Bamboo Journal

Marinations 27 China Camp - Frank Quan

2011-09-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Marinations 28 Frank Quan Interview

First cable cast on Marin 26 Septermber 15, 2011

This video is unavailable at the moment as the State Park system has ordered it's removal due to a free speech issue. Until it is resolved, we removed the video since we have no funding to contest this order in court. Since this video was produced as an act of free speech by an individual with no commercial or other institutional support in support of the State Park system receiving continued funding, it is hard to understand their arbitrary order to remove the video from this little blog.

We thought that the interview with Frank Quan not only told an important story about the State Park and California History, but also brought out important information about the declining health of the San Francisco Bay estuary and it's fishery.

We hope to allow Frank to tell his story here in the future.

In the mean time, scientific information about the estuary and it's challenges due to continued climate heating can be found in this journal article:

Projected Evolution of California's San Francisco Bay-Delta-River System in a Century of Climate Change

James E. Cloern¹^*, Noah Knowles¹, Larry R. Brown², Daniel Cayan³, Michael D. Dettinger³, Tara L. Morgan², David H. Schoellhamer², Mark T. Stacey⁴, Mick van der Wegen⁵, R. Wayne Wagner⁴, Alan D. Jassby⁶

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0024465
This article takes a lot of words to say what Frank Quan told in his short interview, but they are both in alignment with the facts about salinity, turbidity and the changes to the life in the ecosystem.

Marinations goes to China Camp to interview Frank Quan, the last in a line of Chinese Americans who fished for Shrimp in the San Pablo Bay (North of San Francisco) as he tells of the history of this small village, and the decline in the health of the ecosystem. This unique California State Park is threatened by budget cuts, but one of the greatest treasures isn't the land, it is Frank Quan. His family still runs the little store, and he still takes out the fishing boat though the fishery is depleted.

Marinations 22 Poetry Multimedia Montage and Conversation with Anna Halprin

2011-08-14T20:28:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

An interview with master choreographer and teacher Anna Halprin following a screening of the documentary "Breath Made Visible" at the Smith Film Center in San Rafael conducted by host Sharon Skolnick-Bagnoli is the first segment. Later a Multimedia piece featuring ; poetry and Marin images by Sharon Skolnick-Bagnoli with music by Jerry Green will delight your senses and lift your mind.

Tags: anna halprin, breath made visible, dance, jerry green, sharon skolnick-bagnoli, marinations, marin

2011-08-05T05:45:00.001-07:00

Tragedy of the Commons, Marin Style

The recent announcement by Tom Peters, President of the Marin Community Foundation that they will withdraw support for the Marin Youth Center is a tragic move at this time of economic hardship, removing a commons that was an important beacon of light to our young people. The Marin Community Foundation should add programs such as a job training program to this vibrant center, not shut it down

You'll find more in this Marin Independent Journal article by Jessica Bernstein-Wax Marin Youth Center in San Rafael closing this month

Closing the Marin Youth Center is a tragedy, and will hurt the youth of Marin. I've seen first hand the work that they do to provide a drug free, alcohol free safe place for young people. They provide programs in media education that are a model for the Bay Area. With the MYC closed, where are young people going to go? Jobs are scarce, After School programs were cut back, but gangs are expanding. The "jobs" program sounds nice, but doesn't need to displace this outstanding program for Marin young people. The MYC also provides important health education to a vulnerable population. The Marin Foundation board should reconsider this ill advised move and keep this vital program - it supports the best amongst us and provides a healthy alternative for vulnerable youth.

As the Michael Eisenmenger, Executive Director of the Community Media Center of Marin said recently:

The staff who have fostered the center are truly talented youth facilitators and their departure will be another great loss to the Marin youth and nonprofit community. The youth culinary program was running full steam and it was a marvel to see that youth-run cafe in action - yet another sad loss.

City leaders should be alarmed and concerned at this development. Marin as a whole offers it's youth few creative outlets and virtually no gathering spaces like the MYC that they can call their own. I fear the shortsightedness of this decision will soon be evident in the streets of Marin as youth are dispersed and fragmented in aimless abandon. In a few short years, city and county leaders will be citing the need for 'youth at risk' programs and . . . the need for another youth center.

We are thrilled the computer clubhouse survived this wave of cuts - and CMCM will continue to offer our support to that extraordinary program - and to the youth of Marin. We just wish the center as a whole could remain intact - it really is irreplaceable.

2011-07-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

Leaf Ecology

One of my house plants with huge leaves was moved outside to our courtyard a few years ago. It thrived, and produced vigorous new leaves, living in a shady spot under some bamboos. I've noticed that as stuff fell from the upper story of the garden, dead bamboo leaves, tree litter that blew off the roof, leaves from the plum tree, etc. the top surface accumulated a bit of a compost pile on the leaf. A spider used this stuff to support a web, and other small bugs.

This valley of life on the leaf surface would never have occurred indoors. We let the cottage garden plants intermingle. Discovering this little community living on the large leaves of the Philodendron was such a nice surprise.

There is a regular community on each of the large leaf tops now--subject to the occasional dumping if we have a big enough rain. Each assemblage is a bit different. A typical pile will have leaves from the Black Acacia, Arundinaria and Phyllostachys nigra "Hennon", Otatea acuminata, maybe an oak leaf, and some plum detritus. Spider webs tie it together and trap smaller particles.

Soon, a layer of composting forms in the cradle of the leaf. This Philodendron's leaves have holes in them naturally, draining the pile. I wonder if the host plant derives some nutrient benefits from this arrangement?


The long, needle like leaves are actually from the Otatea acuminata aztectorum bamboo.

This spider built his food gathering web around this Papyrus flowers, with a long groups of threads extending up into the draping leaves of an Otatea acuminata aztectorum bamboo growing above the Papyrus

Once he felt threatened on his main web, he retreats up to the bamboo leaves. Quite a remarkable feat to construct such a resilient and utilitarian structure, a home.

See more about Philodendron plants here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philodendron

2011-07-20T06:14:00.000-07:00

One of the gifts that I get when I stretch my energy sometimes is the spiritual lift that comes from being with good people at dawn in nature in a place of power, together in local peace. After a long week of working late, stress and struggle, we got up before 4am and drove to the top of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County to join 91 year old Anna Halprin and a band of intrepid folks on a trek from the parking lot to the summit to see the dawn over San Pablo Bay and San Francisco. Looking toward Mt. Diablo, we hunkered down in awe as the sun rose over the fog covered north bay on one of the longest days of the year.

This Cherokee morning song reminds us of the simple truth, of our connection to the web of life. Later, I'll post more of the sharing from Planetary Dance 2011. Enjoy: Cherokee Morning Song.

As the American Indian elders say: "All life is sacred".

2011-07-03T09:28:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I enjoy on Sunday morning is to go to the farmers market at the Marin Civic Center to browse for veggies, herbs and fruit that form the basis for our dinners next week. We are blessed with two viable farmers markets each week, though our Thursday evening market is maybe half the size it was two years ago. Sunday's event is still vibrant, a place to not only buy food, but to encounter other community members, to learn and to enjoy a bit of music with breakfast. Simple pleasures, money that stays within the community, contact with the growers, and a place for kids and families to wander in a safe place. Thanks for the opportunity to be in a community that has a farmers market, a community that cooks with local produce and meat, a community where healthy eating is a community value.

Marinations 22

2011-05-03T17:59:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

An interview with master choreographer and teacher Anna Halprin following a screening of the documentary "Breath Made Visible" at the Smith Film Center in San Rafael conducted by host Sharon Skolnick-Bagnoli is the first segment.

Later a Multimedia piece featuring ; poetry and Marin images by Sharon Skolnick-Bagnoli with music by Jerry Green will delight your senses and lift your mind.

Tags: anna halprin, breath made visible, dance, jerry green, sharon skolnick-bagnoli, marinations, marin

Marinations 20 Jerry Green Aikido and Mediation

2011-04-20T07:21:00.001-07:00

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Sharon Skolnick-Bagnoli explores with Jerry Green how his study of Aikido informs his practice of mediation, bringing the wisdom of the body to find peaceful resolution to conflicts in the home and business worlds. ;

Tags: mediation, aikido, conflict resolution, marinations, marin, sonoma, community media center of marin

2011-03-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

When I read that Plutonium has been found in Japanese soil near the Fukishima Nuclear Power Station, it tells me that the disaster has entered a new, vastly more serious stage. This material is very toxic if it gets into the body, micrograms are enough to cause cancer. In a power station, it is normally locked up in the fuel rods, both fresh and spent-and separated from the environment by the zirconium cladding and several layers of containment. That the power company admits that it was found outside and in dirt is very scary, even if the level of radiation is presently limited.

What I think about is that this indicates that the basic containment systems are breaking down, and as the radiation level in the plant and surrounding area rises, it gets harder to work there, harder to take measures to stabilize the situation, and the poisons will spread. Certainly the water poured on the core, the water pumped into the waste storage ponds is an important mitigating action, but the fact that sea water must be used instead of the very pure water normally recycled means that there is a major leak in the systems, and that implies that the now radioactive water carrying stuff from the reactor and the fuel pools is leaking into the environment, possibly into the sea.

Combined with the fact that the electric power company doesn't want others to monitor the radiation at the plant independently, I believe that we should be worried that the story we are being told is incomplete and possibly misleading. We deserve to know more, indeed the event is going to be affecting the environment for centuries if not longer and it will become intuitively obvious to the most casual observer what is going on as time marches on. So candor now would enable folks to learn, to apply the considerable intellegence of the collective mind--and the fear of panic should not be an excuse to hide the truth--the Tsunami cleared that hurdle and a lot of land as well.

What we need to do now is manage this situation as best we can, and the sooner that Tokyo nationalizes the utility and brings in the best experts from around the world, the sooner that we can bring the resources that we have to protect the Japanese people and the Japanese economy from the vast store of radioactive poison that could be unleashed if this thing gets much worse. It could get much worse, or it could be that folks will continue with the courageous actions, the intelligent responses snd the collaborative work that has limited the damage so far. If this situation isn't stabilized, the world will suffer, and if we can effectively manage this Power Station's crises, the world will benefit. We need to learn the lessons since there are hundreds of other similar power stations around the world, and we need to learn how to manage the spreading contamination, the impacts to the food and water supplies, the impacts to the ecology together.

We haven't seen the last earthquake and tsunami that will impact a nuclear power station, so learning now is an opportunity, and we must apply the lessons immediately.

One thing that we know is that the secondary cooling systems could be made much more robust by adding a few simple elements:

Where battery backup power is now only adequate for 8 hours ( which is the case at several power stations in the U.S.) we should stress test those systems now since many backup battery systems fail under real loads if they are more than a decade old and have any latent defects. We can augment these systems so that they can continue to function for say, 24 hours--and we can install a way to connect banks of generators imported from off site.

We saw linemen in radiation protection suits installing new electrical power feeders at the Fukishima plant recently in an attempt to restart the control systems and the cooling pumps-- not easy in any case, but impossible if this was occuring in the summer in a desert station.... so we can install alternate feeders now, and assemble a bank of power generators that could be deployed to provide alternate power in the event that a power outage lasts longer than 8 hours. I know that the stations have onsite generators, and I know that these systems are also vulnerable to a variety of failure modes. These systems should also be stress tested and upgraded as necessary--

This incident also highlights the need to improve the back up systems that both contain the spent fuel storage and that provide the vital cooling for these "axillary" systems.

Our politicians who have prevented the development of secure spent fuel storage repositories must either face the scientific facts or be changed out for politicians who will enable the nation to do what we must do to make the storage safe for our society and economy. Perhaps the Fukishima events will put in motion the steps that we can take to ensure that natural events that are inevitably going to occur don't cause avoidable disasters that ruin public health and national economies.

Marinations 20 Dineh Elder Len Foster and Tony Gonzales

2011-03-22T06:24:00.001-07:00

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Sharon Skolnick-Bagnoli interviews Native American Elder Len Foster and AIM-West Director Antonio Gonzales, discussing the Prison Native American Spiritual outreach program. ; Len Foster tells how the Native American relationship to nature could help us with our environmental challenges.

Tags: navaho, dineh, lenfoster, tonygonzales, marinations, aim-west

Marinations 17 - Sacheen Littlefeather - David Mathison

2011-02-17T06:22:00.001-08:00

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We visit with actress and Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather who talks about the documentary ReelInjun ; and the impact on her life from her appearance at the Oscars when she refused the Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando.

In the second segment, social media expert David Mathison tells how Twitter is changing journalism and connecting us in new ways, challenging traditional media.

Tags: sacheen littlefeather, david mathison, twitter, citizen journalism, oscar, reelinjun, reelenjunthemovie.com, bethemedia, marinations, marin, community media center of marin, sharon skolnick-bagnoli

2011-01-29T11:38:00.000-08:00

The Fremont Union High School District is a great example of how the transition to renewable energy is practical, creates jobs, reduces dependence on foreign oil, and benefits the environment. The Fremont Union High School District has installed solar canopies over parking lots, creating a comfortable parking area and producing megawatts of power. The District used bond funds to install solar photovoltaic power systems at all 5 high schools. This system saves over $1,000,000 per year, and this translates into jobs going forward on top of the jobs created when the District constructed the systems.

Lynbrook High School, Cupertino, California.

Many school districts around the San Francisco Bay Area have Solar systems and more are installing them. The amount of power produced is modest, but it is common to be able to reduce the PG&E bill by 80%. The effects of reducing the energy cost on operating costs are significant, and especially so in this time of limited tax revenue due to the decline in the real estate value. These moves mean that the Schools get to keep several jobs at each school with a solar system operating, and that is a long term direct investment in our communities.

For me, the small subsidy to encourage installation of these systems and the additional utility cost to handle the unique challenges caused by adding so much solar to the system are one of the things that government can legitimately do with our tax money to ensure that the society benefits, and that investment continues to be made in converting our energy economy to renewable sources.

When you see just how simple these systems are, and consider that as we build more, we can expect costs to come down even further. If energy produced by fossil fuel sources could be taxed according to the ecological and climatic burden that it creates, the cost equation would immediately favor renewable sources.

There are some climate change deniers who say that responding to climate change now will cost jobs, will hurt the economy. I say that to wait and do nothing is to make certain that the economy will suffer, and to act now as the Fremont Union High School District has done is smart, helps the economy and strengthens the community.

In several school districts that I've seen lately, there was one influential person who's leadership brought the program to life. As the benefits become more widely understood, I expect that we will see many more systems installed. Our government should learn from this example and find ways to use policy to encourage a rapid shift from fossil fuel energy to renewable energy.

2011-01-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

It's time to get serious!

This preprint by Hansen & Sato is an important read. If you want to skip the technical stuff, just read the last page, then go back to the introduction. Actually it is worth reading all the way through without stopping to figure out the technical details just to see how these guys handle the science...

Paleoclimate implications for Human Made Climate Change

I believe that god speaks to us in many ways, and that we are have some profound choices to make as people, as a civilization and this guy is looking around and says "pay attention", what choices we make now may affect not only the billions now living, but also how countless generations to follow will fare on this planet. It is a gift to have the consciousness to see things, it is a question as to if we can act. It is as if an asteroid has been spotted that is going to hit dead center, and we have to decide what to do.

The Cruise ship approach suggests that hedonism, short term greed, and other similar strategies are the most likely response. What is unique here, is the we have a choice, we have the observations, we have juste enough scientific knowledge, and we have just enough capital and time to do something to make a gift to those who follow of a planet that is so beautiful, so able to support life and civilization.
The path to a future with a planet like we know it requires some fortitude, some sacrifice and some real imagination. The biblical story of the garden of Eden can be read in a larger context today.....as our American Indian people say "all life is sacred".

Life will go on no matter what, the more immediate question is what about our civilization? The challenges that Dr. Hansen casually mentions like the loss of the great sea level cities of the world due to sea level rise after next century are also things so large, that if they are far enough out, folks can just party a bit longer, and someone else can adapt "then". Are we smart enough as a civilization to change while we can?

The emergence of the internet is an amazing way of applying billions of minds to a problem, and it changes everything. We see an understanding emerging that is shared by billions of minds. Will this be a force that helps us to respond in a "smart" and caring way across the globe? I see some encouraging signs that is may occur, and at the same time, attempts by governments and corporations and individuals to control this web to prevent a consensus from emerging. I vote for an emerging consensus based on the power of the spirit, the power of the imagination, the power of collective intelligence united by the web.

I tell young folks who wonder which engineering area to study that being a civil engineer is the biggest growth area, followed by energy engineers. Quite interesting to see how the economics of solar have come around even without much improvement in the basic systems over 20 years, just improvements in the manufacturing processes. Solar is now made at a price competitive with fossil fuel energy although it is not sold at that price yet. And solar is only a small part of the answer to the energy question. So we've been given the means and the knowledge of how to adjust, the only question is will we do what is necessary to adapt to the new situation in time?

We now don't count the environmental cost of our energy sources, "externalizing" those costs. This produces a distortion that until now has been working out just fine for the folks selling this approach. Until the environment gets so bad that further degradation hurts us all, this approach has "legs". The approach advocated by Hansen (and for that matter by Tom Freidman of the NYT) is to start incorporating the environmental cost into the energy price, while taking compassionate steps to ease the shift that will occur as folks see the real total cost of our power systems. We have plenty of renewable power on earth for civilization, but we will have to consciously shift to a sustainable energy economy if our civilization is to continue. If we do so now, it is possible that we can live well, we can ease poverty and the human suffering, and continue to flourish as a civilization for thousands of years.

The explosive growth of the Chinese driving class has forever changed the oil price ups and downs, so time is quite short for us to figure out what we are going to do.....(no blame for the Chinese have as much right to develop as anyone, it's just a matter of this time in history that I'm discussing)

Once we see food prices rise as the artificial energy costs and water shortages start to hit, once the desertification of large zones of arable land occur, these changes are largely irreversible on a timescale that is relevant to our society.

Those changes will drive a shift in the political situation that could see populations want to move at a scale never seen in modern times, conflict for resources driven by desperation, border conflicts that make the stuff we see in Arizona look like childsplay, and disease challenges beyond anything we know today. By that time, the capital that we now have, capital that could be applied to create the new energy economy and stabilize the climate, will be scarce or gone and the only way that the situation stabilizes is with a much smaller population in a world without many of the fellow beings, the organisms that make up the web of life that is the wonder that I experience each morning.

How do we answer the question from god "what have you done with the paradise that I gave you?".

2011-01-19T06:40:00.000-08:00

Morning is one of my favorite times.

Quietly I get up, as Sharon is sleeping still,

and find my self walking in the dark with two cats

toward the kitchen.

Filling the tea kettle with water,

Carol jumps up on the counter purrring.

We bump forheads, as I carry the kettle to the

gas stove and the burner clicks before

the POOOOOOFFFFFFFFF as it lights.

Snowy is passing back and forth,

rubbing my shins and

making little sounds

reminding me that my

most important

duty

is to

feed

the cats their morning wet food.

But I take out the old coffee filter and put a new

empty

in the brown plastic cone,

adding 4 TBSP of exotic Costa Rica ground

Starbucks.

With the tea kettle now bumping and jumping from the

boiling water,

I preheat the cups with a swig of hot water

then dump it in the sink,

turning on a dribble of cold water for Carol

to twist her head and drink sideways with

her long, hairy tounge.

Pouring the coffee on the grounds, they

swirl and bubble, expanding in a foamy froth

as I stir the dripping grounds

and watch the cup filling up through the cone's window.

Popping the can of cat food brings the cats

to a new level of sharking,

Snowy meows, Carol paces back and forth,

purrrrrrrrring and reaching out her paw to gently touch my arm in

reminder that I still haven't put the plate of food

on the floor.

As I set the food plates on the floor, the cats are focused

on slurping it up,

forgetting that I exist.

WamBam!

ThankYouMam.

I take my coffee cup and add milk,

returning to my element

to savor the first cup of Java

and read the news on

the web.

No newspapers in the house anymore,

no recycling of tons of paper,

no paper to put under the kitty box,

my choice of news, follow my interests

around the globe.

Floods in Austrailia,

Pair Instability

Supernovae paper

by S. Woosley from Santa Cruz on ArXiv.org

Marin news about the apartment fire on "B" Street while

we ate our Chinese-Korean dinner a couple blocks away

last night from

the MarinIJ.

Out of coffee, this

blog is done.

Ready for the rest of the

Coffee

and a new

day.

Marinations 16 Jayne MacPherson - Shiny Objects

2011-01-18T21:51:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Marinations introduces the work of two Northern California poets, Jayne McPherson and (host) Sharon Skolnick-Bagnoli. McPherson interweaves intense personal recollection with a highly-charged physical metaphor, exploring the psyche in the rolling landscapes of healing. Skolnick-Bagnoli invites us into the making of her anthology, Shiny Objects, a distillation of 30+ years of poetic and visual art that touches on socio/politics, the souls journey through space-time, and the many ways we reach for things that shine.

Tags: marinations, poetry, art, giantsparade, cmcm, cable 26, marin, shinyobjects, healing

2011-01-08T07:41:00.001-08:00

Marinations Program 15

Click to Play

Visiting with designer-writer Sharon Skolnick-Bagnoli in this episode of Marinations, visual artist Bert Arenson describes the mysterious ways in which he manifests a painting. Then Julie Motz, explorer in the twin arenas of human psychology and wellness, shares glimpses of her journey and her penetrating work in healing.

Marinations is a nutritious stew of nature, culture and ideas. Produced in Marin County California, the show airs on San Rafael's Community Media of Marin channel 26 on the second Thusday and fourth Thursday of the month at 7:30pm and is webcast live at that time. We interview artist, writers, scientists, documentarians, dancers, teachers, journalists, musicians and other creative people.

Tags: art, healing, marinations, bret arenson, julie motz, sharon skolnick-bagnoli, community media, cmcm, marin, wellness, dance

Marinations: Show 14 Fran Quittel and the IndyMac story

2010-12-23T06:13:00.001-08:00

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In this Marinations program we interview Fran Quittel about how she and a group of people who found each other on the web used internet tools like Google Groups, Blogs, etc. combined with ; conventional organizing techniques to recover over $ 270 million for some 9500 depositors. Thanks to the Community Media Center of Marin and the volunteers who made this video program possible.

2010-12-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

Net Neutrality debates

A friend wrote that the struggle for "net neutrality" appears to be loosing in the U.S. as the FCC and the new Republican majority make noises about compromises that look a bit more like capitulation. The debate goes to the folks who intentionally confuse network traffic management with the place where open exchanges of free thought lifts our collective consciousness throughout the world. Since the growth of web traffic is still accelerating as video becomes the dominant packet on the internet, some allocations, some prioritization is needed and the question is can we preserve freedom of speech even as we manage the system.

See for example:
Net Neutrality Threatened (Part II)
By Stephen Lendman
http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman191210C.htm

Lendman"s post updates the current situation with clear ideas on how to move ahead to preserve the essential openness that has flattened the world as the internet brought opportunities to billions of people.

Our American road system gives every person in the United States an amazing freedom to go anywhere, yet we all obey traffic laws (to a major degree anyway). Can we preserve a similar degree of freedom on the internet?

I think that the folks who want to control content and impose multiple tiers of price-fenced service never deviated from their plan. Both multi-tier pricing, and different nets for different groups are part of the strategy
.
Facebook is one example of a "private net" although it isn't (yet) kept separate by price of access....and there are emerging private nets. As the need for better security grows, some folks flee to gated communities both in Real Estate and in virtual space. Encryption technology makes it possible for both to exist on the same physical network with even as one gets priority.

A big question that is vitally important to the world, will the lower priced tier continue to exist? I think so, as the intelligence that emerges from our collective thinking on the net is an incredibly powerful force, to powerful to be dismissed even as the powerful struggle to watch what is being said, a source of power for those who can look into the virtual space where we all now talk. Look at what China attempts to do to control discussion.....yet it is vastly more useful and powerful to have the collective intelligence applied to our problems.

