2. Randall Museum needs 15 more science fair judges Feb 22 & 23
3. SF Ocean Edge/GGP Preservation Alliance news
4. Searsville Dam news story on Channel 7
5. Disinformation campaign on SF's Natural Areas Program
6. Mary Oliver: Straight Talk From Fox
7. Leatherback Sea Turtle Critical Habitat: What does 16,910 sq miles of new federal
protected ocean mean for Californians?
8. What Bill Gates gets wrong on genetic engineering/Future of Food Feb 20
9. Take 1 minute for vote for Acterra and Palo Alto's sustainable schools project
10. Formidable! Documenting all the world's conifers in habitat - at Glen Ellen Feb 12
11. Red-tailed hawk has lunch in tow-away zone
12. Liam's local butterfly guide for $5/butterfly survey March 18
13. Feedback: Stopping mailbox clutter/tasing
14. Thinkwalks has iPhone app
15. Being gay-friendly is cheap, and good for business
16. Witty potpourri
17. Word for today: wastrel/Samuel Johnson views mankind
18. Kate Knapp: Seeing, in three pieces
19. Notes & Queries: What is my fair share of world's wealth?
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it. -Jean-Paul Sartre
1. Neighbors Concerned About Pacifica
Please turn out for the February 14 Pacifica City Council Meeting (Agenda Item #7 - Oddstad Project)
Request additional EIR analysis and recirculation for additional public comment. In short:
1) There is significant new information that only appeared in the Final EIR. The Final EIR must be recirculated for another round of public comment and City response. Only in the Final EIR was the public told that the middle fork of San Pedro Creek was spawning and rearing habitat for threatened Steelhead or that the Project site includes such suitable Steelhead habitat. This is significant new information that the public deserves the right to comment on.
2) The EIR fails to discuss the feasibility of the proposed mitigation measure of “bioswales”. An EIR must discuss the feasibility of proposed mitigation measures. This is particularly important because here the EIR admits that the project could generate stormwater runoff that could cause/contribute to water quality standard violations, provide substantial additional polluted runoff sources, and substantially degrade San Pedro Creek water quality. In addition, the EIR admits that project runoff could cause substantial erosion, siltation and contribute to stream channel impacts. Despite acknowledging such impacts, the EIR fails to discuss the feasibility of the mitigations in reducing these impacts.
3) Increased erosion potential exposes the City to significant financial liability. The Project conflicts with the Clean Water Act requirement that stormwater discharges not cause ANY increase in erosion. The EIR admits that this project will cause erosion from stormwater runoff and water quality violations from graywater for landscape. Clean Water Act violations are punishable by fines of up to $32,500 per day per violation. The Oddstad Project, as currently proposed, will expose the City to significant Clean Water Act liability.
There are 3 groups that have filed appeals to the City Council - (1) San Pedro Creek Watershed Coalition, (2) Neighbors Concerned About Pacifica, and (3) Protectors of San Pedro Creek. PLEASE LEND YOUR VOICE.
Brian Gaffney
Neighbors Concerned About Pacifica
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2. Dear Science Professionals,
I am looking for 15 more science fair judges that are able to participate in judging this year's San Francisco Middle School Science Fair at the Randall Museum. We need judges for both on the initial judging night, Wednesday, February 22nd from 6pm to 9pm and for the interviews with students, Thursday, February 23rd 5.30pm- 8.30pm. The Judges critique projects in 3 subjects, Physical science, Biological science, and Behavioral science. Food and beverages are provided on both nights. Your expertise is needed! Attached* is an invitation letter outlining important science fair and judging details.
