Nature News 2011.05.31

0.   Program on ABC7TV TODAY between 4pm - 5pm on stopping frog dissections
1.   An investigation into plastics and their effects.  Pacifica June 3
2.   Garden Plants from Coastal Habitats, June 2, San Carlos/Plant Demographics in San Mateo & Sta Clara Counties June 2, San Francisco
3.   Two CNPS field trips on San Bruno Mtn - Sat, June 4, Sun June 5
4.   South San Francisco now has a Weed Rangers Program - first event tomorrow, June 1
5.   17th Annual SF Butterly Count Monday June 6
6.   Reduce the "stuff" in our lives - The Sharing Revolution June 18 in Mountain View
7.   Open House for draft SF Recreation & Open Space Element June 8
8.   Reminder:  Vote for Alemany Farm every day until Aug 31
9.   Climate cranks cherry-picking data - U.S. military makes war on them
10. Feedback
11.  President Eisenhower: "Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance...."

0.  From Kerry Kriger:

SAVE THE FROGS! is making nationwide news today, as three California schools have agreed to abandon their dissection programs for five years as part of our Race To Stop Dissections. Please tune in to San Francisco's ABC7 TV between 4pm and 5pm today to see an interview with me discussing frog dissections. It should be a 2-minute segment. The story also appeared on the websites of Forbes, The Washington Post, Time, and the Press Enterprise, and will run on abc.com tomorrow.
Congratulations to these schools for abandoning their dissections programs, and putting us one step further towards achieving our goal of getting frog dissections out of all US public schools by 2014:
Rancho Verde High School in Moreno, CA
Woodside School in Woodside, CA
Valley High School in North Hills, CA

Each school wins a free full-site license of the Digital Frog 2.5 virtual dissection software. Thanks to our Race To Stop Dissections partner the Animal Welfare Institute for all their help!
Find out how your school can win the free software here.
Learn more about frog dissections here.

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(I previously posted this item as a pdf, but many people failed to received it.  JS)

1.  An Evening of Environmental Entertainment and Education for Everyone

On Friday June 3rd, Pacifica's Environmental Family is hosting a screening of 'Bag It' the movie. Bag It has been garnering awards at film festivals across the nation. What started as a documentary about plastic bags evolved into a wholesale investigation into plastics and their effect on our waterways, oceans, and even our bodies. http://www.bagitmovie.com

After the movie will be a live musical performance by Ian Butler and The Humpbacks, playing original songs that use humor and satire to examine our impact on the environment.

Friday, June 3rd, 7pm
Mildred Owen Concert Hall
Sanchez Art Center 1220 Linda Mar Blvd., Pacifica
$10 donation (tax deductible) Kids under 12 FREE.
For more information: kahunakupuna@comcast.net or 650-438-6378
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2.
Date: Thu, June 2, 7pm
Topic: Garden Plants from Coastal Habitats
Speaker: Dr Glenn Keator
Venue: San Carlos Library, 610 Elm St, San Carlos
Cost: Free and open to the public

Description:
The coastal native plant community is home to a wide variety of native plants suitable for gardens in the greater Bay Area. This talk will cover the most popular perennials, shrubs, and groundcovers in cultivation for coastal gardens. Dr. Keator has written over a dozen books on California native plants and is a teacher at Merritt College, a lecturer, and a field guide.
______________________________________

California Native Plant Society meeting - free and open to the public
Plant Demographics in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties
Speaker:  Botanist Toni Corelli
Thursday 2 June, 7.30 pm
San Francisco County Fair Bldg
9th Avenue & Lincoln Way in Golden Gate Park
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3.
California Native Plant Society field trip
San Bruno Mountain
Leader:  Doug Allshouse
Saturday 4 June 10 am to 1 pm

Usually seen through car windows on a ride to the summit, Radio Road is well worth closer attention as it is subtly loaded with a surprising bounty of life on rock walls and in seeps.  The earliest roads in the Guadalupe Hills provided access to truck and dairy farms in the 1800s.  When radio towers were placed on the summit, Radio Road was built to connect the site to the road system (originally it joined Mission Street).  The resulting road cuts exposed sandstone surfaces that are now home to seasonal displays of coast rock cress (Arabis blepharophylla), rein orchids (Piperia elegans), and sand mat (Cardionema ramosissimum).  One very important plant is stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium), the larval host plant of the endangered San Bruno elfin butterfly.  We'll look for elfin larvae along the way and see some still-native communities at the summit festooned with fescues (Festuca spp.), reed grass (Calamagrostis nutkaensis) and stonecrop.  Our return will take us down the short leg of the Summit Trail to the parking lot.  Self-register (and pay $5) at the entry kiosk, immediately turn right at the stop sign and follow the road under the parkway to the lot on the other side.  Due to the marine influence this venue offers box-of-chocolates weather, so bring layers.  Doug Allshouse: dougsr228@comcast.net or 415-584-5114.
_______________________________________

California Native Plant Society field trip
San Bruno Mountain
Leader:  Ken Himes
Sunday, June 5, 10 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Join Ken Himes to explore the summit portion of San Bruno Mountain.  We will hike the east Summit Trail (1/2 mile long and mostly level) and a portion of the Ridge Trail, and extend the hike (and time) to the southeast if there is interest.  Plants of the coastal scrub community will be featured.  Many of these plants have been used horticulturally throughout California.  We will also consider the potential of lesser known plants that occur in this community.  Wear layers as windy and cool conditions could occur. Bring lunch and water.  For more information, call Ken at (650) 591-8560.
Directions: From U.S. Highway 101 northbound, take the Old Bayshore/Brisbane exit and proceed north on Old Bayshore, past the town of Brisbane, until reaching the crest of a hill.  Turn left onto Guadalupe Canyon Parkway and proceed uphill (west) about a mile and a half to the park entrance.  There is a $5 day use/parking fee.  The hike begins near the entrance station parking lot.

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San Bruno Mountain Watch
4.  Join the South San Francisco Weed Rangers Program

Remove invasive weeds and improve the habitat! 
 
1st and 3rd Wednesdays each month, 9 am to Noon
    Next 2 sessions:  June 1 and June 15
Meet behind the Montessori School on Hillside Drive at the ballfield parking lot near the restrooms.  We will work along the Hillside trail

       •Bring Gloves if you have them
       •Wear long pants and sturdy shoes, dress in layers
       •Bring water

Contact: San Bruno Mountain Watch,
(415) 467-6631, volunteer@mountainwatch.org, or
Stewardship leaders Chuck and Loretta, (650) 952-6174

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5.  17th Annual San Francisco Butterfly Count -- Monday, June 6th -- 9am -5pm.

An intense, one-day inventory of all the butterfly species / individuals flying in our county.  We will begin at the Randall Museum (199 Museum Way) before heading out with assigned groups. (The Presidio Group, lead by Matt Zlatunich, will meet there.) Each group will have a copy of Nature in the City's Butterflies of San Francisco  Field Guide to make it easier on the novice. BRING YOUR LUNCH. It's really a magnificent day, folks, to help with important field work. A $3.00 participation fee is collected by all that goes to butterfly conservation. We broke all our records last year: 24 species , 775 individuals and 34 observers! We also had "National High' on two species: Anise Swallowtail - 53 seen (Papilio zelicaon) and West Coast Painted Lady - 23 seen (Vanessa annabella). Over 300 counts throughout the nation, our count is starting to get noticed.  Come help us keep up the momentum!

Any questions? Liam O'Brien -- liammail56@yahoo.com . The count is sponsored by  The North American Butterfly Association.
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6.  The Sharing Revolution

To help everyone reduce the "stuff" in our lives, Acterra has organized this conference to ignite The Sharing Revolution here in Silicon Valley. We’ve pulled together the top ideas, new online tools, leading thinkers — and invite YOU to join in!

