Sunday, August 31, 2014

Love and Nurturing


Over the last 25 years, I have been privileged to know Michael Tobias, and count him as one of my best friends as well as my principle personal mentor.  As President of the Dancing Star Foundation, Michael, alongside his equally impressive life partner and wife, Jane Gray Morrison, works tirelessly on a broad playing field to protect the biodiversity of the Earth, and to champion the welfare of both wild and domestic animals. The  dozens of books they have authored, dozens of films they have made,  the countless lectures they have given, and the assertive initiatives they have launched, are a powerful reflection of their commitment to the precious living fabric of our planet.  





I can say without reservation that no one has done more to shape my personal worldview than Michael and Jane. Their example and their inspiration are prime motivation for many of the choices I have made in my own life.  The ecstatic truth behind this blog is about love, and nurturing.

Here is the first of a number of short videos of the wisdom of Michael Tobias that I will be inserting in this blog  in the coming months....  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HKvtLt7mnI


Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Robin Williams


One of the brightest lights in the human family went out last week. Robin Williams was one of a kind. A human being with a mental energy and lightning speed creativity that was remarkable and entirely unique. The only other person I ever saw who had that brand of instant insanely fun improvisational humor was Jonathan Winters, a comedian who preceded Robin Williams by a few decades. 

Robin Williams
 

Anyway, I mourn the loss of Robin Williams.  He was an enormous talent. Moreover, he appeared to be a genuinely decent and compassionate human being,  despite the demons that seemed to torment his soul.  I hope he is at peace now.

Here is a link to the hysterically fun interview Robin Williams did with James Lipton, host of Inside the Actors Studio    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGhfxKUH80M


Monday, August 25, 2014

Burning Man



In Nevada, every year,  an event is held known simply as Burning Man.  It's been going on for several decades now. I've never been to Burning man, but it sure looks like a fascinating blend of creativity and in-your-face defiance of cultural norms. I'm all for that.  


Burning Man

I just came across two videos that present very creatively drawn video pictures of the phenomenon known as Burning Man.  It's worth a look for it's expression of video art alone.  

Here is a link to the first video...http://vimeo.com/103975643

Here is the link to the second video...http://vimeo.com/105365388

Here is a link to the Burning Man website....http://www.burningman.com/

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Sunflowers and Bees



Two of my favorite things go together like honey and butter.   Sunflowers are majestic.  It's amazing how fast they grow from seed in the Spring.   In July, in our backyard, we could almost watch them grow. They are now nearly ten feet tall. Each is topped by a single massive yellow flower. Some are  in full bloom, others are about to blossom. 

Sunflowers are a great place to find bees this time of year. The images below came from an outing at Howell Regional Park on Sauvie Island. The park is actually an old farmstead that still has working fields.

I applied some of my own  'painterly' photo processing that evolved from the creative application of Photoshop image processing software. 










 
 
 
 


 
 
 




Friday, August 15, 2014

Stakeholder Capitalism


I lifted the article below from the AlterNet webpage. Robert Reich was at one time the U.S. Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration. He's now a professor at U.C. Berkeley.  Over the last decade, Robert Reich has become a strident voice against the predatory brand of capitalism that emerged with Ronald Reagan in the eighties.   In this kind of capitalism, the only rights that count are those of the shareholder owners, who put profit ahead of all other considerations.  It's an ugly, sociopathic approach to business that allows a handful of CEO's and stockholder-owners to get very rich, while  employees and the public get screwed.

In the piece below, Robert Reich talks about a different approach to corporate capitalism that acknowledges employees and the public as stakeholders, whose perspective on corporate governance should count just as much as that of shareholders.

Germany has one of the most consistently successful economies in the world. In Germany, by law, a corporation's board must include members from the company's labor force and also from the communities in which the business operates.  That business paradigm works for Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Siemens, etc. etc. German companies are some of the most well-managed and highly regarded in the world.

