A message for our time

Photos this week are street art painted or stenciled onto the street walls in Oaxaca Mexico

Lets be clear about this. Being a democracy does not also require us to give free reign to the corporations in our midst. A democracy is a country "of the people by the people for the people", in the words of Abe Lincoln.

“The poorest people in our country today… are earning wages so low that they cannot begin to function in the mainstream of the economic life of our nation, We have thousands and thousands of people working on full –time jobs, with part time incomes,” ML King, Jr.

“Our 'dangerous class' ( in America) is not at the bottom; it is near the top of society. Riches without law are more dangerous than is poverty without law.” Henry Ward Beecher

“Most American have never seen the ignorance, degradation, hunger, sickness, and the futility in which many other Americans live… They will become involved in economic or political change until something brings the seriousness of the situation home to them.” Shirley Chisholm

This past year I have been made aware of this disparity in America as I visit my “Teach for America” interns in some of the most economically challenged neighborhoods of America. I am seeing heroic efforts on the part of my teachers – and I am seeing students who are doing well – developing academic skills in biology, chemistry, and physics… But the playing field is so uneven for these kids. In some of these neighborhoods the average unemployment is 30% - under this continual pressure families disintegrate. Desparate futures lead to despair and the use of drugs to numb the pain… And all the right wing says is that they should pull themselves up by their own boot straps. I deeply wish those folks could visit the neighborhoods and talk to individuals to learn what their lives are like.

“What most people don’t seem to realize is that there is just as much money to be made out of the wreckage of a civilization from the up building of one”. Margaret Mitchell

The greatest con job of our time if how many traditional Republicans are completely supporting a system that is so totally working against their own best interests. Much of this is the work of masterful social engineering: paid for to maintain Republican ideals through the work of Fox news and other certain rabid talk show hosts who consider truth to be very malleable indeed!The Republican party of today is working for the corporate interests of America.

How on earth did they convince the working poor of America that despite many years of evidence – that “Trickle down” economics don’t trickle down – the increased profits in corporate hands stay with the big companies – who use the money to grow larger – and establish overseas plants to produce their good cheaper?

The rise of the American middle class is closely associated with the power of unions. We can all point to examples of Union power gone astray. But the growth of unions in the 1940’s and 1950’s is closely correlated with the rise of the American standard of living and the growth of our middle class. The repression of unions in the 1990s and 2000s matches with a decline in the middle class and the growth in the power of the 1% and the expansion of the impoverished in America.

The founding fathers back in 1776 were suspicious of governmental power. And for that reason they developed a system of checks and balances – No one agency had the power to enact law without agreement from other branches – So we have a bicameral congress (Senate and House), the President, and the Supreme Court. We also have a tradition of clever lawyers who are very effective at finding loopholes to gain an advantage. The founding fathers had no knowledge of or plan for dealing with the vast power of megacorporation’s and their financial power. They had no knowledge of professional lobbyists, bought and controlled by special interest groups.

They did make provision for free expression of ideas by encouraging an open and free press. America at that time was a small agricultural country, with small retain stores and a mercantile industry based on oxen carts and sail powered ships.

As I have said before - this is a genie that can not be put back into its jug - people are starting to wake up and see the truth of what is happening to our way of life!

Strongly suggested reading: Bernie Sanders: http://www.nationofchange.org/bernie-sanders-we-must-stop-corporate-takeover-american-democracy-1327163005

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Today fun thing to do: I have just learned how to make a "word cloud" -To make your own word cloud - go to this site: http://www.wordle.net/create - you will see a space to paste any block of text, and you can adjust the parameters to shape the "cloud" - thats it - then it you don't like the configuration or color that can be adjusted too. They are works of art - but they are also a quick and easy way to see what is being emphasized in a body of work! To see what I mean - here are two word clouds comparing Obama's State of the Union speech with the Republican response:

Tonight's addresses at a glance

By Will Femia

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Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:06 PM EST

President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address*:

Republican response from Governor Mitch Daniels*:

*created from transcripts as prepared, may differ from delivered remarks

Hormones are flowing!

The first willow catkin of spring! – a wild "pussy willow" –What can cause such a willow flower to spring from a twig appearing dead with winter?

Stream willow - "pussy"... Seen this last week...

Plants like animals can produce hormones – and each plant hormone has dramatic effects on the growth, flowering and fruiting, ripening, and preparation for cold weather in the fall… every step in the growth and development is the plant is influenced by hormones.

Hormones at work

Each plant cell has within it a full copy of the genetic information of the plant, one half from the male parent and one half from the female parent. Most of this genetic information lies dormant most of the time.

