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I've read some reviews that suggest the Nike Zoom Vomero, Nike Air Pegasus, and the Adidas Response Cushion are good for runners with sore or bad knees (that's me, btw).
Any experience with any or those or any other first hand knowledge of other shoes that will reduce the impact on my knee(s)?
Thanks in advance.
5k - 24:26
5k Trail - 24:57
5 Mile - 39:52
10k - 51:19
10k Trail - 53:15
I don't know where you read these reviews, but I can't imagine that any reputable reviewer would suggest that a particlar shoe model would reduce impact on your knees. There is no simple answer. But you would do better to pay attention to your form. Shorten your stride, try to keep your cadence high (around 180), plant your feet under your hips/center of mass. Try to run with a midfoot or forefoot strike instead of heel striking - there's some evidence that this causes less impact on the knees, though more on calf/achilles/ankles. The problem with the few studies along these lines is they don't measure impact at the knees, rather at the foot.
The Adidas Response Cushion is great option if you are suffering form bad knees. Some shoes are built with less cushion to make them lighter, or more of a minimalist shoe, and that may be the problem you are running into. However, the Response Cushion provides everything that its name says: its extremely responsive, and offers tons of cushion that work together to reduce the impact on joints (read "knees"), and dissipate shock more evenly through your stride. Good luck & I hope this helps!
Have you been fitted by a running store? I had some knee pain when I first started training for a half marathon last year. I went to my local running store, and they watched how I walked, and also used a computer that analyzed my feet. They determined which shoe would be best for me, and put me in a shoe that was a size and a half bigger than I had been wearing. Anyway, long story short, the new shoes were great. After a few weeks my knee pain went away. I've put nearly 300 miles on these shoes now and have been very happy. I'd recommend getting fitted at least once by a running store.
My running and weight loss adventure is chronicled at:
There is no one correct answer to your question, since it depends on what's causing the bad knees in the first place. Knee problems have a wide variety of causes - poor running form, overuse, shoes that are not well matched to your running style and biomechanics, weak leg muscles (particularly quadriceps), congenital alignment or structural issues...etc etc etc. Hence the shoes that may work great to solve knee problems for one runner may not work for you. Generically, you can reduce some impact by adding cushioning to a shoe, most easily by taking out the standard issue insole and substituting a cushioned insole (you can buy a number of brands at most sporting goods stores or running stores). That may work for you... or perhaps not. Besides working on your running form (as Len mentioned), strengthening the muscles around your knees, especially the quads, is worth trying.
2015 highlights...
@ 5K: New Balance Palm Springs 5K, Palm Springs, CA, 24:32
Angels Baseball Foundation 5K, Anaheim, CA, 24:24
Pride of the Valley, Baldwin Park, CA, 24:28
@ 10K: LA Chinatown Firecracker 10K, Los Angeles, CA, 52:15
Great Race of Agoura - Old Agoura 10K, Agoura Hills, CA, 51:40
Fiesta Days Run, La Canada, CA, 49:57
I could have worded that differently by asking for first hand experience/knowledge of a good 'cushioning' shoe instead of making the question about knee comfort.
To clarify, I've had my knee scoped twice and with each of those I've lost some stability in the knee. With wraps and a brace I'm still able to run, although much slower than what I used to (now a 12 minute mile). It's time for a new pair of shoes and I was hitting different sites for reviews. Currently my knee is pain free when it's wrapped and braced and I want to make sure it stays that way going forward. For new shoes, I'm leaning towards the Asics Gel-Nimbus 12 or the Nike Zoom Vomero.
Thanks all. Much appreciated. There is a store within 40 miles that will analyze my foot while I'm running. I will pay them a visit in time.
5k - 24:26
5k Trail - 24:57
5 Mile - 39:52
10k - 51:19
10k Trail - 53:15
The shoe you are currently wearing may be the exact right pair for someone else.
As stated above you need to have your running style analyzed.
I had used the same shoe model number for years -- or at least the successive generations of the same shoe model number
Unbeknown to me the new generation I bought in June was changed to have mid-foot stabilization. Two months on those shoes killed my legs from the knees down. I was just thinking it was fatigue from the hot weather of July and August and my increased mileage. Wrong.
In September I went back to a neutral gait shoe. My legs began to feel the healing almost immediately.
The correct shoe will work wonders.
Ah! If you have some knee stability problems, then follow crl8686's last piece of advice. Work on strengthening the muscles around your knees, with emphasis on the quads.
If you want to know a little more about the effect of shoes (in this case versus barefoot) on the knees, look at this article.
Note that they measured torque forces, not impact. The implication is that a higher heel (note the mention of a previous study of women's high-heels) increases certain torque forces compared to a lower heel (i.e. barefoot).
Here's another article comparing heel strike to forefoot and shoes to barefoot.
The impact in this case is measured at the foot, with no indication how this affects impact at the knees.
From theswe articles you may see why it's almost impossible to say that a particular shoe will reduce impact at the knee. Nobody seems to know. It's entirely possible that a more cushioned shoe will cause more knee issues, because the heel is higher and might cause more heel strike. But again, nobody really knows.
P.S. And now that you're thoroughly confused . . .
It may take some experimentation, but find the shoes that feel best when you run and stick with them.
ACTIVE is the leader in online event registrations from 5k running races and marathons to softball leagues and local events. ACTIVE also makes it easy to learn and prepare for all the things you love to do with expert resources, training plans and fitness calculators.


text:
About Stuff Christian Culture Likes
About me:
Distracted, southern, mommy, voracious reader of all things crap.
I like electric blankets, dogs wearing cones, and people with depression (because they tend to be nice). I don't like earthquakes, pesto, or changing lanes near a semi.
Please direct all inquiries and complaints to Dick Whitman, Director of Inquiries and Complaints, at email@example.com
Recent Posts
About the Author
I sort of consider myself an expert on Christian culture as I am a preacher's kid and I'm also married to a preacher's kid.
» Posts by Stephanie Drury
auf Wiedersehen
By Stephanie Drury on February 21, 2011
auf Wiedersehen
Category: Catchphrases
#210 Mandatory chapel at Bible college
By Stephanie Drury on February 11, 2011
Christian colleges know they can't actually make you worship, but they can make you appear to worship, and that's good enough for them.
Category: Bible college, Doing things and avoiding relationship, Mandatory chapel,
#209 Perceiving persecution
By Stephanie Drury on February 3, 2011
Jesus said being persecuted goes with the territory of following him, and some of those followers are really on the lookout.
Category: Catchphrases
#208 Missionary dating
By Stephanie Drury on January 27, 2011
When someone in Christian culture meets a delicious non-Christian they will usually assume a missionary position with them.
Category: Dating, Missionary dating, Proseletyzing
#207 Marrying young
By Stephanie Drury on January 19, 2011
Christian culture gets married young. You just can't fornicate if you're married, and that takes care of that.
#206 "You are now entering the mission field" signs
By Stephanie Drury on January 4, 2011
89% of evangelical church parking lots contain one of these signs. But the sign is never positioned so that you see it while you're driving into the lot. It's so you can only see it when you're driving away.
Category: Missions
#112 Not Xmas
By Stephanie Drury on December 15, 2010
Although X has been used for centuries as a sanctioned abbreviation for ??????? (Greek for Christ), Christian culture has a sneaking suspicion this is really a calculated method to nudge Christ out of his own holiday.
Category: Christmas
#205 Capitalism
By Stephanie Drury on December 13, 2010
If you have spent time within American Christian culture, you have probably inferred that free-market capitalism is God's chosen economic system.
Category: Doing things and avoiding relationship
#109 Keeping Christ in Christmas
By Stephanie Drury on December 6, 2010
Christian culture is alarmed by all things politically correct. They say the increasing use of the phrase happy holidays is an affront to keeping Christ in Christmas and it's just one more sign that this country is headed for hell in a handbasket.
Category: Christmas
#204 Not giving money to the homeless
By Stephanie Drury on December 3, 2010
Evangelicals will sooner pass them by than give them money.
Category: Charity

subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Vitamin Guide
- Health Conditions
- Health Centers
- Diet & Weight Loss
- Herbal Remedies
- Current News
- Food Guide
- Recipes
A study in Hypertension found that a daily dose of high-flavanol cocoa gave seniors with mild memory loss a boost in memory and language.
In this study, researchers explored the effects of flavanol-rich cocoa on brain function in 90 adults (ages 64 to 82) with mild memory loss. The participants were randomly assigned to a high-flavanol (990 mg flavanols), intermediate-flavanol (520 mg flavanols), or low-flavanol (45 mg flavanols) cocoa drink, daily for 8 weeks. Brain function was tested at baseline and after the intervention to assess for memory-related factors such as attention, recall, language, and time to complete a given task.
Results showed the high- and intermediate-flavanol groups completed an assigned task by as much as 35 seconds earlier compared with the low-flavanol group. The high-flavanol cocoa drink also performed better in the verbal fluency test compared with the low-flavanol group (speaking about 28 versus 22 words per 60 seconds). In addition, insulin resistance, blood pressure, and lipid peroxidation (a chemical reaction that leads to the formation of cell-damaging free radicals) significantly decreased in the high- and intermediate-flavanols groups.