How will the internet grow, what direction for the application of security technology? When I was in the middle east, I learned that if you run in a metro station, you can get a ticket. If you appeal the ticket, they just go to the archives and replay the video of you running in the station. Anywhere in the station.....or the same can be said for most public places including major roads....now that is a lot of cameras, a lot of traffic, a lot of watchers. Add to that that they watch web traffic, listen to cell phone chattter, and block sites like Fliker (photos), and all this takes huge bandwidth....and a lot of servers.

Note that the Blackberry cell phone cut-off controversy has "died down" ( settlements to give governments what they wanted in terms of ability to eavesdrop ??) or was it just a way to promote the government monopoly telecom provider's services?

These battles are important, but this is but one bump on a very long path through a hostile place. We need to focus on the opportunities as well, as they are great when you "live in interesting times".

Bruce

2010-11-29T10:35:00.000-08:00

This morning, our cat Carol hopped up onto the tile counter by the sink, purring and looking me in the eyes.

Clearly she formed an intent.
When she was sure that I was watching,
she proceeded to pantomime drinking water from the sink spout.

I turned on a tiny stream of cold water from the tap,
and she twisted her head to align her tongue with the stream and began lapping it up.

No words, yet effective communication.

Then I told her to get down and
wiped down the counter where she sat as she sought a drink of water.

2010-11-17T10:57:00.000-08:00

The recent reports on the news about the Stuxnet computer virus that has Iran complaining is quite a technical masterpiece, and a far cry from the usual Trojans and botnet attacks that are the usual source of grief for us all. Indeed it seems that someone went to considerable effort to ensure that this virus didn't harm any ordinary industrial systems.

The virus has been discussed in this Ars Technica story: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/clues-suggest-stuxnet-virus-was-built-for-subtle-nuclear-sabotage.ars with new details provided that inform this cometary.

First, the virus checks to see if it is in a very specific context, and targets systems that may be supporting a very particular type of control system that would be regulated in the U.S. as non-exportable as it would be controlling more than 33 variable speed drives capable of high frequency motor control. It checks to see if there are Iranian modules on the system, or one other type of module that could be employed in isotope enrichment plants. If it doesn't find these specific conditions, the virus doesn't affect the system that it infects (though it may try to spread further in an effort to land in a system that meets it's targeting criteria).

Since Uranium enrichment with centrifuges typically uses cascades of thousands of units, each making incremental progress at separating the rare atoms that would be useful in a reactor or weapon from the vast bulk of the material that is essentially inert, messing with the process can contaminate the "pure" product and compromise the effectiveness of the cascade.

The virus is designed to be hard to detect, and it doesn't try to destroy equipment. Indeed for the imputed purpose of this virus, it is more important to delay the production of weapons grade material than to cause a splash in the press.

From the information provided, it appears that the virus effectively delayed to some degree the Iranian military in it's quest to build a weapon. For this I am grateful, and appreciate the amazing operation that managed to get this computer virus into the system. It took knowledge of how the enrichment process works, knowledge of how the Iranian system is built, as well as substantial knowledge and skill in constructing the code that could implement this tactical objective.

Now that the existence of the virus is known, the resultant publicity serves to educate the rest of the system players to the vulnerabilities that we may have in various parts of our infrastructure. I hope that this publicity will spur industrial controls engineers to take a new look at security in our existing systems and to build in more robust security features when new systems are designed. Ideas as to how this may be done are the subject of another article (in press).

Thanks to whoever thought up this important operation, it achieves what a conventional kinetic operation could not and makes a concrete contribution to counter proliferation in a world that is dangerous enough without Iranian nuclear weapons.

2010-10-24T06:22:00.000-07:00

Writing in October 2010, it seems as if the California economy is poised for a dip toward a major depression. The state spending is way down, the federal stimulus was meager and over, the unemployment is running out for millions, and job creation is lagging way behind the need. The inventory of unsold homes is huge, the number of unsuspecting buyers shrinking.

As the opportunities shrink, the folks who came here to work are leaving, and with them, a demand for rentals that is shifting the real estate market into a new mode.

You see, it turns out that the folks who came here from Asia and Latin America, were paying sales tax, rent (covering property taxes), and even income tax! Indeed, their economic activity accounts for an important marginal increment in government income, and their productivity is an important margin on the producer side.

While I'm concerned about the social issues of crime and welfare, as I've learned more from my work as a foster parent about the real story behind the safety net, my perspective has shifted a bit, my understanding grows, my concerns have new focus.

I'm more concerned than ever about the threat that uncontrolled immigration poses to our nation, to our national security--but it doesn't follow that I support blind Arizona type laws that have locals enforcing immigration laws.

One of my concerns is that the growth in power of the narco cartels is a threat to our way of life, and the profound corruption that they bring may spread even deeper into the underground here in California. Indeed our drug war has ensured their profitability, and de-funding the cartels is one way to mitigate their power.

Gangs now control important aspects of the California prisons, now holding over 330000 people. If California could reduce the prison population by only 50,000 individuals, strengthen the parole supervision process, and rationalize the enforcement of our drug laws, we could save enough to improve law enforcement against the gangs, improve the safety net for families, and strengthen our society.

The politicians who stir up popular anger against the weak turn the society from compassion to competition, from our values of equality and protection of rights, to mistaken worship of authority.

So we need to look around at the people in our community, and address the needs as we find them. That means we must provide food and shelter and basic medical care to the folks in our communities, strengthen education and our community cohesiveness.

If gangs are to become less important, then the Police must be responsible for protection of locals and even illegals should be treated with respect. When illegals have no access to protection from the police, they will often, of necessity, turn to groups within their community who can resolve grievances or provide protection and this may be a gang, often a branch of one of the two large organizations that have infiltrated our land.

We need to address climate change, as the world won't wait for the long promised but unlikely return of lower unemployment rates, or other Republican magic. Indeed the climate change will destroy our economy as it now operates, and we need to be about the construction of the next economy asap. Alternate energy sources are growing in California, reducing our need for fossil fuels and reducing our vulnerability to supply disruption by foreign governments or events. As California improves our sustainability, we become stronger and ready for the new environment.

We need to replant our forests, as climate change will reallocate climate zones faster than our ecosystems can adapt. The long view is that life will persist, it is only the impact on our society that I'm worried about, and the permanent loss of so many species of animals, plants and microorganisms that will make the world of our grandchildren so much poorer. We can often save a species by helping to preserve ecosystem niches, but we'll also have to assist in moving ecosystem niche communities to a new location where they can thrive in the new climate context that is comming as we sail past the tipping points and our climate moves into uncharted territory.

The changes to our economy are brutal, and we only have enough capital to do this adaption once, if we are fortunate and smart. To delay too long is to accept the loss of our watershed snowpack storage, to accept the rise of sea level and the loss of our ecosystem services and resources. Are we going to be smart enough to envision a sustainable society and to make it across the chasm to that place or are we going to squander our capital and human resources until profound poverty limits us to a new mode of civilization where we find ourselves unable to thrive, in desperate straights, with no way to do more than slide even further down, with massive poverty and a destroyed government just when we need our government to be functional?

Without a population that is educated in basic civics, basic communications skills and with math and science, history and art, sports and sustainability, natural systems knowledge and respect for each other, we can expect authoritarian rule, massive suffering, and a vulnerability to natural disasters and epidemics that can only increase the level of suffering beyond imagination. We can do better, and it is possible to envision a society in 2050 where the climate is shifting but we are adapting, where our economy is much more self sustainable, where our food supply is secure, and where our grandchildren are raising the next generation with hope instead of dispair.

Here's to hope, here's to a world where we respect our fellow beings, where we treasure the organisms that share our ecosystem, and to a society where we value our heritage, respect our community and each other, and where we have learned to operate our society at a more intelligent level. Here's to a society where science informs our behavior, where spiritual values are respected, where we question established doctrine, where understanding and compassion have as much force as authority.

The emergence of collective thought as the internet ties us together could be a force that moves us in that direction if we can keep it open enough that our collective intelligence is activated. Recent experience with manipulation of social systems by forces seeking to control the society so that exploitation can accelerate shows that this won't be an easy contest. Indeed the internet can be a force for control that has unprecedented reach, or it can be a tool to access collective resources that could enable us to adapt to the climate change in time.

As the Chinese proverb says "May you live in interesting times!"

2010-10-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

Emerging consensus on Climate

Publication of "The World's lungs: Forests, and how to save them" in the September 25, 2010 of The Economist (www.economist.com)provides a clear and realistic look at the endangered status of our forest ecosystems at this critical point in climate change.

As Vacliv Smil said ( from Bill Gates notes page http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Learning/article.aspx?ID=25), the choices that we make over the next few years will make a great deal of difference in how climate change goes.

It's encouraging to me to see a respected and influential news magazine focusing on our responses to climate change, without wasting space on the folks who would distract and deny the changes now clearly underway.

"Seeing the wood" uses solid facts, astute observations of the interactions between politics, policy and corporate behavior to inform, educate and motivate effective actions that can improve our relationship with nature.

While it is a great report, it doesn't really convey the urgency, nor explain how the tipping points that we are approaching are really gateways to another world.

They hint of it when mentioning the role that the Amazon rainforest helps provide the moisture to the temperate zones of both South and North America as the trade winds blow against the Andies. If the forest doesn't perform it's hydrological function, there could be a major desertification of what are now prime agricultural regions. Passing the tipping point into desertification would bring famines. This might be only one of the most immediate effects. As recovery can take geological time. Look at the African Sahara, it's not turning back into a tropical paradise any time soon. Look at Abu Dhabi, where without desalinated water there would be almost no greenery, no trees ( didn't see any forests...).

Publication of this report here, in this form, is encouraging. We need to be focused on understanding as best we can, the dynamics of the change that human society has set in motion, and to the degree possible, make intelligent choices so that we mitigate the impending tsunami of changes that the coming heat wave will bring.

Bruce Bagnoli

Presenting

2010-10-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

Awake, thankful for the new day, it's dark yet.
A drink of water, then to the kitchen with our cat Snowy.
Along the way, Carol hops down from the bed she's been sleeping on and gos ahead of me.
First the light on the stove hood, then the light over the sink.
A paper towel for Carol on the counter, a drip of water for her to drink from.
Stove on, check the water.
Throw out the old used coffee filter and replace it with a fresh one.
Turn on the gas, lighting the stove with a puff to assist the electric starter.
Pet carol, rub her chin.
Now some coffee from the freezer, 4 heaping table spoons.
Now joined by Willow, I pick him up while meowing for a snuggle.
After a moment he gets squirmy, I set him down on the rug in front of the refrigerator on his rug.
Now boiling, I pour the water through the Peet's Sumatra coffee grounds. The rich brown tones, swirling bubbles and wafting aroma promise a joy to come.
Stirring the brew, watching the evolution of my first cup.
Give Snowy some fresh water, more thanksgiving for this day.
Switch the coffee filter from one cup to the other using the table spoon to catch the drips while in transit.
More water from the tea kettle,
turn off the stove.
Now some milk from the refrigerator.
This stimulates Carol who reaches out her paw in a gentle reminder that
the CAT wants her milk.
I fill her orange bottle cap with milk, and place it on the edge of the sink.
She purrrs and begins lapping it up as I
put a table spoon of milk in Willow's tiny ceramic bowel and place it on the floor for him to enjoy.
Then milk in my cup,
putting the milk container carefully into the refrigerator so as to not disturb Willow's enjoyment of his milk.
Then it's time for my reward, the first sip of my morning coffee.
Yum, thanks for the morning, thanks for this simple pleasure.
Then I pick up Willow's little dish ( maybe 6cm in diameter) and rinse it,
rinse carol's orange bottle cap after tilting it so that she can get the last milk.
I pick up my coffee cup and lead the cats back to my element where I finally turn on the light next to the computer.
First checking internet, sometimes email, sometimes the news, rotating through the various core sites: gmail, yahoo mail, SFGate, NYTimes, MarinIJ, Arxiv.org, Facebook, Quakes, and the rest.
Check work email.
Write in my journal, respond to electronic communications.
The coffee gone, the day started.
The cats are back in their little sleeping places.
It's still dark,
but I'm behind schedule already.....
Thanks.

2010-09-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

Reconsidering Solar PV for my house.

As solar PV systems become more common, the prices are falling.
Incentives are policy based, and have limited availability at this time. With the installation of a "smart meter" we expect rates to jump up. Marin has the local sustainable power agency, with net metering available. This is a good option worth considering.

Recently, I calculated that the payback for a small residential system is about 7 years. There are also favorable effects on after-tax income. Unfortunately, my home has shade much of the time from our canopy of trees and bamboos.

During the summer, The green canopy makes a huge difference in the temprature of the house, saving us from air conditioning load. So we have a green roof, for real.

I'm planning to record the actual solar isolation where we currently have our solar thermal panels. This data may indicate that we could add four or five Solar PV panels, I'll have to compare a simulation of the value once I have the base data.

I also want to circulate water through the solar panels, and record data on a typical sunny day, so that I can figure the thermal performance before spending much money to recommission the system. Now that we can easily incorporate some data about weather, solar isolation, and have a model of system performance, we can only run the system when the gain will be worth it. The initial expense is zero for panels and mounting, it's just a question if the pumps, etc. are working.

2010-08-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

This Pakistani flooding disaster, really a catastrophe, has been on the front page in the Middle East though it is receiving much less exposure here at home. Recently I was in Abu Dhabi, and had a view of TV news from my hotel that contrasts with what I see here in the S.F. Bay area on the news, and on our local internet.

Al Jazeera (Doha, English) has been on it from the beginning, and suggested that this is an expected part of global heating. They showed how the heated portion of Russia drew the monsoon to the north and shifted the rain pattern in Pakistan and parts of India to the north. Of course, you can't extrapolate from one weather event to climate, but statistically the influence of climate on weather is going to become increasingly visible.

Unfortunately, once society grasps the severity of the challenge, we may be past one or more of the climate tipping points and without the resources to effectively respond, having squandered the resources on stupid consumption.

I gave money to a charity that feeds people in disaster zones, and to Medicins Sans Frontieres, and only wish that I had more to give.

At the beginning of the flooding, extremist groups were trying to exploit the government's inability to effectively help the millions of people who are homeless, lost crops, lost livestock, lost family members, and who are without any food or source of income. This political exploitation of any shock is fairly routine in the west, so I guess it shouldn't be surprising that a news organization would suggest that it's occurring here as well. In fact the Pakistani government also uses this argument to ask for money. The magnitude of the crises should be enough to galvanize folks to aid fellow humans- forget inept government, forget inept extremist groups who can't affect the rain, there are millions of folks without and many will perish.

No doubt this is just a wake up call, it may be expected that deserts will become voracious and extend to areas that are now the breadbasket of the world, and that extreme precipitation events will become more numerous. The consequences of such events will become even more serious as the ice mass in the mountains reduces, releasing the flow to the rivers in a sharper peak.

Naturally we can expect huge flows of humanity leaving one disaster for greener pastures, driven by hunger or water (too much or too little) as well.

This event is a wake up call, may we hear and understand, then act with compassion to mitigate the climate heating, to bring relief for fellow beings.

As the proverb goes "we live in interesting times"
Quite scary.

Bruce

2010-05-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

Tragedy of the Commons and the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon disaster

by Bruce Bagnoli

The surviving crew member's account May 16,2010 on CBS 60 minutes of the pre-accident problems with the blowout preventer that failed when the Deepwater Horizon sank had chilling familiarity. [ see the report here: Michael Williams tells his story of survival to Scott Pelley. ]

It reminded me of the Nasa Challenger Disaster in 1986 when managers overrode the safety concerns of some engineers, discounted the risks, and said "go for it!" just before the whole thing blew up.

According to the Deepwater Horizon crew member, the blowout preventer's rubber seals were damaged during a test prior to the blowout, and pieces of the seal were seen in the drilling mud. Instead of stopping, they continued working.

Later, when there was a choice of methods of stemming the well, British Petroleum managers pushed for the expedient but more risky method. The Blowout Preventer's electronic systems were not fully functional, yet the drilling continued. Indeed it may not have been any one decision, rather the sum of a number of things that added up to the worst environmental disaster in decades.

In common with the NASA Challenger Disaster, the BP Oil Blowout may have lessons about conduct of high consequence operations, lessons about stewardship of safety systems, hubris, and a tendency to discount real risks in a push for some "important goal".

The Department of Energy, and the military understand "conduct of operations", and it may take a smart, strong government to enforce and make effective the safety rules, the environmental protections that must be respected. When the government doesn't have people who are technically qualified and with the authority to enforce environmental regulations such as having effective blowout protection at all times, these sorts of disasters can be expected.

Indeed the nuclear industry has had similar problems, most notably at Three Mile Island. The Nuclear power industry had to learn how to safely conduct high consequence operations and learned the real cost of putting short term profit over safety and environmental protection. Indeed, despite plenty of screw-ups, the nuclear power systems have been remarkably safe since Three Mile Island, since the industry and government took steps to ensure that our operators are trained, qualified, and regulated.

The process of learning to operate safely and effectively in high consequence situations is described in a Department of Energy order 5480 and the process of teaching the formal methods that work is described in this example: Conduct of Operations Mentoring Strategy....

It's not rocket science, but the basic concepts apply here as well and whatever you think about drilling, we need to be serious about conducting high consequence operations safely where ever these operations occur. In a similar manner, the chemical industry world wide re-examined their operations after Bopal.

The fact that there are so many examples isn't comforting, but it does provide guidance when designing systems that must mitigate serious risks, both on the human side, and on the hardware side. One of the key lessons, is that managers who are unable to grasp the value of public confidence can wreck a companies value with one bad decision!

I wonder if it is the same sort of intellectual bubble cycle that has been discussed with respect to financial cycles, where the new crew think that they are "smarter" than the folks who did it "the old way", whose (short term) financial results are so much better than the more conservative folks who move just a bit slower.

It's more than just the push for short term profit, it's also the human hubris, the ego, the view that the planet's resources belong to the extraction industry.

My view is that the environment is the most important Commons, and the tragedy of the commons is the key lesson that our civilization must understand if we are to be viable.

See also:

2010-04-25T17:28:00.000-07:00

Mitigating global atmospheric CO2 increase requires that use of coal must be reduced. Current economic forecasts point to a major increase in coal burning as China and India grow their economies. According to stories in the Financial Times"Sparks fly as China's hunger for coal grows," China now uses about 3.3 billion tons of Coal every year, and this is expected to rise by a billion tons a year by 2030, with much of the increase purchased offshore.

Just to get an idea of the scale of the problem, to avoid the increase of a billion tons per year in imported coal to China would require replacing the coal power with 135 Gigawatt power facilities. It boils down to building 7 big power stations a year just to stay even, say 14 per year to make a dent.

If we build nuclear stations, the cost might be 10B each, so this could be a problem costing around 1.35 trillion. Big but not beyond consideration when you factor in the cost of continuing on the current path.

The rate of environmentally sustainable power generation construction is no where near making a dent in the growth of coal unless there is a major boost to this mode of power generation supported by flows of capital on the order of that now going to Coal.

The capital markets see the construction of facilities that can process hundreds of millions of tons of coal a year and major capital committed to distribution system improvements.

If climate change is to be mitigated by reducing CO2 in the atmosphere, time is short, and the capital that is now going into creating a coal flow from the ground into the atmosphere must be redirected to creating the new energy infrastructure.

Some incremental progress is being made with the development of wind power, but this has not been part of an integrated transmission/system operation/investment/WindGeneration program. Creation of a large scale program that would include the above along with research and an educational outreach program is an opportunity for government to help us work in a common, effective manner to implement prudent measures that would bring our economy into balance with the environment, and reduce dramatically our reliance on foreign oil and coal supplies.

The process of creating a new viable energy supply source capable of running a country sustainably has a time scale of decades which is unfortunately the same time scale for us to control CO2 emissions if we are to mitigate the heating now underway to a level below that which produces catastrophic consequences to our civilization.

2010-04-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

Wide Area Wind Power Systems

One of the issues that concerns energy planners who are considering renewable energy system investments in wind power is that wind is notoriously variable and energy investors want base load systems that reliably produce predictable amounts of power. So wind systems in the past have relied upon supplemental power generation systems, most commonly coal fired systems. The need for the supplemental systems to even out the wind power during times when the wind dies adds significant cost to wind systems and reduces the sustainable benefits.

Recently published research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online by Willett Kempton, et. al, addressed this problem in a simple, clever way. The scientists consider systems that are very large and connected by smart transmission systems, systems larger than a typical weather system.

The researchers consider an example system that would produce tens of Gigawatts of power using off shore platform mounted wind systems conneted by a transmission system extending from Florida to Main. A review of meteorological data over a 5 year period shows that a synoptic system can have reliable base load characteristics with only a slowly varying capacity factor, mimizing the need for supplimentary base load generation capacity. The offshore wind power system spanning the entire Eastern seaboard could be a federal project and feasible from a political point of view since it would be out of the range of state regulators.

A key component is a 2500 mile power transmission system coonnecting a string of huge wind generation platforms. Such a system could replace a significant fraction of the coal plants now powering the cities along the Eastern margin of the country providing economical power and producing no new CO2. Of course building such a system would likely require a lot of fossil fuels and release a lot of CO2 before one watt of "sustainable power" could be produced.

Here is the paper that appeared at http://www.pnas.org/:

Electric power from offshore wind via synoptic-scale interconnection By Willett Kempton, Felipe M. Pimenta, Dana E. Veron, Brian A. Colle April 5, 2010 Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Sciences

They propose the creation of a new Independent System Operator for a network of power stations located off the Atlantic coast of the U.S. spanning the distance from Florida to Maine and connected by a transmission cable system capable of moving power long distances, connected to the shore at several strategic locations. Such a system could serve population centers that now rely mainly on coal fired generation capacity, helping to counter global warming.

While the technical and financial challenges would be enormous, their imagination and creative thinking are just what is needed to bring our country into the new age, to keep our economy humming, and to create jobs. Many of the basic challenges have been addressed elsewhere, such as the Dutch use of offshore platforms for wind generation, or the use of long underwater power transmission systems.

Since the system would be offshore, individual states wouldn’t have jurisdiction and the federal government could create the new ISO and sponsor such a project. It would take a massive investment of capital, likely a combination of private and public capital, but such a project is exactly the sort of massive undertaking that only the government can undertake, and that could make a real difference in our lives for generations.

There is still much research that would need to be done to address the myrid of technical, project management and policy questions.

For example:

Large scale wind energy farms can affect weather. Authors assert but do not support the assertion that the effects from a synoptic wind power system would be more manageable and less severe than the global warming that would occur in the alternate “do nothing” case.

Other impacts such as affects on pelagic bird populations may be significant. Research needs to be done to devise ways to minimize bird kill. We must find active ways to warn or protect birds..

The ability of enormous wind generators on offshore platforms to withstand the forces generated as large hurricanes march up the chain of wind generation stations is an engineering accomplishment as yet undemonstrated. European systems point the way, and oil platform technology would certainly work.

The scale of the project would be enormous, the benefits on the same scale, and lasting for many generations. The cost would be enormous, on the order of a hundred twenty billion dollars. By harnessing the wind off shore, our dependence on oil would decrease although our need for a Navy would increase.

The synoptic wind system idea may find application in other parts of the world. This research took advantage of the data bouy system operated by NOAA which has a long term database of meterological data for offshore wind. Without such a compehensive database, it may be hard to do the modeling that would justify such a project, although once the concept is validated, its application elsewhere would be able to utilize other data such as satellite data, etc.

It takes a long time to realize such an idea, so the sooner we start, the sooner we can build our own energy independence.

Bruce Bagnoli

April 12, 2010

Additional open issues:

2010-03-03T06:29:00.000-08:00

Inertia, distraction, and those factors that slow us down. One for me is the anxiety that can come on like a thunderstorm when I'm in contact with the chaos that we live amidst all the time. Most of the time, the "reality" that I'm living with is the mundane, the reassuring routine that cracks open sometimes to expose the terrifying forces swirling around us.

Recently when the Chile earthquake happened, my brother in law phoned to warn us that there was a Tsunami warning for our region. He was a few time zones earlier, thought we might not be awake to find out. Very considerate. We phoned friends who were a few time zones further on.

