Plants At Risk: research catalogs potential extinction threat to one-fifth of all plants

There are several news agencies that are picking up on a recently released study that declares that one-fifth of the world's plants are faced with extinction. Animals or large-scale ecosystems seem to catch the attention of the general public more than plants, perhaps because we can relate to an animated polar bear, a wolf, or a shark better than we can to an orchid. And ecosystems catch our attention because their fate is often wrapped up in global implications.

However, plants, as much as they may be taken for granted or ignored altogether, play a significant role in not only the overall health of the planet but to mankind specifically.

Researchers at England's Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, and the Natural History Museum, along with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have analyzed over 4,000 plant species and determined that 22% should be considered threatened with possible extinction, while another 33% could not have their status determined because so little is known about them. Their research forms an important baseline by which future growth or loss can be measured.

With an estimated 380,000 plant species in the world today, what appears to be the greatest threat is habitat loss - areas of land that are being consumed and redirected towards agriculture. Tropical rain forests seem to be the greatest botanical areas at risk.

Now what might assume that the loss of some obscure orchid or weed is not a big deal; that as long as we have plenty of fruits and vegetables, we will be okay. Not so, according to the research. Many medicines have been first derived or can only be derived from plant extracts, and with the loss of botanical environments that can be a loss of an untold number of future medications. Ironically, developing countries, where much of the tropical forests and plant systems are being wiped out, are one of the main benefactors in plant-derived medicines for conditions ranging from malaria to leukemia.

In addition, focusing on plants that serve the greatest numbers of people as food is a limitation that can have profound effects on the very plants we depend on. It is reported that 80% of the calories consumed by the world come from only 12 different plant species. That can cause a precarious limitation in the DNA gene pool of plants which can have a negative impact on those 12 species we so much depend on. Imagine ridding the world of all animals except for cows, pigs, chickens and a few fish and you can see how precarious our situation would become in maintaining a healthy gene pool of feed animals.

The report on the ongoing botanical research comes in advance of next month's United Nations Biodiversity Conference. The future of plants on earth must be an important component of a more holistic approach towards biodiversity, realizing that every plant or animal plays a role and we must consider the implications when any species, plant or animal, is brought to the level of extinction.

Stephen Hopper, professor and director of the the Royal Botanical Gardens said, "We cannot sit back and watch plant species disappear - plants are the basis of all life on Earth, providing clean air, water, food and fuel. All animal and bird life depends on them and so do we. Every breath we take involves interacting with plants. They're what we all depend on."

Read more about it in the Royal Botanical Gardens' KEW News.

Sharks in the Arabian Gulf: new research to determine population before it's too late

Declining shark populations have been reported in many parts of the world - some reductions reaching as much as 80 to 90 percent compared to just a few decades ago. But there are still some important bodies of water where the status of the shark populations is unclear. One of those bodies is the Arabian Gulf (or Persian Gulf, depending on who you talk to).

But that is about to change.

Marine biologist Rima Jabado, from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, has begun a study to determine the health and extant of shark populations in the Gulf. As part of her doctoral thesis, she has been interviewing Arab fishermen (over 125 to date) and their anecdotal information combined with in-the-field study will hopefully paint an accurate picture of what shark species are living in the Gulf and what their true numbers are.

Jabado was pleased to find that the fishermen were sympathetic to the need for shark conservation to maintain a healthy marine ecosystem, thereby helping to provide sustainable levels of commercial fisheries. But, as noted in the Gulf News, she also heard their frustration in how to deal with sharks when caught.

"The majority of the fishermen would want to protect sharks and believe in the protection of fish for a sustainable fishery," said Rima. "But if sharks are caught in a fisherman's net, should they be thrown back? Perhaps they should be brought in? [This subject] causes them to debate. Some complain that sharks just make holes in their nets."

In many publications, including this blog, the impact of declining shark populations on marine ecosystems has often been presented as a looming threat. But scientists and commercial fisherman are beginning to see real, tangible evidence.

For its predominantly international audience, the Gulf News cited several examples ranging from Australian reports of octopus - no longer being preyed upon by sharks - exploding in number and devouring the lobster population; to increased numbers of cownose rays along the U.S. Atlantic coast decimating vast beds of bay scallops (sharks, particularly hammerheads, feed on cownose rays).

Hopefully, Jabado's research will provide UAE government officials with hard evidence from which responsible shark conservation policies and fishing regulations can be derived. While the Arab fisherman expressed an interest in shark conservation to insure the future of their fisheries, the catch numbers have not been so flattering. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, UAE's catch alone of sharks averaged between 1,300 and 1,950 tons annually from 1985 to 2000. While that number remained fairly stable through that period, rather than increasing, it certainly is sufficient to cause harm to shark populations in a relatively closed body of water like the Arabian Gulf.

"The state of sharks in the Arabian Gulf is a blank," said Jabado. "Attention should be given to sharks — they're the apex predator and their demise could lead to the collapse of the marine ecosystem."

Let us hope that the Arab nations that border the Gulf will prove to be more long-term in their thinking when it comes to establishing policy that will preserve both sharks and their commercial fishing interests.

Read entire article in the Gulf News.

"performers who fly so high above the ground that onlookers have to crane their necks and shade their eyes to see them"

Reporting from Oakland — On most days, the wall at 2201 Broadway that overlooks a downtown parking lot on the corner of Grand Avenue and Broadway draws little attention from passersby. But during the last couple of months, people have stopped in their tracks to gaze up at the hundred-foot-tall, cream-colored façade as dancers suspended from thin climbing ropes rappel down its surface in formation, stopping every now and again to execute slow-motion pirouettes, somersaults and jetés in flouncy mesh underskirts. The performers fly so high above the ground that onlookers have to crane their necks and shade their eyes to see them. Yet their fluid, gravity-defying moves make them look like sea anemones dancing on the ocean floor.