Marcus Wojtkowiak
Science Fair Coordinator
The Randall Museum
415-554-9604
sciencefaircoordinator@randallmuseum.org
* Not attached. Contact the coordinator
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3. SF Ocean Edge/Golden Gate Park Preservation Alliance
Volunteer meeting – February 12th – Click here to volunteer
Volunteer for our tables at the History Expo – March 3rd and 4th, (anytime between 11:00 a.m. & 4:00 p.m. )
Date: Saturday March 3rd, Sunday March 4th
Time: Anytime between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Location: The Old Mint, 88 Fifth Street at Mission
Who: Anyone – old or new volunteer. Help spread the word about the threats to Golden Gate Park!
What: Join us in reaching out to the thousands of people who attend this FREE event! People who attend are open to historic preservation and understand the value of protecting Golden Gate Park. Plus there are many other exhibitors – spend an hour or two at our table and then visit the rest of the exhibits. We are co-exhibiting with the Golden Gate Park Preservation Alliance.
Click here to learn more about the History Expo
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4. Searsville Dam News story from Thursday night on ABC Channel 7.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/assignment_7&id=8538368&status=ok
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5. From Nature in the City newsletter
Natural Areas in 2012
More disinformation is being propagated about the celebrated Natural Areas Program. This time by a candidate for public office! He's running as a "common sense" candidate. Unfortunately for the public, everything contained in this video is nonsense. Check out the slick video filled with one myth after another.
In addition to those points below that we posted last time, it's obviously necessary to repeat that no person in the local conservation movement has ever proposed removing the eucalyptus plantations wholesale, either on Mt. Sutro, Mt. Davidson or in Golden Gate Park or the Presidio. They have evolved to provide habitat for raptors, for example, but they MUST be managed. Many trees are diseased, weak, and they are being choked out by ivy, which is facilitated by their fog drip. The trees are literally killing themselves, and yes, do encroach upon our precious remaining native habitat areas.
Three simple facts are thus:
1. Every single natural area in the City has at least one trail through it, where one can walk a dog on a leash;
2. The act of removing (a small subset of) non-native trees, e.g., eucalyptus, that are in natural areas has the following benefits:
a. Restores native habitat for indigenous plants and wildlife;
b. Restores health, light and space to the "urban forest," since the trees are all crowded together and being choked by ivy;
c. Contributes to the prevention of catastrophic fire in our communities.
**3. The overall visual landscape of the natural areas will not change since only a small subset of trees are planned to be removed over a 20-year period.**
Please feel free to email steward@natureinthecity.org if you would like more clarification about the intention, values and rationale of natural resources management.
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6.
Straight Talk From Fox
Listen says fox it is music to run
over the hills to lick
dew from the leaves to nose along
the edges of the ponds to smell the fat
ducks in their bright feathers but
far out, safe in their rafts of
sleep. It is like
music to visit the orchard, to find
the vole sucking the sweet of the apple, or the
rabbit with his fast-beating heart. Death itself
is a music. Nobody has ever come close to
writing it down, awake or in a dream. It cannot
be told. It is flesh and bones
changing shape and with good cause, mercy
is a little child beside such an invention. It is
music to wander the black back roads
outside of town no one awake or wondering
if anything miraculous is ever going to
happen, totally dumb to the fact of every
moment's miracle. Don't think I haven't
peeked into windows. I see you in all your seasons
making love, arguing, talking about God
as if he were an idea instead of the grass,
instead of the stars, the rabbit caught
in one good teeth-whacking hit and brought
home to the den. What I am, and I know it, is
responsible, joyful, thankful. I would not
give my life for a thousand of yours.
~ Mary Oliver ~
(Red Bird)
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7. Seminar Title: Leatherback Sea Turtle Critical Habitat: What does 16,910 sq miles of new federal protected ocean mean for Californians?
When: February 29, 2012 from 6:30 to 8:30pm
Where: Bay Model Visitor Center, 2100 Bridgeway in Sausalito, CA 94965
Who: All ages welcome to this free seminar! There is no admission fee, but donations are appreciated. Free refreshments will be served.
