Another Typical Local Politican - Paul Maroun

This guy, Paul Maroun (R) wants to represent the 23rd NY district. Todays Adirondack Daily Enterprise has a story that may be telling of Mr. Maroun's governing style. Secret meetings that make secret agreements. Again, you elect this guy and we will get exactly what we deserve.

Joyce Morency - You Pay, Not Me

Typical Republican Politician: "If you think I'm going to voluntarily go down without a battle, you're wrong. I have been told I would be grandfathered in because of my years of devotion to Essex County. I'm not about to give it up."

Ms. Joyce Morency (R-St. Armand)of the Essex County Board of Supervisor believes she should not have to contribute towards the cost of her health insurance like all the other supervisors.

The amount of money Morency would have been required to pay toward her insurance so far is between $300 and $400. The deductions were not made because she would not sign the necessary form last year.

This is the kind of politician (Republican or Democrat) that we continue to re-elect in New York State. Then we go on to complain about what a poor job politicans do in NY, except of course, the politician that directly repsents me.

Ms. Morency should step off her high horse and do the right thing. Put your money where your mouth is and start saving taxpayers some money.

APA/DEC Lawn Alternatives?

How about considering something like this? It would cost a little bit up front, would take a couple of years but it sure would look good in front of your buildings. As an added benefit, maybe it would shut up the "ridiculous-crowd".

Who Invented Rock and Roll

Was it Jackie Brenston with "Rocket 88" (#2 in 1951)



or was it Roy Brown with "Good Rockin' Tonight" in 1947?



I've got to go with Brenston. Elvis does his own version of "Good Rockin' Tonight here.

Zicam, Zinc and the Common Cold

The Food and Drug Administration has recommended that consumers should stop using Zicam,(also here) an over-the-counter, anti-cold remedy. The good folks at Zicam are complying with the FDA in that they are removing Zicam nasal swabs and gels from the market. But, Zicam is also going to the FDA to "vigorously defend its scientific data, developed during more than 10 years of experience with the products, demonstrating their safety." Zicam is also offering refunds for those that have their products in their medicine cabinents. A list of other useless Zicam medications, that are not affected by the FDA warning letter can be found here.

So just what is Zicam and does it work. Zicam is basically zinc gluconate that is delivered directly into the nose using a gel or swabs. There is some evidence that zinc gluconate, taken orally, is effective in reducing common cold symptoms. There is an equal amount of evidence that zinc gluconate does nothing to alleviate cold symptoms. Papers published in scientific journals that support or do not support the efficacy of zinc gluconate in reducing common cold symptoms can be found here.

The problem with intranasally applied zinc gluconate is that zinc ions on nasal epithelium can result in the loss of capacity to smell, a condition called anosmia. Matrixx Initiatives Inc., the parent company of Zicam their products do not cause anosmia and they have evidence to prove it.

The Company believes these products are safe and do not cause anosmia. The Company's position is supported by the cumulative science and has been confirmed by a multi-disciplinary panel of scientists.

Of course, you might want to take into consideration that the company made over $100 million selling these ineffective products.

And, what about the man behind Zicam "Dr." Robert Steven Davidson? This guy has a Bachelors degree from Excelsior College, a "virtual college" located in Albany, NY (although it is accredited). He also has a PhD from "obtained from an unaccredited and now-defunct university in Spain"

A free, full text review of the efficacy of zinc in reducing cold symptoms can be found here. So decide for yourself in taking an over-the-counter medicine that may or may not reduce your common cold symptoms is worth possibly losing your sense of smell.

APA, DEC and Tall Grass

If you live in the Adirondack State Park you almost certainly have nothing good to say about the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). The APA was created in 1971, by a law enacted by the New York State legislature, to oversee land development in the Adirondacks.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was created in 1970. Their mission is "To conserve, improve and protect New York's natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land and air pollution, in order to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being"

I would guess that most people living in the State of NY and elsewhere in the country would support the mission of these two agencies, although not necessarily how they go about carrying out their missions. Who, in their right mind, would be in favor of unregulated development of one our National Parks (other than maybe staunch Bush supporters).

The Adirondack Park, on the other hand, is unlike the National Parks in that people live in the Adirondack Park. A significant portion of Adirondack State Park is privately owned. This causes problems.

One of the biggest problems in the last few weeks, seems to be the tall grass growing outside the DEC and APA buildings in Raybrook, NY. Local people seem to be incensed about this, if the calls into "Talk of the Town" the last 3 weeks are any indication. That's right, one of the bigger problems facing the State of NY is that two major environmental agencies are allowing the grass in front of their building to grow wild. You would think the local world as we know it is coming to an end.