The normally innocuous wall has lately become the site of much activity during rehearsals of Project Bandaloop, a Bay Area-based dance company that seeks its inspiration from rock climbing to create performances on the sides of buildings, cliff faces and other stratospheric surfaces around the globe. Dancers move across the vertical space to recorded music. Riggers stand at the top of the building, making sure the performers are safely strapped into their harnesses and ropes. Sitting in a low-slung deck chair in the parking lot below with a sound system at her feet, a microphone in her right hand and a walkie-talkie in her left, artistic director Amelia Rudolph divides her time between discussing staging details with her design and technical crew and issuing directions to the dancers and riggers above.

"After the chandelier drops"

After the chandelier drops on the Halloween night performance of "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Pantages Theatre, the show's cast members will be looking for their next gig after years, and in at least one case, decades, of job security with the venerable musical.

"Does The Times have any openings?" asks Tim Martin Gleason, who has been with "Phantom" on tour, on Broadway and in Las Vegas since 2001 as a member of the ensemble, the romantic interest Raoul and, for the last 16 months, as the tortured, masked Phantom.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe musical based on the Gaston Leroux classic is still going strong on Broadway in its 23rd year. But its producers say the national tour is coming to an end.

"Phantom" has been on the road since 1989, when it opened with the original Broadway lead actor, Michael Crawford, at the Ahmanson. The first national tour, dubbed the Christine Company, played L.A. and San Francisco for 10 years. The second national tour, which producers called the Raoul tour, ran for 8 1/2 years in major cities. The current tour, known as the Music Box Company, will have played some 7,284 performances over 18 years.

"Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Garden"

Five times a year, Andres Garcia overseas the Las Vegas changeover of what is officially if not accurately called Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Garden. The free attraction offers the four seasonal displays, augmented by an elaborate Chinese New Year display in deference to the large number of Chinese high-rollers who pack the Bellagio each year to test their luck. By the Bellagio's measurement, the garden shows attract about 18,000 tourists every day.

Avenue of the Giants, Humboldt Redwood State Park,California"

Along with the sunny weather and world-class crews, California offers something else that is sought by filmmakers: an abundance of state parks with diverse landscapes, from the redwood forests in Northern California to the desert of Anza-Borrego and the vast beaches and rocky coves of Point Dume.

Not surprisingly, the beauty and variety of the state’s 278 parks have provided countless backdrops for movies, TV shows and commercials for a century. In 2009 alone, nearly 500 permits were issued for nearly 1,000 days of filming in state parks for various productions, including "Iron Man 2" (Point Dume State Beach) and the romantic comedy "I Love You, Man" (Leo Carrillo State Park).

There’s even an annual film series, hosted next month by the California State Parks Foundation, that highlights how Hollywood has relied on state parks as settings for such shows as the long-running TV series "MASH" and films such as the 1968 classic "Planet of the Apes."

But there’s growing concern in the film community that state parks, which are severely underfunded and at risk of closing or falling into disrepair due to the state’s budget crisis, could get written out of the filmmaking script.

On Nov. 2, state residents will be voting on a ballot initiative, called Proposition 21, that would require Californians to pay an extra $18 as part of their annual vehicle registration fee in exchange for eliminating day-pass fees at state parks. That may be a tough sell in the current economic climate, but proponents say California’s state parks need a reliable revenue stream to keep them open to the public and for commercial use.

Some of the biggest supporters of the initiative aren’t just conservation groups -- film commissions as well as location managers view the parks as an essential asset for filmmakers.

"The parks are beautiful, huge and diverse back lots for us," said Veronique Vowell, chairman of the government affairs committee for the Location Managers Guild of America, which has endorsed the ballot initiative. "My concern is that if some of the parks were to close, it would be a disincentive to keep filming in California."

"La Veranda"

La Veranda. a resort hotel in Phu Quoc, Vietnam resembles a French colonial plantation, with large louvered windows open to the sea, deep balconies, high ceilings, a pool and a sweeping ocean view. The boutique hotel has 48 rooms and two restaurants.

(Julian Abram Wainwright)

"Verdant seascape in Laguna Beach"

Bob Covington of Los Angeles didn't have to travel far to capture this Laguna Beach seascape. "It was taken at Thousand Steps Beach, an interesting area where the beach topography changes radically from one week to the next," he says. "I have an earlier photo of the same area that shows a completely different landscape. The locals tell me it will be back to normal in the fall when the ocean redeposits all the sand." He used a Panasonic LX-3.

Photo by Bob Covington of Los Angeles and submitted to Los Angeles Times' Your Scene.

"along the Colorado River in Black Canyon"

Clayton Sellers'voice echoes off the sheer rock walls that rise from his vantage point along the Colorado River in Black Canyon, just downstream from the base of Hoover Dam.

"[The dam] was started in 1931 and completed in 1935, about two years ahead of schedule and under budget," he says as he maneuvers a pontoon raft across the water. Sellers' passengers, mostly tourists staying in nearby Las Vegas, are awed by that fact, and even more so by the massive engineering marvel standing before them.

"It's about 45 feet thick on top. At the very bottom it's about 660 feet thick, which is like two American football fields and the end zones stuck end to end," the guide continues. "The concrete at the bottom has only been there about 75 years, so it's not all the way dry yet. If you go inside the dam, there's actually some seepage … through the wet layers of concrete."