The study authors note that improved brain function was associated with a reduced insulin resistance and that better blood sugar (glucose) regulation may help recover brain function. The authors comment that "the regular dietary inclusion of flavanols could be one element of a dietary approach to maintaining and improving not only cardiovascular health but also specifically brain health." They also note that further studies on the role of cocoa in brain function are warranted.
Increasing research shows that what we eat and drink definitely affects our brain as well as our body. Here are some additional brain-feeding foods to keep in mind while grocery shopping:
Whole foods. Buy nutrient-rich vegetables, fruits, and whole grains that have not been processed, as highly processed foods are often low in nutrients, rich in calories, and high in fat and sugar. They are also more likely to contain preservatives and additives such as chemicals and dyes that can hurt brain health.
Low-sugar items. Remember that many types of cocoa and chocolate products are often high in sugar and can worsen health over time. The products used in this study were rich in flavanols, which are plant chemicals with health-giving properties. High blood sugar has been linked to poor health in general and to poor brain health. Just as excess sugar is bad for the rest of the body it also hurts the brain. Eating low or no sugar foods and saving sugary treats for special occasions may help preserve brain function.
Power nutrients. Specific nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to better brain health for the young and the old. Fatty fish, such as salmon and mackerel, is a good source of omega-3s. In addition, the study authors comment that the B vitamins, vitamins D and E, and choline, have also been linked to improved brain function. But it is important to remember that any one particular nutrient or food by itself won't fully protect your brain. It's eating a balanced diet with a variety of nutrients that may help protect your memory in the long run.
(Hypertension 2012;60:794–801)
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To listen to my clients talk, I'm left wondering if food is addictive:
"I don't do cookies; I eat too many of them."
"I stay away from M&M's otherwise I'll eat the whole bagful."
"I'm addicted to french fries…I eat them uncontrollably".
If clients have addictive-like patterns of overeating, does that mean food is addictive?
The topic of whether or not food addiction is a real disorder was addressed at the 26th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress. According to Dr. Dickson, a Swedish neuroscientist, "Food consumption, unlike alcohol, cocaine, or gambling, is necessary for survival. But we don't completely understand why certain vulnerable individuals become addicted, transferring something rewarding to [something they become addicted to.] For drugs, it's much easier to separate what's going on,"
"The evidence itself is insufficient to support the idea that food addiction is a mental disorder. We do not have a clinical syndrome of food addiction so far, and it is very important to establish the validity of a condition before putting it forward for inclusion in the [diagnostic manual for mental disorders]."
"In man, there is no solid evidence that any food, ingredient, combination of ingredients, or additive (with the exception ofcaffeine) causes us to become addicted to it. That is different from drugs, which we know engage the brain and cause us to become addicted to them," she explained. "Still, if we move away from food and concentrate on the individual, we can see that certain obese individuals express addiction-like behaviors."
Hisham Ziauddeen, PhD of University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, notes that although the idea of food addiction is appealing, there is little evidence so far showing that it exists in humans. "It is a very important idea to explore, but it is essential that we have sufficient research to conclusively support it.
Source: Medscape Medical News (c) 2013 WebMD, LLC http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/812650?src=wnl_edit_medn_wir
What I have seen in my clients who describe themselves as being addicted to food is they become too hungry. The physiological response to extreme hunger is to over-eat. Perhaps a simple solution to perceived food addiction is a heartier breakfast?
For more information on how to stay in control of food:
the chapters on snack attacks, weight management and dieting gone awry in the new 2013 edition of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook.
Hi! I specialize in nutrition for exercise, and help active people figure out how to manage food, weight, exercise, energy and enjoyment of eating. Let me know if you have any questions!
View Nancy Clark RD CSSD's profile
Nancy Clark RD CSSD
Wanted: Gastric Bypass Athletes!
Do skipped menstrual periods mean you are in good shape?
Nancy Clark RD CSSD
Thick and Frosty Milkshake — Yum!
Thick and Frosty Milkshake — Yum!
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Do you feel hungry all the time…???
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Two teen girls arrested after fight at Union County High
Published: Friday, February 22, 2013 at 5:51 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, February 22, 2013 at 5:51 p.m.
Union Public Safety Department
Two teenage girls were arrested after a fight that occurred shortly before 11 a.m. at Union County High School.
The teens - one 15 and the other 16 years old - got into a fistfight in the school's main hallway, according to an incident report. A water fountain was torn from a wall, but neither teenager reported physical injuries, the report states.
Both teenagers were charged with disorderly conduct and released to relatives, the report states.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


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BERKELEY -- UC Berkeley has chosen a prominent social psychologist from Stanford to be its next executive vice chancellor and provost, the university announced Monday.
Claude Steele, the dean of Stanford's Graduate School of Education and a former Columbia University provost, is well known for his research on stereotypes and their effects on the performance of minority students. His most recent book, "Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do," was published in 2010.
"Claude is a world-class scholar, an extraordinarily gifted administrator, and a visionary leader with a deep commitment to teaching, innovation and collaboration," said UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks. "He is uniquely qualified to help sustain and expand our public mission and ethos, maintain our academic excellence and access, and advance on our commitment to diversity in every sense of the word. We look forward to welcoming him to Berkeley."
Steele taught at Stanford for 18 years until 2009, when he left for Columbia; he returned to Palo Alto in 2011 to serve as dean. He has also taught at the University of Utah, the University of Washington and the University of Michigan.
Steele will start March 31 if the UC regents approve the terms of the appointment next week. He replaces George Breslauer, who retired as Cal's chief academic officer in December after seven years.


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Energy Independence and Security: A Reality Check
A Deloitte series on making America stronger
While U.S. energy independence may be unattainable in the foreseeable future, energy security is a realistic and achievable goal.
While U.S. energy independence may be unattainable in the foreseeable future, energy security is a realistic and achievable goal. Understanding how to reach it, however, requires us to know more about our sources and uses of energy—and the realities of energy supply and demand. Most proposed national energy policies have shared goals concerning adequate supplies, reliable service and affordability. Every president since Richard Nixon has explicitly called for either "energy independence" or, at least, increased "energy security."
Policymakers, however, should consider whether energy "independence" is really necessary to achieve these goals, including security. In fact, the answer is probably no. The real issue is not independence from all foreign oil, but reducing oil imports from unfriendly nations, diversifying our supply of energy sources and ensuring that no nation can effectively manipulate markets against our national interests.
National energy policy
Ideally, Americans want energy policies that provide adequate, reliable and secure energy supplies at a reasonable cost. At the same time, however, energy prices must be sufficient to encourage investment, exploration and production, to ensure constant supplies in the future.
It may come as a surprise to some, but historically, policy has largely succeeded in providing us with energy as required. This is because our national policy, as expressed in cumulative legislative and administrative decisions, has supported concepts such as:
- private investment in the energy sector
- market pricing of and competition among fuels
- consumer choice in appliances and vehicles
- appropriate economic and environmental regulation
More recently, however, the notion of a national energy policy has been affected by the issue of climate change, which many believe is significantly influenced by atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuels. The specter of climate change has spurred the creation of state and federal programs supporting the use of non-polluting fuel sources for electricity production, such as wind, solar and other renewable energy sources. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that as of July 25, 2011, 37 states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had enacted a renewable portfolio standard (generally requiring that a specified percentage of a state's electricity supply come from renewable sources) or a renewable portfolio goal.1
The cultivation of renewable energy for electricity production has not been without controversy, as these energy sources are both intermittent (e.g. producing electricity when the wind blows or the sun shines) and generally more costly than conventional fuels, besides having other unique drawbacks. Even so, the greenhouse gas avoidance that renewables offer constitutes a benefit that can be considered to offset these drawbacks.
American public opinion concerning global warming has varied considerably over time. In June 2012, just 18 percent of respondents in a Washington Post/Stanford University poll ranked global warming as their top environmental concern.2 Nonetheless, the EPA has determined that greenhouse gas emissions "result in dangerous effects to human health and welfare," and thus energy policies are beginning to address greenhouse gas emissions as well as the traditional goals of adequate supplies at the lowest possible price.3
Defining energy independence
Energy independence has been defined in numerous ways. In his November 1973 introduction of a "Project Independence" plan, President Richard Nixon defined it as a situation in which domestic energy production is adequate to "meet our own energy needs without depending on any foreign sources."4 To others, however, it simply means "that oil becomes much less relevant to global affairs, that it becomes another commodity,"5 ensuring that the actions of foreign governments cannot cause major disruptions in energy prices or supplies.
Both definitions include the notion that the United States should reduce its reliance on oil from unfriendly sources. In Nixon's case, the goal would be to need no oil from any foreign source, while the second definition implies that a large diversity of suppliers would provide us with effective independence from unfriendly nations. Either definition, however, raises the question of whether the American public would support "independence" if it pushes energy prices too high.
Winston Churchill faced the question of energy dependence and national security when, as Britain's Lord of the Admiralty, he began switching the formidable British navy from coal to oil on the eve of World War I.6 Oil offered distinct advantages over coal as a fuel for warships, including higher speeds, easier storage and quicker refueling. Britain then was a major coal producer and maintained a worldwide infrastructure of coaling stations but had no oil production, meaning that the navy would be dependent on oil producers, primarily in what was then Persia. Some were skeptical about the ability of oil producers to meet the necessary supply. William Palmer, the First Sea Lord, asserted that "[t]he substitution of oil for coal is impossible, because oil does not exist in this world in sufficient quantities."7
Churchill acknowledged the risks in relying on a fuel not produced at home, saying that, "On no one quality, on no one process, on no one country, on no one route, and on no one field must we be dependent. Safety and certainty in oil lie in variety and variety alone."8 Churchill recognized that Britain could not allow itself to rely on any single nation or region for vital energy supplies.
