1. Job opportunity: restoration network looking for a Management Director
2. Opposition to Caltrans' Niles Canyon Project heats up - protest TODAY 3 pm -5 pm
3. Richmond axes Pt Molate mega-casino
4. Trouble in the bat world means trouble for U.S. food supply
5. Help Alemany Farm win $4000 - vote for them
6. Occidental Arts & Ecology Center spring biodiversity plant sale today and tomorrow
7. Marin CNPS annual plant sale TODAY
8. Tuolumne River Trust can use your help today and tomorrow/TRT doings in May
9. Sunday Streets returns to the Great Highway and Golden Gate Park Sunday the 10th
10. Once and future giants: mammoths, camels, and saber-toothed cats in Los Angeles; did Homo sapiens dispatch them? April 14
11. Feedback: having babies/population/immigration
12. Population Institute: Water Scarcity and World Water Day/food prices continue to rise
13. April is Birdathon Month - sign up now
14. Healthy gardens/healthy creeks April 11 in Cupertino/native plant lectures in Half Moon Bay and Los Altos Hills April 15 and 16
15. 7th Annual Spring Native Plant Garden Tour in San Francisco Sunday the 10th
16. Letter to SF Bd of Supervisors re Scott Wiener's opposition to GGNRA dog management
17. Webcams: Peregrine falcons on San Jose City Hall/eagle hatching
18. Wicked Plants: Botanical Rogues & Assassins/meet pro skateboarder Karl Watson at Tenderloin Rec Center
19. Book mini-reviews: The Death and Life of Monterey Bay, and a book on the theory and practice of the commons that we all own
20. LTEs from Edgewood Preserve: Interesting politics in the rabbit and cat world
21. Not my job: visual humorous side of bureaucracy
22. Notes & Queries: Why are white people called Caucasian?/Is penmanship doomed?/why is democracy considered the best form of govt?
1. Turtle Island Restoration Network looking for a Management Director: http://www.seaturtles.org/article.php?id=1987
########################################################
2. Opposition to Niles Canyon Project Heats Up: Protest TODAY, Hearing Thursday
Protest the Caltrans Destruction in Niles Canyon
TODAY! Saturday, April 9th, from 3 to 5 pm, at the corner of Mission Blvd. and Niles Canyon Road in Fremont. Come hear speakers about the latest events and live music, enjoy food, and help educate the public about the need to stop this project.
See the Save Niles Canyon web site for information.
Come to the Public Hearing Next Thursday, April 14
State Senator Ellen Corbett and Assemblymember Bob Weickowski have asked Caltrans to reopen the comment period for phase two of the project and have set up a second public meeting with Caltrans to address community concerns regarding the project. The meeting will be held on Thursday, April 14, from 6:30-8:30 pm, at the Fremont Teen Center, 39770 Paseo Padre Parkway, in Fremont.
Please RSVP to Senator Corbett’s District Office at (510) 577-2310 or Senator.Corbett@senate.ca.gov
Tell Alameda County No Road Widening
We need you to contact the Alameda County Transportation Commission about the Niles Canyon Road Project. See the Save Niles Canyon action alert for the full story.
Read the Alameda Creek Alliance editorial in today’s Fremont Argus, Must Save Niles Canyon From Caltrans Project
Read today’s Alameda Creek Alliance press release about the project for the latest information
########################################################
3. Contra Costa Times 4/6/2011
Richmond axes Point Molate casino resort
Dreams of a $1.2 billion casino-hotel resort at Richmond’s waterfront are dead. City leaders ended a five-hour meeting Tuesday night by nixing further consideration of the proposal, saying there are too many problems from traffic congestion to federal approvals that have yet to come. Ultimately, they said Richmond voters made their opposition clear when they defeated November’s advisory ballot measure on whether a casino should be built at Point Molate.
Read more >>
########################################################
4. Trouble in the Bat World Means Trouble for U.S. Food Supply – AllGov.com
Bats eat insects that are harmful to crops— and the agriculture industry might sustain economic losses unless more is done to protect this underappreciated species. FSEEE
########################################################
5. Vote for Alemany Farm
Alemany Farm has the opportunity to win $4000 in a nation-wide contest. Click here and give Alemany Farm your vote! They will use the money for plants, tools, and programming at the site.
