What does "the press" mean in the First Amendment's guarantee "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of...the press"? The Mainstream Media or collection of reputable Internet, print, TV, and radio journalists, right? Bloggers, too, if you're feeling generous?
Sorry, brah! In his landmark new article on the press clause's original meaning titled "'The Freedom of...the Press,' From 1791 to 1868 to Now- Freedom for the Press as an Industry, or the Press as a Technology," UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh argues the Founders meant the press clause's "the press" to be the printing press (a printing technology) and any future communication technology. Crazy, right? So the Founders really meant something more like "freedom of...the printing press" or "freedom in the use of the press"?
In a jump-kick to "the press-as-journalists"'s face, Volokh notes Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), the most widely used dictionary at the ratification's time, gave no definition of "press" in terms of today's common understanding of "the press" as a collection of journalists but did define "press" as "[t]he instrument by which books are printed." Volokoh mentions that, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, a definition of "the press" as a collection of literature ("[n]ewspapers, journals, and periodical literature collectively") emerged in the English language in the late 1700s and early 1800s. However, before and at the Founding, the Founders did not use this "press" definition when discussing press freedom.
Volokh got me thinking: Scanning Johnson's dictionary, I discovered Johnson had no entry for "media" but did define the following words:
Journalist - "Writer of journals" (with "journal" being "any paper publi[s]hed daily; an account kept of daily tran[s]actions")
Reporter - "Relater; one that gives an account"
Newsmonger - "One that deals with news; one who[s]e employment it is to hear and to tell news" (with "news" being "fre[s]h account of anything," "[s]omething not heard before," and "papers which give an account of the tran[s]actions of the present times")
If the Founders wanted to protect in particular who today we call media, reporters, etc. with "freedom of...the press," then surely the Founders could have written, for example, "freedom of...journalists" or "freedom of...newsmongers."
Volokh describes how, with no significant exceptions, prominent writers the Founders often cited, including William Blackstone, Jean-Louis De Lolme, and George Tucker, connected press freedom with the right of every "freeman," "citizen," or "individual" to "write," "print," or "publish" his or her thoughts. This fact implies the Founders didn't intend the press clause to protect the existing or future collection of "newsmongers" per se but rather to recognize the right of any person (or "freeman") to use printing presses (Until 1694, England imposed licenses on publications, which the Founders abhorred). James Madison's following first draft of the Bill of Rights' speech/press clauses highlights this point: "The people [emphasis added] shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable." According to Johnson's dictionary, "people" had such definitions as "a nation," "men, or per[s]ons in general," and "the commonality."
Volokh provides much more evidence for the press clause's "the press" being the printing press, particularly his evaluations of U.S. court cases from the Founding to 2011 that demonstrate judges have consistently interpreted the press clause as protecting any individuals who use the printing press, including newspaper advertisers and authors of letters to the editor, pamphlets, and books. Volokh describes how it was only the 1970s when some lower courts began interpreting the press clause's "the press" to be a collection of journalists and not the printing press as a technology.
My only disappointment with Volokh's article is his insufficient explanation for how constitutional law could, in the press clause's original meaning, interpret "the press" as including future communication technologies. Volokh touches the issue a few times but leaves much to be desired. For instance, Volokh's footnote 9, in describing what may qualify as equivalents of the Founders' printing press and why constitutional law should accept equivalents, says the following:
[Constitutional law should accept any]...communication technology that today serves the role the printing press did in the 1700s...The printing press itself was understood during the Framing era as a technological innovation, and rights were understood as being adaptable to technological innovations.
I suspect the answer for how the press clause's "the press" includes future communication technologies lies in part in the original definitions of "write" and "publish," the rights to which, in the Founders' understanding, made "freedom of...the press" essential. According to Johnson's dictionary, "write" had such definitions as "to perform the art of writing" and "to compo[s]e" while "publish" had such far-reaching definitions as "to di[s]cover to mankind; to make generally and openly known; to proclaim; to divulge." Thus congressional interference, whether it be licensing, content regulations, or taxes, with any communication instrument that abridges a person's rights "to compose" or "to proclaim" thoughts would violate the Founders' purpose of having "freedom of...the press." Today, communication instruments obviously include TV, radio, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.
