Notes 5.11.12

Photos this week: I keep a few cactus plants in large terra cotta pots around the perimeter of our patio, and they are now blooming!  Many cactus blossoms last for only one day ( some for only one night ) - many are pollinated by bats or insects of the night.


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It is the season of "Pomp and Circumstance" of flat black hats, academic stoles and Hawaiian leis...  Graduation! As I sit and observe the line of students receiving their diplomas, it is a time of reflection for me.  I think of the hard work that went into this moment for each student , and the wonderful sense of release .   Commencement means "beginning", but really, this is only a stage in the process of becoming.  I think of the many choices made by each student to reach this point...Few people experience a smooth path in their journey to "becoming”.  Working with young adults,  I am convinced that this time in life  is one of the most challenging,  because it is a time of such critical decisions, made with limited  resources.

barrel cactus

In my own life, I  remember the effects of chance conversations that opened up new directions for me. Sometimes it is only a casual word that planted an idea and helped me to make a critical decision.    But, there were times when I had to draw on whatever resources I had to make the best decision I knew how to make at that time... to choose either the safe path or the path of challenge.  (How do we teach a young child to walk the stony path between 'good' challenges and avoiding dangerous risks?)

Night blooming Cereus

I guess this is where the school of 'hard knocks'   comes in.  There are most certainly times of frustration and anguish when the way seems foggy and steep....  Many tough decisions are lonely.  What is the invisible, non-verbal, something that we learned as a child that keeps us going when we cannot see the way? It can make all the difference.

Mammillaria sp.

I wonder about the random events that have been thrust upon us - moving to a new location as a child, meeting person X who played a pivotal place in life.  I think about who we are and the decisions we have made about others - We create wide or narrow circles around the people we encounter...  We either accept or reject others into or out of our community.  I suppose this is really about fear - are we afraid of what we might lose by opening up to others?   Who are 'the others' that we recognize as separate from ourselves.   Where did we learn this?  What are we afraid of?

Opuntia  sp.

If I had been born a woman, or black, or six feet 4" tall, how would any of these changes  have affected who I am today?  Suppose I had been born in Afghanistan or North Korea ... What different decisions or opportunities would I be facing today? Suppose instead of growing up in a loving home, I had been raised by abusive or impoverished  parents...  My parents each produced a great variety of gametes all potentially available to fertilize the egg that became me - talk about random chance - if I were the product of any different gamete combination I would be a different person today!

Echinocereanae sp.

When I work with interns I may appear as someone who has  my "ducks in a row" with regard to my teaching skills. I wish these folks could know the challenges, blind alleys, and daily courage  that led me to where I am today...(Far from feeling like I have all the answers - I feel like I have all the questions... and some working conclusions that work for me most of the time...). 

Mammillaria sp.

I am aware of problems and questions in education that I wish I could answer.  I care so much for individual students who for some reason don’t feel connected to the world of hope and possibility - but have turned away by the age of 15 or 12...   I see bright capable kids growing up in blighted poverty ridden communities... with half a chance they could make major contributions to our  collective future... but their chances of surviving the streets, or receiving the help they need... it is oh so slim...  I look at a classroom of these kids so full of hope and positive energy and I think about the chances of success... It makes me wish so much that I could do more...

Barrel Cactus

I fret over whether these eager new graduates will find work in todays economy, do they have the skills that they need?  And then I remember the resilience of the human spirit.  These folks will do alright .  Most of them have the knowledge and adaptability to adjust to the world as they find it.  Many will thrive.   For them all, the processes of change and growth are not coming to any end with commencement - but instead truly "commencing" ... a new beginning.

So all these thoughts and more go through my mind as I sit listening to the names of all the graduating students being read.  Adams to Zamora...

Cereus detail

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Notes - May 4

Photos this week are the Northern California Pacific Ocean coast

1.  Ah! it is a beautiful day in May - the native grasses are high, and many plants are sending their perfume into the air! It is nearing the peak of the growing season.  Eons of natural adaptation have prepared native vegetation to grow when there is winter rain and then when the rain stops to survive through the long dry summer hibernation with deep roots or seeds.  We humans who live here can either work with the natural system or fight it... We can seek out native plants or plants from elsewhere in the world with the same growth pattern and allow them to thrive in our garden... or we can try to grow things that are foreign to this habitat - things like green lawns, roses, and petunias... If you want those plants you should live in a location with lots of summer rain...