For more info on the farm, and volunteer workdays visit alemanyfarm.org - 3rd Sundays, 1:00-4:00 is the native plant area workday, next one April 17th!
########################################################
6. Occidental Arts and Ecology Center Spring Biodiversity Plant Sale
April 9 & 10 from 9AM to 5PM
We will be selling hundreds of open-pollinated, heirloom and rare varieties - all California Certified Organic - many started from our own seed collection.
Free Tours at 11AM & 1PM both days!
Light Refreshments Available for Purchase.
For more information click HERE.
Please bring your own trays or boxes, if possible.
No pets please!
########################################################
7. Marin CNPS 35th Annual Native Plant Sale
Celebrate the beauty and diversity of our native flora at our annual plant sale to be held once again at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and Sanctuary, 376 Greenwood Beach Road, Tiburon. The sale will be from 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday April 9.
There will be a good selection of California native plants including wildflowers, flowering currants and gooseberries, ceanothus, manzanitas, irises, monkey flowers, salvias, wild strawberries, heucheras, grasses, rushes, and sedges. Most are native to Marin and many have been propagated from Marin genetic stock. We'll also have seeds, books, posters, grass placemats, and cards available for purchase.
At 11 a.m., Charlotte Torgovitsky will speak on "Creating Habitat with Natives for the Natives." Knowlegeable members will be present to help with horticultural questions.
This sale is a source of funds for Chapter activities that include the preservation of the native flora, monthly meetings, slide show presentations and field trips open to the public.
Location:
The Lyford House
Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Wildlife Sanctuary
376 Greenwood Beach Road, Tiburon
########################################################
8. Once again the Tuolumne River Trust is hosting a Tap Water Station at the San Francisco Green Festival and we need help staffing it. Are you available to volunteer this weekend? The Green Festival is a giant sustainability extravaganza, featuring over 125 speakers, 350 eco-friendly businesses in a unique marketplace, workshops, green films, kid’s activities, live music, delicious organic cuisine, wine and beer, and lots of free giveaways. This conference is always a lot of fun, and you'll receive free entry with your volunteer shift. At the request of the conference, we ask people to sign up for a half-day shift, but we try to schedule lots of volunteers so that we can take turns within our shifts and get breaks to enjoy the Festival.
With over 40,000 people expected to attend, this conference is a great opportunity to educate the Bay Area about the Tuolumne River and their connection to it. Please email Jessie at jessie@tuolumne.org or call her at (415) 882-7252 x301 if you can help out with one of the following shifts:
Saturday, April 9, 10am-2:30pm and 2:30pm-7pm
Sunday, April 10, 11am-2:30pm and 2:30pm-6pm
Also, here are a few web links that might interest you:
Paddle to the Sea (May 7 - June 4) -- http://www.paddletothesea.org/
Mark your calendar -- Paddle to the Sea Happy Hour -- Thursday, April 28, 5:30-7pm at Green Temple, 540 Howard St., San Francisco
Kid's Tuolumne River essay contest winners -- http://www.tuolumne.org/content/article.php/20110317143517397
Brett Dennen benefit song -- http://www.tuolumne.org/content/article.php/20110301121330403
########################################################
9. Sunday Streets Returns to the Great Highway and Golden Gate Park
Sunday Streets 2011 is underway with monthly events happening the second Sunday of every month and continuing this Sunday, April 10 through September In addition a new Chinatown/North Beach event is scheduled for this summer (TBA). The season finale will be held on October 23 in the Mission.
We hope to see you in the car-free streets as many times as possible this year!
Sunday Streets Great Highway/Golden Gate Park is our longest route—nearly six miles through the park to the end of the Great Highway—12 miles if you make it a round trip. These events in the park are co-sponsored by San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks Department, who provide access along the smoothly paved JFK Drive and provide significant resources to ensure that the Great Highway/Golden Gate Park Sunday Streets are enjoyable, safe and fun for all.
April 10 Sunday Streets Great Highway highlights:
· Free bike rentalsby Bay City Bikes (JFK/Transverse) and Bike & Roll (Lincoln /Great Highway)
· Free bike repairsby REI (Lincoln/Great Highway)
· ‘Free Wall’ Mural painting: The program—a collaboration between the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Department of
Public –Works—creates a temporary 40-foot-long wall where participants can gather to practice their skills and paint an original mural on a grand scale. All are welcome to participate in creating this unique piece of art. Paints, brushes and guidance from a street artist curator provided.
