Pier Review 2 - Amazing Surf

I posted about the Venice Pier a little over a year ago.  Tuesday I checked it out again.  The day was sunnier, but not as clear.  But the surf below was big and bad.


The waves were not curving, but simply crashing down like a waterfall.

There are surfers (black spots) above and below this wall of water.

 This pier is much less flashy than the Santa Monica pier.  The surf pictures in this post were taken off the left side.

UPDATE:  Here are more waves from Venice Pier with my better camera.  And finally Rafael catching a great white shark from the end of Venice Pier.

"to be a blessing to every person he puts in our path"

The Los Angeles Times Sunday edition had an article entitled "The religious right bankrolls Santorum."

"The faith component that Rick and I share is that we know that we're here to be a channel of God's love to others, his hands and feet in a hurting world, and to be a blessing to every person he puts in our path"

This is from Foster Friess, "a retired mutual fund executive based in Wyoming, [who] gave $300,000 to the superPAC in 2011 . . . He contributed at least $250,000 more in the last month. . . "  Some of the Fox videos on his website identify him in the title as "Billionaire Foster Friess."


What does one have to believe to say he's a channel of God's love?  To say he's here "to be a blessing to every person he puts in our path?"

How is Santorum a blessing to GLBT folks?  How's he a blessing to a woman whose health is threatened without an abortion?

I try to make such questions more than rhetorical.  Santorum and Friess might say something like, "I'm trying to save them from themselves, show them the error of their ways so they may find everlasting peace in heaven."

What sort of view of the world must one have to take that sort of position?  I can think of a few:
1.  Certainty that one is right.
2.  True and unwavering belief in one's interpretation of the bible.
(The first two can easily go hand in hand.)
3.  A Machiavellian cunning that allows one to use people's faith in God to manipulate them with words from their holy book.

I'm sure there are more possibilities.  I'm eager to hear them.

It's possibile that  Friess and Santorum really believe that they channel God's word.  And people on the other side of the religio/political spectrum feel they are as right about their positions as these two.

Who is Foster Friess? 

The website that bears his names lists a few "key issues":

Government

Promoting the principles of limited government and exposing the burdens of excessive regulation that stifle American ingenuity, creativity, and enterprise

If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify- Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 33

You can see Hamilton's words in context here. He appeared to be exasperated with people opposed to clauses in the proposed constitution giving Congress power to

"to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers by that Constitution vested in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof"; and the second clause of the sixth article declares, "that the Constitution and the laws of the United States made in pursuance thereof, and the treaties made by their authority shall be the supreme law of the land, any thing in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding."

Hamilton, of course, argued for a strong federal government.   From the Encyclopedia Britannica:

Though fully conscious that monarchy in America was impossible, he wished to obtain the next best solution in an aristocratic, strongly centralized, coercive, but representative union, with devices to give weight to the influence of class and property.^[8]

Most of the key issues listed on the site - education, climate change, health care - can be solved, the site says, via the free market.  Immigration needs the borders protected - they don't mention the private sector, but neither is government mentioned for this one.  Helping Peaceful Muslims is another of the key issues. (Think Progress says Friess has funded a number of Islamophobic organizations.)  Nothing about the economy.  But there is a final one:

Enduring Values

Combating the negativity in our culture with uplifting, inspiring stories reminding us of the best American principles

As the great political philosophers from Plato and Aristotle to America’s own Founding Fathers have observed, democracy very quickly turns to tyranny when the people are not generally virtuous. To defend our system of ordered liberty, we must always be vigilant, and we must always strive to strengthen our culture, or our free society will be overtaken by government.

(At left) George Washington at prayer.

How did the Friess funded Red, White, and Blue Super Pact add to combating negativity in the Florida Republican primary and the last three caucuses?

I searched his website for "Koch" but nothing was found.

