1. Telegraph Hill Dwellers looking for rooftop gardening speaker
2. Laurel Hill Playground historic native plan restoration--and the interesting story behind it
3. Op-ed on egregious use of city parking facilities by some city employees
4. Bluefin tuna needs your help
5. So does the planet, btw
6. Lawrence Ferlinghetti gives advice on how we might do it
7. Thinkwalks needs video-maker to do the Wiggle - May 22
8. May 22 CNPS field trip to GGNRA new acquisition, Rancho Corral de Tierra/Edmund Spenser prepares you
9. Save the 4th Amendment: Fear of crime, not just fear of terrorism, has nibbled away at America's liberties
10. Sharon Beals: Talks and signings for Nests: Fifty Nests and the Birds that Built Them
11. June 21 - special evening to support Save Japan Dolphins campaign
12. June 18 - The Sharing Revolution in Mountain View
13. Superdirt made lost Amazon cities possible?
14. New tiled steps project in San Francisco
15. Sugar: toxic?
16. Feedback: invasive plants, rats, dogs, bikes--all in one breath
17. Closure of 70 State Parks/High-Speed Rail at critical juncture/smaller tunnel for Bay-Delta?
18. Go the entire length of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne - Muir's March
19. Quail in San Francisco, my dirty little secret, and unforgiving nature
20. Gribblies, nobbled, cardiganed beards, and flimflammery
21. Thoughts from Einstein
1. Jake, the Telegraph Hill Dwellers are doing a forum on parks, gardens, and murals (Coit Tower WPA murals), and we would love to find someone to talk about and show slides about rooftop gardening. Do you know anyone? The Forum will be held Wednesday evening, June 29th at the SF Art Institute’s auditorium. There will be 3 topics: the murals (and the need to restore them); rooftop gardening; and parklets (tiny parks in place of parking spaces). The forums are free, open to the public, and well-attended.
Judy Irving, Chair,
Parks, Trees, and Birds Committee
Telegraph Hill Dwellers
Filmmaker: “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill”
You can contact Judy at this site: http://www.pelicanmedia.org
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2. Laurel Hill Playground historic native plant restoration
From Rose Hillson:
As most San Franciscans know, the area of Laurel Hill was once home to one of the Big Four cemeteries – Masonic, Calvary, Laurel Hill and Odd Fellows – during the mid- to late-1800s. An interest in genealogy of my house led me to information that the first owner was the caretaker/gardener of Laurel Hill Cemetery. I knew about the cemeteries, but I got curious about some unusual plants and trees on my lot. A discovery was made on a rare manzanita in my backyard…a species not available to the trade in the years past based on it clearly being old.
The foremost experts in manzanitas were Dr. V. Tom Parker and his associate, Mike Vasey from SF State. They told me this manzanita was a “keeper.” A big controversy arose when I tried to landmark the manzanita before the City’s Urban Forest Council – was it a tree or a shrub? Trees needed to be 15 feet tall. It wasn’t quite that…but it was somewhat of a horizontal tree. Seeing that this manzanita was such a special specimen, it was granted landmark status.
A research graduate student of geology, Michael Chasse, was in Dr. Parker’s class trying to map the historical occurrences of native species of plants that used to grow in the Laurel Hill area. Being that I had done a lot of research on the cemeteries and knew of some critical maps that would be useful for his thesis work, I directed him to some of this information. I told him I was planning to work on getting some plant work done at Laurel Hill Playground. With the history of the early botanist who was employed by the California Academy of Sciences, Alice Eastwood, who snatched some rare specimens of Arctostaphylos franciscana and made off with them in a gunny sack right before the bulldozers came to level the cemetery grounds for a big housing development which today is called Laurel Heights (earlier terminology was “Mayfair Heights,” Michael and I thought it would be a great tribute to the rare manzanitas that used to occur in the area if we re-introduced some of them plus some other native species that historically occurred there so long as we are able to obtain mostly SF genotypes on the eastern and northern slopes above the natural turf baseball field.
Since early 2010, Michael Chasse and I have come up with a plan to make this dream a reality. Our first workday at the playground was in April 2010. Since then, volunteers from OneBrick, Larkin Street Youth, SFUSD school children and people from the neighborhood have worked every third Saturday every two months to clear and plant some of the natives. We have a long way to go and want to complete the project by 2013. I am writing a grant proposal to get funding to purchase native plant species to make this playground an ecologically sustainable outdoor educational exhibit for everybody.