· Activities for kids: Presented by Stonestown Family YMCA, Clif Kid, Climate Change Education, Recreation & Parks Dept.,
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s Freedom From Training Wheels (Lincoln/Great Highway) and more kid’s fun and games at Sloat on the Great Highway
· Fun for our four-legged friends: Pet programming sponsored by Happy Hounds Massage, located on the west end of MLK near Lincoln (please note: pets must be on leash at all times at Sunday Streets).
All this and MUCH MUCH MORE: http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/417137/ab64890480/1490000697/c6af090a69/
##################################################
10. San Francisco Naturalist Society
Thursday, April 14, 7.30 pm
Once and Future Giants
Mammoths, camels and saber-toothed cats once walked the ground that has become Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, and foraged on the marshland now buried beneath Chicago’s streets. Then, just as the first humans reached the Americas, these Ice Age giants vanished forever. New research on the demise of ancient megafauna offers vital insights for modern conservation.
Sharon Levy is a biologist and veteran science journalist who covers conservation and biology for BioScience, Audubon, Nature, and other magazines. She is the author of the new Oxford University Press book, Once and Future Giants: what Ice Age extinctions tell us about the fate of Earth’s largest animals. Her talk will explore the relationships between people and big wild animals, past and present. Once and Future Giants focuses on the extinction of mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed cats and other Ice Age megafauna, the evidence that prehistoric people may have played a role in their demise, and related lessons for modern conservation. The book also critically explores Pleistocene rewilding, the notion that by bringing living counterparts of extinct beasts to their former ranges, we may be able to restore damaged habitats, and recast the ancient relationship between people and large wild animals. Levy delves into real-world examples of rewilding that have been both disastrous (mustangs in the western U.S.) and beneficial (the dingo in Australia). Learn more about Sharon Levy and her book at www.sharonlevy.net.
Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way, San Francisco CA 94114. 7:30-9 pm. For more information, go to www.sfns.org or contact Patrick Schlemmer at JKodiak@earthlink.net or (415) 225-3830. Free and open to everyone.
########################################################
11. Feedback
On Apr 5, 2011, at 10:39 PM, Michael Mooney wrote:
Hi Jake, Re item number 13, having kids is probably the most natural thing we can do. The desire to have kids and a family
is very basic and very important. Some of the stereotypes mentioned for why people have kids are insulting. I for one
am a person who is both very concerned about over-population and the impacts on the planet but at the same time
feel good about having two young kids.
I hope you don't take these discussions personally, Mike. That's the wrong way to read them. People have babies or choose not to for all sorts of different reasons. I think some of the jibes made, eg, in the last newsletter (the one I think you're reacting to) are valid for some people but not others. I would like to continue these discussions as long as they are reasonable and civil. The subject can be sensitive, but adults should be able to engage in the topic because it is such an important one.
Many of my friends, including those with ardent views on biological/environmental issues, have one or two children. I do not fault them for this. Cogent arguments can be mustered on their behalf--and I do want the human race to continue. And keep in mind that for the U.S., our birth rate is close to the death rate. The difference is immigration, one that we're not dealing with. My bete noire is that the world comes to the point where China and India are, and the point is reached where there is almost nothing that can be done, other than take drastic steps, such as China's one-child policy or Indira Gandhi's attempt to sterilize some. She did that almost 35 years ago, at which time India was adding the population of Pennsylvania annually. It is continuing to do so--so do the math. Shudder. The monsoons have kept up and the digital age has brought a kind of prosperity that obscures deeper problems, so the issue has receded temporarily, but it will be back--and much worse. Here is a page-1 Fact of the week from current Guardian Weekly:
Fact of the week: 17% of the world is Indian. So finds India's latest census, which showed the country added 181 million citizens in the last decade.
Guardian Weekly 05.04.11
I'm wading into deep waters, so I won't go any further now. We can take measures to lessen the suffering I see coming. So far we won't acknowledge the problem.
