Allentown Park Creeks Which Would You Rather?

Repost From 2014

Bethlehem's Monocacy Park with it's dams & gabions

OR

Allentown's Parkway with it's riparian buffers?

Nobody's saying neither the Monocacy, Cedar Creek nor Little Lehigh should be gabion lined completely. But it would certainly be more attractive then if there were none at all. Same goes with removing every last dam (including teeny tiny partial rock dams no matter how small).

The 'Little Lehigh Creek is 24 miles long. It flows through the Lehigh Parkway in Allentown which is 6.5 miles long. I'd be quite certain a few gabion areas here and there for a mile or two wouldn't be catastrophic. The same goes for Cedar Creek which is 15 miles long. Only about 1.5 miles of it runs through the Cedar Beach area in Allentown.

What sets the Cedar Beach area apart (with it's riparian buffers) is the fact street drains flow directly into the creek behind them. Street runoff comes from South of Hamilton street to beyond North of Tilghman street for almost this entire length. Hence creating no mow zones and riparian buffers in this area is practically useless. They serve only to take away visitor's access and views.

The following chart is from a 1976 study done by Lehigh University entitled, Storm water management for little lehigh and cedar creek drainage basins.

The Point I'm Trying To Make Is...
There's no reason why certain parks in designated areas can't be both visually appealing and readily accessible along their embankments. By utilizing gabions in areas where embankments are prone to reoccurring erosion (despite riparian implantation) they require no maintenance and last for decades. Because of riparian buffers' tendency towards invasive plant species neither would this be a concern.

Is this about environmental science or political science?
You decide.

No one has spoken more about this subject then "Molovinsky On Allentown". Check out some of his posts concerning riparian buffers. In particular check out his picture post showing just one of the street drains going into Cedar Creek.

Hey Washington Who Cares?

Repost

I Don't Care....
Who's investigating who.
Who's getting reelected or not.
Who's political party can out spin the other.
Who goes to jail or not.
Which bozo gets the most airtime on TV.
That Donald still can't get enough praise.
Who can out BS the other during press briefings.
Who's leaking what.

Here's What I Give Crap About-- What Washington Isn't Doing For Us
These BS artists haven't taken up immigration nor gun reform. Nor addressed future Pension/Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security budget shortfalls. Addressed 47% of the workers making less then the wages needed to live modestly. Done nothing tangible whatsoever to lower the cost of medicine or medical healthcare. To make sincere efforts helping to lower criminal recidivism rates. The list goes on. I could name many more.

What Washington does best is hold hearings, They hold hearings on themselves. They hold hearings on anything and everything along with creating public committees to screw with John Q Public's head that their doing something. In the end these amount to nothing more then a prepared speech accompanied by the all too familiar photo op BS nonsense. Truth be told they do this specifically so they can avoid producing actual legislation.

Ever watch most of those videos where Senators and Representatives are putting on a show speaking in congress? Notice none of their colleagues are in their seats around them. If they're not listening to each and other-- why the hell would you think they'd be listening to what anyone else has to say.

Face it 90% of their time is spent self serving in putting on a show trying to get reelected. I mean really, are people so gullible as to believe congress couldn't fix drug prices, control healthcare costs and all the other crap in a heartbeat if it so desired?

There's plenty of fake to go around. Fake news. Fake politicians with faked outrage. The only thing real nothing is getting done. Promises are made if this or this or that person gets elected next time we'll resolve these problems. Yeah "next time". Well, if not, then maybe the "next time" with the one after that.

Meanwhile we suckers rush to the polls hoping someday somehow someone elected will make drug prices come down, healthcare become affordable and we will have a enough to retire. Scared that if we don't vote it will never happen.

Well here's a flash. Politicians will make sure it never does so they can continue to scare people into voting. Thus creating job security for themselves.

Dealing With Parking During A Snow Emergency

Repost

On a bitterly cold winters morning a husband and wife were listening to the radio during breakfast. They heard the announcer say, "We are going to have 8 to 10 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the even-numbered side of the street, so the snow plows can get through."

So the good wife went out and moved her car.

A week later while they are eating breakfast again, the radio announcer said, "We are expecting 10 to 12 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the odd numbered side of the street, so the snow plows can get through."

The good wife went out and moved her car again.

The next week they are again having breakfast, when the radio announcer says, "We are expecting 12 to 14 inches of snow today.

You must park...." Then the electricity went out.


The good wife was very upset, and with a worried look on her face she said, "I don't know what to do. Which side of the street do I need to park on so the snow plows can get through?"


Then with the love, patience and understanding in his voice that all men should exhibit, the husband replied, "This time why don't you just leave the car in the garage."

What's In Your Food- High Fructose Corn Syrup

Repost



While it is a sweetener, it's primary purpose is to get you to consume more product. Manufacturers for years have known that "High Fructose Corn Syrup" increases your appetite cravings.

By adding this ingredient, no matter how much you eat you will feel less full then had it not been added as an ingredient.

Naturalists for years have spouted this and had very little scientific evidence to back them up. It is why I along with them think the reason for this out of control obesity problem in United States cannot be resolved till we lessen it's use.

It is used in most (but not all) of the following products...
     Frozen Concentrated Juices
     Soft Drinks
     Yogurts
     Salad Dressings
     Ice Cream
     Cereal     
     Certain Breads
     Mustard
     Syrups (Pancake, Fudge, etc)
     Steak Sauce
     Bakery Products
     Puddings
     Snacks (Nutrition Bars, Candy Bars, etc.)
     Honey
     Jelly
     Ketchup
     Crackers
     Feed for Honey Bees
     ...and many others (List By Brand)
     Fast Food chain restaurants are notorious for it's use. See: List Of Fast Foods Serving HFC


Now these nay saying naturalists may have their proof!

Quoted excerpts from:
"The brain may not be fooled by sugar substitutes"The latest evidence for this comes from a brain scanning (MRI) study performed in the Netherlands...

Both sugar and the noncaloric sweeteners activated a brain region called the amygdala, which signals sensory pleasure. But only the sugared drink turned on a cherry-sized nugget of brain tissue in a region called the caudate.

Athletes couldn't consciously distinguish the sugared and nonsugared drinks, but their brains picked up the difference.

..sugared mouth rinses strongly activated two reward centers in the brain, the anterior cingulate cortex and caudate, whereas the artificial sweeteners activated these brain areas only weakly.

* NOTE: The tests were done only with four artificial sweeteners: aspartame, acesulfame K, cyclamate and saccharin. These are "non-glucose" (non natural sugars) the HFC should be (in my opinion) considered as an implied outcome as well. Considering most HFC only contains 10% naturally occurring glucose and 90% non-naturally occurring fructose in the HFC 90. Also available is the HFC 55 formula.(They usually blend the two strengths to get the flavoring they desire)

Considering that every cell in the body can metabolize glucose and all fructose must be metabolized in the liver, one should be bear in mind of the possible consequences of continued ingestion of HFC.

Why The Continue Use?
(1) It makes you feel less full
(2) Sugar tariffs have created this as a cheaper alternative
(3) Manufactures are still allowed to call their products '100% Natural" and/or 'Organic' even when HFC is used


FURTHER READING
Wiki- High Fructose Corn Syrup

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