The folks that we warned called later to thank us for the consideration, and that brought the news that a couple of 40 years together were separated by the wife's death and the memorial was the next day. Sad news, but the consideration broke through the isolation and brought some love when most needed to the survivor. One of the others who connected with us shared that they were selling the house and moving back to the West Coast, giving up their dream of living right on the coast of Hawaii.....I mean these folks live 10' above the ocean near Hilo, right at the edge of the lava---great view but not the place to be if there had been a Tsunami as was experienced along the Chilean shores...We are thankful for the warninig, even if the Tsunami was small in Hilo---

So the consideration and love for friends is what patched up the rip in the "normal", it's what makes it worthwhile to go through this. When we remember just how precious our time together is, maybe it helps to moderate the little angers, the little dissapointments, and the big fears that lie just beyond.

2010-02-19T05:58:00.000-08:00

Molecular Farming

is all about producing specific molecules from plants, using genetic modification techniques. It's about directed evolution, using a plant to express a gene that may come from another organism. It's a new term to me, though I've been interested in the field for decades.

The idea of expressing genes that may have come from other organisms in plants is not new, but the capacity to overcome some of the "natural" barriers to such a move are recent discoveries.

I'm enjoying reading "Plastid production of protein antibiotics against pneumonia via a new strategy for high-level expression of antimicrobial proteins: . Since I'm not a molecular biologist, it takes me a while to understand this paper, lots of looking up unfamiliar techniques and terms. Fun to learn, as I do know a fair amount about some of the science underlying this work.

Here is the reference to the paper, it is available for free.
PNAS vol. 106 No. 16 6579-6584 by Ralph Bock, et al
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/03/27/0813146106.full.pdf

Researchers in Germany took a few genes from a phage that infects the bacteria causing bacterial Pneumonia, put them into e.coli for amplification, then using a toxin shuttle, they blasted them into chloroplasts and then reproduced the plants. In short, they have a new route to produce antibiotics.

The novel idea was to make the injected genes in such a way that the e.coli didn't completely express the genes. Without this "stop" in the gene replication, the phage gene that produces the chemical that kills the pneumonia will also kill the e.coli....but with the modification, the e.coli bacteria produces many clones of the gene that can then be passed on to the plant.

Injecting the amplified genetic material into plant plastids put them into a different environment and they then express the gene. This strategy takes advantage of the differences between bacteria and higher plants.

At the same time, before it becomes medicine, there is a lot of work to do. The understanding of how to take this path and the skills to carry out each step technically require the highest level of understanding and scientific laboratory support. Nevertheless, once the tough work is done in the lab, it is likely that the farm could produce tons of product. Continued agricultural practice is not without special technical issues such as how long a pure "high-expression" plant could last outside the lab. It is possible that this could completely change the economics of certain pharmaceutical substances.

While there is no way to know if this line of work is going to result in a medically useful product, it would be smart to invest in the basic scientific research that underlies these processes, and to develop the technology to extend the capability.

Awesome research, such a privilege to be alive and to encounter such work!

2009-12-30T07:01:00.000-08:00

Algae have great potential in the quest for biofuel, but the basic research needed to support the farming of algae is starving. Recently several start-up companies have failed, and energy research in this area is not funded at a level that will support the development of basic research and applied research.

Wired magazine has a piece that reports the latest gloomy developments (Wired Magazine December 2009-How Algal Biofuels Lost a Decade in the Race to Replace Oil* By Alexis Madrigal ), pointing out that venture capitalists are pulling back from funding development efforts as the prospect of profits recede toward the horizon. Alexis also reports that collections of algae that were studied are now lost since the money to renew the cultures collected has vanished. This is a tragic loss since without the culture lines that were studied, much of the research knowledge was lost with them.

This is a classic example of where government funded research into the basic science can be effective, as a base level of knowledge and a community of scientists and technologists are necessary before a new industry can develop. It also highlights that without a congressional sponsor or "angel" who keeps the research funding going in the U.S. budget, science suffers.

The model to date is that small start up companies are formed to develop commercial technology, but this model usually results in the scientific knowledge being viewed as "intellectual property" that is proprietary.

When government research done through Universities and the energy research national laboratories produces a corpus of knowledge that is part of the public commons, this process can seed a real diffusion of the knowledge necessary to make a viable industry. Unfortunately the greed apparent in the current model is antithetical to the development of a critical mass of basic scientific knowledge that would enable such a transition from lab to farm.

While large energy companies have announced large programs to make biofuels, many sound more like PR campaigns than viable commitments to do the research needed to understand culture, genetics, and extraction of useful products from algae grown as an agricultural crop.

We need to better understand how communities of algae can be kept going for long periods of time, and to conserve the many species of algae that are endangered as global warming dries up the pond scum that nurtures these beings. Indeed there may be species living in some puddle that can produce pharmaceuticals, feed-stocks, biofuels, and sequester Co2 efficiently from the coal that we continue to burn in excess. We should make the basic science available to the public, and encourage the private firms that are experimenting with the technologies to publish more of their research.

When one of the start-up firms goes belly up, perhaps the government could purchase the research and make it available to the research community. It is important to learn from the failures as much as to publicize the successes. When we loose the story of the failures, so often the history is just going to be repeated elsewhere. Since failure of a start up may be a convolution of management failures along with scientific and technological failures, the gleaning of this knowledge is a research topic that demands a multidisciplinary case study if we are to learn useful lessons from the failures. Such research is properly conducted by University teams, and funded by government or foundations.

I hope that Stephan Chu as Energy Secretary will have the vision to fund the basic science needed to understand this ancient plant family better. While I can't predict where the research will lead, I know that growing a crop of new scientists and technicians who will build the intellectual commons where algae knowledge is a public resource is a good investment for our future.

Bruce Bagnoli

2009-12-24T07:01:00.000-08:00

Climate warming drives sea level rise and that may trigger increased seismic and volcanic activity. As the weight on the continental margins shifts as sea level rises, we may begin to see responses from the earth that could include earthquakes.
A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle explained how scientists have discovered that tides, and the gravitational tugs of the sun and moon can trigger small, long duration low magnitude seismic action deep in the earth along the San Andreas Fault in California.

San Andreas found extremely sensitive...by John Wildermuth

This activity is below the level that generates most of the earthquakes that we feel, but as it moves, it puts strain on the levels closer to the surface and may create the conditions for a larger quake. The research was reported here:

Tremor-tide correlations and near-lithostatic pore pressure on the deep San Andreas fault by Amanda M. Thomas, Robert M. Nadeau & Roland Bürgmann,Nature,Volume 462 Number 7276,page1048

I speculate that similar mechanisms may respond to the shift in the weight distribution as glaciers melt, ice sheets move, and sea level rises. Indeed the geological record has hints that this may have happened during earlier climate shifts. There is no way to predict the magnitude of the effects that will be experienced as a consequence of the redistribution of so much mass but the forces involved are huge and even slight shifts in the earth can have huge consequences for our society.

Increased volcanism could be beneficial as it can send clouds of gasses that provide short term cooling as happened when Mt. Pinatubo exploded a few decades ago. Of more concern is the increased seismic activity that may be triggered.

More research is needed, and funding for both deep earth science and modeling that would simulate the redistribution of mass as the climate warms could help us understand the changes in store as we experience the climate change already "in motion".

2009-12-11T05:46:00.000-08:00

Kindness has a universal quality, a warmth made all the more important in it's rarity. It's a situational thing, a recognition of an opportunity, a conscious choice from an intuitive, emotional knowing rooted in shared values.

Kindness brings light to a darkness sometimes colored by despair, and a reward not sought. Kindness crosses species, and may be observed amongst "animals" as well as humans.

So practice systematic kindness and random acts of beauty!

2009-11-26T07:34:00.000-08:00

In a short video available on Google Video, the Cambodian Norry railroad story is presented in an enjoying short video..

Bamboo Railway - Battambang, Cambodia

The story of how the Cambodian people could recycle pieces from the weapons of a genocidal war to fashion a working means of communication with the help of critical U.N. technical assistance in the form of gasoline engines shows how U.N operations can be effective with little cost. This railway operation benefits from the Cambodian ingenuity and cooperative values.

The very simple design of the rail car is economical in use of materials, only the basics beyond the gasoline engine. It's one use of gasoline where its an amazing and appropriate energy source. These engines are simple, rugged, and effective. The use of a stick on the axle as a brake is, perhaps, not enough safety for me however.

One wonders what they will do when the supply of abandoned battle tanks runs out that provide the wheels for the Norry. The absence of bumpers requires a certain fatalism from the passengers. Low speeds and the lack of rail traffic make this system practical.

Since the car must be taken off the tracks when a "REAL TRAIN" comes along or one Norry must pass the other, the design has parts that can be moved by at most two people, even one. Obviously the passengers are expected to help with taking the car on and off the tracks..... This limitation in the design is quite a challenge. The bamboo in the car platform deck is a locally grown resource and lightweight

I found this web video after following a link from a Facebook posting to a video by Gib Cooper where a Mexican master craftsman shows how to bend bamboo culms with heat. From there the YouTube suggestions with keyword bamboo had this video. I love railroads and bamboo, so I went there. What a gem!

The vision to create this informal rural rail system had huge and lasting beneficial impact on the lives of the survivors of the Khemer Rouge genocide. The U.N. is a vital part of our international community when it acts in this way. A catalyst and an enabler of the things that make life better.

2009-11-19T04:30:00.000-08:00

My grandmother said that the hardest part of growing older was loosing friends. She lived to be 102, and by then, had lost all her friends though she still had our family. She passed away while my mother was in Europe with her husband, and I think that she had to go when Mom wasn't there. They were very close, and even though Grandmother lost some of her cognative powers as she aged, that love never faded.

For me, growing older has been good in some ways, as I'm married again, and happier than before. My values are more clear, as what's important comes through the noise as I age. Indeed Grandmother was right, friends are so important, and making new ones is both a pleasure and a challenge.

With my first wife, there was a time of closeness, family, learning and the shared dreams. The shared visions and values were corroded as fundamental incompatibilities in our core values came through, turning raw emotional sores into deep wounds.

My own immaturity was a factor in some dumb choices when I was young, but I did the best that I could and many of my choices were good. Now 60, my first wife died some 27 years after we divorced. She left me and precipitated a crises in my life, upending my story, in a painful episode that cauterized some aspects of me. It also caused me to seek counseling and to question many of my assumptions, and I changed in some important ways. Fortunately we were able to forgive each other before she passed away, and she was honest about some things that I suspected but never knew that happened during our marriage. She confirmed that my intuition was right, that my deepest self knew what I didn't want to know. She was able to grow and before she passed away, she was able to bring love to the forefront, and to give her daughter that unconditional love that is the gift that never dies.

So for me, living long enough to get some perspective on those painful events so long ago, to forgive and be forgiven, to learn and to understand has been a great gift. I learned about some of my unrealistic expectations and choices, and how some of my values and choices meant so much to those around me. That validation of who I am and my worth has been a comfort, and one that could only come with the perspective of time.

Even under the stress of loosing my marriage, I held to certain core values and personal decisions about how I would live my life. Those core values have been life saving, in ways that I never imagined. Indeed, it was only later that I learned that a slightly different choice could have been deadly for me, as I could have been exposed to disease that later killed her. Of course, her passing was the confluence of many things, and the lifelong alcoholism wasn't going to "work out". It's not a feeling of superiority that I'm talking about, rather the experience of amazing grace.

The grace that got me through those tough times and is with me today. The grace that got me through being with my dear partner Peggy when she passed away from cancer and the grace that lead me to open my heart again to my wife today. Amazing grace, thanks for the grace in my life! Thanks for this morning, for this breath. Thanks.

As the American Indians pray, "all life is sacred".

for all my relations,

thanks.

2009-10-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

Combining the use of sophisticated room mapping laser scanner data models with acoustic sensors that report acoustic signals from many locations at the same time is an improvement that I thought of while discussing how to map room acoustics. There are existing systems that don't use computer room mapping and computer sensor geolocation but that use optical techniques to visualize room acoustic performance.

One application of the present system uses dozens of small sensor modules that read sound pressure and spectrum, reporting the data using led sensors, and viewed either directly or through a camera with a high scan rate.

What would be especially useful is to be able to have a direct data set of the generator waveform/spectrum as well as having access to processed waveform data from many discrete point in a room. If you are setting up for a concert, the sound sources can be balanced rapidly with existing equipment.

This additional improvement would allow designers to incorporate real world data, in models of how the space might be modified and how that modified space would perform. With this equipment, the first process is to made a digital model of the space, using the laser-scanner technology ( such as produced by Leica Geosystems) to measure the space and locate objects in the room). Then the sensors are activated, the sound source emits the test acoustic signal, the data is recorded both as a data packet, but also as a visual record.

From a design point of view, the proposed system provides both a mathematical model of the space, but since it knows the location of each sensor, the software can visualize the acoustic picture in a three dimensional way. as well as interacting with design software.

Once the model of the existing space is created ( perhaps using autocad) textures of the surfaces may be identified, then the designer can change dimensions or materials, and check performance using conventional modeling software.

The equipment can also display the patterns in real time, which can help in the tuning of a space as loudspeakers are aimed, baffels adjusted, mics placed, delays adjusted.

10-31-2009

2009-09-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

Fast Ignition Fusion is being tested in several laboratories around the world this year and next. The main idea is to use lasers to spark a fusion burn, after the fuel is compressed by other means. While nature doesn't give up secrets easily, and there is much to learn, it's exciting that the field has such vitality.

Already there are potential spin offs, with the use of tiny laser accelerators to do heavy ion radiotherapy a very real possibility in the near future. Using lasers with very high intensity pulses, a beam of protons can be generated that only has a short range, but it could be used to treat cancers, and is potentially less expensive than the RFQ accelerators now used in hospitals.

The fast ignition fusion systems that are now contemplated may have a high enough repetition rate when combined with z-pinch technology to generate enough neutrons to extract energy from some of the nuclear waste that we now argue about where to store.

We could have a new generation of reactors that could extract power now locked up in spent reactor fuel. To do so takes an inexpensive source of an intense neutron flux. When generated by an inherently unstable source, it is easy to control the reaction as the fission process is driven by the more controllable fusion process.

This sort of reactor was invented by Carlos Rubbia (Nobel Prize Winning CERN physicist) in the context of an accelerator driven sub-critical device. Carlos pointed out that a useful reactor could use a small barrel of U233 or Thorium driven by an accelerator bean to produce useful amounts of energy. The same approach can substitute a fusion neutron source, possibly using fast ignition technology.

The present generation of lasers don't have a duty cycle that would be fast enough for a pure fusion power plant, but this approach could significantly relax the repetition rate requirement.

These hybrid reactors utilize a burst of neutrons to initiate fission, and the time scales are quite different. Fusion burns are short unless you contain them as in the sun, maybe on a time scale of 10e-10sec, while fission occurs on a time scale of pico seconds 10e-6sec, and fission doesn't happen at the same time to an ensemble of fissile atoms. So you could have a series of bursts of fission that would drive a more drawn out fission burn, and if controlled well, you could manage the fission power level to keep it at a manageable level. With enough neutron intensity, the present nuclear waste could be burned to a combination of isotopes that would be easier to manage.

Now I know that the idea of handling something labled as nuclear waste for power generation is a controversial subject, but the technology isn't all that far fetched and could be an environmental boon. While there will be scare mongers who object with knee-jerk predictability, thoughtful environmentalists will recognize that producing energy while addressing the legacy of the first generation nuclear power plants is smart, and can help address the climate warming due to fossil fuel use.

Research should be accelerated to investigate this technology in parallel with the fusion program. While this research isn't directly relevant to weapons, it is relevant to national security. Our security is enhanced when our energy production is combined in a reduction to the threat that storing large amounts of nuclear waste for generations now poses.

With the repository in Nevada effectively blocked, and billions spent on the unused repository in the southwest, a modest program to study a transmutation power reactor is a smart investment, one that the two U.S. National labs are well equipped to cary out. Some work is already underway at Lawrence Livermore and at Los Alamos, but the program is not focused, doesn't have clear leadership and isn't likely to produce a coherent message that can attract the sort of sponsorship needed to develop the concepts, engineering and technology needed to make hybrid reactors a reality soon.

2009-08-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

Spirit of Place August 29 2009

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Submitted by bruce on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 10:12.

I'm working on a show that grows out of a performance of a dance at Stern Grove choreographed by Marin's Anna Halprin called "Spirit of Place" on May 3, 2009. Lawrence Halprin designed the renovated theater. This performance explores the space that he created and honors his design. We hope to air the shows starting in October 2009 on Marin Public Access cable Channel 26.

Five volunteers from the Community Media Center of Marin collaborated with two other videograpers to videotape the two performances. The performance area was almost 100 yards wide and 50 yards deep, making the taping very challenging. We used 4 camera's and were constantly challenged since this dance had many activities going on simultaneously across the extraordinarily wide performance area. Editing is also quite challenging. Anna Halprin is actively involved in the production process.

It's wonderful to be working on a production at the new media center with such creative and skilled people.

We also interviewed Anna Halprin about the development of the piece, and the "back story". Lawrence ( a well known master Landscape Architect) also spoke with us about ideas incorporated in the design of the amphitheater. He and Anna have been working and performing at Stern Grove since the early 1950's. It's a whole new place for performances since he redesigned it in 2003 and it was rebuilt in a 15 million dollar renovation of the park. This dance shows off the imported Chinese stone work and reminds of of the possibilities, of dimensions beyond the usual.

Light rain kept the crowd to a minimum, though it also made for a unique performance of the piece during the morning. We also taped an afternoon performance. There were over 30 performers, many of whom have worked with Anna for years, some from her dance workshops, some local residents from the Stern Grove area.

For additional information on the Community Media Center of Marin you can check out their website: Marin.TV

2009-08-15T06:42:00.000-07:00

California may have made a public statement about settling the budget, but the impacts of the decisions made are just starting to ripple through the state and it's obvious that the Governor and legislature took an ax to the "safety net".

We do foster care for some of the most innocent, vulnerable people in the state, the children displaced by family tragedy. The new state budget won't provide child care for these infants and kids, so working families who are willing to provide foster care are now asked to subsidize the state welfare system from their own pockets.

Many who provide foster care will not be able to continue to support this system, leaving many kids without good temporary homes when they are without their own families.

How can the Republicans justify this heartless attack on the most vulnerable? What political principals hold that our society should not care for our little kids who are homeless through no fault of their own. Some of these kids are traumatized, all are vulnerable. Some semblance of a system remains, but the guts are being cut out in the name of "no new taxes" or "tax cuts for the rich!".

There was rhetoric about how some people made money doing foster care, but in my experience knowing many foster care families, no one is getting rich off the system, most foster care families do so out of love for children, and most foster care providers were putting in more than they got out of the system. No doubt, as in any system, there may be some folks who game the system, but instead of addressing those few problems, the whole system was cut back. Our county also lost social workers, case loads increased, and expenses were shifted to private citizens and groups. It's the kids and the families who bear the immediate cost, but it is society that will ultimately feel the cost of kids who's needs were not met, kids who didn't get therapy, kids who grow up bitter and sad, kids who won't know compassion.

While this is the tiny area that I can see, it is clear that there are hundreds more examples of cuts that target the ill and infirm, the powerless.

Maybe it's a Republican value to change our society into the sort of third world place where the powerless are not even seen, where hopelessness and cruelty are taken for granted, where "justice for all" and basic human needs are available only for the rich and strong. For most of my life, it wasn't a party thing, we all believed that our society should provide basic human needs for the least amongst us.

Sad, but this is the reality here in California in August 2009.

2009-06-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

Community service work is one element of my life that has grown larger as I've matured. I choose where to volunteer, and am more careful in where I give my energy. There are so many worthy groups, and I have so little time that is descretionary, I choose small tasks, small projects to avoid over commitment.

Some of the work that I've taken on aims to enable community video broadcasting, to give voices to folks who would otherwise be invisible. I've been working to bring this capacity to Marin, sometimes by individual action such as volunteering as a camera operator on a crew making a public access show about a local human treasure or a local issue. Other times it is supporting the Community Media Center of Marin, serving as a volunteer board chair, working with Marin Telecommunications Agency on Public Access issues, negotiating contracts and organizing the non-profit that now runs the local stations. Sometimes it's a solo project, something that I can do on my own initiative. Sometimes those projects become the seed for a project in another cycle.

Recently I took some photographs of a local event, the 2009 Planetary Dance at Santos Meadow, and posted a few on the web. I shared the images with some of the folks who participated, and a link went out to a group of folks. Out of the blue, I received an email from a person who I knew back in 1975 and hadn't seen for all these years. Nice complement on the photos, and a reminder of just how connected we are in this community. Our links are many times unknown until some serendipity releases a glimmer of light.

There were othe comments, and that was nice, a project "delivered", a promise kept.

When I made these photos, I knew that the group has some amazing people in it, some artists, some dancers, poets, drummers and musicians, singers and actors, writers, architects and crafts people, dabblers and masters, cooks and parents, children and grandparents, and many who are much more. It was a privilege to be able to take photos amongst folks who are comfortable with media, who embrace it and utilize it themselves, people who are comfortable enough with themselves ( for the most part) that a camera isn't a distraction from their focus on the performer or the audience. The performances were called "offerinigs" and indeed that was the spirit of the day.

Interesting to edit the photos, as I thought that I was taking a lot of pictures, but when I'm critical, there aren't that many good pictures. While shooting I'm working to get the best image every time, but I also know that with movement I must be both with the rhythm and anticipatory, and repeat often to ensure that I have made an image of the action at it's most expressive instant.

Still photos are by nature in tension with the fluidity that is the essence of dance, yet sometimes the still image captures something of the event that is evocative and true to the performance. This is what I seek when I make event photos.

The Nikon D300 is fast enough that I am regaining my sense of precisely how long it is between the time that I press the shutter release and the time that the image is recorded. This physical knowledge in my mindBody enables me to take thoughtful photographs rather than use the "hose" method of action photography. Even so, I need to make quite a few images to yield a few really outstanding images that convey what I envisioned, and what was going on with the subject.

Just a few years ago, digital camera's couldn't capture a good image fast enough and with a very predictable interval so for years I couldn't use the techniques that I'd developed shooting news and sports with my Nikon film cameras. You have to shoot thousands of images, working to make a good picture each time, before you have the proficiency to start to attend to another level of the art. It's a skill thing, enabled by hardware. It's a skill built by reviewing thoughtfully each image that I made, reflecting on what works, what I missed each time that I made an image.

It was fun this weekend to know that the ability to capture an image when I think/see that its the right moment is returning. I used two lenses, a 12-24mm zoom and the 18-200 VR lens. Some of my favorite images were made with the wide angle lens. I'm glad that I had both, there were even a few times when I wished that I had brought the 80-400mm VR lens along. The long lens is heavy, maybe 4 lbs, and I left it in the car. My mobility was very important.

Once back home, I transferred the images to a pc and used Adobe Lightroom to edit the days production. I selected a collection of about 112 images from over 425 that I made on Saturday. Each image was cropped, had it's histogram adjusted to ensure proper whites and blacks, then I adjusted the gamma curve on many of the images, adjusted saturation, applied sharpening. Next I dodged and burned some parts of images to deal with the excessive contrast outdoors.

Then I exported the non-destructively edited images to a web gallery using a Flash template. Next I wrote some minimal copy, and posted the 200mb+ ensemble to a web site. Sent out some links to folks after testing the web gallery to ensure that it "could work". This editing process took about 4 hours, at least.

It was important to complete the edit asap, to post the images before the glow of the event faded. This I did, and the process was very enjoyable.

It would have been even better to have collaborated with someone who could record and edit audio, as sound was an important element at the event. The stills are really abstract without sound, but they have a descriptive artistic power of their own.

2009-06-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

Recently my 21+ year old cat friend Kiwi died, and while its hard for me to write, I want to share some of the lessons that came from the experiences at the end of her long life.

Kiwi had a change in her condition a few days before she passed, her circulatory system was failing, and even though her kidneys were ok, I noticed that she wasn't processing fluids properly. When I'd give her Ringers Lactate under the skin for hydration, it would pool in her legs instead of being absorbed in a few minutes. The vet said that her peripheral circulation was failing and he could hardly feel a pulse in her legs.