Thanks for that, Jake. I'm open to all viewpoints, but those that I see as over-board I feel need to be responded to. Otherwise, the enviro movement will have a very hard time becoming more reasonable and broad-based. Thanks for your work.
Anna-Marie Bratton:
Hi Jake, RE: Natural Yearning to have babies. It's a biological fact that all animals are programmed to reproduce; to carry on the species - humans are animals so the same is true. Fortunately, human females can choose to ignore the call. I find it offensive to say that poor women have babies to be loved and to make a statement that poor men are not good family material is also offensive. Making such grandiose statements is arrogant to say the least.
RE: Ravens and Crows in SF. Ravens have been nesting in Parkmerced for at least 5 years. They also nest in the vicinity of Parkmerced since I've seen them flying toward Lake Merced with nesting material. Lately Crows have been hanging around with the Ravens but I have not observed Crows nesting yet. Ravens mate for more than one season and are very territorial. If groups of Ravens and Crows are observed they are almost always juvenile gangs.
Ilene Oba:
Dear Jake: I volunteer with Nature in the City, the Green Hairstreak Project, I guess that is where you got my address for your incredible newsletter.
I agree with you that overpopulation is a serious problem. I have no children. I feel uncomfortable when overpopulation solutions/blame veers to immigration and immigrants. Should California become Arizona? Education seems to be the answer to everything these days, the more educated women are, the less children they have. The antidote for terrorism in the Middle East is educating women. Overpopulation is a complex issue, I recently read that in China, the one child system has left many of the children (now adults) feeling lonely and are facing having to bear the burden of taking care of their parents and other relatives by themselves. I also feel that the environmental/ecology movement in the US seems to be predominately white middle/upper class and that pretty much excludes many voices from being heard. Remember the brouhaha years ago when the Sierra Club got involved with immigration policy? Immigrants often do the work that no American wants to do. Here is a fact that might explain California’s high foreign born number, “The correspondence between foreign-born and total population growth during this period often resulted from, among other factors, growing labor demand in the construction and low-skilled service sectors.” Immigrants want to become American and attain the American way of life and from what I’ve seen, they pay dearly to attain it. I don’t see immigrants when I go to Yosemite unless they are the service workers or when I’m hiking in the Redwoods. Where is the anger over Wall Street bankers stealing billions of dollars that would pay for solving some of our most pressing social issues? From my experience, when people attain the middle class, they have the time to discover things like nature. As much as I can easily fly into rage and despondency over the natural world I love so much, unless we all collectively realize and actively help our fellow human beings, there is no hope. All my volunteer work can’t save the Green Hairstreak butterfly without engaging the neighbors, many of whom I think are selfish, greedy, middle class jerks with their fancy cars and ugly houses with the million dollar view and concrete where the yard used to be.
Thank you for the note expressing your concerns, Ilene. It helps me to gauge reader concerns.
You have raised many issues, all of them complex, and in the rush of business I am unable to give a thorough response to most of them. You are a recent addition to my newsletter recipient list so you haven't heard the items I have posted in the past that address the concerns you raise here. What to do? I will have to respond as best I can for the time being, and over time you will get a sense of where I'm coming from and what motivates me to adopt the opinions I have.
Overpopulation, as you point out, is a complex issue. Complex issues are best addressed by taking individual strands that can be tackled, leaving other strands alone for the time being. Two obvious points where action is possible:
1. There are many poor areas of the world where women and/or husbands do not want too many children, but they don't have the education or the wherewithal to plan families. The United Nations Family Planning Assistance was created for this purpose. However, when Republicans are in power they prevent the U.S. from contributing to this fund. Why they do this is a mystery, as it seems an obvious way to reduce human misery and to give people choice in their lives.
2. In the 1960s it was considered not cool to have more than two children per family. I don't know what happened, but by the 1980s that was dropped and large families became respectable again, concomitantly just when being rich also again became respectable. These permutations are strange, but I can't help reflect on the fact that our consumer society thrives by having more consumers. If our attitudes are being purposely manipulated for this reason it would not surprise me at all. Just how this manipulation would take place I'm unsure, but advertising is most effective when it's subtle, and we had plenty of exposure to large families portrayed in well-to-do circumstances in a pleasant environment.