Alternet reports a Koch brothers conference in Palm Springs two weeks ago where the whole  550 room  Esmerelda Renaissance was rented for the private event and connects Friess with the Koch brothers:

A private plane owned by wealthy mutual fund manager Foster Friess flew to the area the morning of the conference, and left the day it ended. Friess is a social conservative who has gained headlines recently for his massive backing of a super-PAC supporting Rick Santorum. He has also attended the Koch meeting in the past.

 The Foster Friess website also has a video of Friess accepting the Paul Weyrich Award.

The award honors Paul Weyrich, who, according to Wikipedia, was a co-founder, with Coors funding, of the Heritage Foundation and the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress which,

was among the first grassroots organizations to raise funds extensively through direct mail campaigns. It also was one of the first organizations to tap into evangelical Christian churches as places to recruit and cultivate activists and support for social conservative causes. In 1977, Weyrich co-founded Christian Voice with Robert Grant. Two years later, with Jerry Falwell, he founded the Moral Majority. Weyrich coined the phrase "Moral Majority".^[8]

And

Over the next two decades, Weyrich founded, co-founded, or held prominent roles in a number of other notable conservative organizations. Among them, he was founder of the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization of state legislators [and heavily funded by the Koch brothers]; a co-founder of the Council for National Policy, a strategy-formulating organization for social conservatives; co-publisher of the magazine Conservative Digest; and national chairman of Coalitions for America, an association of conservative activist organizations. The CSFC, reorganized into the Free Congress Foundation, also remained active.

Weyrich died in 2008, but Friess is alive and active.

Aside:  From the moment I saw the name Foster Friess, I couldn't help think about an ice cream cone.  So when I finished writing this I googled Foster Freeze.  And sure enough, there was the company that was around my California childhood all along.  And it's still around, one not far from my mom's place.  So I got on my bike to add a photo to this post.

Birding Puzzles - Caspian, Royal, or Elegant Tern?

It was crowded at the beach Monday even though it was grey.  Identifying gulls drives me crazy.  There are so many that look alike, and the juveniles change each year too.

I did notice that these had 3 dots on the ends of their black wings and yellow beaks with black tips and bit of orange.  The legs are greyish/pink.  (I'm only looking at the mature birds now.)  So there are several gulls that come close - Western gulls seem to have the black on the bill as juveniles and the orange as adults.  Maybe these are moving from one to the other.

But then I saw these guys.

I'd seen them before, but couldn't remember what they were called.  I thought of Bonaparte - but they have more rounded black heads.  Emperor?  When I got home I saw the name - Elegant Gulls.  But there were two other, very similar, terns.

From Sibley's Field Guide To Birds of Western North America  (click to enlarge)  Check the heads.

One's black clear across.  The other two had white foreheads. The book shows the whiter forehead from August to February and the blacker forehead from March to August.  It's mid-February now, so they could be changing. In any case that would seem to eliminate the Caspian Terns.   Now look at them compared to the gull.

The gull (in front) is much bigger, and the Elegant Terns are the smallest of the three terns.  Now look at them flying.

The wingtips of the Royals in the book seem to be darker than the Elegants.  I'm guessing these are Elegants.  (And last time I found one like this here, my birder friends said it was an Elegant.  So I'm hoping Dianne will check and confirm.)

Old Post, New Movie Explain Why Tar Sands and Keystone Are Big Problems

In April 2009 I posted a video of Eriel Tchekwie Deranger who was in Anchorage for the Indigenous People's Global Summit on Climate Change.  She spoke eloquently about the huge environmental damage caused by the tar sands oil development in her homeland in Alberta.  This has gotten a lot more attention lately - especially when the Republicans forced President Obama to make a decision on the Keystone Pipeline in Canada by making it a condition of passing the year end jobs bill and then Obama called their bluff and put it off for a year.


Maz wrote a comment today on that post saying he'd just finished the mixing of a new movie that highlights Eriel and her message.  Below is the trailer for the documentary "Elemental."  There are three stories told - one is Eriel's.




Elemental - Trailer from Goproject Films on Vimeo.


