What Can You Do With An Abandoned Railroad Line?

You see them everywhere. Lengthy tracks of overgrown weeds, debris, broken railroad ties, shifting track beds. In this era of "reduce, reuse, recycle" you would think something could be done with these miles of abandoned railroad line.

Detroit, Michigan has the answer.

A Detroit railroad line that has been abandoned since the 1980s has now been turned into a 1.2 mile biking and walking path named the Dequindre Cut.

Detroit officials state this only the beginning and that many other abandoned lines will receive similar treatment. Officials state: "The Dequindre Cut is the latest in a growing network of greenways -- nonmotorized community links -- that eventually could encompass 100 miles of such trails throughout Detroit."

Photos: Heartland Research.

This photo was taken during construction before the landscapers filled in the greenery. They kept some of the best graffiti, and to make the Cut safer, it has security cameras and boxes. Kudos, Detroit. Now keep going.

This a video of someone riding the Cut on opening day May 14, 2009. The video shows the amazing transformation from abandoned, dangerous eyesore to thing of beauty.

Food and Other Products Recall

May 15---Wayne Provision Co. issues allergy alert on Frozen Pork BREAKFAST SAUSAGES
May 15---Amigo's Mexican Food issues allergy alert on PORK TAMALES Wrapped in Corn Husk
May 15---Parmalat Canada issues allergy alert on Sensational SOY BEVERAGES---Canada
May 15---AG Barr recalls Simply Fruity/Simply Aqua WATER DRINKS---U.K.
May 15---Home Ideas recalls Animated Ocean LAMPS---Canada
May 15---Kobian recalls XtatiK AC ADAPTERS---Canada
May 15---Wonplug recalls International Travel ADAPTORS---U.K.
May 15---Biaoda recalls Animal Shaped TOYS w/Sweets---Cyprus
May 15---Jumbo recalls Children's Brown TROUSER'S---Greece
May 15---V & D recalls Frendz Baby's SLEEPING BAGS---Netherlands
May 15---Free & Easy recalls Toy Jewellery DECORATION SETS---Netherlands
May 15---S.C. Johnson recalls Duck Fresh Gel TOILET DISCS---Italy
May 15---Burton recalls Perfumed TALCUM POWDERS---Italy
May 15---Magie di Fata recalls Ladie's SHOES---Italy
May 15---Universal Travel ADAPTORS recalled---Malta
May 15---Amelia recalls Chocolate Fragranced SOAP SETS---Malta
May 15---Euroriding recalls Horse-rider's Protective WAISTCOATS---France
May 15---Soltera recalls Wooden/Felt DECKCHAIRS---France
May 15---Nature et Découvertes recalls Red WARMING PILLOWS---France
May 15---Bahaus recalls CH-2000C (Turbo) Voltotherm Heizkonvektor---Denmark
May 15---Active Travel recalls All-in-One Travel ADAPTORS---Denmark
May 15---Elworks recalls Travel Universal ADAPTORS---Denmark
May 15---Racing recalls Type R SAFETY VESTS---Lithuania
May 15---Fox Baby recalls Children's Grey TOP---Bulgaria
May 15---Red Metallic Children's WHEELBARROWS recalled---Finland
May 15---New Fashion recalls Red Plastic EARRINGS---Finland
May 15---Elaine recalls Toy DOLLS---Finland
May 15---Accessories recalls Green Linen SCARVES---Finland
May 15---DSH Single recalls Ionic Marcel HAIR IRONS---Poland
May 15---Toys recalls Ean Toy MOBILE PHONES---Poland
May 15---Toys recalls PUSH CHAIRS for Dolls---Poland
May 15---Baby Phone recalls Cartoon Dog Toy MOBILE PHONES---Poland
May 15---Sweet Pony recalls Set of Soft TOY PONIES---Poland
May 15---Orbit recalls Teo Slice Electric TOASTERS---Spain
May 15---Vivanco recalls Cord EXTENSION SETS---Spain
May 15---Disney recalls Several Cartoon Character SOFT TOYS---Spain
May 15---1 to 3/Latinas by Tooc/Golden Mouse/Sprandl/Kaxilu/Bubble Bobble/Lola Rico recall FOOTWEAR---Spain
May 15---Childproof Electrical Socket PROTECTORS recalled---Germany
May 15---Superior recalls Blue 2 Slice TOASTERS---Germany
May 15---Nissan/Dongfeng Motor recall 2004-2009 Teana VEHICLES---China
May 15---Health Canada recalls Rofact (Rifampin) CAPSULES---Canada

Stay safe, friends!