Sharon urged me to keep her at home unless she was really suffering. We considered "putting her down", and discussed it with the Vet, but she wasn't in pain and seemed to want to be with me. Even though it was hard for me, I took her home and decided to keep her comfortable.

Once she was home, she was wanting to be close to me, and I held her head in the palm of my hand, stroked her emaciated body, and comforted her. I took her outside and and put her on a bed that I'd brought on the table in the garden courtyard. She seemed to enjoy being in the sun, but after a while, it was too warm for her. I moved the table under the shade of the plum tree, and she was more comfortable.

It was time for her to get more fluids, so I hung the bag from a tree branch and inserted the needle under her skin of her back around the shoulders. I again held her head in the palm of my hand and stroked her flank as the life giving fluids flowed through the tubing into her body. She seemed weaker, but also enjoying this time in nature outside. After a while, it seemed as if she had enough, so I unplugged her and took her back inside.

She refused to eat, a change that signaled the beginning of her passing. She and I spent a lot of time together that Saturday, and I cried knowing that she wouldn't be with me for long. She was so weak, yet she responded to my touch. I was very glad that I brought her home, even though it was very difficult for me, it was also important to support this Kitty friend in her time of need.

The next morning, her breathing was labored, more or less like chen-stokes syndrome. I spent time with her, but had to go to the Community Media Center on my bike. Before I left I said good-by and told her that she could leave while I was on my errand. She wasn't responding to me, and her eyes seemed far away.

When I returned a couple hours later, she was gone.

Kiwi was such a loyal friend, and we had a great last few months together. Early this year she rallied, started getting up before me, going down the hall on her own to the kitchen to wait for me to get up and make coffee. She would hang out with our other two cats, Snowy and Carol. She'd bray for me when she wanted me to do something for her, like carry her back to her warm cat bed with the warm pad. She'd eat crunchies from Snowy's bowl even though she only had about three teeth left, pushing him aside to get a few bites. Carol snuggled with her most mornings, cleaning her head and sleeping with Kiwi on the warm pad.

I spent more time with her, took her outside more, and had her stay with me on the couch in the living room when Sharon and I settled in after dinner. Kiwi took quite a bit of maintenance, as I had to provide fresh towels ( she had some incontenance), give her fluids twice a day, and Lactulose stool softener. I gave her this care for over three years, every day. The cost wasn't insignificant, and she had to visit the vet a few times each year.

In some way, I felt joy at being able to provide the support that kept her going while she had the spirit and the will to be with me. She had been there as my cat friend through many difficult times, through the good times as well. All her life she was really good about comming when I called, and even though Alex and Alicia Star were my favorites, she would waddle along like the nerd kitty when we went walking along the railroad track.

Kiwi was there when my partner left way back in 1989, she was there during my difficult times in the early 1990's, and again when I lost my job in 1995, when my dear love Peggy died in 2001, and Kiwi stayed as my lap cat until her kidneys started failing in 2006. I thought it unlikely that giving her fluids would do more than make her passing easier, but she responded strongly to that early supportive therapy and made it though her crisis. Her willingness to endure the twice daily fluids under the skin with a needle made it possible to give her fluids without a struggle, and contributed to our success at supporting her health.

We had outstanding vet care, mostly from Dr. Bill Estheimer at East San Rafael Animal Hospital. Bill was willing to work with me with this old cat, and patiently taught me how to improve my techniques in giving fluids, injectons, etc. Dr. Estheimer and Dr. Michelle Rose helped Kiwi when she became blocked, and helped me to find a special diet that worked for a cat with megacolon disease.

Since I know that I did everything that I could for her, and that she appreciated her life and being part of the Skolnick-Bagnoli family, when she passed it was easier for me than when I've lost other cats. I had accepted that she would pass when she was ready for months, maybe even years. I was grateful for the time with her, but recognized that her time was at hand when she stopped eating and her circulatory system began to collapse.

Thanks Kiwi, you were a great friend and teacher!

2009-03-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

A friend once said "White man make big fire, sit far away, Indian make small fire, sit close."
This phrase offers a wise observation from a culture that lived at least 10,000 years here in North America without devastating the ecology. A people who didn't talk about sustainability, but who were all about it.

Some supposedly "advanced" folks liked to talk down about "savages", but it now appears that they were advanced in some important ways. Some would argue that they didn't have the capacity to alter the planet, others observe that they thrived and lived in a sort of harmony with nature.

Our civilization may alter the climate in such a way that we loose a third or half of the species on the planet. If so it would be one of the worst mass extinction event in the future history of the planet. I've wondered what it would look like if we were 10,000 years in the future? With an asteroid, we can find an impact crater perhaps if it caused a geophysical event, but with CO2 driven climate change, it's a more subtle signal if viewed from a distant planet. A sad change, and one that we can yet mitigate.

Hopefully we will learn from the ways of the native Americans, from our farmers, foresters and ecologists, scientists and our best minds. Can we learn to live with our nature as the treasure that it is? Can our society learn to respect, protect, and conserve the wild spaces,? It is the diversity of life and the large habitat areas that are the most precious legacy we could give to future generations.

Sometimes it is so easy to help a species through the narrow point as they face extinction, and yet so difficult to get folks to support these efforts. Extinction is different from individual death of course, and it's so unnecessary to allow entire lines of evolution to stop just because some greedy fool wants a blip of profit, just because the values don't yet account for the environment, and our economic system hasn't figured out how to work effectively in the new ways that are necessary to adapt our society to the realities becoming apparent in global climate change.

With Perigrine Falcons, a small amount of money, some dedicated scientists and caring people, good luck, and they are now populating California again in sustainable numbers. This small triumph shows how we can make a difference, yet it is a fragile triumph as the species will need continued stewardship as the climate shifts and habitat is threatened.

I suspect that as the climate heating raises the ocean levels and unloads the glacier weight, the crust of the earth and the tectonic plates may flex a tiny bit, but make big news in the process. It seems to me that the distribution of weight on the plate boundaries (margins in some cases) may allow some things like large earthquakes and increased volcanic activity.

On the good side, volcanic activity can cool things, unfortunately we may be fooling with a system prone to catastrophic transitions to other parts of the dynamic map. Some "tipping points" appear within the horizon, a wake up call, an opportunity to conserve the heritage that we enjoy for future generations.

2009-03-18T06:29:00.000-07:00

Climate Change and Nuclear Waste: Solve both with one stroke!

A new perspective on nuclear power is long overdue in the environmental movement and James Hansen's recent talk at U.C. Berkeley points the way ( see video of his presentation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ctTxZHosI). The urgency of developing a new energy infrastructure to replace the coal and oil based technology is understood, how to do it is the open question.

What most folks don't know today is that the current generation of nuclear power generation plants don't efficiently burn the nuclear fuel, and they depend on a continuous supply of new Uranium. The main reason that they only extract a tiny fraction of the available energy from the fuel is concerns over proliferation and technical limits that are intrinsic to the first three generations of nuclear plants. Current plants generate what is labeled as "waste" but it's really a resource that can power the planet for the next 1000 years, enough to heal the earth from the blast of heat we are just beginning to experience from the burning of fossil fuel.

With the current nuclear power systems, we must store the waste for 24000 years or more and are committed to something that just isn't realistic. The current systems produce waste that has long decay times and it's been known for a long time though not discussed in public very much that the storage of nuclear waste for the long term isn't likely to be a viable solution. The more practical solution is to transmute the waste into a less harmful and shorter lived form, extracting the energy locked up in the process. We have enough waste now to provide power for our civilization for 1000 years-long enough for the excess CO2 to come out of the atmosphere.

The key to extracting the energy from what we now call nuclear waste is the development of subcritical fast neutron reactors such as the systems proposed by the Nobel laureate Carlos Rubbia ( see for example: http://blogs.nature.com/climatefeedback/2008/07/nobelists_talk_energy.html or a more technical talk : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHs2Ugxo7-8) or the more recent Lawrence Livermore proposal with the market ready acronym of "LIFE" : https://lasers.llnl.gov/missions/energy_for_the_future/life/how_life_works.php)

We will need to invest in the Research and Development that will make practical the recycling of our present harvest of nuclear "waste" and the recent impasse on the construction of a nuclear waste respository gives us an opening to rationalize our policy, and to solve one of humanities biggest challenges.

The use of the new generation of fast neutron sources growing out of the laser fusion and the z-pinch fusion programs makes it possible to both extract useful energy from the waste that we now store at each nuclear power station, and to reduce the volume of the waste that will need long term storage and to do so in a proliferation resistent way.

Our current generation of environmental activists are repeating slogans, and not grappling with the scientific realities, stuck in an old paridigm that obscures the real potential of this avenue to restore the viability of human civilization without giving up the precious aspects of our society and to get back to living in harmony with the natural world.

We can develop energy sources that reduce the potential for toxic pollution now present in every nuclear station through reprocessing of the waste, and it's important to do so before the thousands of tons of waste now stored deteriorates and poisons the environment and the possiblity of making use of this precious energy source.

The US and the world scientific community should immediately launch a project to develop the family of reactors that we know are possible. Several tracks are necessary including laser and z pinch fusion neutron sources, Thorium energy amplifiers, liquid flouride fast reactors, and the engineering studies and test facilities that can bring this technology to the point where we can build thousands of modular power stations within the next 30 years.

I think that with leadership from the Obama administration, and a clear vision from the scientific community combined with public education we can do this!

2008-07-05T06:10:00.000-07:00

Peregrine Falcons are still here, back from the brink of extinction and a case study that demonstrates how the endangered species protections can succeed. The saving of the Endangered Peregrine Falcon hasn't cost much, and has produced many unanticipated benefits.

This bird is off the endangered list, though it's still a species of concern, and it's instructive to examine what it took to get here. What is really needed to save a species or a genus from extinction?

It took a recognition that extinction was happening, it took a commitment by humans that these creatures survive this human civilization. Wildlife biology contributed a knowledge of the life cycle and habitat requirements for the birds.

Since Falcons have been kept by royalty for hunting for centuries, there was a lot of knowledge of how to raise birds, though these birds have some unique habits that made saving them more difficult, such as the tendency to nest on clifs, bridges, and skyscrapers.

The effort brought together lawyers who crafted legislation, legislation that created habitat protection, funding for the guardians at SPRIG ( University of California at Santa Cruz) who lead the program. The effort also included volunteers, foundations, private funding, public information, web cams, web discussion groups, web pages, power company mitigation measures ( technical support and retrofitting power systems to stop killing birds), special feeding and care techniques, protection of fledglings, public interest and support, media coverage, organization, facilities, cooperation from private landowners, public land trusts, being included in the mission of the fish and wildlife service, support for the Fish and Wildlife Service, documentary films, public education programs, and more.

The costs have been spread out over 25 years, and should go on for many more decades. Saving the endangered Peregrine Falcon from extinction also brought benefits to our society. We've learned what it takes, and we've done it. Saving species who have lived on earth for hundreds of millions of years from extinction is sacred work, a sacred duty for our civilization. Here is an example of the best of our society, a case where many segments of our society came together to do a compassionate act, and it worked.

The new knowledge of how the knowledge enabled a few dedicated folks to develop technology that could help with raising birds by humans who could successfully live in the wild. Life cycle studies, population studies, and looking at the cause of death for these rare birds was part of the successful save.

In the course of the quest to save the Peregrine Falcon from extinction, we've learned about how our ecosystem was shifting, exhibiting pathology, with the birds as a signal to pay attention, to recognize the shifts that were killing off beings who lived with us for so long. The simple act of putting a metal triangle on a power pole cross arm so that these big birds aren't electrocuted anytime they perch on a pole made a big difference in Peregrine mortality. The intervention of the Peregrine experts when birds have nests in an inappropriate site reduced the mortality of the babies, but will require an ongoing commitment if the "saving" is to continue, if we are to live together with our cities. Maybe the birds will adapt to cities more successfully, or maybe with enough birds in the wild it won't matter so much.

UCAL Santa Cruz biologists effectively utilized web cams to both monitor nests, and to stir up public support, volunteers, and even some funding. Web news groups are a way of coordinating, informing and mobilizing the Peregrine Falcon community. Telemetry has helped with tracking, that gave knowledge of how the birds travel, where they like to live, etc. Private land owners who protected nesting sites, who cooperate with University and wildlife care folk play an important role in this effort. Public education through documentary films or videos, tv specials, news releases, all help to develop the public awareness that makes this effort work.

The fact that these groups have effectively worked together is a bit of "intellectual or community capital", as this shared experience of successful cooperation is a model for other projects to emulate.

So while some bemoan or belittle the endangered species protection laws, the reality in this case is that a modest amount of resources from both public and private sources has been successful. None of the "job loss" or other "terrible impacts" have occurred, the restrictions on habitat conversion to human use haven't stifled the California economy.

Climate change is going to make such challenges much more frequent and even more difficult, and they make the life-affirming response even more necessary, even more important. We can help many creatures to transition to the new world humans have created with our release of greenhouse gasses, we can help them find new niches, we can create new niches for them if we are smart.

2008-07-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

How tools become valuable.

July 2008

Tools gain value when kept organized and ready to go. You have to be able to efficiently put your hands on a tool for it to convey a real capacity, a capability that it alone enables.

It follows that grouping tools into functional collections or kits is one way to take these concepts, and add a few choice pieces of hardware or a component, put this in a tool box, label it, and store it where it can be found amongst the other toolboxes.

Once you've used a tool, clean it, put it back in the toolbox. Track when a drill bit needs replacement, when the Teflon tape runs low, and keep these crucial elements stocked.

The meta view then is to have toolsets that are complete for a set of actions. An example is a pop rivet toolbox. Has the pop rivet tool, a selection of pop rivets, drill bits for each size of pop rivet, reamer. Simple, but with correct drill bits, more likely to be ready to go to work immediately. The correct assortment of tools, hardware and container means that 80% of the jobs can be done without a trip to the hardware store.

Fortunately some older guys told me to organize my tools, and helped instill good habits. My father worked that way. As I've gained experience, I'm so glad that I've lived by these values and understandings. It's nice to be able to go to my shop and just do a task. Simple, but when I was very young, the acquisition of the tool was my priority, it took a while for me to appreciate how the organization multiplies the value.

The shop is quite small, and yet it functions well. Has lots of power, a data connection, phone, natural light, and privacy. I don't like to be bothered when working in the shop, though I do enjoy visitors and collaborators.

Good security for the tools and the shop is vital, best to have an alarm system. This minimizes the times that you have to start over on the workshop….a non trivial consideration as the collection grows and becomes more useful.

Anyway, as the shop develops, it adds to the value of the tools, the kits, and we have a system capability, a capacity to do things that results from the synergism. At this level we might see for example a fume hood/dust-exhaust system adding value, as the tools can now be employed in a wider variety of ways, and health is maximized. At this level we might see a jib crane or a bridge crane, forge, etc.

At the shop level, attention to the sources of energy and utilities adds value. Lots of electrical outlets is basic, with compressed air a common upgrade, data ports, and sometimes various forms of water ( cooling water, de-ionized water, distilled water, potable water), gasses ( natural gas, nitrogen, etc.), sometimes its cryogens such as liquid nitrogen. Various forms of sewer add value, including ability to handle silt, acid waste, or the ability to contain, these add value.

The national laboratories take this concept two levels higher.

Laboratories combine the specialized work spaces/work shops into ensembles that convey a sophisticated capability such as that needed to do materials research. The national system of laboratories delivers a capability to manage the technical capabilities and research fields in a coordinated manner.

Culture is ultimately what gives value to tools, and this includes individual behavior, clan or tribal values, dynamics and practices, social organization, and how education works. The culture of the craftsman, the culture of the laboratory worker, these are important meta level assets that must be passed through time via organizations.

The simple transmission from master to apprentice has a modern analogue in the way that a PhD is earned, how folks get a doctorate in experimental science. It's not much changed as a cultural practice, a way of maintaining our cultural intellectual capital since long before Jesus was the son of a carpenter.

At the basic level, it's a decision to adopt the craftsman's practice that was important to me. The cultivation of the beginners mind is also important, but informed by cultivated habits of care that express an understanding of how this all fits together.

Thanks

2008-05-18T15:15:00.001-07:00

Small Services

Living with a very old cat gave me some lessons and is a privileged time of communication with another being. I’ve had a couple of cats that made it to 17 or 18 years old, but Kiwi making 20 is a surprise, beyond expectation.

We work out the nurse thing ( she depends on daily care) a bit at a time.

Kiwi has a particular bray-meow that signals that she wants me to come to her cat-bed for some important service. This is repeated in an urgent loop sequence. Once I answer with my Laguna whistle, she'll calm down a bit, perhaps emit a short meow now and then. If I fail to appear in a REASONABLE TIME, she'll resume the braying meow. Once I'm there in front of her, I give a very short meow in response to once of her calls.

This signals a change, and she sometimes pantomimes what is needed. Example, moving her head to toward the empty food dish, the soiled bedding, etc. Sometimes she meows a greeting. If I'm sleeping, she has patterns that are sure to wake me up, with intervals between sounds precisely phase locked with my cycles of deeper sleep, less deep sleep...... When I'm smart, I get up, take care of changing the bedding, give fluids, give meds, feed her, and then go back to bed myself..... Once she’s sure that I understand her and am doing what she asked me for, she’ll become almost chatty. Completely different demeanor.

When she's had a difficult time, she communicates it in a different set of meows. I'm sensitive to this, but it usually passes and she is very interested in life, snuggles with Carol ( our New Jersey Mat’s rescue cat), so I consult with the vet, and we go on, one day at a time.

Of course when she's happy eating, she purrs even while wolfing down some Fancy Feast "Tender Beef", chomping loudly. She purrs when I rub her head, when she rubs/marks my hand after I scratch behind her ears.

Kiwi also has taken action when I was not paying sufficient attention, and I appreciate that. I've had a hard time with the responsibility for this being, I do my best, and give thanks for the lessons. When I place her in a carrier cage to go to the vet, she’ll emit a distressed call. I hear it until we’re in the Vet’s back room. I reassure her that we’re doing our best, never knowing if it’s the last time. She’s really fragile, and I’m thankful when we both wake up in the morning.

It's also a communication that I have learned to read the pantomime a bit better, I'm able to observe when the eating pattern changes, and respond. Eating changes may signal a need for fluids, or it may be a sign that she's getting stopped up, or doesn't like the food offered. I'll do what the vet suggested first, heat the food for 8-10 sec in the microwave, then present it. Many times this works. Next step is usually to give fluids usually 120cc ringers lactate, wait an hour and present new food. Most of the time this works. Consult vet.

Good communications with a vet is essential, and I buy periodic blood tests to check kidney function. Her numbers aren't great, but are ok and pretty stable, better than a year ago.
There is always a question in my mind when I provide care for a being other than a human, should I be giving all to the greatest human need?

In this case, I felt a spiritual calling to give Kiwi the hospice care that I'd given to Alex, Alicia Star and Sharon’s cats. I was not expecting that these simple supportive measures would be so effective, would extend her time with me for this long. I'm thankful for the time and the amazing experiences, lessons I'd never imagined. I don’t know how I would do in such a situation myself, of if I was doing extended care for a loved one.

Very much like farming, you can’t go away without planning and covering the time away. Has been challenging with my job, and required travel. Having Grace Bruening’s Cat Care Service able to provide competent respite care has been a key capability covered. It's such a privilege to have enjoyed the past couple years when she passed a threshold of need for daily care that often leads to folks getting rid of a pet. For me, it's involved learning how to skillfully administer fluids with sterile technique, learning to be observant of her body rhythms, her need for "production", her meds being out of balance. By taking her to the vet before things get too far out of balance ( and her surviving my mistakes and learning process) she’s been helped through some rough spots, some difficult issues.

It's also been quite amazing to see her relationship with Carol- our rescue cat. Carol and Kiwi sleep together on Kiwi's heating pad, and Carol lets Kiwi put her forehead against her flank, they share food, and water. Carol and Kiwi are together for a while just about every day.

Snowy ( big white Turkish Van) now eats with the other cats at Kiwi's station, most mornings. They have never had hissing, he respects her, eats in his own space.Kiwi's set up includes a 23x32" heating pad with thermostat, insulation under, towels and fleece (usually 3x day). Also fresh water bowl, side towel, ramp towel + fresh water bowl for Snowy, cat scratching post ( Kiwi doesn't use it anymore, it's for Carol). There is an incandescent lamp over her bed provides light and heat.

Kiwi doesn’t stray far from her nest, but does come over to sit by me if I’m watching tv, for example. Her continued interest in life, in the other cats, her interactions with Sharon and me, all point to a being who likes to be here.

I've had cats who were sick that clearly wanted to curl up and pass ( Grey Kitty ), others who were with me to the end, and others we've euthanized. So while Kiwi isn't having serious pain, while she wants to be here, I'm here to, with her, doing my little bit.

2008-02-12T04:56:00.000-08:00

For a moment, let us suppose that the Conservative push to eject Latino immigrants is wildly "successful" and the NeoCon push to fortify the borders to Iron Curtain levels turns away waves of illegal immigrants. What would be the consequences to the U. S. at this time?

I believe that it would push our economy deeper into the recession that already threatens to amplify into a depression as the liquidity crises spreads and reaches new sectors of the service economy that represents 80% of our modern economy.

The Latino "aliens" come to this country to work, to raise their families, and as a group is a determined bunch, a productive and hard working people largely driven to come here by lack of opportunity at home. So the movement of people to this country is both a relief valve from the pressures of poverty in their home country, as well as an important source of foreign exchange flowing to Latin America.

In this country, Latino Immigrants rent homes, providing an important sector of the rental market, buying food to feed their families, and many times paying taxes "informally" without being able to access the services that the taxes pay for. No doubt the lack of universal medical care means that many use expensive emergency rooms instead of clinics, but this is a marginal effect, as is the number in jail. Mixed into the stream of hard working folks are the usual number of criminals praying on both the immigrants and our locals.

On balance, removing this population would drive up the cost of many basic services, especially the cost of housing. In construction these days in many border states, Spanish is the language of the workplace. Without Spanish speakers, the workplace hammers would be silent or at least muted. Likewise with many other simple services, child care, food prep, warehouse operations, landscape maintenance, cleaning, and the like. Without this "grey market" the cost of doing business would inevitibly rise and our economy would show the scars.

Without this very economically efficient sector, we would see vacant rentals, higher costs, and an important sector of our economy wither.

Yet the George Bush machine, the conservative talk shows, the populist cheerleaders who build the idea that authoritarian rule is a good thing would have us believe that this sector is "the problem" in the tired old pattern of blaming immigrants for our woes.

Over time it was the Irish, the Italians, the Japanese, the Chinese, and now the Latino. We know from our history that as we assimilated these groups, our country became stronger. This is a time when we need to grasp that there is a better way, and we must embrace the very people who can help us through the recession at this critical time: Latino immigrants.

We must not ignore issues and lessons our immigrant history teaches us are important: filtering out the criminals, the gangs and attending to the public health issues. In the past, the mafia grew when the protection of human rights by the government didn't meet the need, and likewise diseases such as TB developed hot spots among illegal immigrants. Today in LA we see a similar growth of "Latin Gangs" who represent a power beyond control by the government in large sectors of Southern California, Arizona and Texas today.

These observations point to the need to legalize the 12 million people to the extent that we can bring them into our system as legitimate citizens, the need to ensure that our police protect all of us regardless of immigration status, and the need for education and health care for the families that are here for whatever reason. In this way we hold our American values true, we protect our economy and we build a road that ensures that we get the best.

This does not mean that open borders are the answer, indeed for our national security we need to do more to address the corruption that smuggling engenders, we need to selectively encourage the folks we want to come here and we must educate the children who are here to speak English, to gain the basic skills that make a civil society function.

Unregulated immigration also brings risks to our security including disease and a flow of criminals who insinuate themselves into the flood. By respecting human rights, we can more effectively handle the public health issues. Treating babies as humans and giving them proper diet and health care shows our basic values, and gives them the best chance to grow up to be productive members of society. Babies don't get to choose where they grow up, and shouldn't be punished for the criminal acts of their parents.