Temperature all year is mid 50 degrees F

2.  May Day happened this week!  There were many groups who marched in the Bay Area on Tuesday, and it is fascinating to see how various news sources covered the same event.  It is a reminder to me that public opinion is formed by the sources that we choose to read rather than events on the ground.  

Sea Anemone in low tide - when the water in high their tentacles are extended

Some news sources stressed the sincere frustration felt by many Americans toward the concentration of national wealth in the hands of a few wealthy people, inequalities in taxes leave the very wealthy paying disproportionally less than the working poor, there is a growing disregard for the public good that is being moved from concept to law, our congress that has been held hostage by Republican ideologues. What do you do when you are wild with frustration that just seems to be getting worse? If you listen to Fox news, you might think that the protesters were only a brainless body of vandals and troublemakers looking for excuse wrack havoc... Who is paying them to tell us that message?

Under the board walk - Santa Cruz

Here are eleven points from Robert Reich's book "Beyond Outrage" - that help me to understand our present situation.   I am a concerned American. There are times when I feel compelled to speak out...  You and I  have voices, and now is the time to speak up. Is it not being a good American to only say "We are the best" and " Don't you dare say anything critical about  my country"...  When the system is broken its up to us to speak the truth and do what we can to make it better...

1.  Government Size isn't the Real issue - It's for whom the Government is being used.  A recent Pew poll found that 77% of Americans questioned said that too much power is in the hands of a few rich people and cooperations.   Wall street can get bailed out - but 1 out of 3 homeowners with a mortgage in now underwater - they have not gotten helped.  Bankruptcy laws prohibit reorganization of personal mortgage loans... but cooperations can freely use the bankruptcy laws...Lobbyists at work!

Breaking surf -about 5 ft high

2.  Republicans love to talk about the budget deficit - but the biggest source of the deficit is big money's corruption of Washington.  One example:  Medicare's administrative costs are 3% - private companies average 10%. Health ad. costs. The insurers made sure that the "public option" died in its tracks - they would have stood to lose big money! (All they had to do was to cry 'socialist'!)

3.  America spends more on its military that do China, Russia, Britain, France, Japan, and Germany combined! Armament lobbies insist on buying outdated weapons that even the army doesn't recommend.  At least allow decisions to be made by practical people in the military and congress... not the lobbyists who are seeking to make big profits!

Wave swept beach sand and rocks

4.   Under Eisenhower the top income tax category in America paid 91% of their income.  (No body called him a socialist!)  As income and wealth have accumulated at the top so has the power of lobbyists to reduce taxes.  The Bush tax cuts capped the top rate at 35%, and reduced capital gains taxes to 15 %. Last year according to the IRS the 400 richest Americans paid an average of 17% of their income in taxes.  Mitt Romney paid 13.9%.   The only major tax increases in recent years have fallen on middle/lower income Americans. what is wrong with this picture?

5.  What happens to the money acquired by the wealthy from reduced taxes? - Some is used to buy US Treasure bills. Much of the money that major corporations spend to expand their companies is spent overseas - places with cheap labor - Central America, Asia, Eastern Europe... Research and development projects are increasingly being moved to China, India, and Europe because of the pool of well trained imaginative young minds available... so much for trickle down...It is a myth long since disproved.

Wave battered rocks - great place to search for organisms!

6. How are we going to compete at a nation if we don’t train our brightest and best?  The top 1% can afford to send their kids to good universities, but what about the rest of us - what about our bright kids that can not achieve their potential without access to quality education and affordable loans.  China is currently building 3 major universities equivalent to MIT to provide trained technical workers for their future in research and development.  - Our students are faced with fewer course offerings and higher priced college debts.

7.  So far this year 23 states have reduced education spending in addition to cuts in 2011 and 2010.  43 states are cutting back on funding for public colleges and universities.  UC Berkeley has increased tuition costs by 32 and reduced enrolled for incoming freshmen by 2300 students.  Currently the average 15 year old in America cannot answer as many test questions correctly as the average 15 year old in Shanghai

Deep water - rocks are exposures during low tide

8. The vast majority of new jobs inAmerica today are service jobs - not producing hard products that add to the economy - A worker who is making the minimum wage as a dog groomer is hardly making a living wage, is not contributing to the growth of the US economy, but is not considered unemployed.  The world economy today does not need traditional factory workers as much as it needs workers trained in technical skills - if we aren’t training them here - there are certainly other countries training them for the future.  - American corporations are increasingly seeking the talent they need from other countries. 