Those are just two illustrations of what we can do. I hear people say that there isn't much that can be done about population, but that is not so. You take the easy steps first. Believing nothing can be done is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Above all, we need to take action while we still have the choice, the flexibility to make those choices. China felt it had no choice but to create that horror--the one-child policy. I am very familiar with the severe pain that has inflicted on the people; it is tragic. There has been pressure on its leadership to relent on the policy, and the reason it hasn't changed is because it sees the problems of relenting are worse than the problems of sticking to it. Let's not get to the point where we no longer have that choice. The earth is finite and we are bumping against its limits right now. Climate warming is only one of its effects.
Immigration. We have been the refuge for troubled people seeking asylum or to improve their lives. I hope we never change on that, although I fear that economic conditions may force us to change. If you have been following my views you note that my primary concern with our policy and actions is based on numbers: I want to stabilize our population, eventually reduce it to a sustainable level. Presently birth/death ratios would stabilize our numbers; the increase is accountable to immigration. How we stabilize--whether reducing our birth rate or reducing immigration--is not as much of a concern to me as that stabilization takes place.
As to the "immigrants do the work no American wants to do", that is a myth purposely created as a way to drive down wages--and the ploy has been brilliantly successful. All those jobs "Americans don't want to do" were once done by Americans and would be again. All you have to do is pay them a living wage. I had personal experience with this about 20 years ago when I hired a window cleaning firm (my three-story house makes hiring a professional necessary) and I made the choice of contractor based on price. The one who paid his staff a living wage was irate and angrily denounced me for hiring the one employing low-wage immigrants. (I tend to be naive and trusting, and was unaware at the time why the price was so different.) That was the beginning of my education on that subject. Alas, nowadays you can't find firms to do this work at a living wage--and similarly for housecleaning, house painting, building, roof repairing, and, and, and..... Further, this sets the stage for tension and strife when the economy goes bad, as it has--and it will get worse. I expect we will see anti-immigrant sentiment breaking out, and not in a pleasant way. Foresight--that is what is lacking.
########################################################
12. From the Population Institute
Water Scarcity and World Water Day
On March 22, the world observed World Water Day, an international observance that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) that was held in Rio de Janeiro. This year's observance sparked a numbered of stories about the links between water scarcity and the growing political instability in North Africa, the Middle East, and other arid regions. Syria, Egypt, and Yemen were singled out for special attention.
Food Prices Continue to Rise, Worsening the Food Crisis
The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization reported in early March that food prices reached another record high, as the price of basic food staples continued to soar. The Index indicated that wheat and coffee prices have doubled in the past 12 months, while cocoa jumped 25 percent in just two months. Dairy prices were also up sharply. The FAO warned that food prices could continue to rise unless crop conditions improve. The food crisis, which has contributed to the political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, has raised renewed concerns about global hunger. John Bongaarts, the former chief demographer for the U.N., warned that, "Although the recent price spikes are partially the result of short-term factors – droughts, floods, speculative investing, low reserves, and hoarding– food prices are likely to remain high as rising demand runs into supply constraints. While higher food prices will have a negative effect everywhere, they will have a particularly devastating impact on the poor, who already spend a large part of their incomes on sustenance and will be forced to spend more."
#######################################################
13. April is Birdathon Month – Sign up NOW!
Don’t wait! It’s April already! Don’t miss taking part in this truly enjoyable and special event. Help raise funds by asking a few friends to sponsor your bird-spotting. Or simply sign up for a Birdathon hike and contribute by making the $25 suggested donation. If you are busy, you can simply sign up for a walk and ask your friends to sponsor your bird-spotting on that day, too!
There are lots of ways to play and the net result will be dollars for our award-winning eco-education program and for our conservation efforts. Go to www.goldengateaudubon.org and click on Birdathon to sign up. Or call us for a paper packet.
Win great prizes for top individual fundraising efforts, including vacation getaways for 1st and 2nd prize, and a $250 REI gift shopping card for 3rd place.
########################################################
14.
Monday, April 11, 7:00-8:30 pm: Healthy Gardens, Healthy Creeks, a talk by Joshua Fodor.
