text:
Mongabay Series: Amazon Agribusiness, Cerrado
Brazil's fundamental pesticide law under attack
by Jenny Gonzales on 20 February 2018 |
In 2008, Brazil became the largest pesticide consumer in the world – the dual result of booming industrial agribusiness and ineffective environmental regulation.
In 1989, the country established one of the then toughest pesticide laws in the world (7,802/1989), which included the precautionary principle in its pesticide evaluation and registration standards. However, limited staffing and budget has made the law very difficult to implement and enforce.
With its increasing power after 2000, the bancada ruralista, the agribusiness lobby, has worked to overthrow that law, an effort thwarted to date but more likely to succeed under the Temer administration and the current ruralista-dominated Congress.
Lax pesticide use regulation and education have major health and environmental consequences. Farmers often use pesticides without proper safety gear, while children are often in the fields when spraying occurs. Some experts blame pesticides partly for Brazil's high cancer rate – cancer is the nation's second leading cause of death.
Applying pesticides in the field. Brazil is the world's biggest user of chemical pesticide. Photo by prodbdf on flickr
Pesticides are flourishing on fertile economic ground in Brazil, thanks to the large government subsidies and low taxes granted to the companies manufacturing them, the negligible costs for national registration of active chemical ingredients, and virtually nonexistent pesticide use oversight.
These and other incentives – plus explosive agribusiness growth – resulted in Brazil achieving a dubious record in 2008, when it became the largest pesticide consumer in the world, according to a Kleffmann Group study commissioned by the National Association of Plant Defense (ANDEF), representing Brazil's pesticide manufacturers. (Oddly, a negative press response to the study caused ANDEF to deny its own findings for years.)
Number one or not, the national statistics are eye opening. According to IBAMA, Brazil's environmental protection agency, and other data, chemical pesticide active ingredient sales grew countrywide by 313 percent between 2000 and 2014, rising from 162,461 tons to 508,566 tons. São Paulo, Mato Grosso and Paraná became the major trading states over that period. But even once small pesticide consumers, like Amazonas, Amapá and Acre, saw exponential growth, with use soaring by 1,941 percent, 942 percent, and 500 percent, respectively, in sales per ton between 2005 and 2012 in these Amazon states.
Brazilian pesticide consumption and related products (2000 – 2014). Vertical axis: 1,000 tons of active ingredient; horizontal axis: year. Chart courtesy of IBAMA. Data consolidation provided by the registrant companies of technical products, pesticides and the like, according to article 41 of Decree nº 4,074/2002. Updated April 2016
Pesticide use driven by government policy
Pesticides were first imported to Brazil in the 1960s, but it was in 1975, with creation of the National Development Plan (PND) that commercialization grew significantly. Under the PND, farmers were obliged to purchase pesticides to obtain rural credit.
Consumption gained momentum in the first decade of the 21st century, when the bancada ruralista, Brazil's powerful agribusiness lobby, significantly increased the number of seats it held in Congress, which led to subsidies and tax breaks favorable to pesticide makers.
The explosive growth of pesticide consumption went hand in hand with the increase in agriculture exports. According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in 1975 the production of cereals, legumes and oilseeds in the country amounted to just 39.4 million tons. In 2014 that grew to 194.5 million tons of grains grown on 56.7 million hectares (218.2 million square miles), and in 2017 to 240.6 million tons on 61.1 million hectares (235.2 million square miles).
Two major commodities, soybeans and corn – both which require high pesticide use – represented much of that growth. In 2000, the value of all grains produced in Brazil was US$ 6.5 billion; of this, soybeans and corn accounted for US$ 4.6 billion. In 2016, the total value of grains rose to US$ 54.8 billion, of which US$ 44.9 billion came from soy and corn.
"Brazilian agriculture has been consolidated through the expansion of crops turned to commodities or agrofuels that demand intensive use of pesticides," concludes a study, Geography of the Use of Agrochemicals in Brazil and Connections with the European Union, by Larissa Mies Bombardi, at the Agrarian Geography Laboratory at the University of São Paulo.
"Brazil consumes about 20 percent of all pesticides sold commercially worldwide," that study concludes. "There are [currently] 504 pesticides allowed for use in Brazil, and of these, 30 percent are banned in the European Union – some more than a decade ago."
Large scale crop spraying. Photo by Trish Steel licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license
The glyphosate example
Brazil's high pesticide usage has potential consequences for human health and the environment. For example, one of the most consumed herbicides in the country is Monsanto's globally controversial glyphosate which has been linked to numerous health problems, and one of whose inert ingredients has been shown to cause cell death.
A technical opinion requested by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office and issued in May 2015 by Brazilian researchers Sonia Hess and Rubens Nodari, performed an "extensive review of international scientific literature" regarding glyphosate. Among their conclusions is that the herbicide has an endocrine disrupting effect on human liver cells and, in the concentration of parts per trillion (ppt), induces the proliferation of human cells of breast cancer.
And yet, glyphosate regulation remains lax in Brazil, where the herbicide is allowed in application at up to 500 milligrams per liter. The European Union (EU) limits the maximum amount of glyphosate to 0.1 milligrams per liter, or 5,000 times less. Likewise, with soybean spraying, Brazil allows 200 times greater glyphosate residue; 10 milligrams per kilogram residue is acceptable in Brazil, against 0.05 milligrams per kilogram in the EU.
Social movements and environmental organizations march in Brasilia as part of the Permanent Campaign against Agrochemicals and for Life. Photo by Marcello Casal Jr/ABr licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Brazil license
Despite the dominance achieved by industrial agribusiness in Brazil during the 21st Century, and the record high use of chemical pesticides there, the bancada ruralista – in alliance with the pesticide industry and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) – desires much more deregulation.
According to experts interviewed for this article, the agribusiness sector has been working steadily for nearly three decades to dismantle legislation currently controlling chemical pesticide registration and use in Brazil.
At the heart of this crusade is an effort to eliminate the country's landmark, foundational pesticide regulatory act (7,802/1989), which reads in part:
Pesticides, their components and the like can only be produced, exported, imported, sold and consumed if previously registered with a federal agency, in accordance with the guidelines and requirements of the federal agencies responsible for the health, environment and agriculture sectors.
According to the law, ANVISA (Brazil's health protection agency), IBAMA, and MAPA are responsible for implementing the pesticide registration process. The two agencies carry out hazard assessments, determining potential harm to humans and the environment; while MAPA analyzes agronomic performance and registers products.
Under the rules, the hazard assessment performed by the two agencies is stringent, with pesticides categorized by intrinsic toxicity. Products must be automatically banned, regardless of dose, if classified as carcinogenic (cancer-causing), teratogenic (harmful to embryo or fetus), capable of producing cellular changes, hormonal disorders or reproductive harm.
"The 1989 law was perhaps the most advanced in the world at the time," Victor Pelaez told Mongabay. He is a professor of economics and coordinator of the Observatory on the Pesticides Industry at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). Long before the European Union instituted similar regulations in 2011, Brazil's law 7,802 "already incorporated the precautionary principle," which many nations, including the U.S. have yet to embrace. "That is, it recognized the tremendous high risk of not controlling excessive hazards to human health."
Unfortunately for Brazil's environment and its people, law 7,802 had a critical flaw. It failed to provide the needed mechanisms and staff for implementation. The legislation never worked properly because of the "impracticability of such [strict] control, given the scarce supervision resources [granted to] the public bodies," Pelaez said.
The slowness of pesticide registration has, as a result, long frustrated the pesticide industry, which wants its products quickly approved, while the lack of regulatory staffing and oversight has frustrated environmentalists wanting careful analysis of pesticides.
Monsanto Lasso herbcide to be sprayed on food crops showing proper protective gear. Photo courtesy of the USDA
The drive to deregulate
Since law 7,802 was passed in 1989, dozens of bills have been introduced in Congress by the ruralists, and pushed by pesticide industry lobbyists, to eliminate its strict regulatory framework. The primary push, unsuccessful so far, has been to remove ANVISA and IBAMA from the chemical pesticide registration process.
Another goal of the ruralists and pesticide makers has been to abolish the nation's current stringent pesticide hazard analysis requirement – a particular scientific method used by the two agencies to evaluate biocide toxicity – and to replace it with a less strict risk assessment requirement.
To appreciate motivations for this proposed change, it is important to understand the vast technical difference between "hazard analysis" and "risk assessment."
Hazard analysis (which in Brazil incorporates the precautionary principle) fully rejects for registration any toxic agents that have been studied extensively and found to possess "significant hazards" of causing disease or doing environmental harm.
Risk assessment, on the other hand, is the probability that a hazard will occur and do harm when a product is used; an evaluation that encompasses much more uncertainty and allows more leeway in pesticide approval. Risk assessments are preferred by the ruralists and the pesticide industry who want more freedom in the selection and application of bio toxins.
Aerial spraying can be particularly hazardous to public health depending on application and winds. Photo credit: Don McCullough on Visualhunt / CC BY-NC
Typical of the bills pressed by the ruralists is PLS 526 of 1999, a measure meant to exclude ANVISA and IBAMA from the pesticide registration process. PLS 526 was authored by Blairo Maggi, then known as "The Soy King" for being Brazil's biggest soy grower. Today Maggi is Brazil's influential minister of agriculture.
That bill, however, languished in the Chamber of Deputies and then was rejiggered as PL 6299/2002, which also went nowhere during the Lula and Dilma administrations.
Thwarted by the multi-decade delay, the ruralists last year saw a new chance to move ahead with deregulation, working through the more sympathetic Temer administration. Agribusiness sought a fast track workaround to legislation: MAPA sent a draft of an MP, a Provisional Measure equivalent to a presidential executive order, to the Executive's Chief of Staff for review in March, 2017. As with PL 6299, the MP proposed the exclusion of ANVISA and IBAMA from the pesticides licensing process.
However, the pesticide deregulation MP (which if approved by the president, would take effect immediately), met with widespread criticism in the press, and has since disappeared from view. According to Jacimara Machado, IBAMA's director of environmental quality, the agency kept waiting for the Chief of Staff "to discuss the MP's draft," but nothing happened.
Unfazed, the ruralists are preparing another maneuver for 2018, according to Cleber Folgado, a member of the National Forum and the Bahia Forum Against Pesticides, coordinated by Brazil's State Public Ministry. In September "the bancada ruralista and the Temer government negotiated a new bill draft that would replace PL 6299/2002," Folgado told Mongabay.
As scientific evidence grows regarding the potential health impacts of Monsanto's pesticides, a global movement has risen against the company. Photo credit: msdonnalee on VisualHunt / CC BY