Sea Palm - a variety of large marine algae - also an indicator of low tide

9.  Henry Ford did a radical thing he paid his workers far higher than the prevailing wages of his day... other companies complained to him!  He said he was doing it so that his workers would be able to buy his cars... The idea grew else where... the result was the rise of the American middle class.  At the current time so much of the national money is concentrated in the hands of the top 1% that there isn't enough money in the hands of the shrinking middle class to spend the economy more rapidly out of its slump...

10.  What do we as individuals gain if collectively as a nation 50 million Americans are forced to give up their health insurance?  What do we gain if we get lower taxes but out infrastructure decays and increasingly can not function properly, What do we accomplish if we make government smaller but can no longer provide for the common good?  Instead it will serves to support a small group of industrial and financial giants.  And what do we gain if we permit the great corporations to receive still lower taxes... ?  We certainly wont be able to continue to call ourselves the "greatest country on earth" if we allow these changes to take place.

Breaking wave

11.  We should forget the terms 'liberal' and 'conservative' and replace them with 'progressive' - (planning for the future), or 'regressive' (attempting to return to the past - return to the social and labor practices of before the first world war and some want to regress back to the "gilded age" of 1880 when industry ran unobstructed. True 'conservatives' want to conserve an established tradition - these folks want to throw out our progress of the past decades and go back to an imagined time long ago...

Not a bad metaphor for our economy...

 There are those among us who pretend that none of this is true or important - they would prefer to be an  ostridge and bury their head in the sand... Educate yourself - communicate with your elected officials - vote intelligently - educate others- and dont be a pawn to the lobbyist financed press paid to engineer our opinion.

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Notes April 27, 2012

Photos this week are from Garin Park – about a mile from our house – one of the system of regional parks that run along the hill ridge line on the east side of SF Bay


 I am up to my ears evaluating end of year student teacher projects - so this weeks blog is a bit last minute... 

1.  It was a good morning for birds… It is the season of the mockingbirds!  They awake me each morning (and sometimes in the night).  They sing to protect their territory -  flying from high point to high point around their perimeter.  But it is their ever changing repertoire that amazes me most.   When its possible, I like to start my day with an hour or so of bike riding.  Today the sky was filled will swooping gymnastic swallows catching breakfast on the wing, as I rode my bike into Quarry Lakes this morning, overhead Riding further into a grove of eucalyptus trees, a hawk was calling her hunting cry – that long piercing call… Herons and egrets were lined on at the waters edge, patiently waiting … The sun is shining – spring is here!

Entrance to Garin Park

2.  First thing this week I want to plug a couple of web links…

 a. Beyond Outrage:  by Robert B. Reich

This book is a call for all of us  for who care about the Future of America. Reich uses well documents research to explain what has happened to our economy over the past 50 years and what it will take to fix it. He develops arguments in support the idea that our economy and democracy has been manipulated against the interests of average working people: and then offers proposals suggesting what we can be done about it.

Garin has grassy hills and oak filled canyons

I read the book, this week, and found it very helpful in understanding our situation – I give it high recommendation.  For less than $3 this book is a bargain. Can  be downloaded to your e reader…

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Outrage-economy-democracy-ebook/dp/B0078XCKUA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1335404872&sr=1-1

Water Hole

b.  Second link: To give you a better understanding the Occupy Movement I urge you to explore some of the links on this site:  Here you will find documents that explain the goals of the 99% movement, and also a description of the methods employed.  http://the99spring.com/materials/

3.  The majority of people that live in Fremont do not trace their ancestry to Europe but to Asia, LatinAmerica, and Africa. Of these groups the largest minority in Fremont are of East Indian origin.  (Many of these folks work either in high tech Silicon Valley jobs, in Medical fields, or commute into San Francisco to fill a range of jobs…  Judy and I have a special affinity for spicy East Indian food.  

Cirrus clouds, rocks at hill peak

When you hear the word “curry” – I hope you don’t think of “curry power” – this was a blend of spices created by the British during the years of their occupation in India.  It is not used by the Indian community.  There are many spice combinations  that can be added to vegetables and meat to produce a true curry.  Curries do not necessarily have to be “hot” – Chilli pepper is just one of many components and if you make your own, you can control how much to add.  We have a favorite Indian restaurant that we go for lunch because they offer such a nice variety of curries – each made with different materials and different spices.  You serve yourself from from large pots - what tough choices! . Yummy!  