Listed as a top trend by TIME magazine, the “sharing economy” is expanding rapidly as people create car shares, neighborhood tool lending libraries, fruit/vegetable exchanges, babysitting co-ops, vacation house swaps, “time banks” and other innovative approaches to reduce our impact on Earth, build community — and save money, too.

Bring a couple of friends and neighbors from other community groups. You’ll finish the day inspired and with a plan to get started.

Sign up now for the early bird discount!

Hear from Inspiring Experts
Neal Gorenflo, Co-Founder, Shareable
Janelle Orsi, Author, The Sharing Solution: How to Save Money, Simplify Your Life & Build Community
Cecile Andrews, Author, Slow Is Beautiful
Ed Everett, Community Strategist, GoGoVerde
Plus over 15 organizations with cool ideas to make sharing easier.
Share Innovative Ideas & Form Sharing Groups
Put your learning into practice, right on the spot!
Got a great idea? Share it at “The Sharing Revolution” Facebook page  and in-person at the conference.
Saturday, June 18, 2011, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Mountain View Senior Center, 266 Escuela Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94040 [MAP]

Registration Fee (includes sustainable lunch):
$20 early bird through May 31
$25 June 1-17
$30 at the door
Optional $15 for a signed, pre-owned copy of The Sharing Solution

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7.  Join us for a Public Open House to view the Revised Draft of the Recreation and Open Space Element!

PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE
June 8, 2011, 5:00-7:00 pm
Planning Department
1650 Mission St., Room 431 (ADA accessible)

In May 2009, we released the first Draft of the Recreation and Open Space Element.  We have since received numerous public and agency comments and have incorporated the appropriate changes in this Revised Draft.  Please join us in celebrating the release of this important document!
______________________________________

Planning Commission Hearings on the Revised Draft are proposed for June 23rd and August 4th. Please make sure you’re on our email list, and we will confirm these meetings as the date gets closer.

Contact: Susan.Exline@sfgov.org, phone: 415.558.6332


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8.  As previously announced, Alemany Farm in San Francisco is one of 15 community gardens vying for $4000 grants from DeLoach Vineyards.  The top 5 vote getters as of Aug. 31 get the grants.   As of 2;15 PM May 30, here are the vote counts for the top 6 gardens, in order:
1.    Long Beach Organic, Long Beach CA:            6413
2.    Center for Growing People, Dallas TX:          4816
3.    Three Brothers Garden, Chicago IL:            4538 
4.    Magnuson Community Garden, Seattle WA:    2445   
5.    Alemany Farm, San Francisco CA:            2443
6.    Ocean View Farms, Los Angeles CA:        2399

Votes are cast online; to vote, go to http://www.deloachcommunitygardens.com/ and click on the white arrow in the first box in the upper left corner.  YOU CAN VOTE EVERY DAY!!!

Alemany Farm is hanging in there in 4th or 5th place, but everyone needs to remember to vote.  Tell your friends!

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Comment is free - Guardian Weekly 27.05.11

9.  US military goes to war with climate sceptics by Jules Boykoff

Political action on climate change may be mired in Congress, but one arm of government at least is acting: the Pentagon.  The Pentagon, with its responsibility for national security, is proving a strong advocate of the need to plan for climate change.

Federal legislation to combat climate change is quashed for the foreseeable future, scuttled by congressional climate cranks who allege the climate-science jury is still out. What's become clear is that, for some, the jury will always be out. We can't stack scientific facts high enough to hop over the fortified ideological walls they've erected around themselves. Fortunately, though, a four-star trump card waits in the wings: the US national security apparatus.

In 2006, I participated on a panel at the United Nations climate change conference in Nairobi called "Communicating Climate Change". With Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chair Rajendra Pachauri and respected Arctic scientist Pål Prestud on board, we aimed to figure out ways to convey climate change and its effects with greater precision and weight.

An hour before the panel commenced, we learned the communications director for climate curmudgeons, Senator James Inhofe (Republican, Oklahoma) had elbowed his way onto the rostrum. Bleating bias – the panel skewed toward the widely held scientific consensus that climate change is real and humans are causing it – the infiltrator proceeded to hijack the panel. Rather than engaging the topic at hand, he questioned the scientific existence of climate change, levelled ad hominem attacks against various panellists, while brandishing "A Skeptic's Guide to Debunking Global Warming Alarmism" (a document produced by his office).

During the discussion period, the largely international audience responded in good faith, attempting to convince Inhofe's righthand man that the most up-to-date science undercut his worldview, that scientists weren't a grant-hungry cabal fiending for the next funding fix. Unfazed, he didn't budge – not a single part per million.

Five years later feels like a time-warp, with the political promise of 2006 suspended in a molasses haze. 2011 brought a fresh congressional crop content to ignore what the rest of the world accepts: the IPCC's scientific consensus on climate change. When Henry Waxman (Democrat, California) tried to amend to the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, to put the House of Representatives on record recognising that climate change is occurring, is caused in large part by humans and presents serious public health risks, it was summarily shot down. Only one Republican broke ranks and voted in favour (David Reichert of Washington state).

Enter what some might view as a counterintuitive counterweight: US military brass. A recent report, "A National Strategic Narrative" (pdf), written by two special assistants to chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Mike Mullen, argued, "We must recognise that security means more than defence." Part of this entails pressing past "a strategy of containment to a strategy of sustainment (sustainability)". They went on to assert climate change is "already shaping a 'new normal' in our strategic environment".

For years, in fact, high-level national security officials both inside the Pentagon and in thinktank land have been acknowledging climate change is for real and that we need to take action to preserve and enhance US national security interests. The Pentagon itself stated unequivocally in its February 2010 in its Quadrennial Defence Review Report (pdf), "Climate change and energy are two key issues that will play a significant role in shaping the future security environment." It noted the department of defence is actively "developing policies and plans to manage the effects of climate change on its operating environment, missions and facilities".

CNA Corporation, a nonprofit that conducts research for the Navy and Marines, echoed the Pentagon's urgency, writing, "Climate change, from the Military Advisory Board's perspective, presents significant risks to America's national security." The Army Environmental Policy Institute, the National Intelligence Council and the Centre for a New American Security have issued similar reports on the dangers of runaway climate change and what it could mean for geopolitics.

This isn't a tree-hugging festival. It's the US military and its partners making clear-eyed calculations based on the best available climate science.

So, why this quiet camaraderie between scientists and military higher-ups? The answer, most certainly, is uncertainty.

Uncertainty is an inherent element of honest science. But in the political sphere, uncertainty has been harnessed as an alibi for denial and inaction. The military, however, operates under conditions of uncertainty all the time. Like scientists, they wade through the unknown to assess varying degrees of risk. As CNA Corporation put it, military leaders "don't see the range of possibilities as justification for inaction. Risk is at the heart of their job."

Climate cranks – many of them the same people perpetually hectoring us about the perils of national security – are choosing to ignore the seriousness of climate change even when the national-security experts they champion are telling us to do just that. Talk about cherry-picking data.

While Congress members like Fred Upton (Republican, Michigan) yowl about the EPA's efforts to regulate carbon emissions as "an unconstitutional power grab" and attach the term "job-killing" to every piece of environmental legislation with a political pulse, national security officials have been offering dire warnings about the perils of climate disruption and its offshoots like food shortage, water depletion and massive migration.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has been holding shambolic hearings on climate change, should invite climate-minded national security gurus to testify. Perhaps they can lob some reality into the ideological fortress of denial before whipsaw climate volatility becomes our everyday reality.

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You may have already seen some of the items in the balance of this newsletter, which were retrieved from a posting on my blog site that was buried somewhere in the blogspot, and missed getting into a newsletter; I discarded the timely items whose time had passed.