Despite the still-curing concrete, the iconic dam stands as a testament to American ingenuity, built during the Great Depression by thousands of men who uprooted their families and traveled to the inhospitable desert in search of work. There were jobs aplenty, and after the huge task was finished, President Franklin Roosevelt arrived on Sept. 30, 1935, to see for himself — and to dedicate — the modern-day wonder.

"trying to shake this alter ego"

It's just another day on the set of "Glee" and Lea Michele, who plays spirited songstress Rachel Berry, is in her schoolgirl attire, roaming around with a salad in hand and a female companion by her side.

Then John Stamos walks by. Michele plays it cool, greeting him casually. But as Stamos passes, the reaction that has shadowed him throughout his career reveals itself:

"Oh, my God. That's Uncle Jesse," Michele's friend says in a muffled voice.

Actually, it's John Stamos. But the character he's best known for is never too far behind.

The dark-haired star achieved heartthrob status while developing his comedy chops on the decidedly low brow "Full House," a hit sitcom that ran for eight seasons in the late '80s and early '90s — and continues its wholesome influence in syndication. Stamos has been trying to shake this alter ego ever since.

Oregon's Proposed Marine Reserves: politics in getting MPAs in the US northwest

Marine Protected Areas, or MPAs, are aquatic reserves that are designed to restrict or prohibit activities deemed harmful to the marine environment. This has typically meant strict regulations on commercial or sport fishing activities but in some cases it has extended further to include other industrial or recreational activities. What is or is not allowed depends on where the reserve is located, its size, and the environmental and economic considerations impacted by the reserve.

Some reserves are quite large, like the South Pacific's multi-national Pacific Oceanscape or Hawaii's Northwestern Islands. Or they can be smaller and localized, like California's central coast marine sanctuaries that include the Channel Islands. But as a global total, marine protect areas cover only a mere one percent of the world's oceans.

The challenge with all MPAs is that they are the end result of a political process, and to deal with that can be as exciting as watching paint dry. Thought-provoking pictures and images and reams of scientific data are all part of the process in considering a marine reserve, but ultimately it boils down to government officials, conservation and environmental interests, and economic interests all trying to hammer out a compromise that the interested or effected parties can live with. And this can be a drawn out process at best.

Along the U.S.'s Oregon coast lies some of the country's most rugged and beautiful coastline and marine ecosystems. Rugged, but just as fragile as any tropical reef system when faced with overfishing, pollution, or any other man-made abuse. The state has been at work to determine the scope of possible MPAs along the Cape Arago area, developing as many as eight different proposals. A recommendation committee has been formed to whittle that number down to just three for public comment.

MPAs follow a process very similar to our legislative process in the U.S. A proposal is put forth, much like a bill, and then it goes to a committee where it is tweaked and amended, then brought forth for public comment, and then ultimately voted on - that's it in a simplified nutshell. Anywhere along the way, it can be derailed by lobby groups or public sentiment and pushed from an internal governmental process to an open ballot initiative, which can be a more drawn out and openly politicized battle.

In 2008, Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski asked the state's Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) for recommendations for coastal marine reserves. Thus began a lengthy process that included environmental groups and commercial and sport fishing interests. Oregon has several major commercial fishing industries, including salmon and crab, and so the delicate political maneuvering began to reach a suitable compromise. A committee was formed to try and develop proposals that would be at least close to acceptable to all involved.

As reported in the Oregon The World, OPAC committee chair Jim Pex said, "There's a strong political force trying to get as much area in reserves as possible, and a strong force wanting no reserves at all. . . As with any group that is diverse, it takes time to get everyone to move in one direction."

To insure that the process would move forward, the committee adopted several interesting rulings:

• No proposal would be considered that inhibited salmon fishing or crabbing.
• There is no known biological problem that a marine reserve would solve at this time.
• Additionally, funding for ongoing government research would be required to justify the reserve. No funding, no reserve.

Personally, I found these to be some interesting concessions. Once again, an economic consideration (salmon fishing and crabbing) was given a higher priority over the environmental benefit. If it's bad for business then nature will just have to wait. The problem is, as we have seen with other commercial fishing industries, nature doesn't wait; it continues to degrade until the industry collapses due to a decimated fish population.

The second point is a curious one. If the position is to not recognize any biological problem that a marine reserve would solve, then why have the reserve? Or is it a case of getting commercial interests to cooperate by not ascribing any problem specifically to their activities? MPAs have already been shown to increase sealife populations and this has even had a positive effect on commercial fish populations outside of the reserves boundaries. And as I have reported in previous posts, there is a growing issue of increased populations of Humboldt squid all along the eastern Pacific - a situation which possibly could be mitigated by marine reserves which would support an increase in natural predators to the squid (right now, Humboldt squid can pose a serious threat to a multi-million dollar salmon fishery).

In addressing the research funding issue, to insure that there will be continued research to justify any reserve established, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating ways of procuring funding, made difficult in a "no more government spending" climate. Non-governmental funding is being looked into through the use of foundations, trusts, and even federal appropriations.

OPAC is hoping that the final proposals will be brought before the public for comment by the end of the year. The process is an elaborate one and, as we have seen with other U.S. legislation, the end result can be considerably watered down from what was perhaps once envisioned. It certainly is not the "sexy" part of ocean policy but beyond all the fund-raising or issue-raising parties and events, after all the videos and slide presentations, this is what it boils down to: hard-fought negotiations and back room politics.

