2. Golden Gate Park Under Siege? My editorial on the Commonwealth Club panel
3. Feedback: more off-leash discussion/my emails vs blog
4. "Immigrants do the jobs Americans don't want to do", like fight our wars. The Dream Act
5. Trail improvements in Golden Gate Park Oak Woodlands
6. The lamented, late Coast & Ocean available on downloadable pdf form
7. The Bay Citizen - blurb
8. Wilderness Arts and Literacy Collaborative annual celebration and fund-raiser May 22/WALC poetry
9. World Turtle Day May 23 - and some shocking photos
10. Rats and English ivy
11. Sunday Streets June 12 in the Bayview and Dogpatch - save the date, June 12
12. Scientific American potpourri
13. Volunteer opportunities in the Grand Canyon
14. Notes & Queries
1. Volunteer with Butterfly Habitat Project on Strawberry Hill
Saturday, May 14th, 10 am – 2 pmMeet at Stow Lake Boat House in Golden Gate Park
Join the SF Parks Trust, Rec & Park Dept. and community volunteers at this volunteer work day. We’ll be caring for areas recently planted with native plant species by weeding and mulching and doing other stewardship tasks. Highlight of the day will be a special fieldtrip over to the Oak Woodlands to hear from Dylan Hayes (Natural Areas Program, RPD) about the ongoing work of volunteers there. This will be an important interaction between two volunteer groups doing crucial restoration work in Golden Gate Park. Please RSVP to reserve your space by calling Julia at 415-750-5110 or emailing julia@sfpt.org Please bring water and a sack lunch, wear closed toe shoes, and dress in layers as weather can change quickly. For map and meeting location, see: http://tiny.cc/w83a2
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Another work party on Saturday May 14 - 1 pm on the Hazelnut Trail in San Pedro Valley County Park
This is an impromptu light weeding affair. Please RSVP to Jake Sigg: jakesigg@earthlink.net, 415-731-3028 if interested.
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2. Editorial: Golden Gate Park Under Siege?
That was the name of a panel discussion that took place at the Commonwealth Club Wednesday night. I normally avoid panels, because there is insufficient time to get into a subject in any depth. There were five panelists, which is too many for an hour's discussion. SF Rec-Park Commission president Mark Buell provided one risible statement after another, providing amusement or distress--depending on one's state of mind.
I was unable to write down most of what he said because I was too busy listening, but I got a few:
1. My ears pricked up when he started quoting Wm Hammond Hall, who set the design, philosophy, and vision for the park. But he surgically lifted the subordinate sentences - "...the large body of pleasure seekers (whose demands must be provided for)" - that served his purpose, leaving out the heart of the vision: "An urban pastoral retreat, a semblance of nature". The demands of the body of pleasure seekers must be met with reduced resources, which leads to....
2. He was appointed president to the Recreation and Park Commission by Mayor Newsom to do the job (Buell's words) of "finding value and extracting it". There is only one way to do that: marketing.
3. Katherine Howard of GGP Preservation Alliance made the point that regardless of lopsided public testimony at Commission hearings, many controversial decisions are 7-0. That fact is obvious to anyone who has attended Commission meetings of the last eight years, and it is a powerful disincentive to bother attending. Buell stated that the Commissioners "have lots of debate" and "do not take direction from anyone".
4. (Uncertain as to who said the following.) In response to a question of how John McLaren would have responded to the pressures to commercialize, given today's situation, one of the panelists (Buell?) said "that's a tough question". It was not. If you're wondering what McLaren, whose tenure in the park was devoted to carrying out the Olmsted/Hall vision, would have said, all you have to do is read what he said, or hear the voluminous stories and anecdotes. I would have recommended not asking that question to McLaren if you didn't want to be thrown down the stairs.
So there you have it. I believe these Commissioners terms are four years, and Buell was recently appointed. These were the only notes I was able to write. If others remember some of the other pips I would be glad to post them. Most of the panelists, btw, were very good.