10.  Feedback

Bob Case:
Jake when I looked at the photos of the Osprey being harassed by a "Western Gull" (see picture) I couldn't help but notice the two longer feathers in the tail which were clearly discernable from the feet when I zoomed in with a photo editing program.  It is possible that the pirate may have been a parasitic jaeger.  Jaegers are known to steal fish and other prey from seabirds and osprey hence the name parasitic jaeger.  Parasitic jaegers are known from the California coast and are commonly sighted in Monterey Bay.  The pomarine jaeger is another possibility, the photo is not clear enough to tell if the two elongate tail feathers are straight (parasitic) or twisted (pomarine).

(For those for whom receiving pictures is problematic and who didn't see this, I hope to include the picture on my blogspot, as soon as I learn how to do it.  I did learn, and while my teacher was here everything worked fine.  As soon as she left, the pictures failed to paste--that's just my machine karma kicking.  I'm very used to it.  But I'll learn some day.)
I forwarded Bob Case's comments to author Jess Morton.  Here is his response:
Yours is an interesting idea about the osprey encounter. While it is possible jaegers would go after an osprey, I think they stick to smaller birds to harass. They are quite a bit smaller than this western gull and would show definite white patches on the wings as the base of the primaries. The two feathers you see are normal tail feathers turned at an angle such that they appear to protrude. There are several photos in the sequence. This happens to be the only one where the tail looks irregular for a gull. It also happens to be the most dramatic. I have not edited the others, but can send you one if your are interested.

Fred McPherson:
Hi Jake:  I have read and enjoyed your e-mail/blog ever since you put me on it.  Now as you go to the blog format, what is it that I need to do?  Will I just automatically get the blog now?  If I want to respond to something in your blog, how do I do that?  I like the e-mail format because it seems like it is from you to me about things you are doing.  I am used to it, so this will be a transition into the blogosphere for me.  Maybe I need a blog.  It seems like a blog is just like sending out a group e-mail to people who you have chosen to receive it.  It seems like it is not like a public digital newspaper, or web site where every one is invited to come and look and interact. Is that sort of what a blog is and how it is different that a group e-mail?
Since blogland is terra incognita to me, I can't answer your questions, except possibly tentatively. 
As I stated, I will continue to send out emails for a week or two, until I feel comfortable, and I make sure that all my readers have taken note that I have the blog site.  I intended to keep sending the emails to those requesting.  However, I found out in my last session with my "teacher" that the blog site will automatically send the newsletter to those who put their email address in the box provided.  For the time being, do nothing.  I will later make sure everyone is on board with the new site.

Actually, it is a public site, and anyone can go to it.  Additionally, as I said, you can get it sent to you via email, so you don't have to wonder when the next issue is.  Yes, you can respond and comment on anything.  However, none of it will show to others unless I authorize it.  That's a necessary protection to keep malicious people from printing god-knows-what.

I have been nagged for at least 5-6 years to open a blog, but I resisted for various reasons.  My mailing list got so huge (ca 3000), and my Apple Mail program is not set up for group mailing, so it caused me a lot of extra work.  I am hoping the blog will save me a little time once I get it fully set up.

Lawraine Smith (re Notes & Queries item If the people of Nigeria are Nigerians, what do we call those of Niger?):
people from Nigeria are Nigerians
people from Niger are Nigeriens
the prononciations "yans', "yens" come into play...I think you have to use the international pronunciation alphabet  code to make it work.
but I think there is also a question of using ethinic titles. Hausa in the north, Ubu in the south...the country lines mix a bit...
good question.

More feedback for the Rapturous
(Name Withheld):
Then again, the prediction is that the rapture would happen at 6 pm in each local time zone, so maybe there's still time for all of us in the eight westernmost time zones to suffer mightily and go to hell. One can only hope!
Oh goody.  I'm so glad Jesus--or whoever arranges these things--made it so convenient for us by arranging to end the world sequentially by each time zone.  Jeez, I'm going to be in the Muni Metro tunnel around that time.  You don't suppose I'll miss it, do you?  Can I leave a message on his iPod?

The Rapture:  People are sucked upward from their clothes and ascend to heaven. 

Roy Blount, Jr:  Why Jesus wants to see naked people is beyond me.
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11.  "Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."        - President Dwight D. Eisenhower,11/8/54

(Stupid, yes; negligible, unfortunately not.  This is the same man who at the end of his 2nd term vainly warned us of the military-industrial complex, which subsequently triumphed--just in case you haven't noticed.

And--reflecting on third-rail decisions by presidential candidates--what about anyone who faults President Obama for promising to drill in Alaska, or offshore, or wherever?  Can't you just see the television soundbites in the 2012 election:  Picture someone at the pump, with the register showing gasoline at $4.75 (or more) with the sound-over a husky voice saying:  "For this you can thank President Obama, who refused to drill...blah,blah, blah..." 

Then imagine President Palin, whose "Drill, baby, drill" provided the winning margin in the November 2012 election.  Like it or not, that is democracy, and that is exactly how it works.  JS)


"Half of the American people never read a newspaper.  Half never voted  for president.  One hopes it is the same half."  Gore Vidal
Uh, Mr Vidal, I don't know how to break this to you.....

Nature News 2011.05.21

NOTE:  This was posted but not published on May 20, but got lost in the confusion of my trying to learn how to do a blog site.  Some timely items have been discarded from it.  JS

Feedback

Lawraine Smith (re Notes & Queries item):
people from Nigeria are Nigerians
people from Niger are Nigeriens
the prononciations "yans', "yens" come into play...I think you have to use the international pronunciation alphabet  code to make it work.
but I think there is also a question of using ethinic titles. Hausa in the north, Ubu in the south...the country lines mix a bit...
good question.

Bob Case:
Jake when I looked at the photos of the Osprey being harassed by a "Western Gull" I couldn't help but notice the two longer feathers in the tail which were clearly discernable from the feet when I zoomed in with a photo editing program.  It is possible that the pirate may have been a parasitic jaeger.  Jaegers are known to steal fish and other prey from seabirds and osprey hence the name parasitic jaeger.  Parasitic jaegers are known from the California coast and are commonly sighted in Monterey Bay.  The pomarine jaeger is another possibility, the photo is not clear enough to tell if the two elongate tail feathers are straight (parasitic) or twisted (pomarine).

(For those for whom receiving pictures is problematic and who didn't see this, I hope to include the picture on my blogspot, as soon as I learn how to do it.  I did learn, and while my teacher was here everything worked fine.  As soon as she left, the pictures failed to paste--that's just my machine karma kicking.  I'm very used to it.  But I'll learn some day.)

I forwarded Bob Case's comments to author Jess Morton.  Here is his response:
Yours is an interesting idea about the osprey encounter. While it is possible jaegers would go after an osprey, I think they stick to smaller birds to harass. They are quite a bit smaller than this western gull and would show definite white patches on the wings as the base of the primaries. The two feathers you see are normal tail feathers turned at an angle such that they appear to protrude. There are several photos in the sequence. This happens to be the only one where the tail looks irregular for a gull. It also happens to be the most dramatic. I have not edited the others, but can send you one if your are interested.

Fred McPherson:
Hi Jake:  I have read and enjoyed your e-mail/blog ever since you put me on it.  Now as you go to the blog format, what is it that I need to do?  Will I just automatically get the blog now?  If I want to respond to something in your blog, how do I do that?  I like the e-mail format because it seems like it is from you to me about things you are doing.  I am used to it, so this will be a transition into the blogosphere for me.  Maybe I need a blog.  It seems like a blog is just like sending out a group e-mail to people who you have chosen to receive it.  It seems like it is not like a public digital newspaper, or web site where every one is invited to come and look and interact. Is that sort of what a blog is and how it is different that a group e-mail?
Since blogland is terra incognita to me, I can't answer your questions, except possibly tentatively. 