When we honor our commitment to human rights, we feed the hungry, we ensure shelter for us all, and we provide basic health care services, environmental justice, education and police protection in a universal manner. This doesn't take away from our country; indeed it makes us stronger as a nation and ensures that our "Homeland Security" means more than concentration camps, secret police, and "security theatre" at the airport. We must spend more on our core human security needs as our people are our country. Our care for the environment is an expression of our self respect, and our understanding of our place in the web of life. This environmental movement needs the support and energy of the immigrants, support that won’t be found amongst folks with unmet basic survival needs.

So let’s stop blaming Latino's for our problems, lets stop the "minutemen" authoritarian and racist harangues and get back to the struggle to meet human needs. If government programs must be cut back, I’m suggesting that our war budget must take the hit not basic programs such as food stamps and aid to the homeless. It’s late, and evidence mounts that Latino’s are already returning to their homeland as our economy contracts, as residential construction declines, and as the borders are increasingly tight.

Immigrants continue to come by the thousands per day from Asia, from Europe and most of them are not walking across the border from Mexico, they arrive by boat and plane. WE must open our colleges again, and encourage the best and the brightest to do research here, to earn business degrees, to become teachers and workers in our economy. Instead of an unregulated flow, we can shape the flow to our needs more effectively if we attend to these basics.

Our country will be better and stronger with this approach.

2007-12-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

Photography and videography can be for me a way to look deeper into what I have in some sense already seen. At the same time, with a good photograph, I can see what I didn't see the first time.

Recently I took a photograph of the street scene along Grant Avenue in San Francisco at the corner in front of the Triton Hotel and Cafe Presse. It's a bit like a Breugel painting in that you see a couple being tourists gazing at the patrons in the cafe. Then your eyes are drawn to a foursome striding accross Grant street together, eager looks on their mature faces.

Behind them a couple is standing close together on the sidewalk, and she is looking intensely into his taller eyes, and just behind them, in the window of the cafe, sits a woman holding herself as she gazes out at us. Just to the right, a number of passers by look intently up Grant Street through the gate into China Town.

The photo started as a quick shot, and I was attracted by the juxtaposition of the Yellow and Blue from the Hotel Triton Sign along with the deep reds of the Cafe Presse framing the many human characters swarming around the intersection.

Once I put the image into photoshop, I looked to see where to crop, and learned that it was precisely the exploration of the rich image that rewards the viewer. Taking the image into After Effects allowed me to implement this vision in a limited fashion.

I used motion graphics to take the incredibly detailed image made with the Nikon D300 and the 18-200mm vr Nikkor lens and explore it with the virtual camera. I made a quicktime movie that is available at this URL:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aKDhzOW5NA
At the same intersection, I also saw a man taking a photo while holding up a drawing in one hand that would appear in his picture as in front of the Chinatown gate. He was doing what an AT&T Cellphone commercial showed a father doing to send reports of his travel back home to his daughter. You can see the original commercial and my photos here at this URL:

http://www.geocities.com/bbamboo/FatherTakingPicturesForAChild.html

This web page combines the use of Google Maps to show what the father saw as he took the picture, and Google Earth where you can see both where he stood and where I stood to take the picture. This amazing technology allows us to learn more about our photos "after the fact". With Google Maps, you can see the street scene in a static sense using their photos of the building fronts. I used it to confirm my location by comparing the background in the photo of the dad taking the picture, and also to confirm my point of view. Amazing.

In another case, I took a landscape photo of what looked like a ring of trees, sent the photo to my mother who asked about the tree ring. I went to Google Earth and "flew" to where I took the photo, stood on the virtual road turnout, and pointed at the scene in my photo.

I discovered that the feature that I'd photographed was in fact a spiral planting of evergreens planted ajacent to a new vinyard near Petaluma. Again, without the ability to "fly" above the landscape and to examine more closely the subject of my photo, I would never have known that what appeared to me as a ring of trees was actually a deliberately planted spiral line of trees!

There are other times when I will use a video editor to look at video in the same manner, exploring the details of an interaction, playing it over with different temporal and/or spatial zoom, sometimes looping it to see the evolution of an encounter.

This is a way of viewing video that is deeper than the vicarious mode we're usually in when television is entertainment.

There is more to video, and it's only available when one can interactively explore a bit of video with your hands on the controls of a powerful non-linear video editing system. Time warping is a great tool for exploriing human interactions.

It's image editing as exploration, analysis and learning.

2007-11-14T06:36:00.000-08:00

Lessons from an old cat

Kiwi came to us as a rescue cat, taken from her mother before she was ready to be weened, we saw her at the vet still with her litter-mates. She was the only one who looked her in the eye and meowed, the others hissed. The vet said that she'd be a small cat, and she came home with us that day.

As she grew up, she imprinted on Alicia Star as the mommy cat. She tried to nurse from Alicia Star even as she was bigger than Alicia Star! Alicia was the roshi of the cat brood, indeed the roshi of 7 Myrtle Avenue. Alicia accecpted Kiwi as her pal and companion though her cat son Alex remained her favorite.

During the years at Myrtle Avenue, Kiwi grew to be a 20+lb cat who loved to eat, loved to be in the bamboo garden sleeping in the sun, and who was loyal to me through thick and thin. She wasn't the favorite, and she always wanted approval from the senior cats.

Kiwi would follow me as I walked along the railroad tracks behind the stream at Myrtle Street, lagging a bit behind Alex and Alicia Star, but always wanting to be part of the pack. While the others walked with me on the railroad rail, she'd be content to walk along the railroad ties with us. Sometimes I'd carry her across the stream, sometimes we'd "ditch her" and leave her to figure how to cross on her own. Her great girth limited her atheletic prowess and I never guessed that she'd become the 6 1/2 lb fragile being with a big heart that she is today.

As arthritus fused her lower spine, her ability to get around became more and more limited. Her colon stopped processing properly and she had some incidents where she became impacted and needed vet intervention to continue living. We started her on stool softener, lactulose drops twice a day. This worked for a while.

Then the vet discovered that her kidneys were failing. We started giving her fluids every now and then as supportive therapy. Didn't expect her to live long, but since she was still interested and such a wonderful companion, I gave her a spot on the floor and kept up her daily therapy.

It took me too long to realize that she needed a heating pad, but I bought her a big one ( large enough for Carol and Kiwi to be on it together) and set her up with an incondesent lightbulb over her for radient heat.

The wonderful vet Bill Eshthimer told me that Kiwi needed supplimental fluids via needle under the skin a few times a week. I had given fluids to cats before, and while it's important therapy, in the past it always signaled end of life approaching. I started giving Kiwi fluids, even though my technique was poor.

Unlike most cats, Kiwi allowed me to give her fluids despite my clumsyness with the needle, and patiently waited for the process to complete most times. Her docile nature served her well and I improved with practice. Dr. Bill helped me to learn sterile technique and patiently tutored me in how to insert the needle properly. As I gained in skill, the pain inflicted on the cat diminished, and it got easier to be regular.

She became incontenent, so I gave her fresh bedding twice or three times a day, washing her towels a few times a week. She had some more crises with blockages, and a stand in vet suggested a diet change that really helped her to be back on regular with her digestion.

Her inability to move around has made keeping her clean tough, but she still relates to Carol and wakes me every morning with a squak and a purrr. Kiwi wakes me every morning with her squalk-meow just before the alarm is to go off at 5am. I change her bedding, feed her and give her fluids every other morning.

The yoga of service work, the zen of practice in this tiny corner of the room has been a blessing for me. In one way, the question is should I be doing for a human instead of an "animal"? The answer that I've found is that for me this is the practice that calls me now, knowing that it won't go on indefinately, knowing that it won't end well, but taking each moment together as a gift.

So while I thought that this was a kitty hospice commitment that would last a few weeks, it's turned out to be a blessing that has continued for a couple years now. I'm so grateful for the time with her, and while it's been difficult for both of us, her good attitude and appreciation for what we do for her is both a reward and a lesson.

I used to think that you should "put down" ( kill) a cat with such limitations but when the standard is "are they in pain?" and do they still want to live?, the answer is quite different. The effort is sometimes taxing, but the reward is subtle and lesson one that only unfolds over time.

The service to this small being brings me joy, and wonder. How is it that our love can be sustained through such trials? This small being has such a big heart, and it's a small thing to be able to repay her for the years that she nourished my spirit, for the times that I was too harsh, for the times that I ignored her simple needs. Yet the mystery of life isn't revealed, but the benefits are unrolling as we breathe. Precious being, thanks for this morning, thanks for this day and the time with Sharon, Kiwi, Carol and Snowy.

Time to go to work to earn the money to support this tribe.

Thanks

2007-11-10T06:42:00.000-08:00

Now that the housing bubble has burst, real estate prices are plunging, bank credit is evaporating, and the economic contraction is like a spasm, the void in our economy is acting like a shock wave.

Funding of the war hasn't been from new taxes, rather it has come from a combination of taxes on the increased economic activity revolving around the extraction of equity from the real estate that has occured during the interest rate decline of the last few years, and from shifting government resources from domestic progams into war related expenses. Because new taxes have been minimal, the resources invested in public capital like basic research,;human health; environmental protection; infrastructure renewal; NASA; consumer protection have declined.

The interaction of policy with this extraction of public capital has been particularly stupid with respect to basic research. The restrictions on visas cut the supply of intellectual talent that came to the US for study at the same time as much basic research support was cut by the federal government. This at a time when our international competitors are compeating for the brightest minds on the global stage. One result is that China and India are on the way to becomming research powerhouses. Increasing investment and encouraging research involvement by foreign graduates at US Universities and national labs is an obvious high leverage shift that should be implemented immediately.

Some applied research area's should be funded at a higher level, with my favorites being plasma physics, atmosperic research, agricultural research, species conservation, flywheel battery storage, alternative energy, bio fuels and sustainable production, energy conservation, ecosystem conservation, extending our network capital investment, research infrastructure support.

Unfortunately now that the resources are squandered and the common capital depleated, our options narrow. It's a shame to have wasted the last 17 years in the greenhouse warming cycle, but it would be criminal to squander the next 17.

I strongly support the defense of my country, and believe that the best national security policy must balance the investment in the domestic infrastructure with the funding of overseas power exercises. We must be skillful in how we strike the balance, and our national command authority could do better, must do better.
Overextending to try to right a policy ship that is listing to port and has lost headway drains our precious capital, yet there are basic military realities that we must support over the long term.

There are some simple policy choices that could vastly improve our nation and would improve our security. One of the first things we must change is our care of veterans: it is a national disgrace that veterans health care is in crises, ignores so much battle trauma. Funding childrens medical and health care is another no-brainer. Credible elections would be another, reform of our sentencing laws and practices is another. Now that much of the mechanism has been dismantled, some agencies would take time to reconstitute, so the sooner we start the better.

Such measures will reduce dispair, and improve the cohesiveness of our society. Improving our research institutions and reducing the ideological management of research could improve our economy. Improving our energy efficiency and energy distribution systems could also improve our national security.

The present administration has an ideological agenda that opposes development of public capital, favors only increased corporate capital and control. I hope that extending the war will be rethought, and more creative and realistic planners be given a voice. I hope that the administration will listen a bit more, though there isn't much basis for optimism.

Still, the connectivity and collective intelligence that emerges as the web develops is an agent of change beyond government imagination. New opportunities, and new vulnerabilities. We need to think about how to guard the freedom of the network, universal access, and so on. It needs to be codified into law or the web will loose it's extra edge in synergizing the colletive exercise of intellegence.

2007-09-06T05:34:00.000-07:00

A quite remarkable development is occuring her in Marin county as the public access television station is forced to seek a new home Comcast stops hosting this vital public service and evicts the studio from it's long time location on Anderson Drive in San Rafael. The county joint powers authority that regulates telecommunications, Marin Telecommunications Agency, has blessed the formation of a non-profit organization that will operate Public Access television.

It's been a long public process starting with a small group of active producers who wanted to nurture public access television in Marin back in 1996 who met at Sandy Marker's home in Corte Madera to strategize. Starting from a small group of advocates who went to Marin Telecommunications Agency public meetings to speak out for Access television as an important public commons, the new town square, the group wouldn't let the cable companies and the MTA kill off public access.

For some years the MTA board was indifferent to public access issues, then actively hostile. Several groups in the county became interested in nurturing and preserving this fragile avenue for free speach including Media Action Marin, a liberal libertarian coalition that included social justice groups and individuals interested in free speach.

The Marin Telecommunications Agency board meetings became rather contentious and eventually the board formed an advisory committee to take public input and advise the board on public access issues. This was the genisis of the Marin Access Advisory Committee eventually known by it's acronym, MAAC.

MAAC met monthly with members appointed by the MTA and developed a number of reports that defined the role of public access, and articulated a vision of how the service could benefit the community in Marin. One of the first things that MAAC did was to redefine it's mission from just Public Access television to include Educational Access Television and Government Access television ( PEG). At first, the MTA wasn't supportive of the idea that government public meetings should be made televised.

Indeed, the San Rafael City Manager at the time, Ron Gould was so hostile to public access that he threw out an MTA consultant who came to discuss putting city council meetings on tv! The county administrator who was assigned to support the MTA attended meetings of MAAC but characterized the group as a fringe group of political activists.

Reality is that the MAAC group had elements from many aspects of Marin life including Len Schlosser who represented seniors ( his show "A Time for All Ages" is still popular years after he passed on), Jerry Catigan ( Marin Special Olympics and environmentalist ), two lawyers, and some public access producers. Over time the MAAC developed the idea that public access is a vital public commons that exists as a concession to the commercial operation that uses the public right of way, a tiny slice of the bandwidth reserved for the public amidst the vast array of commercial channels.

Over time, the composition of the Marin Telecommunications Agency changed and the long time members of the board learned about public television. Despite many lost opportunities to make favorable deals with cable operators, the MAAC continued to advocate for public access and just wouldn't go away.

Persistence had it's reward, eventually the Marin Telecommunications Agency board attracted some members with telecommunications competence. Eventually the agency Exectutive Director was told to hire a consultant to help with negotiations as the board recognized that their director was not able to negotiate on his own with the big cable companies.

Once the outside experts validated a number of the points that MAAC had been advocating for years, the credibility of the advisory group solidified and the process of negotiating a cable franchise that would preserve public access was on solid ground. It still took over 5 years for the county to negotiate an agreement.

Over the years the offers from the cable companies went down in value. As the MTA fiddled around, the offers dwindled from an AT&T offer of $12 million over 10 years down to about 3Million over 1o years made by Comcast.

The national context shifted as well, and it became clear that if the MTA failed to act, changes in law could leave Marin without any public access benefits. Over time the cable companies starved the public access operation, carved out channel time for leased informercials at the expense of public time, and generally discouraged any local production.

Once the new MTA board got serious about supporting public access channels, the executive director changed his tune, brought in Tom Robinson from CBG communications and negotiated a franchise that preserves public access.

The MAAC recommended that a non-profit be established to run public access as a designated access provider (DAP) as an independent public organization funded in part by franchise fees to be a fair broker of the channel time, and to educate the public, to provide the means to produce shows and as a host to the vital public commons. Initially the idea was rejected by the executive director and the MTA board but as the executive director was edged out and replaced by a community orientated person, the idea gained credibility.

Marin now has the Marin Community Media Center, Inc. as a non-profit that will operate public access television in Marin though it is only two months old and just beginning to organize itself.
The vision of the newly formed board of directors includes traditional public access, but also video on demand, web access, community radio and media literacy. The vision for the Media Center is inclusionary, embracing the many populations in Marin County such as the seniors, hispanics, asian community, native americans, youth, arts, cultural groups and religious groups.

The 2007 Marin Telecommunications Board has distinguished itself by taking this bold step, and is negotiating an agreement with the College of Marin to host the main production facility. Marin county is creating a new institution that will nurture the public commons and provide a connection space for our community institutions, organizations and individuals if it can reach out and develop public support.

For me the evolution has been gradual, sometimes imperceptible and yet very rewarding. When I started this journey it seemed impossible that Marin would every have a non-profit that would operate in the public interest supported by the Marin Telecommunications Agency and the public. Today it is a reality.

One side effect of my service on MAAC: I met my wife Sharon at a MAAC meeting!

2007-08-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

Deliberate infliction of damage to the economy during the assertion of police powers over "illegal aliens, illegal immigrants" appears to be a policy that the Bush executive is about to implement in a series of visible events designed to make the news. It appears to be a way of using political leverage to force congress to change laws combined with authoritarian action that will feed the conservative fixation on blaming undocumented people for the woes of the day. Administration spokes people deny that the upcomming campaign against illegals in the workplace aims to influence legislation, even while stating that a change in the law is needed.

Already the precedent is set that people defined as illegal aliens won't be given the rights of a citizen, won't be treated with the care and respect that are core American values from our history. More raids, and media events and the process of desensitization erodes further the civil contract. Yet without some respect for immigration laws, the floods of refugees would swamp the countries in what Thomas Barnet calls "the core".

The present system sees billions flowing to Latin America as wages are sent back to families and home towns, money that is the best foreign aid, going where it is needed most in an efficient manner, foreign aid that is earned not charity. The money that these folks send home creates relationship with the US, and contributes indirectly to our security. Guest worker programs and better visa control would help to reduce abuses, as would an increase in State Department funding targeted at providing more field consulate visa and immigration personnel. Some complain that illegal’s only pay some taxes, and while that is true, some assert that they take less in services than they put in on average.

The recent campaign by ICE that targeted people from Latin America in raids all across the U.S. that typically hit before dawn also spit families, and disrupted our community. If the arrests had to be made, provisions to help the families should be made. They should be able to communicate with families and loved ones. To employ the detention camps, to fly folks immediately to a different region of the country away from their support networks creates a maximum impact on the community without yielding more than a marginal difference

Even the official who announced the new round of enforcement actions said that he expected that the effect would hurt industries such as health care, agriculture, hospitality. The economic effect combined with the credit crunch and the real estate devaluation are waves that will swash through our lives for years. Since the service economy is the core of our economic engine, damage here is going to hurt lots of folks.

The administration wants reform, I want reform ( though in a different direction than advocated by the "neo cons"), and this new policy initiative moves a conservative policy agenda ahead with the cynical calculation that by excessive enforcement of laws on the books the democratic congress and key republicans in congress will move to change the law as requested by the Karl Rove directed White House political operatives.

In an presidential election cycle it's hardly surprising to see moves aimed at "activating the republican base" at this stage in the campaign. Closer to the general election I expect to see a moderation that is designed to co-opt the counter reaction that will be generated by this exaggerated enforcement exercise.

Yet another cynical exercise of power from folks who are divorced from the folks who will be paying the price for this pandering to the political "base". It's time that we work our an immigration policy that brings the folks who will add to our society, and that fairly addresses immigration from Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Our policy should grant citizenship based on things like the ability to contribute to society, the ability to join our society, and criteria that honors the family. Reforms that force more into illegal status just encourage exploitation.

Now both sides of the political spectrum must come together to pass legislation that begins the humanization of the process, that adds the resources to the agencies earmarked to improve passport, visa, and immigration services. Now both Democrats and Republicans must lead the way to reform and address the 12 million who are here now without documents, to be more efficient in catching and deporting the violent criminals, and to spend the money to do real health screening for the folks comming into the country.

2007-07-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

Carbon offsets are controversial these days, but as our understanding of how the feedbacks work in the dyanmics of planting trees, the utility of this mechanism is clear.

It's true that forests sequester co2 and alter the weather, but now we know that a tree planted in the tropics does more to cool the earth than a tree planted in a temperate zone. Work with Global Climate Models at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory uncovered some of the complex dynamics that occur as forest cover fluxuates.

Much more research is needed into the ways that shifts in forest affect climate dynamics. Livermore has studied how water in mountains changes from this epoch as the precipitation comes in shorter, perhaps more intense, more liquid form as climate changes evolve. In california for example the snow pack will be gone in summer, glaciers gone, and that will of course affect streams and the rivers below.
Clearly then the forests will also be affected in a major way. We need more resources here, as our models are not much used yet to explore the ways that our offset programs can achieve maximum leverage.

This means that we need an effective mechanism to ensure that the tree planting is efficient and effectively established in the right areas. So we must learn how to operate real carbon offset programs. How to prevent and catch fraud, a way to make a viable economic system. This will not only create jobs, it can be a weapon against desertification. It can help our watersheds.

I say this in the context of a belief that we need to make every effort to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency, offsets must not absolve the purchaser of the duty to work to reduce emissions. I recognize that some changes will take time and carbon offsets could create a stabilizing and conserving effect on the climate.

The agenda now includes developing effective communications that will convey the importance of building honest, scientifically valid systems providing carbon offsets. The science and understanding of why one forest is better for the climate than another must become common knowledge.

Bruce Bagnoli

2007-04-25T05:41:00.000-07:00

Suvival notes :

These desperate times call for desperate measures, we must keep the carbon in the atmosphere below 450 ppm according to Dr. Hansen, to avoid the "run away" feedbacks that may make our planet so hot that our descendents will suffer for hundreds of years, and our civilization will be the cause of the worst extinction event since the astroid hit 230 million years ago!

In his latest scientific post : Implications of "peak oil" for atmospheric CO2 and climate by P.A. Kharecha, J.E. Hansen (NASA GISS and Columbia Univ. Earth Institute)our dilema is explained at some length.

The action that we must take is really quite simple : We must work with China and the emerging Asian economies to build Coal fired power plants that sequester the CO2 produced or die.

Simple, yet a profound challenge as until now it has been everyone for themselves and the "market" will sort it out. Since the "market" is an artificial construct, it needs to be changed to fit our current situation, and this can be done if we value both the current environment and our future generations.

THe problem is that there is no real technology that is up to the challenge since we dabble in this vital technology but haven't committed to commercialization of sequestration.

The action needed is to engage with the Chinese as if our lives depend on it ( they do) and immediately begin to produce electric cars for their market, immediately begin to build nuclear power plants on an industrial scale in China to meet their need while we develop the technology for sequestration on a global scale. China won't do this without economic help from the rest of the world, and we must also do this whereever economic growth would attract a new coal fired plant.

The United States should immediately devote a significant resource stream to developing the sequestration techonology and retrofit our many coal plants as a first step, a technology development program, and a leadership act.

Without dealing with the issue of Coal, we risk raising the CO2 beyond the 450 ppm level, and that's a point where the feedback loop will rapidly get out of control.

Hansen and Kharecha don't discuss what happens when the feedback loop goes non-linear but the scenarios we've all seen on the media for global warming understate the reality. Once the co2 gets to a certain ( we don't know precisely where this is) level, then other sources of carbon release kick in like the release of trapped methane hydrates, forest die back, Amazon desert feedback, and the rest. The increase in temprature would be huge, and while the earth may have feedback mechanisms that will compensate, we won't live long enough to find out. The feedback that may balance warming above the 450 ppm level might take the form of an ice age, something that's limited us before. Indeed during the last ice age there may have been only 10,000 humans in Europe and New York may have been covered in a glacier. Either way, it's ugly for civilization and avoidable.

The big message is that if we act now, we can avoid the big desert, the oven. Only if we act together as intellegent beings will we be spared. We don't have to look to the sky for an astroid threatening us, as our threat is already on the horizon and it's only avoidable if we act now.

2007-04-11T05:21:00.001-07:00

2007-04-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

Just last night I read a post to arXiv.org by J.E. Hansen urging scientists to speak out on sea level rise before it is too late. http://arxiv.org/ftp/physics/papers/0703/0703220.pdf It's about Scientific reticence, but it's really a call for a Paul Revere to bring us to our senses while there is still time to act to prevent the greatest calamity in history.

Our science gives us the chance to look ahead and see that without acting now, the world will loose forever many of the beautiful ecosystems that god gave us in trust, and we may loose our civilization as well. I'm not exaggerating at all, maybe understating the seriousness of the problem.

Hansen himself has been censored by the Bush Administration and speaks in a guarded manner, the voice that has already been attacked but won't be silenced because he can clearly see that this train is heading for a wreck and we can still avert the crash if we act!

Hansen looks at the non-linear way that ice sheets change in response to warming, factors in what we know about the changes to our climate, and comes to the conclusion that we can make a difference if we act now, a difference that will be important to our descendents and to the billions of life forms that may continue to live for millions of years if we act now.