Why: The largest offshore protected area for sea turtles in the US has just been established, but what do these new federal rules mean for California's boaters, fishermen, and offshore industries? Dr. Chris Pincetich with the Sea Turtle Restoration Project (www.SeaTurtles.org) is presenting this free seminar to answer this question and more. Join a community discussion to review the process that created this historic conservation achievement, learn what the new federal sea turtle critical habitat laws mean to ocean users, and help us take the important next steps to build on this victory for California's leatherback sea turtles.
Every year, leatherback sea turtles migrate across the Pacific Ocean to feed on jellyfish in the waters along the west coast of the US. SeaTurtles.org was a key player in encouraging the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to declare these foraging grounds as federally protected critical habitat for endangered leatherbacks.
On February 25 the new federal critical habitat protections within 41,914 square miles of US Pacific waters, with 16,910 square miles of that protected area along California's coastline, take effect. Dr. Chris Pincetich will discuss the designation process, answer any questions people have about how the decision will affect them, and look ahead to actions that still need to take place in order to protect Pacific leatherback sea turtles from extinction.
Leatherbacks are the most ancient of sea turtle species that still swim the world's oceans. Their amazing adaptations allow migrations across entire ocean basins and the resiliency to persist through ice ages and the extinction of the dinosaurs. But human pressures over the last one hundred years have virtually exterminated Pacific leatherbacks. Their populations have been reduced 95% and they are critically endangered.
For more information on this event, contact chris@seaturtles.org
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8.
What Bill Gates gets wrong on Genetic Engineering, every time
http://www.panna.org/blog/what-gates-gets-wrong-ge-every-time
_________________________
The Future of Food
Monday, February 20
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Unitarian Church
505 East Charleston Road
Palo Alto [map]
Cost: Free (donations welcomed)
Come see this powerful and informative documentary that investigates and uncovers disturbing issues behind the unlabeled, genetically-engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery shelves for the past decade.
For more information, please visit the Future of Food website. This film viewing is co-sponsored by Acterra.
Learn More at Find Answers - Acterra Rainwater Harvesting Guide
Unlike Gene Kelly, it doesn't look like we'll be "singing in the rain" that much this year. So, what rainfall we do get can be put to good use by installing and using a rainwater harvesting system. For information about how to create a system, please read our How to Put Together a Rainbarrel guide.
Got questions about other "green" topics? Check out Acterra's Find Answers webpage, which provides links to a diversity of sustainability information websites. Can't find the answers you need? Then "Ask an Expert!"
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9. Please take 1 minute to vote for Acterra and Palo Alto's sustainable schools project. We're teaching kids how to replace unused portions of water-wasting lawns with locally native plants. Visit this website for a photo of the kids in action, and vote for the project while you're there. It won't cost you a dime and you don't have to register; your vote could help us win a grant of up to $5,000 to work with more schools! You can vote once per day up through March 15, so vote early and often. You high-schoolers out there have an opportunity to help provide great projects for your younger brothers and sisters, so you should vote too! Once you click on the "Vote" button, be sure to scroll down to the "capcha" box to verify your vote - this step is critical or your vote won't get recorded! You can leave an optional message too if you like.
http://www.iuowawards.com/Projects.aspx#project%7C99243b8e-d44f-4faa-98ec-fc29f6253524
item #2)
We have a unique restoration opportunity at Stulsaft Park in Redwood City on Thursday Feb. 16 from 2-6 pm to remove Arundo donax that threatens the rare fountain thistle. This event is a bit more on the hardcore side than our usual Saturday activities. I have a meeting in Palo Alto at 1:30 but hope to swing by the event for the 2nd half. Please email Claire and/or Christal (cc'ed on this message) if you plan to attend!!
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10.
Conifers Around the World
Hungarian botanist Zsolt Debreczy had a modest dream—to document all of the world’s temperate conifers in their natural habitats. The project was featured in the Fall/Winter 2005 issue of Huntington Frontiers. After traveling the world for 40 years, the dream has now become a reality with the publication of Conifers Around the World (DendroPress, 2011; $250). The sumptuous two-volume publication, written by Debreczy with 3,700 full color photographs by István Rácz, features 541 species, subspecies, and varieties of temperate-zone conifers.
