2011.07.16

1.   SF Supervisors to vote on the AT&T Utility Boxes Tuesday July 19 - be there
2.   Searsville Dam - latest
3.   Adah Bakalinsky walks Mt Davidson July 23
4.   CNPS field trip to Sweeney Ridge July 23
5.   Keep voting for Alemany Farm!
6.   Feedback - drive-by botany and other unbelievables/merger of NPC and SF Parks Trust draws fire
7.   A few thoughts dedicated to Rupert Murdoch
8.   SF Planning Commission approves new Bird-Safe building standards
9.   Look at the upside of hard-to-endure human situations
10. Van Morrison salutes Alan Watts/Alan Watts observes the human condition
11.  When the shoe fits - Chuang Tzu

1.  San Francisco Beautiful

Supervisors to set Public Realm Precedent this Tuesday

Contact all Supervisors today to prevent AT&T's utility boxes from intruding upon our sidewalks.

San Francisco Beautiful (SFB) and a coalition more than 25 neighborhood groups will finally have their appeal decided at the Tuesday, July 19 meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that we are fighting for will assess the cumulative impacts of AT&T's plan to install 726 utility boxes on our sidewalks.
 
The SFB coalition has advocated for an end to the information vacuum surrounding AT&T's plans, which had received a blanket go-ahead from the Planning Department.

On the other hand, the EIR would help reinforce the City's requirement that utility boxes be placed underground or on private property, and that sidewalks are used only as a last resort.

After delaying the EIR vote for three months, AT&T only this week floated an alternative proposal among City officials. Despite our coalition's outreach to AT&T, 25 neighborhood groups have been excluded from these discussions - one more reminder of AT&T's apparent commitment to obfuscation.  

San Francisco Beautiful will be at City Hall on Monday, July 18 from 10 AM to Noon and 1 PM to 2 PM. Call Jen (415.722.2907) if you are interested in joining us in visiting Supervisors before the vote on Tuesday, July 19.

Take a stand for the public realm. Call the Supervisors and ask them to vote "Yes" for an EIR on July 19.  

Supervisor Eric Mar                 554-7410
Supervisor Mark Farrell          554-7752
Supervisor David Chiu             554-7450
Supervisor Carmen Chu          554-7460
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi    554-7630
Supervisor Jane Kim                554-7970
Supervisor Sean Elsbernd      554-6516
Supervisor Scott Wiener         554-6968
Supervisor David Campos      554-5144
Supervisor Malia Cohen          554-7670
Supervisor John Avalos           554-6975  

San Franciscans expect nothing less than a full set of objective facts.

P.S. SFB will distribute window signs in front of Cafe Flore at Market and Noe Streets on Sunday, July 17 from 10 AM to 12:30 PM. 

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2.
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Searsville Dam inseparable from Stanford Lake Water System
The above letter to the federal agencies considering Stanford University’s proposed Habitat Conservation Plan outlines why Searsville Dam, Reservoir and their activities are inseparable from and therefore must be considered a part of Stanford's non-potable "Lake Water" system in Stanford's proposed Habitat Conservation Plan and draft Environmental Impact Statement. Currently, they are not.

USGS- Top Scientists Gather to Discuss Nation's Largest Dam Removal and River Restoration

This Science Symposium is Open to the Public. Sept 15-16.

Speakers Include:
Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy ~ The Heinz Center
Dr. Thomas P. Quinn ~ University of Washington
Dr. David Montgomery~ University of Washington
Dr. James R. Karr ~ University of Washington
Dr. Martin Doyle ~ Duke University
Mr. Yvon Chouinard ~ Founder of Patagonia

-Science Symposium Flyer


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3.  Saturday, July 23
San Francisco Naturalist Society walk on Mount Davidson with Adah Bakalinsky, author of Stairway Walks in San Francisco. 11 am-12:30 pm. Space is limited. For information, or to RSVP, contact Patrick at jkodiak(at)earthlink.net. Free.