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We keep developing "master plans" for the park, but the real Master Plan, the foundation, was developed by Frederick Law Olmsted's protege, William Hammond Hall. Hall set the philosophy and the design of the park. He called for "an urban pastoral retreat, a semblance of nature", and wanted no structures other than what was absolutely necessary for the park itself. He was concerned that most people of the time couldn't afford to go out of town, such as to Yosemite; most of them couldn't even afford to leave the city at all. There was a need to escape from "the arid dissipation of business". (Possibly not an exact quote.) GGP was to be their Sierra.
"A park should be an agglomeration of hill and dale, meadow, lawn and coppice presenting a series of sylvan and pastoral views, calculated to banish all thoughts of urban objects, and lead the imagination to picture space beyond as a continued succession of rural scenes and incidents."
William Hammond Hall-1873
There was never a decision by San Francisco to trash this vision; it was just nibbled away at over the next 140 years, starting with the aftermath of the 1894 Midwinter Fair: The Egyptian Museum (de Young) and the Japanese Village (Tea Garden) were somehow allowed to stay afterward, and the 1906 quake brought the Academy here "temporarily". The nibbling has now evolved into overt industrialization on a large scale: a huge parking garage, wastewater treatment plant, &c. The panel moderator, Jim Chappell, kept referring to "the master plan", which was confusing. I finally decided he referred to the 1998 master plan, which largely ignored the founding Plan.
I have been advocating for years for a symposium on Golden Gate Park, assembling park designers and managers with international reputations. Say "The City That Knows How" today and it gives rise to derisive laughter. It did mean something then, because we did things on a grand scale and we did them well. Is it possible to revivify that today? I would like to raise the question, if only to make us realize how low we have sunk. How else can we awake from the stupor we're in?
On May 9, 2011, at 9:45 AM, Gray Brechin wrote (Gray and I have periodic Gloomfests in which we try to outdo each other in our dismal views of trends):
I like your idea of doing a symposium on GGP with invited speakers from Outside such as Olmsted scholars to remind Friscans about the PUBLIC domain. It would take a lot of planning, so it won't be me doing it.
Nor me. That's the problem--everyone's too busy. On the other hand, in your next paragraph pointing out that GGP is a symptom--of course. Is it even worthwhile to try to save it when the foundation is collapsing? And even if I were to exert the effort, San Francisco doesn't have the knowledge and sophistication to do it. Or even recognize the desirability. What's wrong with Golden Gate Park? Ask it and you may get the answer "I love it; our family goes out there all the time."
(N.B. I wrote those last sentences in a moment of bitterness and frustration. While it's true that San Francisco doesn't have the requisite horticultural sophistication, I retract the thought that citizens don't value the Park--they certainly do. Do they realize to what an abysmal state it has fallen and the urgent need for high-level thinking? Perhaps not, and there's the rub. Without that awareness how will we motivate our moribund and feckless political leadership to do the necessary?)
And this final note from my fellow gloomster:
I see there's an article in the Chron this morning about deferred maintenance at the CA colleges and university. THis is the way empires end: when existing cultural and physical infrastructure is neglected and not updated while they continue to fight wars and garrison lands and oceans beyond the "homeland." What's happening to GGP is just another symptom.
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3. Feedback
Matt Zlatunich:
Jake, Regarding item #14 comments about commercial dog walking in a National Park
Your reader attempts to advise you on seeing the whole picture while not realizing that the whole picture is much bigger than he percieves it to be. So many folks in this debate limit their perspectives to that of the local context and fail to acknowledge that this is a National issue.
Properties managed by the National Park Service are superlative gems that belong to the American public and the quality of stewardship of these properties must be kept to the highest standard. Allowing commercial dog walking in the GGNRA would set a scary precedent for our National Parks nationwide (and there are more than a few National Park units that are near substantial human populations.)
As for the notion of wilderness only being far away from our city...consider the bird that migrates from South America to to build its nest here, the elephant seal that hauls out on one of our beaches for a bit of rest, or the wildflower that blooms in the same field as its ancient progenitors...wilderness is all around us.
And yes, I have seen people running their dogs off leash in Yosemite.
