04.18.07
Posted in Animals & Pets at 8:46 am by CRS
Grr. The pet food recall has been expanded.
This is copy/pasted from a yahoo news story:
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Pet Food Recall Expanded on New Finding
Wednesday April 18, 8:44 am ET
By Andrew Bridges, Associated Press Writer
Industrial Chemical That Contaminated Pet Food Is Found in Second Ingredient, Expanding Recall
WASHINGTON (AP) — An industrial chemical that led to a nationwide recall of more than 100 brands of cat and dog foods has been found to contaminate a second pet food ingredient, expanding the recall further.
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The chemical, melamine, is believed to have contaminated rice protein concentrate used to make a variety of Natural Balance Pet Foods products for both dogs and cats, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. Previously, the chemical was found to contaminate another ingredient, wheat gluten, used by at least six other pet food and treat manufacturers.
Natural Balance said it was recalling all its Venison and Brown Rice canned and bagged dog foods, its Venison and Brown Rice dog treats and its Venison and Green Pea dry cat food.
The Pacoima, Calif., company said recent laboratory tests showed the products contain melamine. It believes the source of the contaminant was rice protein concentrate, which the company recently added to the dry venison formulas. Natural Balance does not use wheat gluten, which was associated with the previous melamine contamination, it said.
Last month, Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans of dog and cat food after the deaths of 16 pets, mostly cats, that ate its products. The FDA said tests indicated the food was contaminated with melamine, used in making plastics and other industrial processes. Five other companies later recalled pet products also made with wheat gluten tainted by the chemical.
The FDA has since blocked Chinese imports of wheat gluten. An FDA spokeswoman did not immediately return messages left seeking comment.
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This is just wonderful.
For awhile I would suggest that people cook pet food for their pets… you have to make sure that what you feed them has their needs met. There is a lot of false information out there on this subject so you have to watch out!
Brown rice, some cooked meat… I’m not sure but this is just too scary.
:(
-Cassie
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04.12.07
Posted in DesignersDen at 9:40 pm by CRS
Currently the main focus of this gallery is Orchid flowers but I will be adding more soon.
As of today (April 12th 2007) I have 5 orchids (three phalenopsis and two cymbidiums), a mushroom, a lily and some water lily. Post a comment, let me know what you think so far :)
Imagekind Gallery Plantlife
Copyright (C) 2008
This is my new gallery for plants and flowers of many kinds.
Keep your eyes peeled if this is your kind of thing because there will much to come!
-Cassie
The Lake Mushroom
Original photo Taken in Oregon, early Janurary 2006. This mushroom (if you can ID it please let me know) was maybe 15' away from the eastern shore of Lake Selmac in Selma.
The Whisper - Phalaenopsis Orchid
Original photo and digital additives (initials on the lower right side and very light watercolor effect) by CRS.
Phalaenopsis is a genus of approximately 60 species of orchids (family Orchidaceae). The abbreviation in the horticultural trade is Phal.
The generic name originates from the Greek phalaina, "moth" and opsis, "like", descriptive of the inflorescences of some species, which resemble moths in flight. For this reason, the species are sometimes called Moth orchids.
She Said Hello - Phalaenopsis Orchid
Original photo and digital additives (initials on the lower right side and very light watercolor effect) by CRS.
Phalaenopsis is a genus of approximately 60 species of orchids (family Orchidaceae). The abbreviation in the horticultural trade is Phal.
The generic name originates from the Greek phalaina, "moth" and opsis, "like", descriptive of the inflorescences of some species, which resemble moths in flight. For this reason, the species are sometimes called Moth orchids.
The Calling - Phalaenopsis Orchid
Original photo and digital additives (initials on the lower right side and very light watercolor effect) by CRS.
Phalaenopsis is a genus of approximately 60 species of orchids (family Orchidaceae). The abbreviation in the horticultural trade is Phal.
The generic name originates from the Greek phalaina, "moth" and opsis, "like", descriptive of the inflorescences of some species, which resemble moths in flight. For this reason, the species are sometimes called Moth orchids.
'Calling' Orchid Flowers
Original photo and design by CRS. Subject is a pair of Cymbidium Orchid flowers grown in Vista, CA.
'Friendship' Orchid Flowers
Original photo and design by CRS. Subject is a pair of Cymbidium Orchid flowers grown in Vista, CA.
