Hi again and yep, from the ramparts of the Bastion on the Puget Sound. Today, we join Jews and Gentiles alike around the world in a solemn observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom Hashoah. This date was selected to mark the Holocaust because it commemorates the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
In all, some six million children, women and men perished in the Holocaust. They were murdered, systematically and with malice aforethought, for being Jewish. It is not the first time genocide has happened in history and there is hardly a nation on the face of this planet which has not engaged in a form of it. In remembering this Holocaust, we remember them all, and in so doing, perhaps prevent them from ever happening again, anywhere, to anyone. For more on this one, please go here.
I found it very “interesting” that so much of the news was dominated by an Irish-American comedian whose forehead looks to me stretched by a funhouse mirror and whose red hair reminds me of the Joker in Batman whining about not being as media immortal as his predecessors and walking away with $43-million buyout for himself and another $12-million for his staff.
Meanwhile, the state I’m living in has 300,000 unemployed actively looking for work and Haiti’s still desperately in need of the kind of help that comes from small weekly donations as well corporate pledges and the ongoing aid of the international community.
I found myself wondering just how much ten percent of what this comedian is going to be making for NOT performing would go toward making a critical difference to a small island nation fighting so hard for its very life right now.
I get kidded sometimes for going to bed way before these people come on. With all due respect, I really can’t see as how I’ve missed much. I was raised partly on a ranch and the most egotistical creature on it was a jackass.
We join Canada and the international community in mourning the death, during the Haitian Quake, of Quebec author, geographer and former Haitian cabinet minister Georges Anglade and his wife, Mireille. According to Quill & Quire’s Laura Godfrey:
“The two were there on a family holiday, and Anglade was meant to take part in the international literary festival Étonnants Voyageurs, which has now been cancelled.
“Georges Anglade, former professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, was 65.
The CTV reports:
“Georges and Mireille Anglade were trapped in the rubble of a home on Tuesday and did not survive. They became the second and third Canadians killed by the Caribbean catastrophe.…
‘A former political prisoner under the Duvalier regime, [Georges] was active in pushing for democracy in the poverty stricken country and wrote several books.”
For more on this one, please go here.
Even though the Haitian government has officially suspended rescue operations, those continue on the part of the international community and the need for more ongoing relief continues. Here is a list of ways to do this and even if it’s just a dollar or two per week, it mounts up fast and it goes a long way.
MORE GOOD NEWS
This one resonates some under the LONG OVERDUE category. It is about unsung heroes, lady heroes, and under a headline Pioneering women pilots of WWII get a belated honor, Seattle Times reporter Nancy Bartley tells us:
“They were mavericks of their day, taking to the skies when the nation was at war and most women were at home caring for families. At a ceremony this spring, 11 Washington women will join the 200-some surviving Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) in receiving Congressional Gold Medals for service during World War II.
“Sixteen more medals will be given to local WASPs posthumously.”
For more on this one, then, please go here.
While one Washington National Guardsman was serving in Iraq, his wife, sons and sister-in-law were murdered and his home burned to the ground. I’ve seen less destroy stronger men but it’s not going to happen, thanks in part to this soldiers neighbors. For a story about what happens when a community cares, please go here.
In acknowledgement that obesity is killing America’s children at an alarming rate, First Lady Michelle Obama is declaring her own war. In stating that the rate of childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years, and acknowledging that money is tight right now, she nonetheless reminded us that kids are still the greatest natural resource any nation has and, as well, that:
"Leadership is about having the foresight and the courage to make those sacrifices and investments in the short run that pay big dividends, often paying for themselves many times over in the long run."
For more on this one, please go here.
Seattle’s using some of its garbage to generate electricity. According to KPLU radio’s Liam Moriarty:
“Seattle residents recycle about half of their waste. The rest, about 400,000 tons a year, gets put on trains and shipped to a massive landfill in north-central Oregon. Waste Management, the company that runs the Columbia Ridge landfill, collects the methane gas produced as garbage decomposes and burns it to generate electricity. Waste Management's Dean Kattler says that closes an energy loop.