The new bill synthesizes eighteen measures related to PL 6299, all which advance pesticide deregulation. The new PL would establish an "agricultural governing body" to handle the evaluation and approval of pesticide registration, with that entity's review based not on hazard analysis, but on less stringent risk assessments, and also focused more on pesticide crop effectiveness. ANVISA and IBAMA would have no say in the registration process and likely serve only as enforcers of the body's decisions. In part it reads:
The agriculture governing body will be able to define criteria and establish priority in the analysis of registrations or post-registration claims, based on the need for greater control of agricultural pests…. The health and the environmental agencies will adopt the priorities duly established by the agriculture body.
If the ruralists, Congress, and Maggi's MAPA achieve their goal, the new measure would probably allow an unprecedented number of biocides to be registered and to quickly enter the market, maybe including substances already banned in Brazil.
Under the weaker risk assessment process, for instance, pesticides with known carcinogenic potential could no longer be rejected out of hand; instead, they could be registered with the understanding that they should be used in an established and proper manner to reduce the risk of their effects – even though Brazil lacks the regulatory staff to oversee the use risk reduction process.
The MAPA draft justifies the easing of pesticide regulations in this manner:
In a literal interpretation of the law, the regulator bodies [IBAMA and ANVISA] have understood that it is enough that the product presents those intrinsic [hazardous] characteristics to not be registered, regardless of the levels to which humans are exposed. It would be the same as, by making an analogy, every car was to be forbidden from being produced and marketed by its characteristic of being dangerous, i.e., of causing accidents.
The MAPA draft adds: "Prohibiting the use of a substance without considering the exposure levels does not protect the health of the population more than when it is applied correctly, within the limits set by a thorough risk assessment."
Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi defended the proposed measure on television last July, stating simply: "What we are trying to do is make bureaucratic processes faster."
A cartoon confronts the paradox of pesticide regulatory measures: while protective gear may keep people safe, it doesn't safeguard wildlife and the environment. Image by healthfulQuest on flickr
A critique of deregulation
UFPR's Pelaez refutes MAPA's and Maggi's deregulation arguments: "In a country without a monitoring structure and communication resources on the intrinsic danger of pesticides, approving them in the name of a risk assessment is a setback and practically a crime."
Palaez notes that Brazil's pesticide registration process is in dire need of funds, and he compares the Brazilian procedure unfavorably with that in the United States: "The U.S. government, as a way of enabling an assessment process compatible with the demands of the regulated sector, charges up to US$ 630,000 [to pesticide companies] for the registration of a new active [pesticide] ingredient. This [helps] finance the high costs of toxicological analysis of registration applications submitted by manufacturing companies. In Brazil, the maximum amount charged is around US$ 3,000," so the industry contributes little money to quicken the registration process.
The difference between the two nations doesn't end there. While an American license lasts just 15 years, in Brazil a registration never expires – a potentially dangerous situation because new research may uncover formerly unknown health and environmental hazards. Currently, new study evidence can trigger a pesticide re-evaluation in Brazil, although that reanalysis could take years, as in the case of glyphosate which remains in use, despite recent findings of its harmful effects.
The Ministry of Agriculture did not respond to Mongabay's interview request. ANVISA's communication office, when contacted by Mongabay, responded that they would "not comment on speculations" regarding potential pesticide regulation changes.
IBAMA's Machado said that the agency is not against using risk assessment as a tool, but added it would need time to make such changes: "We need to create a structure, do studies, analyze different scenarios and establish procedures, not to mention staff training. None of this is ready."
Tractor and spraying equipment. Photo by Maasaak licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
Agencies under staffed and under pressure
For years, ANVISA, part of the Ministry of Health, has operated under intense political pressure from the ruralist lobby. In 2012, Luis Claudio Meirelles, then ANVISA's general manager, was dismissed after denouncing irregularities in the approval of pesticides that were under analysis.
The same year, Eduardo Daher of ANDEF, the pesticide industry association, gave an interview to the Getúlio Vargas Foundation in which he attacked the regulatory agency: "ANVISA… tries to manage [everything] from breast prosthesis to… pastry. It plays God. The government is not able to coordinate it; it is politically oriented and ideologically manipulated."
At a congressional hearing, Kátia Abreu, a senator for Tocantins state, a ruralist, and a former minister of Agriculture, denounced the "slowness" of the agency in approving and releasing pesticides for use: "Thousands of Brazilians who earn a minimum wage need to eat food [treated] with pesticides because it is the only way to make food cheaper.… ANVISA plays a backward role for the country, to the detriment of agriculture."
Analysts point out that there is a good reason for ANVISA's "slowness." In 2012, the government provided the agency with just 20 technicians in its pesticide registration area, even though 1,500 products awaited evaluation.
IBAMA isn't any better staffed: the chemical and biological substances analysis department, which evaluates not only pesticides but also dispersants, oil, fuels, and other substances, currently has 37 employees, while 2,000 registration applications are pending.
"Without operational capacity, we take five years, on average, to begin evaluating a product, while the assessment itself takes [on average] five months," said IBAMA's Machado. "Manufacturers complain about the delay. But while we release an average of ten products per week, 30 new applications enter the agency," over the same period. In comparison, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has roughly 850 technicians assigned to evaluation, registration and monitoring of pesticides alone.
In January of 2017, MAPA celebrated an "historic record": 277 new pesticides were registered in 2016 (of which 161 were generic). The previous year 182 licenses were approved, 43 of them generic.
A generic pesticide combines, in addition to its active ingredient, other chemicals for varying purposes, facilitating the absorption of poisons, for example. Importantly, neither hazard analys nor risk assessment currently evaluates the synergistic effects of pesticides – the interaction of all ingredients, producing a greater effect than each separately.
Spraying pesticides. Brazil's 1989 pesticide law is one of the toughest in the world, except that it lacks the tools for staffing and timely implementation. Photo by AlcheaNemesis
"Sells like soda"
While MAPA officially advocates for the safe use of highly toxic pesticides, assuring they're applied under controlled conditions – moderating dose, levels of exposure, safety equipment, and more – the reality out in the field is far different, say experts.
Farmers are often unaware of the dangers of the chemicals they use, alone and in combination. "Instead of applying one pesticide at a time, many farmers combine an herbicide, a pesticide, and an acaricide [pesticides that kill members of the arachnid subclass Acari, which includes ticks and mites], for example, and make a single application on crops to save on aerial spraying," said Forum Against Pesticides' Folgado. These "so-called toxic syrups (caldas tóxicas, in Portuguese) increase the toxicity of biocides and [have become] a public health problem in Brazil. They are not evaluated by ANVISA or any other body."
Lacking proper state oversight and training, small scale farmers also often adopt unhealthy practices, as shown in a documentary entitled The insecure use of pesticides, by Pedro Abreu, a Ph.D. student in collective health at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the State University of Campinas, and Herling Alonzo, professor of environmental health and toxicology at the same institution.
One case documented in the film tells of a man who regularly used Monsanto's Roundup on his crops – an herbicide whose active ingredient is glyphosate. The man reportedly applied the poison without any self protection, while wearing shorts and slippers; he died of cancer, though his death can't be directly linked to Roundup.
Improper spraying gear. Many experts believe that a sharp rise in cancers in Brazil may be due to pesticides and other environmental toxins. Photo by Bt Brinjal on flickr
The film registered other examples of improper use, in which, for example, one farmer had stored pesticides in his family's living space, while another purchased them without an agronomist's recommendation or instruction. José Reis, a family farmer from Lavras, Minas Gerais, told Abreu: The store "used to ask [for] a letter [of prescription], but not anymore, now [pesticides] sell just like soda."
Emerson Abreu, a young farmer, added: buying pesticides is "the same thing as picking up groceries on a supermarket shelf."
In a recent seminar at Fiocruz Minas Gerais state, a research institution specializing in biological sciences and based in Rio de Janeiro, with branches in nine other states, Eliane Novato, a researcher at the department of biochemistry and immunology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), said that "The impact [of pesticides] on health is often complicated to measure [in the field] because there are several factors that go into the relationship [to] 'exposure-damage.' High concentrations of toxic product for a short time have an immediate [health] effect, but low concentrations for a long time have a late, cumulative effect that is difficult to assess."
She notes that it is not uncommon to find children accompanying their parents into sprayed plantation fields, and yet the risk of regular exposure by children to agricultural pesticides is rarely considered.
And yet, data published by the National System of Toxic-Pharmacological Information (Sinitox), linked to the Ministry of Health and Fiocruz, showed that 25.3 percent of pesticide poisonings reported between 1999 and 2015 occurred in children nine years old or younger, or 50,969 intoxications out of 201,832 cases. Of the children's subgroup, 160 deaths occurred in the same period.
Sinitox breaks down pesticide poisoning into three subgroups, agricultural pesticides, domestic-use pesticides, veterinary products and rodenticides. In 2015, for example, more than 33 percent of all pesticide poisonings occurred in children up to nine years old – 2,196 out of 6,591 cases. Of the children's subgroup, 259 cases were caused by agricultural pesticides, 945 by household pesticides (insecticides, gardening products, repellents etc.), 379 by veterinary products and 613 by rodenticides. It's important to realize that the Sinitox numbers are incomplete because they cover primarily acute cases, in just 18 of the 26 Brazilian states.
The safe application of pesticides is critical to protecting public health, but experts argue that Brazil offers little oversight of use training and education. Photo by Eric Akaoka Flickr Creative Commons
Sonia Hess, a Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) chemistry professor, told Mongabay that cancer is already the second leading cause of death in Brazil, surpassed only by cardiovascular diseases. The number of deaths has increased 31 percent since 2000 and totaled 223,400 Brazilians annually by 2015, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). How many of these cases are related to exposure to carcinogenic chemical pesticides is uncertain, though researchers are concerned.
"Unfortunately, there is always a long period between scientific evidence of health harm and the ban of these substances," said Hess. "Remember thalidomide," an approved drug that resulted in severe birth defects. "DDT is banned in more than 40 countries, including Brazil and the U.S.," she added, but recognizing its environmental impacts and outlawing it required years.
"For those who study the subject, there is no question that cancer is an environmental epidemic resulting from exposure to toxic substances present in the water, air, food, cosmetics, [and more]… But the reaction to the problem runs counter to the power of the chemical industry, which controls governments around the world. We will continue to count the sick and the dead until the disaster becomes so evident that some reaction can be successful," leading to more proactive regulation, Hess concluded.
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DUCKS AT A DISTANCE

