It's NATURE not human nature that keeps humans alive

Ed Barajas teaching kids and their parents about NATURE.. the old fashioned way! Out IN IT!

Read another article today.... another group of experts talking about Climate Change. This time this group, from the United Nations, says that protecting biodiversity is MORE important then working to stop Climate Change! Then I read that another group of scientists who have grouped together to try to get President Obama to DO something about the BP spill.. but he is setting up another panel to study BP's destruction of this huge water body ... OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! But the real problem may be that government types are scientifically ignorant and illiterate. And being on the edge - sort to speak - of a massive global ecological collapse (see articles above) it makes sense why smart things are not done like they are in "DeMovies" (my grandparents, who made their living in the entertainment business, used to say, "In da moo-in pit-tsures!"). Humans have always made terrible messes of their environment (read 'Collapse', by Jared Diamond, and don't forget his other book, 'Guns, Germs, and Steel') and this Discovery Center Authority is just another blip in the paleontological scheme of things.

So, why do I write about this on a blog about a California Governmental Agency... the RMC ... (as per my grandparents, again - Govern-mental) that calls itself a CONSERVANCY (HA!) and wants so badly to build a huge building, with a big parking lot (where's the 'green mentoring' on public transportation????), a giant catch basin for the gas and the (?BP?) oil from the parking lot (of COURSE it won't leak into the soils above the drinking water aquifer!)? And then they say this is all for... da children, to TEACH dem 'bout NATURE? Well, it's kinda the same. Just a smaller tragedy.

Remember, the best Shakespearean tragedies were of smart people with really large-dumb-blind spots which cause them to eventually kill themselves and their loved ones.

Ok.... now I have written this downer article ... I am going to do something positive! Let's stop this stupidity by demonstrating how to teach nature to kids and the adults.

Meet me half way! LET'S GO!

Well, it MET ALL of our expectations!

It was a..... U.S. Green Building

Council's Leadership in Energy

and environmental Design of the

HIGHEST Platinum level!!!!

(not really.... but folks followed the

orders from folks at the top... and

no one questioned their motives or

their deficiencies in their work ethics.)

Photo taken by a Department of Energy Contractor.

BIRD-A-THON! May 14 - 16 ....on your mark, get set...

GO!!!!!!!! BIRD-A-THON!!! COUNT THE BIRDS

(hint: 5 birds, 2 invertebrates on this page)

The Friends are holding their inaugural Bird-a-thon May 14 - 16 to raise money for the cause of saving the Whittier Narrows Natural Area.

The proceeds from the Birdathon, an event in which individuals or teams count birds and collect sponsorships based on the number of species they spot or in a flat amount, will go to the Friends to support their efforts to protect the natural area,including their lawsuit against the San Gabriel River Discovery Center Authority.

The Friends have been one of the few voices consistently defending the historic wildlife sanctuary from ill-conceived and destructive development plans being pushed by water district executives and government bureaucrats. (You can read the latest story to appear on the house of cards that is the Discovery Center here.)

But as they say, all work and no play . . . So the Birdathon is intended as a fun way to raise money and raise awareness of the variety of birds we have in Southern California and of the importance of the dwindling open space we have here.

The great thing about the Birdathon is that you can do it anywhere and for a length of time of your choosing. You might choose to do it at El Dorado Park in Long Beach or sitting in your living room watching birds come and go from your birdfeeder. You don't even have to live in LA to participate. You could do your birding anywhere on the planet and at your own pace.

More information on the Birdathon, including the participant/sponsor form, is available at http://naturalareafriends.net/how_you_can_help