Rec and Park and the National Park Trust have been very supportive of the cleanup activity of the playground thus far and for arranging for volunteers. In future, the workday schedule may be stepped up depending on the department’s availability of staff to a more rigorous schedule to ensure completion by year-end 2013.
Recently, another Arctostaphylos franciscana was discovered during the Doyle Drive construction project. It is hoped that this playground will offer a glimpse of this rare species in one of the original places of this plant’s origin. This project is my passion and I ask all other native plant enthusiasts and natural world keepers to come help out on our workdays. You will become part of the story of the rare manzanitas.
Laurel Hill Playground historic native plant restoration workdays
Sat., May 21, 2011, 9am – noon
Sat., Jul 16, 2011, 9am – noon
Every third Sat. every other month, same time.
Location: Corner of Euclid Ave. & Collins St. down in the baseball field (old Laurel Hill Cemetery quarry!)
Please have people go to Rec and Park website http://sfrecpark.org/calendar.aspx, select the date and sign up so Rec and Park will know how large a group to expect. Rose Hillson
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3.
Dear Jake: In 1994 I wrote and op-ed piece in the old Examiner (6 September 1994) about the egregious use of city parking facilities by some city employees and non-city employees who did not pay for parking. In 2010 the new Examiner acknowledged that the City finally started charging for parking on its property. The result is $3.5 million dollars for City coffers. How far that would go to support our beleaguered Golden Gate Park is debatable. However, that is not the only income that could be derived for the City. I have suggested numerous ideas some of which I actually was able to implement at the Department of Social Services in my last ten years with that department. One idea that I have been pushing for the last 30 years is to provide a van service (that could accommodate 6 or more each trip) for visiting nurses and social workers to see their clients. They now use one automobile for each person for each visit. These visits are not random but by appointments. This is only one idea among many I have been advocating for without success. Well, one, anyway, but it took 16 years.
Denise D'Anne
Recipient of San Francisco Unsung Hero Award
See YouTube under Denise D'Anne
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4. Scientists Declare Bluefin Tuna Endangered -- Join Our Bluefin Boycott
The list of those who say bluefin tuna urgently need protection continues to grow. This week a committee of Canadian scientists and government representatives declared that the bluefin should be listed as an endangered species; we couldn't agree more. Last year the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned to have the Atlantic bluefin protected under the Endangered Species Act. In November, after international regulators failed to take action, we launched a nationwide boycott of bluefin.
One of the most remarkable marine creatures in the world, the warm-blooded bluefin tuna is a fierce ocean predator, can reach up to 10 feet in length and 1,200 pounds in weight, and can swim at up to 50 miles per hour, crossing the ocean in just weeks. But it can't outswim overfishing, which is driving it extinct at alarming rates, and the BP Gulf oil spill has helped make Atlantic bluefin more endangered than ever.
If you haven't already, join more than 30,000 activists in the Center's Bluefin Brigade by pledging not to eat bluefin or support restaurants that serve it -- and don't forget to spread the word by liking and sharing the page on Facebook. Then get details on our Bluefin Boycott, the Atlantic bluefin tuna and the bluefin developments in Canada.
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5. U.N. Report: 10 Billion People by Century's End
It looks like our planet's about to get a lot more crowded even faster than we thought. A sobering new report by the United Nations predicts the global human population will hit10 billion by the end of this century. (Earlier estimates figured the world's population would top out around 9 billion by 2050.)
The U.N. report adds to the urgency of addressing the global human overpopulation crisis now. Simply put, there's no way the Earth can support that many people and still sustain all of its other species. The more people we add –- and the more consumption that results -– the deeper the trouble for plants and animals already struggling to escape extinction. Stabilizing the world's population won't happen without important changes, including access to family planning and contraception.
That's why the Center for Biological Diversity launched its campaign to address human overpopulation three years ago and continues to expand education and advocacy efforts. Projects such as our Endangered Species Condoms are spreading awareness about the relationship between unsustainable human population growth and the devastating extinction crisis.
Stay tuned for news soon on this important campaign. Meanwhile, read more about our overpopulation work; sign up for Pop X, our monthly overpopulation newsletter (and share it on Facebook); and read about the U.N. report in The New York Times.
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6.
