Japanese Knotweed Is Coming to Wreck Your Backyard—and Much, Much Worse

(WTH is this a metaphor explaining? Why is the WSJ publishing it?)

The invasive plant can grow up to 3 feet a week, wreaking havoc on your property or damaging the foundation of your home1/2

Sure, Japanese Knotweed is pretty. But within it lies the heart of a house-eating predator.

Kris Frieswick hedcutBy Sept. 5, 2024 9:00 am ET

The forest behind our house has turned into a horror movie, starring an armada of non-native invasive weeds. Their evil, tendrilly arms reach out like bright green zombies to smother everything in their path, albeit very slowly. Our trees have been encircled, their leaves dying before our eyes. Our pear tree silently screams for help.

I called our landscaper to confirm, pretty please, that we were not in the grips of a demonic plant that has been colonizing our area: Japanese knotweed.

If you’ve never heard of Japanese knotweed, count your blessings. It was brought to the U.S. from Japan in the mid-1800s by shortsighted botanists who also brought over kudzu and oriental bittersweet. Japanese knotweed and its pals promptly spread, unhindered by its natural predators. Knotweed is now all over the U.S., though it is partial to watery areas with disturbed soil and as little as possible obstructing its plans for world domination.

Japanese knotweed looks like a clumpy, bushy bamboo plant. Its white flowers, which appear in late summer, are beautiful. The plant requires almost no care to thrive and does so very quickly. These qualities made them very popular with gardeners ignorant to the weed’s inherent evils.

Its stalks can grow up to 3 feet a week. Its underground stems, or rhizomes, can expand by multiple feet each growing season, which runs from spring to early fall. It pushes out native plants unfortunate enough to live on land it covets. It is relentless and strong and its roots can send up shoots that can push over retaining walls, lift up walkways and road surfaces and grow up through cracks in asphalt and concrete foundations, where it can wreak structural havoc.

==JAPANESE KNOTWEED RHIZOMES DO NOT COME TO PLAY.–

The rhizomes are nearly impossible to eradicate. They must be physically, and entirely, excavated from the dirt or poisoned with pesticide. Neither option is easy or fast—both typically take at least three years to keep it from sprouting anew, according to Robert Naczi, the curator of North American botany at the New York Botanical Garden. A new plant can sprout from a tiny root fragment. If you manage to remove every morsel, great care must be taken in its disposal or it’ll take root wherever it ends up, like an MLM salesperson.

• It can live in wet or dry conditions, near freshwater or salt, disturbed or undisturbed soil, cold or warm climates. It’s the O.G. Audrey II.

• “You have to respect this plant,” says Naczi. He’s been respecting it up close and personal lately: his neighbor has an infestation that might breach his property line if it isn’t dealt with soon. “They’re known to grow inches per day in the spring.”

• The U.K., where it is far more rampant, has basically given up on eradication, calling it an unrealistic goal. When the Brits give up, you know it’s bad.

Until recently, some U.K. banks wouldn’t give mortgages for homes that had the plant growing on the property. However, after gallons of legislative ink was spilled and hours of Vogon-like study conducted by various official U.K. bodies, it was announced in 2020 that Japanese knotweed wasn’t the herby Armageddon everyone thought it was, as long as it is monitored and treated.

That’s not to say it isn’t horrible. U.K. home sellers are legally required to disclose the presence of knotweed during a sale. Homeowners can be prosecuted for causing it to spread into the wild. Residents who find it on their land are advised to take out knotweed insurance, a five- to 10-year policy that pays for the annual treatment that, at best, will keep it at bay. Still, even with the new chill-out directive, knotweed’s presence on or near a property, even with proper maintenance in place, negatively impacts home values.

https://archive.is/P5x76#selection-2209.0-3713.5

>>21558016

2/2

THESE CRITTERS, APHALARA ITADORI, MAY TURN OUT TO BE THE HEROES IN THE U.S.’S KNOTWEED NIGHTMARE. THANKS, YOU LITTLE PSYLLIDS.

The U.S. isn’t quite so tizzied by knotweed, but botanists are worried when it shows up. And it shows up all over the place.

Caitlin and Paul Maher Jr., both writers, moved to Lubec, Maine, from New Hampshire in 2020. Before buying the new home, Paul didn’t ask what the acre-sized patch of 8-foot-tall foliage was on the 1.5-acre property.

Turns out it was a metric buttload of Japanese knotweed.

“It was a Vietnam jungle. I couldn’t even walk through there. It was impenetrable,” he says.