A Waterfowl Identification Guide

by

Bob Hines
Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Washington, D.C. 1978

Table of Contents

   Identification is Important
   What to Look For
   Eclipse Plumage
   Species Identification:
      Puddle Ducks
      Mallard
      Pintail
      Gadwall
      Wigeon
      Shoveler
      Blue-Winged Teal
      Cinnamon Teal
      Green-Winged Teal
      Wood Duck
      Black Duck
      Diving Ducks
      Canvasback
      Redheads
      Ringneck
      Scaup
      Goldeneye
      Bufflehead
      Ruddy
      Red-Breasted Merganser
      Common Merganser
      Hooded Merganser
      Whistling Ducks
      White-Winged Scoter
      Surf Scoter
      Black Scoter
      Common Eider
      Oldsquaw
      Harlequin
      Swans
      Canada Geese
      Brant
      Snow
      White-Fronted Geese
   At a Glance Guide
   Comparative Sizes Of Waterfowl
   Wetlands Attract Wildlife
   Administrative Waterfowl Flyways

Identification is Important

Identifying waterfowl gives many hours of enjoyment to millions of
people. This guide will help you recognize birds on the wing--it
emphasizes their fall and winter plumage patterns as well as size,
shape, and flight characteristics. It does not include local names.

Recognizing the species of ducks and geese can be rewarding to
birdwatchers and hunters--and the ducks.

Hunters can contribute to their own sport by not firing at those species
that are either protected or scarce, and needed as breeders to restore
the flocks. It can add to their daily limit; when extra birds of certain
species can be taken legally, hunters who know their ducks on the wing
come out ahead.

Knowing a mallard from a merganser has another side: gourmets prefer a
corn-fed mallard to the fish duck.

What to Look For

Differences in size, shape, plumage patterns and colors, wing beat,
flocking behavior, voice, and habitat--all help to distinguish one
species from another.