And was there not one moment in time
when our liberated adventurer
might have felt himself to be
a new unique form of life on earth
Was there not one moment when he felt
a quivering a wavering vibe
between himself and all breathing beings
and a deep ineffable delight
engulfing him
as if he were not a man separate and apart
from the rest of creation
but a part of pure nature
without the hubris to destroy it—
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
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7. Thinkwalks or Thinkrides
If you ride your bike in San Francisco, or read the Thinkwalks site, you probably know the Wiggle. And if you know The Wiggle, you LOVE the Wiggle. That's just how it is. Lawrence Grodeska has written a theme song for the Wiggle with his band, The Real Numbers and the song is crying out for a video. But he needs your help at Duboce Park (corner of Duboce and Steiner) to film a video for THE WIGGLE! He wants all kinds of bikes to represent: cruisers, fixies, road bikes, party machines, double-deckers, triple-deckers, Trikeasauruses, pedicabs and whatever else you've got. Just ride on over, and bring as many friends as you can muster. Dress in your bicycle best and Do the Wiggle!
Sunday May 22, 2pm
Duboce & Steiner
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8.
“No daintie flowre or herbe that growes on grownd,
No arborett with painted blossoms drest
And smelling sweete, but there it might be fownd
To bud out faire, and throwe her sweete smels al arownd.”
—Edmund Spenser
California Native Plant Society field trip
Rancho Corral de Tierra
Sunday 22 May, 1 pm
Leaders: Susie Bennett and Eva Buxton
Rancho Corral de Tierra is an ecological gem, a large tract of formerly private land on Montara Mountain that is in the process of being transferred to the GGNRA by the Peninsula Open Space Trust (see www.nps.gov/goga/rcdt.htm).
Our very first field trip to this newest (and very large) addition to the GGNRA was in March. Anticipating interest in the new site, CNPS has scheduled a second trip. GGNRA natural resource specialist Susie Bennett and CNPS volunteer botanist Eva Buxton will lead.
Meet at the Le Conte Portal at the northern edge of Montara near the intersection of Le Conte Ave. and Kannoff. From Highway 1, head east on Montara’s 2nd St., take the first right onto Main, first left onto 3rd St., and the third left onto Le Conte. Drive to the northern end of the road and park parallel.
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9. Lexington
Save the fourth amendment
Fear of crime, not just fear of terrorism, has nibbled away at America’s liberties
May 12th 2011 | from The Economist print edition
IT IS only a mile or so from the colonnade of the Supreme Court to some of Washington, DC’s most dangerous neighbourhoods. But these two parts of the nation’s capital could be in different countries. On any given night, armed police prowl north-east Washington in search of guns or drugs. So routine are these patrols that black men sitting on stoops or standing on corners will reflexively lift their T-shirts when the police approach, to show that they have no pistol tucked into their waistbands. Often the police will frisk them anyway, and search their cars as well. You might almost forget, in light of these encounters, that the fourth amendment to the constitution establishes the right of the American people to be “secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”
David Shipler, a former New York Times reporter and winner of the Pulitzer prize, does not want you to forget. In a new book (“The Rights of the People”, Alfred Knopf) he argues that America’s search for safety is relentlessly eroding the precious protections in the Bill of Rights. He decided to write the book—the first of a pair—on September 11th 2001, the day al-Qaeda struck the twin towers. After watching the awful images on television, he suddenly understood: “There go our civil liberties.”
This column argued last week that the fears engendered by September 11th had made America a less trusting and innocent place, permanently on its guard against the danger of terrorism. An abiding symbol of this change is the prison camp at Guantánamo. A stash of 700 more WikiLeaks documents made public recently contains details of how and why people from all over the world were taken there and how they were treated. The overall picture, in the only slightly overwrought words of the New York Times, one of the newspapers that published the documents, is of a “legal and moral disaster”. Innocent men were picked up on the basis of scant evidence and in many cases subjected to abuse and torture. One man—allegedly a terrorist, but a man nonetheless—was “leashed like a dog, sexually humiliated and forced to urinate on himself”. His testimony was then used to incriminate others.
It is, however, not just the war on terror that has nibbled away at liberties. So, says Mr Shipler, have the fights against crime and illicit drugs. “In criminal justice, as in counter-terrorism,” he notes, “the executive branch has grabbed immense authority, distorting the process of determining guilt or innocence.”