His conclusion that energy security could be maintained only through the existence of a highly diverse energy supply remains valid today.
How we use energy
In 2011, the transportation sector consumed 28 percent of all energy used in the United States, the vast majority (93 percent) of it in the form of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.11 Transportation used about 13 million barrels of petroleum fuels each day last year.12
Some repetitive-use transportation fleets (e.g., buses, delivery, maintenance and warehousing vehicles) are fueled by natural gas, providing 3 percent of the energy used for transportation in 2010, all in the form of compressed natural gas (CNG).13 Various groups have called for federal assistance to expand the use of natural gas for transportation, in the form of CNG or liquefied natural gas (LNG), but significant new infrastructural construction is required to support the wider use of these fuels. In particular, compressors are required either at gas stations or at home, to fill CNG tanks adequately. Similarly, LNG would require significant investments in refrigeration and storage equipment to make it widely available. Finally, without CNG- and LNG-ready vehicles from manufacturers, conversion costs can run to $1,500 or more per vehicle.14 In all, these factors continue to constrain the wider use of natural gas for transportation.
In recent years, federal legislation has spurred greater use of biofuels (primarily ethanol) for transportation, accounting for 4 percent of the total consumption in 2011 (in the chart "Primary Energy Consumption by Source and Sector, 2011," ethanol is included under renewable energy).15 In the United States, ethanol is most often produced from corn, and its use as a transportation fuel competes with its use as food—an increasingly controversial issue, given the escalation of food prices due to the 2012 drought.16
In addition, "plug-in" electric vehicles powered by the local electric grid are being added to the transportation mix, but this form of transportation is still in a nascent state.
Electricity Production
Electricity, in contrast to transportation's 93 percent reliance on oil, is produced from more varied fuel sources—according to 2011 data: coal (46 percent), nuclear power (21 percent), natural gas (20 percent) and renewable energy (12 percent, with most of that from hydroelectric dams). However, the share of electricity produced by natural gas is growing rapidly. During the week of July 9, 2012, electricity produced from natural gas exceeded the amount produced by coal. America's electric power industry is the nation's largest single and fastest-growing consumer of energy, accounting for 41 percent in 2011, as more and more devices are added to the national grid.17
Electricity use had been rising annually until the recent recession, during which it declined slightly for two years. Electricity production increased slightly in 2011, however, and is expected to continue increasing at modest rates.18
Today, the average U.S. family has more than 24 electric devices.19 In the last half of the 20th century, annual U.S. electricity consumption rose exponentially.20 Thus, electricity consumption is a significant factor in any discussion of total energy supply and demand.
Given the enormous importance of the electricity and transportation sectors, any discussion of future energy policy must address two interrelated questions:
1. What fuels will we use to make electricity?
2. How will we fuel automobiles in the future?
Our energy supplies
An Aspen Strategy Group study has described America's energy challenge and issue of "energy security" as "…depending chiefly upon whether a country has at its disposal an internal supply of energy or rather is reliant on imports to meet energy needs."21 This reflects an important national concern about where our fuels originate. To consider this issue, we examine each energy source in turn.
Nuclear Power
Nuclear power is produced by the fission of enriched uranium. This uranium is obtained from mines in the United States and elsewhere; today, about half of the enriched uranium powering U.S. nuclear reactors comes from an international agreement to recycle the nuclear material from former Soviet weapons into fuel.22 That agreement expires in 2013, after which the US will return to relying on uranium from secure sources, including Australia and Canada, which hold 40 percent of global reserves.23 Since fuel costs represent a very small portion of the total cost of electricity produced from nuclear power plants, the origin of the uranium we use is not generally considered a significant issue.
Nuclear power plants do not produce greenhouse gases. That single factor may ensure continued nuclear expansion in the United States and around the world. In the United States an unresolved issue—and one often cited as a reason to delay the creation of additional nuclear power plants—is the safe storage of nuclear waste. The January 2012 report of the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future recommends the creation of a new organization solely devoted to nuclear waste management, and the establishment of consolidated storage and disposal facilities.24
Renewable Energy
Renewable energy provided about 9 percent of our total energy needs in 2011, largely from hydroelectric power produced by the nation's federal dam systems, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Bonneville Power Administration.25 The United States purchases some hydroelectric power from dams in Canada, but in general the nation is self-sufficient in this arena. The remaining renewable energy used to produce electricity, in the form of wind, solar and geothermal energy, is domestically sourced. The use of these renewables has increased greatly in recent years, especially in electricity production, where energy produced increased to 4.8 percent of the total production last year.26
However the intermittent nature of wind and solar power requires fossil or nuclear fuel as backup until new storage technologies are developed.
The Renewable Fuel Standard included in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires the use of renewable fuels in transportation. Ethanol, a domestically produced biofuel, fills this requirement. Ethanol is currently the predominent biofuel in the United States and is produced from corn; but future supplies may come from some non-food plant sources and could, under some estimates, meet up to 20 percent of global motor fuel demand.27
Coal produced 20 percent of the nation's total energy in 2011, most of it through electricity production; it accounted for almost half of all electricity produced.28 The United States has an estimated 28 percent of the world's coal deposits, about a 200-year supply at current consumption rates.29 The United States is a net exporter of coal. World coal demand is driven primarily by China and India, which together have built more than 800 new coal-fired electrical power plants in the past six years, with China averaging two new plants each week.30
American coal is already heading to these markets in small quantities, and many industry observers predict much greater coal exports in the future. Thus, the United States is secure in coal. Its future use, however, is tied to concerns about greenhouse gas emissions. Prospects for "clean coal" technologies depend on continued and expanded industry research and development, as well as government funding for carbon capture and sequestration technology research. If successful, commercialization of these technologies would allow the continued use of the globe's vast coal supplies without increased emissions.
Natural Gas
Consumers and industry use natural gas for cooking, space heating, in various manufacturing processes and as a chemical feedstock. Natural gas is also used in increasing quantities for electricity production—this represents the most dramatic shift in energy use in recent history.
In the 1970s, natural gas was considered a dwindling resource, and a 1978 federal law attempted to limit its consumption.31 Sustained imbalances of natural gas supply and demand, accompanied by high prices in the 1970s and 1980s, were largely the result of the government's over-management of natural gas pricing, which was subsequently addressed by Congress in 1989 with the passage of legislation deregulating the price of natural gas at the wellhead.32 This helped bring supply, demand and pricing more into balance, utilizing market forces, instead of direct government intervention.
Today, U.S. natural gas is in plentiful supply at low prices due to the application of new technologies to extract gas from shale rock formations. These include horizontal drilling and the fracturing of rock formations with a liquid mix of chemicals and water under pressure. Some of the largest new shale-gas plays are located in the eastern and mid-western United States as well as Texas (see map below, "North American Shale Plays").
This new, low-cost natural gas supply has made a significant impact. Coal-fueled electricity production has declined, while natural gas-fueled power plants have increased their activity. During the summer of 2012, natural gas surpassed coal as the primary fuel for power generation for the first time on record, according to the EIA.
The current low U.S. price of natural gas (recently as low as $2 per MCF, compared to $8 in Europe and $14 in Asia) and the nation's large reserves have prompted applications for 15 LNG export licenses with a combined volume that, if all licenses were granted, would exceed that of Qatar, currently the largest gas-exporting country.33 The bottom line is that America is today almost completely "independent" in natural gas, and even has the potential to become the world's largest exporter.
Petroleum accounted for 36 percent of the nation's energy needs in 2011. The transportation sector consumed 71 percent of our oil supplies, while industry, as defined by the EIA, used most of the remainder (23 percent), with a relatively small amount (5 percent) of heating oil used by residential and commercial customers and the rest for electricity production.34
Unlike the other sources of energy profiled above, the United States is not self-sufficient in crude oil, and hasn't been for decades. Our need to import crude oil is the single most important factor behind all policy discussions of energy security and "independence."
Every president since Richard Nixon has faced the problem of declining U.S. oil production and increased reliance on imports. The situation reached crisis levels in the early 1970s, when production cuts by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a cartel mostly of Middle Eastern oil producers, led to rapid increases in the price of gasoline and shortages in supply.
President Jimmy Carter told the nation, in his proposed energy policy statement of 1977, that:
"The oil and natural gas we rely on for 75 percent of our energy are running out. In spite of increased effort, domestic production has been dropping steadily at about 6 percent a year. Imports have doubled in the last five years.… [W]e now believe that early in the 1980s the world will be demanding more oil that it can produce."35
As we now know, of course, the world did not run out of oil or natural gas in the years following the first OPEC price shocks.
But oil imports increased throughout the 1970s, as Middle Eastern oil entered global markets in huge quantities and U.S. oil production continued to decline. U.S. oil imports rose to 60 percent of total supply a few years ago.36
Today, however, a combination of technological improvements and policy factors has increased U.S. oil production and greatly improved automobile mileage. The most recent reported figures have imports' share of our total oil usage falling to 45 percent in 2011, with further declines expected in the future.37 Recent high global oil prices have helped support exploration for and investment in higher production from unconventional sources.