Flock maneuvers in the air are clues. Mallards, pintails, and wigeon
form loose groups; teal and shovelers flash by in small, compact
bunches; at a distance, canvasbacks shift from waving lines to temporary
V's.

Closer up, individual silhouettes are important. Variations of head
shapes and sizes, lengths of wings and tails, and fat bodies or slim can
be seen.

Within shotgun range, color areas can be important. Light conditions
might make them look different, but their size and location are positive
keys. The sound of their wings can help as much as their calls. Flying
goldeneyes make a whistling sound; wood ducks move with a swish;
canvasbacks make a steady rushing sound. Not all ducks quack; many
whistle, squeal, or grunt.

Although not a hard and fast rule, different species tend to use
different types of habitat. Puddle ducks like shallow marshes and creeks
while divers prefer larger, deeper, and more open waters.

Eclipse Plumage

Most ducks shed their body feathers twice each year. Nearly all drakes
lose their bright plumage after mating, and for a few weeks resemble
females. This hen-like appearance is called the eclipse plumage. The
return to breeding coloration varies in species and individuals of each
species. Blue-winged teal and shovelers may retain the eclipse plumage
until well into the winter.

Wing feathers are shed only once a year; wing colors are always the
same.

Puddle Ducks

Puddle ducks are typically birds of fresh, shallow marshes and rivers
rather than of large lakes and bays. They are good divers, but usually
feed by dabbling or tipping rather than submerging.

The speculum, or colored wing patch, is generally iridescent and
bright, and often a telltale field mark.

Any duck feeding in croplands will likely be a puddle duck, for most of
this group are sure-footed and can walk and run well on land. Their diet
is mostly vegetable, and grain-fed mallards or pintails or
acorn-fattened wood ducks are highly regarded as food.

Mallard

Length--24"
Weight--2-3/4 lbs.

The mallard is our most common duck, found in all flyways. The males are
often called "greenheads." The main wintering area is the lower
Mississippi basin, and along the gulf coast, but many stay as far north
as open waters permits.

Flocks often feed in early morning and late afternoon in nearby
harvested fields, returning to marshes and creeks to spend the night.

The flight is not particularly rapid. Hens have a loud _quack_; the
drake's voice is a low-pitched _kwek-kwek_.

Pintail

Length--26"
Weight--1-3/4 lbs.

These ducks use all four flyways, but are most plentiful in the west.

They are extremely graceful and fast fliers, fond of zig-zagging from
great heights before leveling off to land.

The long neck and tail make them appear longer than mallards, but in
body size and weight they are smaller.

They are agile on land and often feed in grain fields. The drakes
whistle; the hens have a coarse _quack_.

Gadwall

Length--21"
Weight--2 lbs.

Gadwalls are most numerous in the Central Flyway, but not too common
anywhere. They are often called "gray mallards" or "gray ducks." They
are one of the earliest migrants, seldom facing cold weather.

They are the only puddle ducks with a white speculum.

Small, compact flocks fly swiftly, usually in a direct line. Wingbeats
are rapid.

Drakes whistle and _kack-kack_; hens _quack_ like a mallard, but softer.

Wigeon

Length--21"
Weight--1-3/4 lbs.

These are nervous birds, quick to take alarm. Their flight is fast,
irregular, with many twists and turns. In a bunched flock, their
movements have been compared to those of pigeons.

When open water is handy, wigeons often raft up offshore until late
afternoon when they move to marshes and ponds to feed.

The white belly and forewing are very showy in the air. Drakes whistle;
hens have a loud _kaow_ and a lower _qua-awk_.

Shoveler

Length--19-1/2"
Weight--1-1/2 lbs.

Shovelers, 'spoonbills' to many, are early migrants, moving out at the
first frost. The largest numbers are in the Central and Pacific flyways.

The usual flight is steady and direct. When startled, the small flocks
twist and turn in the air like teal.

They are not highly regarded as table birds, because one third of the
usual diet is animal matter.

Drakes call _woh-woh_ and _took-took_; the hen's _quack_ is feeble.

Blue-Winged Teal

Length--16"
Weight--15 oz.

Their small size and twisting turning flight gives the illusion of great
speed. The small, compact flocks commonly fly low over the marshes, and
often take the hunter by surprise.

They are more vocal than most ducks--their high-pitched peeping and
nasal quacking is commonly heard in spring and to a lesser extent in
fall.

These teal are among the first ducks to migrate each fall, and one of
the last in the spring.

Cinnamon Teal

In the Pacific Flyway, cinnamon teal are far more common than
blue-wings. The hens look alike and the habits of both species are
similar.

The pale blue forewing patch is the best field mark, as drakes are
usually in eclipse until January or longer.

Drakes have a whistling _peep_; hens utter a low _quack_.

Green-Winged Teal

Length--15 in.
Weight--14 oz.

Quite hardy--some birds stay as far north as open water is found.

The smallest and one of the most common of our ducks. Their tiny size
gives the impression of great speed, but mallards can fly faster. Their
flight is often low, erratic, with the entire flock twisting and turning
as one unit.

They nest as far north as Alaska, and migrate in all four flyways. Early
fall drakes are usually still in full eclipse plumage.

Drakes whistle and twitter; hens have a slight _quack_.

Wood Duck

Length--18-1/2 in.
Weight--1-1/2 lbs.

Found in all flyways; most numerous in the Atlantic and Mississippi
flyways and fewest in the Central.

They are early migrants; most of them have left the northern States by
mid-November.

Frequents wooded streams and ponds; perches in trees. Flies through
thick timber with speed and ease and often feeds on acorns, berries, and
grapes on the forest floors.

Flight is swift and direct; flocks are usually small.

In the air, their wings make a rustling, swishing sound. Drakes call
_hoo-w-ett_, often in flight; hens have a _cr-r-ek_ when frightened.

Black Duck

Length--24 in.
Weight--2-3/4 lbs.

A bird of the eastern States, primarily the Atlantic Flyway and, to a
lesser extent, the Mississippi.

Shy and wary, regarded as the wariest of all ducks.

Often seen in company of mallards, but along the Atlantic coast
frequents the salt marshes and ocean much more than mallards.

Flight is swift, usually in small flocks.

White wing lining in contrast to very dark body plumage is a good
identification clue.

The hen's _quack_ and the drake's _kwek-kwek_ are duplicates of the
mallards.

Diving Ducks

Diving ducks frequent the larger, deeper lakes and rivers, and coastal
bays and inlets.

The colored wing patches of these birds lack the brilliance of the
speculums of puddle ducks. Since many of them have short tails, their
huge, paddle feet may be used as rudders in flight, and are often
visible on flying birds. When launching into flight, most of this group
patter along the water before becoming airborne.

They feed by diving, often to considerable depths. To escape danger,
they can travel great distances underwater, emerging only enough to show
their head before submerging again.

Their diets of fish, shellfish, mollusks, and aquatic plants make them
second choice, as a group, for sportsmen. Canvasbacks and redheads
fattened on eel grass or wild celery are notable exceptions.

Since their wings are smaller in proportion to the size and weight of
their bodies, they have a more rapid wingbeat than puddle ducks.

Canvasback

Length--22 in.
Weight--3 lbs.

Normally late to start south, canvasbacks migrate in lines and irregular
V's.

In feeding areas, compact flocks fly in indefinite formations. Their
wingbeat is rapid and noisy; their speed is the swiftest of all our
ducks.

Feeding behavior is highly variable. In some areas they feed at night
and spend the day rafted up in open waters; in other areas they feed
inshore mornings and evenings.

On the water, body size and head shape distinguish them from scaups and
redheads.

Drakes _croak_, _peep_, and _growl_; hens have a mallard-like _quack_.

Redheads

Length--20 in.
Weight--2-1/2 lbs.