Growth bud - source of Auxins! ( fig tree - last season)

When the right stimulus is present a sequence of events is started that results in the activation of the segment of DNA required for the production of a specific hormone. When the hormone has been produced specific changes in the growth of the plant are inevitable as long as the hormone remains present. Then when no longer needed there are natural chemical feedback systems that shut down the gene and its hormone production.

The hormone that stimulates flowering is not currently well understood

The plant does not “decide” “plan” or “think”… these are purely natural sequences of events initiated by certain stimuli:

Hormones control "fruit" formation, seed formation, and ripening ( milk weed "fruit")

So this is the process...Stimulus– activation of genes – production of hormone – hormone effect on plant cells – the emergence of a specific growth pattern. – Mechanism to shut down the gene when no longer needed. – The hormones can control bending toward the light, responding to gravity, sudden rapid growth, bud or root growth, leaf senescence in the autumn… flower and fruit formation and ripening, and much more!

Kiwi fruit: Vine elongation, flowering, seed and fruit formation, senescence in the fall - all controlled by different genes that produce the correct hormone at the right time...

A significant spring time hormone is "Gibberelins", a hormone that brings about the end to winter dormancy. The stimulus in the spring that activates Gibberellines is the length of the night ( period of darkness ). Under its influence many small growing plants ( Like lettuce cabbage, radishes ) suddenly shoot us many inches tall in a few days time - this is called "bolting".

This rapid upward growth is the work of Gibberellins!: Tower of Jewels in our garden last year

Auxin is another powerful hormone. It is produced in the buds of growing plants. Just the right amount will stimulate cell elongation, too much will inhibit growth. When the bud produces auxin, and bright sunlight shines on one side of the bud it will inhibit the auxin on that side- so cells on the darker side will elongate more – causing the stem to bend toward the light. It also is involved in root formation.

The buds, source of auxin is stimulating growth - and even controls the twisting of the tendrils that attach the vine to trees ... Wild cucumber

Have you ever added one ripe banana to a closed sack with several green bananas? The ripe banana is releasing a gas “ethylene” which acts as a hormone to stimulate the other bananas to begin the ripening process. Try it – it works!

Research has generally begun by studying the effects of plant hormones – then working back to learn about the cell changes, the tissue source, and finally to discover the type of hormone. There are still many questions waiting to be solved to fully understand plant hormones. Plant scientists do not fully understand the full process for how some stimulus can activate or turn off a certain gene coding for a hormone.

Hormone patterns appear to be nearly universal - "newly discovered" plants don't usually hold any surprises...

There are chemical pathways that have not been explored. There are even certain plant effects that are probabily caused by a yet unknown hormone… But the basic mechanism of several hormones is understood and this gives hope that additional plant hormones can be found and understood.

Test question: What hormone caused this growth pattern?

Reflection - 1/14/12

Long before there were shopping malls and gas stations in North America, the land was here. Seasons came and went, great forests were established and disappeared, over eons of time mountain ranges rose and eroded away. Small change occurred daily and unseen by human eyes.

Reality occurs even when it is unseen by human eyes or is available for interpretation by the human mind. Some reality to too large or small for us to comprehend ( a galactic system / a prion particle ), some change happens to fast or so slow we miss then entirely, some forms of reality involve forms of electromagnetic radiation that we can not even perceive directly. But these things are most certainly part of the greater reality.

Today at the bottom of our oceans a myriad of events unfold minute by minute – phenomenon that humans have never witnessed. The same can be said for the great galactic systems of matter and energy; even the surface of our own moon is a place we hardly know. Yet, all of these events are part of “reality as it is” – just live everyday events close at hand.

The borderland between “reality as it is” and human mental constructs that attempt to understand our world is indeed a strange terrain. Reality is composed of everything from the nature of sub atomic particles to the life cycle of galaxies…cell generation to weather patterns… human brain functions to the life of amoebas…and the indecipherables that we haven’t begun to explain in our human ventures.

Do you believe that bacteria can cause disease – or is sickness caused by malevolent spirits? Do you believe that the earth travels around the sun or are we part of a geocentric system? Do you believe that DNA carries out genetic records or do you believe that our inheritance is carried “in our blood line”? Humans, in all cultures and times, attempt to make sense of the world they experience. We try our level best based on what we see and experience and what we have been taught by our traditions. ( And how cultures has ostracized those who challenge traditional beliefs! )

History shows that incorrect ideas have been adopted and have become cemented in the thinking of people for long periods. In our western tradition, for many years, the best treatment for most medical conditions was to ”bleed” the patient, In the times of Napoleon, wounds in his army were treated with garlic juice, in traditional Navajo belief the sun was thought not to rise in the morning if the holy man did not call it forth, it was thought quite reasonable in the western world to change lead into gold through alchemy was considered reasonable.

