Here I correlate multiple stories about the West Nile Virus problem, that apparently is worse thanks to Humans who think they know what they are doing when trying to manipulate the Environment. I have commented at other times and places about how come I think the Fires out West are largely a problem of our own making. We collectively need an education in how not to manipulate our environment.
[Bob Morris: The Politics of Water] QUOTE
Are retention ponds breeding West Nile mosquitoes?
Yow, attempts to clean up the water may be providing breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Public officials across the country are inadvertently creating vast breeding grounds for mosquitoes -- including those that carry the West Nile virus -- by installing stormwater retention ponds near businesses and homes in an effort to reduce the contaminants that collect in water.
As concern over the mosquito-borne virus heightens, the effort to create new ponds and to clean up old ones has pit two environmental causes against each other.
UNQUOTE [Bob Morris: The Politics of Water]
Bob Morris's source is the [Washington Post].
Warning: the intensity of Pop Up ads is so fierce that if your PC is hurting for resources, like mine often is, you are at grave risk of the Bill Gates advertisement for more money spent on PC resources, popularly known as the Blue Screen Of Death.
It is apparent to me, from the Washington Post story, that these government mandated West Nile Breeding ponds are needed for many reasons, and the people who operate them do not consider the West Nile virus to be a serious problem.
- I think the solution to this would be for the families of victims of the West Nile to do a class action suit against the polluters.
- Simple cause and effect.
- Don't put the pollutants into the environment in the first place.
- So we don't need these ponds that invite mosquito breeding grounds.
- It does not matter if you cannot trace back which mosquito, that killed your loved ones, bred at which pond, which was needed because of which pollution.
- What matters is you find polluters with deep pockets.
- This then sends a chilling message to other polluters.
Pollutants are not the only problem.
I think a bigger problem, especially near where I live, are poorly designed drainage systems. A city near where I live was recently sued because in the same trench in the ground they ran storm drain overflow, and sewage disposal, and drinking water. They did that to save money on construction costs. Sorry I can't cite a url on this. I got the info from the real world grapevine.
But let's not panic over how long this will take to resolve.
I am paraphrasing [CDC FAQ on West Nile]
Even in an area where there are infected mosquitos most of them do not have it, and of the humans who get bitten by an infected mosquito, only 1% of them are at risk.
end of info I got from [CDC FAQ on West Nile]
so if you get bitten by a mosquito, there is no reason to have a panic attack.
I saw an interesting tip on the wee hours TV.
You are out camping, bothered by mosquitos, and other small flying critters. Put some mint on the side of your food plate, such as chewing gum unwrapped but not consumed. It will drive away the bugs.
Hmm, does chewing mint flavored gum keep them away from your face?
I just learned a new use for junk food.
[Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog] QUOTE
Now we finally know what mosquitoes do in the grand scheme of life. UNQUOTE [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
Adam's link is to a story on USA states responding to Centers for Disease Control prediction that 1,000 people could be infected with this deadly miniature terrorist in the next year. That AP story has additional links to more on this problem.
Now combine Bob Morris story with
[Boing Boing Blog] QUOTE
Greenpeace blog. Greenpeace has a blog. It'd be great if NGOs around the world started doing this. In particular, it'd be great if some of the sustainable development NGOs like Youth Challenge International had blogging set up from their base-camps, so that project staff could make some notes about their projects while they're back at HQ. Geekhalla, the geek-house in Accra, Ghana, that the Geekcorps volunteers live in, has blog, but are there others? I'd love to read a blog maintained by the crews on Greenpeace's boats, too. Link Discuss (Thanks, Gillo!)
UNQUOTE [Boing Boing Blog]
If they are not already doing so, I think Greenpeace should be subscribing to Bob Morris on the Politics of Water.
Incidentally, I found out about Bob Morris by randomly looking at recently updated Blogs, most of which were not of interest to me, but there are some gems out there that make the Blog Surfing worthwhile.
What is the correct terminology for Blog Surfing?
3:24:43 PM 
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