Roundup Immune Weeds Present Environmental Threat

When the particular weed killer Roundup had been introduced in the seventies, it demonstrated it could eliminate almost any plant yet still be safer than many other herbicides, plus it helped farmers to quit harsher chemicals and lower tilling which could promote erosion. But 24 years later, a few sturdy species of weed resistant to Roundup have evolved, forcing farmers to go back to some of the less environmentally safe practices they abandoned many years ago.

The situation is the worst within the South, in which a number of farmers now walk fields with hoes, killing weeds in a way their great-grandfathers were happy to leave behind. And the issue is spreading quickly across the Corn Belt and beyond, with Roundup today appearing unreliable in killing at least 10 weed varieties in around 22 states. Some species, like Palmer amaranth in Arkansas and water hemp as well as marestail within Illinois, develop fast and huge, producing tens of thousands of seeds.

These have started to become such a big deal and people don’t know or care about this at all. This is the common sentiment by the locals and agronomists who cultivate soybeans as well as cotton close to the southern Illinois community of Creal Springs. When you have these things and deal with them, they become such real big problems. When Monsanto presented Roundup in 1976, it was like the most wonderful thing since sliced bread. This is what these developers of corn and soybeans next to Auburn in central Illinois think in with this decision.

The grass killer, known generically as glyphosate, is ingested by means of plants’ leaves and kills them by obstructing the production of proteins they need to grow. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency views it to have little toxicity to people and animals, and aside from the plants it’s dispersed on, it’s much less of a threat to the environment because it quickly adheres to soil and becomes inactive. Monsanto’s introduction of seeds made to survive Roundup made things better yet for farmers because they could spray it on rising crops to eliminate the weeds thriving along with them.

Seeds that contain Monsanto’s Roundup Ready characteristics are actually utilized to grow about 90% of the nation’s soybeans and 70% of the corn as well as cotton. With increased reliance on Roundup, herbicide use on corn decreased from 2.76 lbs an acre in 1994 to 2.06 in 2005, the most recent year for which the U.S. Department of Agriculture has information. Spread that out over the 81.8 million acres planted in 2005, and it’s a decline of greater than 57 million pounds of herbicides each year. Farmers also observed they are able to cut back, or in some cases remove tilling, reducing erosion and fuel use. However with any herbicide, the greater it’s utilized, the more probable it’ll encounter individual plants within a species which have just enough genetic deviation to endure what will kill most of their kin. With each generation, the survivors signify a larger percent belonging to the species.

Circumstances That Can Affect Child Support, Custody Arrangements and How to Present Them to Courts

When modifying child support or custody arrangements for your children, it is important that you are able to prove a “substantial change in circumstances.” But what exactly is considered a change in circumstances to the court, and how can you use these changes in your favor?

Here is a quick rundown of some instances that you can utilize to take your child support or custody order back to court for reconsideration and modification:

- The mental and emotional health and stability of the other party-if your ex-wife is battling depression, anger management or has been acting irrationally, you can use this against her in court

- The other party’s remarriage-you can argue for a modification if the new parent is disparaging you in front of the child, is abusing your child, or is participating in moral misconduct such as sexual promiscuity, using illegal drugs, or has been convicted of certain criminal activities in the recent past or present.

- The other party’s moral conduct-if your ex-wife is living with a man out of wedlock, is sexually promiscuous in front of your children, has been convicted of abuse, illegal drug use, or any other crime, this may be grounds for reconsideration of custody.

- Child-snatching-if your ex-wife kidnaps or flees with your children without your consent or knowledge, you can use this against her in court to have your children placed with you due to an unfit custodial parent.

- Dishonorable discharge from the military-if your ex-wife has been dishonorably discharged from the armed services, this may be used against her in order for you to obtain custody.

- Positive improvement in the child’s life is custody is changed-if there is any proof that a positive improvement in the child’s life can be made by switching the child’s environment and custodial parent, this may be considered in the courts as grounds for modification.

There are, however, circumstances that CANNOT be deemed grounds for modification. A few of these may be:

- The race of your ex’s new spouse

- The religion your ex decides to raise your child under

- Criminal activity or charges in the distant past (though more recent activities will be considered)

Quality of Life – Finding Enjoyment in the Present Moment

Can you remember what it was like when you were a teenager and had your whole life in front of you? You were filled with hope that you would reach all of your goals and life would be happy. Then something happens. As you get older you realize that life is full of difficulties. You sort of wake up from your sleep with the knowledge that life isn’t as easy as you thought it was and you begin dealing with all of the challenges you are facing.

Some people keep striving toward making a certain amount of money or having that large house certain that once they get it they will be happy. What usually ends up happening is that once they get it there is a momentary thrill but then the thrill is gone.

So what leads to fulfillment in life? You probably heard this before but life is about enjoying the journey. Being in the moment and having as many meaningful moments as you can. How you feel about yourself at any given moment can determine the quality of the moment. How you interpret events all day long determines the quality of your moments (see my Brain Babble posts).

How can you increase the moments where you experience feeling good about yourself? What are you proud of about yourself? What else would you like to be doing with your time? What do you find meaningful? How do you respond to stressful events? Can you learn new skills so you can improve the way you deal with stress?

How we handle our inner life determines the quality of our life. We can own a new house but if we are running around angry and complaining all day and if we hate our job then we are not experiencing quality moments regardless of living in our dream house.

Check in with yourself a few times a day and write down how you are feeling. Set your watch to go off at different intervals and see what you are thinking about. I am going to set a reminder in my calendar tomorrow to check in with myself every couple of hours. Let’s work at living our lives on purpose and experiencing more joy in the present moment.

Make Your Bathrooms Presentable to Guests With Walk in Showers

A walk in shower is the newest trend in bathrooms decoration. People have realized how important the bathroom is for the house mainly because all the guests will be using the bathroom. In other words, the bathroom can define how clean and elegant you are just by the look of your bathroom interior. This leads us to believe that you need to put extra effort in making you bathroom very presentable.

A walk in shower enclosure will fit perfectly into your bathroom because it can be installed in any little or big space you have and it is like it wouldn’t be in there, being made from clear glass. This is a good decoration model but at the same time this will make your bathroom look very spacious, looking like the place where this is put is empty. With more open space into your bathroom you can be proud of having a good looking ultra modern bathroom. It will be the attraction of the house for your friends or relatives.

You would your house to be all made from glass because this material is very elegant anywhere is used and helps creating the impression of open space because it is transparent and it is like in existent. How you can’t have the whole house made from clear glass you can choose to have at least the shower made from that material. This will look great in any type of bathroom, in any house.

Because there are some enclosures that do not have doors, this can be a big advantage for the owner of the house because this will make him feel very good and comfortable. He will feel free, like he would be in a very spacious shower. You won’t feel closed like in the usual showers and the flow of the water through the entire bathroom will give the Impression of freedom and naturalness. You will feel like you are outside immersed in nature.

Even if the showers look quite delicate, they are durable and are made from hard break resistant glass which looks great with frameless glass doors. Even with many unique walk-in shower designs, they will be created with security and durability in mind. The way your bathroom looks is very important so you have to be very carefully in choosing it because the shower can change the entire bathroom and the entire house.

So there you have it, installing a walk in shower enclosure can have many great benefits for you, but ultimately, it can be a great addition to your bathroom making it more elegant and usable, most especially to your guests.