How do our gardening practices affect the environment? Learn how to make your garden beautiful and environmentally friendly at the same time by using native plants. Josh Fodor has 20 years experience in native plant horticulture, habitat restoration and ecological landscape design & implementation. He is the owner of Central Coast Wilds, an ecological landscape contractor, habitat restoration consultant and native plant nursery located in Santa Cruz. He teaches Principles of Restoration Landscaping at Cabrillo College & lectures for the Sustainable Building Advisors in San Francisco. Cupertino Library, 10800 Torre Avenue, Cupertino. (408) 446-1677.
Friday, April 15, 6:30-8:00 pm: Year-round Interest in a Native Plant Garden, a talk by Sally Coverdell.
Something is happening throughout the year in native plant gardens—not just in spring! Learn how to select and group plants with varying bloom times so your garden is never without color. See how to choose different plant forms to add interest and how to appreciate bark, berries, seeds, etc. You’ll learn to appreciate each season and to anticipate the next one eagerly. Sally Coverdell is the owner of Blue Sky Farms Nursery and has over 18 years’ experience in propagation and nursery management. Half Moon Bay Library, 620 Correas Street, Half Moon Bay. (650) 726.2316 x227.
Saturday, April 16, 1:00-2:00 pm: Success With Native Plants: A Beginner’s Journey, a talk by Dee Wong.
Native plants are drought resistant, so I don't need to water much, do I? Why did my young native plants die? For answers to these and other questions, come to this talk and learn the right way to care for young native plants planted in spring. (Hint: All plants really do need water to establish.) The talk will be followed by a short tour of the native garden around the Visitor Center. Dee Wong has a degree in environmental horticulture and design from Foothill College and is a horticulturist at The Village Gardener. Hidden Villa Ranch Visitor Center, Moody Road, Los Altos Hills. (650) 260-3450. This talk is in conjunction with the Native Plant Sale the same day 10am-3pm at the same location.
########################################################
15. 7th ANNUAL CNPS YERBA BUENA CHAPTER SPRING TOUR OF NATIVE PLANT GARDENS
Sunday, April 10, 11 am to 3 pm
FREE ADMISSION, NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Visit www.cnps-yerbabuena.org/gardentour for up-to-date information including garden addresses
The Native Plant Garden Tour organized by CNPS Yerba Buena Chapter will take place this Sunday.
The purpose of the tour is to expose gardeners to native plants, their charms in a garden and the benefits and possibilities of their inclusion in an attractive, wildlife-friendly garden.To this end we include an array of private gardens ranging from mature gardens featuring 100% natives (focusing on compatible plantings), mixed gardens, professionally designed and maintained artistic gardens, gardens focusing on habitat for wildlife (for example, the chorus frog), gardens integrating food production with native plantings, gardens in transition to include more natives.
We also feature public gardens dedicated to local flora and fauna or similar gardens not usually open to the public.
For more information: Susan Floore at sfloore@att.net or 415-285-4692. Also please let Susan know if you can volunteer to help by co-hosting at one of the gardens on the day of the tour.
########################################################
16. Letter to all members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Attached please find a letter (omitted here JS) from the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club, the San Francisco League of Conservation Voters, Golden Gate Audubon Society, Wild Equity, San Francisco Tomorrow, the National Parks Conservation Association, Nature in the City, and the Yerba Buena Chapter of the California Native Plant Society in support of responsible dog management in the GGNRA and in opposition to Supervisor Wiener's resolution that would put the Board on record as opposing the proposed Dog Management Plan.
We believe it is essential that the Supervisors understand that the proposed Dog Management Plan is the result of nearly a decade of public process and constitutes a significant compromise and balancing of interests. Many in our coalition believe it does not go far enough to protect people, wildlife and habitats in the GGNRA. Moreover, we do not understand why some members of the Board expect the GGNRA to maintain what has been widely recognized as an unmanageable and dangerous status quo in the national parklands. San Francisco has the reputation of being both dog-friendly and environmentally conscious, and we ask that you consider all perspectives and conduct a thorough review of the DEIS and available scientific information before forming your opinion on this matter.
#######################################################
17. PEREGRINES HATCHING ON SAN JOSE CITY HALL
Click here for news article and link to the live Peregrine Cam. (click on PG&E Camera, San Francisco, link)
Thirty years ago the Peregrine began to recover from the ravages of DDT use in the U.S. That pesticide led to thin egg shells and an inability of the Peregrine to successfully nest. The Peregrine, Bald Eagle and Brown Pelican are three species that have seen parallel endangerment from DDT and then a subsequent population boom when the pesticide was banned in the U.S.
