krys

I haven't kept up with all of it recently, so I have little more to share about tropical rain forests. That was a really cool movie, Medicine Man. I showed that to my students. They thought they were having fun, and they learned some history, and some science. Real science.Remember the Doctor looked all over for this particular plant....and he could never reproduce his experiments....until it was shown that the plant was NOT the missing ingredient, but rather the ants that lived in it!? That's how experimental science works...you keep pushing back layers until you finally see "it" and then you can shout "Eureka"! I know much more about forestry practices in temperate climates, especially in our own USA forests. We have heavy machinery which can cut selected trees from stands in mature forests and leave others intact. That way we can selectively remove trees for use now and preserve the forest for harvest next year....and so on. Additionally, new trees are replanted to grow and replace the ones we've used. Wood is a renewable resource, and it's pretty easy to do with today's methods. I suppose we could manufacture some items without using forest products, but that would consume non-renewable resources and that's not a good idea. That is, it's not a good idea to replace renewable resources with those that cannot be renewed.

There is probably no correlation between these 2 items. Water for snow or rain to break the drought would come from perhaps thousands of miles away. IMHO this is coincidence. Let me clear something up about deforestation. Today, very little if any clear cutting via slash and burn to make room for crops is done anymore since finding out it doesn't work to greatly increase croop production.

I don't think this is a correct statement, Belle! Here in NJ we've had one of the mildest winters this year in terms of temperature. It was a long spring, but that's not saying the same thing as a longer winter. Storms are the result of uneven heating someplace. Warm or hot air rises, and cooler air rushes in to take it's place. The greater the heat, the greater the storm potential. This means more wind and more moisture. Warmer surface waters (down to about 3 meters) in southern Atlantic and Pacific regions certainly produced a string of very strong hurricanes. I can certainly see global warming having an effect there. But also winter storms will be more severe....more heat during the summer evaporates more water vapor, so more water vapor is in the atmosphere to precipitate down in the form of snow during winter months. But please - keep in mind that while the general consensus is in that the planet is warming, there is real credible evidence that points to cooling factors too. People want scientists to give them answers...and eventually I'm sure science will deliver. But at this moment, the verdict is still out on that front. No real predictions can be made that have any meaningful value at this point. I spent some time last week reading many blogs and papers dealing with earth's heating mechanism and found some strange "new" info. Whether it will prove out or not remains to be seen. Some cosmologists believe that the sun is in a temporary heating mode....if the sun puts out more heat....we get more heat put in here no matter what else is going on. Is that a factor? I dunno...let the cosmologists work on it a while. Some geologists think the earth's core is getting hotter....are they off their rockers? or will this pan out to be accurate? The more science and technology answer questions on our behalf, the more questions we raise...and so it goes. I'm not hedging....I'm just pointing out how very complex this stuff gets once you get into it.

I doubt that this deforestation contributes in a large way toward global warming....at least with respect to the whole planet! The planet has oceans and land forms. Both play parts in the Carbon budget....I suspect that the land plays a smaller role because it is smaller than the oceanic parts, but I have no numbers to back that up...it is only a "guestimate" kind of thing. With respect to CA - the wildfires come from dry lightning. Heavy rains do cause mudslides, but I've never seen a place in CA where a wild fire was followed by heavy rains, so I can't speculate or give you other information. However, it is probable that quite a bit of land clearing happened in order to build roads and those houses which fall over those cliffs. Someday, people may realize where it isn't really safe to build homes although they are exquisitely beautiful vistas...they will be temporary homes at best.

No! And I believe most agree on that now. A few decades ago, slash and burn was the practice. Forests were chopped and burned. This was done in order to make space to grow more crops. The practice gave at most 2 years of decent farming because the nutrients were lost from the soil. So, unless someone was willing to invest huge amounts of cash in fertilizer, that was a bad idea. Additionally, many traditionally edible foodstuffs cannot grow well in that climate! Of course these remarks apply to all Tropical Rain-forests, no matter what continent they exist on. I love RumRunner's statement "don't crap in your dishwasher". The whole earth as a planet and the various ecosystems have the ability to refresh themselves if left alone OR properly stewarded. Weren't God's instructions to Adam and Eve at least in part to steward the earth? We should walk more lightly on it than we presently seem to be. At least that's my opinion