These days there are still many who see the world, as if through their own specialized "filters" . Some interpret the reality around them through a focus on politics, or vegetarianism, or sex, harsh punitive forms of religion, through strict legal interpretations, or through superstitious false beliefs in cause and effect. (“If a black cat crosses my path it means I will have bad luck”.)

All such filters are self-limiting – we cut ourselves off by limiting our interpretation of reality. So is it possible to do otherwise? Can we become more open to “the reality as it is” around us?

The most accurate means of developing new knowledge is through systemic study of the phenomenon, forming your best conclusion, then do everything possible to test and try the conclusion. If the conclusion can not be disproven the interpretation is more probably correct. But science is not in the business to find fixed interpretations – scientific conclusions are always open to further testing...possibly many years later by a distant scientist. This is why science traditionally stresses open communication of results. When the concept of the atom is corrected and refined the scientific community resources! If new evidence supports a new conclusion there is no attempt to hold on to the displaced idea.

There is a warning in the midst of this reflection on what is real... There is so much information available to us today - it is so easy to latch on to one desirable interpretation and fail to ask the important questions. There is a lot of goofiness out there that is being sold to us as "truth" - My first questions about most any "conclusion" is to ask who developed the idea, how did they com to this conclusion, what is their evidence? is it widely accepted by others in the field? ( there are no secret "plots" to keep certain ideas from the public - such an idea is totally against the concept of good science!). Whenever we close off other interpretation we make it difficult to remain open to new information or more accurate interpretations... It is so easy to fence ourselves in with ourfirst impressions.

Notes Dec 6, 2012

1. Dry Dry Dry! We normally have 6 inches of rain by now (our “rain year” begins in July) but we only have a little more than an inch and a half by Jan 6 (and none in sight). When I dig in the garden it is as dry as our normally arid summer conditions. ( I am adding water to my garden! ) We are told, “its OK – because we had such a rainy year last year that the reservoirs still have enough water to easily take us through a dry year…

Two seagulls I saw on Alcatraz Island

When I walk the dogs, lakes in Quarry Park are several feet below their level last year…Now its possible to walk out to an island that I have never before seen exposed. Even our beautiful "green hills" are still the color of August dry grass…And to make it even more bizarre, this strange January season, the temperatures go up to the upper 60's in the day time and no lower than 40 at night… normally January is our coldest month with frequent heavy freezes. Rain dance anyone? I think La Nina is laughing up her sleeve.

Wild turkeys were once native here, then killed off, now reintroduced... they are doing well!

2. I have been alternating days - walking the dogs and bike riding - Today I biked my 10 miles along the Alameda Creek trail - Beautiful balmy day! I tend to ride or walk in natural areas and am always on the lookout for animal and plant activity. Today I encountered an unusually fine gray heron – standing about 3 feet tall – Their brains are so small and so far from their feet I wonder about their ability to communicate with their own bodies.

Grey Heron in Alameda Creek

But recent studies show that we have way underestimated the cognitive abilities of birds. Some birds like my heron friend do may specialize in only a few activities: food acquisition, recognizing and escaping dangers, mating rituals, and graceful coordination of walking and flying…(and they are probabily capable of much more). Some birds – common pigeons, geese, and crows, for examples, have a vast ability to communicate far more than we imagined… Pigeons have been shown to have math skills equal to some of the simple primates. Bird intelligence is an area largely open to research – we simply don’t know enough about bird cognitive powers to know their capabilities. But for now I am content to enjoy the birds I encounter – this time of year I can usually count on a occasional visit from a passing Flicker, I see banded Kingfishers pretty regularily, Mockingbirds are quiet this time of year biding their time until later in the spring when they sing their hearts out!

Gray Pelicans ( the ocean variety) in Monterey Bay

Hummingbirds winter here – always choosing to rest on the topmost twig of a small tree, the plaintive cry of the White Crown Sparrow if one of my favorite calls- Listen here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/white-crowned_sparrow/sounds/ac

There are also Great White Egrets and common Egrets seen frequently… I always enjoy the Cormorants out diving for fish then spreading their wings to dry… This time of year I almost daily see Red Tail Hawks lurking on telephone poles or in trees..,The White Kites (hawk family) flap their wings and appear to hang motionless in the sky until they spot a mouse, then they swoop down to make a kill.