"’The waste collected in the city of Seattle goes to our Columbia Ridge landfill, and now the energy produced at the landfill comes right back to the city of Seattle.'
With Valentine’s Day coming up, you might want to check out this list of foods that can increase the libido and these that can increase your overall enjoyment of life. Yep, I eat a lot of them and they’ve certainly made a difference in my life.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
Believe it or not, despite all the bad news about layoffs and jobs being hard to find, there are a growing number of people who, as reported by The Tyee’s Pia Bahile, Curtis File and Kevin Young, are finding some unique ways to put things they love doing anyway toward generating an income.
From EduPunks to food jewelers, people are using new tools to take learning, art, entertainment, technology, politics, and even science into their own hands. Behold the growing Maker Movement.
This one is a romp, particularly for those who tinker, spend lots of time with arts and crafts, or who are just desperate enough to see how other people are generating some income during these hard times.
This is the first in a series and I highly recommend bookmarking this one. For more, of course, go here.
CRITTER STUFF
The Labrador retriever remains the most popular breed of dog in the United States, according to a report released today by the American Kennel Club. That’s a distinction Labs have held for 19 years. German Shepherds, in second place since the days of Hollywood canine actor Rin Tin Tin, held that spot while Yorkshire Terriers came in third. To see how other dogs ranked and which breeds were most popular in major American cities, please go here. For a video on the top ten, check this out.
FROM YOU GUYS FOR YOU GUYS
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish a very special human being a Happy 70th Birthday. She’s from a part of America made famous by Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Jack London, William Saroyan and John Steinbeck. It’s also where writer Joan Didion grew up and from where she drew the heart of Slouching Toward Bethlehem. It’s a land rich in heritage and hard times and she’s very much of both. She’s a devout family woman who does for her community. She’s lived that way all her life and to her 70 is just a number. She’ll be rocking and rolling for some while yet and inspiring others some by her example. Happy Birthday, Peg. Finest kind. You rock, girl.
In all, some six million children, women and men perished in the Holocaust. They were murdered, systematically and with malice aforethought, for being Jewish. It is not the first time genocide has happened in history and there is hardly a nation on the face of this planet which has not engaged in a form of it. In remembering this Holocaust, we remember them all, and in so doing, perhaps prevent them from ever happening again, anywhere, to anyone. For more on this one, please go here.
I found it very “interesting” that so much of the news was dominated by an Irish-American comedian whose forehead looks to me stretched by a funhouse mirror and whose red hair reminds me of the Joker in Batman whining about not being as media immortal as his predecessors and walking away with $43-million buyout for himself and another $12-million for his staff.
Meanwhile, the state I’m living in has 300,000 unemployed actively looking for work and Haiti’s still desperately in need of the kind of help that comes from small weekly donations as well corporate pledges and the ongoing aid of the international community.
I found myself wondering just how much ten percent of what this comedian is going to be making for NOT performing would go toward making a critical difference to a small island nation fighting so hard for its very life right now.
I get kidded sometimes for going to bed way before these people come on. With all due respect, I really can’t see as how I’ve missed much. I was raised partly on a ranch and the most egotistical creature on it was a jackass.
We join Canada and the international community in mourning the death, during the Haitian Quake, of Quebec author, geographer and former Haitian cabinet minister Georges Anglade and his wife, Mireille. According to Quill & Quire’s Laura Godfrey:
“The two were there on a family holiday, and Anglade was meant to take part in the international literary festival Étonnants Voyageurs, which has now been cancelled.
“Georges Anglade, former professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, was 65.
The CTV reports:
“Georges and Mireille Anglade were trapped in the rubble of a home on Tuesday and did not survive. They became the second and third Canadians killed by the Caribbean catastrophe.…
‘A former political prisoner under the Duvalier regime, [Georges] was active in pushing for democracy in the poverty stricken country and wrote several books.”