Range coast to coast, with the largest numbers in the Central Flyway.
Migratory flocks travel in V's; move in irregular formations over
feeding areas. Often found associating with canvasback.

In the air, they give the impression of always being in a hurry.

Usually spend the day in large rafts in deep water; feed morning and
evening in shallower sections.

Drakes _purr_ and _meow_; hens have a loud _squak_, higher than a hen
mallard's.

Ringneck

Length--17 in.
Weight--2-1/2 lbs.

Similar in appearance to scaups, but more often found in fresh marshes
and wooded ponds. In flight, the dark wings are different from the
white-edged wings of scaup.

Faint brown ring on drake's neck never shows in the field; light bands
at tip and base of bill are conspicuous.

Fly as small flocks in open formation; often land without circling.
Drakes _purr_; hens are usually silent.

Scaup

Greater--Length--18-1/2 in.
         Weight--2 lbs.

Lesser--Length--17 in.
        Weight--1-7/8 lbs.

Except for the wing marks, greater and lesser scaup appear nearly
identical in the field.

The light band near the trailing edges of the wings runs almost to the
tip in the greater scaup, but only about half way in the lesser.

Greater scaup prefer large open water areas; lesser scaup often use
marshes and ponds.

Both species migrate late, sometimes just before freezeup.

Flock movements are rapid, often erratic, usually in compact groups.

Hens are silent; drake lesser scaup _purr_; drake greater scaup have a
discordant _scaup, scaup_.

Goldeneye

Common--Length--19 in.
        Weight--2-1/4 lbs.

Barrow's--Length--19 in.
          Weight--2-3/4 lbs.

These are active, strong-winged fliers moving singly or in small flocks,
often high in the air. Distinctive wing-whistling sound in flight has
earned the name of whistlers.

Goldeneyes generally move south late in the season; most of them winter
on coastal waters and the Great Lakes. Inland, they like rapids and fast
water.

Barrow's goldeneye, predominantly a Westerner, is less wary than the
common goldeneye.

Hens of both species are look-alikes.

Drakes have a piercing _speer-speer_--hens a low _quack_. Both are
usually quiet.

Bufflehead

Length--14-1/2 in.
Weight--1 lb.

Stragglers migrate south in mid-fall, but the largest numbers move just
ahead of freezeup. Most flocks in feeding areas are small--5 or 6 birds,
with more hens and immatures than adult drakes.

Very small size, bold black and white color pattern, and low, swift
flight are field marks. Unlike most divers, they can fly straight up
from a watery takeoff.

Largest concentrations are on both seacoasts and along the Gulf of
Mexico. Inland, they will remain as far north as open water permits.

Usually silent. Drakes _squeak_ and have a guttural note; hens _quack_
weakly.

Ruddy

Length--15-1/2 in.
Weight--1-1/3 lbs.

The ruddy duck often dives or swims away from danger rather than flying.
When flying, their small wings stroke so fast they resemble bumblebees.

They are early to mid-fall migrants.

Drakes often cock their tails upright at an angle, the only species to
habitually do so.

Both hens and drakes are silent in the fall.

Red-Breasted Merganser

Length--23 in.
Weight--21-1/2 lbs.

These birds winter most abundantly in coastal waters, including the Gulf
of Mexico, and to a lesser extent, the Great Lakes.

Their flight, strong and direct, is usually low over the water. They are
difficult to distinguish in flight from the common merganser.

Voice: Seldom heard.

Common Merganser

Length--25-1/2 in.
Weight--2-1/2 lbs.

This species is larger than the red-breasted merganser, and is one of
the largest of our ducks. It is one of the last to migrate south, and is
more common than the red-breasted merganser on inland waters.

Flocks move in "follow the leader" style, low over the water.

The only call seems to be a startled _croak_.

Hooded Merganser

Length--18 in.
Weight--1-1/2 lbs.

Often seen in pairs, or very small flocks. Short rapid wingstrokes
create an impression of great speed.

Winters in the inland waters of all coastal States; seldom goes to salt
water.

Voice: Seldom heard in fall.

Whistling Ducks

Length--18-19 in.
Weight--1-3/4 lbs.

The trailing legs and rounded wings of these slow flying ducks makes
them look bigger than they are.

Both species are primarily Mexican. In the U.S., the black-bellied is
found only in south Texas and Louisiana. The fulvous also occurs there
and in Florida with occasional stragglers further north along both
coasts and the Mississippi Valley. The fulvous is the more common of the
two species in the United States.

Sexes are alike. Both species have shrill whistling calls.

White-Winged Scoter

Length--21-1/2 in.
Weight--3-1/2 lbs.

The three scoters on these two pages are sea ducks, wintering on open
coastal waters. White-wings are among the heaviest and largest of all
ducks.

Surf Scoter

Length--19-1/2 in.
Weight--2 lbs.

Like all scoters, these birds move along our coasts in loose flocks,
stringing into irregular, wavy lines. Drakes can be distinguished from
other scoters by two white patches on their head and the bright color of
the bill.

Flight is strong, direct, usually close to the waves.

Black Scoter

Length--19-1/2 in.
Weight--2-1/2 lbs.

In flight, drakes appear all black except for the flash of the slight
gray underwing and the bright yellow swelling at the base of the upper
bill.

Scoters feed on mollusks, crabs, and some fish and very little
vegetation. They are locally known as "coots."

Common Eider

Length--23-1/2 in.
Weight--5 lbs.

Thick-necked stocky birds, alternately flapping and sailing in flight;
flocks string out in a line, close to the water. Occurs in the United
States chiefly along New England coasts and occasionally south to New
Jersey.

Other eiders--king, spectacled and Stellar's--occur in Alaska and are
not pictured in this guide. King eiders occasionally are found in north
Atlantic coastal waters.

Oldsquaw

Length--20-1/2 in.
Weight--2 lbs.

A slim, brightly plumaged sea duck. Smaller than the scoters or eiders.

Flight is swift and low with constantly changing flock formations.
Ranges along both coasts and the Great Lakes.

One of the most vocal of ducks; drakes have a loud pleasant _caloo,
caloo_, constantly heard.

Harlequin

Length--17 in.
Weight--1-1/2 lbs.

Glossy slate-blue plumage enlivened by white stripes and spots give the
adult male harlequin a striking appearance. The female resembles a small
female scoter. At a distance, both sexes look black. Flight is swift,
with abrupt turns. Flocks are small and compact. Ranges both coasts,
north from New Jersey and San Francisco. Uncommon.

Swans

Trumpeter--Length--59 in.
           Weight--28 lbs.

Whistling--Length--52 in.
           Weight--16 lbs.

Once thought to be rare, trumpeter swans are slowly increasing in Alaska
and on western refuges and parks.

Whistling swans are common and increasing. They winter near Chesapeake
Bay, San Francisco Bay, Puget Sound and Salton Sea. Occasionally found
in fields.

Both species are large with pure white plumage.

Canada Geese

Numerous and popular, Canada geese are often called "honkers." Includes
several races varying in weight from 3 to over 12 pounds. All have black
heads and necks, white cheeks, similar habitats and voices. Sexes are
identical.

Brant

Length--24-25 in.
Weight--3-1/4 - 3-3/4 lbs.

These are sea geese, the blacks wintering south to Baja, California, in
the Pacific. The Atlantic race winters from Virginia northward. Flight
is swift, in irregular and changing flock patterns.

Snow Geese

Length--29-31 in.
Weight--6-1/2 - 7-1/2 lbs.

Two races of snow geese are recognized: greater snows along the Atlantic
Coast, and lesser snows elsewhere on the continent. Blue geese are a
color phase of the lesser snow.

White-Fronted Geese

Length--29 in.
Weight--6-1/4 lbs.