What are the grass complaints really about? Simple, locals HATE the APA. Locals do not want to be regulated, especially by "downstaters". Rather than taking the time and energy to really investigate a valid basis for their hate of the APA, it is much easier to call talk of the town and complain about unmowed grass. So two agencies whose purpose is to protect one of the last great stands of forest and wild areas in NY are allowing the area outside their buildings to grow wild. It's ironic that people are so incensed about this considering the real areas of visual pollution that exist in the local area. But then again, those areas are privately owned by people who believe they should not be regulated. That makes those dumpy properties A-OK.

Republicans Vote Against the Troops

So who is voting against the troops now that Democrats are in charge? Remember during the Bush years when Democrats voted against military spending because items they were opposed to were connected to the spending bill? Democrats were unpatriotic when they voted against military spending.

Republicans are now, unabashedly, doing exactly the same thing.

Democrats have included a $5 billion increase for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help aid nations affected by the global financial crisis. Republicans say that is reason enough to vote against the entire $106 billion spending bill and are certain voters will understand.

Maybe voters will understand. But can we call the Republicans unpatriotic?

Hey Bartender

$2.5 Billion Spent on Useless Medicine

2.5 billion dollars spent by the National Institutes of Health testing loonie alternative medicine. Check this out: "There's very little basic science behind these things. Most of it begins with a tradition, or personal testimony and people's beliefs, even as a fad. And then pressure comes: 'It's being popular, it's being used, it should be studied.' It turns things upside down," said Dr. Edward Campion, a senior editor who reviews alternative medicine research submitted to the New England Journal of Medicine.

That reasoning was used to justify the $2 million weight-loss study, approved in 2007. It will test Tapas acupressure, devised by Tapas Fleming, a California acupuncturist. Use of her trademarked method requires employing people she certifies, and the study needs eight.

It involves pressing on specific points on the face and head — the inner corners of the eyes are two — while focusing on a problem. Dr. Charles Elder, a Kaiser Permanente physician who runs an herbal and ayurvedic medicine clinic in Portland, Ore., is testing whether it can prevent dieters from regaining lost weight.

Say a person comes home and is tempted by Twinkies on the table. The solution: Start acupressure "and say something like 'I have an uncontrollable Twinkie urge,"' Elder said. Then focus on an opposite thought, like "I'm in control of my eating."

While we're on the topic of alternative medicine look at this article about my favorite technique Reiki!!! At one of the nation's top trauma hospitals, a nurse circles a patient's bed, humming and waving her arms as if shooing evil spirits. Another woman rubs a quartz bowl with a wand, making tunes that mix with the beeping monitors and hissing respirator keeping the man alive.

They are doing Reiki therapy, which claims to heal through invisible energy fields.

Liberals are Responsible Up Swing in "Nutjobs"

Glenn Beck explains why liberals are responsible for current violence and the coming increase in violence. Beck is correct, the pot in America does seem to be boiling. But you need to ask yourself, why is it boiling, who is providing the heat?

Right-Wing Extremists

There are left-wing extremists (loonies). Just look at those who incite violence against scientists that use animal models in their research. And, how about the environmental loonies that may incite violence to save a forest or some tiny fish. Yes, they are out there and they are crazy. But there is a difference between left-wing loonies and right-wing loonies.

Left-wing loonies do not have members of the liberal media establishment encouraging them to threaten scientists that use animal models in their research. On the other hand, right-wing loonies have Glenn Beck, Shawn Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, in fact an entire "news" network that seems to do nothing but encourage violence. Right-wing loonies even have elected government officials like Michelle Bachmann (I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back). How about Gov. Sarah Palin, governor of the biggest socialist state in the USA accusing President Obama of being a socialist?

In fact, ever since a black man was elected President, the far right-wing loonies are coming out of the woodwork. I fear for the President. People are being told that President Obama is going to take their guns away (and 3 policemen get killed). O'Reilly tells his viewers that a physician is a murderer, a baby killer and someone decides to take the law into his own hands and put an end to the "baby killing".

I certainly do not equate these far right-wing loonies with members of the Republican party. But why do Republicans continue to tell people that Obama is raising their taxes, Obama is taking their guns away, Obama is preparing secret detention camps, Obama is a secret muslim, Obama was not born in the USA, Obama is a Socialist, Obama wants to take away your right to see your own doctor, Obama wants a one-world currency, Obama wants to release Gitmo terrorist to the US mainland etc. It makes it difficult for people to understand who are the mainstream conservatives and who are the far right-wing loonies.

Maybe the attack at the holocaust museum will be a single instance of violent far right-wing extemism. Let's see what the months ahead bring to us. We can still hope that the Department of Homeland Security memo was mistaken.