Hopefully the end result is something that provides the oceans with a real benefit. And, hopefully, mankind learns that by doing that, it too becomes a beneficiary.

Read about Oregon's MPA politics in The World.

This may well be one of the last aviation firsts

In what may well be one of the last aviation firsts, a University of Toronto graduate student has fulfilled an ancient dream that dates back at least to the Greek legend of Daedalus and Icarus — human-powered flight.

In an ungainly wing-flapping craft, or ornithopter, built by students at the university, Todd Reichert made history last month by sustaining both altitude and airspeed for 19.3 seconds, traveling a little more than 145 yards at an average speed of about 16 mph.

The flight, conducted at sunrise Aug. 2 at the Great Lakes Gliding Club in Tottenham, Ontario, was witnessed by a vice president of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, which certifies aviation records. Reichert's time and distance are expected to be recognized as world records for human-powered flight at a meeting next month of the federation.

The craft — called the Snowbird because some of the first ground tests were conducted last winter on a snow-covered runway — has a wingspan of 105 feet. That's nearly as long as the wingspan of a modern-day Boeing 737 jetliner. But because it is constructed of balsa wood, foam and carbon fiber, it weighs only 94 pounds — less then all the pillows normally carried by a commercial 737, Reichert said.

The ornithopter is powered by the pilot pumping his legs up and down, as if working out on a StairMaster. That causes the ends of the wings to flex like those of a giant pterosaur.

The Snowbird, which cost more than $200,000, was designed and built under the guidance of emeritus aerospace engineering professor James D. DeLaurier, who has been studying ornithopters for most of his career. More than 30 students and two civilian volunteers participated in its construction.

The inaugural flight was made at 6:45 a.m., a time when there were virtually no winds to interfere. The students completed final assembly of the craft onsite because, Reichert said, they had no barn or other building big enough to hold it.

Initially, the craft was towed behind a car, but when the tow-line was released, it was powered solely by Reichert's legs. The fact that he was able to maintain airspeed and altitude indicated that he was actually powering the craft rather than simply gliding.

Reichert said he underwent months of training to build up leg strength. He also shed 18 pounds to minimize the effort required.

The aircraft is not a practical method of transport, Reichert said in a statement released this week. Rather, it is "meant to act as an inspiration to others to use the strength of their body and the creativity of their minds to follow their dreams."

The students involved also used it as a way to learn about how to build lightweight structures.

GLENN GOULD: The acclaimed Canadian pianist was a mass of contradictions

Great geniuses can be terribly boring, and compelling individuals can be devoid of any gifts save charm. Glenn Gould, however, who lived his life on the balance point between genius and madness, was a virtuoso who couldn't have been more fascinating.

One of the most significant pianists ever, the Canadian-born Gould, who died in 1982 at age 50, has already been the subject of a sublime fictional treatment, Francois Girard's "Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould."

Now filmmakers Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont, who worked together on the excellent "Shake Hands With the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire," have joined forces again for "Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould," a thoughtful, confident, completely engrossing documentary about a cultural figure every bit as iconic as Jim Morrison or James Dean.

LACMA's Resnick Exhibition Pavilion soon to have grand opening

The landscaping surrounding the new Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion was designed by artist Robert Irwin. The architect was Italian, Renzo Piano.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times / September 20, 2010)

Bahamas' Deep Water Sharks: institute conducts research into little-known species

The Bahamas is known within the shark diving community as one of the top locations for seeing sharks. Tiger sharks, lemon sharks, and Caribbean reef sharks are three of the more common species, along with occasional bull, hammerhead, and nurse sharks. From Stuart Cove's Nassau shark diving operation to the boats that frequent popular Tiger Beach off Grand Bahamas, shark diving has flourished as a tourist activity in relatively shallow water.

But cruising in deep waters is another entire world of sharks, one that has largely remained out of sight from divers and scientists alike. There is much that we do not know about sharks, but with these deep water denizens we know even less. Over half of the documented species of sharks live below 200m (660 ft.) but only a handful have been studied to any appreciable degree.

To help fill that void in knowledge, researchers at the Cape Eleuthera Institute, along with scientists from Florida State and Stony Brooks Universities, are conducting research on several deep water sharks as part of the institute's Shark Conservation and Research Program. Utilizing satellite tags supplied by Microwave Telemetry, Inc. (including a new, next-generation of micro-tags more suitable for smaller sharks), the researchers have been quite successful in capturing and tagging 25 sharks from six different species, ranging from a 13-foot bluntnose sixgill shark to a petite sawtail catshark at 18 inches.

According to The Bahamas Weekly.com, Dr. Dean Grubbs of Florida State University was more than pleased. "I have conducted research on deep water sharks in a number of locations around the world including the central Pacific off Hawaii, the temperate western Atlantic off the east coast of the USA and in the Gulf of Mexico. Cape Eleuthera appeared to be an ideal location to expand my research however I never expected the incredible diversity and abundance of species we encountered these last few days. Twenty-five sharks from six different species on only six surveys is an incredible record." said Dr. Grubbs.

Realizing the impact of commercial shark fishing on these important predators and scavengers, in addition to appreciating their role as a component of the islands' tourist economy, the Bahamian government has been proactive in shark conservation, which includes a longline fishing ban in the 1990s, and enthusiastically supports the research taking place involving these deep water species.

"The absence of a commercial fishery of any significance for sharks in The Bahamas, along with a wide variety of marine habitats within close proximity to the facility makes the Cape Eleuthera Institute an ideal location for the pursuit of research into these important species," said the Department of Marine Resources director, Michael Braynen.