Nathaniel Stookey:
I try to stay away from the political stuff but this one’s important to me because it’s about one of my favorite places in SF. Fort Funston is an unbelievably wild and beautiful beach at the southwest corner of the city. Jodi and I both spent lots of time there as kids: birthday parties, capture the flag, long walks with our parents. When we moved home with our own kids in 2003, we expected it to be a focal point in their lives as well but, despite having become part of the GGNRA, the entire property had essentially become a dog-park. Our children couldn’t safely play there and our parents – older now – couldn’t walk for fear of being knocked over at every turn. It’s one of our favorite places on earth, fifteen minutes from our door, and it’s basically off-limits to us.
This spring, the GGNRA proposed new rules for off-leash dogs and I was shocked to learn that the Board of Supes had come out 10-1 against it. Presumably this is because a disproportionate number of their constituents had voiced support for maintaining the off-leash status quo at Fort Funston and elsewhere in the GGNRA (such as Chrissy Field). While it’s true that dog-walkers now make up the majority of visitors to Fort Funston, I suspect there are many others like us who have stopped using the park because it has become unsafe and/or unpleasant. The National Park Service needs to hear those voices. *And it’s quite urgent as the public comment period closes May 31*
If you don’t know Fort Funston, I recommend a visit. You can walk along the bluffs and down a ladder to a gorgeous cliff-walled beach. There are horses and hang-gliders. It’s also a great place to walk your dog, which is in no way threatened by the new rules. Currently, the entire park is a de facto off-leash zone. The proposal is for the off-leash area to be defined and for its boundaries to be enforced so that other uses (like birthday parties!) are once again possible. That seems reasonable to me. If it seems reasonable to you, please comment, even very briefly, at
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectId=11759
Hello Nathaniel: The human angle is part and parcel of every environmental issue I can think of. I am pasting your comments because your experience and feelings are shared by the overwhelming number of people--the silent majority. Why silent? Because they have myriad other issues and concerns that conspire to prevent their expression on this particular issue. Single-issue folks have a built-in advantage, because they can easily overwhelm the public process, giving the impression that their will is the majority will.
Thanks for your clear expression of what, metaphorically speaking, is the part of the iceberg not seen.
Susan Arnesen:
Dear Jake, Rob Bakewell hooked me up to your newsletter. Thank you for all this great research and insight!
I also wanted to pass on a great book you might want to check out. It is called Earthing by Clinton Ober and others. This book articulates what we may intuit if were lucky but with the increasing disconnect to our earth we may not discover for a long time.
Simply put, that having direct contact with the earth is a potent conduit to receiving the earths energy which helps to ground us and bring our minds and bodies into balance. Much of this disconnect is having grave impacts on health and well being. This is amazing because we are always trying to get people connected to the earth! Well maybe they would connect if they knew it was making them sick to not be connected!
Norm Gershenz:
I too open every email from you - hmm, where does one find a blog? That said, I will trust your decision as how to share the musings of all that is fit to read.
I did paste my blog site at the top of two of my newsletters, but the site was not functional then. It sort of is now--it's just straight text, all in one font, with no illustrations--but I need to learn how to work with it. I don't know how to paste pictures, eg, and all the formatting is gone, and only one font for the whole thing.
FYI, the site is http://naturenewssf.blogspot.com/. But I will continue to send out newsletters, at least for awhile. I was pleasantly surprised that some people said they prefer email to the impersonal blog site. I have that feeling too. It's a subtle thing, but, perhaps, important in this increasingly sterile and impersonal world.
Well, if I have to enter into the world of the blogosphere I will - I will make a profound effort to keep my kicking and screaming to a quiet murmur.
Norm, I wouldn't do that to you. I am surprised and pleased that several people have this reaction, and I understand it, because I am built that way too. I think I'll have a two-track thing and mail to those who request it. Screw the blog. I'll just paste the newsletter onto it for those who want it.
Clare Bell-Fuller:
Hello Jake - For me, I love the casualness of being able to send emails to you....it makes the communication more interactive, and inspiringly random. However, my friend Asiya Wadud founded a blog in conjunction with her organization called Forage Oakland which has expanded over the years into a great networking venue....you may want to check it out....