As I stated, I will continue to send out emails for a week or two, until I feel comfortable, and I make sure that all my readers have taken note that I have the blog site.  I intended to keep sending the emails to those requesting.  However, I found out in my last session with my "teacher" that the blog site will automatically send the newsletter to those who put their email address in the box provided.  For the time being, do nothing.  I will later make sure everyone is on board with the new site.

Actually, it is a public site, and anyone can go to it.  Additionally, as I said, you can get it sent to you via email, so you don't have to wonder when the next issue is.  Yes, you can respond and comment on anything.  However, none of it will show to others unless I authorize it.  That's a necessary protection to keep malicious people from printing god-knows-what.

I have been nagged for at least 5-6 years to open a blog, but I resisted for various reasons.  My mailing list got so huge (ca 3000), and my Apple Mail program is not set up for group mailing, so it caused me a lot of extra work.  I am hoping the blog will save me a little time once I get it fully set up.

(Name withheld):
Then again, the prediction is that the rapture would happen at 6 pm in each local time zone, so maybe there's still time for all of us in the eight westernmost time zones to suffer mightily and go to hell. One can only hope!
Oh goody.  I'm so glad Jesus--or whoever arranges these things--made it so convenient for us by arranging to end the world sequentially by each time zone.  Jeez, I'm going to be in the Muni Metro tunnel around that time.  You don't suppose I'll miss it, do you?  Can I leave a message on his iPod?

The Rapture:  People are sucked upward from their clothes and ascend to heaven. 
Roy Blount, Jr:  Why Jesus wants to see naked people is beyond me.

Bob Nelson:
I want to get yesterday's report RIGHT OUT, because some readers might have a chance to engage one of its characters in conversation, especially readers who are bilingual in Spanish and English (familiarity with the Bolivian Aymara language would be helpful).  The goats are back!  :-)  EBMUD has the herd on their property adjoining the KPFA site, and the goats just arrived.  The caretaker/herder of these 511 animals (if I correctly recall the number he quoted) should be there through next Wednesday May 18th.  The caretaker's trailer is parked near the front gate of the KPFA site.  Robert and I engaged this friendly Bolivian in conversation for a very enlightening and pleasant afternoon interlude.  He is proud of his Oruro, Sanjama region of Bolivia, and is one of just two men from his township now in California!  :-)  His name is Martin Mamani, and he's from the Sanjama National Park locality.  Tourism is apparently a big industry there.  It's "high country", with elevations ranging  from 13,800 ft. to the 21,463 ft. peak of Nevada Sajama.
Bob:  I went to Bolivia in November 1994 to see my one and only total solar eclipse.  I chose Bolivia rather than Paraguay or a couple other choices because I thought the altiplano would offer the best chance of not having cloud cover, and that proved right. 

Our train went through the town of Oruro, and the path of totality was just a little south of it.  They still had a dictator in control, and army was everywhere.  Because a trainload of rich gringos would make good pickings, they blocked the highway while we were at the eclipse site.  Someone, having traveled half-way round the world for the event, and loaded with all sort of telescopic and camera equipment, got a late start from La Paz, and the army wouldn't let them past the road closure.  They begged, they whined, they cried and wailed, all to no avail.

A total solar eclipse is something else, but it lasts such a very short time*.  Those few precious minutes are burned into my brain.  So was the music that night in La Paz.  I'm a sucker for those Andean pipes, and we listened for hours and hours.  Love that music.

*  Short time?  "About 8 seconds," one participant stated, bitterly and regretfully.  Subjectively, it was about eight seconds.

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(I posted this items as a pdf in last newsletter, but many people failed to received it.  JS)

An Evening of Environmental Entertainment and Education for Everyone

On Friday June 3rd, Pacifica's Environmental Family is hosting a screening of 'Bag It' the movie. Bag It has been garnering awards at film festivals across the nation. What started as a documentary about plastic bags evolved into a wholesale investigation into plastics and their effect on our waterways, oceans, and even our bodies. http://www.bagitmovie.com

After the movie will be a live musical performance by Ian Butler and The Humpbacks, playing original songs that use humor and satire to examine our impact on the environment.

Friday, June 3rd, 7pm
Mildred Owen Concert Hall
Sanchez Art Center 1220 Linda Mar Blvd., Pacifica
$10 donation (tax deductible) Kids under 12 FREE.

For more information: kahunakupuna@comcast.net or 650-438-6378

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Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil
millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.
        - President Dwight D. Eisenhower,11/8/54

(This is the same man who at the end of his 2nd term vainly warned us of the military-industrial complex, which subsequently triumphed--just in case you haven't noticed.

And what about anyone who faults President Obama for promising to drill in Alaska, or offshore, or wherever.  Can't you just see the television soundbites in the 2012 election:  Picture someone at the pump, with the register showing gasoline at  $4.50--or more--with the sound-over a husky voice saying:  "For this you can thank President Obama, who refuses to drill...blah,blah, blah..." 

Then imagine President Palin, whose "Drill, baby, drill" provided the winning margin in the November 2012 election.  Like it or not, that is democracy, and that is exactly how it works.  JS)


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People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.  Book review by Abraham Lincoln


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ANECDOTES FROM THE ARCHIVE: The southwest bike tire massacre
Most likely, the bike tire massacre was due to the puncture plant
http://links.email.scientificamerican.com/ctt?kn=44&m=36586151&r=NTM5NzIzNTA1NgS2&b=2&j=MTAwNzQyNDgyS0&mt=1&rt=0

"Mowing was attempted to control the growth of the plant, but was ultimately unsuccessful. It is now considered a noxious weed by the USDA and is “restricted” and “controlled” in many states, including Arizona. However, while the puncture plant may seem like nothing but a menace, it has proven to be useful as a weapon when covered in poison while its extract can be turned into a potent male sexual enhancement drug."

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Snake bursts after gobbling gator
The predators died in the clash
An unusual clash between a 6-foot (1.8m) alligator and a 13-foot (3.9m) python has left two of the deadliest predators dead in
Florida's swamps.

The Burmese python tried to swallow its fearsome rival whole but then exploded.

The remains of the two giant reptiles were found by astonished rangers in the Everglades National Park.

The rangers say the find suggests that non-native Burmese pythons might even challenge alligators' leading position in the food chain in the swamps.  Clearly, if they can kill an alligator they can kill other species.

Nature News 2011.05.28

My blog site under development - but more or less functional now:  http://naturenewssf.blogspot.com/  
It is presently just a duplication of this newsletter

1.   55 full-time, 10.5-month positions open - deadline June 23
2.   Plant Demographics in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties -  botanist Toni Corelli on June 2
3.   Supervisor Scott Wiener proposes charter amendment to allow Supervisors to amend ballot measures.  Socrates and James Madison might agree
4.   Public Workshop #2 - Ocean Beach Master Plan - June 4
5.   Roofwater Harvesting DIY booklet
6.   Cool compendium of some of latest discoveries of living species/How different organisms likely to be affected by Japanese nuclear accident; Research opps
7.   Urgent House vote on eliminating US contribution to UN population fund
8.   LTEs on job market for low-skilled/What's good for General Motors - outsourcing?
9.   Feedback I: non-raven-ous
10. Feedback II:  ravens and crows, Round 7 - for fanatics and masochists only
11. What is a perp walk?
12. The Rapture:  The world still awaits God's judgment
13. The Rapture:  God screws up?

GGNRA dog management comment deadline is May 30, not May 31, as previously reported.  Procrastinators, take note.