It's really a moral question, is our short term greed reason enough to condem our descendents to a world where climate change brutally destroys ecosystems, societies and countless families ? Can we use the intelligence to find a way to live on earth without destroying the very environment that we depend on? Are we smarter than the yeast that makes our beer?

The thing about non-linear climate change and environmental response to that change is that by the time it's obvious to most, it will be too late to do more than cringe and cry. We'll be so busy then adjusting and coping that the chance to build the sort of systems that could enable our civilization to continue will be gone. Desperate times will force competition for scarce resources like food, water, and peace.

When we look ahead and see the wreck, stepping on the brakes is not only the right thing to do, it's relatively painless. Except that the challenge is that we've created this new organism called the corporation and it's rootless. Corporations have no real stake in the future, no built in mechanism to consider their fate and to act in the best interests of humans and other life forms.

The emergence of corporations must be only a stage in their evolution, since for our civilization to be worthy of continuance we must evolve corporations to incorporate a forward vision, to have some value placed on how they relate to the future history of the planet. We can do it, but we haven't and it's the biggest challenge to our civilization in our history.

We humans must resolve to live in harmony with our fellow beings, to live with the understanding that all life is sacred. We have no right to kill future generations of beings here with us for some abstract corporate gain.

Even with conventional economics when we discount the future costs of coping with the disasters that we know are coming, it's worth acting now. The folks who just want to "get theirs" before things change have suppressed the knowledge of what could be done, what is coming for reasons that I condemn but don't understand. No doubt there is much that I don't understand that is known by the ones who distract us with the latest "crises", but the outlines are clear and our opportunity is real : Act now and both we and our descendents will benefit for ever!

Thanks to Dr. Hansen for not keeping quiet, to Al Gore for bringing "an Inconvenient Truth" to the millions and to the Hopi for reminding us that we sit in a kiva that has been home forever, a kiva that need not become an oven.

om

2007-03-25T06:38:00.000-07:00

Doing lessons learned on a project gone sour exposes the most basic lesson in project management : when communication is muddled, trouble follows!

The project that I was given to try to resusutate started out as a "partnership" and a lump sum job. Once it got rolling, the design project manager jumped right in, and immediately ran into internal difficulty staffing the project with skilled professionals skilled in collaboration as part of a geographiclly distributed team. The company had just acquired a design firm, but the technical integration of the cad groups was incomplete.

On the client side, the data that was promised on the existing conditions including "as built" drawings and program information for the new project turned out to be incomplete and fragmented. The actual data flow took six months to evolve instead of the 4 weeks promised during the bidding for the work, and both sides became defensive.

Forensic examination of the contract reveals that the bidding manual from the client and the proposal from the design firm contain contridictory statements, and both are included by reference into the contract.

The two project managers, client and design firm, never really came to grips with the differing assumptions, approaches and espectations until divergence was too great to resolve. The design firm offered to provide a project plan, but instead just jumped right in and started "fast tracking". Indeed the project plan was never given to the client.

Had the project plan been given to the client, or had the client actually read the design proposal, the job might have been saved.

Once the fast track got rolling, the defensive design PM gave notice on only two occasions that change orders were needed, when an extra review of a mechanical system was needed, and when a hazardous material situation was encountered. In both cases the PM for the client gave approval, and honored that approval to some degree.

However the design PM failed to follow the risk management steps included in the proposal. Specifically the proposal called for a design development phase that would culminate in a client sign off. The proposal stated that any change after this point would be a change order, but such sign off was not obtained.

The proposal stated that any field engineering over a certain allotment would be T&M, but when this allowance was exceeded, notice was not given nor approval to continue received.

The design PM became busy with other jobs, and his time on site deminished. The abusive PM was covering a lack of construction management that went undetected until a new PM was askled to see what went wrong.

Once the CM process was set right, the change orders deminished and the job started to run "right". Once the new PM was on the job, the client's failure to follow the contract was brought out and change orders were sought to cover the changed conditions. Unfortunately the situation was beyond fixing and the job terminated with acromony all around.

This job would have been well served if the design PM had issued a project plan and uncovered the differences in assumptions by both sides. The design PM should have notified the client of the impact that their failure to provide the as-built data and the programming information as promised had on the design effort. The design firm should have modified the plan and the contract once it became apparent that the lump sum job was being treated as a T&M job.

The uncomfortable outcome was just about inevitable once the design PM decided to avoid the uncomfortable little notifications and negotiations. I didn't start out with the assumption that both sides were acting in bad faith, and I started out with a guide who didn't disclose the problems initially. Actually, the critical failure to deliver a project plan wasn't disclosed until the week before termination, as I was drafting what I thought was to be an amendment to the project plan. Turns out my plan would have been the first, but it was stillborn.

I was new to the whole place, but once I saw the "lay of the land" my experience in project management told me that the patient was very sick.

Unfortunately it took me a long time to uncover the whole mess, and digging through the mud got me covered as well. We'll see how this unraveling evolves, but it isn't pretty!

Bruce

2007-02-01T05:34:00.000-08:00

What to do about warming ?

There are some immediate steps that will be helpful so I'll list them here :

First we need to immediately recognize the value of our fellow beings on Earth, and take steps to conserve the habitat for endangered species, to learn how to create new ecological niches that contain habitat for the entire web of the engangered ecosystems as these cannot ever be replaced, not in a million years!

Second, research into conservation of energy, research into new sustainable energy sources, and research into climate science must be accelerated. The Bush administration must immediately cease to attempt to censor scientific inquiry, and should expose the industry propaganda that seeks to discredit legimate science while allowing the vital peer review process to proceed. We need solid science and there is still a lot to learn in this nacent field.

The satellite systems that monitor the climate, biology and geophysics of the earth must be made a high priority and data gatherinig must be resumed. The Bush administration seriously impaired this aspect of scientific inquiry and it must be turned around so that we can know as much as possible about the effects of our actions, the changes underway. We need to improve our simulations so we need to have better data to check our models, and we need to use our simulators to try out actions and policy changes that we contemplate before it is too late.

Since many of the changes are inevitable, simple justice dictates that we start now to respond to the changes that are comming such as moving development away from land that will be flooded, creating new zones where poor folks can live, conserving farm land that is above the new flood plains, etc.

This will be vastly less expensive if we are smart. An example is in the California Delta, where developers want to build thousands of new homes on land that will be flooded in the next 50 years even if we reverse the long term trends ( and I don't believe that we have the collective intelligence and will to do so). The corrupt system we now call government won't stop the development, and once the people are living in vulnerable locations it is only a matter of time before some event produces a catastrophy where many thousands or more will perish. This is only avoidable if we take the steps to prevent development where we know floods will come. Doesn't cost anything to conserve this land in reality, just telling some greedy folks who want the rest of us to fund their dreams of riches "no"......

Public health is going to be a huge issue, we need millions more workers who can manage epidemics, who can help deal with the spread of tropical diseases as the climate favors insects, as vectors multiply and as deserts spread. The dispora flowing from the shifts in clear water as the mountains dry up, as the deserts consume crop land and as the seas consume the flat land where so many millions now live will be a challenge unparalled in historical times.

We indeed do live in "interesting times" as the Chinese curse goes.....

By responding now we give our descendents a gift that keeps on giving for thousands of years, by failing to respond we doom ourselves and our descendents to a world that is so sad, so full of pain and dying. I think that life on earth will endure, but we must face the consequences of our inadvertant production of so much climate change, recognize our opportunity and act to make it better. There is tremendous opportunity, new industries and plenty of challenge but to fail to act with clear purpose will be to choose a course with suffering beyond any that we have ever imagined.

2007-01-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

Anxiety

The shift in the climate is a big threat to our civilization, and it's clear that some parts of our government are seriously thinking about the implications despite the President's denials that climate change is real. The military has conducted research, NASA has a big effort underway, and the National lab system is working on aspects of this though much of that work is evidently not in the public domain. Big banks and insurance companies are interested, as well as agencies like California's water management organizations.

Since it's evident that climate shifts are occuring, and that the velocity of change is perhaps faster than most of us imagined, we are headded into a time of significant history as if in a fog.

While it appears as if there will be mass extinctions, huge deserts emerging and shrinking water resources in mountain area's, opportunities will also emerge in the short term at least. No doubt the emergence of huge weather systems with wind and rain intensity that exceeds our present experience will produce events that challenge our ability to cope especially in third world countries, events that will for the first time exceed the ability of our "first world" countries to cope.

There have been some apocalyptic movies that warn of the consequences of a large storm in a city like New York, but they really don't convey the disruption to society that would occur if such an event hits in the next 50 years. Perhaps the government simply can't figure what to do and doesn't want to freak out the population, perhaps the senior leaders know that the forces that are unleashed are beyond our control.

It seems as if China and India are developing at a rate where the environmental consequences will compound at the critical point in the evolution of the CO2 and greenhouse gas build up, and that human greed is an unstoppable force. We seem to have the collective intellegence of yeast, awating the build up of "fermentation byproducts" ( in this case greenhouse gases) that will bring our population into balance with the global carrying capacity.

Unfortunately the loss of the species that have developed over the past 250 million years will make this a bleak place for our descendents unless we rapidly plan for how to preserve the genetic information, and learn enough to adapt and build a modern "noah's ark" to help the species move into the future, to enable human civilization to evolve into a form that can live sustainabily.

There seems to be an emerging consensus that this challenge is real, that we face an imperitive although some like Dr. Lovelock think it may be too late. Even if it is too late for many, there is nothing else to do but respond as best as we can, and we owe it to our descendents and fellow beings to work on the problem while we are here.

Facinating to see the historical sweep of the development of our understanding of climate change caused by our civilization as the consciousness emerges. We have a considerable collective intellegence and perhaps can shape the evolution of the shift in some less harmful ways. Certainly the development of sustainable energy technologies will spawn new industries, the use of climate models allows us to consider mitigation strategies, predict effects of the evolving weather patterns, and devise responses to the ecological shifts that are now inevitable.

One thing that is also clear is that there will be intense competition for natural resources as the basic hydrology changes, as sea level rises and as land suitable for farming shifts due to desertification, climate changes and so on. The good news is that given time, human civilization is quite adaptable and that politics will be shaped by the natural system changes.

I'm optimistic that enclaves will develop where the knowledge of how to live in our new world will be preserved for our descendents, but anxious for my future, for my family and my community. Looking at the map showing sea level rise, my home is right on the shore of the 2075 bay.........and likely I'll be gone by then. How much should we/can we do now?

Clearly the preservation of species is key, learning how to husband whole ecosystems and to help them to move and find new geographical niches would be a gift to our descendents that would keep on giving for thousands of years. This opportunity is unique in history and I hope we are able to embrace it.

Bruce Bagnoli

2007-01-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

Physics for fun

Laser generated proton beam or ion beam fast ignition is an idea that I've thought about for some time. Recently, when I discovered a paper in a the December 2006 journal Physics of Plasmas by a Bolivian physicist ( Phys. Plasmas 13, 122704 Fast ignition of a compressed inertial confinement fusion hemispherical capsule by two proton beams by Mauro Temporal ) I was excited to learn what he designed.

His idea is elegant, with the two beams generated by the same cone from targets located at different distances from the point of the same cone, doing two different tasks. One makes the spark, the other does isochoric heating/shock wave generation.

Temporal proposes that a variation on the Japanese cone in capsule method be used, though his variation uses a hemispherical capsule compared with the original Osaka design using a spherical capsule with a cone inserted into the center that channels the beam. ( see for example : M. Tabak et al, Phys Plasmas 1, 1626 (1994) or R.Kodama, T Yamanaka et al, Nature (London) 412,798(2001) :: R. Kodama, T. Yamanaka et al, Nucl.Fusion 44, s276 (2004) and so on.

My idea is to use two colliding beams that meet in the capsule to ignite the burn using conventional laser hohlraum compression, with the proton beams produced by petawatt lasers in the same chain as the compression lasers to ensure correct timing. I suggest that two cones be used, and that the capsule be prolate. Alternately one could employ the colliding beam approach with a Z-pinch for a higher yield.

My idea takes advantage of the fact that colliding beams generate a higher energy though higher energy particles may also escape the assembled system in higher fraction. Using higher Z ions would allow the bragg peak to deposit energy in the right place more precisely though things rapidly get complicated using such schemes.

My two colliding beam design may trigger the burn with a simple geometry and be applicable to z-pinch systems as well. In the Z-pinch system my device design would potentially ignite a larger fraction of the material and use the energy very efficiently.

Anyway, its fun thinking about the dynamics of these tiny energy sources and to explore the concepts even without access to the experimental facilities that would test ideas and expose the many flaws in our designs. As Klaus Berkner (LBL) said " experimentalists keep the theorists from drifting away....". Since I’m not limited by the real known physics, I can dream up science fiction devices that work in my mind but may never work in our world. I can gloss over real issues like RT or M instabilities, or perhaps I can find solutions that work, who knows?

It is wonderful to see Temporal’s original thought process, as most of the thoughts and current developments by the main labs are necessarily obscured from those of us outside the main efforts and seldom see the light of publication in the open journals.

A Bolivian physicist, who knows if his ideas will ever be tested or will work, but the same can be said for my ideas as well. The Andes have produced some great physicists including Peruvian Pier Oddone ( now at Fermi lab I think).

Fun with numbers.

Bruce Bagnoli

2006-12-10T07:18:00.000-08:00

Africa's Lake Victoria:Tragedy of the Commons Multiplied byGlobal Warming

Lake Victoria is one of the largest fresh water bodies on the Planet, and it is in trouble. The level of the lake is receding at an unprecedented rate. [Wikipedia:Lake Victoria] Excessive draw-down of lake water to produce hydroelectric power is amplifying the negative effects of deforestation and producing massive economic problems for the 30 million people who live around the lake.

Using franchises granted by corrupt politicians, private agribusiness is cutting down old growth forest and converting the forest lands to palm plantations. Forest cover reduction further reduces the lake level. Global warming is increasing evaporation, reducing rainfall, and drying out the surrounding watershed. All of this compounds and leads to a further taking of the commons by the few with government protection. Most of the population is either subjugated or being fooled into passivity.

As this process continues, salinity increases and the shoreline retreats to expose the lake bed, producing dust storms that further increase the degradation of the surrounding ecosystem.

This is a classic example of the tragedy of the commons [Wikipedia :Tragedy of the commons], where the few ruin it for the rest. This time, the few ruin it forever for the many life forms who will go extinct, and, if this predation on the commons isn't reversed, there will be tens of millions of humans and thousands of species who pay the price for the riches of a few thousand greedy people.

Uganda experienced a genocide that is well-known, but what is not well-known is that the predation continues to this day. It may be less obvious, but it is just as real. An example of the corruption in Uganda that is devastating old growth forests can be found online: [Uganda Forestry Boss Forced Out]. The story also recounts how some in the Ugandan government are not going along with the rape of their forests, and how they are being excluded from the government over time.

The predatory exploitation of Lake Victoria for energy production is detailed on this site: [Falling water level in Lake Victoria]. While this AP story follows the usual superficial “journalistic/non judgmental” reporting style, a more disturbing message can be drawn from the data presented .

The Antidote: Saving the Commons

Unless current practices are changed, Africa’s Lake Victoria will go the way of Asia’s Aral Sea [Kazakhstan/ Uzbekistan border], diminishing in size and affecting the land in ways not previously imaginable by those in the region. Desertification will irreversibly destroy the precious habitat that has nurtured many unique beings since the dawn of life on Earth, bringing extinction to the hominids, primates, and other wildlife there and devastating the civilization that has evolved alongside the lake.

In principle the correction is simple. Present corruption must be countered by a transparent and accountable government that protects the commons and restores the environment. Exploitation of the area’s natural resources must be reduced to a sustainable level, and the few who use the government for their own greed will have to go.

If the draw-down of Lake Victoria by private companies for hydroelectric production is reduced to a sustainable level, the loss of lake area will diminish. Although global warming will continue to pose a challenge, at least it will not compound the ecological damage. In the near term, a huge shortfall in electricity would impact area economy. The loss of fish populations must be mitigated by a reduction in pollution and by less fishing.

If the riches stolen from the area’s people were repatriated, some of that revenue and energy could be utilized to build solar cell plants, facilitate biomass generation, construct wind farms, and create other sustainable energy production systems. Ecosystem damage could be reduced, the ecosystem stabilized.

In the short term, painful shifts, but in the long term, an economy where the population would enjoy a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle.

Unfortunately, the carrying capacity of the region may already be reduced below the current population level, and unless the commons is restored, it will be further degraded. The urgency of this shift cannot be underestimated.

It is inevitable that a balance will be restored. The only question is just how low the human and non-human populations have to drop before a balance is reached. Action now can make the adjustment less painful and will leave our descendents a world that still has the tens of thousands of species that must surely die out if we continue our present course.

The reality is that a modest correction now could avoid a pandemic of horror in the near future. But the likelihood of such a correction is not great, since the bureaucrats and corporations in power have so much to loose and just kill off those who challenge their attacks on the ecological commons.

One note of optimism: The shift toward restoration of the north part of the Aral Sea lends hope that Lake Victoria can yet be saved if concerned organizations, governments, and individuals work collaboratively together [Wikipedia: Aral_Sea]. In the case of the Aral Sea, diversion of the rivers that started the destruction has not been reversed, but the steps that have been taken there to date are compelling evidence that giving up is wrong, that action can improve things, and that knowledge amplified by action can do much to make our global commons better.

2006-11-24T05:39:00.000-08:00

Sitting in a night club in Mill Valley the other night next to performer Floyd Red Crow Westerman, I noticed that his face was full of a vitality that was missing last February when I videotaped him performing in a concert. When he got up and sang, the set was full of energy, giving a spiritual lift we'd never expect from a performer in his late 60's. Red Crow performed an encore, seemed ready for more.

The next afternoon, I asked Dennis Banks (Anishinabe elder) what happened to Floyd that gave him such vitality, such energy? He told me that Red Crow has new transplanted lungs!

I've studied eastern teachings for years, read and practiced breathing meditiations, but never with the impact that seeing Red Crow reborn had. Truely it's a wonder what the breath can do, and the gift of a new life is one that he shares with the audience in his performance.

A few days later, shopping for salad at a natural foods market I noticed Phil Lesh and his wife enjoying a quiet moment together picking out vegitables. Nothing special you might say, but the fact of them together making a meal together is a medical miricle since he's alive because of a liver transplant and a life style change that brought him a new life. Even in the small moments together there is a quality of together that warmed my heart.

These sights came at a time when I was thinking about the drudge cycle that I was caught up in, and considering taking a new direction in my life. The courage that it takes to undergo a transplant is beyond anyting that I know, even given that they would have died without the new organs. That they reached for life and were granted the reprieve is inspiring to me.

Certainly my friend Allen Cohen comes to mind also, Allen's new liver gave him only a few months. Yet Allen remarried his love Anne and treasured the time that he had. We remember his courage, his struggle in this YouTube video elegy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdh11aEslLE.

So I talked with my partner, my wife, my love Sharon about the choice and decided to open myself up to change, to embrace the possible, to trust my intuition. I'm making a job change that's scary, leaving the "security" of a 10 year position at 57 to try a new career. I want to open up from the stooped barely coping struggle, to join this new team reaching for a level.

Maybe it's crazy, but unless I'm willing to walk the line the grind just wears me down and I know that I've got more to give, there's more that I can do and who knows how much time is left? Having a partner who's willing to walk with me helps, and it's hard to leave the people who have become my friends at the University.

I talked with the team that I work with now, and learned that theywon't change, that the resources we need to be successful are not comming. I know that I've done my best to make the program succeed without me by training my successors, by building an organization that has useful capabilities unknown before I came, building systems that transfer our knowledge to the next team, and by planning the coordinated capital program for the next few years.

The shock that moved me was partly looking clearly at my tiny "raise", partly loosing vacation every month because the work load is just too much, and then seeing that the benefits that I've been promised are behind the receeding horizon along with the resources we need to be successful.

So the combined effect of seeing how wonderful it is to just breathe, to pick lettuce with my honey, to get up and stretch at dawn knowing that my skills and competency must flow with opportunity moves me to embrace change. I'm thankful for the opportunity and I know that it's a rare gift in this wild world.

Thanks for this morning, for the breath that energizes my fingers, for the friends who helped me to think this through.

Thanks.

2006-09-24T05:45:00.000-07:00

James Lovelock ( the British Scientist who advanced the Gaia hypothesis) says that we should call it Global Heating since "Global Warming" sounds cozy and we're on the brink of hell for so many beings on this earth with the man made changes underway to our climate. His new book
The Revenge of Gaia: Earth's Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity (Hardcover) lays out the situation in plain language.

Some think he exaggerates, some think he's just doom and gloom but reluctantly I've come to see that he's put the indicators together and applied his scientist's intuition to project himself into a future that won't have room for most of us.

I'm a supporter of immediate research programs to develop nuclear ( both fission and fusion systems), flywheel, alternative energy, and conservation, emission controls and the rest but cynical about the efforts of most politicians as they would direct our energies toward irrelevant actions that "feel good" but have little effect.

Typical of this is the recent California Attny General suit against car companies for making gas guzzlers. No doubt they are complicit in worsening the crises, but since the Federal Government in the thrall of the Republican Neocon cabal has set the rules this action is a waste of resources.

We need to immediately listen to folks like Art Rosenfeld ( Scientist who also saw global warming and took effective action) so that our efforts will be effective. We need to listen to Christian Anampour when she shows how to deal with epidemics in Africa ( CNN Special broadcast this weekend "Where have all the parents gone?").

We'll surely need to conserve species as this thing accelerates as the species that are saved will be the one's that form the basis of the Gaia that nutures whatever civilization remains in 2300 ad.

With globalization and urbanization trends accelerating, the chances of taking some action that will really change the course of things is small and we'll soon be mainly responding to the changes that we've started in motion.

So I see a burst of population growth followed by grim contention for resources as who ecosystems shift from the eden we now enjoy toward massive deserts, swelling oceans and as new disease epidemics prune the population back from historic highs.

While I don't think we'll be able to avoid most of the shifts, there is plenty of opportunity in the short term. We have the technology to live within our carbon budget, we have the ability to understand climate shifts and to model responses to our actions at a crude but useful level.

I'd like to see the efforts to confuse us such as practiced by Exon-Mobile shut down immediately, the Bush administration replaced with some folks with some modium of ethics who would let a bit of truth inform our discussion.

We must see the changes in glaciers, the melting of the polar ice caps and the plight of the folks who depend on the Himalayan snow pack for their rivers, forests and farms as relevant to us all.

God is sending us a wake up call just as Moses brought to humanity so many years ago. The message is clear, our duty is clear, and the opportunity won't last long.

I'm not one of the Apocalypse types out of Revelations who welcomes the disasters, I'm one who realizes that of the millions and billions who will suffer, god will be crying at the destruction of such a beautyful community of beings, at the destruction of so much beauty.

We must heed the call and turn this as around as we can or I fear that humanity will pay for thousands of years for a few years of euphoric development. The first years of using fossile fuels to develop human civilization are understandable and hardly a sin, but once we know for sure what the continued use of this technology will bring, we are morally bound to move to the next step, the next level.

On a long term basis, we could live quite well using sustainable technology and enjoy a high civilization but only if we also care for the billions who simply aspire to meet their basic human needs. If we bring the basic food, the basic health care and the basic knowledge about how to run our society with the same energy balance that the Hopi used, then we can survive.

If we see this as only a chance to run the same game, we'll have a period where the changes will be out of control and way beyond any shift or human control. I'm scared to be an old person going through such times, scared for the plants and animals who must experience this shift.

I'm not sure that the climate will just shift, I'm not sure that the methane release from Clathrates and such won't just cause a shift that is so dramatic that civilization as we know it won't just evaporate.........back to Gaia, a global adjustment that would "deal with" the problem as the world will go on, the question is will human civilization continue in year 3000?

Our society is more connected, but also has fewer nodes that create the parts for the rest. What happens if our clean rooms are contaminated and no more microprocessors are produced? What happens if the few who know the secrets of the latest generation of chip making are gone in an epidemic?