Ed Lehmann:
Hi, back Jake: I 'tried' to contact Leland Yee, and he did not even have the courtesy to reply. He lives/lived up the street from us.
I would suggest that the Asian 'comunity' also shed "foot binding", slavery, Polygany, and many other mal-adaptive practices as part of their herritage! They were able to "give those practices up"; they can rid themselves of this as well. The Soup does not taste that 'good'; it is simply an affectation of 'showing-off'!
Michele Schaal:
Hi Jake, I just read your Marah notes and enjoyed them. I dug one up on 9th Ave at Ortega and it was enormous - at least a 3' hole. I have a bit of regret, now, it being used by the green hairstreak, but we did plant a coast live oak near it, so maybe that will make up for its loss.
Don't worry about the cucumber, Michele. It is a bit on the weedy side and a coast live oak supports a lot more wildlife than it does. The oak is possibly the best wildlife-supporting plant you can find locally, with possible exception of coyote bush.
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4. The DREAM ACT
Gray Brechin:
It's clear to me that immigrants' children will serve nicely as mercenaries to make up for the draftless wars we are fighting and the planetary garrisons maintaining. After all, it is the ONLY way they will be able to finance an education now, if they can concentrate after returning with PTSD, if returning at all.
I can see now why that Act has bipartisan support: it is the ONLY way to keep the military going because the supply of immigrant recruits is virtually limitless.
Googling the White House reveals a few more samples of "Immigrants do the jobs that Americans don't want to do". The fact that our country's leaders can be so out-front and straight-faced about this serious subject speaks volumes.
The White House:
Congress is preparing to vote on the DREAM Act in the coming days, so we thought it would be good to lay out what it means for our nation. The DREAM Act is common-sense legislation drafted by both Republicans and Democrats that would give students who grew up in the United States a chance to contribute to our country’s well-being by serving in the U.S. armed forces or pursuing a higher education. It’s good for our economy, our security, and our nation.
The DREAM Act will contribute to our military’s recruitment efforts and readiness. Secretary of Defense Gates has written to DREAM Act sponsors citing the rich precedent of non-citizens serving in the U.S. military and stating that “the DREAM Act represents an opportunity to expand [the recruiting] pool, to the advantage of military recruiting and readiness.” The DREAM Act is also a part of the Department of Defense's 2010-2012 Strategic Plan to assist the military in its recruiting efforts.
Education, military, religious and business leaders support the DREAM Act: The legislation is supported by a wide range of leaders from the education, military, and business fields.
David S. C. Chu, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness under George W. Bush, called for action on the DREAM Act to strengthen the military.
Wall Street Journal: “Restrictionists dismiss the Dream Act as an amnesty that rewards people who entered the country illegally……The Dream Act also makes legal status contingent on school achievement and military service, the type of behavior that ought to be encouraged and rewarded.”
Margaret Stock, a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve (retired); a former professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; and an adjunct professor at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, said: “Potential DREAM Act beneficiaries are also likely to be a military recruiter’s dream candidates for enlistment …
Conservative military scholar Max Boot supports the DREAM Act: “It's a substantial pool of people and I think it's crazy we are not tapping into it.” The DREAM Act “would not only offer a welcome path toward citizenship for many promising young people but also might ease some of the recruitment problems that Army has been facing of late.” [Max Boot, “Dream a Little Dream,” Commentary Magazine, September 20, 2007]
The Center for Naval Analyses issued a report finding that immigrants in the military have high levels of performance and lower rates of attrition. The report noted that non-citizens add valuable diversity to the armed forces and perform extremely well, often having significantly lower attrition rates than other recruits. The report also pointed out that “much of the growth in the recruitment‐eligible population will come from immigration.”
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“... We are strong and adaptable animals and can certainly make a new life on the hotter Earth, but there will only be a fraction of inhabitable land left ... Soon we face the appalling question of whom can we let aboard the lifeboats? And whom must we reject? ... There will be great clamor from climate refugees seeking a safe haven in those few parts where the climate is tolerable and food is available. ... We will need a new set of rules for (limiting the population in) climate oases.”