In North America, for example, the exploitation of Alberta's oil sands and the application of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques to oil-bearing shale in North Dakota have resulted in large increases in North American oil production. North Dakota's oil production leaped from just 31 million barrels of oil in 2001 to 152 million barrels in 2011, 80 percent of it from the giant Bakken field. North Dakota is now the fourth-largest oil producing state in the United States, and in 2012 could leap to the second position after Texas.38 Additional oil shale plays are being developed in Colorado and Utah.
If one excludes oil imported from Canada—our largest and arguably most stable trading partner, which provided 25 percent of America's imported oil in 2011—the situation looks even more positive.39 Imports may fall even further if the federal government opens more restricted areas to domestic exploration and production.
The implications of oil imports
For most Americans, the terms energy independence and security are tied to the twin issues of reliable supply and the stability or "reasonableness" of the price of oil or, more specifically, the price of gasoline at the pump.
Of all energy sources, the American consumer is most sensitive to the price of gasoline. Gasoline is the only energy price consumers see changing from week to week. The family gasoline tab is often higher than the bill for electricity or natural gas. Monthly electricity and natural gas bills, moreover, come as much as two months after the period of use. Thus consumers don't see their total bill until much later, and are often unaware of the unit cost of electricity (cents per kilowatt hour) or natural gas (dollars per million British Thermal Units mmBTU or thousand cubic feet MCF).
But the unit price of gasoline appears on the sign at the station and on the pump, and is tracked in the popular press.
Oil imports did not cause significant political problems in the United States until the Arab oil embargo of 1973, when OPEC deliberately curtailed supply to punish the United States for its support of Israel. After the 1973 oil shocks, however, imports were solidly linked with high prices in public perception, and given that a large portion of the world's current production is still centered in the Middle East, that perception is still prevalent.
The truth is, however, that only a small share of U.S. oil imports comes from that region; the nation's largest sources of oil are Canada and Mexico, which together supply more than a third of our oil, with another 24 percent coming from OPEC member countries not in the Middle East, such as Nigeria and Venezuela.40 Oil is sold in a global market, however, and disruptions in the Middle East inevitably affect the world price of oil—and, eventually, the price of gasoline at the neighborhood convenience store.
Refineries purchase crude oil at world prices. From crude oil they distill a variety of liquid products, including gasoline, kerosene/jet fuel, diesel/heating oil, residual fuel, propane, petcoke and other products. The final gasoline price includes the cost of crude oil and taxes (which together accounted for 71 percent of the final price in July 2012)41 and the refining, transportation and retailing costs (29 percent).
Crude oil prices in world markets trend lower when global supply exceeds global demand sufficiently to make up for disruptions in any one producing region. Crude prices also head downward in the short run when the global perception of possible supply disruptions is low. Thus, increasing supply or decreasing demand anywhere reduces crude oil prices.
One caveat to this basic principle, however, is the existence of OPEC, and its ability to intervene in global markets by adjusting available crude oil supplies. Controlling more than 80 percent of the world's current reserves and currently accounting for about 35 percent of global supply, OPEC can put a floor on prices by withdrawing supplies from the market or limit upward price movements by releasing greater supplies.42
At one time, U.S. demand for gasoline was the biggest factor influencing global demand for crude oil. In 2008, the United States had the world's highest annual per capita oil usage, at 26 barrels annually per person versus Europe's 12 barrels.43 Until 2010, the United States was the world's largest single consumer of all forms of energy. Today it is the largest user of crude oil, consuming about 15 million barrels a day out of a global daily demand of around 86 million barrels.44
In 2010, however, China surged ahead of the United States in total energy demand after years of remarkable growth; China is now the second-largest oil consumer in the world. In 2011, China was also the world's second-largest oil importer after the United States (5.1 million barrels per day versus 8.9 million).45
Absent some major disruption in the country's economy, Chinese demand for all forms of energy will only increase; the average Chinese citizen today consumes just one-sixth as much energy as the average U.S. citizen (see chart, "The energy intensive American").46 Note also that in 2009, China had just 34 passenger vehicles per thousand people, compared to 439 per thousand in the United States.47 Many more Chinese citizens will be able to purchase automobiles as China's economy continues to grow, ensuring an increase in the global demand for oil.
So, while demand is expected to fall in western oil markets such as America and Europe, due to higher mileage standards, the increased popularity of smaller vehicles and the use of alternative fuels and hybrid and electric vehicles, continued economic expansion in China, India and other developing countries will almost certainly push up global demand for crude oil.
While rising global demand is likely to keep oil prices relatively high, it will also provide a continuing stimulus for increased domestic production in the United States, benefiting domestic companies, their employees and suppliers, increasing tax revenues and improving our international balance of payments, while reducing (but not eliminating) our dependence on foreign sources.
"Independence" and imported oil
As we have seen, the American economy runs on a combination of domestic and imported energy supplies. For most energy-consuming sectors of our economy, our supply is predominately domestic, with only transportation remaining more heavily dependent on imports. Thus, the United States already has significant "energy independence," at least in terms of exclusive reliance on domestic production, for much of its economy. The remaining question is how to make the transportation sector more independent of sharp disruptions and "unfriendly" sources.
With that in mind, we can return to and refine the two questions we posed earlier:
- What fuels should we use to produce electricity, given EPA requirements concerning the release of greenhouse gases?
- How do we meet our need for secure, reliable and economic energy for transportation?
As to the first question, the United States has reliable, secure and adequate supplies of fuel for electricity production. In most cases, either the fuel supply is predominately domestic, as in the case of coal and natural gas; is sourced domestically or from secure international trading partners, as with nuclear power; or is not a factor, as with wind and hydroelectric energy. (One crossover consideration concerns the fact that the introduction of more electric vehicles will shift demand from oil toward electricity consumption.)
The real challenges to energy independence and security lie in the second question. To say that the United States needs a secure supply of energy really means a secure supply of petroleum, which currently makes up approximately 36 percent of the overall U.S. energy supply portfolio, less than half of which is imported. When imports from Canada and Mexico are subtracted, the real major energy independence and security challenges of the U.S. energy portfolio amount to between 10 and 15 percent of our overall energy supplies—a challenge that is well within the economic, industrial and policy capabilities of the United States to tackle. And, upon assuring energy security for this portion of the portfolio, complete energy independence is largely unnecessary.
A focus on energy security
It is the diversity, breadth and depth of the U.S. energy supply portfolio that currently "secures" over 85 percent of our energy supplies. How do we enhance the security of the entire portfolio and extend this security to the remaining 10 to 15 percent? Using those same principles: diversity, breadth and depth.
A starting point is a continued focus on improved energy efficiency and increased domestic production; security can also be improved with increased production from existing suppliers such as Canada and Mexico and the addition of more numerous foreign suppliers selling at market prices.
The revolution in shale energy production highlights what the energy industry has long known: the United States still has major, untapped domestic sources of oil. Technologies such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, when applied around the world, may herald the introduction of new countries as oil suppliers, and increase potential supplies from existing friendly sources.49
Lowering the demand for transportation fuels also can enhance global energy supplies. This can be accomplished through the prudent expansion of the use of alternative fuels such as methanol, ethanol and natural gas and the expansion of the electric vehicle fleet. Increased vehicle efficiency—through improved vehicle mileage or higher capacity utilization such as greater use of ridesharing and carsharing and high-efficiency mass transportation—can also reduce demand.
Some of these options, of course, also imply the construction of new networks and infrastructure, such as CNG or LNG refueling stations, electricity recharging facilities and new mass transit systems. Policies that encourage such developments benefit both price and supply security.
Developing and exploiting our remaining oil and gas resources, investigating next-generation nuclear power and continuing to expand renewable energy sources, all make good sense from a variety of economic and policy perspectives. This was the conclusion of the 2007 report Hard Truths: Facing the Hard Truths about Energy, a major study of our energy resources and policies by the National Petroleum Council.48 The report pointed to the need to move ahead with developing all sources of energy, a conclusion recently endorsed, at least in theory, by President Obama as an "all of the above" energy policy.50
Any "all of the above" policy must include a healthy dose of energy efficiency as well as support for alternative and renewable energy sources. Improved fuel efficiency lowers demand, increases the supply margin and contributes to lower prices and smaller consumer bills. And since a major portion of our energy supply is provided by CO2-emitting petroleum, coal and natural gas, greater efficiency also reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
Continuing and expanding on our traditional policies of market pricing and consumer choice, while pursuing measured and effective environmental and efficiency regulations, are aspects of an energy policy that truly supports national energy security.
Developing and exploiting our remaining oil and gas resources, investigating next-generation nuclear power and continuing to expand renewable energy sources, all make good sense from a variety of economic and policy perspectives.
To ensure the availability of secure supplies of affordable energy, the United States should:
- Support the prudent exploration and development of our abundant domestic energy sources, opening additional onshore and offshore areas to oil and gas exploration.
- Support our North American allies in the prudent exploration and development of their abundant domestic energy sources, thus adding security to the import portion of the U.S. energy portfolio.
- Support government policies that encourage greater energy efficiency in all sectors, including transportation, industrial, commercial and residential applications.