Volokh's "counter-cultural" vision of the press clause's meaning is a liberating view of who could be journalists, media, members of the press, newsmongers, the reporter collective, etc. Am I media with this blog? New York Times and other media elites might sneer at such a possibility and can define media as they choose: Just don't mess with my "press"!
Source and More:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/12/who_is_the_press_in_the_first_amendment.html
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Paquin Tower Times Under Attack by the Columbia Daily Tribune
Well it does seem that our little blog here is under attack by the big bad corporate minded Columbia Daily Tribune for the publishing of their stories here on the blog.
Those stories are usually only related to the Low Income,CHA,Paquin Tower and it's residents only. Most if not all of those stories are very inaccurate in details 99.9999% of the time.
Kind of funny since their online news edition is Wide Open for anybody and everybody to view even through their crappy so called secure Pay Wall is easily bypassed by just the simple act of blocking the main Cookie in your browser from the main Web Site URL.
So we will be posting a lot less of their Liberal Minded articles that often times neglect to present ALL of the facts anyway.
Look to the Columbia Missourian,Columbia Heartbeat and other news sources for your news IMHO.
The Paquin Tower Times is part the 99% and the Columbia Daily Tribune is part of the 1% that is ruining this once great nation.
Corporate greed is the evil that must be eliminated from our once great nation in all forms that use coercion to silence the people as it sees fit.
Those stories are usually only related to the Low Income,CHA,Paquin Tower and it's residents only. Most if not all of those stories are very inaccurate in details 99.9999% of the time.
Kind of funny since their online news edition is Wide Open for anybody and everybody to view even through their crappy so called secure Pay Wall is easily bypassed by just the simple act of blocking the main Cookie in your browser from the main Web Site URL.
So we will be posting a lot less of their Liberal Minded articles that often times neglect to present ALL of the facts anyway.
Look to the Columbia Missourian,Columbia Heartbeat and other news sources for your news IMHO.
The Paquin Tower Times is part the 99% and the Columbia Daily Tribune is part of the 1% that is ruining this once great nation.
Corporate greed is the evil that must be eliminated from our once great nation in all forms that use coercion to silence the people as it sees fit.
Again, freedom of speech
Ya, it will bring me hardship, retaliation may but here's a sample of the LAW as it stands in Missouri. 4 (four) outside attorneys told me it IS against the LAW. They want the case, are even choppin' at the bit because not only will they sue the offenders, they want the big fish. We keep being told you can harass, torment, and undermind and discriminate here under freedom of speech. Part of Missouri state statute 455.010 says:
Friday, December 23, 2011
Food bank distributes produce, meats at Paquin Tower
One 10-pound sack of potatoes. Three honeydew melons. Three cucumbers. Two packages of carrots. One bag of grapefruit. Plus some buns and tomatoes.
That's what each of the visitors who came to a mobile food pantry at Paquin Tower received Friday morning from The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri.
“Sharing food. Bringing hope,” was the slogan on sweatshirts worn by some of the workers at Paquin Tower, where the Food Bank took four tons of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat to distribute from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.. The mobile food pantry is a refrigerated truck donated this year by Kraft Foods.
Bobbie Kincade, director of development for the Food Bank, said this is the first year it has done mobile Christmas donations, and that Friday's event was the first time it has distributed food at Paquin Tower.
“We were blessed with a large donation of produce, and we are trying to give it out in Columbia, so here we are,” Kincade said.
John Wampler, regional coordinator for The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri, said that even though Boone County has the lowest unemployment rate in its 32-county service area, there's still plenty of need.
“Even though times are tough we are not just sharing food, we are giving hope.” Wampler said. “We believe hope shines the brightest when the hour is darkest.”
“We are blessed to give it away,” Wampler said. “It’s nice.”
Teresa Kidwell, 50, said she has lived in Columbia two years and regularly visits the Food Bank.
“We wouldn’t be able to eat if we didn’t have it, so it helps,” Kidwell said, adding that she also relies on it for basic supplies such as medicine, toilet paper, paper towels and canned and boxed foods.
“I get what I can get, and sometimes I bring it to others,” Kidwell said.
Paquin Tower resident Marjorie Miller, 85, said the donations will help her make a proper Christmas dinner for visitors she expects Sunday afternoon.
“People do a lot for me, so it’s a little thing I can do for them,” Miller said.
Joyce Hyde, another Paquin resident, said the mobile food pantry was particularly helpful this month because her food stamp benefits were down.