--James Lovelock, in The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning, Basic Books, 2009
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5. The Recreation and Park Department will be hosting a series of community meetings to discuss the future trail improvement at the Oak Woodlands Trails in the northeastern corner of Golden Gate Park.
The meetings will be held at the Senior Center in Golden Gate Park (located on Fulton near 37th Avenue) from 6:00-7:30pm on the following dates:
Weds, May 25: Project Kick-Off and Information Gathering
Weds, June 15: Design Options
Weds, July 13: Final Trail Plan
Your input is important to us and will help us to improve the Oak Woodlands trail in a way that is most beneficial to the community.
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6. Dear Friend of the late California Coast & Ocean,
We would like to let you know that the entire print run of Coast & Ocean, almost 25 years, 1985 - 2009, has been posted in downloadable PDF form on the Coastal Conservancy's website at http://scc.ca.gov/coast-and-ocean-archive/. These PDF files are fully searchable in Adobe Reader. If there is sufficient demand, the Coastal Conservancy may be able to provide a DVD containing the entire archive upon request, for $10 each, free to libraries. So if you would like to order a copy, please respond to ghertz@scc.ca.gov.
We wish we could tell you that Coast & Ocean will resume publication, but that's not going to happen. Thank you for reading and supporting the magazine. Please stay engaged with coastal issues, alert to threats to our coast, and to opportunities to keep it healthy and open to all. Never has citizen vigilance been more important.
P.S. Check out the Coastal Conservancy's new coastwide wheelchair rider's access guide, by Bonnie Lewkowicz, at www.wheelingcalscoast.org It's useful to all, not only wheelchair riders, covering sites in all but Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, and those will be added soon.
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7. The Bay Citizen (blurb)
One year ago, we took a chance. Bay Area residents like you were crying out for original, independent journalism about our hometown.
We believed that, given the opportunity, community members like you would support a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and reinventing journalism.
So The Bay Citizen was born. Now, more than 350,000 people like you read our original reporting at baycitizen.org and in The New York Times every month.
Help us prove that there's a future for reader-supported, independent journalism in the Bay Area.
Our goal is to find 500 new Bay Citizens to stand up for local independent journalism. Our deadline is next Wednesday, and we're only 171 people away.
Every person counts. Will you help us get there? In honor of our first anniversary, we have a special offer for you: until Wednesday, a one-year membership is only $35 instead of $50. Become a member today and help bring in-depth news coverage back to the Bay.
You'll receive member benefits for one year including free admission to Bay Citizen events (like our popular Debates Worth Having series) and a ticket to our Off The Record anniversary party on May 18th.
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8. "WALC Across the City," the Wilderness Arts and Literacy Collaborative's annual year-end celebration and fundraiser featuring student accomplishments from both chapters of WALC will be held at Balboa High School's Green Room (enter on Otsego) from 2-4 pm on Sunday May 22, and features student testimonials, an art sale, and a raffle. You will be able to purchase any student art or photographs that you like, as well as our new WALC t-shirts and the 2011 anthology of student writing, this year entitled "A Lizard's Heart Upon the Thorns." Student artwork includes paintings and drawings of Bay Area wildlife and a wide variety of photographs expressing the theme "Where We're From: Land, History and Self."
(I paste here poetry from WALC's website):
A Hot and Poor World
Glenda Portillo, Downtown High School
I am from celebrations el dia de los muertos and navidad where family and friends join each other in the colonia for dancing and laughter
I am from pupusas and nuegados that old ladies make on dusty roads with contaminating smoke to provide food and little money for their families
I am from gasiosas and orchata to drink on a sweaty-sunny day at the mercado where what you hear is children crying, ladies gossiping loud music and chikens clucking
I am from vos to vichos to usted where your friends, kids and grown ups try to live their lives and survive in a hot and poor world
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Accepting a Gift
Marisa Miranda, Downtown High School
For once in life
I did something great
believing in myself
as I walked
my first challenging hike
through endless painted trails
allowing a path to nature
to blossom in me Seeing and learning
what this world creates
gave me new family members
to thank
redwood trees
for showing bravery
crystal clear streams
for humming peace in my ears
tall rocky mountains
for giving me courage
Caring and loving
for things that can't communicate
sacred wildlife
hiding to stay safe
colorful butterflies
brightening my days
shameless flowers
bringing a lovely smell to the air
made me respect and take care of me
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9. WORLD TURTLE DAY MAY 23
©Brian Horne/WCS
Turtles in Trouble
Turtles have existed for 220 million years – once roaming the Earth with dinosaurs. But their survival into the future is unknown: Today, half of all turtle and tortoise species are at risk of extinction. Illegal hunting for human consumption, the pet trade, and use in traditional Asian medicines are ravaging their numbers.