- Support legislation that encourages multi-fuel, natural gas, electric and other alternative fuel vehicle programs to continue diversifying the U.S. base of transportation fuels and alternatives.
- Continue to support the prudent and cost-effective deployment of alternative and renewable energy sources into the energy portfolio, most notably wind and solar, in order to continue to diversify the U.S. base of electricity generation.
- Support research and development of clean coal and clean gas technologies to help ensure that these domestically abundant and secure fuels remain part of the U.S. energy portfolio well into the future.
- Increase research into and development of next-generation nuclear reactors, which promise to be safer and more fuel-efficient than previous models.
- Develop and enact a new national nuclear fuel storage and disposal plan to help secure nuclear power as a long-term component of our domestic energy supply.
- Support open markets and free trade in energy products and their derivatives, allowing markets to predominate in directing investments to balance energy supply, demand and pricing.
And, perhaps most importantly, pursue "all of the above" in a balanced, thoughtfully considered and prudent fashion, understanding that America today already has a diverse, broad and deep energy supply portfolio—with the majority of it having a high level of energy security and independence. These recommendations are focused on continuing to enhance the long-term security of that portfolio, as well as to extend the same level of security across the entire U.S. energy portfolio.
EndnotesView all endnotes
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "State Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS)," http://www.epa.gov/lmop/publications-tools/funding-guide/renewable.html.
- "Poll: Pollution Worries Top Climate Change," United Press International (July 3, 2012), http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/07/03/Poll-Pollution-worries-top-climate-change/UPI-46921341339394/.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Climate Change Basics," http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/basics/.
- Brookings Institution, Clean Energy: Revisiting the Challenges of Industrial Policy, by Adele C. Morris, Pietro S. Nivola and Charles L. Schultze (Washington, D.C., June 4, 2012), P. 7, http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/6/04%20clean%20energy%20morris%20nivola%20schultze/04_clean_energy_morris_nivola_schultze.pdf.
- Anne Korin and Gal Luft, Turning Oil to Salt (Charleston: BookSurge Publishing, 2009), P. 4.
- Dan Yergin, "Ensuring Energy Security," Foreign Affairs (March/April 2006), P. 69, http://www.un.org/ga/61/second/daniel_yergin_energysecurity.pdf.
- Timothy E. Wirth, C. Boyden Gray and John D. Podesta, "The Future of Energy Policy," Foreign Affairs (July/August 2003), http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/59006/timothy-e-wirth-c-boyden-gray-and-john-d-podesta/the-future-of-energy-policy.
- Daniel Yergin, "Securing the Supply," http://danielyergin.com/securing-the-supply/.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review (April 2012), http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/archive/00351204.pdf; see tables: 1.3, 2.1, 2.1, 5.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Oil and Petroleum Products Explained," http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=oil_home#tab2.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review (April 2012), http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/archive/00351204.pdf
- Christine and Scott Gable, "Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Conversions," About.com, http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/naturalgasvehicles/a/cngconversion.htm.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review (April 2012), http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/archive/00351204.pdf
- Charles Abbot, "Drought Crop Damage Worsens, Ethanol Waiver Urged," Reuters (August 11, 2012), http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/10/us-drought-idINBRE8781E320120810.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review (April 2012), http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/archive/00351204.pdf
- Ibid.
- Karyn Maier and Demand Media, "How Much Does One Household Produce in Recyclables?" National Geographic, http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/much-one-household-produce-recyclables-2575.html.
- Alfred Crosby, Children of the Sun (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006), P. 118
- The Aspen Institute, The Geopolitics of Energy, edited by Kurt M. Campbell and Johnathon Price (Washington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute, 2008), P. 15.
- Nuclear is 20 percent, thus, 10 Percent is One-Half; see "Nuclear Weapons Recycling," http://me1065.wikidot.com/nuclear-weapons-recycling.
- "Nuclear Weapons Recycling," http://me1065.wikidot.com/nuclear-weapons-recycling.
- Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, Report to the Secretary of Energy (Washington, D.C., January 26, 2012), P. vii, http://brc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/brc_finalreport_jan2012.pdf.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Anniual Energy Review (2010), http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/annual/pdf/aer.pdf, P. 37
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, "How Much of Our Electricity is Generated From Renewable Energy?" http://www.eia.gov/energy_in_brief/renewable_electricity.cfm
- Daniel Yergin, The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World (New York: Penguin Press, 2011), P. 664.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Anniual Energy Review (2010), http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/annual/pdf/aer.pdf, P. 37
- Leonardo Maugeri, Beyond the Age of Oil: The Myths, Realities, and Future of Fossil Fuels and Their Alternatives (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2010), P. 55.
- Ibid, P. 45.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Repeal of the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act (1987)," http://www.eia.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngmajorleg/repeal.html.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Natural Gas Wellhead Decontrol Act of 1989," http://www.eia.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngmajorleg/ngact1989.html.
- "Applications Received by DOE/FE to Export Domestically Produced LNG from the Lower-48 States (as of July 16, 2012)", Office of Fossil Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/gasregulation/reports/Long_Term_LNG_Export_Concise_07-16-12.4.pdf
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Anniual Energy Review (2010), http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/annual/pdf/aer.pdf, P. 37
- U.S. President Jimmy Carter, "Proposed Energy Policy," April 18, 1977, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/carter-energy/.
- Joel Kurtzman, "The Market-Driven Energy Revolution," Wall Street Journal (May 22, 2012), http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304019404577416622669828522.html.
- Congressional Research Service, U.S. Oil Imports and Exports, by Neelesh Nerurkar (Washington, D.C., April 4, 2012), http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42465.pdf.
- James Vlahos, "Oil Boom: North Dakota is the Next Hub of U.S. Energy," Popular Mechanics (June 13, 2012), http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/coal-oil-gas/oil-boom-north-dakota-is-the-next-hub-of-us-energy-9660512#ixzz23M0ukGYC.
- ExxonMobil, "Canada's Oil Sands," http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/Files/iol_oilsands_brochure.pdf.
- Congressional Research Service, U.S. Oil Imports and Exports, P. 4-5.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update," http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/.
- Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, "OPEC Share of World Crude Oil Reserves, 2010," http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/data_graphs/330.htm.
- Leonardo Maugeri, Beyond the Age of Oil, P. 27.
- Ibid, P. 36.
- Kristen Nelson, "China Leads Energy Use," Petroleum News (June 12, 2011), http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/716420844.shtml; and BP, BP Statistical Review of World Energy, June 2012, P. 9, 19, http://www.bp.com/assets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/reports_and_publications/statistical_energy_review_2011/STAGING/local_assets/pdf/statistical_review_of_world_energy_full_report_2012.pdf.
- Peter Tertzakian and Keith Hollihan, The End of Energy Obesity: Breaking Today's Energy Addiction for a Prosperous and Secure Tomorrow (Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009), P. 52.
- The World Bank, "Passenger Cars (per 1,000 People)," http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IS.VEH.PCAR.P3.
- National Petroleum Council, Hard Truths: Facing the Hard Truths about Energy (July 18, 2007), http://www.npchardtruthsreport.org/download.php.
- Fracking is not without controversy. The safety and environmental effects of modern-day hydraulic fracturing are not fully understood. For instance, several studies have linked the process with ground and surface water contamination.
- Office of the White House Press Secretary, "FACT SHEET: Obama Administration's All-of-the-Above Approach to American Energy," March 21, 2012, http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/email-files/fact_sheet_obama_administration_92s_all_of_the_above_a_windows_approach_to_american_energy.pdf.


text:
MENLO PARK -- A 2-year-old boy and his mother were shot in the legs and a bullet grazed the toddler's head Saturday night, police said.
The shots were reported at 7:44 p.m. as a car drove by the intersection of Willow Road and Bayfront Expressway, directly across from Facebook's offices, said Menlo Park police commander Dave Bertini.
The driver of the four-door Honda that was sprayed with bullets drove to a McDonald's parking lot near East Palo Alto City Hall and the victims called 911.
Both the 24-year-old mother and her son were taken to Stanford University Medical Center, where they were listed in stable condition with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.
Four other people in the car were not injured, police said.
The 2-year-old was sitting in his mother's lap when someone in a passing green Honda stuck a handgun outside the window and fired as many as 10 or 11 rounds, Menlo Park police Sgt. Kevin Paugh said.
The Honda headed east toward the Dumbarton Bridge, police said. The whereabouts of the car, which reportedly had two occupants, was unknown late Saturday.
The shooting horrified first responders and bystanders alike.
East Palo Alto police Sgt. David Carson was among the first on the scene when the victims drove into the McDonald's parking lot.
"I wanted to know if the little boy was OK, and they gave me the thumbs up, and I said, 'Thank God,' " Carson said.
Carlota Calvillo, a leader in the local Catholic community who was attending Mass nearby, said the community is fed up with the violence.
"So many people don't feel safe,'' Calvillo said. "The police need to check the cars. Everybody has guns in their cars."
Officers said they didn't know if the shooting was gang-related.
In late November, police said that more than a dozen shootings and several slayings in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park over a six-month period were linked to a deadly feud between two rival street gangs.
About an hour and 15 minutes after the Menlo Park shooting, police responded to another shooting on Capitol Avenue east of Bell Street in East Palo Alto. Witnesses reported seeing a body covered by a sheet as police cordoned off the area.