Charlann Peavler, who helps manage Paquin Tower for the Columbia Housing Authority, said the Food Bank called her directly to set up the event.
“It’s awesome they thought about us and our location to help benefit the residents and anyone that’s around,” Peavler said. She hopes to have the food pantry back next Christmas season.
Kincade said she, too, hopes to make it an annual stop.
“It’s a good thing,” Peavler said. “This helps our residents get through the holiday time.”
Volunteers at the Food Bank also made Christmas cards and brought them to Paquin Tower for the residents to enjoy. They also brought food donations to the rooms of residents who were unable to collect and carry the items.
“This is why we do what we do, to see the smiles on their faces,” Kincade said. “It’s rewarding to come here, meet the people and see them so thankful for the food.”
The Food Bank feeds more than 100,000 people every month, and that's not counting those helped by special distributions.
“This (event) today is just an extra blessing,” Kincade said.
Anyone who would like more information about The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri can call 474-1020
Source and More:
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/12/23/food-pantry-receives-special-donation-during-mobile-distribution/
That's what each of the visitors who came to a mobile food pantry at Paquin Tower received Friday morning from The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri.
“Sharing food. Bringing hope,” was the slogan on sweatshirts worn by some of the workers at Paquin Tower, where the Food Bank took four tons of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat to distribute from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.. The mobile food pantry is a refrigerated truck donated this year by Kraft Foods.
Bobbie Kincade, director of development for the Food Bank, said this is the first year it has done mobile Christmas donations, and that Friday's event was the first time it has distributed food at Paquin Tower.
“We were blessed with a large donation of produce, and we are trying to give it out in Columbia, so here we are,” Kincade said.
John Wampler, regional coordinator for The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri, said that even though Boone County has the lowest unemployment rate in its 32-county service area, there's still plenty of need.
“Even though times are tough we are not just sharing food, we are giving hope.” Wampler said. “We believe hope shines the brightest when the hour is darkest.”
“We are blessed to give it away,” Wampler said. “It’s nice.”
Teresa Kidwell, 50, said she has lived in Columbia two years and regularly visits the Food Bank.
“We wouldn’t be able to eat if we didn’t have it, so it helps,” Kidwell said, adding that she also relies on it for basic supplies such as medicine, toilet paper, paper towels and canned and boxed foods.
“I get what I can get, and sometimes I bring it to others,” Kidwell said.
Paquin Tower resident Marjorie Miller, 85, said the donations will help her make a proper Christmas dinner for visitors she expects Sunday afternoon.
“People do a lot for me, so it’s a little thing I can do for them,” Miller said.
Joyce Hyde, another Paquin resident, said the mobile food pantry was particularly helpful this month because her food stamp benefits were down.
Charlann Peavler, who helps manage Paquin Tower for the Columbia Housing Authority, said the Food Bank called her directly to set up the event.
“It’s awesome they thought about us and our location to help benefit the residents and anyone that’s around,” Peavler said. She hopes to have the food pantry back next Christmas season.
Kincade said she, too, hopes to make it an annual stop.
“It’s a good thing,” Peavler said. “This helps our residents get through the holiday time.”
Volunteers at the Food Bank also made Christmas cards and brought them to Paquin Tower for the residents to enjoy. They also brought food donations to the rooms of residents who were unable to collect and carry the items.
“This is why we do what we do, to see the smiles on their faces,” Kincade said. “It’s rewarding to come here, meet the people and see them so thankful for the food.”
The Food Bank feeds more than 100,000 people every month, and that's not counting those helped by special distributions.
“This (event) today is just an extra blessing,” Kincade said.
Anyone who would like more information about The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri can call 474-1020
Source and More:
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/12/23/food-pantry-receives-special-donation-during-mobile-distribution/
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Hairy limbs keep bed bugs at bay
Hairier skin may be the key to avoiding being bitten by bed bugs, claim Sheffield academics.
Hungry bugs placed on shaved arms were more likely to try to feed compared with those on unshaved arms, the journal Biology Letters reported.
Researchers say the hair slows down the bed bugs and warns the victim.
Pest controllers say the UK is currently experiencing a steep rise in the number of bed bug infestations.
Prof Michael Siva-Jothy, from Sheffield University's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, recruited 29 brave volunteers to test the theory further, watching the bedbugs as they found a place to feed and removing them only as they were about to bite.