Best of success to the Cape Eleuthera Institute. The more light that can be shed on all members of the shark family, the better we will understand how they are woven into the fabric of the ocean ecosystem - not only as pelagic apex predators but as ocean citizens of a mysterious deep water community.

Read the article in The Bahamas Weekly.com.

So much to be admired about this unsung WWII heroine

Eileen Nearne, a reclusive World War II heroine who operated as an undercover radio transmitter in France during the D-day invasion, helping coordinate the Allied war effort until she was caught by the Gestapo, died Sept. 2 of a heart attack at her home in southwest England. She was 89. Above, mourners at her funeral.

Nearne, who was known as Agent Rose, maintained her secrecy and never discussed her wartime exploits with her neighbors in Torquay, the seaside town in Devon where she lived until her death.

Her bravery was not widely acknowledged until local officials went into her apartment after her death and found a treasure trove of medals, records and memorabilia, including French currency used during the war.

During World War II, Nearne worked with the Special Operations Executive, a clandestine operation set up by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to carry out acts of sabotage and espionage against the Nazis, who were occupying Western Europe.

Nearne's mission to France in 1944 — when she was just 23, posing as a French shop girl — was to operate a wireless transmitter that served as a vital link between the French resistance and war planners in London.

John Pentreath, county manager for the Royal British Legion veterans' charity, said Nearne was captured behind enemy lines with a radio transmitter and was sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp. She later escaped and was ultimately liberated by American forces.

Historian M.R.D. Foot, who had access to Nearne's secret account of her activities, said she was the only British agent with an operating transmitter in the Paris area during the crucial period from March 1944 until she was caught by the Germans in July 1944.

"She was there during D-day," he said. "What she did was extremely important. She was arranging for weapons and explosive drops, and those were used to help cut the Germans' rail lines."

He said Nearne showed bravery and discretion when she refused to talk about clandestine operations even after being subjected to extreme treatment.

After the war, Nearne was awarded an MBE, or Member of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition of her services.

"We the darkness with a fire between us" -- Steve Roden

Steve Roden has an uncanny way with making paintings that seem accidental yet inevitable, inscrutable yet utterly coherent. There's a place for everything and everything is happily in its place, fussed over and as carefully assembled as a precise calculation; but the exact principle driving the placement is indecipherable, save for the gauzy concept of intuition.

In the beautiful 20-year survey of his work at Pasadena's Armory Center for the Arts, as well as a smaller but related show of new work at the Pomona College Museum of Art, the 46-year-old painter emerges in a tradition of artists like Arthur Dove, Paul Klee and Alfred Jensen. He's an eccentric virtuoso whose paintings look abstract, but only in the way that a chair, a tree, a face or even a Pop-Tart becomes abstract the longer you look at it -- which is to say real, highly specific and not representative of more than itself. His remarkable pictures coagulate.

It's Eternal -- We Hope !!!

The new owner of the Clifton Cafeteria, Andrew Meieran -- already the owner of hip bar The Edison -- has revealed his plans for the classic downtown eatery, reports Blogdowntown. The cafeteria will be open 24 hours a day, and Meieran plans to open a speakeasy-style lounge and a tiki bar above the dining room. Ultimately, Meirean said his goal is to restore Clifton's to “what it was like in the '30s."

It's called "high finance" and that means: Hold on to your socks !!!

Even the palatial former Beverly Hills home of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst and actress Marion Davies isn't immune to 2010 housing price realities.

The lavish compound, which was listed for sale briefly three years ago at $165 million, is back on the market at $95 million (minus almost 3 acres listed last time) nearly a week after its owner, attorney-investor Leonard M. Ross, filed for bankruptcy protection.

The 50,000-plus-square-foot mansion sits on 3.7 flat acres on a hilltop above the Beverly Hills Hotel and comes with staff accommodations, a security cottage, a separate two-bedroom apartment and a two-story, four-bedroom gatehouse. Built by banker Milton Getz, the H-shaped Mediterranean main home was designed by Gordon Kaufmann and retains its original landscaping design by Paul Thiene.

Despite the property's sumptuous features and storied history, the price reduction isn't all that surprising given the condition of the housing business. Median home prices in Southern California have declined 43% since the 2007 peak, according to MDA DataQuick, matching the price drop reflected on the new listing.

Called Beverly House, the 1920s-era mansion has had fairytale moments. John and Jacqueline Kennedy spent part of their honeymoon there.

The estate also has a lurid side, including a movie career highlighted by the famous scene from "The Godfather" in which a horse's head is found in a character's bed.

The current owner filed Wednesday for protection from his creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code even though his assets of nearly $133 million far exceed his liabilities, listed as about $82 million, court documents show. A news release Monday announcing that the compound was for sale said "unusual circumstances" and "bank maneuverings" led Ross, 67, to seek bankruptcy protection.

"Limelight"

Charlie Chaplin, the silent movie star who only reluctantly made the transition to talkies, probably isn’t the ideal subject for a musical. Of course, anything is possible with creative inspiration, so one shouldn’t rule out the prospect of the Tramp powering home an 11 o’clock number.

Unfortunately, the imagination behind “Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin,” which had its world premiere Sunday at La Jolla Playhouse, doesn’t rise to the challenge with anything resembling bold invention. Christopher Curtis, a cabaret artist who wrote the music and lyrics and collaborated on the book with Thomas Meehan (whose veteran résumé includes “Hairspray,” “The Producers,” and “Annie”), allows the most sentimental traditions of musical theater to guide him.