Here is a recipe for making  curry from many different combinations of vegetables and meats… It’s a good starting point to home made curries – but you can also find a wealth of specific recipes on the Internet:

Advance Preparation: Prepare the vegetables, cut into bite size pieces and  measure the spices before you start cooking
4 servings

Lichens are a tribute to misty winter days

Ingredients

         2 tbsp vegetable oil

         1 tbsp Cumin powder

1 tbsp Corriander powder

          1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

          1/2 tsp Turmeric

                    ½  tsp whole mustard seed ( black mustard seed in most authentic) 

         tomatoes:  2 – 3 medium sized fresh is best, ½ can of canned tomatoes in a pinch
Green Pepper ( for milder curry ) or a jalapeno pepper or two ( be careful!)

          1 medium onion, chopped

          2 cloves garlic, diced

            1 inch piece of raw ginger, chopped fine

                

Buckeye tree in winter

      Select 2 or 3 vegetables from this list or improvise! (cut into bite sized pieces )   Chopped cabbage, frozen peas, Irish potatoes, Canned beans, carrots, Sweet potato, okra, zucchini …  Select a total volume of vegetables to equal about 5-6 cups (more or less )

           The final curry can be vegetarian or you can add cut up meat

Ancient acorn grinding holes used by the Ohlone Indians who lived here not so long ago - each hole is about 5 inches across and about 6 inches deep

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1.    Heat the oil,until it gets hot, turn down to medium     ( use a cooking pot or covered frying pan)    

2.  Add the spices to the oil – heat the spices for 30 seconds in the oil, careful not to burn them

         3.  Add the cutup onion and stir well. Mix occasionally, cover. When the onion starts getting soft and translucent, it's cooked enough.  ( add a bit of water if needed to avoid burning)

Seasonal stream - will go dry in summertime

         4.  Add the garlic, ginger and green pepper, cook until the garlic turns light brown.

         5.  Add cut up tomatoes and stir. You want to make the tomatoes' water evaporate, so the sauce becomes as thick as spaghetti  sauce.

         6.  Add the other and meat – Think about the vegetabales you have selected – some may need to cook longer than others – so judge the timing before you cook.

         7.  Indians prefer  eating curry with ong grain rice or a flat bread very much like whole wheat tortillas… A spoon full of cool yogurt helps temper spicy food.

Notes 4/20/12

1. I grew up in a culture that didn’t speak about certain things. There was no mention of homosexuality openly – but there were jokes, whispered innuendos and smirks about “it”. It wasn’t until my adult life when I found myself working with openly gay and lesbian people that I had the opportunity to move beyond the shadowy ignorance of my early years. I discovered that gay and lesbian people could be creative, funny, supportive, and dependable to work with. I came to learn that the stereotypic behaviors and mannerisms that our culture associated with gay and lesbian people were largely myth.

Barrel cactus blossom this last week in my back yard

I can remember one or two people who demonstrated through the way they lived that gay and lesbian people could be just like the rest of us in what we want from life, except that they prefer partners of the same sex. Not a big deal! Our entire popular culture seems to be moving toward a wider acceptance, but still some myths are perpetuated. TV, talk show programming, the internet and books are exposing a wider population to the humanity of gay and lesbian folks.

Red tail hawk spotted overhead on my morning dog walk

 For me it has been a matter of overcoming the ignorance that came to me growing up in a society that didn’t understand, that feared, and sought to make disappear by repression what was perceived as "dangerous". … When you are surrounded by people with a particular attitude it is easy to pick up on that attitude and join in that belief. All it takes to break the power of ignorance is to get to know one or a few individuals who can prove by their lives that the old stereotype no longer holds water, 

Grey Heron

Now the idea of shunning of judging someone of a different sexual orientation than mine seems very hurtful and wrong. There is also a  growing body of research evidence that ones sexual preference is established very early in life – it may well be brought about a normal chemical variation found in certain humans...it is definitely not something that can be "reeducated" out of them... This matches what gay and lesbian people report – they “know” in their early childhood years that they were somehow different…

2. Ignorance is such a limiting factor. I spent my teen age years in the San Joaquin valley- where people made stereotypic jokes about “those Mexicans”…One of my uncles forbad his daughter to listen to Mexican music on the radio – “bad influence you know…“

Judy with indigenous Mixtec woman in Oaxaca that weaves at home and sell in the Market

 I grew up with joking images of lazy Mexicans asleep under their big sombreros leaning up against a big cactus. Movies generally tended to support the easy going but irresponsible Mexican. Many Mexican people lived in substandard housing – a sure sign of their inferiority (conveniently forgetting the effects of cultural suppression and huge handicap of trying to make it in America with the language gap and little opportunity for equal education).