In the past I might have said "coincidentally" here.  But I think there is so much happening on the environmental front that it isn't coincidence.  This could happen every day.  I got this far with this post last night and was leaving it for today.  And then I got this email about impending legislation which sneaks an approval of the Keystone Pipeline into a transportation bill.  Here's a letter about it and the Citizens Climate Lobby is urging people to contact their Senators.

The Senate could vote as early as tomorrow on a plan to greenlight construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Despite President Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline a few weeks ago, Republicans in Congress are once again engaging in hostage-taking. Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) is trying to attach a measure to the transportation bill that would force approval of Keystone XL.

Tragically, some moderate Democrats appear to be playing along - so this bill could have enough votes to pass.

No evaluation process. No National Interest Determination. No new route identified through Nebraska.

To demonstrate a massive, urgent, grassroots backlash, our friends at 350 have organized a 24-hour petition drive to the Senate. Nearly three dozen groups are emailing their members right now, and 350's Bill McKibben will announce the effort tonight on the Colbert Report.

Help us get 500,000 signatures in 24 hours against Keystone XL. Click here to automatically sign this petition to the Senate.

Republicans and some Democrats in Congress are so owned by Big Oil, that they are willing to bypass the pipeline review process designed to protect Americans from its very real danger.

Our grassroots pressure forced President Obama to reject the pipeline when Republicans tried to force a decision in 60 days. He said it wasn't enough time for the thorough evaluation process we need.

Republicans are claiming that incomplete process was enough. But just last week the State Department Inspector General released a report finding a lack of technical and scientific expertise at the State Department to evaluate the impacts of the pipeline.¹ So clearly, this pipeline hasn't been adequately evaluated.

We need to show the Senate the huge opposition to Keystone XL. Click here to automatically sign this petition to the Senate.

Our Congress should be in the business of acting in America's interest. Instead, their business appears to be Big Oil's business.

Please help make a big statement today to remind our Senators who they really work for, and show huge opposition to this ill-conceived, disastrous pipeline. And please share it widely so we make as large an impact as possible over the next 24 hours, and Bill McKibben has a large number of signatures to announce tonight on the Colbert Report.

Not convinced?  At least look at Eriel's original video posted two years ago to hear how the Tar Sands are affecting her people.   It should make people think about this project and what sorts of environmental oversight is needed. 

Conspicuous Conservation or Why Did You Buy Your Prius?

We heard an old (July 2011) Freakonomics podcast on KPPC this morning that raised a subject I've thought about when writing about biking.  Conspicuous Conservation - or people being 'green' because it's cool and wanting to be seen being cool.  It's also described as signaling theory - what we do to look good.

I think about this every time I write about biking.  Will people think I'm being a biking snob because I mention biking somewhere or even linger on the topic during a post?  I try to avoid being judgmental and I try to show understanding that biking isn't for everyone or every time, that there are legitimate reasons to drive, and weaning isn't easy.  But I'm sure some think I'm being holier than thou. 

The show focuses on Prius owners.  A pair of economics doctoral students, Allison and Steve Sexton (they're twins), have written a paper on this and take part in the podcast. 

They observed that of all the hybrid cars, the Toyota Prius looks significantly different from other Toyotas (and all other cars) whereas the other hybrid cars are hard to distinguish from the non-hybrid models.  But the Prius is by far the best selling hybrid.  Are people buying them because they stand out more?  Are they buying Priuses because it signals their conservation ethic? 

They compared Prius and Honda Civic hybrid sales and determined whether there were more sales in Democratic or Republican census blocks.  They found significantly more Priuses in Democratic areas and no statistical difference in Prius sales compared to the Honda Civic hybrid in Republican areas.  Using this, they decided that Conspicuous Conservation explains, in part, why people choose to buy a Prius.  They reason that the only real distinction between the Prius and the Honda is the Prius' distinctive look.  Cost and mileage and reliability, they say, are all relatively similar.  And you get better signaling advantage in areas where people value conservation than where people aren't favorably disposed to environmentalists. 