Iran - Who is in Charge

Elections are being held in Iran today. I've read time and time again that the President of Iran doesn't really have any true power. But, I've never looked into exactly how the government of Iran is organized.

Here is the place to go to understand how things work in Iran. The guy in charge is the "Supreme Leader" not the President. And, the President can't really do squat without the approval of the "Guardian Council".

Click on the link for more details.

Dysfunctional NYS Government

The two Democratic state senators that led the coup in the NYS senate are prime examples of politicians who need to be "reformed". A spell in prison wouldn't hurt either of them.

Sen. Pedro Espada has gotten away with multiple "irregularities" over the years. He may not even live in his district.

Sen. Hiram Monserrate has been charged with assulting his girlfriend and could go to prison if found guilty.

Personally, I wish we could recall the entire NYS Legislature and Senate and start with a completely fresh election and new government. On the other hand, we keep re-electing these people, so who is really at fault?

Conservative Misinformation University Commencement

This is absolutely priceless!

Black Fly - Simulium (damnosum)

The last couple of days, when it wasn't snowing, I've been doing a bit of yardwork. I hit a large rock with my mower which put it out of commission until a shear pin could be replaced. My grass grew to about 8 inches high before I got my mower back. Tall grass resulted in me being outside during the worst season in the Adirondacks. But most Adirondackers know it can be difficult to work outside during the late Spring and early Summer.



So what does this have to do with Simulium? Simulium, better known as the black fly, is the terror of the Adirondacks from late May until July when the heat kills many of them off.

Black flies are a nuisance in the Adirondacks but carry a serious disease in Africa and South America called Onchocerciasis.

First the black fly, genus Simulium; it is a stout fly and a powerful flier. It breeds primarily in places that have fast running water, streams and rivers. The various stages of development of the black fly are shown in the below figure.



B, C, and D are the stages of the fly that are found in fast running water. The larval stage is the feeding stage that we attempt to control with the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt). The larvae "eats" the Bacillus which then paralyzes the digestive tract of the black fly larvae.

The entire life cycle of the black fly is shown in the figure below.



The part of the life cycle that is necessary for reproduction is not shown. The female black fly must take a blood meal before it can lay eggs. In the Adirondacks, this causes nasty little, lesions that may take a long time to heal. In other areas of the world, the bite of a black fly which is infected with parasitic nematode Onchocerca volvulus. A person infected with Onchocerca volvulus gets a disease called onchocerciasis (river blindness in Africa). The figure below, found at the Carter Center depicts the disease progression.



The adult culprit of this disease are the nematodes shown below.



The adults can be found in nodules as depicted below. The nodules can be openned and the adult worms removed as one form of treatment.



But it is the offspring of the adults that are actually responsible for disease. The larval forms of the nematode are shown below.



The larvae live in the skin and cause a severe dermatitis, itching and infection of the eye which results in blindness. Blind individuals can often be seen being led around by younger individuals who have yet to become infected.



Treatment of the disease is with the drug Ivermectin which paralyzes the larvae and prevents the adult worms from producing more larvae. There is plenty of information on this disease at the Centers for Disease Control.

Maybe later we will discuss Wolbachia, an interesting bacterial endosymbiont of filarial worms.

What Liberal Press?

Several weeks ago the Obama administration proposed $100 billion dollars in spending cuts. Conservatives laughed. So Pres. Obama said to Republicans, ok, tell me where you would cut spending. Today we got the answer. Just read this article.

Heavens, the Republicans have come up with 375 billion dollars in cuts over the next five years. What exactly would they cut? Well, they gave a list of 23 billion dollars in cuts, including cutting the safe routes to school program (why would we want kids to get to school safely?).

But what about the other 317 billion dollars of cuts mentioned in the liberal press? What exactly will be cut? Turns out those cuts are pretty much imaginary. Republicans will get back to us with specifics sometime in the future.

So Pres. Obama's budget cuts were "modest". What will the liberal press call the Republican's proposed budget cuts?

RIP Koko Taylor

Rep. McHugh to be Army Secretary!

President Obama has evidently chosen Rep. John McHugh to be Army Secretary. This means another special election for NY 23. McHugh has been a hard one to get rid of. I guess Obama is taking him off our hands. Should be interesting to see what develops from this appointment.

UPDATE: I forgot that after the 2010 census, the 23rd district will likely be dissolved. Maybe this is why McHugh is ready for a new job. Also, maybe this appointment will insure the safety of Ft. Drum for the next 8 years.

Now, what's McHugh's position on closing Gitmo again?

Snow!

Old Sturbridge Village, MA

A recent visit, well worth the money.