My buddy the Scrub Jay - it seems fearless and flies quite close to me

So many bird varieties - the Kildeers, Doves, Grebes, a multitude of ducks and of course the perennial Canadian geese. There are great flocks of foraging English sparrows, Whole trees filled with racous Crows - Listen (note at the end is just a brief portion of a bother way that Crows "vocalize") http://www.shades-of-night.com/aviary/sounds/crow2.wav..

Crow

.and the "Undertaker" in the group -the Turkey vulture is generally not very far off... If I'm out all by myself I sometimes try imitating the calls of some birds- (and sometimes get them to answer). This activity is very embarrassing to Judy if she is our walking with me. Sometimes you just have to act a little foolish.

Crested Titmouse Flock - see their crests?

3. PRIMARY ELECTIONS!: Between you and me I think that our election process takes way too long - Too much of the time that elected officials are in office they have to concentrate on the process of getting reelected. The process is so costly that excellent candidates who are not well connected don't have a chance or competing. Perhaps there should be one day set aside for ll states to hold primary elections for parties to select their candidates, then a reasonable election season for the candidates to get their message out... then the election...

White Pelican (most common is freshwater lakes) _ Quarry Park

It would open up the process, allow the candidates to spend more time governing, and probabily be every bit as effective. Historically in the US we have had much more direct systems - but there is a lot of money to be made by stretching the process out... I just know that by the time we get to next November I will be thoroughly saturated by the process... It has too much the feel of a TV reality show...

Banded Kingfisher - seen on Alameda Creek trail

4. Habeus Corpus: One of the foundations of our legal system is the "Writ of Habeus Corpus" - which says that it is the burden of the legal agency ( police, etc.) to show before a court of law why a prisoner must be held in custody. If the legal agency can not prove to the satisfaction of the court a lawful reason why the person should be held, then they must be rereleased. This court appearance must take place in a "timely manner". The new National Defense Authorization Act" signed into law a week ago seems to place this basic right of all Americans in jeopardy.

Paraphrased From the Huffington Post: The "National Defense Authorization Act" states how the military is to be funded, but it also included a number of controversial provisions on arresting and holding suspected terrorists.

Turkey Vulture

Obama agreed to the law after Congress added provisions that took the ultimate authority to detain suspects from the military's hands and gave it to the president. Congress also clarified that civilian law enforcement agencies -- such as the FBI -- would still have authority to investigate terrorism and added a provision that asserts nothing in the detention measures changes current law regarding U.S. citizens. In other words US Citizens can now be held indefinitely without normal court appearances. "President Obama's action today is a blight on his legacy because he will forever be known as the president who signed indefinite detention without charge or trial into law,” said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Juvenile seagulls

"The statute is particularly dangerous because it has no time or geographic limitations, and can be used by this and future presidents to militarily detain people captured far from any battlefield," Romero added. "The ACLU will fight worldwide detention authority wherever we can, be it in court, in Congress or internationally.”

Of course " the unwritten plan" is to use this law sparingly - not for normal legal interactions but for extraordinary terrorist situations. We all support the protection of our homeland from dangerous elements - but in our history, we have endured many wars and many dangerous opponents - we have never in our history felt it necessary to remove the basic right of Habeus Corpus.

Turkey vulture - warming its wings in the sun on a cold morning -Alameda Creek trail

The potential to imprison indefinitely without court appearance is setting a dangerous patten into law. Right now it is this current president who has the power to decide who should be held in this manner - but who knows what presidents we will have in the future and how they will choose to enforce the law?

To say that we law abiding people have nothing to fear if we dont do anything wrong misses the point - We have always been a people with the guarantees of our constitution to protect us - it appears that we have just lost part of that protection.

Happy New Year - "Whoopie!"

I have mixed feeling about New Years celebrations. I like the idea of taking stock of the year past, our accomplishments, challenges and friends, the good times and the bad, sharing with others. I like the idea of taking time to especially remember friends past, living and dead, with a special fondness. And I think its great to just have a special time in the year to enjoy the company of other folks you enjoy being with.

Calvin and Hobbs

For some folks, it is a time that they become especially aware of the passing of time, or a time of anxiety about what the future will bring. It is traditionally a time when a lot of people just plain drink too much- and pretend to have a really good time. That’s the tradition. I suppose it blots out anxiety and uncertainty... But that seems out of whack to me. What I enjoy most is getting together with a few friends and having a nice evening – perhaps a good meal and a glass or two of good wine… A time to enjoy being together...