He found that more layers of both longer visible hairs and finer, "vellus" hairs near the surface appeared to work as a deterrent to the insects, with the finer hairs also acting as an early warning system.
Prof Siva-Jothy said: "Our findings show that more body hairs mean better detection of parasites - the hairs have nerves attached to them and provide us with the ability to detect displacement."
He said they also slowed down the insect as it searched for a tasty spot to bite.
"The results have implications for understanding why we look the way we do, what selective forces might have driven us to look the way we do, and may even provide insight for better understanding of how to reduce biting insects' impact on humans."
However, even though men are naturally hairier than women, they do not appear to be bitten less often.
Professor Siva-Jothy suggested this pointed to an evolutionary battle between bed bugs and their prey, with the insects adapting to automatically head for relatively hairless bits of the body, such as wrists and ankles.
He added that extreme hairiness might also be more of a disadvantage than an advantage.
"If you have a heavy coat of long thick hairs it is easier for parasites to hide, even if you can detect them.
"Our proposal is that we retain the fine covering because it aids detection and if we lost all hair, even the relatively invisible fine hair, our detection ability goes right down."
Evolutionary pressure
This tallies with other studies which look at how humans came to be relatively less hairy than apes.
Other scientists have suggested that swapping thicker fur for clothes was a way of making insect bites and parasitic infestations less likely.
Prof Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading, said that biting parasites remain a major cause of disease and death worldwide, making them a potentially enormous evolutionary pressure on early man.
He said: "This vellus hair is certainly no use for anything else, so it is a reasonable hypothesis that it developed in response to a strong selective pressure in our past.
"Mammals are unique in developing this wonderful fur, and humans are the only mammals to jettison it, so there must have been a very good reason to do so."
Source and More:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16166134
Hungry bugs placed on shaved arms were more likely to try to feed compared with those on unshaved arms, the journal Biology Letters reported.
Researchers say the hair slows down the bed bugs and warns the victim.
Pest controllers say the UK is currently experiencing a steep rise in the number of bed bug infestations.
Prof Michael Siva-Jothy, from Sheffield University's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, recruited 29 brave volunteers to test the theory further, watching the bedbugs as they found a place to feed and removing them only as they were about to bite.
He found that more layers of both longer visible hairs and finer, "vellus" hairs near the surface appeared to work as a deterrent to the insects, with the finer hairs also acting as an early warning system.
Prof Siva-Jothy said: "Our findings show that more body hairs mean better detection of parasites - the hairs have nerves attached to them and provide us with the ability to detect displacement."
He said they also slowed down the insect as it searched for a tasty spot to bite.
"The results have implications for understanding why we look the way we do, what selective forces might have driven us to look the way we do, and may even provide insight for better understanding of how to reduce biting insects' impact on humans."
However, even though men are naturally hairier than women, they do not appear to be bitten less often.
Professor Siva-Jothy suggested this pointed to an evolutionary battle between bed bugs and their prey, with the insects adapting to automatically head for relatively hairless bits of the body, such as wrists and ankles.
He added that extreme hairiness might also be more of a disadvantage than an advantage.
"If you have a heavy coat of long thick hairs it is easier for parasites to hide, even if you can detect them.
"Our proposal is that we retain the fine covering because it aids detection and if we lost all hair, even the relatively invisible fine hair, our detection ability goes right down."
Evolutionary pressure
This tallies with other studies which look at how humans came to be relatively less hairy than apes.
Other scientists have suggested that swapping thicker fur for clothes was a way of making insect bites and parasitic infestations less likely.
Prof Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading, said that biting parasites remain a major cause of disease and death worldwide, making them a potentially enormous evolutionary pressure on early man.
He said: "This vellus hair is certainly no use for anything else, so it is a reasonable hypothesis that it developed in response to a strong selective pressure in our past.
"Mammals are unique in developing this wonderful fur, and humans are the only mammals to jettison it, so there must have been a very good reason to do so."
Source and More:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16166134
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Paquin Tower resident draws scenes from the Bible
John Tucker is a 48-year-old resident of Paquin Tower, a public housing apartment complex in central Columbia for seniors and people with disabilities.
Tucker moved to Columbia from East St. Louis, Ill., in 2010 and lived in Worley Park until he found an apartment at Paquin Tower.
