Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 April 18

= April 18 =

Car seats in taxis?
In America, various medical associations recommend that children up to several years of age always use a size-appropriate car seat. America is a personal car culture. But what about countries where few people own cars? or cities I suppose. If I had an infant in New York and wanted to take a taxi, do I just hold the baby in my arms? Seems like I've just lost 60 years of consumer safety development? The Masked Booby (talk) 08:54, 18 April 2011 (UTC)
 * In the UK it's a legal requirement, not just a recommendation, for children to use suitable seats. However, this site ("Produced with the support of the Department for Transport.") says that children can legally be carried in taxis wearing a normal seatbelt (which is probably unsuitable and perhaps positively dangerous). I suppose it's reasonable not to expect taxis to have to carry a range of child seats just in case, but I agree it's not very satisfactory. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 12:29, 18 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I imagine that this fuzzing-over of the safety issue happens because the reason people don't own cars is that they live in a place where the public transportation system satisfies most of their transportation needs, and they rarely, if ever, need to take a taxi with their kid. Paul (Stansifer) 14:31, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * According to this FAQ about Taxi-Cabs published by the NYC government...
 * --Passengers are encouraged to bring their own car-seats
 * --Drivers are required to allow them to be installed.
 * --Normal seat-belt and car-seat laws do not apply to taxi-cabs.
 * --Children under seven can be held in the parent's lap.
 * APL (talk) 15:00, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

I would like to learn to appreciate cat feces.
I have a philosophy about gardening that has served me well through the years, which is: "Once you learn to appreciate the weeds, gardening becomes much easier." So weeds are no longer a problem. But my three cats are. They are very insistent on using my vegetable garden as their preferred bathroom place, despite unobstructed and convenient access to their litter boxes, as well as numerous other acceptable places in my yard. I don't think a fence would stop them, and the garden is too far a way to get to with a spray bottle (my usual method of deterring their unwanted activity). So I think I need to learn to "appreciate" cat feces in my garden...but before I do that, I need to know if they are actually harming anything. Conversely, could the feces be considered a positive addition of fertilizer? I should say that they do not seem to be harming the plants with their digging (they go in between the rows, and bury their excrement quite efficiently). I am more concerned with the long term effects on the soil and plants, as well as the quality of the vegetables that I plan on serving at my dinner table this summer. Thanks, Quinn ☂THUNDER 20:00, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * People pay lots of money to buy bags of various types of animal shit to put in their gardens. Look at it as a free upgrade to your soil!  Seriously, watch what happens.  If they aren't digging up your flowerbeds, and there's no harm to the plants themselves, what's the problem?  -- Jayron  32  20:09, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * No immediate problem. In fact, it's better than stinking up my guest bathroom with their litter boxes. But cats can carry many diseases.  My concern is mostly toxicity/disease spreading from the shit-->soil-->vegetables-->my family. Quinn ☂THUNDER  20:33, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Ah, sorry. I thought this was a flowergarden, not a vegetable garden.  I understand your concern.  -- Jayron  32  21:08, 18 April 2011 (UTC)
 * What type of vegetables do you have? As long as the substance in question does not come in direct contact with the vegetables, they should be fine to eat. Sumsum2010 · T · C  21:48, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Cat's have a few diseases in common with people, but not many, so the risk is fairly low, especially if these cats are kept at home where their chance to contract diseases is minimal. If you still want to stop them, though, perhaps a full fence enclosure (also closed on the top) would be in order.  This could also keep other birds and animals out that might eat your veggies. StuRat (talk) 21:48, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Possibly the best reason to avoid contact with cat feces is toxoplasmosis. It's rarely directly dangerous except to pregnant women (or more precisely their unborn babies) but you probably don't want it; it has a very interesting strategy for propagation whereby it makes infected rats like the smell of cat urine, so they're more likely to get eaten.  It seems to have effects on human brains too (apparently infected people are more likely to take chances on the highway).  --Trovatore (talk) 01:28, 19 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Toxoplasmosis is a very commonly cited reason to avoid cat feces, in addition to a few types of worms that humans can also contract. Besides diseases or parasites, feces also act as great incubators for a variety of nasty bacteria that normally would not thrive in your garden. Animal waste processed for agriculture use has been subjected to rigorous composting that makes any of these problems non-existent. A recent article that I read stated that any yard debris containing fresh animal waste needed a minimum of 18 months of composting before it would be safe to use in a garden. Beach drifter (talk) 01:38, 19 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Cats eat more than cat food. Some of the animals they consume (and if they're outdoors pooping in your garden, they're in the position to consume birds and rodents) carry diseases that may be more harmful to humans than to cats. As said above, normal garden manure is composted for over a year (which is why it's called "well-rotted steer manure" by the guys at the garden centre). Cat feces should not be used for anything. --NellieBly (talk) 03:38, 19 April 2011 (UTC)