I never before understood the words in Old Lang Syne. Here is a translation into modern English – It carries a very nice sentiment;

OLD LANG SYNE ( Translation: “old long since” or “for the sake of old times”)

"Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind ? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne ? -

CHORUS: For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne. And surely you’ll buy your pint cup ! and surely I’ll buy mine ! And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

Old Lang Syne - 19th century

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes, and picked the daisies fine ; But we’ve wandered many a weary foot, since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream, from morning sun till dine† ; But seas between us broad have roared since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend ! And give us a hand o’ thine ! And we’ll take a right good-will draught, for auld lang syne."

For the full lyrics go here: http://www.operationlettertosanta.com/Music/Auld_Lang_syne.htm

Some cultures believe that what you do on the first day of the New Year will set your agenda for the year ahead… “So be happy - do what you enjoy most - be with the people that you love…”

I have a friend, who for many years hosted a New Years morning hike from his home to the top of a high ridge overlooking the Livermore Valley – The guests – perhaps 20 - carried back packs with delicious foods to share – there were crisp fresh bread – cheeses – pate – cakes - fruit and nuts, cookies – and a few bottles of icy cold Champaign… This was my favorite way to start the new year – not is some dank banquet hall with a “too loud” band and “rubber chicken” as the entre - but out in the open sunlight of a New Year. Actually this traditional hike took place, rain or shine, with sometimes freezing conditions, and sometimes foggy mist...but we hoped for sun. So after our fine morning picnic we would all troupe back to my friend’s house where there was a large pot of Mulligatawny soup and an oak fire in the fireplace to warm our bones… It was a jolly group.

Mountains in the rain

My wife’s parents lived for several years high in the coastal mountains – One New Years day – after a fine big meal, and a good time together I decided that since it was a lazy afternoon, I would go for a walk down the mountain track – even though it was blowing such a gale that the trees were thrashing wildly and the rain was blowing up the mountain slope.

The muddy track was negotiable – and I made it to the stream in the valley – but it was no stream – it was a fierce roaring torrent from the rain. It was all wonderfully wild –I loved it! And then I slipped and slid my way back up the hill.... back to a slow crackling fire and people that I love.

Corn Husk Panorama

This time of year in Mexico, New Years celebrations take a back seat to “El Dia de Los Reyes” – the day of the Three Kings… According to the Mexican tradition it is on January 6 that they remember the arrival of the three Magi arriving with gifts for the Christ child.

Street Market - Oaxaca

And what is more important for every Mexican child it is also the day for Christmas Season gift giving to children… gifts are not generally exchanged between adults at Christmas – but lavish street fairs proceed the Day of the Kings, so that toys can be seen and purchased.

Carved radish figures

The week between Christmas and New Year is also the week when elaborate panoramas are constructed completely out of over-grown radishes and corn husks– they create whole kingdoms, villages, churches, and market place scenes only of radishes…

Radish guitar player

My Japanese friends, and some other Asian people in our community celebrate New Years day as the most important day of the season. There is generally a gathering of family with special foods and gift giving.

Hear the rhythm? - Pounding mocha rice!

One of the special foods that I dearly love is Mochi rice – traditionally made by boiling a special high gluten rice until soft then hammering into a wooden pestle by two men with large wooden hammers– the trick is that they set us a rhythm and a third man has to reach in between the hammer blows to center the mochi … it takes real coordination….

Finished Mochi cakes - these filled with red bean paste

This is continued until the mocha is very smooth and can be formed into dumplings. These days they use an electric mocha maker that makes wonderful mocha – but it lacks the ceremony of before…

Thai Temple - Fremont CA

Judy and I have visited the local Thai Buddhist temple on New Years Day– where it is possible to see traditional dancing and to eat delicious foods. It is interesting that many Asian people celebrate both the Western New Year and the Asian New Year is February 3 – the date varies from year because it is determined by the cycle of the moon.

Best Holiday wishes

I wish you a time of Peace and Joy, as you celebrate Christmas, Hannakah, Winter Solstice, or Winter Break!!

I wish for you quiet times for reflection and remembering, time with good friends and family, good food and good cheer, time for good adventures (that which nourishes you!)...

*****

My Christmas presents for you are two video clips, while not exactly on a Christmas theme are appropriate to the season:

Lux Aurumque - always inspires me...!

The choir members did not meet, but were able to hear the same music and saw the conductor on screen... their vocal parts were combined electronically to create the choir... You get to see their faces...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs>

My second video if a bit of a Déjà vu experience

Here is a clip from the 1940 Charlie Chaplin movie - "The Great Dictator"

In this season where we often hear the wish of "good will toward man" the message seems especially relevant and poignant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvjoWOwnn4&feature=related