Tucker doesn’t know how to read but said God helped him learn the Bible after he was given a copy of it while in jail. He said he was lying in his bunk and said to himself, "Lord, if you exist, prove it to me."
He said he put the Bible on his chest and knew its contents the next day. The experience, he said, inspired him to draw most of the comics that hang on his walls and almost exclusively depict scenes from the Bible.
These days, Tucker is learning to read and taking GED classes so he can pursue his two major goals in life: to publish a comic book and to be a minister.
Source and More:
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/12/13/paquin-towers-resident-draws-bible/
Tucker moved to Columbia from East St. Louis, Ill., in 2010 and lived in Worley Park until he found an apartment at Paquin Tower.
Tucker doesn’t know how to read but said God helped him learn the Bible after he was given a copy of it while in jail. He said he was lying in his bunk and said to himself, "Lord, if you exist, prove it to me."
He said he put the Bible on his chest and knew its contents the next day. The experience, he said, inspired him to draw most of the comics that hang on his walls and almost exclusively depict scenes from the Bible.
These days, Tucker is learning to read and taking GED classes so he can pursue his two major goals in life: to publish a comic book and to be a minister.
Source and More:
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/12/13/paquin-towers-resident-draws-bible/
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Paquin, Bear Creek to get free Wi-Fi
The Free WiFi is ONLY in the lobby and in the computer lab both on the first floor. WiFi does not like to go up and down through concrete and steel framing.
*********************************
In an increasingly connected society, those without Internet access can get left behind. But residents at two Columbia Housing Authority facilities might soon get a chance to catch up.
On Dec. 5, the Columbia Housing Authority Board of Commissioners approved resolutions to allow CEO Phil Steinhaus to request permission from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to enter into lease agreements that would provide wireless Internet access to Paquin Tower and the Bear Creek Family Site.
Full Stream LLC, which would provide Wi-Fi to Paquin Tower, is proposing to lease space on the building’s roof for a tower. The company would pay the Columbia Housing Authority $1,500 per month and provide Wi-Fi to residents for free.
BlueBird Media Network, which will provide service to the authority’s Bear Creek site, was previously awarded federal stimulus money. The firm is leasing CHA property to build a communications transmission facility near the Bear Creek site and will provide free Wi-Fi to residents there.
Source and More:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/dec/11/paquin-bear-creek-to-get-free-wi-fi/
*********************************
In an increasingly connected society, those without Internet access can get left behind. But residents at two Columbia Housing Authority facilities might soon get a chance to catch up.
On Dec. 5, the Columbia Housing Authority Board of Commissioners approved resolutions to allow CEO Phil Steinhaus to request permission from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to enter into lease agreements that would provide wireless Internet access to Paquin Tower and the Bear Creek Family Site.
Full Stream LLC, which would provide Wi-Fi to Paquin Tower, is proposing to lease space on the building’s roof for a tower. The company would pay the Columbia Housing Authority $1,500 per month and provide Wi-Fi to residents for free.
BlueBird Media Network, which will provide service to the authority’s Bear Creek site, was previously awarded federal stimulus money. The firm is leasing CHA property to build a communications transmission facility near the Bear Creek site and will provide free Wi-Fi to residents there.
Source and More:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/dec/11/paquin-bear-creek-to-get-free-wi-fi/
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Research: Bedbugs Can Thrive Despite Inbreeding
Bedbugs aren't just sleeping with you. They're sleeping with each other.
Researchers now say that the creepy bugs have a special genetic gift: withstanding incest.
It turns out that unlike most creatures, bedbugs are able to inbreed with close relatives and still produce generally healthy offspring. That means that if just a few bedbugs survive in a building after treatment, they repopulate quickly.
Coby Schal and Ed Vargo are entomologists at North Carolina State University, and they presented preliminary research on genetic diversity in bedbug populations on Tuesday in Philadelphia, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
"We kept discovering the same thing. Within a given apartment, or even a given building, there was extremely low genetic diversity," said Schal. "In most cases there's just a single female that founded the population."
Schal said that was a surprise, since an animal or insect population with limited diversity will usually build up and then crash, because genetic defects tend to magnify with inbreeding.
"But somehow bedbugs are able to able to withstand the effects of inbreeding, and do quite well," he said.
The new research is important, said Zachary Adelman, an entomologist at Virginia Tech University who wasn't part of the North Carolina State team.
"No one had looked at these things," he said of the genetic makeup of bedbugs. "It's pretty exciting."