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1.  AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project is now accepting applications with placement sites in Santa Barbara!

WSP is looking to fill 55 full-time, 10.5 month positions at locations throughout California’s Coastal Watersheds, two of these positions will be available in Santa Barbara! Work duties involve a variety of watershed restoration and fisheries monitoring activities. This year's placement sites have extended their reach into Santa Barbara, Ventura County. Members will be hosted at the Department of Fish and Game office in Santa Barbara, and co-mentored by DFG Fisheries Biologist, South Coast Habitat Restoration and the California Conservation Corps.

Applications are due by June 23rd, 2011!

For more information and to apply check out the attached fliers or contact information below:

Watershed Stewards Project
WSP.Recruiter@ccc.ca.gov
www.watershedstewards.com
(707) 725-8601


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2.
California Native Plant Society meeting - free and open to the public
Plant Demographics in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties
Speaker:  Botanist Toni Corelli
Thursday 2 June, 7.30 pm
San Francisco County Fair Bldg
9th Avenue & Lincoln Way in Golden Gate Park

The talk will cover much of San Mateo and all of Santa Clara County, including most of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Santa Clara Valley, and the southern Diablo Range east of Hwy 101.  The chapter area includes many unique local floristic communities, including serpentine, coastal strand, maritime chaparral, coniferous forests, and saltwater marshes (both coastal and baylands), just to name a few. 

The talk will focus on the floristic regions within the chapter area, and the plants associated with them, including which plants are the most common, the most locally rare, the most invasive non-natives, and so on.  It will also identify local botanical hotspots on public lands rich in species diversity.

For the past five years, Toni Corelli has been at work on a new booklet entitled the Annotated Checklist of Plants for San Mateo and Santa Clara County, using data from the chapter's archived plant lists, recent lists updated by the Natural Resources DataBase (nrdb.org), and herbarium consortium records.  This checklist is a floristic snapshot of the plants known to occur within the chapter's region in the past as well as the present.  This can be used as a life-long plant checklist for this region, and chapter members and others will be able to contribute information to verify and update this list.  The booklet will include the latest scientific name changes from the upcoming 2nd edition of The Jepson Manual.  This booklet will be published this summer.

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3.  SF supervisor proposes ballot measure change
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/05/27/state/n062024D70

Excerpts from Associated Press story:
...Supervisor Scott Wiener has proposed a charter amendment for the November ballot that would allow supervisors to amend a ballot measure three years after its effective date. The change would require the mayor's approval.

Wiener's proposal would not apply to tax and bond measures, charter amendments and measures placed on the ballot through the initiative signature-gathering process.

Wiener tells the San Francisco Chronicle he does not have any particular laws in mind. But he wants city officials to be able to clean up measures that are technically flawed or outdated without putting them before voters again.

Critics say Wiener's amendment would drastically reduce voters' authority.

JS:  At risk of being tarred and feathered, I ask the question:  What's wrong with reducing voters' authority?  Have you looked at our record?  As a partially reformed democrat, I ask people to look at that record as it applies to ballot initiatives.  If you're honest you're very likely to have said to yourself at some point "And I VOTED for that!!"  I have--and more times than I would like to admit.  The Law of Unintended Consequences is the most powerful, even inevitable, law pertaining to human society.  If you read the history of either state or city ballot initiatives it makes rather sorry reading.  We are not equipped to sift through all the arcane details or the ramifications of what we vote on, nor do we have the requisite background information.  We need humility.  (Good luck on that, Jake.)

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation  with the average voter." — Winston Churchill

I am finding very late in life that governance is an extremely difficult job, and we laypeople are not up to the job of governing directly.  Even authoritarian regimes have difficulty with governance, and how much more difficult it is when people choose to govern themselves (at least we think that's what we're doing--the reality is somewhat different).  We don't think things through, and an appalling number of voters really do decide on the basis of advertising--sound bites, as the story on California's present difficulties in The Economist reveal. 

And readers:  Please spare me your opinion about our San Francisco Board of Supervisors and California Legislature--I'm too painfully aware of what goes on there.  Still, the 'cure' of direct democracy via the initiative may worsen rather than improve matters.  At any rate, the subject needs an in-depth look, if we're grown-up enough to do it.  I have no idea whether Scott Wiener's proposal would improve matters, but I'd like to look at it.  It's unlikely to make them worse.

An excerpt from The Economist's recent lengthy article regarding California:  "California's democracy is not at all like America's, as conceived by founders such as James Madison.  The federal constitution is based on checks and balances within and among three and only three branches of government--executive, legislative, and judicial.  That is because Madison feared that popular "passions" would undo the republic, that majorities might "tyrannize" minorities, and that "minority factions" (ie, special interests) would take over the system.  America's was therefore to be a representative, not a direct, democracy.  "Pure democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention," Madison wrote, "and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."

I have profound respect for our founding fathers.  They were an amazingly well-read group of men (sorry, that's what they were--men) who were deeply steeped in the classics; knew their Athens, Sparta, Rome, Montesquieu and the Scottish Enlightenment philosophers.  They distrusted democracy--as did Plato and Socrates. Read the Federalist Papers as well as the writings of the anti-Federalists.  Direct democracy works well only in small units, where everyone knows each other.  The larger the unit the more complicated problems become, and the chance for mischief grows.

“In an ideal state, all citizens could be summoned by the cry of a herald.”  Aristotle

For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise.  -       Benjamin Franklin

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4.  Public Workshop #2 - Ocean Beach Master Plan
www.spur.org/oceanbeach

Please join us at the Golden Gate Park Senior Center on Saturday, June 4th for  Ocean Beach Master Plan Public Workshop #2.
The project team has been hard at work analyzing the impacts of different courses of action at Ocean Beach. You will have a chance to review several "test scenarios" and compare their outcomes in categories like ecology, infrastructure, and public access over a 100-year period. You can then work with us to assemble an approach that best serves the future of Ocean Beach.
If you missed our first workshop or would like a refresher on the complex issues at Ocean Beach, please read our article in the SPUR Urbanist, or have a look at the workshop materials here.

WHEN: Saturday, June 4th, 10am-1pm
WHERE: Golden Gate Park Senior Center, 6101 Fulton St. (@37th Ave)
TRANSIT: Muni 5-Fulton to 37th Ave.
DIRECTIONS: http://bit.ly/mtX6tn (limited parking available)

PROJECT PARTNERS:
San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR)
California State Coastal Conservancy
US National Park Service
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
San Francisco Dept of Public Works

ACCESSIBILITY:
This is an ADA accessible facility. Assistive listening devices, sign language, or translation services are available on request.

QUESTIONS/CONTACT: oceanbeach@spur.org

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5.  Hey Roofwater Harvesting enthusiasts,

We wanted to let you know about the latest Occidental Arts & Ecology Center WATER Institute’s DIY booklet called: “Low Cost Agricultural Roofwater System”, which provides plenty of clean drinking water to our hens without the use of any electricity via gravity.

This booklet visually & verbally debuts (after nearly 20 decades of usage by many colleagues) our infamous “Wonder Gutter” design – so named cuz at first you wonder what the heck we are doing, and then when you see how simple it is you wonder why the heck you didn’t think of it first?  Ha Ha!