Part of the damage is done by the habit of police everywhere to cut corners and stretch their prerogatives. But the Supreme Court has played a part, too. To take just one of Mr Shipler’s examples, the police must still usually show “probable cause” if they want a warrant to search a house. But for street encounters in which there is even the slightest possibility of danger to life, the court has over time substituted the woollier “reasonable grounds” or “reasonable suspicion”, thereby giving officers on the beat a latitude they are delighted to exploit. Most street pat-downs are never recorded, scrutinised by a prosecutor, challenged by a lawyer or adjudicated by a judge. Yet, says Mr Shipler, they weaken the fourth amendment and poison life on the street in a thousand poor neighbourhoods in America.
Not much has changed since the election of Barack Obama. In his inaugural speech, the new president said that America did not have to make a “false” choice between its safety and its ideals. But having promised to close Guantánamo within a year, he has put the closure on hold in the face of resistance from Congress and public opinion. He has also had to drop a plan to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, by his own confession one of the September 11th plotters, in a criminal court. This trial was going to showcase America’s system of justice. Now Mr Mohammed is to be tried in Guantánamo, by a military commission.
As in the war on terrorism, so in the war on crime: the sharp question is how much risk a society is willing to absorb in order to preserve liberty. Mr Shipler’s conclusion is that America is increasingly prone to give the wrong answer. The premise underpinning its justice system is that it is far worse to convict wrongly than to fail to convict at all. But in its responses to drug-trafficking and organised crime that ideal has been severely weakened.
Complacency, fear and fashion
Since American politicians talk about liberty all the time, why are they so feeble in its defence? Part of the explanation is complacency: America is one of the world’s freest countries—why worry about the bending of a rule here or there? Part is fear: contrary to what Mr Obama says, there is a choice to be made between safety and liberty, and in many minds safety wins. Part is fashion. There are some libertarians in American politics, but on the conservative wing of the Republican Party the liberty talk has come lately to dwell more on the alleged threat to economic freedom posed by Mr Obama’s alleged taste for big government, and less on the sort of freedoms entrenched in the Bill of Rights. The second amendment, on the right to keep and bear arms, is treated as holy writ, but the fourth has somehow lost its sex appeal.
That is a pity. Mr Shipler used to report from the Soviet Union. He sees reminders of Soviet thinking in the United States since al-Qaeda’s attacks. Though a bold line separates Soviet dictatorship and American democracy, people are much the same everywhere. That is why James Madison said two centuries ago that “all men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree”. The lesson from the founders, Mr Shipler concludes, is that freedom depends not on the virtue of leaders or officials but on a “durable foundation of constitutional protections”. The message from Guantánamo, and from the mean streets of north-east Washington, is that the foundation needs shoring up.
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10. Sharon Beals:
I wanted to tell you about the talks and signings that I will be doing for Nests: Fifty Nests and the Birds that Built Them
I will be in Guerneville at River Reader on May 18 at 7pm
16355 Main Street
869-2240
In San Francisco:
At Farleys, Sunday May 22, 5 to 7pm
1315 18th St
Hosted by Christopher's Books
Red Hill Books, Sunday June 5 at 4pm
401 Cortland
648-5331
Laurie Wigham, who illustrated the birds for the book, will join me for the San Francisco signings. If you haven't see the book, they are delightful.
I hope that you can join us at one of these events. There will be some East Bay signings this summer. Nests has been getting some very good press in print and on-line and I am happy to say that it is now headed for a second printing. There will be a story about the work in Scientific American in August. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the book, other signings, or would like a studio visit to see prints.
"The commonest ivory tower is that of the average man, the state of passivity towards experience."
W.H. Auden, The Prolific and the Devourer
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11. Ric O’Barry and Earth Island Institute invite you to a special evening to support our Save Japan Dolphins Campaign
Join Earth Island’s marine mammal champion Ric O' Barry, award-winning Cove Director Louie Psihoyos and legendary musician Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead to support our Save Japan Dolphins Campaign to protect whales and dolphins from slaughter and captivity in Japan
The evening will include a screening of the 2010 Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove, followed by a Q & A with Ric O’Barry and Louie Psihoyos
Bob Weir will perform live after the screening
Tuesday, June 21st at the Rafael Film Center
1118 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA
The film starts at 7pm and the music performance at 9 pm
Tickets $40
Order your tickets soon as we expect a sellout!
To reserve, go to: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/170347
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12. Save the date: The Sharing Revolution, June 18 in Mountain View
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!