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4.  California Native Plant Society field trip
Sweeney Ridge
July 23, Saturday
Leaders:  Werner Schumann and Jake Sigg

Join us for a stroll up Sneath Lane Trail through coastal scrub to the Bay Discovery Site atop Sweeney Ridge.  You'll be treated to exhilarating views east and west, including the Farallon Islands--providing dense fog doesn't prevent it.  Frequent fog feeds rich populations of lichens, and we'll see large stands of coast silktassel (Garrya elliptica).  If we're lucky, we might even see a peregrine falcon.  Meet at the trailhead at the end of Sneath Lane in San Bruno.  If you want to linger for the views, bring lunch.

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5.  Keep voting for Alemany Farm!!  As of noon on July 16, in the voting for one of five $4000 grants from de Loach Vineyards, Alemany Farm was hanging on to 5th place by 50 votes over a community garden in Seattle.   Voting ends on July 31.  Keep up the good work!  VOTE EVERY DAY at http://www.deloachcommunitygardens.com/  Click on the white arrow in the photo in the upper left hand corner. 

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6.  Feedback

On Jul 14, 2011, at 6:45 PM, jan blum wrote:
Thanks for sharing another great  little Peabody film about the Franciscan Manzanita.  She does such a good job for the natural world – perhaps we can figure out how to get her named official Wild SF videographer.  If she has a non-profit organization, it would be good to know the name and email address so we could contribute our nickels and dimes to  help her keep doing what she does so well. 

On Jul 15, 2011, at 5:51 PM, Nancy Conner wrote:
Re:1 Why "If you can believe it"? An amazing story, verified by many sources. There are so few bits of ecological good news, let's just celebrate the few we have.
Read it again, Nancy.  You misunderstood; it was the sequence of fortuitous occurrences, like all the ducks were lined up before the camera was to roll.  Life doesn't happen that way; there's all sorts of snags and bloopers, and the right people aren't there at the right time, often.  This sequence of events and people strains credulity--UNBELIEVABLE, yet true!

Maybe you live in a different world than I do.  The world I live in, Murphy's Law holds sway.
So now I get it. I thought maybe this was a jab at the Presidio Trust - easy target - but here quite blameless and praiseworthy. I think we live in the same world - gloriously united in our love of parks but a bit apprehensive about their future. SO here come SF Parks Alliance, an amalgam of SFPT and NPC, hoping to lift parks dialogue, engage park communities, and maximize park support. Aways welcome your suggestions.

Bernie Corace:
Hi Jake, Can't express how much I enjoy getting Nature News each week.  Thank you.

You might like to note that this past Tuesday evening, July 12th, the officials of San Francisco Park Trust orchestrated a quiet but successful coup as part of their efforts to merge with the Neighborhood Park Council.  With little notice and a quorum of less than 2% of the group’s membership a vote was held to eliminate voting rights of the members.  None of the attending officers or employees of the Trust, several who proudly proclaimed their membership in the organization, abstained from the vote even though there was a clear conflict of interest.

It a sad fact that as citizen’s across the Arab world fight for their democratic rights a once proud and democratic organization here in San Francisco, a city that likes to think of itself a liberal bastion, has emasculated its democratic nature. 

Since non-profit organizations like the S.F. Park Trust are increasingly taking on more and more powerful roles in the governance of our city it may be an issue worthy of more investigation.

John Anderson (re container gardening for cities):
Hi Jake, When we lived in Brooklyn) most of the houses had only small paved squares in front for yards. Many homeowners did container gardening using old tires. Typically the tires were turned inside-out, giving them a graceful vase-like profile, and whitewashed. I always thought this was a clever way to get cheap, reasonably aesthetic containers for urban gardening, as well as keeping non-degradable stuff out of landfills.
 
Thanks again for the consistently excellent newsletter.


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7.  (I dedicate this section to Rupert Murdoch.  Are we feeling his pain?  JS)

The phrase "investigative journalism" is, in a sense, tautologous because all journalism should involve some kind of investigation that results in the revelation of a hidden truth.

Half of the American people never read a newspaper.  Half never voted  for president.  One hopes it is the same half.  Gore Vidal

Age-old dictum:  "News is something someone somewhere doesn't want published--all the rest is advertising."

