on the compost pile and mix it in a bit so lighter items don't blow away. What's he doing picking through the trash and handling each item? Eeeeeewwww.
  On Umbra on composting mucus and other conundra posted 7 months ago 2 Responses

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  She's killing me.....

  "So, I believe that what Congress is going to do, also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it's Americans that get stuck to holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It's got to flow into our domestic markets first."

  So... let me get this straight... Palin would not ban exports to the degree that we no longer have energy produced here. That is, if we were to ban exports to a large degree, there wouldn't be enough affordable domestic oil for Americans. So... if we actually encouraged export, there would be MORE oil HERE? And we wouldn't want to ban exports because if we don't export oil it won't first go to our domestic markets? By selling more oil abroad, we see more oil available here?

  Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrghghghaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!On Asked about oil's fungibility, Palin says ... um, something posted 1 year, 1 month ago 5 Responses

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  Speaking of worms (somewhere above)...

  I previously posted this comment and link...

  "I grew up thinking worms were everywhere! Perfectly normal and an indication of a healthy environment. Well... they apparently did not exist in glaciated portions of North America until humans accelerated the move north. And this is a problem because ecosystems do not have time to adapt. The plants and animals dominating northern forests are not used to having worms around...

  http://www.nrri.umn.edu/worms/forest/index.html

  Result? Worms rapidly consume organic matter. Northern forests contain trees and herbs dependent on a layer of organic matter for reproducing. The mature plants are still there, but they are not being replaced. All the insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, et cetera dependent on those plants will eventually be gone. Entire ecosystems occupying a large part of our continent will no longer exists. Interestingly, the invading worms also reduce carbon sequestration! Ouch!"

  Now I've learned that earthworms are causing other trouble...

  http://www.wssa.net/WSSA/PressRoom/WSSA_Nightcrawers.htm

  Earthworms are facilitating the spread of weeds!

  So... one little exotic species is causing all sorts of havoc and paving the way for other invasive species. Welcome to the homogecene epoch.

  Where am I going and why am I sitting in a hand basket?On NYT critiques alien biology posted 1 year, 1 month ago 27 Responses

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  Monkeys roasting over an open fire...

  "But a report published on Tuesday said such blanket bans would fail and, if enforced, deprive poor families living in forest regions of much-needed nutrition and cash earnings."

  Oh... then why not liquidate the whole damned biosphere, give everyone one last meal, and -- after exterminating every last animal and plant -- just off ourselves and the rest of the planet? Surely the UN has heard that unlimited harvesting of natural resources is not sustainable.

  "Supporters of a more general ban say regulating sales of some animals but not others would be too complicated."

  Yep... it is freaking hard to tell the difference between an animal one rarely sees and those roaming around in herds. Come on! The UN can't educate the masses to know what's okay to shoot and what should be left alone???!!!! And God forbid we should worry about solving problems if the solution gets a little complicate... geez.

  ""There isn't sufficient evidence to suggest that there is the financial or technical capacity or political will to assure a regulated trade that could effectively assure a sustainable trade of just rats and not apes," she said."

  Yep... let's not worry about species going extinct. Let's not worry about the awful and unsustainable practice of killing apes for food. Let's not bother passing laws until we know, for sure, that we can enforce them. Hey... let's not bother trying to solve any problems until we know we've found 100% effective solutions. Maybe the problem will go away. And.... those rats and monkeys are soooo hard to tell apart.

  "Often it is linked to the lucrative global trade in animal body parts believed to have secret powers or employed in medicines, such as gorilla meat or rhino horn -- long used as aphrodisiacs."

  Remember the brief moment in time when the human species actually thought science was a good idea? Well... back to the good old faith-based world... gotta love the celebration of earlier ways of knowing. We were so much smarter in the old days before science and technology. It was so much simpler when a guy could just use a little rhino horn. Now he has to rely on pharmaceutical companies and manufactured drugs.

  Hey... killing rhinos for charms and aphrodisiacs brings us much closer to the natural world. No?

  Where am I going and why am I sitting in a hand basket?On Snippets from the news posted 1 year, 1 month ago 2 Responses

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  Erik!!!!

  Exactly what is "the new nature writing"?On Seeking out 'the new nature writing' posted 1 year, 1 month ago 25 Responses