Community self-help project - building a community center in a Mt. village near Oaxaca

Teaching, I had Latino students who were in fact motivated and creative , But It wasn’t until we started traveling in Mexico that I discovered the truth. We found the vast majority of Mexican people to he hard workers – creative in their business plans – and trying their best to make a good life for their families. We never found even one lazy Mexican. We also saw the realities of poverty and the effects of government policies that benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. We understood why a Mexican man would endanger his life to come to the US to earn money to send back to support his family there, even though he had to live miserably while here.

Worker in a tortilla factory grinding corn with a machine to make the "masa"

 We found the Mexican people to have a creative culture, a people who know their history and have dreams for a better future. 

The first permanent house of the Zlatnik family in the early years after immigration

 I have a special affinity for Latinos because only a few decades back my grandparents, father, and his siblings were in the same exact boat – they were the newly arrived immigrants who spoke a foreign language (Czech), had cultural ways that no one understood, had very little money and education… and they struggled like todays Latinos to “make it” in America. They didn't have to worry about such things as green cards, “papers”, and the danger of deportation back then.

A street merchant in the Oaxaco market offers grains and seeds for sale

3. The same pattern of overcoming cultural ignorance was true about my coming to better understand what it means to have black skin in America. Growing up in Kansas, we politely called them “Negro” or “Coloreds” – these terms were considered to be more progressive than the alternative terms used by many of our neighbors. I knew little about black people because I had no contact with any individuals except the stereotype figures seen in movies or in music. When we went in to the city of Topeka I would sometimes see black people, but they appeared as a different sort of exotic people… a curiosity to me.

Our friend and guide in Arusha Tanzania who led us on a day long hike into the mountains

My education in understanding began when I got to know black people who became part of my extended  family and also by  working closely with black people that I respected and enjoyed. Only then did I discover – surprise – they are just like me! Like any other people some are creative and funny, some are serious thinkers, some have a range of talents and abilities that I don't have... but most are very much like me.  

Young female student 

You probably know this, but modern Biologists do not recognize the term “race” – race is a political term but it is not a factor that can be measured in the bones, pigment, intelligence, or any other factor… You and I regardless of race have different amounts of identical melanin in our skin (the darkening agent), the same proteins in our hair, the same neuronal regions in our brain… race is a political myth that was made useful in subjugating groups of humans. 

Judy with Mama Lucy, the director of a new innovative school in Arusha

 People with very dark skin are found in all peoples who evolved in tropical conditions with exposure to continual sun – Southern India, South China, Tropical Latin America, Melanesia, as well as equatorial Africa and Australia …. Black skin is a survival mechanism for dealing with large amounts of ultraviolet light exposure.

Judy getting help crossing a stream

4. Ignorance stays in place because it is a sort of glue – a matrix- thrust on us by our society… Getting to know one, working with and becoming friends with a few people that belong to “the other” can  change our whole perception of " the others".

 I have known people who nurture their racial or ethnic superiority to give their own ego a boost...(the "I'm better than you syndrome")  That or an individual may feel that he or she will lose their identity in their social group or community if they start being open to people outside the group - and then they will be isolated.

I buy fresh hot Afghani bread from this baker in the "Little Kabul" part of Fremont

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Notes: 4/13/12

1. Fremont was built upon the alluvial delta of the Alameda Creek - Historically when the creek left Niles Canyon it meandered in wide ox bows on its way to the bay. Winter and spring storm floods caused the creek to frequently flood and to continually change channels. About 50 years ago the Army Corp of Engineers constructed a flood control channel from the mouth of Niles Canyon to the bay - eliminating the annual floods and saving Fremont residents the annual grief of flood clean up, plus eliminating a serious health concern associated with mosquito borne disease by eliminating sloughs filled with standing water. Note: such projects are only possible with the expenditure of public tax dollars!