The book is edited by Kathy Musial, curator of living collections at The Huntington. In 1996, Musial traveled to Chile to work with Decreczy and Rácz on the project. She subsequently did field work with them in Taiwan, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Mexico before beginning the task of editing the two-volume work.
“It’s a beautiful book, and the only one to illustrate in a consistent format the world’s temperate conifers in their natural habitats. It was a wonderful project to be a part of.” said Musial.
Debreczy will give an illustrated lecture about the project on Sunday, February 12 at Quarryhill Botanical Garden at 5:30 p.m. A book signing will follow the program. Guests are welcome to stroll the garden before the talk. Space is limited, please call 707-996-3166 to reserve yours in advance. Quarryhill Members, $10, Non-members $15.
(JS: That dream doesn't strike me as modest at all. As the French would say: "Formidable!")
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11.
(Image missing)
From High Country News
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12. Friends of 5 Creeks - More on butterflies
For those who missed Monday night’s SRO talk on butterflies, or weren’t able to buy Liam’s wonderful one-sheet guide to local butterflies: Send $5 to Liam O’Brien, 4114 17th St., San Francisco, CA 94114. He’ll mail you the guide. Proceeds go to the Green Hairstreak Project, creating a backyard habitat “ecological corridor” for two isolated populations of this rare butterfly.
Mark your calendars: Liam will lead a butterfly walk for us in the beautiful El Cerrito Hillside Natural Area noon- 2 PM Sunday, Sept. 9. (Females are footloose in early fall, and both sexes cruise hilltops in early afternoon to find each other.)
We’ll have snacks from wild edibles, plus news from our project to catalog and map the Hillside Natural Area’s varied native plants -- many of them vital hosts for butterflies.
Our first survey date will be Sunday, March 18. Details in the next e-newsletter, but registration will be limited, so if you want to help, let me know!
f5creeks@aol.com
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13. Feedback
Anna-Marie Bratton:
Hi Jake,
RE: Paper Clutter
It is all well and good to consider reducing the use of paper for bills, bank statements, and all the other paper clutter that comes in the US Mail. Years ago I made phone call after phone call and reduced my catalog clutter to zero, I put my name in for reducing the invitations for credit cards and other junk mail, and I no longer receive that mess of advertising that at one time arrived once a week. But I will never go to all online bill paying and banking - there has to be something for the mail delivery folks to do! Post offices are closing and mail delivery may go to 5 days a week - this means jobs lost. I was on jury duty a while ago with a fellow who delivered mail for the USPS. He would like to see more mail - he's afraid of having his hours reduced or actually losing his job. The more that can be done without human labor the fewer jobs. Yes, I know, there are the technology jobs, but consider the consequences of vastly increased use of
electronic gadgets: the ipads, iphones, laptops, desktops, etc. etc. - there is an enormous use of the earth's resources, energy to mine those resources (not to speak of the habitat destruction in that mining), energy to run the gadgets, and energy to cool the very large buildings holding the servers for all the gadgets, and on and on and on. There has to be some thought put into consequences of actions, even when those actions seem like the best thing since sliced bread.
Thanks Jake.
Anna-Marie: What a complicated and vexatious world we've created. I run into the same conflicts in my life.
I, too, have succeeded in reducing junk mail deliveries to close to zero. And, because I wanted to cut down on paper, I opted for online bank statements and mutual funds statements. However, because I am extremely uncomfortable with the technology, after investing many hours and experiencing untold vexation setting it up, whenever I tried to log into my accounts I experienced great difficulty and more frustration. I decided I couldn't lose any more time and had to go back to paper statements. It was too upsetting and frustrating. I went back to paper. I'm resigned to being an old fogey; besides I gave up the futile pursuit of trying to keep up with the world. And you make a good point about the environmental costs of these electronic gadgets, something that is beginning to gain a smidgen of attention.