Migrates chiefly in the Central and Pacific flyways but also present in
the Mississippi. Rare in the Atlantic Flyway. Appears brownish gray at a
distance. Often called "specklebelly".

Most distinctive characteristic of the V-shaped flocks is the high
pitched call _kow-kow-kow-kow_.

COMPARATIVE SIZES OF WATERFOWL

All birds on these pages are drawn to the same scale.

Wetlands Attract Wildlife

There's more than just ducks in our marshes. Knowing and identifying
other birds and animals add to the enjoyment of being in a blind.

The same sources of food and shelter that draw waterfowl to ponds and
marshes also attract other forms of wildlife.

Protected species are sometimes more numerous than ducks or geese.

Money from Duck Stamp sales is used exclusively to purchase wetlands,
preserving areas for ducks, geese, and all wildlife for the enjoyment
and pleasure of hunters and non-hunters alike.

Administrative Waterfowl Flyways

Waterfowl Flyways

The term "flyway" has long been used to designate the migration routes
of birds. For management purposes, four waterfowl flyways--Pacific,
Central, Mississippi, and Atlantic--were established in the United
States in 1948. To varying degrees the waterfowl populations using each
of these flyways differ in abundance, species composition, migration
pathways, and breeding ground origin. There are differences, also, in
levels of shooting pressure and harvest.

For the most part flyway boundaries follow State lines. However, the
boundary between the Pacific and the Central flyway general follows the
Continental Divide.

There are some problems in matching waterfowl migration corridors with
flyway boundaries because some species nest and winter in areas that do
not occur along a north-south axis. These species cross flyway
boundaries during migration. On balance, the present arrangement is
useful in that it permits reasonable management of waterfowl. At some
future time, it is possible that further rearrangement of boundaries may
permit better management of the waterfowl resource.

Flyway Councils

In 1952, Flyway Councils were formed in each of the four flyways. The
Council in each flyway is made up of representatives from the wildlife
agencies of the States in that flyway--one representative from each
State. The Councils study flyway problems, develop waterfowl management
recommendations, and generally work closely with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service in implementing waterfowl management and research
programs.

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1978 O--247-777

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office Washington, D.C. 20402

Stock No. 024-010-00442-8

Created in 1849, the Department of the Interior--America's Department of
Natural Resources--is concerned with the management, conservation, and
development of the Nation's water, fish, wildlife, mineral, forest, and
park and recreational resources. It also has major responsibilities for
Indian and Territorial affairs.

As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department works to
assure that nonrenewable resources are developed and used wisely, that
park and recreational resources are conserved for the future, and that
renewable resources make their full contribution to the progress,
prosperity, and security of the United States--now and in the future.

***

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaBook


text:
More Fluoroquinolone Safety Concerns
By Bronner Handwerger | February 2, 2019
In July 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Drug Safety Communication to alert healthcare professionals and patients about the increased risks for hypoglycemic coma and adverse psychiatric events associated with the use of fluoroquinolone (FQ) antibiotics.[1] Prior to this safety announcement, labeling for individual fluoroquinolone agents differed in regard to warnings and precautions for blood sugar– or mental health–related side effects. The FDA's intention is to make information pertaining to such side effects more prominent and consistent across the drug class so that healthcare providers and patients can make informed risk-benefit decisions.
The updated labeling for all systemic (oral and injectable) fluoroquinolones resulted from analyses of postmarketing adverse events identified through both the voluntary FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and published medical literature. The FDA's analyses included safety reports for five FQs: ciprofloxacin, gemifloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, and ofloxacin. Delafloxacin, approved in June 2017, was not included, although it is expected to exhibit a similar adverse effect profile and is included in the required labeling updates.[1]
Hypoglycemic Coma
Between October 1987 and April 2017, FAERS received 56 reports of hypoglycemic coma following fluoroquinolone use. Additionally, investigators identified 11 published case reports linking the drug class to hypoglycemic coma. Most cases involved elderly patients or those with renal impairment or diabetes. Among the 47 patients who were receiving concomitant hypoglycemic therapy for diabetes, 35 were receiving a sulfonylurea. However, nearly one third of the reported cases involved patients who were neither diagnosed with diabetes nor receiving hypoglycemic therapy. Of the 67 total cases, the FDA reports that nine patients experienced permanent disability and 13 patients ultimately died as a result of severe hypoglycemia. The FDA investigators noted that renal insufficiency may have complicated these more severe cases. On the basis of the FDA's review, manufacturer labeling of fluoroquinolones will now include strengthened warnings in the Warnings and Precautions section to explicitly describe the risk for coma due to hypoglycemia.[1]
Adverse Psychiatric Effects
Postmarketing analyses using FAERS and published medical literature related to adverse psychiatric effects also warranted updated fluoroquinolone labeling, according to the FDA. While warning labels for central nervous system (CNS) effects differed across the class, many already included warnings for anxiety, confusion, depression, hallucination, and psychoses. To standardize class-wide labeling, the following six adverse effects will now be included separately in the Warnings and Precautions section: agitation, delirium, disorientation, disturbance in attention, memory impairment, and nervousness.[1] The FDA does not provide qualitative evidence from their analyses but states that these effects have been observed after as little as one fluoroquinolone dose.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The very terraced fields in ones north of Vietnam should be full of color muted This Vietnamese girl has spotted in Ho Chihuahua Minh City the most significant city of Vietnam.
A man walking is considered with his brokenout sport bike in heavy rain from Ho Chi Minh Site. This giant city only would have rainy and dry problems. The Old Quarter District involving the capital Hanoi could be described as always crowed with individuals and pedestrians. The women is coming home at her bicycle in nightfall. The sand hill is sought after in the south towards Vietnam Purple romance regarding an untouched beach living in Cua Lo, Nghe One hometown of Uncle Ho A little boy has been riding on a zoysia grass in Sapa, Vietnam. It must enjoy a freecare life.
A Flower Hmong baby is sleeping peacefully peacefully on its mother's back. Considerable making way in order to some weekly market ultimately northeast of Vietnam. Vietnamese vendors are symbol of Vietnam when they are perhaps walking patiently for the Old Quarter when considering such a lengthy Journey to take a look at beautiful Ha Long-term Bay in haze Palau Reiseführer Vietnamese girls are considering Elephant Falls within just Dalat the entering into the Central Highlands of Vietnam and then mostvisited vacation desired destination. Ancient Hoi An town is bathing back yellow lights within buildings and violet hue of sun.