There's even a clip from South Park which apparently noticed this trend much earlier.  The kids realize that having a Pruis-like car is alienating them from their more conservative neighbors and the Dad says, "And that's why we're moving to San Francisco." 

An Toyota knew about signaling according to the Toyota PR person on the podcast who says that the key instruction to the Prius designers was that the car should look different. 

I'm sure this has something to do with why there are more Priuses than other hybrids.  All movements attract some people who join because it confers on them some imagined status or other symbolic benefits.  We see it very clearly in what kids wear high school. 

But there are also people who do things because it's the right thing for them and not because they want to be cool, or in other cases, just different.  A factor I didn't hear on the show is the proselytizing reason for such signalling - trying to make the odd seem more normal because so many people are doing it.  Driving a Prius - because they are so conspicuous - points out to others how many people are, in fact, driving more energy efficient vehicles.  And might cause others to 'convert.'  Hiding that by buying a car that blends in doesn't get that message across. 

You can listen to the podcast and decide for yourself.

And my posting about biking is consciously intended to remind folks that biking is doable in a lot more situations than most people think.  But, if it comes across as conspicuous conservation, then so be it.  But the point is to make people think:  I could take the bike instead of the car for this.  And maybe the point of driving a Prius is to make people think:  That guy is getting twice the gas mileage I'm getting.  

Enjoying Venice Beach

I could watch the guys (that's all I saw today) at the Venice Skateboard Plaza all day, but it was breezy today so we went over to board walk to mingle with the flow of tourists and locals.




I ran down to the beach yesterday morning hoping to see some of the big waves that were predicted.  They were bigger and rougher than normal, but not huge.  Maybe 5 or 6 feet.





This fisherman was all decked out in what liked new gear.  As I left this spot to see the surfers better, I tried to talk to him, but it appeared he didn't speak English.

The pelicans were patrolling the beach side of the waves too. 


I watched the surfers for a while and got some video that was more surf than surfers.  So I decided to switch back to still.

How I wish I'd kept the video on. This guy zigged and zagged at the front of the crest from left to right and then just a bit after this shot the wave curled over him. He came out after that ride. He wasn't going to get anything better than that. He told me when he was in the curl he got a bit concerned because he didn't know how deep it w

We biked back this afternoon, but there was a pretty stiff breeze. Plenty of folks were taking advantage of it.

I only saw this guy with the surfboard walking the kite along the beach.  Didn't see him with it in the water.

For this picture, I took the camera off manual and used the built in beach setting.

And on this one I photo-shopped in a close-up of the sand.  This is looking north to the Santa Monica mountains. 

Then we biked over to the skate board plaza. This guy was really good, but I didn't catch him in the air.  I'm assuming not too many people bang their heads or they'd start requiring helmets.  Most (like the guy in the first picture above) weren't wearing them.

Then we joined the crowd on the Venice boardwalk.  This is a wall above the shops along the boardwalk. 

And if you need more than oxygen . . .

The doctor was in here.  Or at least this man in a white lab coat.

  Ice cream will do for this guy.

Thank You!

This is Edberto, a (the?) manager at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica cafeteria where I absentmindedly left my camera at lunch on Wednesday. 

His crew found it and stashed it away in the office and had it for me Thursday morning.  A big thank you!






We all tend to complain faster than we say thank you.  I hope there are a few people who read this who remember someone they should thank and do it right now.  Or at least write a note to do it by Monday.  :)

Airport Noise and Other Issues - Santa Monica and Anchorage

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities invited me to their email list sometime last year and I get periodic announcements.  So when I see their articles in other media, I know where they come from.

Last week I got an meeting announcement about Noise for Feb. 29.  We won't be back yet, but I hope someone goes.

Anchorage

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Announces
Public Meeting for Part 150 Study Update

Anchorage, AK – Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport will hold a public information meeting on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 to kick-off the Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study Update. The meeting is open to the public and will be held at 6:00 p.m. at the Spenard Community Recreation Center in the Multi-Purpose Room located at 2020 W. 48th Avenue, Anchorage, AK 99517.

