Monday, May 18, 2015

Death in Your State: What’s the Most ‘Distinctive’ Killer?

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Death in Your State: What’s the Most ‘Distinctive’ Killer?

11 comments:

  1. Then, for each state, the researchers calculated the rate of death from each cause, and divided this by the rate of death from that particular cause in the United States as a whole. This let the researchers see which states had higher rates of death from certain causes than the rest of the United States.

    So California had the highest death rate comparatively for prostate cancer. Since only men are affected by this cancer, this means that most causes of death are uncommon in California. Given that a great proportion of men in California immigrated from other, less healthy states... We win!

    Come to California and live out your natural life. Real estate is limited, so don't come out here unless you truly believe in the health benefits of living in a state like this. The boosters in 1890 had it more or less right. Dry climate. Oranges and avocados. Snowy mountains and warm waters. No vegetable grows better any place on earth than California's Central Valley. A Mediterranean climate for the south. One of the greatest benefits is not needing to carry a gun.

    One thing. With the earth out-of-whack due to fossil fuels, we could use a water pipeline from Oregon to Sacramento. Makes more sense than building oil pipelines.

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  2. I am sure Oregon will sell you water at a reasonable price that manages to remove all taxes needed in Oregon to finance their state operations. You are living a dream if you think any state is going to pipe clean water to you. California better wise up and start building desalination plants as fast as possible if they want to have a reliable source of water in the future.

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  3. You might be right. It's a tough sell. As far as I know, the only desalination plant will be in Carlsbad, about fifteen miles up the coast from my location. This will be far and away the most expensive water that the Metropolitan Water District purchases. Right now the authorities are considering slamming the middle class with higher rates. Understand that water rates have been going up rather quickly for the last twenty years. The carrot and stick approach has been in place for some time now. There are four tiers of water prices. The first tier applies to an amount of water sufficient to cook and clean. Going up from there. I pay anywhere between one hundred and eighty to as much as two hundred and fifty dollars a month for water. The last tier is water for your garden and plants.

    The toilet-to-tap idea appeared some twenty years ago as well. I would not be drinking tap water today if it had been put in place. It is a shame we didn't wise up and install purple pipes to neighborhoods. The best the city has done for us is to allow grey water solutions.

    There is a marine environment concern associated with desalination. Inhaling plankton and fish eggs into the intake ducts. Probably not much worse than the cooling water for the defunct San Onofre nuclear power plant.

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    1. FJ the avocados you refer to above require 72 gallons of water each to be brought to market 200ml of orange juice requires 13 gallons and almonds 1.1 gallon per nut...Hardly the best use of a precious resource would you agree? would it be better to outlaw the growing of all water wasting crops till the situation gets better or more efficient farming methods can be developed?....yes it would probably devastate California's economy but it would help save California from dying of thirst

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    2. I've heard that before but find it hard to believe. Picture an almond tree. Do you really believe each and every nut requires than much water?

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    3. I've heard that before but find it hard to believe. Picture an almond tree. Do you really believe each and every nut requires than much water?

      Yeah, why believe in that silly "science" shit?

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    4. Mike, now picture that almond tree being watered every day so it can produce it's crop at the end of the season.

      Here's an article by Mother Jones:

      http://m.motherjones.com/environment/2014/02/wheres-californias-water-going

      Actually, since this is by Mother Jones, and I have yet to read an article from them that even approaches truth, I'm going to be skeptical with you, Mike.

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    5. Instead of just expressing your skepticism, why don't you do your usual math wizardry on it. The estimated number of nuts on each tree, multiplied by the ridiculous claim of water used per nut. Simple, no?

      Of course, Kurt's knee-jerk reaction is to be disagreeable to anything I say. In this case he's left himself completely alone - you're his usual companion in these disagreements.

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    6. Of course, Kurt's knee-jerk reaction is to be disagreeable to anything I say.

      That's about as safe a rule of thumb as I'll ever find.

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    7. The one gallon/almond claim is very plausible. Are not not considering that the tree must be watered for at least six months out of the year to produce one crop? Simple, yes?

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    8. While I do find it hard to believe Mike I do believe it....I have seen several interviews with California almond farmers in which they discussed this topic..

      Two years ago I stopped buying California avocados and nuts for this very reason....In southern Nevada where I live Millions of gallons of water are wasted everyday on needless landscaping and it drives me crazy...It drives me crazy that I am contractually obligated to water unwanted tress in my yard..

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