The plot breaks down into a series of comic-strip panels that review Chaplin’s life from his difficult boyhood in England through his heady days of Hollywood success to the personal and political scandals that left him a mellow old man in exile.

Macaque Monkeys: trappers and handlers accused of animal abuse in Mauritius

One of the more disturbing moral dilemmas between man and nature is the use of animals for scientific or medical research. While the desire amongst many is to treat these subject animals in the most humane way possible, there will always be a strong argument for using them in research rather than expose a human to possible harm - particularly if it involves research for disease cures.

While the ethical debate goes on (and there has been some progress for the animal rights activists regarding the use of animals for cosmetic testing and other non-life threatening pursuits), the one thing no one wants to see is mistreatment of the animals that are captured or bred for these purposes. Many seem to agree that is the least we could do.

Long-tailed macaque monkeys are a primate species that has been used in a wide range of research from the early days of the space program to today. They are also somewhat prolific, being listed as of "least concern" for endangerment by the IUCN. Macaque monkeys are bred in several African and Asian countries primarily to supply the research field with test subjects.

Off the southeastern coast of Africa, east of Madagascar, lies the island nation of Mauritius, which is home to at least four breeding farms to service its customers - the United States is the largest importer of primates from Mauritius, followed by breeders in Spain, Israel, and Puerto Rico. But according to a report by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), monkeys are being seriously and cruelly mistreated in Mauritius, perhaps due to an attitude that views the long-tailed macaque monkey as a pest worthy of eradication.

According to the Associated Press, a report just released by the BUAV cites instances of monkeys being kept in small, restrictive wire cages; showing clear signs of injuries; and even being swung around by their tails by the trapper/handlers. Inquiries by AP to several Mauritius government agencies have gone unanswered.

Quoting AP, "'The animal was clearly terrified, yet the trapper routinely removed him from the cage and tormented him by picking him up and swinging him around in the air by the tail,' the report said. "This particular primate also had injuries to his forehead.'"

The long-tailed macaque monkey has been introduced as an invasive alien species over the years in several locations including Hong Kong, western New Guinea, Palau, and Mauritius. It has proven to be a successful predator and in so doing, disrupted the natural balance, particularly in island nations where isolated species are unaccustomed and unprepared for the impact of alien species. While it certainly may be considered a pest on the island of Mauritius, mistreatment of this animal, particularly when it serves an economic value to the islanders, does not seem in any way justified.

The BUAV's agenda is clear and so their report may be viewed by government or industrial officials with a measure of bias. Whether that impacts the reports ability to change conditions in the Mauritius monkey trade remains to be seen. But as the debate continues as to whether mankind is to continue to use animals - monkeys or otherwise - for research purposes, providing a measure of dignity and respect for an animal that is providing us with a benefit would not seem to be an impossible goal.

Read the Associated Press news release.

Studying Pacific Blue Marlins: scientists enlist the aid of sportfishermen

Cruising throughout the warmer waters of the Pacific, the Pacific Blue Marlin is one of the most magnificent of the top or "apex" predators to roam the seas. But as with many other pelagic sea creatures, not much is known about them. A majestic mystery.

But that is slowly changing through the help of a seemingly unlikely source: sportfishermen. The Pacific blue marlin is a highly prized catch in ocean sportfishing; landing such a fish can entail hours upon hours of strenuous effort, making it one of the pinnacle goals of the sport. But rather than lose the fish to a trophy photo or dinner plate, the marlins are being released after being tagged with satellite tracking tags.

Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station, home to the Global Tagging of Pelagic Predators (GTOPP) program, has been working for nearly a decade on tagging a variety of ocean predators, ranging from billfish - like the marlin - to tuna, great white sharks, and more. Headed by Dr. Barbara Block, GTOPP has uncovered migratory patterns that were heretofore unknown, such as the migratory patterns of white sharks traveling from the California and Baja coasts to a large area in the Pacific, dubbed the White Shark Cafe, and then back to their respective coasts year after year.

Working with sportfishing tournament organizations, such as the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, GTOPP has promoted catch-and-release techniques that allow the researchers to tag the animals with electronic tags that can record a variety of information including global position, speed, and depth. Ultimately, the tags come free and upon reaching the surface, release their stored data to satellites for study by an anxious and waiting team of researchers.

GTOPP researchers just recently completed launching a series of ten tags on Pacific blue marlin caught as part of the Hawaii's big marlin tournament; an event called the Great Marlin Race due to the long distances that the marlin can cover. They are waiting to see what new surprises the tagged animals will reveal as they patrol the open sea.

In 2009, several tagged marlin traveled a distance of more than 1800 miles, from Hawaii to the Marquesas Islands. In addition to such a long distance, what made this remarkable to the researchers was the fact that the animals crossed the equatorial region, which is unusual due to its warmer surface temperatures and lower oxygen content - not a normally hospitable environment for a high energy-consuming animal like a marlin.

"The equatorial region is such a significant boundary for so many species, it was really surprising to see that three long tracks went right across it," said Randy Kochevar, Hopkins Marine Station marine biologist. "We don't really know a lot about the marlins' patterns and their behavior. It appears that rather than traveling to a particular place to spawn, and then spending the rest of the year feeding, like tuna, it seems like they are constantly spawning and they sort of come and go from place to place."

So, while some tagged predators have defined certain migratory routes or oceanic highways, like the white sharks traveling from the coasts to mid-Pacific, other animals appear to roam the seas, perhaps directed by yet undiscovered stimuli. Enlisting the aid of sportfishermen in events like the Great Marlin Race, can be an effective means to learn more about these important ocean predators while allowing the fishermen to engage in the most challenging aspect of their sport - and at the same time preserving the species rather than see it hanging tails-up from a local dock.

