Eurasian Milfoil, domestic pest



The Eurasian milfoil is a delicate looking plant that was once a common plant to find in fresh water aquariums. It did not, however, stay there. Now it is considered an invasive species that threaten North American fresh water streams, rivers, ponds and lakes.

In its native Eurasian environment it is a relatively harmless plant (but still a bit of a pest) but here, out of its normal waters, it takes over and destroys ecosystems, clogs water intakes and power plants, and makes them undesirable for recreational purposes.

Several theories are around that explain its introduction. One is that it hitched a ride on the ballast of a ship coming from Europe or Asia. That is a good guess. When they tested boats leaving invaded water, 25% carried some milfoil with it. The other main theory is it was introduced by people discarding aquarium plants or packing material used to ship live worms.

One of the properties that make this plant so threatening is its ability to live in nearly any American water. It can live in the cold of Washington State or the warmth of Florida. From pristine waters of the Rockies to the brackish waters of the salt marshes it can thrive. To make its life better, nothing seems to like eating it.

Once established it spreads quickly in waters that range from 2 feet to up to 30 feet, matting just below the surface and choking out the native vegetation. Some of these, like millet, are a favorite of water fowl and others serve as the habitat of fry, an important part of the ecosystem. It also impedes the fishing of land animals. Further more, the vast mats keep the wind from properly aerating the water and suffocating adult fish as well as helping spawn algae blooms which further exacerbate the problem.

For humans, it causes problems as well. On top of the declining water quality, the milfoil makes shore lines unusable for swimmers. The lower fish count makes the fishing less desirable. These weed are also a menace for boaters as they wear on engines, reduce areas for water-skiing and make navigation obstacles harder to see.

Industries and communities fair no better. Water intakes or over flows can get blocked leading to shortages in some places and flooding in others. The large mats can also get caught up in dams cause damage and electricity production losses.

Controlling milfoil has been problematic. Generally poisons are out of the question as they destroy the very ecosystem they were meant to save. Physical removal has its own set of problem because of how it propagates, by breaking off into little pieces that take root when they reach the bottom. For that reason the large mechanical harvesters are only used in the worst cases and then only as a first step. There has been some success with vacuum dredging as it picks up all the pieces. In the end, the answer is a little weevil that eats only milfoil, therefore putting nature back in balance.

Milfoil is just one of many examples of invasive species gone amok. When plants or animals are introduced outside their natural environment, you can’t foresee the implications. Just ask the South about kudzu.

Retrofitting Insulation – A Prudent Move

Retro-fit insulation in a house I just bought? We seem to see ourselves in a myopic view sometimes. This is not a good thing. Your home is not a sub-divided space where you breed, it is your home. What many people fail to see is that it is a symbiotic relationship. With only both parts can the whole survive. A retro-fit insulation can help.

A house is more than a building, it is a home. It protects you from the elements but ask that you do the same. You need to paint your house every seven years, a deck every other year. In return, you never sleep in the rain or worry about a branch falling on you. It is a true symbiotic relationship

In that spirit, let us think about that. Now wind ( like a tornado) is not something that can be adjusted for but other forces of nature can be!!!! What is good for for you is good for the dwelling as well. Where does your energy money go? Heating and cooling, I would guess. This is where you and your home become symbiotic, giving to receive.

Now there are a lot of options on weathering a storm. If the roof leaks you will know it and can trace it back to the source, but true energy is harder to save. That is the true thief in the night. It robs your pocket little by little, never a lot at one time, but when you add it all up you will see. Let me give you an example.

Let us saw you pay $100 a month in utilities. A retro-insulation job will cost you “X”. Now you decided not to re insulate that house, even if it saved you 20 %.. So now you have owned the home for 40 years, what do we get?

Well, you just paid $10,000 on wasted energy that was all a loss and only kept your family warm when that warm breeze passed. Don’t patch a dam, fix it

Insulation is they key. People think of barriers build and build walls of stone but the can be as gentle as silk. A cold room is a cold room. We all know that when we layer clothes we stay warm (or cool). Insulation does both, warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Also, what people tent to forget is that the insulation is part of the glue that holds a house together. There are as lot of systems out there, but to truly make you home safer during a tornado is a retro-insulation is a good way to go.

The true key to a retro -insulation is air. You want air in your house. It the escape of energy that cost money. Whether you do it because you want to live more “green” or you just don’t like waiting money, insulation is the way to go. We understand how it works better than in the days of yore.