A Black Market For Bees?

Image credit: Chelsea Bay Wills.

The Black Market is driven by a simple principle – supply and demand. As soon as something becomes hard to get, someone will come up with a “steal to order” scheme.

Such has happened in the UK. We are all aware that bees and their keepers have fallen on hard times with disease, climate change and colony collapse disorder taking its toll on bees worldwide.

Britain’s honeybee keepers are being warned to protect their hives from bee rustlers as thefts of hives have risen to unprecedented levels. In the latest incident, more than a million bees were taken from a strawberry farm near Telford, Shropshire.

David Sutton, the National Bee Unit inspector for western England, said: "You used to get the odd one or two, but not like this. People are realising the value of bees now because they are very scarce."

Second-hand hives that used to sell for £30 ($45) can now fetch more than £200 ($305). With each hive capable of producing around 50 lb of honey a year, victims stand to lose thousands of pounds.

To make matters worse, it would appear that the culprits are in the beekeeping community also. Tim Lovett, president of the British Beekeepers Association, said: "To steal bees, you have to know what you are doing. Beekeepers are now on the lookout. It's a vicious circle. You lose more bees, the price of bees goes up and the risk of them being stolen goes up."

So it would seem that you never really know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

Food and Other Products Recall

May 14---Sunrise Commodities recalls Nature's Original Cranberry/Oriental/Spicy/Trail MIXES
May 14--- Vitamin Shoppe Ind. recalls Naturals Bayou/ Trail MIXES
May 14---Babco Foods recall Several Anand PRODUCTS
May 14---Safie Specialty Foods recalls Old Fashioned Padre Pio’s Mild PEPPERONCINI
May 14---HP recalls Hewlett-Packard /Compaq Notebook Computer Lithium-Ion BATTERIES
May 14---Build-A-Bear Workshop recalls Folding Toy BEACH CHAIRS---International
May 14---Winners Merchants recalls Asquith & Somerset Coconut Cream BODY MOISTURIZER---Canada
May 14---Life Root Healing recalls Restore and Rejuvenate EYE CREAM---Canada
May 14---HC endorsed important safety information on BHM/Medi-Man Combi SLING---Canada
May 14---The Foir'Fouille recalls Vibrating PLATFORMS---France
May 14---Medtronic Spine recalls KyphX Xpander Inflatable BONE TAMPS
May 14---Siemens Medical recalls Mammomat Novation MAMMOGRAPHY SYSTEMS
May 14---Siemens Medical recalls Axiom Sireskop IMAGING DEVICES
May 14---Zimmer recalls Nexgen Complete Knee Solution Fluted Stemmed Tibial BROACH---Int.
May 14---GE Healthcare recalls CIC Pro SOFTWARE---Int.
May 14---Nova Biomedical Corp. recalls CCX Creatinine Membrane KITS---Int.
May 14---Ethicon Inc. updates ongoing SUTURE recall---Int.
May 14---Tollot/Aaxis Pacific recall Healband Fabric STRIPS---Australia

Stay safe, friends!

The LifeStraw

Image courtesy Treehugger

The results of the fifth Saatchi & Saatchi Award for World Changing Ideas has proclaimed a winner. (drum roll, please!) The winner is a small tube worn around the neck and used like a regular straw. What is so special about this straw, aptly named LifeStraw, is that it filters 99.9999% of bacteria and 98.7% of viruses from unclean water using a halogen-based resin as a filter.

The inventor of LifeStraw, Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, received the award directly from Her Royal Highness Princess Badiya of Jordan. Along with this prestigious honor comes a $50,000 cash prize plus and equal sum in consultancy work. When being handed his award, Frandsen urged the audience to make the sub-Saharan clean-water crisis as prominent as AIDS relief or global warming.

Saatchi's worldwide creative director Bob Isherwood praised the company for its innovative thinking. "I think it's an amazing idea, a world-changing idea," he said. "You have such a huge proportion of the world's population that can't drink safe water; 6,000 children a day dying from polluted water. To have a straw that you wear around your neck that you can put in contaminated water and turn it immediately into totally safe water is incredible; it is world-changing."

The LifeStraw being demonstrated in the above picture is a prototype. The LifeStraw that won the award is approximately the same size and shape as a toilet roll centre – just a little longer. Inside the tube, a series of mechanical screens, carbon particles, and resin beads filter and kill most pathogenic bacteria and microorganisms common in water systems throughout the world.