We are just about at sunrise and already the chicks are in the water and the parents are rapidly bringing minnows to them for breakfast.
When the loons first start nesting, there is a reassurance when I come home or when I look down at the nest that I see a silhouette of a loon sitting on the nest.
Now that the chicks have hatched, there is a reassurance when I look down at the nest to NOT see a loon sitting on the nest. How quickly things change.
But when I spot the loons on the lake, the first thought that I have is, "Where are the chicks? Are there two of them? Are they in the water? Are they under the wings? Are there TWO bumps under the wings?"
And then when I finally see both chicks, I can relax.
Right now I am relaxed.
I have seen both chicks this morning!
They look good. Healthy. And active.
What I have seen with the loons here is that they stay on the open water of the lake.
After the chicks hatch, they stay in the general area of the nest. But with each passing day, gradually they range further and further from the nest.
Chicks are almost totally dependent on the parents for their food for the first 6 weeks of their life or so. Gradually they will be able to dive and learn to catch some of their own food. But in the early weeks they are very dependent on the parents.
One study done years ago showed that a chick rode on its parent's back about 60% of the time during the first week of life and by the second week that had decreased to about 10% of the time.
During these first two weeks of the chick's life, they are so vulnerable. And when they are away from the adults they are even more vulnerable from predators above and below the water.
Yesterday morning a pair of eagles stayed in the area for some time and understandably it caused great concern to the loons.
But our chicks survived that and are still safe today.
But it is a good reminder for all of us as we are out on the lakes.
Observe our loons and especially the chicks from a distance. Bring binoculars.
Normally if you stay 300 feet away (some people say 500 feet) you will cause little stress or danger.
But what I have seen and what I myself 'want' to do, is to get CLOSE.
We can love our loons too much.
And if we scare the chicks off the backs of the parents or if the parents dive and leave the chicks on the surface, we have just exponentially increased the possibility of the chick being taken by a predator.
What I have seen is people loving loons too much rather than purposely doing something malicious.
So share that information with your family and friends. Our loons will thank you.
We will leave the LoonCam up for a few more days. Hopefully you will catch a glimpse of the loons once in a while. But maybe sometime this weekend we will look at shutting it down for the year.
I will continue to update you on how the loons are doing. Although like the loons themselves, that will gradually become more spread out.
Let me mention one other thing that you might be interested in. Next week I will be doing a presentation on loons to a "Pioneer School". This is a special program for children which is done in an old one room country school where the kids from first through sixth grade see what it was like to go to school in the 1800s or early 1900s. Hopefully it will be a special time for them. I wish I could invite you but obviously I can't.
What I can invite you to is the presentation that I will be doing at the Isanti County Historical Society in Cambridge, MN on Wednesday, August 13. I would love to meet you and talk with you.


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It is vital for the safety of football players to have helmets and facemasks up to safety regulations. Overtime, through repeated use and force, facemasks may become damaged and need to be replaced. This guide goes through the process of replacing a facemask to keep a helmet up to safety standards.
Any facemask that is made for a Riddell Revolution Speed helmet.
If the helmet has a visor remove this from the facemask first.
Visors are typically attached by screws to the facemask itself, although different models have different attachment systems.
The helmet shown in this photo does not have a visor.
Using the Riddell Quick Release tool (or a suitable alternative) press the center button of the quick release fastener to unlock the attachment.
Once unlocked you will end up with a washer from the back of the attachment and the top releasing mechanism.
Unscrew the top two attachments with a screw driver at the top of the facemask.
Slip off the four plastic clips and attach them onto the same spots on the new facemask.
The plastic clips for the top screws and the bottom quick release attachments are different so it is very important to keep them separate.
Screw the top two attachments back at the top of the helmet.
Make sure the facemask is centered on the helmet.
If necessary one might need to move the internal padding of the helmet to better access and maneuver these pieces.
Prepare to reattach the quick release attachments on the sides of the helmet by inserting the top releasing mechanism into the plastic fastener and aligning the back washer on the inside of the helmet.
If necessary, make sure that the quick release mechanism is pressed, you may need to use the Quick Release tool.
Simply use your fingers to press together the back and front of the quick release attachments to lock them into place.
Lastly, if necessary reattach the visor.
If there is no visor to reattach, then the helmet is completed.


Click the button below to add the SMX-Scopio-B digital inspection system to your wish list.
SMX-Scopio-B is a configuration of SMX-Scopio probe with the external test button. It is designed for visualization of connector end faces and detection/analysis of connector defects. The device features high resolution, fiber auto detection/centering and user defined Pass/Fail criteria.
The probes can be used for either bulkhead or patch cord inspection, such as SC, FC, ST, LC, MU, E2000 - PC & APC as well as MT, MTP/MPO, SMA and other military connectors.
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text:
Is the global economic crisis leading to a severe shortage of snickerdoodles? My latest column in the Star…
One subject I wish that I had studied more closely in school is economics. What seemed like such an abstract field in my youth now appears to provide the secret decoder ring essential to deciphering the world.
My formal training in economics mirrored Father Guido Sarducci's "Five Minute University" — which reduced college subjects to whatever graduates were likely to remember five years after graduating. All I recall of the entire economics curriculum is: "supply and demand." Later, I learned from Russell Crowe — playing a dishy but deranged mathematician in "A Beautiful Mind" — that world-changing economic theory could be based upon the number of women a guy could pick up in a bar.
But for a crash-course in supply and demand, I encourage you to visit the coffee counter at Dean & DeLuca, where I am currently waging a one-woman campaign to educate the staff on the serious economic implications of their inability to provide as many snickerdoodle cookies as the public, specifically I, might wish to consume.
I often swing by D&D as I traverse the valley in my epic, eternal search for the elusive snickerdoodle, like some philosophical but low-blood-sugared combination of Kung Fu and Cookie Monster. I stride through the tourist-filled shop with the smug confidence of a Napa Valley local and former NYC D&D devotee who has seen everything — specifically their complete cookie collection — before. Making a beeline for the coffee counter, I scan the baked goods selection in guarded anticipation, spotting large peanut butter and oatmeal raisin cookies piled high.
"Do you have any snickerdoodles today?" I inquire, seeing none on display. "No," they reply, "they are all gone." Noting my disappointment, they add, forcefully: "You have to get here earlier," clarifying — should there be any doubt — that my failure to obtain a snickerdoodle was due entirely to my own lack of character. What they don't understand, aside from the time-demands posed by my multiple careers, is that I begin each day with a firm resolve to avoid snacking and sweets. It is only by late afternoon — when the pressure of construction-related traffic delays, dropped cell phone conversations and landline robocalls have driven me to the emotional breaking point — that I reach for a restorative cookie.
"Why don't you bake more?" I once asked, realizing the folly of the question as soon as it left my lips. These cookies are likely not baked on the premises, and certainly not in quantities specified by local managers. They are probably imported from some distant NAFTA or Eurozone-partner and distributed by computer according to a demographic formula calculated by postal code. A global economic trade imbalance caused by Ben Bernanke and Ayn Rand has led to embargoes of Brazilian sugar, Sri Lankan cinnamon and Asian flour — creating a severe worldwide shortage of snickerdoodles.
"Why don't you bake them yourself?" I hear you asking, hopefully realizing the folly of your question as soon as it left your lips. Yes, why don't I have my chef do it, or my maid, or my movie star boyfriend, for that matter? The better question is: In an America where the customer is always right, where supply is supposed to be carefully calibrated to satisfy demand, and where elite gourmet food chains exist for the sole purpose of catering to a consumer's urgent, illogical desire for a $4 tomato, a $40 slice of cheese or a $400 pound of cat-anus coffee — in that great country — why can't Dean & DeLuca keep snickerdoodles in stock?
One doesn't need a degree in economics to understand the implications of my writing this column. Having planted the seed in your beautiful but impressionable minds — for why would you still be reading a newspaper if you were not, to some degree, impressionable — you will now crave snickerdoodles, dream about snickerdoodles, and stop the owner of Dean & DeLuca in the street to demand snickerdoodles.
He will write a memo, which will be forwarded to corporate headquarters, where the VP of Baked Goods will elicit the assistance of the U.S. Department of Commerce to ease restrictions on sugars and spices (including cream of tartar — a dash of which distinguishes the true snickerdoodle). Guidelines will be promulgated to individual stores mandating that snickerdoodles be stocked at all times; failure to do so will lead to reprimands, loss of promotions and bonuses paid entirely in the form of those peanut butter and oatmeal raisin cookies that have been sitting around, untouched, all day. Snickerdoodles will become as ubiquitous at Dean & DeLuca as snazzy square napkins and crisp white handle bags.
But when that day comes, will I still want that snickerdoodle? Will you? Only an economist knows for sure.
Tags: Ayn Rand, Ben Bernanke, Cookie, Dean & Deluca, economics, Father Guido Sarducci, Humor, Napa Valley, Russell Crowe, Snickerdoodle
Up the Valley: My wheelhouse
The perils of parking prowess gone kaput…my latest column in the Star:
Among the skills in my portfolio of which I have always been most proud — right up there with my expertise in hooking up stereo equipment, an extensive knowledge of show-tune lyrics and the ability to bring dead houseplants back to life — is my aptitude as a parallel parker.
My parking prowess was not born in me but was achieved through years of diligent study and practice, particularly during the San Francisco garage-less years. I spent a significant portion of my late 20s circling my Pacific Heights apartment in hopes of shoehorning my beat-up Honda Civic between two gleaming Bimmers. Even under the pressure of heavy traffic, I could reverse right into the tightest of spots — and in those days, cars were low and long and it was hard to see the front end of a black 280Z or RX7 in the dark.
Today drivers sit up high in SUVs, so there's no excuse for bumping the car behind you (unless it's a Mini-Cooper, in which case they're asking for it). But these SUVs also have big tires, and there's the rub. For you see, I, too, have an SUV, with bald tires that were recently replaced with some all-seasons type with thick, chunky treads that have totally changed the vehicle's handling. As a result, I can no longer park with my customary aplomb.
You'd think that I could adapt to these new tires in no time. But after a few bumps and scrapes, and more than a few embarrassing public incidents driving my rear tire up onto the curb, I have to admit that I've totally lost my parking mojo. Unfortunately, daily affirmations, personal parking pep talks and reflection upon past parking triumphs won't restore my confidence — the minute you think about it, you've already failed. Gliding into a tight parking place needs to come as naturally as breathing or laughing or slithering into a beloved pair of skinny-jeans.
It's amazing how just one little failure can undermine levels of self-confidence that took years to build. In an instant, one loses the ability to accomplish tasks previously performed effortlessly — like cracking an egg, flipping a pancake or throwing a basketball through a hoop (OK, that last one I wouldn't really know; I've tried to perform it only once, in or around 1987, when the ball swooshed through the hoop, and having nowhere to go but down, I quietly retired from sports). My male friends tell emotional tales of certain "this never happens to them" incidents of poor performance, prompting endless soul-searching, trips to the doctor for little blue pills and desperate late-night online purchases of medical devices which are undoubtedly fully covered by Obamacare.
Perhaps due to some related disturbance in the parking continuum, my parking Karma seems to be on the fritz as well. I've always abided by the "everyone will assume the good parking spots are already taken" rule, frequently snagging a spot right in front. Now I am reduced to squeezing into a space labeled "compact" and crawling out the passenger door. Clearly these big ol' tires have sent me careening dangerously off-balance, like a girl who spent her life in spiky Jimmy Choos suddenly having to navigate the world in a pair of Dr. Martens. I probably suffer from a post-traumatic parking-related stress disorder that can only be cured by one of those luxury cars that parks for you; I wonder if this is covered by Obamacare?
Oh why did I ever replace my tires? And what made me decide to buy this off-road vehicle anyway? The full extent of my off-roading consists of traversing the unpaved overflow parking lot at Nordstrom during the holiday shopping season. Where was I planning to use the dashboard compass, why did I purchase an under-carriage brush protection package, and precisely what was I planning to tie to this roof rack — some moose I bagged during a hunting trip to the Adirondacks?
Maybe I'm just not good at shopping for cars. Come to think of it, perhaps I was never a skilled parker at all. Maybe I was just lucky, and one day I finally ran through my allotment of favorable parking opportunities. It's even possible that I am parking-challenged, and that my faith in my own ability to park was just raw hubris — like that of those tone-deaf contestants on "American Idol" who think they can sing, or uncharismatic political candidates who think they can be President.
I'm afraid we'll never know, because a talent for brutally honest, accurate self-assessment has never been one of the core skills in my wheelhouse.
Tags: Humor, mojo, parking, SUV, wheelhouse