Modern technology uses that to keep us warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It add a lot of value as well. Painting is to taste, you will be making a great house Retro-insulation is a sound investment.

Attic Stairs – Demons We Hate But Need

Wow, you first bought your first house and you want your money’s worth. You need attic stairs with insulation. If you think about it, your little pull down kit is letting out all your heat. You don’t even want to go up there as you know that last weeks pay check will follow you right up and out. Should attics be this scary? No. Once you start to understand the thermal dynamics it is pretty simple. You will also see why living in a concrete cave is not a good option. As humans, we have done it right!!! Using that knowledge will keep your attic with insulation from becoming a pneumonia port.

First, let us start at the basics. Air moves energy. You light a fire, it warms the air, it rises and escapes though the attic well. We need to stop this! Should we encase our homes in concrete to stand this madness? No, what we want to do is to use those very same properties in our favor. Let us put on our thinking caps a bit and forget about folding stairs.

In the basics, let us explore a rock. It does take quite a bit to heat all the way though, but once done will radiate heat for days. That was the principal involved in large fire places, they never got cold. Now we can shift this to air.

Air heats and cools very quickly. Used right, this is to our advantage. The very thermodynamic principal that leads to heat loss can save use as well. We know that air conducts heat rather freely. How can we make that work for us and our attic situation.

Air is our key. One might think the concrete a better option but this is not the case at all. We have all seen rolls of isolation. It is not flat and compressed, it is airy and has holes all in it. That is the key to why it works so well, by holding air. The many cells of insulation keep the energy from being transformed from you cozy house to the great out-of-doors

Now that being said, we should look out at your little pull down attic kit. Is it as as well insulated as the rest of the attic? Very doubtful unless you live in an older home before they realized that heat rises. So this leaves us with a few options. We need to insulate the ladder for one.

Insulation of attic stairs kits is pretty straight forward. Do what carpenters did to the ceiling!! Insulation cuts rather cleanly: do attic stairs insulation and with a small paper mask you should do just fine. Now you need to worry about vermin. There are ways to lay traps that let them out but not back in. If you have bats it is worse. Only during certain seasons can they be evicted. You don’t want mummified bat babies up there!!

That should get you on your way with plugging up an energy hole. A little touch of attic isolation and you will notice the drop in power bills. Attic stairs with insulation are your first big start.

Used Pool Tables – Thinking it Through

So, you have finally gotten the room for a pool table, now it is time to buy one. This should not be entered into lightly as there are many factors you need to consider. It is only when you grasp the reality of what you are undertaking can you approach it with its due diligence.

The first thing you will need to realize is that used pool tables are large and heavy. It is a job you want done only once so make sure you have truly thought it through. Is it going to be in the basement for you and the neighbors, or on the first floor for everyone to see? Maybe it is just for the kids to learn to shoot stick. These decisions will help you decide on the type of table you are looking for.

Once you know the type of pool table you want it is time to play the waiting game to get the best price. You want to avoid someone that has a pool table they are willing to sell. You will not get the best deal there. You want someone who has to sell it NOW. Go ahead and look into companies that move pool tables so you will know who to call when that bargain pops up. You will have plenty of time looking through newspaper ads waiting so you will need to be ready to pounce. Forget about moving it your self. Moving a pool table does take a bit of skill.

Now, besides appearance, what should you be looking for in a table? Let us start with the slate. You really want a one inch slate. 7/8th is not too bad but not up to tournament play. Also, a 3 piece slate is a must have. The one piece slates are rescued from a pool hall and reflect the quality of the rest of the table.

Next is the rubber, you want it partially natural rubber and several companies have come up with blends that give the balls quieter, more active play. Sometimes it can simply be replaced but that is beyond the scope here.

Of course a solid wood construction is best and you should also check the underside of the table. You want it to be sealed to prevent warping. If all is good, the table will be bolted from the bottom as well using self locking bolts and T nuts, those are both symbols of quality and affect what you are willing to pay.

This has just been a brief overview on what to look for in a used pool table. There is much more to learn if you hope to get the best used pool table for your money.

Commercial Loan Modification and Loss Mitigation in Today’s Economy

With the economy perched on the brink of recovery why are we still hearing buzz words like “commercial loss mitigation” and “CRE mods” bouncing around? Why has the FFIEC (Federal Financial Institution Examinations Council) been encouraging it? The answer to both is very simple.