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13. Ian Wilson:
Dear Jake, I expect you've covered this already, but if not, I just came across this short video about "terra preta" and thought it was interesting -- it seems that native peoples in the Amazon were enriching its poor, acidic soil with charcoal, turning it into "terra preta" (tierra prieta in Spanish, dark earth in English,) which remains extremely fertile to this day. This is how Amazonia was able to support a population of many millions before the Europeans arrived.
Superdirt Made Lost Amazon Cities Possible?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081119-lost-cities-amazon.html
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14. A new tiled-steps project in San Francisco's Sunset District: http://hiddengardensteps.org/StepsB.html
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15. Sugar: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?_r=2&scp=8&sq=sugar%20cancer&st=cse
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16. Feedback
ML Carle:
Jake et al,
We have roof rats where we live, but galloping Vinca major, thanks to the landlord, is their hideout. Fortunately this spring a pair of red-shouldered hawks nested in our eucs and perch nearby. Everyone who lives on this property says they haven't had any more rats.
Re dogs: My terrier is inclined to get snapish if a dog approaches her. I am tired of hearing, "My dog is friendly", because my dog might start something that ends very badly for her. Few self-respecting large dogs are going to just smile and wag their tails when a little bratty dog on a leash snaps at them. "You should've socialized your dog," say some dog owners whose dogs are naturally dog-friendly. If only it were that easy. To most of them I would say,"Why is your dog off leash when you don't have him/her under voice control?" So I never take my dog where dogs are off leash. I am denied use of public areas because of people who think their dog has constitutional rights. The right to bear big teeth, for instance. The trouble is, though there are many dog owners who feel as I do, we are not organized. - same with mountain bikes on the trail. China Camp being one of the worst hiking experiences in the Bay Area. Most bikers are polite, but there is nowhere to go on narrow trails, and one has to pull over for them every few moments, sometimes into poison oak. There are just too many of them, and they are organized. Another population control issue? However, I just read that that problem is solved: China Camp is being closed along with almost every state park I visit. Another thing to get pissed off about.
I'm with you, ML. You're beginning to sound like the curmudgeon I am. How can one not be in this world of outrage?
Yes, I feel curmudgeonyness creeping over me. The outrages do mount up over the years. I was complaining to a younger friend about the relentlessly cheerful leader of my senior exercise class. Did she think she was a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys? He said they should hire really grumpy leaders for old people like me. We made up a bunch of lines for my would-be fitness leader: "What the hell do you mean,"My neck hurts when we do that exercise."? I'll fix your pain! Come over here and I'll strangle you, you turtlenecked old biddy! No more pain!" And so on.. John Cleese would be great at it!
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17. From Planning & Conservation League
CALIFORNIA ANNOUNCES THE CLOSURE OF 70 STATE PARKS
(Friday 13) California State Parks System announced the closure of 70 state parks as the result of state budget cuts. The closures are necessary to resolve an $11 million reduction for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, and another $22 million the following fiscal year. State Park officials stated parks were chosen based on attendance rates and historical significance.
The Brown Administration made clear that even more parks could be closed in an effort to balance the state's current $15.2 billion deficit. The list released today assumes that lawmakers will put the governor supported tax extensions on the ballot, and that voters will approve them. If either of those assumptions does not happen, Californians should prepare themselves for even more cuts.
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LAO REPORTS: HIGH-SPEED RAIL IS AT A CRITICAL JUNCTURE
On Tuesday the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released a report assessing the cost of the CA high speed rail project (HSR) and issued recommendations to usher the project towards success. The HSR project is likely to be one of, if not the, most costly infrastructure project the state has ever seen. The completion of the first phase of the project is estimated to cost $43 billion and according to the LAO, the project price tag will undoubtedly go up.
The report highlights a number of concerns that threaten the success of the HSR project. On the top of the list are “high uncertainty” of future additional funding, and an “existing governance structure that is inadequate” for construction that lacks “good information” needed to make multi-billion dollar decisions. However as noted in the report, the current HSR decision making body, the High-Speed Rail Authority, is not the best means to ensure the construction of a successful high speed rail system in California. The LAO reports, legislative actions could improve the likelihood of the project’s success and end the present HSR project gridlock. Currently there is an active bill in the legislature, SB 517 (Lowenthal), urging a reorganization of the High Speed Rail Authority much like the recommendations made by the LAO.