I did the same with the Grand Canyon Trust newsletter. I am deeply in love with desert canyons of Utah and Arizona (a mistake we made early on--Utah and Arizona should have been the Utah/Arizona National Park. Unfortunately, it's too late.) I tried the electronic version but went back to printed copy. I tell you. there is nothing like sitting back in my easy chair at 5 pm with a bottle of Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA and looking at pictures and stories about the desert canyons. Ah, the computer can never duplicate that experience. Computers are separating.
Kris Cannon:
HOW do you do this regularly, Jake?! You are amazing and such a treasure. And in among all of these birds and otters, and dead caterpillars is Rilke and a fabulous photo.
Ah! my reward, for whatever I needed.
I hope you love doing this as much as I love receiving it.
BIG THANK YOU!
Kris: How do I do it? A big part of the reason is because I keep getting encouragement from people like you. I shamelessly feed on praise.
However, it is at cost of the rest of my life, which is being neglected. So I am simultaneously rewarded for the expressive outlet and the opportunity to fill a community need, but frustrated by not attending to other needs that are beckoning*--shouting, even. And if I were magically granted three more hours per day, what would I devote them to? This newsletter, probably. I have lots of stuff to go into it, but am limited by my time and readers' tolerances.
I keep thinking I will find a way to streamline, or to cut down in some way. However, the problems only increase, not decrease. I think that may be in part because the world is coming apart and its needs increase. I am considering possible ways of freeing myself from this tyranny.
But I do appreciate the praise, Kris--even if you are encouraging me to remain enslaved.
* Such as a social life, but including mundane things like a sink-full of dirty dishes, a sluggish bathroom sink drain, &c. Lots of those kinds of things.
Jeri Flynn:
Regarding item #9, I am extremely upset by the blithe support of tasering someone for off-leash dog walking. Using a taser on someone is possibly a death sentence. As of April 2011, more than 700 people in North America have died by being tasered. If the ranger didn't have a taser, should she have shot the dog walker in the back? Dogs are not the major issue in our environment being degraded. We are. Jeri Flinn
Jeri: I am willing to post your feedback, but your statement about 700 people dying by being tasered strains credence. If that were true it would be illegal. Are you sure you want to say this? A serious charge of that nature needs authentication.
I found that number at Truth Not Tasers: http://truthnottasers.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-follows-are-names-where-known.html, where it lists those who have died. I also want to remind you a Pacifica man was killed in 2005 due to being shocked with a Taser by police. Tasers are serious business. Jeri
I took a quick look at the site, but determining how accurate and substantive these reports are is beyond my ability, because of the time necessary. So I will post as is, with this disclaimer.
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14. Thinkwalks
It's finally here! We've launched the iPhone app that includes about 150 of my funly and deeply described locations in SF. There are two levels of nerdiness, so read below for the rundown.
As you already know, I love uncovering something deeper about places where others typically see just the surfaces or repeat the unconfirmed stories.
If you have an iPhone, I hope you'll purchase the app. Buy it from the app store at http://tinyurl.com/buyknowwhatapp
The app is by the wonderful Know What city guides—created not by you rabble, but by we anointed few, who (they say) Know What we're talking about!
http://knowwhatapp.com/thinkwalks
It costs $2.99 for the sampler.
You'll get a sampler called Know What Essentials with 200 SF locations mapped and described by a variety of excellent contributors. Plus 200 in LA with future cities automatically added later. That sampler includes a couple dozen entries from Thinkwalks (samples of my add-on guides). When you buy the whole add-on guide you'll part with another $2.99 to get 60+ Thinkwalks entries under the title Everything Explained.
Since you already love Thinkwalks, and are a certified nerd, you'll then also want the add-on by Thinkwalks called Local Nerd!