Stakeholder Capitalism is kind of capitalism on which a sustainable, life-affirming future can be built.  As Robert Reich demonstrates in the article below, genuine stakeholder democracy does not exist these days in America. What we have now is a brand of legalized bribery that allows public policy to be shaped by bankers, big business, and bad billionaires.

How do we get the saner approach to Capitalism that Robert Reich advocates?  It starts with fundamental change to the rules we live by. We need a Constitutional Amendment. It should say, 'Corporations are not People', and 'Money is not Speech'. For more about this, check out my earlier blogs that are labeled, Move to Amend.

________________________



The World Needs This Saner Approach to Capitalism
 by Robert Reich
 
AlterNet, August 10, 2014  |
  
In recent weeks, the managers, employees, and customers of a New England chain of supermarkets called "Market Basket" have joined together to oppose the board of director's decision earlier in the year to oust the chain's popular chief executive, Arthur T. Demoulas.

Their demonstrations and boycotts have emptied most of the chain's seventy stores.

What was so special about Arthur T., as he's known? Mainly, his business model. He kept prices lower than his competitors, paid his employees more, and gave them and his managers more authority.

Late last year he offered customers an additional 4 percent discount, arguing they could use the money more than the shareholders.

In other words, Arthur T. viewed the company as a joint enterprise from which everyone should benefit, not just shareholders. Which is why the board fired him.

It's far from clear who will win this battle. But, interestingly, we're beginning to see the Arthur T. business model pop up all over the place.

Patagonia, a large apparel manufacturer based in Ventura, California, has organized itself as a "B-corporation." That's a for-profit company whose articles of incorporation require it to take into account the interests of workers, the community, and the environment, as well as shareholders.
The performance of B-corporations according to this measure is regularly reviewed and certified by a nonprofit entity called B Lab.

To date, over 500 companies in sixty industries have been certified as B-corporations, including the household products firm "Seventh Generation."

In addition, 27 states have passed laws allowing companies to incorporate as "benefit corporations." This gives directors legal protection to consider the interests of all stakeholders rather than just the shareholders who elected them.

We may be witnessing the beginning of a return to a form of capitalism that was taken for granted in America sixty years ago.

Then, most CEOs assumed they were responsible for all their stakeholders.

"The job of management," proclaimed Frank Abrams, chairman of Standard Oil of New Jersey, in 1951, "is to maintain an equitable and working balance among the claims of the various directly interested groups ... stockholders, employees, customers, and the public at large."

Johnson & Johnson publicly stated that its "first responsibility" was to patients, doctors, and nurses, and not to investors.

What changed? In the 1980s, corporate raiders began mounting unfriendly takeovers of companies that could deliver higher returns to their shareholders - if they abandoned their other stakeholders.
The raiders figured profits would be higher if the companies fought unions, cut workers' pay or fired them, automated as many jobs as possible or moved jobs abroad, shuttered factories, abandoned their communities, and squeezed their customers.

Although the law didn't require companies to maximize shareholder value, shareholders had the legal right to replace directors. The raiders pushed them to vote out directors who wouldn't make these changes and vote in directors who would (or else sell their shares to the raiders, who'd do the dirty work).

Since then, shareholder capitalism has replaced stakeholder capitalism. Corporate raiders have morphed into private equity managers, and unfriendly takeovers are rare. But it's now assumed corporations exist only to maximize shareholder returns.

Are we better off? Some argue shareholder capitalism has proven more efficient. It has moved economic resources to where they're most productive, and thereby enabled the economy to grow faster.

By this view, stakeholder capitalism locked up resources in unproductive ways. CEOs were too complacent. Companies were too fat. They employed workers they didn't need, and paid them too much. They were too tied to their communities.

But maybe, in retrospect, shareholder capitalism wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Look at the flat or declining wages of most Americans, their growing economic insecurity, and the abandoned communities that litter the nation.

Then look at the record corporate profits, CEO pay that's soared into the stratosphere, and Wall Street's financial casino (along with its near meltdown in 2008 that imposed collateral damage on most Americans).

You might conclude we went a bit overboard with shareholder capitalism.

