Visigraf.com We see what you mean.

Responding to the San Rafael Patch story and some CMCM board member comments:

The MTA is the entity that might sue Comcast if the DIVCA funds are not sent to the MTA. The MTA has the lead in collecting the money.  CMCM has the Designated Access Provider contract with the MTA to operate the channels and the media center, and will need the MTA to allocate the funds to the DAP contract ( possibly with added operational funding) in order for CMCM to continue.

I believe that the MTA is committed to making the PEG system work, and that CMCM is a partner in this community effort with the MTA. The community has a huge investment in the system, and is receiving benefits from the three channels and the media center.  If the PEG system is shut down, Comcast would have three more channels to sell, with an obvious positive impact on their bottom line as well as the negative impact on the Marin community. 

The MTA sent a letter to Comcast pointing out that the previous contract is no longer in force, and while Comcast is not precluded from recovering that money, that is a separate and distinct issue from the DIVCA money.  The DIVCA money is public money, according to the state law that set up DIVCA, and Comcast must first provide that money (5% franchise fee + !% Public Access funding) to the MTA, and only after they do that, can they then recover the DIVCA money by putting the 1% on the bill. 

This is not what has occurred , as Comcast has not sent the 1% to the MTA  yet, and has started to charge the 1% on the bill (plus on my bill at least, they put a disclaimer that tries to blame the MTA instead of the state law that Comcast helped to write) for the DIVCA charge.  This appears to be illegal, and the MTA has the right and the duty to collect the public funds.  The MTA is taking action to collect the money due.

As it happens, the Paul Kurgman column in the New York Times has some themes from economic geography as it relates to jobs, and is well worth reading. He points out that by saving GM, the whole supply chain and the associated jobs were retained in the U.S. and that was an amazing accomplishment for the Obama administration. Certainly there have been huge losses in that sector,and it almost went entirely to Asia.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/opinion/krugman-jobs-jobs-and-cars.htm...

One of the things that Facebook brings is the ability to share photos and videos internationally with various affinity groups. Bamboo is one of my passions, especially as a sustainable building material. With Facebook, I have built a network of folks interested in the use of bamboo in architecture, with many correspondents who write and speak in languages that I don't understand. With the combination of Facebook and Google Translate, I can understand their postings. The photos and videos communicate in the universal visual language.

Recently one of my cats developed a occurrence of a skin problem that our vet has seen before. We took photos of the condition ( using two strobes for clarity), then used Adobe Lightroom to clarify the photos and label the area of concern, made a pdf, and enclosed the set of photos and notes in a email to the vet. The vet evaluated the information and prescribed another prophylactic course of antibiotics. We picked up the meds, and the cat is doing fine.

Business as Usual (BAU) continues the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, driving climate change toward a catastrophic point where large ecosystems will change forever, a mass extinction event that would be terrible to witness and tragic for our descendents. It may be avoidable, but without effective action now, avoiding runaway heating will become more and more difficult.

The latest Marinations has several performances from Planetary Dance 2011, plus we show a taste of the Earth Run that is the culmination of the days prayer and dance. See episode 28 here: http://blip.tv/marinations/marinations-28-2011-sunrise-planetary-dance-5...

We go to China Camp State Park to interview Frank Quan, the last in a line of Chinese who lived at the little village on Point San Pedro and fished for shrimp in San Pablo Bay. Tied up at the pier is an authentic replica of a Chinese Shrimp Junk, built at the China Camp Village. We visit the boat works where another replica of an Italian style fishing boat is under construction.

Before dawn on June 11 2011 a group of 80 or so gathered at the East Peak parking lot on Mt. Tamalpais. We hiked the short trail to the summit with 91 year old Anna Halprin and a French dance troop to begin the Planetary Dance, a dance for peace among people and peace with the Earth. In this short video, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAfaUygZm_I Morning Song on YouTube
Lucia Comnes sings a Cherokee morning song at the 31st Planetary Dance dawn gathering on Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County on June 11, 2011.

Claudia Cuentas offered a beautiful flute song as the sun came up : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd0MLujUrc0

A French Dance troupe, "AlLuna" that is studying and collaborating with Anna Halprin offered this beautiful morning song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B0p4pEa-2o and later performed this round at the Santos Meadows gathering just before the Earth Run : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiRBvf1XUmI

Poet Jahan Khalighi performed his work : Rebirth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlJvEeo47V8

This event includes the dawn gathering as well as music, poetry, dance, the Earth Run and a pot luck picnic held at Santos Meadows later in the day.
The Planetary Dance is sponsored by the Tamalpa Institute.

Economist Paul Krugman is very unpopular with many folks, but his prognostications have proven accurate many times and if I'd taken to heart what he forecast back in 2007 or 2008, I'd have much more in my savings! His recent New York Times column http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/opinion/10krugman.html?ref=opinion explains the real logic behind the current crazy economic policy advocated by the Republicans. He says it protects the wealthy ( duh ) and will drive our unemployment even higher as the next elections approach.

We recently posted the Marinations program about the 2010 Planetary Dance and Earth Run that was held at Santos Meadow, Mt. Tamalpias State Park. This video includes footage from Walt Ferris, Sharon Skolnick-Bagnoli and Bruce Bagnoli and was made possible by use of the facilities and equipment of the Community Media Center of Marin.