Police said the shooting appeared to be unrelated to the Menlo Park shooting.
Contact Karen de Sá at 408-920-5781.


text:
Imprinted Pink Vinyl Football
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text:
Come join a team full of athletic girls who love playing softball! Looking to top off our rostor for the 2013-2014 season!
We are looking for a player with a great attitude and strong work ethic with supportive parents. Come take your game to the next level and join a great team! Don't have regrets 3 or 4 months from now! Give us a call!
All positions will be considered!
Please call, text or email:
Richard Stevenson
Go Gators!!!
Practice Friday at 6!
Practice 8/23 at 6pm!
Join us at practice on 8/26/13 at 6pm!
Call for details!
Go Gators
Practice tonight at 6pm 8/27.
Contact Richard 317-557-8532
Go Gators!
Practice tonight 9/6/13 at 6pm.
Go gators
"Indiana Gators Stevenson"
ACTIVE is the leader in online event registrations from 5k running races and marathons to softball leagues and local events. ACTIVE also makes it easy to learn and prepare for all the things you love to do with expert resources, training plans and fitness calculators.


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MAY 02, 2013 - Zero Hedge
A Must Read - Share
The number of bond funds that own stocks has surged to its highest point in at least 18 years (WSJ) Clubby London Trading Scene Fostered Libor Rate-Fixing Scandal (WSJ) Cheap money bankrolls Wall Street's bet on housing (Reuters) Bank of Japan reveals concerns over easing policy (FT) iPads and low-end rivals propel higher tablet shipments (Reuters) China Cyberspies Outwit U.S. Stealing Military Secrets (BBG) Draghi Fuels Bets on Rate Cut With Risk of Limited Impact (BBG) China guides renminbi to fresh high against US dollar (FT) Japan is preparing to start up a massive nuclear-fuel
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text:
I'm an utter novice at QCad, so I wouldn't be surprised if I was going about this all wrong. If there's a better way I'd love to hear it!
The problem I'm trying to solve: I want to create a blueprint of an existing house. It has a basement, a 1st floor and a 2nd floor. I'd like to create three layers for each floor: one for the floor plan proper, one for electrical, one for plumbing. Right now I'm working on just the 2nd floor (it's smaller than the other two). I hope to eventually be able to lay adjacent floors on top of each other and figure out where the plumbing & wiring should be routed (it's a foreclosed house that's been stripped of all plumbing & wiring).
To simplify the process of diagramming each floor I created several blocks: interior door, wall, window, sink, etc. The "wall" block is just a 5" x 120" rectangle. I'd like to use multiple "wall" blocks to build the floor plan. But to do that I need to insert several of them, rotate them and resize them.
Right now I'm trying to figure out the resizing. I've created the wall block and have inserted one into a drawing. Right now my drawing consists of just a wall block, 5" high and 120" wide. The wall's bottom left corner is at the origin, with the wall block extending to the right. If I Modify -> Scale I can blow it up but that multiplies both the height & width by the given factor, making the wall too thick. If I try Modify -> Stretch I enter the 1st & 2nd corners (I've been using the bottom left and bottom right corners), the reference point (bottom left corner again) and the target point (I manually entered 229,0 - where I'd like to bottom right corner to be) but it doesn't change the size of the wall block. It only moves the reference point (small red circle with a + in it) out to where I'd like the rightmost end of the wall to go.
If I try Modify -> Lengthen it says "The chosen entity is in a block. Please edit the block". I assume that if I do that it'll change the length of all my wall blocks, not just this one.
I'm assuming a block is more like a template, and not a rubber stamp where every copy looks exactly like every other.
I'm using the community version of QCad (v18.104.22.168) on Fedora Linux 17 (up-to-date as of yesterday).
Any clues as to what I'm doing wrong? Thanks!


text:
May 15th= Running With The Devil- Devils Glen, Bettendorf IA.
June 5th= Iron Lion Safari- Richmond Hill Park, Geneseo, IL
June 18th= King Of Kiwanis- Kiwanis Park, Galesburg, IL
July 16th-17th= QC Championships= QC*
Aug 6th= Franklin Fling- Belle Plain, IA
Aug 7th= Disc Golf Palooza- Belle Plain, IA
Aug 21th= Iron Lion Open- Eastern Ave/Prospect, Davenport,IA/ Moline IL
Sept 3rd= Wildcat Springs Open= Wildcat/Keokuk= Hamilton, IL
Sept 29th= K-9 Klassic- Dankwordt/Crappo Park, Burlington, IA
Oct 2-3rd= Matzen Lake Open- PRIVATE COURSE- Coal Valley, IL
Oct 15th= Wildcat Bluff Singles- Wildcat St Park-Urbana, Ia
Oct. 23rd= Camden Triples- Camden Park- Milan, IL
There have been some changes. Due to conflicts with West Lake, the Rumble will not be the Rumble, and West Lake will NOT be in the rotation. Its a hard place to run an event as you must have a shelter, and the shelters are rented a year ahead of time. Ill take the blame for the error, but in all honesty, there was no date from June to August I could use. Its hard working with them, the PDGA and 2 states in getting something a year ahead of time that isnt going to be a National Event. After the turnout at last years Rumble, I wasnt going to put that kind of money down on a gamble. I apologize.
The Quad City Championships will replace the Rumble for the time being. I am not listing courses yet, but will say that whatever is chosen it will be a hard event to score well at. Its not really the Rumble if it doesnt have West Lake. Im looking at later dates, but again, its difficult to get something done at West Lake due to parking issues. No shelter, no parking.......... Yes, I tried that. I tried everything I could think of.


text:
Thu, 12/05/2013
4:00pm @ Trails West Branch [1]
Compete against other teens with the Xbox Kinect on our large screen or take a break to duel on Super Smash Brawl, Mario Party, Mario Kart, and other Wii games. We'll also have board games available for when you're waiting in line. All games will be simultaneously in play.


text:
NEW: For a prettier blog interface, see the Wordpress version!
Headlines for Tuesday:
|@1300-1345 David Clarke, phone call
1. Zomg, I'm a graduate student: 20:27
Life has a way of creeping up and surprising you at the strangest moments. Today I had my "Oh my goodness, I'm actually a graduate student" moment. W. and I were talking about the development of expertise. We were planning how to spend our leisure time. I mentioned this little tidbit I picked up from somewhere: expertise takes around 10,000 hours to develop. This is around ten years of practicing three hours a day, and you can start now.
W. found this bit of trivia interesting. I told him how I remembered reading the abstract but hadn't tracked down the paper. Naturally, this made me want to look it up. While I was taking a break from writing my thesis, I looked up the webpage from which I got the tidbit. It cited two books. The Toronto Public Library didn't carry the books, so I searched for other citations and full-text copies of papers.
The University of Toronto has an awesome research library. Granted, there were a few papers I couldn't easily access, but I could get copies of all the seminal works. Not only that, but the academic search services even let me filter through the papers that cited these works to see follow-up papers in computer science and engineering. Wow.
Which brings me back to my zomg-I'm-a-graduate-student moment: an off-hand comment during a casual conversation prompted me to look up not only the original paper but also the papers that cite it. I have access to such a vast array of knowledge through my university library. *And* I know how to read the research papers now, and maybe I can even translate them into ordinary-speak...
Two years of my life in exchange for access to centuries of knowledge. Not a bad deal, not a bad deal at all.
- Reply to "Jeffrey Harrington (Linkedin Answers)"
- Reply to "R Hainey (Linkedin Answers)"
- Reply to Ed Buckingham - sent yesterday
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Inbox items: 6 as of 18:45
I'd love to hear about any questions, comments, suggestions or links that you might have. Your comments will not be posted on this website immediately, but will be e-mailed to me first. You can use this form to get in touch with me, or e-mail me at [email protected] .


text:
7:00 pm
Hometime "Quartz Kitchen Remodel" Dean, Miriam and the crew demo some old kitchen countertops and install new quartz surfaces. D
7:30 pm
For Your Home "Outdoor Living - Hardscape Makeover Part 1" NULL
8:00 pm
For Your Home "Landscape Makeover" NULL
8:30 pm
For Your Home "Attic Upfit, Part 1" NULL
9:00 pm
For Your Home "Attic Upfit, Part 2" NULL
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Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted through the bite of a blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick.
Risk Factors
Most cases of Lyme disease can be prevented or cured with prompt antibiotic treatment. Because most tick bites do not result in Lyme disease, doctors do not recommend antibiotics for every tick bite. If a preventive antibiotic is needed, a single dose of doxycycline will suffice. To treat active disease, antibiotics are usually given for 2 - 4 weeks. Current guidelines do not recommend longer courses of antibiotic treatment for any stage or complication of Lyme disease.
Lyme disease is the most commonly reported tick-borne disease in the United States. Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted through the bite of a blacklegged tick.
Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi is technically a spirochete, which is a bacteria-like organism. In the United States, B. burgdorferi commonly infects rodents and other small mammals, birds, snakes, lizards, and frogs. White-footed mice are the main reservoir for this Lyme disease-causing organism. In epidemiology terms, reservoir refers to the habitat where an infectious organism lives and multiplies.
