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