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History of Kappa Tau Alpha
Kappa Tau Alpha celebrated its 100th anniversary March 10, 2010. The Society was founded at the University of Missouri two years after the first school of journalism in the world opened its doors there. KTA was dedicated, then as now, to the encouragement and recognition of outstanding scholarship.
One of the oldest members of the Association of College Honor Societies, KTA is the only such society in journalism and mass communication recognized by ACHS.
The expansion of Kappa Tau Alpha and the development of journalism/mass communication education have moved ahead hand-in-hand. Today, Kappa Tau Alpha chapters are located at 95 colleges and universities and the society continues to play an important role in fostering scholarship.
Shortly after the Missouri School of Journalism's first year, faculty members led by Dean Walter Williams sought a method to recognize the work of outstanding students. The first meeting of Kappa Tau Alpha was held March 10, 1910. Minutes indicate that grades were to be the only prerequisite for admission.
Inactive during World War I, KTA remained a local society until 1925 when a second chapter, at the University of Illinois, was established under the leadership of journalism director Lawrence W. Murphy, who later became the first national president.
Professor Murphy led the nationalization drive, seeking interest from other educators at the December, 1930 meeting in Boston of the American Association of Teachers of Journalism, forerunner to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). A nationalization luncheon followed on December 29. Murphy was elected president and served until 1935 when J.L. O'Sullivan of Marquette University succeeded him. Frank L. Martin of Missouri followed him in 1936. Frank Luther Mott, then head of journalism at the University of Iowa, served 1937-1939.
Mott later moved to Missouri as dean and directed KTA until 1962, when William H. Taft took over as executive director.
The historic Boston meeting resulted in additional chapters being established at West Virginia, Marquette, Ohio, Michigan and Southern Methodist. Colorado, Arkansas, Iowa and Ohio State followed soon thereafter.
Membership increased slowly until the 1950s when 11 chapters were added. Another 11 joined in the next decade. Rapid growth occurred during the 70s and 80s with each decade producing 22 new chapters.
The relative slowness in KTA's expansion is understandable if one considers the climate of the Twenties. Journalism education was in its pioneering era; the leader's energies were devoted more to establishing programs than with the starting of honor societies. On the occasion of Kappa Tau Alpha's 50th birthday, James Markham wrote: "until a generation of scholars had grown up within the ranks of journalism educators, the need and opportunity for an honorary scholarship society was not adequately recognized. Professional groups, such as Sigma Delta Chi, received more attention."
In a Feb. 1, 1933 sketch about KTA in The Flat Hat, a tabloid about journalism program activities at the University of Illinois, it was noted that: "At the time of its [KTA's] establishment, other fraternities in the field of the press were activity societies closely aligned with the student publications of universities and colleges. Sigma Delta Chi, Theta Sigma Phi, Pi Delta Epsilon ... were building their programs around the work on various publications. They existed to interest or reward students who did well in their work on publications."
KTA's relationship with Phi Beta Kappa was noted too: "Dissatisfaction with Phi Beta Kappa existed in some schools because the journalism students with high grades in professional courses were frequently neglected because of prejudice against vocational or 'new' subjects in the curriculum."
Foreshadowing today's journalism/mass communication enrollments, Kappa Tau Alpha was ahead of its time in recognizing women. Elizabeth Agee, member #19, was initiated in KTA's second year of existence, but apparently never graduated. Mary Paxton Keeley, the first woman to receive a degree in journalism, is member #81.
In 1972 William H. Taft succeeded Mott as executive director and oversaw the Society's expansion from 31 chapters to 90 before he retired in 1991. Keith P. Sanders followed Taft and served until 2017.
In 2000, chapter advisers selected the most significant leaders in the Society's 90 year history. Lawrence Murphy, Frank Luther Mott, William H. Taft, Keith Sanders, and W. David Sloan were selected.
Click for a list of former presidents.
Lawrence Murphy
Frank Luther Mott
William Taft
Keith Sanders


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