You can read complete details including a list of the entries in the Thinkwalks part of the app at http://thinkwalks.org/apps
Go ahead and educate yourself with the app, or tell your iPhone friends to! http://tinyurl.com/buyknowwhatapp
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15. Schumpeter
Of companies and closets
Being gay-friendly is cheap and good for business
Feb 11th 2012 | from The Economist print edition
(final paragraph of long article):
Still, the gay revolution in the workplace is remarkable. In most places, companies are more liberal than governments. In America, for example, until last year soldiers could be kicked out of the army for being gay, and 29 states still allow discrimination on the basis of sexual preference. In the coming years, the revolution is likely to gather pace. Younger workers are far more relaxed about homosexuality than their parents were. Indeed, many young heterosexuals would feel uncomfortable working for a firm that failed to treat gays decently. Companies vying to recruit them will bear this in mind.
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16. Witty potpourri
Telegram from Robert Benchley in Venice to his publisher: “Streets flooded. Please advise.”
"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?" --Satchel Paige
Few things are more satisfying than seeing your children have teenagers of their own. -Doug Larson, columnist
"Better to be governed by the first 2000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty." William F Buckley
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17. A Word A Day (AWAD)
"I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am." Those candid words of Samuel Johnson, lexicographer extraordinaire, provide a perceptive observation on the human condition. A language is a mirror of its people.
As a disinterested record of the language, a dictionary serves as an accurate window to the culture. It's not surprising that there are more words to describe people who fall on the wrong side than on the good. In this week's AWAD we'll look at words for people on both sides.
wastrel
MEANING:
noun: A good-for-nothing, wasteful person.
ETYMOLOGY:
Via French from Latin vasatre (to lay waste), from vastus (desert, empty) + -rel (a diminutive or pejorative suffix). Earliest documented use: 1589.
USAGE:
"With Greece at the center of a cyclone that threatens the global economy, foreign citizens believe that their taxes have been raised to bail out the wastrel Greeks." Nikos Konstandaras; Orwell's Elephant; Kathimerini (Athens, Greece); Oct 3, 2011.
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18.
Seeing, in Three Pieces
Somehow we must see
through the shimmering cloth
of daily life, its painted,
evasive facings of what to eat,
to wear? Which work
matters? Is a bird more
or less than a man?
*
There have been people
who helped the world. Named
or not named. They weren't interested
in what might matter,
doubled over as they were
with compassion. Laden
branches, bright rivers.
*
When a bulb burns out
we just change it--
it's not the bulb we love;
it's the light.
~ Kate Knapp ~
(Wind Somewhere and Shade)
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19. Notes & Queries, Guardian Weekly
What are you doing here?
I'm very young in dreams. Are you?
No, I and the dream grow equally old. In fact the older we grow the more we dream about things that we wished we were young enough to do.
Dick Hedges, Nairobi, Kenya
• Yes, but not only in my dreams: I find never looking in a mirror has a similar effect.
Ignoring startled looks from people who haven't seen me for a while is also useful.
Judy Kellaway, Mount Stuart, Tasmania, Australia
• I would be surprised to appear in your dreams in any form.
Don Pounsett, Toronto, Canada
• Yes, I am too. I put it down to always being Jung at heart.
Patrick Speed, Bayswater, Western Australia
To each according to need
What is my fair share of the wealth of the world?
Just enough, no more, no less.
Doreen Forney, Pownal, Vermont, US
• A $10,000 deficit.
Roger Morrell, Perth, Western Australia
• Only a fare-thee-well.
Bruce Cohen, Worcester, Massachusetts, US
• Your local library.
Susan Douglas, Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada
Any answers?
Why do there seem to be more answers than questions?
Kevin Peterson, Antwerp, Belgium
On balance, would our species benefit if organised religions were dispensed with?
Donna Samoyloff, Toronto, Canada
(I just saw the cover of current issue of Newsweek as I was standing in line at the supermarket; it said: "War on Christianity." Oh, if only. JS)
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