Finding Focus

     Something is going on, changing deep in the inner universe that is consciousness, mine and perhaps yours too.

      Maybe it is age, or the jarring reality of recent social change. I'm at a bridge where personal interests are being over taken by a concern for those who will live when I no longer do. 

      No, this not that sort of post or motivation. Certainly am not rushing wanting to depart. I'm fortunate to enjoy life and living but some measurements are beginning to change, lengthening and even broadening.

      Climate, resource protection and reclamation, changes in nature, pressure points in the human food chain, ethical treatment of human suffering and misery, political order, anticipating the impact of artificial intelligence, burgeoning medical technology, the wonders of regenerative medicine, evolution of our specie, preserving life in an interdependent eco system, genetic manipulation and more that present us with profound issues and questions. First, are we even mature enough to deal with the consequence. 

       There is a positive charge in engaging in something that will go beyond our own shadows. Strategizing, trying to establish and enable dynamics, systems and adaptations for a future. I am no scientist as my chemistry lab partner Janice Anderson discovered many years ago and as I have been reminded many times when I struggle to read science tracts and research. I am awed by those who advance knowledge and understanding. I appreciate their touching the arc of history and from time to time I have interpreted their efforts for a reading or viewing audience. I am not a man of science, but a man of words.

        Words matter too. They are the glue that gives our purposes structure. Getting older, reflecting on a life in journalism, study of philosophy, spirituality, religion, creeds, social compacts and decades of politics I think I have emerged as a kind of postulant ethicist. No one appointed me. There are few professional ethicists, but it is the "ethics of living" that have begun to calibrate and reboot in my inner mind, making me an unwitting accomplice in this concern about the future. As the latest iteration of human bipeds perhaps we all should consider the ethics of human existence on this verge of something.

         Living in the orbit of Silicon Valley, I am perpetually fascinated at advancements in artificial intelligence, mixed reality, virtual reality, bio medicine, big data and the like. But I have begun to also note that we make jumps and leaps without giving prior thought to what it will mean; i.e. how will this likely change things, or how could this go wrong, could it be weaponized, that sort of thought.

       We make giant leaps at a time when more people think only as deeply as 140 characters, or their Facebook news, when we see increasing evidence of a decline in critical reasoning skills, when history is barely known, when classics are replaced by Marvel, as we seek happiness in what we buy or own.

      Have you given any thought to what it means to be a human being? What makes us human? A brain, a heart, emotion, love, what?  Now consider how many implants or  replacements, or memory chips in the brain, or bio mechanical organs, prosthetics or synthetic blood do we need before human life, as we know it, ceases and something new emerges? 
       These wonderful but profoundly changing circumstances will have more impact on our children and grand children than us.

      Probably few people have given it much thought and that in itself is an ethical issue. We cannot nor should we impede science and research or healing systems and technologies. In just one simple query-how well equipped are societies for extended life spans?
       Isn't now the appropriate time that humanity deliberates, before epochal changes? Sci-fi writers and directors have long toyed with these themes but would we be content to see life imitate art?

     For the record we've had 8.7 inches of rain on the California central coast since January 1. That is more than we had for the full year 2013-2014. Total for the season is 20.93 making it the most since 2010-2011. Yes, there have been mud and rock slides. Historic Santa Rosa Creek road caved and it will be some time before repairs are made. Scenic Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, has also taken some abuse, but after 4-5 years of drought, we are happy we've been blessed with the rain.

The bluff trail north of Cambria

standing together

    A lot of people are pushing the White House Correspondents Association and other Washington based media groups to push back against early signs the new administration intends to play rough and dirty with some media outlets.

    Tough questions are simply part of the process. An adversarial relationship is the nature of the game and everyone, the White House, the media and the electorate are served when the media plays a watch dog role.  

     Divide and conquer is a technique of this administration. Combine that with the too common "careerist" motivation of some of the press corp and we could be on a slippery slope. Reminding the outlets that if one is targeted or banned, all could be has been the effort of many around the country. This is no time to forget the important role of the 4th estate.

     One thing they need to do a better job of is pressing this administration for details. We still haven't seen the health care plan that is supposed to replace the Affordable Care Act. Nor does the president elect ever give much detail. At some point we hope he realizes he's got to be presidential. He seems stuck in the mode of being the hustler on the campaign trail.  He's done nothing to convince me he's not an narcissistic idiot incapable of a complex sentence, let along thought. But maybe I'm wrong.

     See you down the trail.