'Darkness and Light' Waterlilies
Original photo of two waterlily flowers by CRS, edited in Photoshop to ad painting effects, title and "signature". Photo taken in San Diego CA in 2006
The Lily
Original photograph (and digital additions) by CRS. Poem, The Lily by William Blake.
Succulent Life
Succulent plants, rock and leafs make a nice natural image. Photo taken in north San Diego county.
Jurassica Encephalartos Natalensis
Encephalartos Natalensis (or Natal Cycad) is a plant native to South Africa, Cycads are one of the oldest family of plants on the planet! They are often called palms (such as the "Sago Palm" which is also a Cycad) but they aren't actually palms at all.
Cycads were around for aslong as possibly 100million uears ago. They are related to Conifers and this type can reach up to 20feet in height! This photo is a male Natal, male Cycads grow these cone-like parts in their center.
In some places the seeds of Cycads are eaten, fresh or roasted and also ground into a powder and added to miso soup.
Currently the most popular of these plants in the US is Cycas revoluta, the Sago Palm.
Photo taken in North San Diego County
Snowflake Viburnum
These look like white butterflies to me but they are a flower from the same family as Honeysuckle. Photo taken in northern San Diego county
Crazy Over Daisy (Pink Gerbera)
Photo of this pink daisy taken in Oceanside Ca. by CRS
Vanilla Beans
This photograph is of some fresh Vanilla Beans growing around tropical plants and palm trees. Vanilla is actually a type of orchid and is green while growing but the Vanilla you buy in the stores (the bean style) is dried and brown. Sadly there were no flowers on this plant, I would have liked to see that.
Colors of Paradise
Photo of this Bird of Paradise flower taken in Oceanside, Ca. by CRS. My favorite part is the leaf running from the lower left to the upper right behind the flower, if you look closely while zoomed you can see the sun shining through all the viens in the leaf, it's really neat.
Foxglove Chorus
This photo of Foxglove flower stalks was taken in Oceanside, Ca. by CRS. Cream, Lavandar and Green are the main colors of the photo but there is also a rich Burgandy color from the spots in the throats of the blooms.
Driving Miss Daisy (Red Salmon Gerbera)
This photo of this Gerbera was taken in Oceanside, Ca. by CRS
In Bloom - Lotus "Sunny Sky"
Red Lotus, "Sunny Sky" blooming in my pond in Oceanside, Ca.
I've never owned Lotus before but have been interested for quite some time.
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04.03.07
Posted in Misc at 4:06 pm by CRS
This really makes me want to barf… I can see this lagoon from my house :(
Poor critters…
Original article found on the North County Times website, written by JO MORELAND - Staff Writer Last modified Tuesday, April 3, 2007 10:57 AM PDT
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CARLSBAD —- The odor of raw sewage drifted over the eastern end of the Buena Vista Lagoon on Monday as crews struggled to stop what Carlsbad officials said was the worst such spill in recent memory.
With the flow topping 4.1 million gallons as of 4 p.m. Monday, officials were asking residents in surrounding areas of Carlsbad, Oceanside and Vista to limit their use of indoor water to ease the impact on the lagoon and the repair efforts.
That means cutting back on laundry, dishwashing, baths, showers, toilet flushing and anything else that might require sewage disposal along the Highway 78 corridor near Jefferson Street and Marron Road, authorities said.
“The majority of this flow is from Vista,” said Don Wasko, wastewater superintendent for Carlsbad’s public works department.
As he spoke Monday, a small army of city workers and special contractors was setting up in the parking lot of a nature trail at the northeastern edge of the popular lagoon, just west of the Westfield Plaza Camino Real shopping center.
They will have to build a small, watertight dam to hold the lagoon water back from the spill, remove water from the leaking area, and dig possibly 20 feet deep to get to the pipe to find out whether part of it blew out or whether the line separated, said Glenn Pruim, Carlsbad’s public works director.
“We’ll be working on this 24 hours a day until it’s done,” Pruim said.
Signs warning of contaminated water have been posted along the lagoon and St. Malo Beach, south of Buccaneer Beach, in Oceanside.
Authorities said they are also checking to be sure the tributary leading from the lagoon into the Pacific Ocean was posted, too.
“It’s been posted as a precaution,” said Denise Vedder, Carlsbad city spokeswoman. “We don’t know if (the flow has) gone that far. We have to do additional testing.”
The warning signs will remain in place until samples confirm that the water is safe for recreational use, officials said.