Here is a link for the booklet: http://oaecwater.org/low-cost-agricultural-roofwater-system

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6.  From Jeff Caldwell:

A cool compendium of some the latest discoveries among the species of living things:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13500847

This article talks a little about how different organisms are likely to be affected and the research opportunities the Japanese nuclear accident affords:
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110527/full/news.2011.326.html

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7.  Urgent House Vote on Eliminating US Contribution to UN Population Fund

Within the next week, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill that would eliminate the entire U.S. contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).  Currently, the U.S. gives UNFPA $40 million a year to support a wide range of programs benefiting women in the developing world, including family planning, obstetric care, and prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Improving health outcomes.
UNFPA’s core programs expand access to reproductive health care for the poor and other hard-to-reach groups, including refugees and displaced persons, help mothers survive pregnancy and childbirth, deliver healthy newborns, enable couples to determine the number and spacing of their children and reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS. UNFPA also supports data collection and research to encourage appropriate population and development policies, activities to improve the status of women, and advocacy to galvanize political and financial backing for reproductive health care and development. UNFPA also plays an important leadership role in global efforts to prevent and repair obstetric fistula, to eradicate female genital mutilation, and to improve access to reproductive health supplies, including contraceptives and condoms.

(JS:  How could anyone be opposed to this?  Fiscal conservatism can't explain it, nor can morality.  The only answer I can think of is a non-answer:  because they're Republicans.  Republicans have not always been stupid, but something has happened to them in the last 30-40 years.  If they're not interested in relieving human pain and suffering you'd think they would be interested in relieving crowding, stress, and disease--and saving money.  Or do they view the increased numbers as consumers they can sell things to?)

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8.  LTEs, The Economist

SIR – Your article addressed the problem of the difficult job market for low-skilled Americans. You pointed out that these types of jobs are becoming less plentiful in America. This would seem to underscore the fact that allowing ever more unskilled illegal immigrants to enter the country to work at low-skilled jobs is a bad policy, yet every article I read of yours unfailingly addresses any immigration as a positive thing. The Economist is pro-immigration to the point of being contradictory.

Kenneth Mundy
Los Angeles

SIR – In the days when what was good for General Motors was good for the country, manufacturing firms paid their workers well, provided health-care benefits and bought parts from local suppliers. They probably also paid taxes.

In recent years the desire for profits has led to the outsourcing of production to countries where labour costs are less, with a consequent loss of jobs in America. The use of offshore tax havens to protect these profits deprives the Treasury of funds to compensate the unemployed. You are right to castigate the politicians for their failure to deal with the problem but they are not the only villains.

Ronald Macaulay
Claremont, California


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9.  Feedback I (non-raven-ous :-)

Kurt Menning:
The Anthropocene is a key concept gaining traction in scientific circles. Don't be quick to dismiss: there is a subtlety you may be missing: the idea is that humans have had such a profound impact that a record of our impact is visible in currently-forming geological strata (the rocks of the future). Everyone, even George Bush, knows we've been impacting the planet for a long. It is a completely different notion, however, to acknowledge that the impact--and its timing--will be visible in rocks when examined in the distant future.
Dismiss?  Far from it, in fact I "wrote the book", figuratively speaking.  Laypeople have been talking about it for 20 years now--we originally called it the Homogocene.  Same thing.

No, I'm taking a dig at The Economist, which deserves it.  The journal is well named, as it is almost exclusively concerned with the human-built world, with only an occasional item about the biological world--even then limited and/or inaccurate.  So it is progress to see the subject on its front cover.  The magazine comes to me on Fridays (today), and it will be the first article I read.  Depending on the contents I may write an LTE.

(Written later, after I read the article):  I shouldn't have gotten excited; I found the article a bit boring.  Why?  I think it was because the "changed kind of thinking" still didn't get down to basics--there was little mention of the biological world.  Perhaps when there are only a few dozen species of plants or animals left on the planet it may finally take notice.  Or maybe that's too optimistic.)

"Our planet has a skin disease; it's the human race." Anonymous

Bob Nelson:
Dear Jake: I have a little local color to add about the "Homeland Security, Fighting Terrorism Since 1492" image.  :-)  I first encountered a blurry Xerox copy of the image a few years ago after hours in an office cubicle.  It was tacked to the cubicle wall...  I borrowed it and made a few copies.  At the time I was serving (involuntarily) on a federal grand jury.  One of my fellow conscripts on the jury clued me in that the image was blurry because it was copied from a T-shirt!
 
At the end of my 18 month term of jury service, I returned an official binder to a typically arrogant official of the US Attorney's office  with that "Homeland Security" image slipped under the clear plastic of the binder's back cover!  :-)  This particular official was not even the least bit amused when I observed their eye contact with the irreverent image shouting out from the Government binder!  (I made a point of handing it over with the image prominently visible).  :-)  I was barely able to keep from smiling at the chagrin of the bureaucrat!  :-)
Bob Nelson, stirring up shit since 1942.
Dear Jake: Actually, I've only been stirring up shit since 1951, but your reversal of the 9 and 4 from 1492 is very witty and creative!  :-)  
 
BTW, I have very little sympathy for the professional crew who serves under the local US Attorney, having  striven with them (involuntarily) for a good long time...
That involuntary service puzzles me, Bob.  Can they force you into serving on a grand jury?  I thought it took a lot of time and only people who had lots of time could serve.  I don't even know what a grand jury is.  (Not for sharing--I'm ashamed of my lack of knowledge of govt and institutions.)
Dear Jake:  FEDERAL Grand Jury service is non-voluntary.   County Grand Jury service is something else again...  The 5th Amendment requires that anybody accused of a serious crime by the feds must be indicted by a Grand Jury.  The "Grand" means that there are 23 members of the jury, and when a majority of 12 agrees on an action, it goes forward.  Quorum is 16.  Only on the first day are all 23 Grand Jurors present together;  someone (often several) are usually absent.   The standard for taking action (issuing an indictment) is low, and is "probable cause".  Compare this with unanimous "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty", which is the standard in criminal cases heard by Petit Juries...
 
Federal Grand Juries issue indictments...  A famous recent one was the indictment of baseball player Barry Bonds in the Balco/steroids case.  Another high profile federal case was Martha Stewart's indictment and conviction for lying to the feds.  It's legal for federal agents to lie to citizens, but not the other way around...  The safest response to any federal investigator is to take advantage of the right to remain silent.
 
For "Petit" juries, where 12 members must agree unanimously in criminal actions, large cattle-calls of citizens are issued, and dozens of prospective jurors are interviewed and rejected.  The call for federal Grand Juries is entirely different.  They send you a questionaire, then you hear nothing for months.  Next, you receive a summons "commanding" (command is the word printed on the summons) you to appear.  About 50 Grand Jurors and alternates are needed.  About 100 citizens are commanded to appear.  Those chosen 100 citizens have been investigated by
the FBI (based on the initial questionaire) and found fit for service.  It's possible to get out of it, but not easy...
 
I think the 5th Amendment requires Grand Jury indictments to avoid politicization of the federal criminal system.  It doesn't succeed, in my opinion.  The investigations and indictments are completely in the hands of the professional prosecutors who work for the politically appointed US Attorney for the US District Court.  In my opinion, federal Grand Juries are mere rubber stamps to the politically motivated prosecutions orchestrated by the local US Attorney.  Friends of the current executive branch of the federal government get better treatment than enemies.
 
A wonderful example of a huge crime that was never properly investigated and for which no indictments were ever issued is that whole package of nightmares that occurred on 9/11/01...
 
OK, so that's my Civics 101 lesson for today!  :-)
And thank YOU for the Civics 101 lesson.  I needed it, obviously.

I think I'll come clean and expose my ignorance and print this exchange, because I know I'm not the only one who didn't know.  We all could use more lessons in how our govt works. 

I'm about to unload on my poor readers a lesson in California finance, courtesy of The Economist.  Well, OK, I won't foist it on them, in part because it's too long.  But I will make it available to those masochists who will devote the time to reading 16 pages of our sad history in governance and finance--and what's needed if we are to come to grips with our problems.  Oy.

Patrick Schlemmer:
Great letter to Fiona Ma, Jake. You really cut through the BS and captured the essence of the issue.