The Shark Free Marinas Initiative is another organization that encourages catch-and-release techniques for sportfishermen, politically avoiding a more confrontational approach (banning sportfishing altogether) by taking an incremental step toward shark protection and confrontation. While some people may debate the hooking and reeling in of sharks or marlins as unnecessarily cruel, it has proven itself to be one of the more effective methods for enabling scientists to tag and track these animals.

"What we hope to learn from this work," says Stanford marine biologist George Shillinger, "is basic information about these animals' life histories. We want to know where they go to feed and where they go to breed. We want to understand how they use the ocean in which they live and, ultimately, how we can manage their populations to ensure that they remain plentiful."

Read more about GTOPP and the Great Marlin Race at their website.
Read more about marlin tracking and see a brief video through Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station.

The taste was bittersweet

A Sunday service at a historic church in eastern Turkey underscored both the desire for reconciliation between Turks and Armenians and the hurdles that remain nearly a century after a violent massacre of Armenians.

It was the first service held in the 1,100-year-old Armenian Church of the Holy Cross since 1915, when a wave of violence nearly destroyed one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East.

Machu Picchu, Peru

(Photo by Wendy Lit, West Hills, CA)

Kralendijk, Netherlands Antilles

(Photo by Tom Denne, Westchester, Md.)

Glacier Bay, Alaska

(Photo by Ted Kinghorn, Ventura, CA)

Niagara Falls

(Photo by Diana MacDougall, Hermosa Beach, CA)

Sea of Cortez

(Photo by Bob Flick, Manhattan Beach, CA)

Lauterbrunnen Valley, Switzerland

(Photo by Anthony Sogg, Yorba Linda, CA)

Bay of Kotor, Montenegro

(Photo by Anthony Crisafulli, Jr., North Hollywood, CA)

Na Pali Coast, Kauai

(Photo by Andrea Ashley, Hidden Hills, California)

Yoho National Park, Canada

(Photo by Amy Lochmoeller, Los Angeles)

"the tale of an ordinary human being who, under extraordinary circumstances, became the hero her country needed her to be"

Marthe Cohn was in her late teens when Hitler was rising to power. Living across the German border in Alsace-Lorraine, her family began taking in Jews who were fleeing the Nazis, as well as the Jewish children being sent away by terrified parents. Soon her own homeland was under Nazi rule, and she and her parents, brothers, and sisters were forced to live the restricted lives of all Jews. As the Nazi occupation of France escalated along with the war, Marthe’s sister was arrested and eventually sent to Auschwitz, and the rest of her family was forced to flee to the south of France. Always a fighter, Marthe joined the French Army.

Behind Enemy Lines is Marthe Cohn’s memoir of a time and place that has mesmerized the world for more than half a century. But at its heart it is the tale of an ordinary human being who, under extraordinary circumstances, became the hero her country needed her to be.

Recently, at the age of eighty, Marthe Cohn was awarded France’s highest military honor, the Medaille Militaire, a relatively rare medal awarded for outstanding military service and given, in the past, to the likes of Winston Churchill. With this award came official acknowledgment of the heroic exploits of a beautiful young Jewish woman who faced death every day as she sought to help defeat the Nazi empire.

When the spotlight was turned on Marthe Cohn, not even her children or grandchildren knew to what extent this modest woman had been involved with the Allies in fighting the evils of the greatest war of the twentieth century. She had fought valiantly to retrieve needed inside information about Nazi troop movements by slipping behind enemy lines, utilizing her perfect German accent and blond hair to pose as a young German nurse who was desperately trying to obtain word about a fictional fiancé. In traveling about the countryside and approaching troops sympathetic to her plight, she learned where they were going next and was able to alert Allied commanders.

Newt Gingrich, "factually insane"

Whatever one thinks of his politics, Newt Gingrich has demonstrated a wide-ranging intelligence over the years. But there's nothing intelligent about his recent endorsement of the theory that President Obama's political philosophy is rooted in a "Kenyan, anti-colonial" worldview. Bizarre is more like it.

National Review Online reports that the former speaker of the House praised conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza for a "stunning insight" into the president's behavior. That "insight," the subject of an article in Forbes magazine, is that to understand Obama's views, one must scrutinize the opinions of his Kenyan father, who left Obama when he was 2 years old.

D'Souza writes: "From a very young age and through his formative years, Obama learned to see America as a force for global domination and destruction. He came to view America's military as an instrument of neocolonial occupation. He adopted his father's position that capitalism and free markets are code words for economic plunder."

Never mind that none of these sentiments comes from the mouth of the president. D'Souza attributes them to him because in a memoir, Obama wrote: "It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself." Thus is a deeply personal search for a father-son connection transformed into an embrace of the father's political views as articulated in a 1965 academic article.

"Remarkably," D'Souza writes, "President Obama, who knows his father's history very well, has never mentioned his father's article." Perhaps it's hidden away with Obama's "real" birth certificate.

D'Souza is reliably ridiculous and consistently wrong, so it's no surprise that he connects Obama's supposed hand-me-down worldview to everything from his push for a stimulus plan to his support of the right of Muslims to build a community center near ground zero to his reference, in a speech about the gulf oil spill, to "America's century-long addiction to fossil fuels." Yet this daffy deconstruction, according to Gingrich, is the "most profound insight I have read in the last six years about Barack Obama."

Gingrich used to be a serious figure. He is mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2012. But he has earned the description he applied to Obama: "If you look at [his] continuous denial of reality, there has got to be a point where someone stands up and says that this is just factually insane."