(JS: I believe the below pictures were taken in Costa Rica. The first picture shows one of the turtles just after she had laid her eggs. I have many more such pictures--too many for posting here.)
American Tortoise Rescue (http://www.tortoise.com), a nonprofit organization established in 1990 for the protection of all species of tortoise and turtle, is sponsoring its 11th annual World Turtle Day on May 23rd. Featured in Chase's Book of Annual Events, the day was created as an annual observance to help people celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world.
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10. Rats and English ivy
Barbara Kossy, Moss Beach:
At our place at the corner of California and Beach, we've been having problems with roof rats.
Just in the past few weeks we've trapped and killed 8.
They gnawed some plastic containers in the garage, and chewed my windshield wiper fluid lines in the car, and one gnawed a hole in the brake fluid reservoir. They can do much worse, like chew up wiring, and trash insulation.
Ross Roberts, our local go-to guy for pest removal, said that rats often nest and shelter in English Ivy.
I mentioned this at the San Mateo County Weed Management Area meeting, where we were planning our display for the county fair, and YES said John Beall, of the county ag department, "Rats live in English Ivy." With that information and knowing that English Ivy can infest and kill redwood forests, other trees, and degrade creeks, we decided to dedicate the weed management area's display to providing information on the problems created by English Ivy.
The display isn't set yet, but here are the basics:
*Don't plant English Ivy. There are non-invasive alternatives to use as a ground cover or creeper.
(email me if you want a list.)
* If you have it, and love it, keep it under control. Prune it so it does not spread to neighbor's yards, and to prevent it from producing berries. It's these berries that birds eat, and that spread English Ivy to open areas and parkland.
* Remove it from your yard and from parks and open space.
Here's some information on English Ivy removal:
http://www.ivyout.org/ivyremove.html
If you want more infomation on English Ivy, just google "English Ivy Problems."
It's a huge problem in Washington and Oregon as well as California, so there's tons of information online.
If you're planning an ivy removal session, I'd love to take some photos. We might be able to use them in our county fair display.
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11. Sunday Streets
SAVE THE DATE!!
The next Sunday Streets will be on June 12th and is coming through the Bayview and Dogpatch. If you have an organization or business local to those neighborhoods and would like to come play in the streets, contact us at: SundayStreets@gmail.com. Look for details to be posted on our website soon and RSVP to our Facebook event, then invite all of your friends
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12. Scientific American
EXPEDITIONS: The South Pacific Islands Survey--Forecast: Stomach turbulence
This expedition focuses on marine debris, water quality, habitat conditions and overfishing. Specific emphasis is placed on the five gyres, or the five areas with the highest accumulation of plastic pollution. This is their second report for Scientific American
Previous Blog: http://links.email.scientificamerican.com/ctt?kn=26&m=36611284&r=NTM5NzIzNTA1NgS2&b=2&j=MTAxMjkzNzE0S0&mt=1&rt=0
http://links.email.scientificamerican.com/ctt?kn=43&m=36611284&r=NTM5NzIzNTA1NgS2&b=2&j=MTAxMjkzNzE0S0&mt=1&rt=0
CROSS-CHECK: Temperature Tantrum: James Hansen Speaks Out, Gets Busted, and Now Sues to Stop Global Warming
What more can a scientist trying to save us do?
http://links.email.scientificamerican.com/ctt?kn=17&m=36611284&r=NTM5NzIzNTA1NgS2&b=2&j=MTAxMjkzNzE0S0&mt=1&rt=0
MIND MATTERS: Psychologists Put "Character" Under the Microscope--and it Vanishes
Authors David DeSteno and Piercarlo Valdesolo argue that much of our good and bad behavior is situational
http://links.email.scientificamerican.com/ctt?kn=47&m=36601559&r=NTM5NzIzNTA1NgS2&b=2&j=MTAxMDk2OTAxS0&mt=1&rt=0
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13.