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BROWN ADMINISTRATION TO LOOK AT SMALLER TUNNEL
On Tuesday, the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife committee convened an informational hearing regarding the status of Delta plans; specifically the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). One subject was National Research Council’s highly critical assessment of the previous administration’s draft BDCP plan. Key findings in their review were that the previous draft BDCP plan lacked clarity, did not integrate the best science available and did not fully analyze all alternatives in the Delta.
As the Sacramento Bee reported:
“Jerry Meral, deputy secretary of the state's Natural Resources Agency, told an Assembly committee the tunnels are no longer the leading option to solve the Delta's chronic water and environmental problems. He said a range of alternatives will now be considered by the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, an effort to balance water supply and environmental stresses in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Among them will be a much smaller diversion originally proposed by environmentalists, which never got traction in the Schwarzenegger administration.”
The Planning and Conservation League (PCL) and the Contra Costa Water District have taken the lead in recommending that a smaller tunnel be analyzed. PCL and many other organizations have also insisted that before any decision can be made on conveyance, new protective flow standards for the Delta need to be adopted. These realizations are gaining traction among those frustrated by the continued gridlock based on unrealistic expectations. As stated in today’s the Fresno Bee editorial, “There's a real need to study new conveyance options.”
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18. John Muir said it best. "Every one who is anything of a mountaineer should go on through the entire length of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, coming out by Hetch Hetchy. There is not a dull step all the way. With wide variations, it is a Yosemite Valley from end to end."
Are you thinking about joining Muir's March but you want to know more about the trips? Muir's March offers you six choices. Would you like to backpack on a route that combines the beauty of Yosemite with the grandeur of the Grand Canyon? Consider the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne!
The Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne is a 7-day trip along the Tuolumne River to Pate Valley, up through Pleasant Valley and then down along the banks of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.
This 45.4 mile route offers every type of terrain you could ever expect from Yosemite. Massive granite walls, huge groves of hardwoods, plush meadows full of blooming wildflowers, deep river valleys, steep canyons, powerful waterfalls and a constant feeling of having been swallowed by the Yosemite wilderness are available as part of this adventure.
Our experienced guides will take you on the adventure of a lifetime, and at the same time you'll be Marching for restoration of Yosemite's beautiful sister valley. There are only six spots left -- sign up today!
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19. On May 11, 2011, at 1:05 PM, Noreen Weeden wrote:
III A - There are only 8 California Quail in the entire city and these are in the SF Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park. In 1930 the California Academy of Science Published Joseph Maillard's "Handbook of the Birds of Golden Gate Park". At that time the Californa Quail was listed as abundant throughout the park. Species documented in this book that are no longer found in Golden Gate Park including the Least Bittern, Florida or Purple Gallinule, Burrowing Owl, Horned Lark, Wrentit, and Loggerhead Shrike.
Noreen: FYI, when I was the gardener in the Menzies Garden (not called that at the time) in the early 1970s , there were about 150 quail. Don't tell anyone, but I hated them, because they ate all my blue dicks (bulbs) and johnny jump-ups (Viola pedunculata). And what they didn't eat they trampled to death by their constant back-and-forthing as they scurried under the shrubs every time someone came by, which was very often.
Ah, how times change--and ways of thinking. At the time I was unaware of native or nonnative, or why anyone should care. Needless to say I have become educated on some basic features of the world, and I wish I could roll back the calendar. Nature is very unforgiving.
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20. LTE, The Economist 14 May 2011
Sir: I have noticed some wonderful little moments of syntactic bliss in your pages recently, made even more pleasurable by the peculiarities of British (as opposed to American) English: "To escape the technological flimflammery of the modern world"; "cardiganed beards"; "the network that debouches into the Pearl River delta"; "in less competitive markets, even fewer need to be nobbled"--I have a notebook full of these wiggy darlings.
But I want to give special thanks for this: "The research offers more than just an insight into the life cycle of subsea gribblies". For me, those gribblies are a lark in the California desert.
J.L. Bautista, Berkeley
(Language--and its uses by The Economist writers--is one of the pleasures of reading this journal. Its writing can be understood by laypeople; however, every once in awhile it will throw in something like nous or synecdoche, sending me scrambling for the dictionary. And then there's the words mentioned by the letter writer. Lack of understanding of nobbled or gribblies--usually not to be found in a dictionary--is compensated for by my delight in the words. JS)
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21. Albert Einstein:
“I never think of the future—it comes soon enough.”
"I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be."
"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."
“As simple as possible, but not simpler.”
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