The purpose of this meeting is to inform interested parties about the purpose of the Part 150 Study Update and to outline the general study process. Airport staff and the consultant team will be available to listen to citizen comments and answer questions about the study.
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport has begun the voluntary process of preparing an update to the Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study to examine the current and future noise effects caused by aircraft operations at the airport. The goal of this study is to work with surrounding communities, aviation experts, and stakeholders to establish a balanced, cost-effective and comprehensive Noise Compatibility Program to reduce the number of people affected by aircraft noise.
This is the first of several public meetings that will be held throughout the course of the study. Public and stakeholder coordination is an important portion of the study, and the airport is interested to hear the public’s opinions and concerns on these important issues.
 For additional information please visit:     www.anc150study.com

 Expect much to happen?  Look at their words:

• listen to citizens (if it's not too noisy to hear you, but there is nothing about doing anything with what citizens say.  Do they really care or are they doing it because they have to?)
• answer questions about the study (but not about noise itself)
• voluntary process of updating (but the FAQ's on their website has this sentence buried in it:
  
  "The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is updating their previous Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study because the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that the Airport have current Noise Exposure Maps to receive federal funding for noise mitigation measures."
  
• to establish a balanced, cost-effective and comprehensive Noise Compatibility Program to reduce the number of people affected by aircraft noise.  (Get a bunch of them in a room and off them - ok I'm being silly here.  But I suspect airport noise affects more than just people.  It's an area - sound impacts - that science is just beginning to look at.   But unless airplanes get quieter, I'm not holding my breath that the cost-effective part won't mean that not much will happen.)

The documents section of the linked site gives us an agenda:

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Initial
Public Meeting for Part 150 Study Update

Date:
February 29, 2012
Time:  6:00 p.m.
Location:  Spenard Community Recreation Center – Multi-Purpose Room

PUBLIC MEETING AGENDA

• Introductions 
• Study Team
• Who is Involved?

• Brief Explanation of FAR Part 150 and the Study
• What is a Part 150 Study? 
• Background on the Previous Part 150 Study 
• Why Update Study?
• Relationship to FAR Part 161 
• Study Process

• Description of Noise Metrics – DNL, SEL, Ldn, Time Above, etc.
  
• Discussion on Potential Noise Monitoring Sites
• Questions/Comments

Santa Monica

And after I got the email about the Anchorage Airport, my mom got this flyer in her mail from CASMAT (Community Against SM Airport Traffic).  This is a somewhat different breed of airport.  It's a very busy private airport surrounded by residential neighborhoods.  The airport's been here longer than most of the houses.  On the other hand, jets weren't flying out of the airport when most of the houses were built.  On the border of Santa Monica and Los Angeles, it's probably more valuable as real estate than as an airport.  But if it closed, where would Jerry Seinfeld keep his planes?

Anyway, the flyer is inviting people to attend "Airport Visioning" Workshops and then the Airport Commission's workshop on March 26. 

The airport site (link to airport site which I'm guessing will change over time) lists several reports.  The report from the city staff - offered by the City Manager, Rod Gould, gives a long history of the airport from its start in 1917 through today.  Then it talks about legal issues, probably the crux of what is happening.

Santa Monica's Airport has been the subject of many legal disputes between the City and Airport users, Airport neighbors, or Airport businesses. However it is the legal disputes between the City and the FAA that have proven to be the most difficult.    The most recent example is the eight year legal battle over the City's Aircraft Conformance Program and the corresponding ordinance banning Category C&D aircraft. This dispute cost the City well over $1,000,000 and the C & D ban was struck down.

Over the course of that dispute, the FAA explained its legal position relative to the City's obligations in its briefs filed with federal appellate courts. Thus, on the issue of Airport closure, the FAA has made it very clear that it does and will take the position that the City cannot close the Airport in 2015 because the Instrument of Transfer, executed after the conclusion of World War II in 1948, obligates the City to operate its Airport in perpetuity. Additionally, the FAA takes the position that the City accepted federal grant funds in 2003 and is thus required by federal law to operate the Airport for at least 20 years thereafter, or until 2023.