Surely this challenge is big enough to capture the imagination of some of the brightest and the best thinkers. We need to embrace the human treasures like the Dali Lama and listen to how our consciousness can be expanded to meet the challenges, to meet the responsibility that we have as the folks who set the direction for the next 10000 years for humans and the rest of the planet.

Thanks for this morning, thanks for this breath and thanks for living at this time in history.

Thanks.

2006-09-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

Table Mountain Ranch Association
Annual Circle: August 2006

Observations and Questions

Here are some of my photos from the 2006 Reunion and Annual Circle at Table
Mountain: Table Mountain Ranch 2006
(It’s a flash file; broadband suggested) It was really wonderful to be camping with this amazing community on the Mendocino coast this summer. Wonderful to see the faces of our friends, new faces, old faces, and missing some dear faces. The reunion also brought up some serious reflections, some thoughts that I want to share with you.

Observing how a group manages its commons, and the health of that commons,
is a window into the health of the group. A group with a commons that thrives
benefits all members, while a commons exploited by a few will wither and die.
We see this on many scales, from the whole Earth (greenhouse warming) to the
micro family level.

It's especially important at Table Mountain Ranch, as we consciously created a commons both on the land and in our hearts, even in the midst of a society where every pressure is counter to cooperation and counter to tribal affinity, encouraging purely selfish behavior.

A healthy group will treat its commons as a resource that is respected and
replenished by the members, one that members draw upon in a sustainable way. The commons may be physical, as in some land; it may be emotional, as in a safe space; perhaps it's a web space; maybe it's a coalition of allies but in any case we look to the health of the commons and the dynamics of the interaction to gage the health of the group overall.

Applying this framework to Table Mountain Ranch Association, we have a commons in the land, a commons in the circle where we gather each year to share fellowship and make decisions about the association, and on our board.

The land seems healthy and vibrant, so on that level we get a "B", but the circle was not well and shows signs of malaise.

The disrespect that Doug and Willow showed to the other members of the circle as they made disparaging remarks and sulked sullenly away was painful to see.

The withholding of support by senior members is a vote of no-confidence in the residents’ group and the board. There were several founding members who voiced this position, including Zoe.

The board had some meetings where respect and decency were discarded and distracting theatrics used to avoid talking about the serious violations of the agreements that took place on the land last year. Board meetings need to be a space where respect for each other is a reliable assumption, and where board business is discussed in a collaborative setting.

Uproar is a tactic that doesn’t belong in the circle or at the board meetings.
Doug seemed to feel that it’s OK for him to storm out instead of talking with us about what’s going on. His show of sullen disrespect seems to confuse resident status with ownership. If he’s going to live on the land and benefit, then he belongs at the one most important meeting, treating us with respect, and we must respect the residents’ need to make good operating decisions.

Residents must build a viable farm economy in order to create a sustainable
ranch, so some autonomy is essential.

With Google Earth and similar neutral observing platforms in operation, we must understand that any structure won’t be hidden for long, and, once discovered, will make the land vulnerable to government interference unless it complies with county requirements, etc.

The bylaws define an important commons, the way that the land will be managed, and the process that we members agree to use to govern this commons. It’s a powerful tool and shouldn’t be discarded in the rush to exploit the commons that we see underway today.

The board has a duty to carry out duties as specified in the document, and to do less is to expose the land and the assets of TMR to decay or worse. The board cannot permit a cabin to be built without knowing about the proposed structure, evaluating how it would fit in, and who owns the resulting structure/improvements!

Where is such a contract? Vennie's draft of a residents’ contract is a good start. I think that it should add the elements of a lease, since the residents don’t have ownership rights and we can write it to take into account our unique relationships. Not a burden, a tool.

We’ve seen that when the board tells, and verbally agrees with, a resident to
limit some behavior that may affect us all, sometimes it’s not honored. In these situations it's often best to have an contract as a basis for resolution. Clearly contracts could protect the land by giving us leverage when folks use strong-arm tactics to take what they want.

I’d suggest that the Board immediately obtain a signed “hold harmless” document from everyone staying on the land. The board did a good thing in developing the "hold harmless" and I’d say that without the “hold harmless,” it's goodbye to the non-signing residents.

We should have a written contract from everyone who is a resident at TMR: A simple way to clarify what isn’t clear now. The land is owned by the Table Mountain Co-Op with a board that has oversight responsibility. We either have squatting, or we have residents as defined in the bylaws of TMR, and it’s clear from this year’s circle that it’s time to write it down, or we may well see more and more bullying tactics.

When Ishvi spoke about one side of the commons (how residents should benefit from living on the land), he was right, but not complete. I believe that each resident should do well, and as he or she does well, so should Table Mountain as those residents,visitors, and general members put back in a fair share to the common good.

In an era when the political elite has declared war on the "safety net", war on the underclass, in an era when our rights are eroding, where the very web of life is under attack, we need to nurture our precious centers of cooperation and sanctuary. We must understand and appreciate the precious gem that is the Table Mountain Ranch Association.

Bruce Bagnoli

2006-06-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

Flow

Sometimes "things just get better" as Flora Purim sings on her wonderful album recorded with her husband Airto, and this weekend was one of those. When you're in the flow, connected, things string together in ways unpredictable yet coherent when viewed from the history perspective.

Sharon browsed her email, found an email about a Jewish event in Berkeley where a woman who lives in Jerusalem was to sing. Turns out Sharon stayed with her on a visit to Isreal back in the 90's so she called to say hello. Miriam needed a ride to an event that was a mile from our home, Sharon went to fetch her.

Once here, it was a joyful reunion. Miriam is a singer and we invited her to stay with us on the weekend. Her event was at a Catholic University, and went well. In the moring we taped an impromptu segment of Sharon's show featuring Miriam's work for peace in the middle east, and her songs of peace.

Miriam went for a hike with us in the afternoon in nature at a nearby State Park. We hiked past marshland with wonderful birds, up the hills covered with golden grasses that reminded her of Isreal. Indeed the plants are similar here in California to the plants she sees walking in her homeland. Miriam wanted a challenge so I led the group on a small trail that asended into the forest that covers the hills overlooking San Pablo Bay.

Quite challenging, our climbing trail lead us to a saddle with a view that stretched from Vallejo to San Francisco. Took us a lot longer than we thought, and once we made the top we stopped for a bite of our food, drank our water, rested. Realizing we were late for a visit with her teacher, Anna Halperin, we hurried down to the car.

We called Anna as we were late, she agonized over our visit as her children and grandchildren were due for dinner. Anyway, we hustled and made it a few minutes before 6 as Miriam wouldn't be able to come halfway around the world for a long time, and Anna is in her high 80's.

Well after rushing there, her children called to say that they took a senic ride and would be late to dinner! So our visit with the Halprins could happen anyway.

Many years ago Miriam studied dance with Anna Halperin at her studio in Marin County, and it changed her life. Both are working for peace in Isreal, both share a vision of how Art is connected with our society and influences consciousness.

Sharon gave Anna a copy of her book, and learned that Anna's dances helped to solve a crime 30 years ago that Sharon wrote about in her book. WOnderful how closed time-like loops form when given that magical chance. Lawrence ( Anna's wonderful architect husband) shared his latest work with us (he's almost 90). It was such a gift to see this couple still together after all these years ( is it 60 years?) and vibrant, intellegent, giving and so conscious, so connected with nature.

After a short visit, her children and grandchildren arrived and we respectfully went on our way. The take away lesson is that despite the disruptions to our routine, despite the apparent lateness and displacements, Miriam was in the flow and we swam with her. The rich love that she sings about floated us to a series of magical encounters.

A remarkable part of the weekend is that I was to prepare for our upcomming trip, and was having difficulty finding someone to care for the garden. While we were late, a woman came by the house for another task and agreed to do the garden! So the time I "lost" with the unexpected house guest wasn't lost at all! Indeed the solution was perfect and with the efficeincy that only the flow can deliver.

Musicians know what I'm talking about, sports players know what I'm talking about, and you know what I'm talking about. I heard a musician who played with Miles Davis say that Miles was so much in the flow that when this fellow missed a note on the Sax, Miles filled in before the Sax player even knew that he missed the note! Thats being in the flow.

I give thanks for the love and flow this weekend.

Nameste.

2006-06-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

Interesting column in the Wall Street Journal asserting that string theory is just an intellectual entropy increasing exercise, perhaps a dead end. Time for some thinker to connect with the truth. Surely somewhere on earth, amongst the billions of us here today, there is a glimmer of the new science?

When I think about the miricle of life, of being here with so many other beings "other than human", it's almost unbearable to contemplate the great dying that is comming if the predictions of global warming are conservative. While life itself will no doubt go on, the loss of so many species is a sin ( where a sin is something that comes between a person and god )of the most tragic sort.

The recent publications in the journals Science and Nature discussing the huge amounts of CO2 that will be released when the tundra warms a few degrees more makes the release of the methane clathrates ( methane in ice) from the huge deposites in artic also more likely.

We are learning that there may be thermal runaway thresholds that trigger unstoppable pertabations in earth's climate that may change our planet for thousands or tens of thousands of years underway now. These changes may become extreme in decades, and we may be able to know within a few years that it's going to be a very rough ride.

Looking at the BBC population map showing the growth of urban population since 1955, it's shocking to see Asia exploding, and bodes ill for global warming. How can we feed 6 or 8 billion folks if we deplete the oceans, convert our breadbaskets to deserts?

We need to get started learning how to reclaim deserts for good, how to conserve our fresh water, how to live without producing so much greenhouse gases and how to help species, ecosystems and environmental niches to transplant themselves to the new places where they can live out the change. Resistence to political change will delay effective response, indeed those forces have effectively confused and delayed any concerted attempts to create the new world and it's new technologies.

We need to work on the engineering of flywheel energy storage, energy conversion, sound refrigeration, tissue culture, ecosystem restoration, genetics and molecular biology and agraculture, we need to work on our social values so that we teach our children how to live with the earth. Indeed the time has come to reconnect with the american native peoples relationship with the spiritual, with the rest of life on the planet.

Time to go water the bamboo then bike to work (I wish).

2006-04-22T06:54:00.000-07:00

As California heads toward spending another 3.5 billion on new prisons, with hundreds of new positions for members of the guards union, the social costs of this authoritarian approach mount, and the fiscal burden staggers the folks who have to earn their living, there isn't much public conversation about how to improve our system.

Sanity in sentencing would have a huge effect on the California economy, and would even increase our security. California should adopt the measures tried and proven in other states to ensure that prison capacity is used to house violent and preditory criminals, while others are sent to less expensive alternative programs such as community service, home detention, "the farm", and so on.

When our California prison conditions become so over crowded that all immates are deprived of basic rights, all are brutalized and the self-fulfilling cycle is perpetuated as these people recycle into our society. If we reduce our prison population through the development of alternative programs including diversion and treatment, provide more flexibility in sentencing for some crimes, then our society will free up resources for economic development that are way more productive than the few prison jobs that won't be added.

It will take some time for changes in parole, changes in sentencing, changes in family support to produce the beneficial effects on society that will be recognized widely. Shifting the use of capital from prisons to education, medical care for the uninsured, etc. and a lower tax burden will produce jobs in our communities and address some of the misery that breeds crime.

I don't advocate eliminating prisons, just bringing the benefits and costs into line, understanding that many of the people in California prisons wouldn't be there for that crime if they were in Ohio, Colorado, or even New Hampshire. Clearly immigration issues are involved, so it's not only a California, not only a Federal issue, it involves our neighboors to the south, the influx of illegal aliens from Asia, and won't be solved by building a few more prisons. The three billion program wouldn't be the end of it unless our population shrinks or the policy changes.

Measures could include changes to the three strikes law to focus it on the violent preditors, changes in our support for community programs for parolees, more rational sentencing, wider use of home detention, work-release programs, support for the families of incarcerated people to reduce the collateral damage caused by the criminal, improved medical care for prisoners, even reform in classifying prisoners to reduce the brutalization of otherwise normal people caught in the system. There are hundreds of alternatives that deserve implementation, hundreds more that we must evaluate in order to shift our resources to a more effective policy.

Key to this shift is the prison guards union. Unless this union supports a more rational approach, there is little hope for change. Neither the legislators nor the Govenor will change policy unless the prison guards union supports the change.

I believe that the prison guards union members know better than the rest of us how much the system needs change, but it's not clear that the present union leadership sees a reduction in prison jobs ( resulting from a shift in policy) as part of the solution. I think that guard members have an interest in working in less crowded conditions, an interest in better medical care in prisons, and in living in a society that isn't so burdened by the huge cost of supporting such a large incarcerated population. Union membership voices haven't been leading the discussion on change, and I'd like to hear more from them. I'd like to see more reporting on what goes on in our system. We need to ensure that these changes don't compromise our security of course, but there is plenty that needs to change that would only increase our security.

My hope is that guards union members will use their considerable political capital to push for reform, for the sort of system that will reenforce respect for our system of laws, that will allow our society to be knowingly responsible for what goes on in our name behind bars. Unions pushing for more jobs is understandable, but as responsible members of society, these Unions could do more with their knowledge and influence to help Californians make smart choices.

The economy of California could easily benefit more from the effect of shifting the jobs created by public employment from new guards to new nurses, new educators, new foster care and disabled care workers. These jobs are not quite so concentrated in one politicians district, and the benefit isn't easy to fit into the ledger.

Our society more easily measures the growth of prisons than the growth of wellness,but the productivity growth from a healthier population will show in GDP. We also don't easily measure environmental quality as a social benefit, but the improvements in public health and the declining cost of care from pollution related health problems is well understood. Environmental laws have improved our country overall, and a similar shift in our social climate would follow if we implement the reforms I discuss here.

2006-03-30T07:25:00.000-08:00

the best space ship is the earth, doesn't get much better than what we had. now the question is are we condeming our decendents to a hell created out of greed? what will we do when the polar caps are gone? (move to higher ground if we can). Sounds as if we as a species aren't quite as smart as we tell each other. I'd like to know if the global climate modelers can give us a hint about what we must do if we are to mitigate the comming warming, if we are to avoid some chaotic transition to a climate mode more like venus than our present earth. More likely is a long term reduction in diversity, the loss of entire eco systems, and the eventual reduction in human population to a level less injurious to the rest of the life forms on earth. Maybe we could learn to do the Moses thing, to help species survive the blast of heat that is the delayed response to digging up the dynasaures and their forests and burning them......maybe we better help the forests move north and south, pay more attention to basic watershed management, start moving away from the coasts. What about Bangladesh? What about much of the tropical coral reefs? It's one thing to think about a rise of a foot or two, but 20' would change the california coastline by miles in some places. China is about to release a blast of coal and oil derived co2 that will dwarf the entire world output to date, sealing the wave of heating that's breaking our climate cycle and pushing us into a world that humans haven't experienced since we learned to talk.

We humans should be using the climate modeling to do further studies of how Austrailia could modify the climate, following up on the discovery that a few hundred square miles of forest in the center of the contenient could double the rainflall across the entire land mass..... modeling how we could get there perhaps.

In a similar way folks better begin to cope with what we must do to care for the Pacific forests, the sierra's, the coastal area. I'd plant redwoods as a base activity, millions of acres of new redwood forest, millions of acres of pine and fir, moving species north to adapt to the comming change. Time to get to work to learn how to generate power without co2, how to live in a more sustainable way.

2005-12-11T12:05:00.000-08:00

December 2005

A scientist at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory working on greenhouse warming recently pointed out that if the only thing you want to do is sequester c02, then forest is not the long term answer. He is right in the narrow sense, but very wrong in the most important sense.

Our response to Global Warming must include vigorous efforts to plant more forests in critical locations. Climate modelers have determined that a fairly small forest in the center of the Austrailian outback could double the rainfall over the whole contenant. So a new forest as small as 100 square miles could make a huge difference, yet it would be a project larger than we've done as a civilization, and it's just the sort of thing that could make a long term difference.

In a similar way, forest ecosystems must move toward the poles faster than ever before except in astrophysical events, and if we want to have a recovery time on the order of hundreds of years instead of hundreds of thousands of years. then we need to help forests grow in new zones, we need the trees to modify the hydrology, the weather changes, to form the basis of a more sustainable economy.

In the short term, planting forests would counter the spread of deserts, especially when done in conjunction with climate modeling to guide the efforts for best ecosystem effect.

The changes in glaciers will change rivers, and expose new land for tree growth. There is only a short time during which the trees must become established if the soil newly exposed is to be nurtured, or it may be eroded and deposited under the oceans. So Humans must shift what we spend our time doing.

We will also have to move out of low lying area's as the sea rises, and rather than push against the sea, we better become adept at moving, at conserving our marine resources like fish....

Bruce Bagnoli

We need to develop flywheels, fusion, tidal power, hydropower, safe nuclear power, wind power, and learn how to save enough genetic material, genomic information, from species that may be going extinct.

We need to develop alternatives to coal burning , and find ways to make our microprocessor and RAM industries sustainable.

A stable population on the earth at levels of 1-2billion would seem to be one factor that would help if we didn't have to do it suddenly. If through changes in living conditions and standards we could flatten the growth curve, it would undoubtably restrain the rate of growth from this point on.

What I fear is that the

2005-08-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Fairness demands that societies value the ecosystem, and put resources into both the nourishment and protection of the treasured primordial ecosystems, and that the costs be borne by the larger society and not dumped on the rural folks who, for example, used to be dependent on logging. Present law seems to fall on one side or the other, weakening the mechanism that could protect the ecological legacy.

Here in California, down near Moro Bay, the seashore used to be miles out to sea. This was during the time that modern Humans lived in California. Those humans adjusted to the sea level increase, some dozens of feet, so I imagine our descendents will adjust to the changes brought about by the melting of so many glaciers, so much of the polar ice caps.

I hope that desertification is not allowed to proceed the way it appears to be spreading now, I hope that it is arrested and reversed through the terra-forming here. Desertification is almost irreversible within generations, but climate modeling can guide us to use our efforts in the most intelligent way, the most effective way.

An example is the discovery that a chunk of forest at roughly the center of the continent would double the rainfall across the whole continent (from almost none to some), a very amazing way to influence climate, and to encourage plant growth across a huge area, a lot of biomass. I'm a long way away from believing that a model is enough to start a huge civil engineering effort, but it is time to start thinking along those lines, learning to protect the species left. I fear that the next 300 years will challenge a significant fraction of the species as the disruptions from climate change are worked through.

Anyway, time to feed the cats.

2005-07-06T05:33:00.000-07:00

In a recent review of high power density systems, the "Z" pinch work done by Sandians in New Mexico was described. These folks have made a huge amount of progress, adapting as they go along and learning to make small devices that surely rival the work done at NIF in California on the road to Fusion in the lab.

The "Z"-pinch machine that they are now upgrading started out as a light ion device, PBFA, and during the experimental campaign it was learned that the light ion approach would be less useful, and that the machine could do some amazing tricks useful in their own right using the basic setup, forgetting the light ions and using the driver alone.

Scientists learned to produce an incredibly bright X-ray source by zapping a ring of tiny wires with a huge current. This donut of wires is vaporized in an instant forming a plasma donut that collapses on itself. The resulting flash is as bright as a nuclear weapon's X-ray pulse and thus useful for lab studies, and practical effects testing. The huge magnetic fields generated by the plasma and it's subsequent collapse are also useful in their own right.

Sandia has driven a tiny flyer plate to over 30Km/Sec, which would be faster than escape velocity from earth ( ignoring aerodynamic effects that would tear the plate up if launched in air at the ground.....) for use in material property testing experiments. Sandia scientists have been able to tailor the acceleration so that the material stays intact long enough to do experiments on the properties of various materials at a high degree of pressure.

The X-rays generated by the Z process can be harnessed in a tiny gold cylinder configured as a hohlraum, a cavity where the surfaces are heated by the X-rays, and surround a capsule target that may contain fusion fuel such as deuterium. The uniform bath of X-rays evaporates the surface of the capsule and the ablated material rockets the remaining material into a pinpoint of highly compressed material.

Utilizing the pettawatt laser technology developed at Lawrence Livermore Labs, the "Z" machine will be able to zap the compressed pellets with a "spark" that may ignite fusion, producing the elusive "star in the lab".

While I appreciate the many tricky physics issues remaining, it's clear that the progress made since 1995 is huge, and that the program could produce a working device soon if supported with a sufficient budget and staffed with enough bright scientists and engineers. This program should be pushed and supported by our government, indeed by the world community and not forced to compete with magnetic fusion and laser fusion programs, simply on the merits of the case, and because it is too soon to tell which approach will be the most useful.

I think that given the geopolitical situation, it is wise for a nation to persue the sort of energy system that could free us from dependency on oil, that could power our flight to the planets, that could help us to understand the high energy densityphysics.

These exciting developments are mostly shielded from public view behind a secret curtain, parted now and then as either scientific developments are published ( thanks to the American Instutite of Physics), or as the developers seek funding. The military applications are driving the funding at this point, though I believe that our nation would benefit from a much broader and better financed program. There are certainly proliferation concerns, but it's a very technically difficult process and unlikely to be attractive to the sort of folks who want instant political power so any concerns are way down the line from a practical point of view.

The Bush administration should immediately increase support for this area of research, broadening the work from NRL and Sandia to include various university programs, and to train the next generation of scientists, engineers, and technicians in this vital area.

2005-07-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

The recent disclosure that the Veterans Administration budget requests have not recognized the 80,000 new patients in the system from the Afganistan and Iraq wars and thus are some 3 Billion per year low, is shameful from an administration that professes respect for our men and women in Uniform who sacrifice so much for our country. The Congress should immediately demand the firing of the VA top official, and should increase the budget authorization, and require that the VA immediately take steps to address the special needs of this war.

The Bush administration doesn't want to admit the toll we pay for this foreign policy, but that is of no account to me. Our government having made the decision to go to war must also prepare for the inevitable effects of war. Nevermind the cheerleading shouts about how easy it will be, the propaganda about how our system can handle it without challenges.

The reality is that the 1800 killed are the tip of the mountain, with some 20000 serious disabilities, four times that number who are VA patients from these wars. We need to invest in treatment for psychological trauma, for rehab, and for the many more who will surely need this care as the war evolves over the next decade.

It's one more cost that was hidden in the effort to mislead the public about the real costs of this war here at home. Naturally we also know that the Iraqi people are bearning a cost that is many times these numbers, and their medical and rehab infrastructure is less sophisticated, plus they have public health challenges absent from the VA situation.

Our nation owes this care nomatter what the propaganda cost. Keeping our social contract is expensive, but it also keeps us able to recruit and retain our forces, and it surely helps our society as we embrace returned injured and handicapped soldiers. You judge a democracy largely by how it treats it's most vulnerable. Here we see clearly how our society feels about the sacrifices made in our name.

At this point there are thankfully a few who stand up for our vets, and I hope that the Congress can come together to bring the needed resources to bear, to openly admit the need, and to commit to increase the capacity of the system to ensure that we care for our own. This would restore some integrity and balance to our national conversation about how we will conduct this war, how we prepare for peace.

2005-02-24T11:51:00.000-08:00

On the more speculative side, recent research shows that it may be possible to accelerate an electron beam from say 5 mev or 10 mev up to a GEV using a petawatt class laser and wakefield acceleration schemes. I'd like to see a way to produce GEV protons, as these make muons easily, and muons catalyze fusion in certain arrangements.

While the LWFA (Laser Wake Field Accelerator) approach hasn't yet delivered muon capable proton beams, it does seem within reach now that petawatt lasers are reaching the 10s of joules level, and with the recent work, it appears that multistage systems are possible.

THis would potentially enable us to build systems using muons as the "spark" to bootstrap a small fusion power system without the hybrid approaches now necessary. Potentially we could also avoid most of the tritium inventory, and use material systems that would have a minimum of activation over the life of the equipment, vastly reducing the hazardous waste problems that plague present nuclear power systems.

Seems as if we are still a ways off since most research today is driving the basic technology, and applications are quite a ways off. Unfortunately I don't have enough background to know how much energy it takes to produce muons from electrons directly, but I do know it is straightforward given Gev protons, they produce pions, pi- decays into muons, they can be collected.