The directors of "Market Basket" are now considering selling the company. Arthur T. has made a bid [3], but other bidders have offered more.

Reportedly, some prospective bidders think they can squeeze more profits out of the company than Arthur T. did.

But Arthur T. knew may have known something about how to run a business that made it successful in a larger sense.

Only some of us are corporate shareholders, and shareholders have won big in America over the last three decades.

But we're all stakeholders in the American economy, and many stakeholders have done miserably.
Maybe a bit more stakeholder capitalism is in order.


Here is a link to Robert Reich's webpage... http://robertreich.org/






 

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Our Dear Friend, Robert



July 31st was the one year passing of our dear friend, Robert Radin.  It turns out an obituary had never been published for Robert. 

I got an email last night from Robert's friend and neighbor, Jeannine Melvin. It included the announcement of Robert's passing that was just published in the Los Angeles Times.

It was written by Robert's friend Betty Peskin, with input from Bettina Gray,  his closest confidante and friend over the last two decades of his life.



Robert Radin


My wife Jenny and I loved Robert. He was a wonderful friend to us and to so many others.

I also learned that Robert's remarkable photos of his world travels are now on display at the National Museum of Ethiopia.  I am quite sure that is something that would have pleased Robert very much.

Robert left us just over a year ago. Though he is gone, he will never be forgotten.


______________________________


 
Robert B. Radin
In Memoriam
July 25, 1923 - July 31, 2013
Robert Radin, businessman, international traveler and photographer, with
friends on nearly every continent, passed away a year ago and is sorely missed. Robert
began his early years on the upper west side of New York City where he and his
brother Seymour attended Ethical Culture School. His family moved to the Los Angeles
area  in the 1940's. Robert held a broad vision of business as a way of building cooperation
and peace in the world,  which underscored his successful ventures in coffee, garlic,
real estate, movie production and garments. He leaves his daughters Janet (George) Klein and
Carol (Todd) Eskelin, their mother, Diane Radin,  granddaughters Michelle, Lauren and
Stacey Klein and Emma Eskelin. His role as "Daddy" was paramount  to him, and
his daily contact with his children and grandchildren gave him the greatest of pleasures.
He took  up photography later in life and during his extensive travels captured remarkable
images. His subjects range  from prominent leaders to barefoot boatmen and
Himalayan monks. A portion of his traveling exhibition,  "A Beautiful World,"
which totals 86 prints from six continents is currently on exhibition at the National Museum
of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa and has been shown extensively throughout the U.S.
"A Beautiful World" is now in production to be released as a book and documentary
video. Updates can be found online at  http://www.radinphotos.com  as they become
available. Robert loved to plan menus and host dinners in his home where he was known
for his delicious meals, served from his organic garden with lively conversation, pairing
of friends and neighbors from near and far. On these occasions he always gave heartfelt
thanks for the source of his "wealth;" The Garden. He retained his sense of wonder
about the world fully into his  9th decade, traveled everywhere, read widely, listened
attentively, could debate actively, laughed easily,   hugged energetically and made friends
with people in all walks of life. He was a committed environmentalist who loved
and deeply respected life, the planet and all those whom he encountered on it.
 
Published in the Los Angeles Times from Aug. 9 to Aug. 10, 2014



Sunday, August 10, 2014

Queen of the Sun


A lovely person named Betsy Valle recommended a documentary video to me. It's called, Queen of the Sun.  This video is about some wonderful humans, who work with bees and have a profound affection for them.  It's also about industrial agriculture and the devastating impact it is having on bees.




I met Betsy Valle, who lives in North Portland, through Paul Maresh and Pam Allee, two people who are seriously involved in urban bee husbandry.  Paul has some of his bee hives in Betsy's yard, which is covered with plants and flowers that are good for bees.

When I visited Betsy Valle's yard with Paul, I was struck by the nature of the bees when Paul was present. They were calm, as if they knew him and recognized him as a 'friendly' presence. Though a hive can have as many as 60,000 bees, they all seem to be connected and work together as one organism.