Their first summer there, he had it mowed down, burned the stalks, and leveled out the ground. He later noticed knotweed sprouting through a crack in his garage floor. It was clear that he was not dealing with an ordinary plant.

IF YOU SEE ONE OF THESE GUYS, DON’T STOMP IT.

The following summer, Paul scythed it to deprive it, he says, of the leaves it needs for photosynthesis, a process that left him with a torn rotator cuff and the need for surgery. Despite his initial resistance to using herbicides, he applied a solution to the foliage at the end of the growing season.

He repeated this madness for three years. Today, the knotweed is almost gone, but he has yet to declare total victory. He still has to treat little “scout” plants that pop up, which he likens to nuclear-war survivors sticking their heads out of a fallout shelter to see if the coast is clear. They inevitably sprout up underneaththorny plants such as blackberries that make it difficult to get at them. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” he says. “I call it plant consciousness.”

Researchers such as Dr. Bernd Blossey, a professor in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., says one treatment for smaller patches of knotweed is mowing it repeatedly to keep it in check. If elimination is your aim, dig it up, ensuring that every single speck of the root is accounted for. Expect to repeat that process for years before it’s completely gone.

Another method is to cut it down after it flowers, but before it loses its leaves, and inject herbicide into every open stalk using a herbicide-injection gizmo. “It looks like a little pistol with a syringe on top,” Blossey says. The type and strength of herbicide used in this surgical strike depends on whether the stand is near water, wildlife and other sensitive environmental factors. It’s time consuming and experts suggest outsourcing this to a certified pesticide applicator. For large infestations, some specialists recommend spraying the foliage with pesticide when it begins to flower, though others say it’s not effective unless done in conjunction with stem injection.

Invasive knotweed may soon meet its match, though, thanks to one of its old frenemies in Japan: a bug called Aphalara itadori, a type of psyllid that eats Japanese knotweed.

After decades of research, scientists in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst received permission in 2020 to release them into the wild. They began placing the bugs on individual knotweed plants covered with netting to make sure they performed as expected.

The critters are doing a number on giant knotweed, which is also going gangbusters in the U.S.“I’ve never been so excited to see a plant suffering before,” says Jeremy Andersen, a research assistant professor working on the project. “They looked like their life essence had been sucked out of them.”

So far, researchers haven’t yet seen the same results with Japanese knotweed. Andersen thinks the bug colonies on those plants weren’t propagating well in the Massachusetts climate.

They are now testing a variant of the bug from a colder region of Japan, and will evaluate the results this fall. Andersen estimates that a bug-powered solution is probably three to four years away.

Fortunately for me, our landscaper Dan Philos-Jensen, owner of Salt Meadow Farms in West Barnstable, Mass., pronounced that our current backyard bête verte, as it were, is not Japanese knotweed. It is oriental bittersweet, which is so badass that even conservation organizations advise:“Nuke the bastards.”

Sadly, Philos-Jensen says it’s a matter of time before Japanese knotweed shows up in my yard—apparently, there’s a small stand growing on the other side of the farm across the street.

I can almost hear it from my front yard—“Feeeeeed me, Seymour…”

https://archive.is/P5x76#selection-2209.0-3713.5

why are they doing this?

https://x.com/mansourtarek_/status/1833129707753058459

Kimberly Atkins Stohr: If Voters Don't Like Trump, "There's A Way" To "Eliminate Him From The Political Arena Entirely"

Posted By Ian Schwartz On Date September 7, 2024

Kimberly Atkins Stohr: If Voters Don't Like Trump, "There's A Way

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Boston Globe columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr join Geoff Bennett to discuss the week in politics, including Donald Trump getting a political reprieve after the judge overseeing his New York criminal case delays his sentencing, if there's a double standard for what Trump and Harris say and former Vice President Dick Cheney announces he's voting for Harris.

GEOFF BENNETT, PBS NEWSHOUR: Do you think an endorsement [from Dick Cheney of Vice President Kamala Harris] — or maybe it's not officially an endorsement. Do you think the show of support will make a difference?

KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR, BOSTON GLOBE: I think that it can, as David said, in a certain segment. Zillennials probably don't even know who Dick Cheney is.

But if you're talking to people, disaffected Republicans who might — are considering either holding their nose and voting for Trump or maybe staying home, it's showing them that there is another way.

If they don't like what Trump stands for and what he wants, there's a way in this election to do something different and try to eliminate him from the political arena entirely.

