My Favorite Posts

Main Website at: www.PuraVidaAquatic.com

Posts that I particularly like.

And a great way to find posts that you like is to use the search box to the right.

And if you would like to leave a comment but worry about your email address, I do not require it. Just fill in your name and leave the email blank.

Best to you all.

PS. Please don’t try to digest this all in one sitting :-). You’ll probably get food poisoning! :-)

neem-oil/

my-pond/

water-bowls/

gophers/

old-growth-wetlands/

genes-for-blue-eyes/

genetics and DNA/

kinder-gentler-world-of-sexes/

bushtits/

maybe-i-am-not-a-permaculturist/

tanglefoot-stuff/

waaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaa/

do-_not_-like-this/

thoughts-religion-permaculture-kindness/

lawsuit-accusing-monsanto-of-false-advertising/

mumps-outbreaks-linked-to-waning-vaccine-protection/

3-reasons-no-4-reasons-why-were-fatter-than-30-years-ago/

Bob

Main Website at: www.PuraVidaAquatic.com

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Pool2pond client

My response to a clients about a description on Calscape about Western Blue Iris. As well as some questions about a different style of pool2pond system. I think it illustrates ideas about different systems and so I decided to post it online….
Well if blue flag iris is poisonous I am already sick :-). The best I can find is mildly toxic _if ingested_. I have never eaten it but I guess I would have to advise not eating it. 😀 Everything else is not a problem as far as I can tell. All your plant ideas look really good to me. Stream orchid it is hard to get. And I really don’t have any idea where to get a good variety of native fish. but there is supposed to be a wholesale place down near San Diego that I will look for.
I think you should just wait and see about the ducks. They might not even come back. I am glad D is worried about duck poop. It is important. But in the worst case scenario it may just mean no swimming while they are there and for a week to 10 days after they’ve left and D may even appreciate a little flotilla of ducklings once every couple of years, if not every year.
I think your islands are good. I think with this system you _should_ have different sizes. Heck for some reason we haven’t even thought about yet, the ducks might like the smallest islands best 😀.
Many people only know about some plants and so they insist that you have to have tons of them. None of my pool systems have any plants covering the water surface. I wanted people to be able to swim and the waves not knock about and destroy water lilies and such.
Some of the work I do in keeping the water clear depends on water flow. Some of it depends on the overall ecology. Some on external factors such as sunlight. Or even on an owner not allowing landscaping material to get in. There are many things other than plants that affect water quality. I think you’ve got a good system. Bob www.puravidaaquatic.com/ www.puravidaaquatics.com/ 310-429-8477
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Alzheimer’s disease found to be transmitted through medical procedures decades ago, study finds

In a study published in Nature Medicine, U.K. researchers linked growth hormone treatments to the development of Alzheimer’s. Dementia experts shared input on the findings.

Source: Alzheimer’s disease found to be transmitted through medical procedures decades ago, study finds.

Oh my. The only difference between this and the idea of vaccines and autism is that no one can do anything about the suggestions in this article. What’s done is done. Anyone notice any similarities between Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) ?? Oh my.

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Past OurToxicNationalParks posts

Past OTNP posts
Dec23 www.puravidaaquatic.com/wordpress/our-toxic-national-parks-otnp-communication-summary/
Jan24 www.puravidaaquatic.com/wordpress/%f0%9f%8c%bf%f0%9f%8c%b2three-little-_easy_-things-%f0%9f%8c%84/
Feb24 www.puravidaaquatic.com/wordpress/why-i-started-this/
Mar24 www.puravidaaquatic.com/wordpress/fwd-bats-saving-53-billion-to-us-farmers/
Apr24 www.puravidaaquatic.com/wordpress/what-do-bats-snakes-and-dragonflies-have-in-common/

www.puravidaaquatic.com/ www.puravidaaquatics.com/ 310-429-8477

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The oldest whales on the planet are more ancient than ‘Moby-Dick’ and have the harpoons to prove it

Wow… just wow.
…. in 1946, the International Whaling Commission stepped in and said “Hey, wait a minute, guys. There’s only a few handful of these majestic creatures left in the entire world, so maybe we should try to not kill them anymore?”

Source: The oldest whales on the planet are more ancient than ‘Moby-Dick’ and have the harpoons to prove it

The largest whaling companies in the 1940s were:

1. United Whaling Company: a British company. 

2. Christian Salvesen: Scottish whaling, transport and logistics company.

3. Hvalfangerselskabet Hektor A/S: a Norwegian whaling company

The largest US-based whaling company in the 1940s was: Pacific American Fisheries (P.A.F): Pacific American Fisheries, based in Bellingham, Washington.