Bees are incredibly important to the health of the biosphere. They are responsible for pollinating 40% or more of the plants we depend on for food.   Healthy bees are a reflection of a healthy environment.

Unfortunately, bees are in big trouble these days. A phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder is reflected in huge numbers of bee colonies dying off.  There are a number of factors that contribute to colony collapse.  Mass market industrial agriculture has led to massive monocultures like the almond crop in California. Growing a single crop like almonds to the exclusion of all other plants means that bees starve, when the almonds are not in bloom. 

Even worse is the impact of pesticides and herbicides. A class of these poisons called neonicotinoids are chemical nerve agents that can kill bees outright in high enough concentration. Even in low concentration , they disrupt bee immune and nervous system function.  The International Union for the Conservation of Nature  reviewed 800 scientific studies that looked at the impact of neonicotinoid ag chemicals on pollinators and found the link to be 'incontrovertible'.

Queen of the Sun reveals the wonderful synergy that links organic beekeepers with their bees.  It also shows what the bees are up against. The picture is not pretty, but clearly all is not lost.  Many people around the world are working to protect bees.  

I met Paul, Pam, and Betsy, all of whom are champions for bees, because I am preparing to produce a brief outreach video for Move to Amend, that uses a beekeeper's perspective to make the case that the future of bees and the biosphere in general depends on stripping bankers, bad billionaires, and business tycoons of their undue influence over our political process.

We know that pesticides and herbicides are a very significant factor in bee colony collapse.  Our government is the place we citizens must look to for a credible response to these chemical poisons. That is not happening because the gigantic multinational corporate interests behind these ag chemicals are using their wealth and influence to obfuscate the truth and resist changes in government policy that would help bees but threaten their billions in poisonous  profits.

My wife and I are going to look into putting a bee hive or two in our backyard.  I am also recommending Queen of the Sun as a wonderful way to spend 90 minutes to anyone who hasn't already seen it.  And, I am looking forward to completing my Move to Amend Outreach video,  Beekeeper's Logic.

Finally, I want to thank my new friends, Paul, Pam, and Betsy, for championing bees and for being all around good souls.

Here is a link to a video trailer for Queen of the Sun...  http://www.queenofthesun.com/






Thursday, August 7, 2014

Rosetta Rendezvous


An amazing feat of aerospace engineering and celestial navigation has just culminated as the European Space Agency's Rosetta unmanned spacecraft arrived at the comet kinown as  Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Not only did Rosetta rendezvous with this comet, it put itself into orbit around  the 2.4 mile wide  comet.

67P/Churyumov-Gerisimenko


Rosetta was launched on its mission in 2004.  Over its ten year journey, Rosetta travelled 4 billion miles, before 'catching up' and putting itself into orbit around the comet.    Rosetta will soon release a 200 pound lander that will descend to the comet's ice and stone surface.

In a news cycle dominated by reports on the fighting in Iraq, Gaza, and Eastern Ukraine, the brilliant success of Rosetta seems to have been lost in the shuffle. The media coverage of Rosetta's successful rendezvous has been modest thus far. I hope that changes. By any measure, sending a spacecraft hundreds of millions miles to connect with a speeding object just a few miles wide is a historical achievement for all humankind. 

Here is a link to the European Space Agency website for the Rosetta Mission...  http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Highlights/Postcards_from_Rosetta





Sunday, August 3, 2014

Ebola - Nature's Response to Human Overshoot?


Years ago, I read a couple of books about Gaia, by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis. The Gaia concept is that the Earth is a self-regulating, living organism, in and of itself.  Check out the Wikipedia link for an understanding of the Gaia hypothesis




This biological theory suggests that the Earth can and does respond to large scale biological opportunity and large scale biological stress with natural forces that can themselves be massive in scale.

Ebola is a  highly infectious viral disease that has no cure. It kills up to 90% of victims by massive hemorrhaging and loss of bodily fluids.  Ebola, so far,  has been confined to the African continent. Treatment puts medical workers at very high risk.  It's hard to imagine a more horrible way to die. There have only been a couple of serious outbreaks of Ebola over the years.  The worst ever is happening right now in the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and Nigeria. Nearly 800 have perished horribly from Ebola, and the outbreak is far from contained.