Blacklegged ticks pick up B. burgdorferi when they bite and feed on an infected white-footed mouse or other animal. The spirochete lodges in the tick and is transmitted when the tick bites and feeds on a new host.
Ticks are the vectors for Lyme disease transmission. In epidemiology, a vector is an insect that carries the infectious organism from the reservoir and transmits it to a host (such as a human or deer). Hosts provide the blood meal for ticks. In the case of Lyme disease, white-footed mice are considered reservoir hosts since they function as both reservoir and host.
In the United States, there are two species of ticks associated with Lyme disease. In the U.S. Northeast and North Central states, it is the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, also known as the deer tick. In the U.S. Northwest states, it is the blacklegged tick Ixodes pacificus.
The blacklegged tick has a 2-year life cycle in which it goes through three stages:
The nymph stage (May-July) is the most critical time for Lyme disease infection:
Lyme disease is only transmitted through ticks. You cannot catch Lyme disease from a person who has the condition. Lyme disease can also infect dogs (and cats), but it cannot be directly transmitted from a dog to a human, unless an infected tick crawls off a dog and bites a person.
Not all ticks are blacklegged ticks, and not all blacklegged ticks are infected. Most people who are bitten by a tick do not get Lyme disease. Still, Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections should not be taken lightly. It is important to take precautions to avoid tick bites.
Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) and babesiosis are also transmitted by the deer tick Ixodes scapularis. Although HGA, babesiosis, and Lyme disease are borne by the same kind of tick, these infections are entirely different diseases.
Deer ticks can also transmit deer tick virus, a disease related to the deadly tick-borne Powassan virus. In very rare cases, deer tick virus, like Powassan virus, may cause serious brain infection (encephalitis).
New tick-borne diseases, carried by Ixodes ticks as well as other tick species, continue to emerge.
Lyme disease is the most commonly reported insect-borne illness in the United States. About 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year. However, the CDC estimates that about 90% of cases go unreported. The total number of Americans diagnosed annually with Lyme disease is most likely closer to 300,000.
If you spend time outdoors in tick-infested areas, avoid wooded and bushy areas. Other factors that can increase your risk for tick bites include:
Not every tick bite will cause Lyme disease. In general, there is only a small risk for developing Lyme disease after a blacklegged tick bite. The risk depends on several factors.
Locations in the U.S. Lyme disease was named for a town in Connecticut where the first American cases of the disease were described. Lyme disease has been reported in nearly all U.S. states. However, nowadays 96% of Lyme disease cases are concentrated in 13 Northeastern and Midwestern states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Worldwide Locations. Pockets of Lyme disease exist around the world. The disease is common in Europe, particularly in forested areas of middle Europe and Scandinavia. The Borrelia family is also responsible for tick infections in Europe but different subspecies (B. garinii and B. afzelii) are more common there and cause slightly different symptoms than the B. burgdorferi spirochete. The infection has also been reported in Russia, China, and Japan.
Blacklegged ticks thrive in grassy areas that have low sunlight and high humidity. Woodlands and fields are prime habitats, but these ticks can also be found in the long grasses adjacent to beaches. The ticks are not confined to rural settings. In suburban areas, they can live in overgrown lawns, ground cover plants, and leaf litter.
The exact time of year for risk depends on a geographic region's seasons and how they affect the tick's breeding cycle. In general, the highest risk for contracting Lyme disease is from late May through July when nymph ticks are active. The lowest risk is from December through March.
Symptoms of Lyme disease are diverse, can vary from person to person, and can appear and disappear at different times. Symptoms tend to follow the course of Lyme disease, which typically occurs in three stages:
In the majority of cases, the first sign of Lyme disease is the appearance of a bull's-eye skin rash called erythema migrans (EM). It usually develops about 1 - 2 weeks after the bite, but can appear as soon as 3 days or as late as 1 month after. In some cases, it is never detected. The rash is often accompanied by flu-like symptoms such as low-grade fever, headache, fatigue, neck pain and stiffness, and body aches.
The bull's-eye skin rash is considered the classic sign of Lyme disease. It usually appears on the thigh, buttock, or trunk in older children and adults, and on the head or neck in younger children.
The bull's-eye rash may take the following course:
If left untreated, the infection can spread through the bloodstream and lymph nodes within weeks to months where it may affect the joints, nervous system, or heart. Symptoms of early disseminated Lyme disease include:
If patients are not treated with antibiotics, infection can spread throughout the body. Symptoms of late Lyme disease can develop months or years after the initial infection and may include:
Lyme disease is a curable condition. Most patients improve after a short course of antibiotics. In rare cases, patients continue to complain of persistent non-specific symptoms, such as fatigue, muscle aches, cognitive problems, and headache lasting years after completing antibiotic treatment for the initial infection. This syndrome is referred to as post-Lyme disease syndrome, which can resemble fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
In the past, post-Lyme disease syndrome has been called "chronic Lyme disease." However, based on many reviews of scientific literature, researchers and doctors strongly believe that Lyme disease does not have a chronic state. According to guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Association of America, post-Lyme disease syndrome is the preferred name for this condition.
Patients are considered to have this syndrome if they still have symptoms 6 months after treatment. There must also be definitive evidence that the patient was originally infected by the B. burgdorferi spirochete. If there is no documented evidence of infection, it is likely that the patient never had Lyme disease and is experiencing a new or different type of illness. If the patient did have Lyme disease, symptoms should eventually resolve without additional antibiotic treatments. Antibiotics are not helpful for post-Lyme disease syndrome.
In some rare cases, patients may experience a new onset of symptoms after antibiotic treatment, such as the bull's-eye rash. Research suggests that repeat symptoms are most likely caused by new infections, not relapses from a previous infection.
Prompt treatment with antibiotics is very effective in curing Lyme disease in nearly all people. While rare, untreated Lyme disease can spread through the body and lead to complications. People at highest risk for complications are those who go the longest without treatment.
Joint pain is common in all stages of Lyme disease. In early stages of Lyme disease, patients may experience migratory pain in joints, muscles, and tendons. In the later stages of the disease, arthritis may develop in one or two large joints such as the knee, elbow, shoulder, wrist, ankle, or hip. Knees are usually affected most.
Patients with Lyme arthritis usually experience sporadic episodes that last anywhere from a few weeks to several months. Fewer than 10% of patients develop chronic arthritis, which usually affects a single joint.
Lyme arthritis usually resolves with a month of antibiotic treatment. If it does not, doctors recommend several years of drug therapy with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil, generic). Patients with difficult to treat cases should also seek the advice of a rheumatologist who has experience treating rheumatoid arthritis and similar conditions.
The medical term for neurological problems caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi organism is neuroborreliosis. These complications are associated with late Lyme disease.
Peripheral Nervous System. The nerves in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) provide the critical connection between the brain and spinal cord and its limbs and organs. Lyme disease causes various types of nerve damage (neuropathies):
Central Nervous System. Lyme disease complications in the central nervous system (CNS) are rare but very serious, since this area includes the brain and spinal cord:
When Lyme disease infection spreads to the tissues of the heart it can cause inflammation (carditis). Lyme carditis interferes with the heart's electrical conduction signals. The result is "heart block," the stopping of the electrical impulses that keep the heart beating normally. Heart block can occur very suddenly, and can be fatal. Lyme carditis is one of the most serious complications of Lyme disease.
If Lyme disease spreads throughout the body, it can affect other organs. Lyme disease may manifest as hepatitis (liver), hearing loss (ears), or keratitis (eyes).
In rare cases, Lyme disease acquired during pregnancy can lead to infection of the placenta and possible miscarriage or stillbirth. Studies indicate that pregnant women infected with Lyme disease can safely be treated with antibiotics without endangering the fetus.
Lyme disease is usually diagnosed based on symptoms and evidence of possible exposure to ticks. A diagnosis of Lyme disease is straightforward if the patient meets the following criteria.
If the patient meets these criteria, treatment is often started without confirming the diagnosis with laboratory tests.
Blood tests for detecting antibodies to B. burgdorferi can give false negative results during the first few weeks of infection. During the early stages of disease, a doctor can identify a patient with Lyme disease based on the bull's-eye rash and other criteria.
The CDC recommends only these tests. Other tests do not have enough scientific evidence to support their use.
If the patient does not have any symptoms of Lyme disease, these tests are not recommended. These tests should not be used to make a diagnosis of Lyme disease in patients who do not have obvious symptoms or findings of the disease. This is because both false positive and false negative results are common with these tests.
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test detects the DNA of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. It is sometimes used for select patients who have neurological symptoms or Lyme arthritis. The PCR test is performed on spinal fluid collected from a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) or synovial fluid (collected from an affected joint.). For most patients, standard blood antibody tests are preferred.
Many other infections and medical conditions can produce fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, and some of the neurologic or cardiac features of early Lyme disease. Some are transmitted by the same tick as Lyme disease.
Co-Infections Transmitted by the Ixodes Tick. Babesiosis and human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), as well as new emerging infections, are transmitted by the same tick that carries Lyme disease. People may be co-infected with one or more of these infections, all of which can cause flu-like symptoms. If these symptoms persist and there is no rash, it is less likely that Lyme disease is present.
Other Tick-Borne Infections. A number of other tick-borne diseases may resemble Lyme disease. The most important of these is southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI), which is caused by the bite of the Lone star tick. It causes a rash very similar to Lyme disease.