 * (OP here) Yeesh, the above couple of posts where what I was afraid of. My cats are cold blooded killers, and are constantly bringing all sorts of vermin to my doorstep.  Building a fence encompassing enough to actually keep out the smart little bastards would be impractical for a back yard garden.  I thought about rigging-up the sprinkler where I could turn it on quickly when I saw them in the garden...but, of course, I am not home 24 hours a day to monitor the area. (Maybe a motion detecting sprinkler, if such a thing exists.)  Oh well, may have to scratch eating the vegetables this year if I can't get a handle on it.  Thanks for everyone's help! Quinn CLOUDY  19:15, 19 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Have you considered eliminating the cats? This would eliminate the cat feces as well as the vermin on the doorstep, and would allow you to eat vegetables this year.  The neighborhood vermin would appreciate it, too.  Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:27, 19 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I take it you are a cat hater ? The average cat owner would not consider getting rid of their cats to be an option. StuRat (talk) 19:39, 19 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes I am constantly considering that. Would you like to talk to my wife?  She is a very understanding person (not). Quinn CLOUDY  00:14, 20 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Another approach is invisible fencing. That's a collar the cats would wear that would zap them when they go into the garden. StuRat (talk) 19:39, 19 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Hell, I can't keep a collar on them....much less one that shocks them if they are doing something "bad." Knowing my cats, they would bring any such collars to your place for suggesting such a thing. They really are smart little critters. Quinn CLOUDY  00:08, 20 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Cat feces is not particularly good as fertilizer - too high in ammonia and nitrates, if I remember correctly. You might check at a pet store to see if they have a cat repellant, or some kind of motion sensitive sound device that will annoy them - cats usually won't litter someplace they are not comfortable.  -- Ludwigs 2  07:47, 20 April 2011 (UTC)


 * OP update here: Well, the solution seems to be (in case any else has the same dilemma), putting in a couple of stakes with a spray bottle tied to them.  Kind of like a scarecrow, they won't go anywhere near them, since, when they do something bad, like start scratching my furniture, I spray them with the spray bottle. Anyway, it has worked great the last few days. Quinn CLOUDY  03:13, 21 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I'd be skeptical that your solution will be a permanent one. Crows eventually figure out that scarecrows aren't a threat, and I certainly think cats are as smart as crows. StuRat (talk) 05:57, 21 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Ach! You're right. Found a fresh turd in there today upon my return from work.  Oh well. Anyone want some free kale? Quinn CLOUDY  00:08, 22 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Sorry to hear that. Some other ideas:


 * 1) I support your idea to put a sprinkler there and wait by the faucet until you see one of them squatting in the garden, then blast them. The cat isn't likely to figure out that you did it, and that they are therefore safe when you aren't around. The result is that they will think the garden is "cursed" and will stay away. However, it may wear off after a while and you may need to repeat the process.  Leave the sprinkler in the garden as a reminder to the cat.


 * 2) I believe there are some smells which cats find annoying, so putting those around the edges might move them along (before they have a "movement"). Eucalyptus mulch and citrus are suggested here: .  StuRat (talk) 00:40, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia article assumes usa-based readership
The article Depreciation_recapture assumes that everyone looking for information is interested only in the US / IRS interpretation of this topic. Since this accounting term is used in other countries as well, I believe something should be done about it - but what and how?

Since this article's talk page seems dead, I decided to try here first. Thanks in advance for any hints Ottawahitech (talk) 20:06, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * You could a) fix the problem yourself or b) perhaps notify other editors of the problem, using Template:Globalize/USA to do so. -- Jayron  32  20:10, 18 April 2011 (UTC)
 * The problem with "be bold" is that it takes a lot less knowledge to see a problem than to fix one. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:46, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I suggest you put the bulk of the current content in a new section you label "United States", then add sections for any other nations you care to cover. StuRat (talk) 21:43, 18 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I've now tagged the article so that readers are aware of the issue and may be motivated to improve it. Ghmyrtle (talk) 22:54, 18 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Most talk pages are dead until someone posts to them ... —Tamfang (talk) 05:30, 19 April 2011 (UTC)


 * The concept of depreciation recapture seems to be mainly a USA IRS concept. Perhaps someone can find another revenue service that uses this term (perhaps Canada?), but HMRC in the UK seems to talk about "negative depreciation" instead, and never uses the term "depreciation recapture".  Perhaps it would be better just to state that the questioned article is about the US IRC concept and to note that other tax authorities have legislation that has a similar effect on their respective taxes.  I've made a start, but I'm not an expert on this, so perhaps someone else should take a look. I've copied this discussion to the talk page of the article.   D b f i r s   06:49, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks to eveyone for the quick and informative responses. I have now posted a comment to the "existing" discussion on the the Depreciation_recapture talk page Ottawahitech (talk) 14:23, 19 April 2011 (UTC)