Who knows, if Dave Jackson is still interested, he's probably already thought of this approach....

2005-01-29T19:44:00.000-08:00

The potential benefits of a fusion power system are great, though it seems likely that we will see hybrid fusion-fission systems first, and they have safety considerations that are serious. Yet with greenhouse warming fast becomming the most important threat to humanity, developing options independent of fossil fuels is vital. Accordingly, the fusion technology programs that have been put on hold or scaled down should instead be ramped up, and we ought to divert a billion or so from the Iraq War to push fast ignition research, z-pinch, and applications development.

In the U.S. the environmental movement hasn't yet incorporated the new logic of combating global warming, a new logic that will drive some policy shifts, require some new thinking from the leaders if they are to remain relevant.

We must also develop the renewable energy systems, but it's too early to rule out the fusion option just because there are some thorny operational safety issues. Tritium handling comes into play in most fusion cycle plants, and tritium is tricky to handle. Tritium safety is a topic that has been studied and practiced for decades, so there is quite a large body of knowledge to work with. These plants will introduce some new chemical hazards, pressure regimes not seen before such as the cycling as pellets are "burned", liquid lithium blankets, and the need to control the proliferation potential at plant sites.

Never the less, these systems can also breed fuel for the existing fission cycle plants, or better, for third generation fission cycle plants using sub critical assemblies that are only driven to criticality by the fusion burns. The inherrent citicality safety of such power plants was the topic of a talk by a nobel prize winning CERN scientist some years ago at UC Berkeley. He advocated thorium fission power, using a 55 gallon drum sized "core" assembly along with an accelerator beam that brought it to the power production level.

These fusion neutrons are mostly 17 kev to start, definately "fast" neutrons ---- :-)

Following this draft, I came on a very recent paper in Phisics Letters "A" by F. Winterberg that talks about hybrid fusion-fission-fusion using his favorite device, the dense plasma focus....of course. FW has a distaste for lasers, seems to go a bit light on the math in his paper, nevertheless, it confirms my post above ( drafted prior to his article being published), and does give some idea of the design. Clearly with a bit of extrapolation, my idea of a laser initiated DPF system would also go, and likely with less tricky stuff than FW's system. He doesn't get much of a following by the folks with the money for some reason, but his papers point at a simple way to get lots of neutrons.

Combine his approach with the Carlos Rubbia ideas, and it's clear that one could bootstrap with just a bit of laser created dt fuel into a full fuel cycle.

interesting.

2005-01-13T06:50:00.000-08:00

Recent news from Osaka, Japan published by the scientists and engineers at ILE states that they now are confident that fast ignition of a fusion burn by a petawatt laser coupled with the existing multibeam laser compression systems "is understood".

Simple in concept, the system is capable of taking a plastic pellet containing dt and once compressed by the main lasers, hits it with a petawatt pulse that generates a burst of high energy electrons and ions that interacts with the compressed pellet and initiates fusion reactions.

The exciting thing reported by the researchers is that when they tried this experiment, when they synchronized the petawatt beam with maximum compression, they generated a burst of neutrons indicating that the petawatt beam does indeed boost the compressed target into the fusion regime.

One would think that our government would at least want to keep the US in the forefront of such potentially world order changing research, but the reality is that our effort has been cut back, the money throttled down, and thus the U.S. isn't moving as fast as possible to understand and ultimately to exploit this new technology.

One thing that governments don't always consider is that this generation of scientists has a limited time working at maximum productivity before the biological limitations set in. It takes so many years to master the math, physics, technology and so on that unless we really push them once they start to be scientifically productive, we don't get the full benefit of their intuition.

When the experiments take years to develop on machines that cost billions, the limitations are both "understandable" and stupid. This technology has the potential to help with shifting energy production away from greenhouse producing fossil fuels, to enable us to develop new space propulsion systems capable of vastly improving our planetary exploration, using simple materials plentiful on earth. This technology could also extend the life of our conventional fission power systems by hundreds of years.

Since our civilization has only a limited time to develop energy sources that don't screw-up the environment on a global scale, it is important to push this "fast igniter" effort as fast as possible.
I hope that we can perhaps find someone in a position to nudge the budget folks to enable the US to help the worldwide effort to bring this idea to blossom. It might be the most important tiny nudge in resources possible at this time.

2004-12-29T07:26:00.000-08:00

Creating a Tsunami warning system today can leverage the networks ( and robust routing ) to combine networks of sensors with distributed recognition of the danger zones, use of computer models of the ocean basins, to get multicast warnings to folks, to radio stations, to alarms where exists, to use weather radios, text messages, email, and satellite broadcasting.

Seismic networks knew within minutes that a great quake occured, and the location was plotted so a source term was available. Within another minute if the Tsunami computer models were ready, a plot could have been generated that would indicate regions of concern, and approximate times. Certainly having data buoy reports from the area of the quake would improve accuracy, but that would be a refinement that may be unaffordable or unavailable until later.

This simple model, namely using existing seismic monitoring networks coupled to a server running a basin model would yield preditions that could be rapidly distributed to relevent authorities, news organizations, and the like. Model based predictions could also generate validation tests. The sort of events that cause a tsunami can also be heard through the networks of hydraphones that are listening all the time, tracking subs, etc.

Any tsunami wave that would be generated would also generate acoustic signatures as it interacts with the coastal areas as it sweeps away from the epicenter of the wave generating event. This signature would validate the predictions. Satellite data collection for the fixed bouy system is essential so that the tsunami generating event doesn't just wipe out the system. With a world wide distributed system, it is likely that the notice of an approaching wave would originate from outside the affected area, and could thus be more effective.

Clearly credibility requries that there be humans in the system to ensure the integrity of any warnings. We really should be doing this in California, and certainly in Florida. Here in California we have a Tsunami warning system, though the delivery of the messages would be unreliable at best. I remember the Cresent City Tsunami warnings, on KNX in L.A. although I don't remember the specifics. The Cresent City event caused folks to be wary in Long Beach, as there was no network at that time ( my recollection anyway).

The U.S. Navy has such models of the ocean basins, and the software to generate the maps predicting the path of a tsunami. Without giving away classified information, the U.S.Navy could provide the alarm information in a timely manner. The U.S. Navy is also the best qualified organization in the World to provide the validation as they operate the largest network of monitored hydraphones, have the most sophisticated signal processing software.

The U.S. Navy would probably need some time to write some computer code, and maybe more time to come to grips with giving out formerly secret information, but they could provide value to the people of the world in one authentic basin wide tsunami warning that would pay for the entire cost of the Navy over our history!

Internet based warning could take seconds to reach decision makers in various countries, and once the satellite broadcast media picked up the warning, large populations at risk could move to safer ground, mitigating the loss of life to a major degree.

Time to get this in place for the globe. We should have monitoring and warning protocols in place for every ocean basin. A meteor could also generate a tsunami, and would likewise be observed by the U.S. Space Command, though I doubt that the Navy and Space Command have working interconnected systems for this purpose at this time. Never the less, such a connection would be useful, and it should generate civilian warnings in the likely event that they are needed some time over the next 100 years. It would be very inexpensive to put such a system based on existing sensor networks on line compared with the much discussed special purpose systems using only governement assets.

Volcano's that generate Tsunami's are likewise detectable by seismic stations and could be confirmed by existing Naval surveillance systems, generating the same internet notifications, news bullatins, etc. The threshold for such notifacations should be set quite high, so that the confidence in the warning would justify the extreme measures necessary to cause a mass evacuation, justifying the inevitable casualties from the evacuation in the reduction of overall harm.

Now with some 100,000 prompt dead, perhaps many times that in disease to follow, and another challenge to our civilization. Civil disorder in Sumatra is reported, and economic chaos as the scale of the events overwhelms the poor local government authorities, wiping out thousands of small businesses, civil infrastructure. This huge event is nevertheless limited for the most part on the margins of the contenent, but is unbounded for some of the island nations.
Entire Island populations may be gone, there are thousands of islands to check, few to do the checking.

2004-12-04T18:37:00.000-08:00

The recent accecptance by a wide cross section of the thinking population that greenhouse warming is a real phenomenon isn't enough to shift government action in a useful direction. Indeed the present U.S. Government approach is to hide evidence or scientific studies that tend to support the idea that global warming is real. The EPA has been hijacked by some folks who don't value the environment, and the quality of their science has declined in direct porportion to the degree of politization of the budget allocation process. Science is subject to doctrinare censorship in a number of government sponsored arenas, since the Bush administration overcame the opposition. Even studies on things that might be beneficial to mankind are subject to the political litmus test by the NeoCons.

2004-10-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

Africa Now : The most important story for the 21^st
Century ( before the war).This BBC Web article
Desperate measures in Zimbabwe by Michael Hartnack
appeared on the BBC website. It is part of the real story of the 21^st century, the spread of devastation across Africa, a whole continent embroiled in a vortex spreading desert, decimating human population, rolling forward with crushing poverty, and two instances of genocide within a decade so far. The spread of AIDS is unchecked, many governments are organized around kleptomania, many with social policies that destroy the economy. Rogue governments are more common and unchallenged in the world community. Environmental policies are trumped by corruption, education is retreating up the class mountain, like the retreating snow lines on Mt. Kilimanjaro.

This trend will not be contained on the African continent. Distressing
indeed is that the deserts growing like a stain across the continent most likely couple with the evolution of Hurricanes that eventually cruise up the Florida peninsula, intensifying them and encouraging their spawn. Global warming is indeed melting huge amounts of ice in Antarctica, and in the Arctic.

Tropical diseases are now in Northern California, in New York, in places that
they hadn’t called home for around 2000 years or more, maybe 20,000 years.

Interesting to contemplate the fact that the California coastline used to be more than 6 miles further out around Moro Bay. That means that within the time that Indians have been living in California, most of the shift came from melting ice. There has been some geologic uplift, but
over only 10000-20000 years, that’s a HUGE change. Humans not only adapted, we flourished. That change was fairly slow, and the ecological reservoir was diverse and rich.

The pace of change threatens much of the genetic legacy, the diversity of species, the wonderful beings from bacteria to whales. We humans have not taken care of the rich web of life, and threaten to wipe out huge amounts of the remaining ecological wealth through the exercise of regular old greed. The change that was set in motion by the burst of greenhouse gasses, disastrous forestry and farming practices that spread desert , and is likely to be an organizing element in Human activity for a very long time!

Africa has large regions where the government provides little security, doesn’t feed their starving, destroys agriculture in the name of land reform, and is increasingly controlled by feudal warlords as failed corrupt democracies deteriorate into irrelevance. The world response to the Darfur genocide is discouraging.

Truth would go a long way toward shaping effective responses, and the Bush administration still doesn’t speak the obvious truth about Sudan. The UN and US have still not spoken out about how the Janjaweed and the government are working together to commit the genocide, Arab against tribal blacks. The government sponsored military operations driving out and killing one group of people from their homes to take their assets, meager as they may be. Whole regions will be ethnically cleansed if the Sudan government continues to implement their plans.

This is a stage, where a group that can’t make it on their own, and simply kills to keep going, that should be frightening to all who treasure their civilized lives, who live in our Disneyland. I’m not sure what comes next, but it doesn’t seem likely that this trend is near an end.

This essay was inspired by this BBC story :BBC World : Africa

Bruce Bagnoli

2004-09-12T06:24:00.000-07:00

The dance on the Korean peninsula between North Korea and South Korea exposes some new proliferation concerns. While North Korea persues obtaining special nuclear materials through "conventional means" the recent news item that South Korea has used laser enrichment to make a fraction of a gram of slightly enriched U238-235 shows that South Korea is capable of very sophisticated technical projects, a fact that should be sobering to the North Korean government leadership. The South Korean experiments show that SK could gain this capability should their government decide to persue such a course.

Back during the Korean war, declassified security documents show that the US moved to make the N-weapon threat from the US credible, moving assets closer to the conflict even while debating the utility of such weapons in the conflict. Some at the time thought that these weapons would have little tactical utility, partly due to the topography, partly due to the geopolitical consequences of such a move.

This was discussed in the journal International Security a number of years ago.

It is apparent to me that both Japan and South Korea as well as Taiwan could have such weapons at any point if given the go-ahead of the United States, or if their leadership initiated a clandestine program. In some way, it might be stabilizing if T,J,SK had such capability, as the North Korean's are more vulnearable to strategic bombing if they were to use such a doomsday weapon on South Korea than they were so many years ago.

Hopefully folks like me will never know if these states decide to persue such a course, as the evidence will remain hidden, and the weapons won't be used. It is facinating to see the public disclosures as part of the diplomatic dance, and to hope that the West will be able to bring a peaceful end to the "cold war" continuing on the Korean land.

It is my hope that North Korea will change it's approach to being in the world, but as long as China finds it useful to have a rogue state in it's corner, there isn't much that the West is willing to do that will truely shift the course of the North Korean persuit of power. The existance of slave labor camps in North Korea doesn't get much press these days, nor do we hear much about the economic geography of North Korea.

It might be useful for the nations around North Korea to begin to make public more about how the North Korean economy functions, which other nations have trade relations with the North, how the flow of money and goods ties them to the rest of the world. Such knowledge would be useful in dealing with this emerging threat, as world economic forces are at least as important in the long term as military power.

The stability of the government in the North is a concern, as it is certain from public disclosures that enough U and Pu exist in enriched form to be a proliferation concern. If the U-hexaflouride that was found in North Africa indeed came from NK, then it's not much of a stretch to think that a war on terror must put a priority on containing this regime. North Korea's involvement in the amphetamine trade shows that they have routes that could bypass most border controls, and the confluence of these two trade routes would be truely terrifying to the rest of us.

The roll-up of the Pakistani proliferation network has addressed a big threat to world stability, but without addressing this NK component, the threat is only mitigated and is likely to spead further. The NK threat to sell technology is mild compared with the threat to sell snm to rogue ngo and must be considered as a primary threat to world political stability.

2004-08-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

Poetry in the name of Allen Cohen

Last night a group of 20 or so folks gathered at a coffee shop on College Avenue in Berkeley to read poetry, brought together around the idea of a memorial for Allen Cohen.

The gathering was brought together through email groups and word of mouth. It was recorded for streaming on the internet by a couple using a simple DV camera on a tripod.

The group of poets who gathered included people who had edited books of poetry with Allen ( such as Clive ) , people who had worked with Allen on documentaries, Berkeley poets who knew Allen, and some who were caregivers. Most were over 50, but there were a few young folks there. Aging hippies would be an apt description of many in the group.

Held in a back room of the Coffee shop, the lighting was harsh, the surface finishes hard, the room tone sharp, but a gentle air, mutual respect, and shared love for the words written and spoken lifted the ambiance, creating a protected zone for the memorial.

Each poet or writer had about 6 minutes, and Jessie moved it right along. Stories of Kerouac and Keasey, the Oracle paper, communes, poetry performed with Jazz, the trajectory of a life.

Nicole read an autobiographical piece that she found in Allen's papers after he died. It told the story of how the son of a garmet worker followed his passions, for better or worse, how he started a unique publication, how involved he was with children. His marriage to Ann, their years of seperation, and their sweet reunion.

Not discussed is how the scourge of Hepatitis "C" spread amongst some of the "in crowd", beat poets, and hippies spread through drug use, etc., much the same as HIV spreads today. Allen suffered from HepC, later from cancer. I don't know how he contracted the disease.

I passed through San Francisco and Berkeley back during the late 60's and 70's, and I remember the way that so many people wanted to explore the new realms, emboldened by the discovery that most of what we had been taught by authorities about drugs was bogus propaganda. So some ignored it all, to their peril. One of the things that our generation must do is tell the truth about drugs in the culture so that young people can be safe. So much harm comes from practices that are colloquial folk ways of using sacrament herbs and recreational drugs made necessary by the lack of sanitary and safe alternatives.

So much pressure to be "hip", and the rituals of acceptance to some cliques seemed to involve sharing something marking outlaw status, it's no wonder that many of our best and brightest get caught in the current. It's tragic to loose our friend, though thank goodness he was with us around 65 years. Being with him near the end, one has the sense that toward the latter part of his life he gave us something unavailable earlier, something valuable, something loving and perishable.

Collateral damage is how I view Allen's premature death, a side effect of a demented drug policy that has been a source of government power for 8 decades, so I don't expect it to change any time soon. If drugs weren't inherently criminal, the harm to society could be minimized in ways that aren't even discussed in national American political debate.

Recent epidemiological studies establish that the simple practice of needle exchange so that folks who insist on injecting drugs don't become vectors of disease would reduce the incidence of AIDS and Hepatitis "C". This is only one of many subtle side effects of our current policy that must change as we find a peace from the drug wars. I'm not advocating any encouragement of injection drug use, to the contrary I think that more education is needed and that a shift in policy can actually reduce the harm that drugs do to our society without seeing drug use become rampant.

Allen lived a life with a spiritual component, philosophical insight, and a quest for a new society where respect and love would create a richness sadly lacking today. His vision comes through in the poetry, consistently throughout his life.

I remember hearing him read a poem at a reunion gathering where we camped in the woods near Mendocino California back in 1985 about the nuclear survivors, the threat that still haunts us all these years later. Here is his poem,Hiroshima –40^thAnniversary.

During that gathering on the land we heard both a domestic spat with the petty ego conflicts that later divided Ann and Allen's lives, and his passionate poetic response to the escalating cold war and the horror of a nuclear aftermath. How wonderful that Reagan and Gorbachov ( and so many others) brought that evil dance to a close.

Maybe 18 years later, at another reunion summer camp in the Redwoods, he read another poem "35th Reunion at Table Mountain , sitting in our circle, sitting out in the interior of the circle, as to absorb healing energy, to be a bit more prominent. His poetry both honors a special time with a special tribe of people, it evokes for me the poignant essence of our spiritual predicament.

It took me a long time to appreciate this being, I quarreled with him sometimes, and didn’t particularly cater to his ways, but I’m thankful that I’ve had the chance to make the acquaintance of so many dear people, people who cared for this person or were touched by his art.

His last few months we learn were a time when he touched many lives, as I hear testimony at these memorials. While I think that memorials for Allen Cohen have become a bit of a cottage industry, I think he would have loved to see it, so much of his work being read, discussed and even published.

Just a short time before he died, Anne remarried him. The wedding was a living memorial where he received the love and lifted us all higher. I was privileged to make a video of the ceremony and reception so I saw closely during the editing this loose community came together, shared and loved.

Added in post: A memorial was held at Golden Gate Park, on "hippy hill" to clelebrate his life and his work. A video from that gathering is on You Tube Allan Cohen: A celebration".

2004-08-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

notes : Learning Videography

Video editing software provides the ability to warp time, allowing the videographer to review and examine the work just done, providing feedback on technique.

Shooting live TV is a sport that I enjoy. I operate a camera at events as part of a crew consisting of several cameras, sound people, director, producer, TD, CharGen, floor director, etc.

During the event I'm so busy responding to the director's instructions, I am not able to critically study the results that I'm producing, so it's hard to pick up the subtle things that could be improved.

Recently, I did an event where I recorded my camera's signal in camera, and sent the signal to the PixBox switcher at the control room. After the event, I logged the tape to computer using the capture function in PremierPro, then used the edit function to review my work.

It's easy to just watch the video this way, and it allows you to zoom in so that a particular few seconds loop. This time warping zoom using the "jog-shuttle" controls on the edit window reveals shakes, auto_exposure glitches, tracking errors, framing errors, pans that were smooth and those that were not.

Examining the work using the editor would be vastly more valuable if the crew chatter over the intercom was also recorded on the tape. I'm going to figure how to do this, and jump to the next level in learning. Without the directors instructions to me, it's hard to know when I was live, when I was hunting for the shot, etc. It would also be good to have the talley light signal on tape somehow.

I would urge folks who want to learn good camera technique to sit down with a non-linear computer editing setup and take a close look at your work. Take notes on what works, what doesn't work. Look at critical focus, exposure, stability, composition. Looking for the sequence of shots ( establishing, mcu, cutaway, head shots, reaction shots, etc. ), looking at the recording of metadata, ease of logging, etc.

This is simply the fastest way to reach journeyman performance with your camera.

Bruce Bagnoli

2004-04-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

Some things that come to mind when I think of what has been through my journals so far:

Hand written journal with selected pages posted from time to time. Comments on events, life cycles, ideas. Bamboo, physics, current events and speculation on future trends and opportunities. Community development, video, photojournalism, collaborative technology, technial safety, management and leadership, characters, photos, public access tv, web engineering, environmental conservation, art, crafts, crafts people, gardening, family, optical computing, network engineering, information systems programming, systems architecture, information systems security, kayaking, camping, hiking, bicycling, sailing, wilderness, tree farming, plant tissue culture, astrophysics, sonoluminesence, muon catylized fusion, relitivistic plasma engineering, software agents, knowledge engineering, knowledge management and acquisition, neural nets, fuzzy logic, solitons, wavelets, simulation, mathematical modeling, stochastic resonance, i ching, thich nhat hanh's teachings, story telling, video editing, multimedia experiences, mechanics, satellite systems, fluid dynamics, geology, ultra high magnetic field physics, light cones, neutrinos, alge and roses, teaching and learning, time warping, navigation, flight, imaging, mapping, electronics, assembly, music, songs and tunes, jazz, acoustic folk music, anthropology, clan dynamics, oral history, video history, electronic histories, business development, human rights, civil rights, justice, fairness, strategy, international development, public participation in government, social design, sociology, cognition, quantum computation, quantum cryptography, sociology and cultural anthropology of science, dna, genetic engineering, genetic computational techniques, grid computing, distributed computing, real time systems, control algorithms, trust, application development, medicine, social policy, nutrition, play, fun, work, love, duty, Oceanography, body surfing, woodworking, carpentry, foster care, hospice care, independent living, child care, free speach, network management, construction, project management, public media, organizational development, perl, php, c language, linuz, operating systems, parsers, compilers, web services, xml, database technology, data mining, meta knowledge, audio processing, video over IP, multicasting, intrusion detection, sensor fusion, fractals, chaos control algorithms, instrumentation, sensors, uav, radio control, building automation, law, pottery, northern california, washington, oregon, mexico, new mexico, santa fe, tustin, taos, Mendicino, peta watt physics, lasers, chirped pulse technology, power system dynamics, poetry, snmp, policy routing, bgp, cisco ios, immune engineering, latin squares, latin music, classical music, blues, ethnic food, cooking, growing food, fish farming, plant propigation, improvisational theatre, professional theatre, movie direction, lighting, stage direction, crew dynamics, studio operations, conduct of operations, planning, environmental protection, endangered species, greenhouse warming, co2 sequestration, book publishing, publishing, streaming media, video on demand, broadcasting, program production, scheduling, document management, engineering management, engineering economics, color, video production, video post production, distance learning, public housing, seismic safety, rv, real estate, public safety, local government, analysis of information streams, correlation, correlators, optical switching, non-linear optical interactions, water-jet cutting, laser processing, laser free space secure communications, planitary discovery, gravity, time, cellular automata, scientists, laboratory technique, laboratory management, personnel law, legal theory, development, city planning, regional planning, water resources, biological resources, plant science, wave power, wind power, solar power, flywheel energy storage systems, family history, energy conservation, aerodynamics, flight systems, open source development, commons, cats, flowers, roses, biotechnology, photography,
highway engineering, dwdm, investment, venture capital, small business, telecommuting, telework, remote operation, thermoacoustics, basketry, chemistry, operations research, contracting, novels, white paper, seminar, native grasses, animal communications, physiology, neural biology, peptides, rock fabrication technology, hydraulics, power transmission systems, design, program management, information systems, birds, cable logging systems, intellectual property, freedom of information, information security, national security, communications theory, child development, educational policy, educational development, educational management, writing, journals, libraries, Japan, Europe, south America, pacific ocean, rocky mountains, Colorado, Ohio, Roanoke, Manhattan, Boston, north carolina, alaska, bc, textile printing, cranes, construction safety, trail building, trail maintenance, low-impact camping, tsunami, hydro vent life, orbital dynamics and design, planitary exploration, supernova theory, quark matter, finite element modeling, learning techniques.