For more on this one, please go here.
Even though the Haitian government has officially suspended rescue operations, those continue on the part of the international community and the need for more ongoing relief continues. Here is a list of ways to do this and even if it’s just a dollar or two per week, it mounts up fast and it goes a long way.
MORE GOOD NEWS
This one resonates some under the LONG OVERDUE category. It is about unsung heroes, lady heroes, and under a headline Pioneering women pilots of WWII get a belated honor, Seattle Times reporter Nancy Bartley tells us:
“They were mavericks of their day, taking to the skies when the nation was at war and most women were at home caring for families. At a ceremony this spring, 11 Washington women will join the 200-some surviving Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) in receiving Congressional Gold Medals for service during World War II.
“Sixteen more medals will be given to local WASPs posthumously.”
For more on this one, then, please go here.
While one Washington National Guardsman was serving in Iraq, his wife, sons and sister-in-law were murdered and his home burned to the ground. I’ve seen less destroy stronger men but it’s not going to happen, thanks in part to this soldiers neighbors. For a story about what happens when a community cares, please go here.
In acknowledgement that obesity is killing America’s children at an alarming rate, First Lady Michelle Obama is declaring her own war. In stating that the rate of childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years, and acknowledging that money is tight right now, she nonetheless reminded us that kids are still the greatest natural resource any nation has and, as well, that:
"Leadership is about having the foresight and the courage to make those sacrifices and investments in the short run that pay big dividends, often paying for themselves many times over in the long run."
For more on this one, please go here.
Seattle’s using some of its garbage to generate electricity. According to KPLU radio’s Liam Moriarty:
“Seattle residents recycle about half of their waste. The rest, about 400,000 tons a year, gets put on trains and shipped to a massive landfill in north-central Oregon. Waste Management, the company that runs the Columbia Ridge landfill, collects the methane gas produced as garbage decomposes and burns it to generate electricity. Waste Management's Dean Kattler says that closes an energy loop.
"’The waste collected in the city of Seattle goes to our Columbia Ridge landfill, and now the energy produced at the landfill comes right back to the city of Seattle.'
With Valentine’s Day coming up, you might want to check out this list of foods that can increase the libido and these that can increase your overall enjoyment of life. Yep, I eat a lot of them and they’ve certainly made a difference in my life.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
Believe it or not, despite all the bad news about layoffs and jobs being hard to find, there are a growing number of people who, as reported by The Tyee’s Pia Bahile, Curtis File and Kevin Young, are finding some unique ways to put things they love doing anyway toward generating an income.
From EduPunks to food jewelers, people are using new tools to take learning, art, entertainment, technology, politics, and even science into their own hands. Behold the growing Maker Movement.
This one is a romp, particularly for those who tinker, spend lots of time with arts and crafts, or who are just desperate enough to see how other people are generating some income during these hard times.
This is the first in a series and I highly recommend bookmarking this one. For more, of course, go here.
CRITTER STUFF
The Labrador retriever remains the most popular breed of dog in the United States, according to a report released today by the American Kennel Club. That’s a distinction Labs have held for 19 years. German Shepherds, in second place since the days of Hollywood canine actor Rin Tin Tin, held that spot while Yorkshire Terriers came in third. To see how other dogs ranked and which breeds were most popular in major American cities, please go here. For a video on the top ten, check this out.
FROM YOU GUYS FOR YOU GUYS
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish a very special human being a Happy 70th Birthday. She’s from a part of America made famous by Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Jack London, William Saroyan and John Steinbeck. It’s also where writer Joan Didion grew up and from where she drew the heart of Slouching Toward Bethlehem. It’s a land rich in heritage and hard times and she’s very much of both. She’s a devout family woman who does for her community. She’s lived that way all her life and to her 70 is just a number. She’ll be rocking and rolling for some while yet and inspiring others some by her example. Happy Birthday, Peg. Finest kind. You rock, girl.