Unfortunately for the world’s large avian predators, DDT use continues. It is used in agriculture in India, North Korea and illicit applications in other places where it is “outlawed.” It is also still widely used in homes and human settlements to combat malaria mosquitoes. From there it makes its way into the soil and surface water as well as drinking water. It is persistent, not rapidly breaking down.
Carlos Falcon · Keller Graduate School of Management
That's funny....I laid an egg but it wasn't in San Jose
_______________________________________________________
'Eagle Cam' Update: We Have A Hatching! Third Eaglet Emerges <http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/04/07/135202840/eagle-cam-update-we-have-a-hatching-third-eaglet-emerges>
http://tinyurl.com/3dsszeq
########################################################
SF Recreation and Parks Dept
18. Get Wicked at the Conservatory of Flowers
Wicked Plants: Botanical Rogues & Assassins
April 7 - October 30, 2011
Paralysis, strangulation, derangement - these are just a few of the misdeeds of the plant kingdom as chronicled by award-winning author Amy Stewart in her 2009 New York Times Bestseller, Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities. And now, something wicked this way comes. It's mayhem under glass, as the Conservatory of Flowers transforms its Special Exhibits Gallery into an eerie Victorian garden full of Mother Nature's most appalling creations. Building on the fascinating plant portraits in Stewart's book, the Conservatory introduces visitors to living examples of dozens of infamous plants that have left their mark on history and claimed many an unfortunate victim, like the castor bean, implicated in the 1978 "umbrella murder" of communist defector BBC journalist Georgi Markov, and the strychnine tree, nineteenth-century serial killer Dr. Thomas Neill Cream's poison of choice for troublesome spouses and lovers. It's a who's who of botanical rogues and assassins. Meet them if you dare!
Learn more about this special event.
____________________________________________#
Meet Pro Skateboarder Karl Watson at Tenderloin Rec Center
Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 4:30 p.m.: Tenderloin Children's Rec Center 570 Ellis Street, San Francisco
Karl Watson will be on hand to meet youths, ages 7-12, and offer tips on skateboarding and following their dreams
Check out Karl on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FaRaB0mMnA
########################################################
19. Mini-book reviews
The Death and Life of Monterey Bay, by Stephen R. Palumbi and Carolyn Sotka
"Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream," wrote John Steinbeck in Cannery Row, a novel set in the idyllic Monterey fishing community. And up until just a few decades ago, Monterey Bay was also known as an overfished, industrial wasteland, yet today it's teeming with wildlife, bustling shops and a world-renowned aquarium. How this extraordinary comeback was accomplished is brought to life by the authors' detailed portrayal of the path from ruin to recovery that ordinary citizens walked to save and restore the bay. As the world's oceans collapse under the weight of unsustainable practices, the lingering footprints of the bay's activists serve as a pathway for those who feel they must follow.
All That We Share, by Jay Walljasper
Mr Walljasper, long-time editor of The Utne Reader, has lately become obsessed with the theory and practice of the commons--all the things that are owned by no one: the atmosphere, the oceans, the Internet, the airwaves, biodiversity, language--so in fact they are owned by everyone. The book is a clarion call for us all to become commoners and to push for managing these common resources to the benefit of all. This book is a lovely roadmap, in small, digestible bites. Give it a try.
From In Brief, newsletter of Earthjustice
########################################################
20. LTEs, Edgewood Explorer, newsletter of Friends of Edgewood Natural Preserve
Dear Editor:
Not long ago you were kind enough to come out and interview me, and because of that my fellow brush rabbits at Edgewood have asked that I write you to be sure you are aware that this very wonderful year is the Year of the Rabbit according to the Chinese Calendar. We are so excited because the last time it was the Year of the Rabbit was way back in 1999-2000, long before we who are alive now were even born.