And pretty depressing.
The researchers also found that while the community within a building tends to be similar, there are many different strains of bedbugs throughout the East Coast, suggesting that new colonies also get introduced through foreign travel or commerce.
"That means they're coming into the country from lots of different places," which means that the bedbug problem isn't going to stop anytime soon, said Adelman.
The findings may also help explain another part of the bedbug boom.
Bedbugs — and other insects — develop resistance to insecticides. Schal said that if a treatment kills anything less than 100 percent of the bugs, the survivors will not only repopulate, but pass on the resistance they've developed to future generations.
"The insecticides really need to be robust" to do the job, Schal said.
Bedbugs are wingless, reddish-brown insects that bite people and animals to draw blood for their meals. Though their bites can cause itching and welts, they are not known to spread disease.
Another researcher notes that you have to discover a problem before you can treat it.
Rajeev Vaidyanathan of SRI International, a nonprofit research firm with headquarters in Silicon Valley, said he's working on a quick, easy test so people can discover bedbugs before they get bitten.
Vaidyanathan said current technology comes down to spotting live or dead bedbugs, or using dogs to sniff them out.
"Both are often ineffective and tedious," he said.
So Vaidyanathan is trying to developing a biochemical test to identify bedbug-specific proteins that they leave behind, even when only a few bugs are present. Homeowners would swab a section of their home, and dip it in a special compound.
"A home pregnancy kit type of read-out. If there's a color change, you have a bug," he said, but it's too early to say when or if the idea will make it to market.
Vaidyanathan also pointed out some other forces behind the spread of bedbugs.
"The problems we are seeing with bedbugs in North America did not happen overnight," said Vaidyanathan. "We have the highest concentration in the history of our species of humans living in cities. Bedbugs do not have wings; they are nest parasites, so our own population density has helped them to thrive."
Source and More:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/research-bedbugs-thrive-inbreeding-15102082
Researchers now say that the creepy bugs have a special genetic gift: withstanding incest.
It turns out that unlike most creatures, bedbugs are able to inbreed with close relatives and still produce generally healthy offspring. That means that if just a few bedbugs survive in a building after treatment, they repopulate quickly.
Coby Schal and Ed Vargo are entomologists at North Carolina State University, and they presented preliminary research on genetic diversity in bedbug populations on Tuesday in Philadelphia, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
"We kept discovering the same thing. Within a given apartment, or even a given building, there was extremely low genetic diversity," said Schal. "In most cases there's just a single female that founded the population."
Schal said that was a surprise, since an animal or insect population with limited diversity will usually build up and then crash, because genetic defects tend to magnify with inbreeding.
"But somehow bedbugs are able to able to withstand the effects of inbreeding, and do quite well," he said.
The new research is important, said Zachary Adelman, an entomologist at Virginia Tech University who wasn't part of the North Carolina State team.
"No one had looked at these things," he said of the genetic makeup of bedbugs. "It's pretty exciting."
And pretty depressing.
The researchers also found that while the community within a building tends to be similar, there are many different strains of bedbugs throughout the East Coast, suggesting that new colonies also get introduced through foreign travel or commerce.
"That means they're coming into the country from lots of different places," which means that the bedbug problem isn't going to stop anytime soon, said Adelman.
The findings may also help explain another part of the bedbug boom.
Bedbugs — and other insects — develop resistance to insecticides. Schal said that if a treatment kills anything less than 100 percent of the bugs, the survivors will not only repopulate, but pass on the resistance they've developed to future generations.
"The insecticides really need to be robust" to do the job, Schal said.
Bedbugs are wingless, reddish-brown insects that bite people and animals to draw blood for their meals. Though their bites can cause itching and welts, they are not known to spread disease.
Another researcher notes that you have to discover a problem before you can treat it.
Rajeev Vaidyanathan of SRI International, a nonprofit research firm with headquarters in Silicon Valley, said he's working on a quick, easy test so people can discover bedbugs before they get bitten.
Vaidyanathan said current technology comes down to spotting live or dead bedbugs, or using dogs to sniff them out.
"Both are often ineffective and tedious," he said.
So Vaidyanathan is trying to developing a biochemical test to identify bedbug-specific proteins that they leave behind, even when only a few bugs are present. Homeowners would swab a section of their home, and dip it in a special compound.