PuroTech Disinfecting Resin, a patented resin, the filters are rated for 700 liters of water. This is approximately the water consumption for one person for a one-year period. All that is required to use them is the ability to use a straw. Positive test results have been achieved on tap, turbid and saline water against common waterborne bacteria such as Salmonella, Shigella, Enterococcus, Diphtheria, Cholera, Diarrhoea and Staphylococcu.

Safe water interventions have vast potential to transform the lives of millions; especially, in crucial areas such as poverty eradication, environmental upgradation, quality of life, child development and gender equality. LifeStraw was developed as a practical response to the billions of people who are still without access to these basic human rights.

A brief technical rundown of the straw is available at MedGadget, the internet journal of emerging medical technologies.

Image via AquaSafeStraw

The above diagram shows the inside of the AquaSafe Straw. The AquaSafe is basically a reworked LifeStraw. Its filtration capacity is slightly less at 132 gallons of water per straw.

This straw is being marketed for affluent travelers, backpackers, and others who may find themselves in a place without safe drinking water. The AquaStraw sells for approximately $35.00.

The LifeStraw was originally going to sell for approximately $2.00 per straw (very affordable); but, the price is being looked at again. It appears that the LifeStraw is available to third-world countries by donation; but, is not available to the public for individual purchase. Hopefully, that will change. I know two little girls - one in Bolivia and one in South Africa - that could use a LifeStraw tucked into their yearly packages.

Are You Having Trouble Viewing Videos on This Blog?

Readers:

Several of you have mentioned not being able to view the videos that I have embedded in this blog. I may have the solution.

I tried watching some videos from several sites that I was viewing just yesterday. The videos streamed beautifully and I watched quite a few of them. Today, I was unable to stream one video, I just kept getting error messages saying that either I had disabled my JavaScript or I didn't have the latest Flash Player. One of these sites is Youtube.com, the site I usually use for embedded videos.

Overnight, my flash player had become obsolete as these sites had done some upgrading and I needed to update my flash player. This turned out to be more difficult than expected.

The site to visit for a free flash player download (and solutions if it doesn't work the first time): Adobe.com

It didn't work the first time for me and I had to change some computer settings to allow the download. Fortunately, this site also has the solutions.

May your download go better than mine!

The Good Connection - Gem #3 (final)

Again from Will Braun, editor of Geez Magazine.

Though the truth can be difficult, it has the power to set us free. Wrapping our heads around economic connections in our global village is complicated and hard on the conscience. We all fall short. This grace, for me, is the gentle path forward. It is what inspires me to try to be a caring member of the global village.