Once a sizeable piece of land has had it's surface vegetation removed, by cutting, or any other method, other changes may follow - depending on conditions. Sunlight can reach the soils directly and change the nutrients present. Sometimes they may be leached, or removed by high intensity sunlight. Sometimes intense sun and heat may bake the soils into a clay-like material where seedlings cannot catch root to grow. At the very least, the top layers of soil will dry out and the particles of soil will be picked up by wind and moved elsewhere. More layers become exposed, more drying out, more movement by wind (similar to the way our wheat-belts were damaged previous to the crash of '29 - abject poverty can be thrust onto farmers who were just getting by before. Once deforestation has ocurred, heavy rains can do more damage. Whenliving trees stand in an area, they hold the soil in the midst of the extra water they themselves don't use. With the trees gone, the roots can't do this, and so the floods carry soil and nutrients downhill (whatever direction that is) displacing more soil and nutrients. Rivers get choked with this material and they themselves may flood. The addition of the solid particles may fill the riverbed itself making dredging necessary if the river is to be used again for navagation. Deforestation also impacts any and all animals that lived there. Some species may die out, but most animals will endeavor to move somewhere else where they may compete with those species living there Deforestation may also alter local weather or climate. Transpiratioin moves water from the soil through the plant and is evaporated out of the leaves of trees and other organisms. You can fill in the blanks if a sizeable forest is removed.

I don't have the same finese and updated knowledge as RumRunner, but I can lay things out in broad strokes. When he returns, he may fill in some details. The Carbon Budget tracks carbon (and some of its compounds) as they cycle through various pathways of the planet much like your checkbook keeps track of your money. With respect to deforestation, that may be a very large impact leaving a large void to fill if the deforestation area is large. All vegetation takes C02 out of the atmosphere. So all vegetation has the potential ability to reduce at least some of the green house gasses. If a large forest is removed, all that potential green house gas remains in the atmosphere until that forest is fully regrown. If that forest is burned (such as in the Amazon area) all that carbon which is stored in the trees (that's what they are made of - - wood - is a carbon compound) is immediately released into the atmosphere adding to the CO2 quantity. Even if another human never so much as lit a match, the CO2 in the atmosphere will still increase from natural causes such as lightning strikes (especially dry lightning) which can start forest fires, but also from the natural decomposition of dead and decaying organisms both plant and animal. Volcanos also add CO2 to the atmosphere. (there is more, but I want to post this so it doesn't get lost in the ether....I'll add more later if you want.)

I'm going to stick my neck in here. How much do you want to bet that all if not most of these new Corps folks are children of Corps or at least children of staff who are not Corps. If so - - my guess is that they were basically parent-less. Look....how many times have we read how other people took care of "the kids" while parents were out Lead or some other thing....you know - - doing the (so called) work of the Ministry. They never lived a proper family life where they watched their parents do such things as balance check books, plan menus, and plan trips. All they know is that these things happen. They just seem to magically appear and so they have no insight whatsoever. I really feel sorry for them. I'm speaking specifically of those in the present Corps training. I don't believe, except for school, they were ever encouraged to think for themselves - - ever. And if they did, they were squelched because you always listen to your leaders and do what you are told to do. How could they grow up with what we call normal skills? I'll bet most of them even had to learn how to do laundry. I'm not taking any body's side here, and telling you that one is better than another...I'm just laying it out as I see it. This is just one more example of what living on a campus and growing up how they did robbed them of all the necessary lessons of how to live as an adult. It's really another black mark on that Ohioan farmland group if you ask me! They raised functionless kids.

I don't think it was personal at all. I thinkk if the date was set on more neutral grounds where where she could arrive and depart under her own power, it would have gone easier. Modern women want to meet nice men, but don't feel safe when they don't know the guy and he wants them to come to his home. Next time try a public place you can both arrive at separately, or at least, if you want the limmo thing, which is a nice touch....have that be between the limo company and her. Call the company, tell her to call them for arrangements and you will pick up the tab....that way her home base is protected.

Georgio - - you are 100% right. I'm sorry if this sounds like a derail, however, I've been here (at the boards) since WayDale and I forget how many years that is!!! It is ONLY IN THE LAST 4 MONTHS that I've been able to speak publically about my particular situation. The reason I bring this up, is because Georgio reminded us of the new folks coming and reading. Besides the new folks arriving, it takes sometimes a whole lot of time before some of the rest of us have gotten to the place where we can reveal stuff publically - - that's how deep some of the wounds are. So besides new people arriving, there will also be new information put forth as some of us "oldies" are able to tell about it. As I think about it now, at this very minute, I realize that this post, among others, does indeed address the original question of "Do We Have Any Real Proof" because every statement from those even now just speaking up after all this time, adds to the body of evidence!

On this particular topic, I cannot be detached, or neutral or "fair", LindaZ and everybody else. I did not intend to inflict harshness, but it happened anyway. My unfairness comes from personal hurt as a family member was continually used by lcm. I know vpw is not lcm - however my head and my heart won't work together on this one. Once they were dismissed, my "kids" were pumped for any tidbits (which they never publicly released) until they were forced first into seclusion, and then moving away. I apologize if my remarks hurt any of you.