Spring is just around the corner...we promise!
The Grand Canyon Trust volunteer program has two upcoming volunteer opportunities in June:
June 6-10: Cheatrass Invasion Assessment
Volunteers will help collect information to help land managers understand what drives the spread of invasive cheatgrass on the beautiful west side of the Kaibab Plateau.
June 25: Fort Valley Weed Warriors Unite
Volunteers will team up with other organizations to tackle the growing populations of invasive, nonnative plants in the historic area of Fort Valley Road and Highway 180.
Join us for our first-ever Utah Community Education Series Presentation:
Two Utah Problem-Solvers: Willow and Beaver -
An evening presentation by Grand Canyon Trust and Utah's Hogle Zoo
Tuesday, May 24 from 7:00-8:45 p.m. at the Salt Lake City Public Library, Conference Room A
Click here to view the flier for this event.
We will also host a free, guided day hike near Strawberry Reservoir on Wednesday, May 25.
For more information, please contact Andrew Mount at (928) 774-7488 or amount@grandcanyontust.org
Visit our trip schedule for other upcoming volunteer opportunities.
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14. Notes & Queries, Guardian Weekly
How much space would each person have if the planet's land surface were shared equally?
I have been told that the entire population of the world would fit into a wooden box one mile cubed. As this is sharing equally, if the last dude refused to get in he could have the rest of the world to himself.
Dick Hedges, Nairobi, Kenya
• If the planet's land surface were shared equally, each person would have land, not space.
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia
• Better ask who will live in Siberia, Greenland, upper Canada and Antarctica. Eliminate those and just redistribute the American midwest, Mongolia and the Amazon.
T Hariri, Washington DC, US
• Do you mean as I write, or as you read?
Sue Graczer, Opua, New Zealand
• Enough room to swing a cat.
Roger Morrell, Perth, Western Australia
• Not in my backyard!
Daan Zwick, Rochester, New York, US
• Since when have we been able to share anything equally?
Nigel Grinter, Chicago, Illinois, US
Cookies and pounds galore
If not stamps and coins, what are children collecting nowadays?
Facebook "friends".
Andrew Muguku, Nairobi, Kenya
• Cookies, but not the kind you can eat. And pounds, but not the kind you can spend.
David Fenderson, Canberra, Australia
• Apps, tats and step-parents.
John Grinter, Katoomba, NSW, Australia
• Mutations.
John Marbrook, Auckland, New Zealand
• Online gaming roles.
Priscilla Martinez, Oslo, Norway
• Kilograms.
Ted Jenner, Auckland, New Zealand
Let me make myself clear
Why is snoring such a disturbing sound as opposed to laughter?
Try spending a night with a recording of someone laughing on the pillow next to you and see if you have the same question the next morning.
Marian Turner, Munich, Germany
• We can laugh together. Try snoring together.
E Slack, L'Isle Jourdain, France
• I would argue that in the particular setting of the bedroom, either the sound of snoring or the sound of laughter coming from your partner could be seen as "disturbing", and with the latter sound being rather ego-reducing as well.
Dale Barrie, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• Let me be clear at the outset – I am not suggesting my wife snores. If by chance, however, I had to listen to her laughter just inches from my ear every night, I'm quite certain I would find it at least as disturbing as I would now, if she snored, but she doesn't, so I don't.
Tony Mount, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Things go better with it
Who thought up the American Dream and how do they continue to perpetuate it for so long?
The answer to both is Coca-Cola.
Noah Sandweiss, Bloomington, Indiana, US
Any answers?
Do we know the back of our hand?
John Morralee, Brighton, Ontario, Canada
How did the ejaculative "wow" gain currency?
Andrew Sheeran, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada
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