Then it goes on to list various options offered by some of the consultants.  Those reports are available too, but the staff report is the only one with substance.

Image of Santa Monica Airport from SMO fact sheet  North on Top

Lost Camera

I took my camera to lunch in the hospital yesterday.  When I was on my bike headed home I realized it wasn't in my pocket.  We went back after dinner and I checked in the cafeteria.  It wasn't in any of the drawers.  They sent me to security.  He looked at a paper.  Nothing reported.  He didn't ask for my name.

Then I remembered how my mom was instructed several times not to have anything valuable in in her overnight back.

OK, it's just a camera.  I didn't break a finger.  I can go out and buy a newer, better one, cheaper one.  And the little door to the battery and sound card was broken and I had taped it together.  It's just a thing.  But as a blogger, it was almost like a finger.  I think I'm more upset that I wasn't paying attention and must have put it down and walked away.  It's usually in a pocket, but it was warm and I wasn't wearing a jacket and I didn't put it in my jeans pocket.  Dumb.

And you don't want me drawing pictures.  I don't want me drawing pictures very often - that takes way too long.  But I did learn how to draw a teardrop in photoshop today. OK, I learned how to draw something that resembles a teardrop.  I'll get better. 

The LA Times lists sales for cameras..

[UPDATE 11am:  J found my camera.  It was in the cafeteria office, which was closed last night.  Patience and faith, I need more of them.]

Rain Yesterday, Sun Today - Random LA Images

The title's inaccurate.  The images aren't random.  They're ones I picked because they made a point I wanted to make or I just liked them. 


I thought that during the Super Bowl the freeway traffic would be lighter.  But getting onto the San Diego Freeway just before game time proved slow.  But the sky was very clear and the temperatures a delicious and dry mid 70s. 

Car stuff in general reminds me why I live in Alaska.  One reason we came down was to help my mom when she went in for some elective surgery.  She's in a private hospital in Santa Monica where parking is horrendous.  So many streets have permit only parking.  The others have meters.  Finding an empty space isn't easy.  When my mom is with us, I have no problem using her handicapped sign, but I won't use it when she's not with us.  (The handicapped sign has all sorts of benefits

including not paying for parking meters.)  But yesterday I couldn't find a parking space after wandering around, so I tried the parking lot.  $2 for 15 minutes!  Providence Anchorage - thank you for your free parking.  On the other hand, if traffic is so bad and parking so difficult, maybe more people will experiment with the bus or with a bike.  Today I biked up.  When people drive, they really don't think about how far things are.  It only took me 20 minutes on my second hand utility bike.  And parking was right at the entrance for free.  (Mine's the bright blue one.)

Yesterday it rained.  It was a nice break from the relentless sun as Dan Bern sang about it in The Wasteland.


This is the entrance to St. John's, with wet pavement.  They even had plastic umbrella bags at the entrance even though it really didn't rain hard enough to soak below the soil.

Sunday we had breakfast at the Mar Vista Farmers Market.  I also got my stem tightened on my bike by the friendly folks from Bikerowave , a do it yourself bike shop, that had a table there.  Also got to talk to some folks from the Mar Vista Community Council.  Hey Anchorage, we had them built into the Charter in 1975, but LA only got theirs into the City Charter in 1999. 

I just liked the way the sun was lighting up this mass of Birds of Paradise.







We had take out Monday night from Thai Vegan on Main Street.  Great prices and decent Thai food.  We even had mango and sticky rice for dessert. 
















And after yesterday's grey, I couldn't resist getting this bright yellow house and equally bright blue sky this morning on my morning run - which I had had to skip for a few days. 

By the way we decided to move the car.  We had to wait a looooooong time for the car in front of us and then the attendant spent a long time counting money before serving us.  It was $4.  I asked how long we'd been there and when she saw it was 16 minutes, she said $2 would be fine.