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8.  Planning Commission approves new Bird-Safe Standards for San Francisco buildings
(Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, CA., July 14 2011) American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and Golden Gate Audubon hailed the passage by the San Francisco Planning Commission of new Bird Safe Building Standards Thursday evening by a 5-1 vote. The standards would greatly reduce bird deaths and injuries resulting from collisions with buildings in the city. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is expected to consider the proposal at its August or September meeting.
...While San Francisco is looking at this issue on a local level, Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL) has introduced national legislation (HR 4797) that calls for each public building constructed, acquired, or altered by the General Services Administration (GSA) to incorporate, to the maximum extent possible, bird-safe building materials and design features. The legislation would require GSA to take similar actions on existing buildings, where practicable.  The terms “bird-safe building materials and design features” are defined through reference to several publications addressing those topics.

“Protecting and helping birds is not only the right thing to do, it is also good for the economy and the future of our environment. Birds are invaluable as controllers of crop insect pests and as pollinators of plants, seed distributors and they also generate tremendous economic revenues through the pastimes of bird feeding and birdwatching,” said Sheppard.

A recent federal government study reports that over 20 percent of the U.S. population – 48 million people – participates in birdwatching, spending about $36 billion annually in pursuit of their pastime.

Copies of the proposed guidelines are available online at: http://www.sf-planning.org/ftp/files/publications_reports/bird_safe_bldgs/Standards_for_Bird_Safe_Buildings_DRAFT_OCT2010.pdf.  To learn more about bird collisions with building, go to: http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/collisions/index.html


SciAm News Scan:  Urban birds have bigger brains than other species, making it easier for them to thrive in challenging environments, like Times Square.

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9.  LTE, The Economist
Sir:  Barring libel, prejudicial comment before trial and so-called hate speech, free speech is universally considered a good thing, and you make a splendid case for spreading it far and wide.  But freedom is a funny thing.  The freer the speech, the cheaper it becomes.  Put differently, the less free it is the more courage and cunning is required to speak out, so there is less blabber.

When speech is restricted, every single word from a poet, writer, or philosopher counts.  On occasion it has the force of thunder.  Many from behind the iron curtain of communism will thus remember the good old times, when free speech was but a dream.  Back then, speaking was an art.  And so was listening.

Ranko Bon
Motovun, Croatia

For over half a century we have only known prosperity, never experienced mass unemployment, never fought wars except on the edges at other people's expense, never known the extremes of human existence, comfortable in a continent that has enjoyed a similar existence and, having turned its back on grand visions, opted for the quiet life.

Yet it is the extremes, personal or political or both, that teach us the meaning of life.  Without them, the excesses of the young provide a little of the excitement otherwise lacking.  The outcome is a growing shallowness.  An adolescent culture is one that lives on the surface, unencumbered by memory, light on knowledge and devoid of wisdom.

Guardian Weekly 9 Dec 05

"A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives."     James Madison

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10.  Get away from the madness:  http://www.panhala.net/Alan_Watts_Blues.html

Alan Watts:  A group is a mutual eating society.  Groups consider it bad form to eat their own kind, because that would eventually eliminate the group, and they are interested in preserving their own kind, a self-preservation group.
Wars are about eating.

An inside needs an outside and vice-versa.  You wouldn't know you were inside unless you could see an outside.  An "in" group requires an "out" group.

A dictatorship requires an external enemy.

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11.


 
When the Shoe Fits
 
Ch'ui the draftsman
Could draw more perfect circles freehand
Than with a compass.
 
His fingers brought forth
Spontaneous forms from nowhere. His mind
Was meanwhile free and without concern
With what he was doing.
 
No application was needed
His mind was perfectly simple
And knew no obstacle.
 
So, when the shoe fits
The foot is forgotten,
When the belt fits
The belly is forgotten,
When the heart is right
"For" and "against" are forgotten.
 
No drives no compulsions,
No needs, no attractions:
Then your affairs
Are under control.
You are a free man.
 
Easy is right. Begin right
And you are easy.
Continue easy and you are right.
The right way to go easy
Is to forget the right way
And forget that the going is easy.
 
~ Chuang Tzu ~
 
(In the Dark Before Dawn, trans. Thomas Merton)

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