These companies led to the reduction of blue whale populations to 0.2% . 500 fold! Take two rolls of pennies unroll them spread them all out 🛑 think!
If that was the original population of blue whales we have less than a half of one of the pennies left. We ask ourselves today how could this _possibly_ happen.  Well to some extent it was because we didn’t have environmental groups. And the companies didn’t care in the least about the impact they were having, they wanted to make money.

We still don’t have any environmental groups except for the Center for Biological Diversity and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. And our current “whaling”  companies are dupont, dow chemical and bayer. Why I started this.

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Many species may have inner lives and be sentient

the more scientists test animals, the more they find that many species may have inner lives and be sentient. A surprising range of creatures have shown evidence of conscious thought or experience, including insects, fish and some crustaceans.

This is an important quote and most of the above average people in the world recognize the intelligence of their dogs, cats, fish, lizards, snakes, mice, rats, and other animals. But there is a second quote further down in the article (I would suggest you actually read the entire article) that says:

The declaration says there is “strong scientific support” that birds and mammals have conscious experience, and a “realistic possibility” of consciousness for all vertebrates — including reptiles, amphibians and fish. That possibility extends to many creatures without backbones, it adds, such as insects, decapod crustaceans (including crabs and lobsters) and cephalopod mollusks, like squid, octopus and cuttlefish.

“When there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal,” the declaration says. “We should consider welfare risks and use the evidence to inform our responses to these risks.”

Poisoning any living animal without having any idea of the pain and suffering that poison may generate is unconscionable. And the collateral damage that that poisoning generates in our endangered species is doubly unconscionable. Our premier environmental organizations have fallen flat on their face and are simply crawling in the mud. I am working on a project I have designated as Our Toxic National Parks (OTNP). For more information search this blog for otnp.

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Re-uniting Baby Bats

Positive results for re-uniting baby bats with their mothers. Stepladder, tea towel and hot water bottle required.

Source: Re-uniting Baby Bats

The thing that I find most fascinating about this article is that they let the bat rescue go for two, three, even four days.
We have _got_ to stop focusing on instant ratification laughing! Voice recognition Freudian slip. Maybe it is ratification as opposed to gratification.  The weeds have to die tomorrow, this afternoon would be even better. I have to _fix_ an invasive species by poisoning it (I don’t care about all the other species I’m poisoning too).
Be well my friends.

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10 Pesticides/Herbicides Used In The U.S. But Banned Elsewhere

Unfortunately, the EPA has not been as aggressive as regulatory bodies in other nations, making the U.S. lag behind in banning pesticides and herbicides that have already been prohibited elsewhere. Hundreds of harmful pesticides are still in use in the country, despite having been banned in the European Union, Canada, China, the United Kingdom and other nations.

Source: 10 Pesticides/Herbicides Used In The U.S. But Banned Elsewhere

A personal injury lawyer website laughing. A strange bedfellow 😆 but I found the information intriguing.
I was looking for pesticides banned in California but still used in California’s national parks because federal law trumps state law. Hmmmmmmm.

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Analysis: 490,000 Pounds of Toxic Pesticides Sprayed on National Wildlife Refuges

Center for Biological Diversity: Pesticide Use on Crops Grown in Refuges Spikes in California, Oregon, Arkansas, Tennessee, Maryland

Source: Analysis: 490,000 Pounds of Toxic Pesticides Sprayed on National Wildlife Refuges

The center for Biological Diversity has done more for our wild lands and endangered species in the last year then the sierra club world wildlife fund and audubon society has done in 50 years.

These pesticides kill bees, butterflies, bats, and birds: _in Wilderness areas_ .

Why? For profit. The national park service approves some of this simply because a farmer wants to grow something to then poison you. It is not being done organically.

Don’t you be an enabler: stop promoting and giving money to Mammoth Environmental groups who have simply forgotten their roots.
🌿🌲Three little _easy_ things! 🌄

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What do bats snakes and dragonflies have in common.

OTNP April 2024 www.puravidaaquatic.com/wordpress/why-i-started-this/

I want to clarify something I said in last months posting with respect to new classes of pesticides that target molting. I said: This is done by looking for chemicals that target, modify, and damage complex DNA regulatory based molting systems …. Couldn’t possibly hurt humans or endangered mammals because we don’t molt. But … these DNA regulatory systems also have homologues in mammals such as mice, and … bats …, and us. What could _possibly_ go wrong?