(Defund PBS ASAP, they’ve made known many times they are Anti-American and Anti-Free speech. These people know what they are saying, and it’s towards the mentally imbalanced out there. Arrest them and interrogate them for sending this message out.)

Watch the entire panel:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/09/07/kimberly_atkins_stohr_if_voters_dont_like_trump_theres_a_way_to_eliminate_him_from_the_political_arena_entirely.html

FBI, you know if anyone said this about Bidan or Harris, you would pick them up and interrogate them asap, do your job, also SS do your job

https://youtu.be/tSJt_TutIPo

Nate Silver’s Latest Forecast Has Trump Winning Every Single Swing State in Electoral College Blowout

David GilmourSep 9th, 2024, 10:05 am

Pollster Nate Silver predicted an Electoral College landslide for former President Donald Trump after his model’s latest forecast showed the Republican now has a 63.8 percent chance to win the majority of the Electoral College vote, while his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, trails with just a 36 percent chance.

Silver’s model, published on his blog Silver Bulletin, marks a shift from earlier projections that favored Harris, or Trump narrowly. The pollster notes the impact of Sunday’s New York Times/Siena College poll, one of his model’s “highest rated pollsters,” that put Trump ahead of Harris – 48 percent to 47 percent – well within the survey’s 3-point error margin.

Per Silver’s model, Trump is now predicted to win 312 electoral votes compared to Harris’s 226. This dramatic upswing surpasses Trump’s previous wins, including his 304-vote victory against Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Crucially, Silver’s prediction places Trump ahead in all the swing states ahead of Tuesday’s ABC News-host presidential debate — which, the pollster caveats, could blunt the impact of the New York Times/Siena poll.

While Silver’s latest prediction paints a bleak picture for Harris, other models show a more competitive race. RealClearPolitics has Harris narrowly ahead with 273 electoral votes, while Project 538 forecasts a victory for Harris with 281 electoral votes to Trump’s 257. Still, the margin between the two candidates remains razor-thin in key states.

Interestingly, Silver’s forecast still gives Harris a slim edge in the popular vote, with a 56 percent chance to come out on top there compared to Trump’s 44 percent.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/nate-silvers-latest-forecast-has-trump-winning-every-single-swing-state-in-electoral-college-blowout/

What is Silver trying to do? Sabotage Trump, get people so upset all the lefties go out to vote?

Mediate is fixated on Trump

https://www.mediaite.com/news/nate-silvers-latest-forecast-has-trump-winning-every-single-swing-state-in-electoral-college-blowout/

Conservative activist launches $1bn crusade to ‘crush’ liberal America

Leonard Leo was architect of effort to secure conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court

Alex Rogers in Washington Sept. 8, 2024

The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House

The conservative activist who led the crusade to overhaul the US legal system is making a $1bn push to “crush liberal dominance” across corporate America and in the country’s news and entertainment sectors.'

In a rare interview, Leonard Leo, the architect of the rightward shift on the Supreme Court under Donald Trump, saidhis non-profit advocacy group, the Marble Freedom Trust, was ready to confront the private sector in addition to the government.

“We need to crush liberal dominance where it’s most insidious, so we’ll direct resources to build talent and capital formation pipelines in the areas of news and entertainment, where leftwing extremism is most evident,” Leo told the Financial Times.“Expect us to increase support for organisations that call out companies and financial institutions that bend to the woke mind virus spread by regulators and NGOs, so that they have to pay a price for putting extreme leftwing ideology ahead of consumers,” he said.

Leo has spent more than two decades at the influential Federalist Society, guiding conservative judges into the federal courts and the Supreme Court itself. In 2018, conservative justice Clarence Thomas joked that Leo was the third most important person in the world.

Leo’s efforts culminated under Trump’s presidency, when three Federalist Society-backed judges were appointed to give conservatives on the Supreme Court a 6-3 supermajority, and profound influence over US law. The court has since then ruled to overturn the right to an abortion, among other long-sought rightwing causes. In 2020, after Trump lost the election, Leo stepped back from running the daily operations of the Federalist Society, while remaining its co-chair.

The following year, Leo founded Marble, with a $1.6bn donation from electronic device manufacturing mogul Barre Seid, to be a counterweight to what he said was “dark money” of the left. He spent about $600mn in its first three years, according to public financial disclosures.

Leo said his goal was to find “very leveraged, impactful ways of reintroducing limited constitutional government and a civil society premised on freedom and personal responsibility and the virtues of western civilisation”.

The $1bn money machine is now funding the conservative mission against private institutions, opposing diversity, equity and inclusion policies, climate and social concerns in investing and the “debanking” of politically conservative customers, in addition to taking on the public sector.

