NYC looks to stop spreading bedbug infestations
One of every 15 New Yorkers battled bedbugs last year, officials said Wednesday as they announced a plan to fight the spreading infestation, including a public-awareness campaign and a top entomologist to head the effort.
The bloodsucking pests, which are not known to spread disease but can cause great mental anguish with their persistent and fast-growing infestations, have rapidly multiplied throughout New York and many other U.S. cities in recent years.
Health officials and pest control specialists nationwide report surges in sightings, bites and complaints. The Environmental Protection Agency hosted its first-ever bedbug summit last year.
In New York City, the pests have been discovered in theaters, clothing stores, office buildings, housing projects and posh apartments.
The stigma of having bedbugs — whose bites leave itchy red welts — and the elusive nature of the pests make it impossible to fully understand the problem, experts say.
But in 2009, for the first time, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration included a question about bedbugs on its community health survey, and it revealed the finding to The Associated Press on Wednesday: More than 6 percent of New Yorkers who responded said they had battled the pests in the last year.
The figure would equal roughly 400,000 adults in the city, the health department said.
Data previously has been limited to government statistics on complaints and surveys of private pest-control companies, which also have reported nationwide spikes.
The Bloomberg administration fielded 537 complaints about the bugs in fiscal 2004. In fiscal 2009, there were nearly 11,000.
"This is happening globally, and I don't think anybody has figured out exactly why," said Daniel Kass, the city's deputy commissioner for environmental health. "So what we're left with is managing them and keeping them from spreading. They're going to be with us for some time."
Bedbugs are about the size of an apple seed and burrow into many more places than beds. They can slip into floor cracks, wall outlets, picture frames, lamps — any tiny space.
People who have bedbugs often never see them. The most obvious signs are bites, blood on bedsheets and their waste, which looks like black pepper. They are known for being extremely difficult to eradicate and can go a year without feeding.
Bedbugs were nearly dormant for decades, and the recent comeback has experts scratching their heads. Some attribute the resurgence to an increase in global travel and the prohibition of potent pesticides like DDT.
New York convened a government advisory board last year to study the problem and make recommendations.
The report said one major roadblock to stopping the bedbug spread is lack of knowledge about prevention and the patchy and sometimes erroneous information about treatment.
"If you have termites, you know how to deal with it. If you see a rat, you know who to call. This is confusing," said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. "The biggest issue is lack of clarity and not having any actual sense of what the next step is and where you go to get that."
Carol Gittens said she discovered bedbugs in her Brooklyn apartment two years ago and estimates she has spent at least $3,000 replacing her things.
"We had to throw everything out — mattresses, clothes," she said.
The apartment was thoroughly cleaned and she thought she had eliminated them. But a neighbor recently reported she has bedbugs, and Gittens said she might have them in her apartment again.
The high cost of throwing out infested belongings and hiring exterminators contributes to bedbugs' spread, officials said. Many people, particularly those with low incomes or in public housing, cannot afford to do what it takes.
Acting on the report's recommendations, New York City said Wednesday it was re-appropriating $500,000 of health department money to begin the first phase of a bedbug battle plan, which is mostly concentrated on information, outreach and the creation of an entomologist-led bedbug team.
Some of the money will go toward creating an online bedbug portal where New Yorkers can find information about avoiding the pests as well as how to treat their homes. The city already has a rat-information portal.
Many people are unaware they have the bugs, officials said, and end up spreading them by carrying them on their clothing or discarding personal items that have the bugs.
Travelers also need to be more vigilant, the city says.
"Everyone has got to get used to the idea that they have got to check for them periodically," Kass said. "People who travel should look at the rooms they're staying in. They should check their clothing. There are good preventive measures."
Experts recommend looking for bugs with a bright flashlight, and using a hot hair dryer to flush them out of hiding places and cracks.
Bedding, linens, curtains, rugs and clothes from infested homes must be washed in hot water. Mattresses, furniture and floors must be vacuumed, and vacuum bags should be immediately disposed in sealed plastic bags. Hiring a certified exterminator to apply pesticides is also recommended.
Officials also said the city would adopt the report's recommendation of working to establish protocol for disposing of infested furniture and other personal items.
The report also suggested more work should be done by agencies that serve lower-income New Yorkers, and public housing infestations should be addressed more quickly. But at a time when the city is cutting services and shrinking its job force to save money, those goals are likely not immediately achievable.
Related info :
Bedbugs (or bed bugs) are small, elusive, parasitic insects of the family Cimicidae. In common use, the term usually refers to one species, Cimex lectularius, that feeds preferentially on human blood; all insects in this family live by feeding exclusively on the blood of warm-blooded animals.[1][2] The name 'bed bug' is derived from the insect's preferred habitat of infesting houses and especially beds or other common areas where people may sleep. Bedbugs, though not strictly nocturnal, are mainly active at night and are capable of feeding unnoticed on their hosts.
Bedbugs have been known by a variety of names including wall louse, mahogany flat, crimson rambler, heavy dragoon, chinche and redcoat.[3]
Largely eradicated as pests in the developed world in the early 1940s, bedbugs have been resurgent since about 1995.