Those who demand proof other than what our wonderful women have stated don't want anything more than a blow by blow description of what happened. They want to know what kind of liquor was it that the bus driver served them. They want to know what did his member look like....they want to know how it sounded and how it smelled. They want every sordid dirty detail because they are voyeurs and want those like excathy to paint them a word picture of a triple X pornographic flick! If and when they get that picture, they'll compare it piece by piece looking for inconsistencies so they can say it never happened. All they want is their own amusement at these women's expense. Seth made an excellent point. Now I want to ask you.....suppose your young teenage daughter came to you and told you a certain supposedly close family member or someone else whom you trusted such as a teacher or church official - suppose she came to you and told her she was molested. Would you treat her the same way? If so, IMHO you suck as a parent.

cool - - is this when you come home for good??? or for R & R?

Clifford

I was moved also. Thanks for that link. BTW - - - when do you get to come home?

The only concern I have is how stable is her prescribtion? If her eyes are going to change and she will require Rx adjustment, that means new lenses, and I don't think I'd do that, as a parent, unless I was as satisfied as possible that this wasn't likely.

That was a cheap shot Hillsey! It was off topic, un-called-for,nasty and rude. I've never known you to be like this. I can see how this topic would make you angry. It makes me angry too. But that was really extreme! Maybe you should apologize.

Indeed - - you guys get my vote!

Cynic: You are quite a sleuth! I don't see any difference between those pictures. I do like the man's artwork, however. Prayingfordaylight: Your post is one of the best concise descriptions of how to protect one's self when dating in general - let alone over the INTERNET. Even if someone sets you up - and you don't know the person, those are good rules. If I had a daughter going away to college where she knew absolutely nobody, they would be a good guideline for her. I know college campuses are pretty well closed and everyone pretty nearly knows everyone else, but it's too easy to get into trouble over your head midst all the excitement and newness of it all in the early weeks. I particularly like the cell phone ideas. (But of course I'm an old lady who remembers when gentlemen came to the door and had to pass house inspection before I could walk across the thresh hold with him ;))

To me - - what makes a guy sexy is the sound of his voice. It's not tenor or baritone, but there's a certain quality in there somewhere that is very appealing. If we know each other well enough for a hug - - as in good night after a date or 2 - the way he holds me is the difinitive factor for me. But I'm not really interested unless that quality is there in the sound of his voice.

sushi said" Of course not sushi! Come on - - wouldn't you say Abi struck gold when she found you???? That's what I meant.

Bek's first idea are mine as well. Something like a person of wealth....like me for who I am, not what's in my wallet. Or, in this case for what I am, not my reputation as an artist. I'd suggest keeping your heart safe while continuing your conversation. There are plenty of good people out there chatting away and it's too bad all the bad guys get all the attention. You just could possibly have struck gold....dig a little deeper and you'll know for sure.

Everyone wants a sense of history so I'm glad you finally have it. If it had happened to me, I could not have handled the circumstances of my parent's death if it happened like that. I could not have accepted the fact that my father's mistake cost me both parents. I would have been bitterly angry the rest of my life. That's only me - others might react differently. However, keeping the details from you did protect your hearts until you were old enough to understand, and perhaps (I hope) forgive. Thirty five years makes a world of difference on perspective.

My mother had this for 40 + years prior to her death. I'm beginning to see some of it in myself lately, but I wonder why it took so long. I have been tested and have known for some time that I have the factor. I'm not complaining...but just stating - how variable this can be. My mother's body was barely recognizable as human when she died in 1989. There was very little treatment for her, but there is so much more now for all these variants.(There are 17 types of auto-immune arthritic conditions) From the rheumatologist I see yearly, she recommends trying to live at zero stress. I do a fair amount of exercise but she wants me to stretch a whole lot more than "average". I'm not overwhelmed with side effects of any treatments long term. I am 64 and need nothing other than a pain med which I take anyway for another injury. I figure the long term effects for me are non-existant....I't not likely I'll still be around at 94! I drink my morning coffee, but I have limited the nightshades....peppers, potatoes (white ones) and tomatoes I eat, but sparingly and I have noticed that makes a difference - YMMV. Water exercise in a pool where my weight is supported is the best thing I've found for effective workouts with no joint impacts. My mother's life was pretty miserable most of the time but I believe you younger women will fare much better. Newer less toxic treatments are developed from time to time so you can look forward to a much more active lifestyle.

You're right Sushi - - the fact that he's still alive disqualifies him. However....I'm still glad that I told him "I'm positive for HIV"! He got real nervous and slammed the phone down...never knowing he called the wrong number.