This has been such a dry year - but the last 24 hours be have received 1.14 inches of rain - and look at Alameda Creek today:

Alameda Creek after an inch of rain

This morning the pups and I had a fine walk - even though the trail was a a bit muddy -

Quarry lakes Park is part of the East Bay park system, adjacent to Alameda Creek

2. George Santayana, an American born in Spain, said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".

When Europe was deep into what we now call the “Dark Ages”, ignorance reigned in Europe. It was a time of shortened life span, ignorance, brutality, and a time when knowledge from the great Greek and Roman writers of earlier years was lost in the western world. It was a time of barbarity.

A early university near Samarkand Tajikistan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarkand)

Little known in the west today, this same time period was a “Golden Age” for the world of Islam – stretching from the palaces of Samarkand to Bagdad, Tehran, Jerusalem, Damascus, Istanbul, Cairo, Alexandria, and on into Islamic Spain – Toledo, Seville.

Mosque complex Samarkand

Scholars in these lands were not only preserving the Greek and Roman knowledge of the past, but actively engaged in developing new understanding and methods in Astronomy, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, and writing significant works that endure to our time… Even today many terms that we use relating to the names of stars, geometry, algebra, anatomy bear Arabic names. To read more about the Golden age of Islam check this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age

Hagia Sophia - Istanbul - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia

One of the great puzzles of history is to understand why the pursuit for knowledge in the Muslim world was substantially replaced by the strict theocracy that we find in many places today. In some places open universities have been replaced with madrasas – centers for indoctrination teaching fundamentalist, conservative Islam. Note there are today many active secular universities in Cairo, Tehran, Jakarta … and other progressive Muslim cities.

Interior of Hagia Sophia

The reasons for the decline of the Golden age are uncertain. During the height of the period a strong Islamic theology coexisting with secular society. It was a time noted for tolerance for Muslims and non muslims living in the region. Some say that it was Internal cultural decay and effect of regional/political uncertainty fear took the place of rational thought. Certainly in the last two centuries the effects of European imperialism in the Middle east and Asia have been leading factors in degradation of traditional cultures. The important thing for us to take from this time in history is to remember is that all civilizations are tenuous and can regress into ignorance. Decline can occur when vigilance to maintain the pursuit of knowledge is not supported. Empowerment of the people, a strong tax base, and a willingness to progress are marks of a growing civilization. When openness to developing and accepting knowledge is crushed by dogmatism ...it is a sign of cultural stagnation.

One of the trade route cities ( Palmira Syria ) build and maintained during the Golden Period

3. Some of the things that have been said in the recent primary give me great fear that there are many in this country who want to forget scientific discoveries and more complete understanding of natural phenomenon and cling to comfortable old ideas. Some with much to lose have been made to support the demands of the very rich – saying that they should get special treatment – lower taxes than the rest of us. It goes without saying that these top 1% in the economic heirarchy already have access to the best medical help and the best education for their children (money buys lots of good things.) For our society to turn against the common good in the name of lower taxes for the wealthy is deplorable and dangerous for our future as a nation. In this world economy it is smart well trained people who will create our future and get the jobs that lead us forward-

Hallway poster - Inner City school in Oakland CA.

What on earth are we thinking of as a nation when we make access to quality education more difficult to acquire? If we don’t have the smart well trained people there are plenty of other countries that are supporting education-for-all right now…It is “magic thinking” to think that we will somehow keep our position as a most powerful nation as we develop a more dumbed down work force… trained only to work in low skill jobs. I always think about the genius student who never has a chance to develop because his or her families can not afford to pay for a university education. What a sad loss to our nation.

One class building on the extensive grounds of the University of California - Berkeley

***Please take a minute to watch this brief video with some of the highlights of the primary thus far…

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/11/1082404/-Obama-campaign-introduces-Mitt-Romney-to-a-rock-and-a-hard-place

Now as we enter the campaign season I urge you to put a “book mark on this site – Note it is a product on the Annenberg Foundation – a highly respected neutral agency… their goal is to check the facts of all candidates of both parties – you will find that at times everyone gets a slap on the wrist…

http://www.factcheck.org/

I witnessed a great drama this morning on my walk - this red tail hawk was being bedeviled by a raven that took a dislike to the hawks presence in its feeding range. The raven repeated dove at the hawk making threatening sounds - and a moment later the hawk got the message and flew away.