Allergic Reactions and Insect Bites. If a rash appears hours (rather than days) after a tick bite, it is most likely an allergic reaction to the tick, not a symptom of Lyme disease. An allergic rash may also be circular, like that from Lyme disease. In addition, not every rash seen in regions where Lyme disease is common is caused by a tick. The bites of many other insects such as spiders can cause a skin reaction, but they do not resemble the bull's-eye rash of Lyme disease.
Other Diseases. Chronic fatigue and joint and muscle aches are common symptoms of post-Lyme disease syndrome. These symptoms can also be caused by other conditions, including mononucleosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia. Early neurologic symptoms of Lyme disease (headache, stiff neck, and fatigue) may be mistaken for viral meningitis.
Antibiotics are the drugs used for treating all phases of Lyme disease. In nearly all cases they can cure Lyme disease, even in later stages.
According to guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), people bitten by deer ticks should not routinely receive antibiotics to prevent the disease.
A single dose of the antibiotic doxycycline may be given in situations that meet all of the following conditions.
In general, the risk of developing Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick is only 1 - 3%. However, patients who have removed attached ticks from themselves should inform their doctors. Patients who have been bitten by a tick should be monitored for up to 30 days to make sure they do not develop symptoms of Lyme disease, especially the bull's-eye rash. If you do develop a skin lesion or flu-like symptoms during this time, be sure to tell your doctor.
The early stages of Lyme disease usually include the bull's-eye rash (erythema migrans) and flu-like symptoms of chills and fever, fatigue, muscle pain, and headache. In rare cases, patients develop an abnormal heartbeat (Lyme carditis).
All of these conditions are treated with 10 - 28 days with antibiotics. The exact number of days depends on the drug used and the patient's response to it. Antibiotics for treating Lyme disease generally include:
Other types of antibiotics, such as macrolides, are not recommended for first-line therapy.
Side Effects of Antibiotics. The most common side effects of nearly all antibiotics are gastrointestinal problems, including cramps, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Allergic reactions can also occur with all antibiotics, but are most common with medications derived from penicillin or sulfa. A reaction could be as minor as a mild skin rash, but could also be as severe or life-threatening as anaphylactic shock. Some drugs, including certain over-the-counter medications, interact with antibiotics. Patients should report to their doctors all medications they are taking.
Most cases of Lyme disease involve a rash and flu-like symptoms that resolve within 1 month of antibiotic treatment. However, some patients go on to develop late-stage Lyme disease, which includes Lyme arthritis and neurologic Lyme disease.
Slightly more than half of patients infected with B. burgdorferi develop Lyme arthritis. About 10 - 20 % of patients develop neurologic Lyme disease. A very small percentage of patients may develop acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans, a serious type of skin inflammation. These conditions are treated for up to 28 days with antibiotic therapy. If arthritis symptoms persist for several months, a second 2 - 4 week course of antibiotics may be recommended. Oral antibiotics (doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime) are used for Lyme arthritis and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans.
In rare cases, patients with arthritis may need intravenous antibiotics. A 2 - 4 week course of intravenous ceftriaxone is used for treating severe cases of neurological Lyme disease. For milder cases, 2 - 4 weeks of oral doxycycline is an effective option.
In about 5% of cases, symptoms persist after treatment. This condition is referred to as post-Lyme disease syndrome. The treatment of post-Lyme disease syndrome is a controversial issue. Most doctors do not recommend continuing antibiotic therapy beyond 30 days. Scientific studies do not show any evidence that the benefits of long-term antibiotic treatment outweigh its risks.
Long-term antibiotic treatment can lead to a serious and difficult-to-treat infection called Clostridiumdifficile, and can also cause the patient to become allergic to the antibiotic. In addition, long-term antibiotic treatment carries its own serious risks, such as the development of antibiotic-resistant super bugs.
Experimental and alternative remedies are not recommended. However, some patients may benefit from learning pain control and cognitive behavioral techniques to help them cope with and manage their symptoms.
Some people use vitamin B complex, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (found in primrose oil and fish oils), and magnesium supplements to help relieve symptoms. No evidence suggests that they are beneficial. Any such therapies should be discussed with a doctor. Newsletters and Internet sites have cropped up in recent years advertising untested treatments to patients with symptoms of Lyme disease who are frustrated with standard medical treatment. Some remedies are dangerous, and most are ineffective.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned people not to use an alternative medicine product called bismacine (also known as chromacine). This injectable product contains high amounts of bismuth, a heavy metal that can be poisonous. People who have taken bismacine have experienced heart and kidney failure, and one death has been reported. Although some people claim that bismacine can help treat Lyme disease, it is not approved for the treatment of any illness or condition.
Generally, manufacturers of herbal remedies and dietary supplements do not need FDA approval to sell their products. Just like a drug, herbs and supplements can affect the body's chemistry, and therefore have the potential to produce side effects that may be harmful. There have been a number of reported cases of serious and even lethal side effects from herbal products. Always check with your doctor before using any herbal remedies or dietary supplements.
Everyone should avoid specific tick-infested areas, including tall grass, woods, and bushes where ticks tend to congregate. If this is not possible, people should take additional preventive measures. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) also recommends:
Mowing the grass regularly, clearing away leaves, and placing wood chips as a barrier around a lawn can help greatly reduce the tick population.
Permethrin for the Lawn. Insecticides can significantly reduce tick infestation. Insecticides should be applied in late spring or early fall in a strip a few feet wide along the perimeter of the lawn where small animals are likely to enter or live.
The most commonly used insecticides are pyrethrins, which are compounds derived from the Chrysanthemum family. They are available as natural products or in synthetic forms (permethrin). They are poisons that affect the nerve system of insects. However, they are safe, particularly the natural products, and for humans and pets. All pyrethrins are highly toxic for certain fish and slightly toxic for birds, such as mallard ducks. Some people do experience an allergic reaction to them. As with all insecticides, there is some concern about the possible consequences of long-term exposure. But to date there is no evidence of any harm.
Cardboard tubes stuffed with permethrin-treated cotton are available in hardware stores. The tubes are placed where mice can find them (dense, dark brush) and collect the cotton for lining their nests. The pesticide on the cotton kills any immature ticks that are feeding on the mice. Best results are obtained with regular applications early in the spring and again in late summer.
Other Pesticides. Other tick-killing spray pesticides that have been used include those containing diazinon, chlorpyrifos, and carbaryl. Animal studies have reported severe toxic effects associated with these chemicals. Some of these chemicals are being phased out for home use. Parents should balance the effects of a very negligible risk for a highly treatable infection against excessive use of possibly harmful chemicals.
Anyone who walks or camps in the woods during tick season should wear protective clothing, including:
Simply washing clothes will not kill ticks. After being outdoors, people should run their clothes through a dryer at high temperature for a half hour. Spraying clothes with solutions containing permethrin (Permanone, Duranon, and Permakill) provides additional protection. Keep in mind that these sprays should not be applied to the skin. Clothes should not be retreated with permethrin for 48 hours unless they have been washed after the first application.
DEET. Most insect repellents contain the chemical DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide), which remains the gold standard of currently available mosquito and tick repellents. DEET has been used for more than 40 years and is safe for most children when used as directed. Comparison studies suggest that DEET preparations are the most effective insect repellents now available.
Concentrations range from 4 to almost 100%. The concentration determines the duration of protection. Most adults and children over 12 years old can use preparations containing a DEET concentration of 20 - 35% (such as Ultrathon), which provides complete protection for an average of 5 hours. Higher DEET concentrations may be necessary for adults who are in high-risk regions for prolonged periods.
DEET products should never be used on infants younger than 2 months. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, DEET products can safely be used on all children age 2 months and older. The EPA recommends that parents check insect repellent product labels for age restrictions.
If there is no age restriction listed, the product is safe for any age. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children use concentrations of 10% or less; 30% DEET is the maximum concentration that should be used for children. In deciding what concentration is most appropriate, parents should consider the amount of time that children will be spending outside and the risk of insect bites and insect-borne disease.
When applying DEET, take the following precautions.
Picaridin. Picaridin, also known as KBR 3023 or Bayrepel, is an ingredient that has been used for many years in repellents sold in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. A product containing 7% picaridin is now available in the United States. Picaridin can safely be applied to young children and is also safe for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Insect repellents containing DEET or picaridin work better than other products for protection against ticks.
Tick Check. Studies indicate that ticks begin transmitting the Lyme disease spirochete within 36 – 48 hours after attachment. Removing a tick within 48 hours can reduce your chance of contracting Lyme disease. The following tips are important for self-inspection:
Tick Removal. If an attached tick is discovered, there is no reason to panic. Not all ticks are infected, and not everyone who is bitten by a tick will get Lyme disease. Do not put a hot match to the tick or try to smother it with petroleum jelly, nail polish, or other substances. This only prolongs exposure time and may cause the tick to eject the Lyme spirochete into the body.
The following is the safest and most effective way to remove an attached tick:
Since dogs, cats, and even horses can get Lyme disease, inspect pets for ticks regularly. Discuss with your veterinarian the best tick prevention product for your pet. Lyme disease vaccines are available for dogs, but they do not offer total protection. Veterinarians vary in their use of the vaccines. There is no Lyme disease vaccine for humans.
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