The FFIEC is looking at the economy as a symbiotic relationship between creditors (banks), companies, and consumers. All three work together to support the others. Currently many banks have quite a few CRE (commercial real estate) loans that are not looking to healthy after the long recession. The FFIEC simply does not want the banks to panic and start calling in loans at the first sign of recovery. That could spell disaster. The banks end up with once overvalued property and equipment for defaulted loans. With that the plants and mills close pushing down the value further.

Instead, what the government wants to see happen is this. Audit the commercial loans and keep as many of the alive through restructuring as possible. This gives companies a chance to rebound and pay off the loans. Market forces will take care of bloated companies and what will be left are more efficient companies. It is the same thing the government has been doing in the residential housing market. The bank does not want your house, they want there money and are willing to work with you in order to get it. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Try to think of it in terms of “Economies of Scale”, For once, businesses are following personal finances rather than the other way around. It is hopeful that this new direction will lead to a more robust economy.

With every economic cycle we learn a bit more. There was Reconstruction, the Great Depression, OPEC, the 80′s “spend now, pay later”, the Internet boom. Each of these has taught us more about how our nation’s economy works and the importance of being prudent.

Shiitaki, the mushroom of the Black Forrest

What Japan is to the miataki China is to the shiitaki, it’s home although both crossed th borders thousands of years ago. Also like the Miataki, the shiitaki mushroom as been a food staple for almost 4,000 years. The biggest difference might be that the shiitaki is more consumed in food but that might just be because more Chinese food is eaten wold wide than Japanese. The big exception the is that shiitaki mushrooms are in Japan’s most famous soup, miso.

General background

Now the shiitaki mushroom is grown all over the world, prized for its meaty caps. If fact, because of the a lot of vegetarians use shiitaki mushrooms in place of meat, especially grilled then added to a sandwich. In Russia they are pickled and eaten as a snack.

They are cultivated just like miataki and for the same reason The herbal shiitaki are grown on a biomass to prevent contamination but the a grow on wood or wood type product. The Chinese used to cut down fruit trees to provide a home. Now oak is the wood of choice. These are the ones you want for cooking. To give you a little difference in the price, shiitakis grown on an artificial media will sell for $4 a lbs where as those grown on oak will go for almost ten times that and,yes, there is that big of a difference in taste.

A little tip for those who cook with shiitaki, you most likely discard the stems because they are tougher than the caps and take longer to cook. Don’t. Save them and boils them in water to start a mushroom broth.

Herbal use

When it comes to herbal uses the shiitaki must wear blue tights and a cape. The list of it’s attributes goes on an on. First it is an anti inflammatory so it is used to treat swollen joints. It strengthens the immune system, particularly with all the influenza, west Nile encephalitis, bacterial infections and some infectious agents. It’s antiviral properties makes it a natural HIV drug. It’s most promising leads though, are for treating hepatocellular carcinoma. There are already several clinical studies on it right now and being given intravenously to some patients. Only time will tell what else this mighty mushroom, shiitaki, can do.

Reishi, the oldest medicine

Reishi is the Japanese name for a Chinese fungi called Lingzhi, which means “herb of spiritual potency” though it is sometimes called “mushroom of immortality.” Unlike it’s distant Chinese kin, the shiitaki, the Reishi has no food value but has been used as a medicine for nearly 4,000 years, making it one of the oldest herbal medicines. In Korea it is called yeongji. The reishi is listed in the American Herbal Herbal Pharmacopoeia and Therapeutic Compendium, which is basically the herbal version of the Physicians Desk Reference or PDR.

General

The reishi mushroom is an odd looking fungus. In some ways it is like the shiitaki in that it grows in dead hard wood. However, unlike shiitaki’s love of oak and fruit trees reishi prefer hemlock though like shiitaki it is often cultivated in a biomass. Another big difference of reishi is it’s shape, size and texture. The grow huge with thick sponge-like caps. Some even appear to grow antlers. In ancient times these large caps would be boiled in water for 2 hours to for a bitter elixir. Today they usually blended it with other types of mushrooms like shiitaki and maitaki and and added into gelatin capsules to form a stronger and more wide spread immune system and cancer fighting herbal medicines though it can still be found simply as an extract.

Herbal use

One of reishi’s great benefits is in the treatment of cancer. It seems to help block the spread of the tumors. It also impedes the growth of special blood vessels that feed an tumor, called angiogenesis. Also, it has been shown to have anti-neoplastic affects on some types of cancer. That is the same reason the are currently running clinical trials in the US with shiitakis.