The non-profit is increasingly interested in launching campaigns against “woke” banks and China-friendly companies involved in everything from food production to autonomous vehicles in the US and potentially Europe.

Leo also intends to invest in a US local media company in the next 12 months, although he has not decided which, and is building conservative coalitions through groups such as Teneo Network, a club with chapters across the country.

He also confirmed that Marble had since 2021 helped fund organisations that launched campaigns against companies with DEI, ESG and other initiatives, including BlackRock, Vanguard, American Airlines, Coca-Cola, State Farm, Major League Baseball and Ticketmaster.

This year, Marble aided a variety of conservative groups in their campaigns against TikTok on the grounds that it was a threat to children and US national security. President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to divest from the video-sharing platform.

Leo’s rise to be among the US’s most powerful conservatives has drawn scrutiny from liberal attorneys and Democratic politicians. Earlier this year, he refused to comply with a subpoena from Senate Democrats investigating undisclosed gifts to Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito revealed by ProPublica.

In 2020, Leo joined the for-profit public advocacy firm CRC Advisors. Bloomberg has reported that an array of non-profits have paid CRC at least $69mn since Leo became its co-owner and chair.

While Marble funds Trump-aligned advocacy groups, it is not donating money to sway the 2024 presidential election, Leo said.The non-profit is instead helping the Republican effort to end the Democratic majority in the Senate, which confirms judges and justices.

“The political environment is more topsy-turvy and more uncertain than it’s ever been in my lifetime,” said Leo. “Political investing is not as good a bet as it used to be.”

https://archive.is/ioVzT#selection-2947.0-51834.0

Kamala is sinking in the polls, tries comeback with this new ad.

Posted by Kane on September 9, 2024 2:26 pm

Kamattack goes with an ad with John Bolton in it, might as well since she is now handcuffed to the Cheney underground, let's see if this works. KEK

NEWS JUNKIES – CHECK OUT OUR HOMEPAGE

https://youtu.be/m6oQXN2WNtU

>>21558719

I guess Kamatla doesn't understand how all those people in that ad are betrayers to the US, not just PDJT, burning more money in daylight, Kamattack

The Complete List Of Past GOP Presidential Ticket Members Who Say They're Voting For Trump

Jennifer Bendery

Fri, September 6, 2024 at 6:21 PM EDT·2 min read

WASHINGTON — When Kamala Harris accepted her party’s presidential nomination at the Democratic convention last month, several former presidents, vice presidents and nominees to these posts came together in a show of public support for her bid for the White House.

Barack Obama. Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). President Joe Biden, who even dropped his reelection bid to unify not just Democrats, but Americans.

And on Donald Trump’s side? Which past Republican presidents, vice presidents and nominees are lining up behind him?

We didn’t see any of them speak in support of him at the GOP convention in July, but surely they’re out there.

Here, presented for the first time, is an exhaustive list of the previous Republican presidents, vice presidents and nominees to these posts who have publicly said they will be voting for Trump in November:

1.Sarah Palin. (God Bless Sarah Palin)

That’s it. That’s the whole list.

The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee reaffirmed her support for Trump in March 2023.

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said he is “absolutely not” voting for Trump. Neither is former Vice President Dick Cheney, former vice presidential nomineePaul Ryan, or, presumably, former Vice President Dan Quayle, who helped prevent Trump from stealing the election in 2020.

Trump’s own former vice president, Mike Pence, whom Trump nearly got killed on Jan. 6, 2021, said “it should come as no surprise” that he will not endorse Trump.(He didn't even come close to being killed)

Former Republican President George W. Bush has not said if he’s voting for Trump, but in 2020 he reportedly said he would not support his reelection.

Bush didn’t have a positive response to Trump’s inaugural address in 2016, where Trump described the country as a dark wasteland of American carnage:

“That was some weird shit,” Bush reportedly said. (Dude you couldn’t even pronounce the word Nuclear! Don’t you think the real Weird Shit is when you and Cheney blew up the Twin Towers? Definitely weirder than anything PDJT could say.)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/complete-list-past-gop-presidential-222116728.html

THANK THE LIVING GOD THAT NONE OF THESE DEMONS FROM HELL, WARMONGERS, KILLERS, MONEY GRUBBING GLOBALISTS WILL VOTE FOR TRUMP.

Stephen Miller: Kamala Harris has an 'individual responsibility' for our border invasion crisis with ,Mark Levine

6:32

https://youtu.be/C9wJQa2Oiyw