THE BRIDGE & THE WRITERS BLOCK

WRITERS BLOCK

    It was chilling, prompting a sense of foreboding.

    "Get 'em outta here!  Get 'em outta here!" commanded Donald Trump at a recent rally beset by protestors. Trump had been bragging that he would claim "40%" of Sanders voters when the clamor began.

     There are smarter and elder political analysts and journalists but I have not seen a more viscerally divisive presidential candidate since George Wallace, who's campaigns I covered and who I interviewed. It is odd to write this, but Wallace was eminently more qualified than Donald Trump. Wallace was a self admitted segregationist. He was a racist and a hate monger. Trump is worse. He has no policy positions, no electoral or government experience, is fueled by  ego, rides a wave of anger and appeals to the worst in America.

       An important message to the nation was sent by 450 of our top writers.You can link here to read their open letter to the American people. While I think Trump is a danger to the Republic in many ways he is also like the canary in the coal mine, a warning of sorts.

      American politics is broken and people are rightfully angry. Our wrath should be directed at the big money that has turned politicians into whores. We should be furious with the increasingly selfish nature of those who lobby and who have turned government into commerce. A loud mouth and insensitive sexist, racist, ego freak with no government experience and an appalling lack of familiarity with international complexity and who is a bully is not the way to change what infects us.

      Why do you think we have become a nation with so much fear, anger, selfishness and with a lack of a desire for common good? Why are people taking to Trump? 

      As you ponder and respond, take a moment to consider what some of our brightest have said. The warnings are becoming more numerous.

RAIN ROCKS

    Every time we drive the majestic Highway 1 we marvel at the engineering that produced the road with spectacular views including here in the Big Sur area.

    Highway cuts, switchbacks and  bridges--there are natural challenges to keeping traffic moving. The frame below is a recent overhead look at what locals call Rain Rocks. 

   This is an area that frequently was closed, due to slides of the mountain onto the narrow patch of the Pacific Coast Highway.

  You can see how the tunnel like structure is built into the mountain and shelters the road from boulders and rocks that  litter the roof.

   It is an amazing structure and engineering masterpiece that we watched be pieced together over the last 4 years. 

   The previous frames speak to the massive size of the structure. But in the frame below it dwarfs into just one more pass on an extraordinary road.

    See you down the trail.

WAITING A LIFE TIME TO SEE IT plus WHEEL TO WHEEL and WALL STREET WELFARE

Desert Blooms

    Lana said she had waited most of her life to see a saguaro cactus bloom.

   In the stretch from Phoenix to Prescott Valley and Sedona  the desert scrub is populated by the massive uprights and spears.

   Closer examination of these saguaro, that can age to 2 centuries, revealed blooms. Blossoms appear only when a cactus is at least 35 years. They grow their first arm at between 75 and 100 years.

   The blooms are short-lived and open at night during spring. The saguaro blossom is the state wildflower of Arizona.

  Other worldly and exotic they are native of the Sonoran desert in Mexico and Arizona, the Whipple Mountains and Imperial County area of California. In Arizona it is against the law to harm a saguaro.

Wheel to Wheel on the Pacific Coast Highway

    The Amgen Tour of California raced past Cambria in Stage 4-Morro Bay to Monterey-on the famed Highway 1.

   The lead of the pack as they approached the south edge of Cambria having just come up a long hill.

    Immediately the racers began to use the level stretch for changing positions.

    Just as rapidly they were past the first access to Cambria and on the way toward San Simeon, Ragged Point, Big Sur and Monterey at speeds of 25 to 35 mph. 

       Here they are just a few miles into a 133 mile stage.

    The Amgen Tour of California finishes in Sacramento.

WALL STREET WELFARE

    This may feel like a kick in the head. Oxfam America recently published a study that reveals for every dollar America's largest companies paid in federal taxes from 2008 to 2014 they got back $27 in loans, guarantees and bailout funds from the Federal Government. Once more--the top 50 American corporations pay a dollar in taxes and get back $27. Is that the kind of tax plan you are on?

      Oxfam reports that for every dollar spent on lobbying by the largest corporations they get $130 in tax breaks and $4,000 in federal loans and guarantees.

      Ray Offenheiser, President of Oxfam, says, "The global economic system is becoming increasingly rigged." Oxfam is a federation of groups working on poverty and economic disadvantage in some 90 nations. They've been a respected player since the 1940's.

      Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times writes that a recent study found that tax dodging by major corporations "costs the US Treasury up to $111 billion a year."  Imagine the infrastructure repair, increase in pay and benefits to police, fire and veterans and improvements to schools and teacher training and pay that could be accomplished.  Kristof notes that since 1952 the share of corporate taxation in federal revenue has declined from 32% to 11%, but as you know from your own paystubs the portion of payroll taxes has increased. 

      To paraphrase Shakespeare-Something is rotten and this time it is not in Denmark.

      See you down the trail.

SPECIAL PLACES, PEOPLE AND TIMES

CATCHING THE CATS

    At home with the Catalyst and his buddy Blackwell. My longtime pal and mentor Bruce looks right, as his beloved Blackwell looks left. It is a special moment, being with dear old  longtime friends.

    

    The evening made even more special with this Indonesian feast prepared by Judy, aka SWMBO. We've been stealing recipes and food prep tips from Judy for a few seasons now. We are adding another page to the book.

     Bruce has blogged about our get together and you can find that to the right of this post in the Rich Blogs roll.

PRISTINE

      You are looking at a rare "pristine" culture of native species. This ledge, Arroyo Del La Cruz, is on the Pacific coast north of the Hearst Castle on route to Big Sur.
       It is one of the last patches free of non native and invasive vegetation. The shelf overlooks a secluded beach hidden to those who travel the famous Highway 1.

    It is an alluvium deposit patch of California begun in Lompoc some 95 miles south. Silt, clay, sand and gravel compressed and was moved by natural forces some 150 thousand years ago.

    Someplace near Lompoc there is chunk of earth that is a body double for this alluvium deposit.

    That mound in the frame below is a midden, a kind of refuse pile left by native residents centuries ago. Theories vary as to what tribe left the deposit-Salinan, Chalon, or Esselen. 

    See you down the trail.

A GOLDEN STORY AND A WILD STORY

DOWN MEMORY LANE

   This is an abandoned stretch of the famous Pacific Coast Highway-California Highway 1. It is an appropriate icon for this holiday season post. From the archive we remember the fascinating story of THE California gold mine. This was first posted in 2011.

THE EMPIRE

      The Empire Mine, outside Grass Valley, is the oldest, richest, hardrock gold mine in California.  This is where the miners started to work, the main shaft that led to more than 367 miles of underground passages.

      Today it is a state historic site and permits everyone

behind a gate, that separated world of the miner and the mine owners.

      The hard work of the mining was done primarily by Cornish miners.  Over the years 5,800,000 ounces of gold was extracted from the Empire.

       When the mine closed in 1956, the incline depth was more than 11,000 feet.  The hundreds of miles of underground shafts and caverns were fully electrified and pumps ran continuously to empty the water.  It was a massive operation and much of the equipment used in the extraordinary undertaking now basks in the California sun retired to the mine yard. It is a kind of "mechanical art."

Today, most of the mine is full of water.

There is a blacksmith shop, still in partial operation

What is also extraordinary is what sits away from the work of the mine

Down the path is the "cottage" and "club house" of William Bourn Jr. who inherited the Empire from his father in 1877.

He had schooled in England so his "cottage and club house" reflect English style.

There is a reflecting pool

A clubhouse was built for the pleasure of the Bourns and their guests, one of whom was Herbert Hoover.

The wing to the right is an indoor squash court.

There is also a bowling alley, guest rooms and a ballroom.

The walls and floor are California redwood. 

The billiard table remains, but has been covered.

each of the light fixtures is a hand crafted design of what is apparently squirrels.

The grounds also included a tennis court and a badminton and croquet green.

Apparently the miners were allowed beyond the gate and onto the green, once a year for a Miner's Picnic.

The state of California purchased the Empire surface property in 1975 for $1,250,000.  The park covers 800 acres including 750 acres of forest.

The mineral rights remain with the Newmont Mining Corporation who bought the mine from Bourn in 1929.

Some estimates claim that 80% of the gold from the Empire remain in the ground.

If you get to Grass Valley or environs, the Empire is a great visit.

WILD

    If you read Cheryl Strayed's book, WILD, you know the emotional ride you are in for when seeing the film. People are suggesting Oscar nomination for Reese Witherspoon in her portrayal of Ms. Strayed who seeks to put her troubled life back in order by undertaking the enormous challenge of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. She is marvelous. So too is Laura Dern, as her beloved but all too soon late Mother.

   If you are inclined to weep, as several folks sitting by were, this is a film that may turn on the tears, but it also a journey, both in beautiful scenery and inwardly. It is quite a trip and quite an understanding.  People are right when they say this is an important film.

See you down the trail.