In addition to cancer it also contain ganoderic acid. That helps to protect the liver from damage from viral infections. Over all the ganoder acid has anti-bacterial and anti-viral effects, specifically against HSV-1,HSV-2, influenza virus, and vesicular stomatitis. It even has anti-microbial effects against e. coli.

Modern medicine is just now making these discoveries but the ancient Chinese knew there was something special about this reishi 4,000 years ago

Miatake, Japan’s ancient mushroom

Miatake mushrooms have one of the longest histories of any food source. The Japanese have been eating the miatake for over 4,000 years and have long known of it’s heeling properties. It has been only in the last 50 years that western medicine has taken notice of it and started to explore these properties.

Only with the herbal medicine market growing exponentially hast the traditional cultivation of miataki started to change.

History

While the miatke mushroom is native to Japan, it long ago crossed the Sea of Japan to Korea. From there it spread to China and Thailand, both as an herbal medication and as a food. The Japanese, though, where the first to notice is medicinal effects and that is where it got it’s name. Miatake means “Dancing mushroom” in Japanese. This was because people felt so lucky to find it growing that they would break into a joyous dance. In the US however it is sometimes called “hen of the woods.”

Cultivation

In nature the miataki mushroom grows in dead, fallen hard wood. Now in commercial production it is grown one of three ways. One is very close to nature, they use buried, inoculated hard wood slices. Those are the most desirable for food. Second is on artificial logs made of hardwood sawdust. The third is used mostly for herbal extract. The spores are added directly to biomass then sealed to grow. This keeps out other fungi.

Herbal use

Miataki mushrooms share a lot with their close cousin, the shiitaki. They both boost the immune system and are very effective in fighting the herpes virus. Miataki also helps the body regulate digestion and your blood sugar levels. It is an antioxidant and in that capacity is great for the skin. It thickens it, helping reduce wrinkles but at the same time help topical medicines pass though more easily. It is also used with cancer treatment as it stimulates the body’s attempt to fight it.

In the west we are so proud of modern medicine while the Japanese have been fighting cancer with something they dug out of a rotted tree 4,000 years ago. With the miataki, hopefully the lesson we have learned is not to dismiss what we don’t understand right away.

Tequila, a Peek Behind the Mexican Curtain and What They Don’t Want You to Know

Often consumed but rarely under stood, tequila is the national spirit of Mexico. Let’s see what happens when big business gets involved.

Certain spirits are ingrained in a culture that the rest of the world respects it’s right to be the sole maker of it. Bourbon is one example. It could be made anywhere but most places in the world will not let you sell it as bourbon unless it is made in Kentucky. I can duplicate how scotch is made right down to use the peat from an islay but I can not sell it as scotch, just as whiskey.

The same is true with tequila. It must be made in one of 5 states in Mexico and the base must be the blue agave. This is where big business will start to pull the wool over your eyes.

Once the agaves have been processed and fermented it will become one of several grades. Unlike the way grades are normally applied (worst to best), tequila grade merely tell you what happened after fermentation. Some are bottled directly. These are silver (Blanco). Other spend up to a year in old bourbon cask where they start to gain a little color from the tannins. These are Reposado (rested). Some times Blaco and Reposado are blended together to give you a Joven (young tequila) Between 1 and 3 years it becomes an Anejo and after the third year it is an Extra Anejo.

Now older by no means better. If you want the full flavor of agave you want a Blaco. Many bartenders push Anejo for a premium margarita but the complexities are lost to the lime. It would be like making Sangria with a Rothchild

But let us see where else big business might be taking advantage of the consumer. After all the are made of agave right? Not always. It only has to be 51% agave to be still labeled tequila. They use sugar water for the rest of the sugar for fermentation unless it says 100% agave It will say that on the label if it is. But if it has a golden color at least it was aged, right? Well, that do you think would happen if they caramelized the sugar before adding it to the agave mash? A gold color. Oh no you think, at least it was bottled in Mexico, that part is law. No, it’s not, it just has to be made there. The largest bottler in the world of tequila is the US.

This is the truth of the matter, that bottle of good “gold” tequila was most likely 49% sugar cane that was caramelized to resembled aging and bottled in Kentucky (Kentucky is one of the big hub for tequila going to the Atlantic seaboard) and sold as a premium product.

Both the Mexican and American government make sure you get what the bottle says it is. It it up to you, the consumer, to read the label.