Ebola Patient Being Treated

Right now, contracting Ebola requires that one come in contact with contaminated bodily fluids from an Ebola patient.  The pathogen is difficult and very expensive to contain, very dangerous for medical workers to treat, and once a victim dies, just disposing of the corpse safely is a vexing problem.

On top of that, you add the cultural distrust of western medicine in African communities,  Ebola becomes even more of a challenge to contain. 

Because Ebola is a virus, it is constantly mutating into new forms. There is no vaccine that can make a person immune to Ebola.  The medical people on the front lines are some of the most courageous people one could ever imagine.  They go into it  knowing that if they are infected by the Ebola virus, they are very likely going to suffer terribly and lose their lives.


Ebola Virus

Could Ebola become a pandemic? Could it get loose and, like the plague did to 14th century Europe, could it wipe out a very high portion of  humanity?  The answer is yes. It could happen, particularly if it mutates into and becomes infectious in an airborne form.  If that were to happen, a person infected with Ebola but not yet symptomatic could get on a commercial flight and infect many of the other passengers, and those newly infected passengers could get on other airline flights to other places and potentially spread Ebola to the most highly populated areas of the Earth in a matter of a few days. 

The fact is, just a few days ago, a man infected with Ebola did get  on a flight from Liberia. He carried the disease with him to Lagos, the capitol of Nigeria. Every person he came into contact with from boarding of the flight in Liberia, to everyone in the airport and other places in Nigeria where he travelled is now being monitored.  So, the story of the current, largest ever Ebola outbreak, is still unfolding.

I very much hope they can contain the current Ebola outbreak, and minimize the suffering and loss of life. If things work out that way, and the outbreak is put down, that is hardly the end of the story.

As time goes on, as the population density in Africa rapidly expands,  the possibility of new Ebola outbreaks is very real.

Disaster fatigue is a  consequence of too many deadly dangerous events piling on in short succession. We are seeing that happening right now. We're seeing bigger, more powerful tropical storms, floods, droughts, wildfires, mega-tornados, and other natural disasters than ever before. High human population density translates into huge costs for cleanup and recovery. In economically disadvantaged countries, the financial resources available to deal with any kind of human disaster are limited. Moreover, given the increasing number of disasters around the world, the rich nations find themselves less and less able to respond with the resources and financial support each disaster demands, especially when they happen in distant lands. Haiti is not a distant land. It's a couple hundred miles distant from our shores.  The recovery from the massive earthquake disaster that devastated Haiti in 2010 has been woefully inadequate. The people of Haiti have  largely been abandoned by the rest of the world.

So, where does that leave humanity as population growth and massive, global scale problems like climate change  create the conditions for more and more mega-disasters and economic disruption?

Imagine twenty years from now, when the human population has expanded from 7.2 billion as it is now to something like 9 billion. Imagine the impact of climate change an order or two in magnitude worse than it is  now. Imagine, in those increasingly vulnerable conditions, that Ebola breaks out again in a mutated form that can be spread through the air, like a common cold virus.

Ebola is a nightmare of the very worst kind.  Could it end up being tantamount to  Gaia's way of relieving the extreme, broadly realized stress we humans have put on the planet's natural systems? Could Ebola ultimately become what the plague was to 14th century Europeans?   It's an ugly scenario, but unfortunately, it is a genuine possibility.

If we humans don't do something to relieve the extreme pressure we are putting on our resources and our biological systems, nature may well inflict it's own terrible, global scale stress reliever in the form of something like an airborne strain of Ebola.  If that happens, we will only have ourselves to blame. 

If Lovelock and Margulis are right about Gaia, the Earth biosphere will survive, even if humanity is brought to its knees in the process. It's a circumstance I would not wish on my worst enemy.  For the sake of future generations, I hope we wake up and make things right on planet Earth, before it's too late.