Preventive Methods to Stop Eye Twitching
Eye Twitching
The abnormal jerking of the eye muscles is called eye twitching. The medical term for eye twitching is 'Blepharospasm'. It occurs when the muscles of the eyelids or the surrounding areas start contracting involuntarily, leading to abnormal blinking of the eyes. In simple words, it can be described as a form of blinking disorder. Usually, eye twitching does not cause any kind of interruption in the vision of the concerned person as a result of the frequent closing of the eyes. It can be a symptom of some eye problems like dry eyes or a symptom of some neurological problems as well. Eye twitching is sometimes very disturbing it will always help to know about some eye twitch remedies. Your query on how to stop eye twitching can be resolved here.
Ways to Stop Eye Twitching
Eye twitching is considered serious when the frequency of blinking increases abnormally and is followed by irritation in the eyes. The rapid blinking of the eye may take place due to the presence of any types of bright lights. It can also happen due to tiredness or when under severe mental stress. When the condition is serious, the twitching of the muscle becomes so strong that it forces the eyelids to remain closed for a few hours and the person cannot see anything. There are three different ways to stop eye twitching. These are: non-surgical methods, surgical methods and some preventive methods.
GoDaddy plans to stop China domain registrations
Internet domain company GoDaddy.com said it planned to stop registering domain names in China, joining Google Inc in protesting cyber attacks and censorship in that country.
"We believe that many of the current abuses of the Internet originating in China are due to a lack of enforcement against criminal activities by the Chinese government," Christine Jones, Go Daddy Group Inc general counsel, told a congressional commission hearing on Wednesday.
She said GoDaddy had repelled dozens of extremely serious attacks that appear to have originated in China in the first three months of 2010.
Jones said GoDaddy, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, would continue to manage .cn domain names of existing customers.
"Our experience has been that China is focused on using the Internet to monitor and control the legitimate activities of its citizens, rather than penalizing those who commit Internet-related crimes," Jones said.
Google said in January that it had sustained a hacking attack that it said originated in China. This week Google shut its Chinese portal over censorship and said it planned to phase out deals to provide filtered search services to other online or mobile firms in China.
Google said visitors to its China search engine, google.cn, were being redirected to Hong Kong-based google.com.hk.
"I compliment Google and I compliment GoDaddy," said Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which focuses on human rights in China.
Republican Representative Chris Smith said GoDaddy's action was "a powerful sign that American IT companies want to do the right thing in repressive countries."
Google told the commission it was seeing intermittent censorship of some Internet queries from mainland China that had been rerouted to Hong Kong.
"We are well aware that the Chinese government can, at any time, block access to our services," Alan Davidson, Google's director of public policy, said in prepared testimony.
"Indeed we have already seen intermittent censorship of certain search queries on both google.com.hk and google.com."
Internet censorship has drawn increased attention from U.S. lawmakers since Google's spat with China began and a policy initiative by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to promote global Internet freedom.
"This is a foreign policy priority of the United States," said Democratic Senator Ted Kaufman, co-chair of the Senate's newly formed Global Internet Freedom Caucus.
Related information:
Go Daddy was founded in 1997 as Jomax Technologies by Bob Parsons, who previously founded the software development company Parsons Technology, Inc. The company changed its name to Go Daddy in 1999 when a group of employees were brainstorming on a more memorable name than Jomax Technologies. Someone said "How about Big Daddy?" A quick check revealed that it was taken. Then Parsons said "How about Go Daddy?" The name was available, so he bought it.[7] CEO Bob Parsons states the company stuck with the name because it made people smile and remember it.[7]
Go Daddy has grown to become the largest ICANN-accredited registrar on the internet.[8] In 2001, soon after Network Solutions was no longer the only place to register a domain, Go Daddy was approximately the same size as competitors Dotster and eNom.[9] In April 2005 it surpassed Network Solutions in market share in terms of total domain names registered.
In 2002, Go Daddy sued VeriSign for domain slamming[10] and again in 2003 over its Site Finder service.[11] This latter suit caused controversy over VeriSign's role as the sole maintainer of the .com and the .net top-level domains. VeriSign shut down Site Finder after receiving a letter from ICANN ordering it to comply with a request to disable the service.[12] In 2006, Go Daddy was sued by Web.com for patent infringement.[13][14]
In 2007 and 2008, the company lobbied in favor of legislation that would crack down on unscrupulous online pharmacies and child predators.
good trip planner tips
RoutePlannerEuropeDeluxe2
Route planners on the Web make navigating as easy as pointing and clicking, literally; their search engines allow you to simply supply your departure and destination points to receive a description of the fastest routes. If you require extra information, you can often choose a long description over the standard short one, and can even ask to steer clear of toll roads. Should tolls be inevitable, you can calculate their total cost on your route.
One of the most helpful aspects of any good trip planner is its ability not only to map your journey but also to locate bathrooms, gas stations, and restaurants on the way. No longer do you have to drive down the highway praying for a rest stop within the next five miles, since the route planner will pinpoint several for your convenience. The most detailed sites also suggest nearby tourist attractions in case you need to break up the monotony of the drive or entertain restless children. Some will even tell you how much gas money you’ll need if you input the size and guzzling capacity of your vehicle.
related :
Respected travel planners from the pre-Internet days, such as Michelin and the Automobile Association, have launched websites packed with tips to get you started. MapQuest, however, currently leads the pack as the most popular online pathfinder in the U.S. By allowing you to enter the street address of both departure and destination, MapQuest provides an extremely detailed map of the area and its surrounding streets. It then lets you click on a set of categories (Schools, Entertainment, Transportation) to focus on specific services and institutions, plus provides incisive driving instructions to supplement the map.