The ancient story goes that the Jade Emperor (or the Buddha) invited all the animals to participate in a race (or attend a feast) that involved crossing a great river. The first 12 animals to cross the river and arrive at the finish line/feast would win the honor of being placed in the chinese Zodiac. The rabbit, because he cleverly crossed the river by hopping from rock to rock (and some say from getting a last-minute assist from the big-hearted dragon), finished fourth, and so was the fourth animal to be placed in the Zodiac. Isn't that something?!!! A small rabbit came in ahead of a dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig! Only the rat, ox, and tiger arrived sooner.
Regards,
Brush Rabbit
Dear Editor,
Not long ago you were kind enough to write about me and mine, and because of that my fellow jackrabbits at Edgewood have asked that I write you to be sure you are aware that this very wonderful year is the Year of the Hare according to the Chinese Calendar. As much as I do not wish to cause my smaller cousins pain, I must insist that this is not the Year of the Rabbit. Although China has 7 native species of hares, it has no (zero, none, zip) native rabbits. When the first rabbits were taken to China from Europe (or wherever), the Chinese gave them the same name they used for their hares, and now that word gets translated back again as "rabbit."
Gotta go,
Jackrabbit
Dear Editor,
Not long ago you said you were comin' out to interview me, but since you haven't done that yet, my bobcat buddies at Edgewood said I should write to remind you, and to tell you that this great year is the Year of the Cat according to the Vietnamese Calendar. Just look at these terrific stamps from a letter I got yesterday from my Great Uncle Robert, who has lived happily in Vietnam for some time now.
Lookin' forward to that interview,
Bobcat
########################################################
21. Not my job
###########################################################
22. Notes & Queries, Guardian Weekly
The birthplace of all mankind?
Why do people in the US and UK (unlike in most of Europe) refer to white people as Caucasian?
• The term "Caucasian" was introduced by the German anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who was busy measuring skulls in Georgia in the 19th century, and for no good reason decided that the Caucasus was the birthplace of mankind. He made division of Aryan, Semitic (Jews) and Hamitic (north Africans), just as it was written in Genesis.
We Europeans did not, of course, wish to be seen as having racial connections with Jews or Africans, and German Nazi extermination policies gave the term "Aryan" a bad name.
Blumenbach's theories have long been discounted in modern anthropology, yet his term lives on. This classification of white non-Jewish European was adopted by US immigration control, who needed to keep a check on the races coming in that were not black, brown or Jewish. "Caucasian" is just an illogical yet convenient category, and so it lives on, whenever we have to fill in an identity form: even if it is just an online dating site.
David Bye, Göd, Hungary
• Whites tan to get brown, but naturally brown people stay out of the sun if they can in order to get whiter. Now "white" is a term of abuse, and "Caucasian" is a more innocuous way to describe us.
Ted Webber, Buderim, Queensland, Australia
• Cause we're trying not to think in black and white.
Mark Singleton, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Is fine penmanship doomed?
• No – the basic skills required, developed by medieval monks, are being preserved by some graffiti artists.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, BC, Canada
• The declining art of penmanship is a bironic tragedy.
Peter Hoare, Quorn, Leicestershire, UK
• It's too early to write it off.
Nigel Grinter, Chicago, Illinois, US
• I suppose so, what's the point anyway?
NH Clarke, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
• Of course not: ask any doctor!
Annmarie Blaney, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
• Sadly yes, as elegant script can now be produced so easily with the help of that most convenient of domestic pests, the mouse.
Elizabeth Jones, Halifax, NS, Canada
• Not as long as there are parking officers and traffic cops.
John Grinter, Katoomba, NSW, Australia
• What's "penmanship"?
John Ralston, Mountain View, California, US
• It's a case of the pen not being as mighty as Word.
E Slack, L'Isle Jourdain, France
Blaming the voters for it
Why, despite its manifest failings, is representative democracy considered the best form of government?
Because, unlike more authoritarian systems, it gives us the right to bitch openly about its shortcomings.
Joan Dawson, Halifax, NS, Canada
• Because all the other forms of government don't expect enough of people.
Will Boyce, Battersea, Ontario, Canada
• Our rulers consider it the best form because the populace has only itself to blame for those failings.
Matthew Wood, Belfast, UK
Any answers?
Why does cigar and pipe smoke carry in the air so much farther than cigarette smoke?
Paul Flint, Madrid, Spain
Why do cockroaches die on their backs?
David Whalley, Naples, Florida, US |