Kerry Kriger:
Good response to Fiona. On May 19th 2010 she gave an extremely ignorant speech to the CA Fish & Game Commission urging them to allow imports on non-native frogs and turtles into the state.

Bert Johnson:
Dear Jake, Your newsletter is the greatest!  I am entirely addicted to it.  What a "treat" and great "gift" for those concerned about our planet and environment.  I just wanted to thank you, and especially Mr. Bruce Grosjean ( his comments in item # 3 of your 5-20-2011 Nature News) for suggesting that readers may want to check out the fantastic writeup about the Mississippi River-Atchafalaya River in the February 23, 1987 issue of the 'New Yorker".  What a fascinating piece of work, one of the best I have ever read, and so incredibly authored by Mr. John McPhee.  Thanks Jake for your love of earth,and also for sharing that wonderful and inspiring attitude with so many people also in adoration of our natural world.  It's time to stop the incessant and selfish destructon of our planet, and time to start giving a hoot about other plants and creatures besides ourselves.  Sincerely and thankfully.  Bert Johnson

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10.  Feedback II - for the stark, raven mad

Patrick Schlemmer:
I once saw a raven swoop down and fly off with a squirming rat near the parking lot at the north end of Ocean Beach—something I don’t think a crow could manage.

Eddie Bartley:
Jake, thanks as always for your efforts in continuing your informative, entertaining and witty nature newsblog. It has become something that I very much look forward to reading and share tasty bits of often.
 
This is long...sorry....
 
Regarding Crows and Ravens in SF: Since 1900 National Audubon has organized the local Audubon chapters and their members in conducting an annual mid-winter survey called "The Christmas Bird Count" (CBC). Survey data, once vetted by local compilers and other experts, is meticulously entered into a giant database that can be queried online just by entering a few simple questions such as species name, count area, etc. The surveys are organized and led by local bird experts, some professional ornithologists, mostly experienced amateurs, all volunteers, who pay a small fee to cover the cost of managing the huge amount of data generated. Results naturally vary much by weather, the overall number of participants (which is ever growing) and the degree of experience with birds in a given area.
 
In the Bay Area where we are lucky to have so many dedicated bird enthusiasts and experts involved in the CBC that I believe the resident and winter bird population trend data is particularly valid and helpful.
 
Here is an example of the type of useful information that can be found and produced in a graph from the local efforts of Golden Gate Auduboners:
 
 
 
As you can see in this graph, both Ravens and Crows began being counted in numbers about 1984 in SF. Note that the numbers on the left are for number of birds seen per party (count group) hour. Long time CBC compiler Dan Murphy related a story to me about seeing a Raven on the CBC in the early 70s (I think) and no one believed him as they were that rare here then.
 
While the Ravens and Crows are admired almost universally by bird enthusiasts for their cleverness and adaptability, their recent population booms, especially in urban area, are a concern for bird conservationists. Access to landfill food and open garbage cans are some of the prime causes of this expansion in range and population but also their tenacious spirit and ability to live well amongst humans. i.e. Ravens nest under Highway 101 in Potrero district while Crows have taken over raptor nests in parks and backyards here. Laws to protect wild birds and changes in some human's attitudes (these species were historically persecuted mightily in agricultural areas and rangeland) have also assisted their success.
 
Unfortunately, it turns out they are generally bad neighbors for many other species and predate heavily on other local birds (especially songbirds) eggs, young and even adult birds. They are most aggressive towards raptors and based on raptor nest studies I have been involved in here in SF are excluding some raptors from historical nesting territories here in SF. Local nesting shorebirds, most species already in precipitous declines from loss of habitat, have also been particularly hard hit by the increase in Ravens and Crows.
 
Nonetheless, there is much to admire about these birds. One good way to tell them apart is by voice: Crows "caw" and Ravens "cackle" or "croak". Once however I was photo studying an obvious Raven and I could hear a flock of Crows coming from behind me. The Raven looked up at them and let out a hoarse "caw!". The Crows were not amused and quickly flew away. Very clever birds indeed!
Eddie:  Thanks very much for this feedback.  Good information. 

I am well aware of the destructiveness of ravens; I know about robbing nests, as I actually witnessed ravens and crows ganging up and robbing a great horned owl nest on Mt Sutro of either eggs or babies--had to drive away the owl first.  And I know of their extending their range into the desert and playing havoc with the endangered desert tortoise (they eat the young tortoises).  I get so upset by the environmental destruction happening on a planet-wide scale that I take opportunities to escape into the lighter side.  I have often remarked that since ravens will inherit the earth I'm glad they have such a playful spirit.

“For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country.  He is a Bird of bad moral Character.  He does not get his Living honestly.”  Benjamin Franklin
No, Ben, it's not a bald eagle--you mean raven, Ben, raven.

Eddie, what do you think of this remark by Adrian Cotter?:
One thing -- they weren't in the city because they were hunted out.  The city employed a hunter through the 30 and 40s apparently. So they are returning from exile as it were. Last population numbers I saw were from early 2000s. Some 600 or so.
Is that true?  Also, someone said some time ago that ravens were reported in the desert (I forget exact time) about early 1900s.  True?
Eddie Bartley: 
Yes, I have heard that 2 hunters were employed in Golden Gate Park by the City through the late 1950s (at least), specifically targeting egg & chick eating critters such as Ravens and skunks. These hunters were probably sent to the other parks to keep things in, uhh, equilibrium. This no doubt lowered the population of the 'meso-predator" targets. Of course, GGP was mostly dune and scrub prior to the 1890's so who knows what the balance should be? GGP is a Disneyland of habitat out there but wonderful to me nonetheless. There's no going back to the ways it was in human's time anyway. Just a matter of trying to manage for the most marginalized now which is probably the best we can do.
 
Historically from the early 1800s: Ravens, gregarious carrion eaters who follow around predators, were no doubt negatively impacted by the extirpation of Grizzlies in California, the reduction of marine mammal biomass by the fur traders and then the decimation of the Indians who were primary predators as well.
 
According to accounts during the Gold Rush era Ravens were common along the coast road between SF and San Mateo. Later, when agriculture greatly expanded in California, death by guns and poison (as with raptors) played a large role in populations through the 1970's and beyond even though by then protections were put in place.
 
As far as the early 1900s go, hard data is lacking. USGS didn't start the Breeding Bird Surveys until 1965 and there weren't many people doing citizen counts like the CBC here. In the early 1920s Joseph Grinnell (mostly Berkeley) and W. Leon Dawson (Santa Barbara) were the major contributors. Grinnell said Ravens were rare in the Bay Area except for Point Reyes and the Sonoma Coast.
 
I have Dawson's "Birds of California" published in 1923. Coincidently the first species entry is of Ravens. "Range in California: Resident but wide ranging, hence, of casual occurrence throughout the State; common or abundant locally. The chief centers of distribution are the semi-arid interior coast ranges of south-central California, the larger islands, and the northwestern humid coastal strip. Rare or wanting in the high Sierras (sic) and almost disappearing from the more thickly settled regions".
 
The more rural parts of the Bay Area such as Point Reyes evidently did not experience the same corvid population explosion in the 80s as SF, Oakland, Palo Alto, etc. Most of the research I've come across points to access to garbage as the primary factor of the 80's boom. I personally believe that in recent years Ravens and Crows have co-evolved with humans. I think my own bill may be getting longer as I write.
 
Perhaps the absence from the desert of Ravens until the 1900s is so but I haven't come across that info yet. A few years ago Noreen and I drove for miles and miles in the very alkali Amboy Crater volcanic area (Mojave) without seeing any critters alive but there were Ravens. Living off of beetles and the occasional lizard I guess. Amazing isn't too strong of a word for that.
 