To expand: Some of the (molting) DNA homologues that occur in mice, bats, and virtually all mammals, make up part of the largest family of transcription factors in the human genome. They are known as zinc finger (ZNF) proteins if you want to look them up. They regulate genetic systems; some of which we have not even started to identify yet! Systems such as brain development (Micro encephaly www.puravidaaquatic.com/wordpress/report-says-monsanto-linked-pesticide-is-to-blame-for-microcephaly-outbreak-not-zika/), cancer defense, immune system regulation, and even organ development. Hey let’s spray a compound that causes an increase in cancer and then another compound that damages our body’s ability to fight that cancer. And then argue for 20+ years about which _one_ is at fault. I would like to reiterate; what could _possibly_ go wrong😀

There is utterly no reason for mega environmental organizations to be hoarding the FOIA information that they have been able to acquire from the government. This is one of the most non-sustainable behaviors with respect to society that I have seen in ages. I am seriously, and passionately encouraging everyone to reconsider _all_ contributions to big businesses that advocate one thing and do another in the name of the environment.

I have sent many emails to dozens of environmental groups, and there are two that have responded in a kind and open manner, and even publish information on pesticide overuse. These two environmental groups are the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Since I’m in North America I would recommend contributing to the Center for Biological Diversity. And I particularly like their recent post https://act.biologicaldiversity.org/1m3X0nfTM0ee5Wmc2euDjg2
If you are in the UK I would encourage it to be the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

I would however like to encourage the CfBD to not get lost in the fracking debate. If the CfBD wants to research and identify specific fracking chemicals that it believes are a problem that would be great.

We all know that our native mammalian rodent predators (mountain lions, bobcats) are suffering from the widespread use of rodentcides. But it seems to me that snakes would be even more at risk. A snake gets much much more of it’s nutrition from single meals. And if one of those meals was a poisoned rodent it would receive a much higher concentration of the rodentcide then a mammalian predator. I have called UC schools, Environmental departments, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, I have called snake conservation groups and I am having a hard time finding anyone who will return a call or who knows who I might speak with who has some knowledge of historic snake populations (particularly rodent predators such as rattle, gopher, racers, and red rat) and whether they are declining due to the rodentcides. I did receive one response; a _wonderful_ reply from a woman at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and she gave me the contact immediately below. Do we even have an estimate of various snake species’ _current_ populations so that in 20 years we could compare: no.

I have recently learned from two different sources of a project sponsored by The Friends Of Griffith Park to learn more about our snake friends. The biggest problem with this research that I can see is that it does not separate the likelihood of acute toxicity by rodentcides from chronic toxicity but it’s wonderful that this group is putting money into much needed research!

Also, while I generally favor mechanical control methods over poisons. I agree that glue traps are particularly problematic.

All of this above; and a great question by Pam from the Sierra Club Margarita Group, is what actually led to my concern about natural rodent control (ie snakes) being poisoned by the chemical companies the same way that mosquito predators are poisoned by aerial spraying by Southern California county programs. And bats being poisoned too! 53$ billion my friends.

I have seen so many insecticide products advertised as being “bee safe” because it has to be ingested.
🛑 … whiskey … tango … foxtrot.
Ever seen a bee cleaning itself — or worse, not cleaning itself right away and taking it back to the hive. I’ve seen many a praying mantis, lace wing, spider (natural predators) cleaning themselves and thus ingesting whatever they have been forced to live in and walk around in. Please remember we are spraying where they live, essentially inside their homes!

Every single item above is why I started thinking about what we could actually _do_ (see the link at the top) about these issues.

I think it is criminal so many conservation organizations are enablers of the big pesticide manufacturers in our national parks. The nature conservancy should not be advocating that they are “conserving nature” while spraying pesticides on ” their” property and refusing to disclose what they are spraying.

😊 I truly believe that there are three little things that _we all_ can start doing today to begin holding our environmental groups accountable once again. 😊. Don’t you be an enabler for these groups.

www.puravidaaquatic.com/wordpress/what-can-anyone-do-about-the-pesticide-use-in-our-national-parks/
www.puravidaaquatic.com/

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Gardener raises concerns after suspicious experience with popular nature nonprofit: ‘I’ve also cut them out’

An outspoken member of the r/NativePlantGardening community expressed disappointment that The Arbor Day Foundation sells invasive plant species.

Source: Gardener raises concerns after suspicious experience with popular nature nonprofit: ‘I’ve also cut them out’

“I think as a nonprofit grows too big they lose their mission and instead focus on fundraising.”

Sound familiar? laughing.

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