"A home pregnancy kit type of read-out. If there's a color change, you have a bug," he said, but it's too early to say when or if the idea will make it to market.
Vaidyanathan also pointed out some other forces behind the spread of bedbugs.
"The problems we are seeing with bedbugs in North America did not happen overnight," said Vaidyanathan. "We have the highest concentration in the history of our species of humans living in cities. Bedbugs do not have wings; they are nest parasites, so our own population density has helped them to thrive."
Source and More:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/research-bedbugs-thrive-inbreeding-15102082
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Wireless Internet might be on its way to Paquin Tower
Columbia's public housing residents aren't just on the lower end of the wealth gap. Phil Steinhaus thinks they suffer from a digital divide, too.
"When you look at people in poverty, there's a huge technology gap," Steinhaus, the chief executive officer of the Columbia Housing Authority, said.
The housing authority is hoping to close that gap by taking steps to provide wireless Internet service to residents of Paquin Tower and its Bear Creek neighborhood.
Steinhaus noted that nowadays, people use the Internet for things such as looking up movie times and hunting for jobs. And most jobs require at least a minimum level of computer literacy.
Source:
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/12/05/wireless-internet-might-be-its-way-paquin-towers/
"When you look at people in poverty, there's a huge technology gap," Steinhaus, the chief executive officer of the Columbia Housing Authority, said.
The housing authority is hoping to close that gap by taking steps to provide wireless Internet service to residents of Paquin Tower and its Bear Creek neighborhood.
Steinhaus noted that nowadays, people use the Internet for things such as looking up movie times and hunting for jobs. And most jobs require at least a minimum level of computer literacy.
Source:
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/12/05/wireless-internet-might-be-its-way-paquin-towers/
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Columbia faces affordable housing crunch
Michelle Blake moved to Mid-Missouri from California seven years ago to be closer to her parents, but she found other reasons to stay: a new husband, a sense of community and affordable living.
Now, she’s struggling with the latter.
Blake is a resident of El Ray Mobile Home Park, which is scheduled to close in the coming months. Columbia attorney Ron Netemeyer owns the park on Mexico Gravel Road, east of Lake of the Woods Road, as well as two other trailer parks in the area. He is closing El Ray because the lagoon that serves the property is not up to state standards. Even after the park closes, it would cost him about $25,000 to shut down the lagoon, he told the Tribune.
Source and More:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/dec/04/columbia-faces-affordable-housing-crunch/
Now, she’s struggling with the latter.
Blake is a resident of El Ray Mobile Home Park, which is scheduled to close in the coming months. Columbia attorney Ron Netemeyer owns the park on Mexico Gravel Road, east of Lake of the Woods Road, as well as two other trailer parks in the area. He is closing El Ray because the lagoon that serves the property is not up to state standards. Even after the park closes, it would cost him about $25,000 to shut down the lagoon, he told the Tribune.
Source and More:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/dec/04/columbia-faces-affordable-housing-crunch/
Kids call in to Santa on city hotline
Santa Claus fielded scores of predictable gift requests yesterday during his special phone hotline session in Columbia.
Barbies, American Girl dolls, electronic games and action figures topped many Christmas lists. One girl asked for a zebra-striped blanket and nothing else, said Sarah Bowman, recreation specialist for Columbia Parks and Recreation, which sponsors the Santa Hotline.
But one request especially pulled on heartstrings, standing out among the roughly 315 calls some 20 volunteer elves helped answer at Paquin Tower.
“We had a little girl ask for a mom and dad for Christmas,” Bowman said. “Santa told her he would put extra stuff in his sleigh for her.”
For the most part, though, the requests were lighthearted.
Source and More:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/dec/04/kids-call-in-to-santa-on-city-hotline/
Barbies, American Girl dolls, electronic games and action figures topped many Christmas lists. One girl asked for a zebra-striped blanket and nothing else, said Sarah Bowman, recreation specialist for Columbia Parks and Recreation, which sponsors the Santa Hotline.
But one request especially pulled on heartstrings, standing out among the roughly 315 calls some 20 volunteer elves helped answer at Paquin Tower.
“We had a little girl ask for a mom and dad for Christmas,” Bowman said. “Santa told her he would put extra stuff in his sleigh for her.”
For the most part, though, the requests were lighthearted.
Source and More:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/dec/04/kids-call-in-to-santa-on-city-hotline/
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