Thanx again Jake for getting me to look a Lil' deeper. Ignorance IS bliss, I know, but truth about nature IS beauty and a lot more interesting. You may not know what an inspiration you are to many aspiring naturalists but I'm here to tell you and that ain't no BS.
Thank you for this voluminous information, Eddie.  I have learned a lot from this discussion.  As you can see, the topic has elicited much response; it's good that people are observing and thinking about some of the daily sights we all take for granted until someone asks us a question.

Doug Allshouse:
Jake, I think that your original query about those amazing corvids has probably elicited more responses than maybe even population, but certainly more than dogs in the GGNRA. Here are some more thoughts that will touch on some things that were brought up by your readers.
 
The answer to your question may never truly be known and that's because ravens (and crows) are birds. And what do birds do far better than we? They fly, which means that they move around far better than we. Now putting that last brilliant observation aside for a moment, practically every avian species does something that drives humans batty. They appear in numbers seemingly out of the blue (or gray if it's overcast) or they disappear overnight for no good reason, at least to us. Birders know this as an irruption. The birds have a reason for doing this whether it be food or weather or predator related. Needless to say, something just isn't right, so why not move on?
 
All birds of common families flock up during fall and winter because it diminishes the odds of being eaten. Even though ravens do this they tend to pair close to spring. They will defend a territory especially if conditions are favorable to them establishing a territory. I've seen 2 ravens chase a dozen crows away if that's what they REALLY want to do, but generally speaking crows seem to prefer strength in numbers. So it's possible that crows have established themselves in greater numbers in the city by exploiting this behavior. Birds that are missing flight feathers usually have molted them and not had them pulled out. The reason so many birds harass ravens is because corvids eat eggs and young birds from nests.
 
Just this morning, May 26, I was walking in the park (San Bruno Mt) and a group of Steller's Jays were quite agitated at a raven that was squawking in a cypress. I couldn't see it but I heard it. When I was just outside the park a raven (it could have been the same one) flew into a line of pine trees with a half-dozen Brewer's Blackbirds in pursuit. It eventually moved on. If you ever hear jays, robins or blackbirds squawking loudly in the trees try to locate them. Odds are you'll find a raven, a hawk, or an owl as the center of attention.
 
Meanwhile, enjoy your environs and all who enter it, whatever they may be. Worry not about those who leave the circle for they may choose to return and gain your welcome.
 
Come to think of it, where have all the House Finches gone?....just wondering.

On May 26, 2011, at 5:28 PM, Barbara Stevens wrote:
Jake.. over here by my house on Edgewood ave next to sutro forrest there are dozens of ravens cawing and swooping all the time. fASCINATING  sometime crows come in large numbers and try to intimidate them, but I think they fail.. I never saw ravens til last year, and now many more of them.' barbara stevens
Thanks for the feedback, Barbara.  The plot thickens.  I'm trying to find patterns here; instead I just get more complications.  It's a jungle out there.

Hans U Weber:
Hi Jake: I share a fascination for corvids and read what I can about them. Perhaps the best experts on crows and ravens are John Marzluff and Bernd Heinrich. Both have have studied and written about these birds for decades. Marzluff is a wildlife biologist at UW in Seattle and worked with Heinrich who is emeritus prof of biology at the Univ of Vermont. Marzluff has written In the Company of Crows and Ravens and more recently Dog Days, Raven Nights.
Like you I miss seeing ravens in my neighborhood (Palo Alto) where crows are abundant. The two species are definitely competitive and it is likely that in some locations ravens may meet with too much competition by crows and gulls. Our urban areas with food wastes are ideal locations for crows and gulls. Ravens may be edged out into areas that are less attractive to crowds of crows and gulls. Marzluff writes about this topic in an appendix in Dog Days, Raven Nights.
There is actually a human parallel to the demographic changes in populations of crows and ravens: an ethnic group can take over a city or suburb from another one that has been dominant before. 

By the way, crows and ravens look quite different, especially in shape of tail: a raven's tail is longer than a crow's and looks diamond-shaped compared to the fan-shape of a crow's tail. The raven's head looks craggy compared to the round crow head.

Ted Kipping: 
Some pics of a Raven's Nest on warm, south-facing tower of Roosevelt Jr. High @ Arguello & Geary - Note Clothes Hanger
as part of the construction materials of a resourceful urban bird. Just a short hop and glide away from the feeding grounds of the adjacent school yard. Also note the nice overhang and the inaccessibility to predators and potential nest robbers. This is valuable real estate. Location-location-location.

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11.  I kept running across the term perp walk but couldn't figure out what it meant from the context.  'Perpendicular' was all that came to mind.  I finally got around to looking it up on Wikipedia--and, just in case there should be anyone else as benighted as I:

Perp walk
A perp walk is taken by an arrested suspect (or "perp", short for "perpetrator") through a public place so that the media may observe and record the event. The suspect is typically handcuffed or otherwise restrained, and is sometimes dressed in prison garb. It is primarily practiced in the United States, especially in New York City.  The practice arose incidentally from the need to transport a defendant from a police station to court after arrest, and has since become a custom. It has been criticized as a form of public humiliation.

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12.  The Rapture

Paradise postponed
The world still awaits God’s judgment

May 26th 2011 | AUSTIN | from The Economist print edition

Left behind

ON MAY 16th the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, in an odd attempt at light-heartedness, published a brief guide to emergency preparedness in the event of a zombie invasion or other catastrophes. Useful advice, but zombies were far from anyone’s mind. America was girding for an even more serious event. Word had spread that the Rapture would take place on May 21st. There would be a horrible earthquake, and Jesus would take believers to heaven. Those left behind would suffer Armageddon, concluding with the earth’s total annihilation (scheduled for October).

These predictions came from Harold Camping, the California-based founder and president of Family Radio, a national network of Christian radio stations. He argued that the world was in moral decline, with the widespread acceptance of gay marriage the clearest sign. His followers took the message to billboards and flyers. Some thoughtfully arranged for atheists to look after their pets.

Mr Camping, who now says that the Rapture did occur, but invisibly, may be outside the mainstream, but the end-of-days is hardly a marginal obsession. A surprisingly large number of Americans are keenly interested in the subject. Several years ago, for example, the “Left Behind” books—a series of novels dramatising the tribulations of those not taken up to heaven—sold tens of millions of copies. And those who do not anticipate the Apocalypse may nevertheless subscribe to a dramatic view of God’s justice. Earlier this year a pastor in Michigan published a book questioning whether hell exists, triggering a fierce counter-attack from evangelicals.In the run-up to the predicted Rapture, non-believers prepared for a field day. Some composed careful tableaux of empty clothing and abandoned dinners. On Facebook, more than 800,000 people signed up to attend post-Rapture looting parties.

The scoffers proved correct. May 21st came and went with only the usual suffering of a day on earth. It was a lucky escape; the political and economic ramifications would have been severe. And it may be that the prospect of it led some people to reassess their morals, never a bad thing.

But if the world is to be judged it will not be on Mr Camping’s terms. Shortly after the Rapture failed to materialise, an interview appeared with Jim Daly, the president of Focus on the Family, probably America’s most powerful conservative Christian organisation. He noted that most of the younger generation favours gay marriage. “We’ve probably lost that,” he concluded. Heaven can wait.

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13.  Rapture (cont.)

(From Name Withheld)
________ will appear within the next half hour to see if he can restore my front door bell to functioning status. Perhaps I should get dressed?

If you show up at the door naked he will probably just assume that God screwed up on The Rapture--took your clothes up to Heaven and left the body.

After all, she was just trying to please Mr Camping, and she's never done this before; gotta give her a little breaking-in room:  After all, this is Rapture 1.0

Jake