Food and Other Products Recall

May 13---Tofutti Brands recalls Vanilla Cuties FROZEN DESSERTS
May 13---Marks & Spencer issues allergy alert on Chicken Forestier PATE---U.K.
May 13---Haigh's Manufacturing recalls Chocolate/Almond COOKIES---Australia
May 13---Fushin USA recalls Youth Model ATV's
May 13---Louisiana-Pacific recalls Composite DECKING
May 13---Browning/Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation recall Skinner Knife SHEATHS
May 13---Polaris recalls 2009 Widetrak SNOWMOBILES
May 13---Dorel/ Eddie Bauer recall Soothe & Sway PLAY YARDS---U.S./Canada
May 13---Houston Tech/JR Home Products recall Portable Free Standing Infrared Electric HEATERS---Canada
May 13---Beauté Cosmétique recalls Magno Spray-on DEODORANT---Canada
May 13---Mothercare recalls Activity Rattle Garden Highchair TOYS---U.K.
May 13---Horizon Hobby recalls Spektrum DX6i TRANSMITTERS---U.K.
May 13---Bunnings Warehouse Stores recalls Talon LAWNMOWERS---New Zealand
May 13---Prodoc Limited recalls 150/300mg Clindamycine CAPSULES---Canada
May 13---Dominion Pharmacal/Pharmascience/Pro Doc recall pms-Gabapentin CAPSULES---Canada
May 13---Ferring Inc. recalls Duratocin IV INJECTION---Canada
May 13---Mission Falls recalls Premium Ionic SOLUTION---Canada
May 13---Novopharm recalls Irinotecan INJECTION---Canada
May 13---PendoPharm/Pharmascience recall Rhinaris Sinomarin NASAL WASH---Canada
May 13---Vita Health Products recalls Several SENNA LAXATIVE Tablets---Canada
May 13---Erfa Canada recalls 75mg Sinequan CAPSULES---Canada
May 13---Cardiac Pacemakers Inc. recalls Cognis/ Teligen Ventricular LEADS---Canada
May 13---BHM Medical Inc. recalls Several COMBI SLINGS---Canada
May 13---Alcon Grieshabe recalls Vertical/MPC MICROSCISSORS---Canada
May 13---B. Braun Medical recalls 2 IV SETS---Canada
May 13---Wallac recalls Delfia Xpress PAPP-A BOTTLES---Canada
May 13---Roche Molecular Systems recalls Factor II (Prothrombin) G20210A KITS---Canada
May 13---Philips Medical Systems recalls Holter SOFTWARE---Canada
May 13---Haemonetics Corp. recalls No. 620 PCS2 Harness SETS---Canada
May 13---Wallac recalls Neogram Amino Acids Mass SPEC KITS---Canada
May 13---Coloplast recalls Philips BOUGIES---Canada
May 13---Bard Access Systems recalls Wizard Replacement Gastrostomy DEVICES---Canada
May 13---Stryker Medical recalls 1550 Electric STRETCHERS---Canada
May 13---Ace Surgical Supply recalls Polyglycolic Acid Absorbable SUTURES---Canada
May 13---Uniprix Inc. recalls Option+ Sterile PADS---Canada
May 13---Arrow International recalls Several Medical PRODUCTS---Canada
May 13---Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics recalls Several Vitros Chemistry SLIDES---Canada
May 13---Bard Peripheral Vascular recalls Max-Core Disposable Biopsy INSTRUMENTS---Canada
May 13---Walter Lorenz Surgical recalls Byrd Self Drilling SCREWS---Canada
May 13---Biomet Orthopedics recalls C2A Ringloc Acetabular SYSTEMS---Canada
May 13---Teleflex Medical recalls 7" Coronary SCISSORS---Canada
May 13---Beckman Coulter recalls Flow-Set FLUOROSPHERES---Canada
May 13---Dentsply Tulsa Dental recalls GT Series X FILES---Canada
May 13---Spacelabs Medical recalls Medical Flat Panel POWER SUPPLY---Canada
May 13---Howmedica Osteonics recalls Restoration Modular CONE BODIES---Canada
May 13---Critical Care recalls Servo 300 CIRCUIT BOARDS---Canada
May 13---Bard Peripheral Vascular recalls Truguide Coaxial Biopsy NEEDLES---Canada
May 13---Apotex Inc. recalls Apo-Clindamycin 300/150 mg CAPSULES---Int.

Stay safe, friends!

Food and Other Products Recall

May 12---Bob's Food City recalls GROUND BEEF Products
May 12---Vita+ recalls 500gr Basmati RICE---Austria
May 12---Fun Express Inc. recalls Children's Water-Based Face PAINTS
May 12---Dahon/REI Novara recall Folding BICYCLES
May 12---Lumetique recalls Botanika CANDLES
May 12---Butterfly Fashions Trading recalls CHARM BRACELETS---Canada
May 12---Texas Department Store recalls Coloured Candle HOLDERS---U.K.
May 12---Peugeot recalls 2008 308 VEHICLES---Australia
May 12---AS Medications Solution recalls All Lots of .25mg Digoxin TABLETS
May 12---FDA to destroy Body-Building DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS
May 12---GlaxoSmithKline recalls Seretide 250 Evohaler INHALERS---U.K.
May 12---IMB issues safety review of Clopidogrel(Plavix) MEDICATIONS---Ireland

Stay safe, friends!

Food and Other Products Recall

May 11---Houston H.E.B. recalls GROUND GEEF Products
May 11---The Nuthouse recalls PISTACHIO Products
May 11---CFIA recalls Isagenix Chocolate Dipped Honey Peanut ISALEAN BARS---Canada
May 11---Mars Confectionery recalls Single/5-Pack BANJO PRODUCTS---Netherlands
May 11---European Food & Feed Recalls---Week 19
May 11---Meritor Wabco recalls Haldex Brake Quick Release VALVES
May 11---Chrysler recalls 2009 Dodge Ram VEHICLES
May 11---Volvo recalls 2006-2008 S800 VEHICLES---China
May 11---R82 recalls Paediatric Posture HIP BELTS---U.K.
May 11---DH recalls SB Factor/GQ Factor SLIMMING PRODUCT---Hong Kong

Stay safe, friends!