The spill was discovered about 7 p.m. Sunday, according to the County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health. Pruim said he didn’t know whether someone using the lagoon reported the spill or whether a city employee discovered it.
The sewer line —- two feet in diameter —- is 25 years old and is pressurized to push effluent through, the public works director said. He said the line should have lasted about 50 years.
On Monday, a temporary line was being built above ground from the pump station just northeast of the lagoon to move sewage around the spill site at the crumbling edge of an earthen lagoon bank.
Seagulls dipped and turned above the sluggish, white-foamed sludge.
“By (Tuesday) afternoon this will look like a war zone,” said Pruim. “It couldn’t have happened at a worse place. Being so close to the lagoon we have no place to contain the flow.”
He said he has been told the city may face a state fine of unknown size because of the spill.
A fine will depend on such things as the cause of the spill, whether there was any negligence, the city’s response to the emergency, and Carlsbad’s history of sewage spills, said Eric Becker, water resources control engineer for the state’s San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Pruim said state Fish and Game authorities have been notified, but that he hadn’t heard of or seen any dead fish or birds yet. A Fish and Game spokesperson couldn’t be reached for comment.
“We’ve been up front and told them we can’t stop it,” Pruim said. “There will be some environmental impact.”
Exactly what that impact might be wasn’t known yet, he said.
Meanwhile, drivers in the area won’t be able to use Jefferson Street south of the Marron Road intersection until repairs can be completed, possibly as early as this afternoon, the public works director said.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of repair,” said Carlsbad Councilman Mark Packard, looking over the spill site. He said “we’ve never had anything like this” in the years he’s been on the council.
The repair costs weren’t known yet, but Packard said the city has contingency funds.
As authorities marshaled repair efforts Monday, bright blue tanker trucks were sucking up sewage at the pump station on the northeast side of the lagoon and delivering the muck to a gravity flow line on the other side of the spill area.
That was one of the things making it difficult to determine how much sewage was actually going into the lagoon, city personnel said. Pruim said the line was being shut down at times so sewage could be sucked out, so it wasn’t a constant flow.
The city put a flow monitor on the spill Monday evening to get a better estimate of the amount going into the lagoon, Purim said.
>>>
UPDATE - Last modified Tuesday, April 3, 2007 12:39 PM PDT
Crews working to repair sewage pipe at Carlsbad lagoon
CARLSBAD —- Crews were working on a replacement pipe this morning for a broken sewage line that spilled more than 4.1 million gallons into the Buena Vista Lagoon recreation area by Monday evening.
Officials still didn’t know how much more sewage might have drained overnight into the lagoon through a pipe two feet in diameter that had a hole “three fist sizes long,” said Cari Dale, public works assistant and general manager for the Carlsbad Municipal Water District.
There was much less spill last night, because less sewage was pumped and workers were doing a good job of containing the flow from the leak, said Glenn Pruim, Carlsbad’s public works director.
The spill, which was originally reported to have started Sunday evening but is now being reported to have started Saturday night, may be one of the worst spills in recent San Diego County history.
Despite contamination signs, Oceanside officials said the spill wasn’t driving people away from beaches during what is spring break week for many. State lifeguards couldn’t be reached for comment about the spill’s effect on beaches in Carlsbad.
The contaminated water signs have been posted for along a mile of beaches between Cassidy Street in Oceanside and the 2600 block of Carlsbad Boulevard in Carlsbad.
“If anything, it’s probably increased our (beach) population here, because a lot of people that were going to go to the Carlsbad beaches are coming to this beach area,” said David Wagner, Oceanside seasonal lifeguard supervisor.
Wagner said on an average warm spring day about 10,000 people are at the Oceanside beaches.
“I don’t think there’s any problem with people going onto the beaches, as long as they don’t go in the water,” said Pruim, Carlsbad’s public works director.
While major repair work was under way today at the lagoon spill near Jefferson Street and Marron Road, another smaller spill was discovered at 7:30 a.m. today in Carlsbad. It was off South Melrose Drive, between Faraday Avenue and Palomar Airport Road.
The latest leak from a line shared by Vista and Carlsbad appears to be unrelated to the lagoon spill, said Jenny Peterson, Vista public information officer.
Pruim said today that some “fish kills” have occurred at Buena Vista Lagoon, but authorities weren’t sure whether they are related to the sewage line break.
He said he didn’t know how many dead fish were found or where at the lagoon, but that fish and game employees will determine whether the kills are spill-related.
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