(Los Angeles Times editorial)

"Side by Side by Sondheim"

Stephen Sondheim has received a belated birthday gift: his name on a Broadway theater.

The 1,055-seat venue on West 43rd Street that had been named after actor-producer Henry Miller was formally renamed Wednesday night and had its marquee lit in Sondheim's honor. He turned 80 in March.

"I'm deeply embarrassed. I'm thrilled, but deeply embarrassed," said Sondheim, who teared up as the sun fell over dozens of clapping admirers in Times Square. "I've always hated my last name. It just doesn't sing."

—Associated Press

"I want to be alone"

The Malibu property known as La Esperanza, the beach retreat of actress Greta Garbo in the 1930s, is listed for $12.6 million.

Completely restored in 2000, the Mediterranean villa has been a local landmark for decades. Designed for entertaining, it includes a great room with a 30-foot-wide panoramic window, a commercially equipped kitchen, five bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms in 5,350 square feet of living space. An outdoor bar sits off the ocean-view deck.

Garbo's successful transition from silent films to talkies was promoted by the MGM '30s catch-phrase "Garbo talks." The Swedish actress was nominated for Academy Awards for her leads in "Anna Christie" (1930), "Romance" (1930), "Camille" (1936) and "Two-Faced Woman" (1941). She received an honorary Oscar in 1955 and died in 1990 at age 84.

Shark News: important research in the Gulf of Mexico, California, and more

Several news items have been swirling around the shark conservation news outlets and blogs of late - from the big picture, population view to the more drilled down, scientifically-studied behavioral aspects.

Research in the Gulf of Mexico
In the aftermath of the Gulf Oil Spill, many research organizations are studying the current and long-term effects on the marine environment. Much of those effects can be very subtle and on a microscopic level that can slowly work its way up the food chain. Similar to the pollution from methylmercury that can work its way into larger ocean fish where it can accumulate, oil and the toxic brew generated from the massive use of dispersants could end up in sharks.

Oceana, one of the larger non-profit ocean conservation organizations, is embarking on a study of sharks in the Gulf through tagging and long-term monitoring of the tagged sharks health and migratory behaviors to detect any significant changes. In addition to sharks, Oceana will be studying the impact on many of the smaller organisms - the building blocks of a marine ecosystem.

As reported in Tampa Bay Online, Oceana's chief scientist Michael Hirshfield said, "We all notice the sharks and the whales and the turtles and the seabirds when an accident like this happens. If they die, it's pretty visible. It's the worms and the little tiny things that are at the bottom of the food chain that matter a lot to the rest of the Gulf ecosystem. If they die, we're not going to notice it.''

Sea Otter Predation in Central California
On the western coast of the United States, scientists with the California Department of Fish and Game have been recording an increase in the number of great white shark predations on sea otters along the state's Central Coast. From Pismo Beach to Monterey Bay, there has been a recorded 26 cases since August.

In most cases, these attacks are considered investigative bites and probably coming from juvenile white sharks who are in the transition process from feeding on fish to mammals (adult white sharks primarily feed on marine mammals like seals and sea lions). Not finding the sufficient taste and texture of fat that the white shark needs, it moves on. But even with an investigative nibble, that can prove fatal for the sea otter. Of the 26 reported cases, only one sea otter apparently survived.

The ten-year average for sea otter predations by white sharks is only seven in August; six in September. This year's spike could lead to a new record, surpassing 2009's annual record total of sixty-three.

Fish and Game scientists are studying the increase but a definitive reason has not been established. A mild summer with cooler ocean temperatures could be a cause - making conditions closer to shore (and closer to the sea otters) more tolerable. But it could also be indicative of an increase in the overall white shark population, as mentioned in an earlier post, which would be good for the white sharks, but poses a quandary for Fish and Game officials who are entrusted with protecting sea otter populations that have been negatively impacted from decades of overhunting and encroachment by man on their natural habitat.

The Monterey County Herald discussed the issue with Fish and Game scientist Michael Harris. "Shark attacks on otters are part of nature, Harris said, but they concern researchers who want to preserve healthy populations. 'It becomes complicated,' he said. 'They are both protected species.'"

Studying Electrical Sensitivity
Just a little further north along the California coast, the University of San Francisco was extolling the work of one of their own, Dr. Brandon Brown, the university's winner of the 2010 Distinguished Research Award. Dr. Brown has focused much of his recent work on the characteristics of the hydrogel in sharks and other elasmobranchs that gives these animals a type of sixth sense - the ability to detect faint electrical fields given often by other animals.

Many shark enthusiasts are familiar with this feature of a shark's hunting capability. The Ampullae de Lorenzini are the pores - a kind of five-o'clock shadow seen around the nose area of a shark - that contain the hydrogel, Dr. Brown has been studying. Through his research, one of the interesting results has been his analysis of how experienced and inexperienced sharks use the hydrogel in their hunting patterns.

According to a news release from the University's news room, "By comparing mathematical models to actual shark behavior, Brown has been able to witness sharks who use their “sixth sense” to make a beeline for the source while some, thought to be less experienced hunters, spiral in toward the source of the electrical impulses. Spiraling allows them to maintain the same orientation to the impulses as they approach, so as not to lose the scent, so to speak."

The research goes on and these amazing animals continue to fascinate us all.

Read the Tampa Bay Online article on shark research in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read the Monterey County Herald article on white shark predation of sea otters.
Read the USF article on Dr. Brown's research on elasmobranch's hydrogel.