YOU GUYS THINK I MAKE THIS STUFF UP. Anyone who flips me an attitude about global warming until after the 2010 Winter Olympics is likely to get a wet mitten right in the kisser. We’ve just learned that because of an usually dry and balmy winter, attributed to the same phenomenon which is melting the polar ice caps and opening up the Northwest Passage all year round is making it necessary to truck and helicopter in thousand of cubic yards of snow in time for the Games. Someone asked me if Canadians had snow machines and aside from a low tolerance for stupid questions, logic would suggest that for a global sports event of this magnitude, said machines probably aren’t going to cut it. Yep, oh ye of little faith, check it out here.
That’s it for this week. We’ve got some cool stuff down below you might want to check out. Stay the course, gang. We’re getting there and we’re going to make it. And thanks once again for the ear. And stuff.
Rusty
NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS
FUN STUFF
Ever been told you look like someone famous? Ever not been told that but would like to have been? Find a photo of yourself, go to this site, MyHeritage.com, upload it and get a gallery of celebrities you resemble, to one degree or another. Yep, it’s a total waste of time and an unabashed indulgence of ego. Probably two reasons why I totally loved it, even though a couple of my own pix didn’t turn up any results. It’s fun to play with so enjoy.
How about a trip to Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo to watch a couple of grizzly bears in their Northwest setting? Yep, click here and thanks to our friends at Puget Sound NBC affiliate KING 5.
If you’re into a real interesting and visual escape, we certainly recommend The Art In LA website. It’s a virtual art gallery created by a real gentle, occasionally obnoxious but totally good-hearted soul with standards as fine as those of any engineer I’ve ever met. It’s also a good place for healthy meditation. If you’re lucky, you might just run into the artist herself. Her name is Colleen and she’s a trip, trust me. Yep, she was born under the fourth flag on our masthead.
HEALTH
Ten foods that really do help prevent cancer.
Grub you libido will love.
If you’d like to know whether your eating habits are either adding years to your life or taking them off, take this RealAge quiz. It will not only score your real age against your health age but give you a program for improvement. I’ve been working this one for about a month now and yep, I feel a lot better.
Want to know how to live to be 100? Try this one.
Take this test to see how your memory compares with the average. Click here for fun games to improve your memory.
ONLINE TOOLS FOR THE KIT
PC World – This is the best source we’ve found yet for totally free, useful, reliable and secure (no viruses) downloads ranging from games through utilities and with a nice selection of screen savers, etc. What I particularly appreciate about it is how easy the site is to navigate. They also have a daily letter featuring two “daily downloads.”
Free People Search – This is an American online White Pages that I found really simple, quick and user friendly. I looked for myself under the several versions of my name and it found them all. It’s also free and doesn’t involve anything to download.
Know Thy Elected Officials - Just type in your zip code and this site will supply you with the names and contact information for your legislators from the state level up. This is a two click site with a host of other relevant features.
REVIEWS
If you like your news proactive and edgy, we strongly recommend this daily ezine out of Western Canada. It might also go a bit toward the re-education of those who consider their neighbor to the north long on good manners but short on guts and good sense. Canadians pick their battles and this is one good window into how they do it. For more on this one, please go here.
FOR YOUR ONLINE SHOPPING CONVENIENCE
We invite you to do all your amazon.com shopping by tapping this link.
MEDIA
Overview
For those interested in what’s going on in the world of magazines and newspapers in general, we highly recommend Woodenhorsepub.com. They publish a weekly online newsletter for media professionals and for readers simply interested in the future of the publications they enjoy and an advance on new ones they might. Their website is located here.
GOOD READS
Entertainment
BBC Knowledge Magazine – designed to give the American magazine National Geographic the proverbial run for its money,
TomatoMan Times -- For those who love good writing, there are fewer finer contemporary craftsman out there now than professionally known as Tomatoman Mike. He’s as Northern Californian as John Steinbeck, albeit with a dash of Sam Clemmons, Bret Harte and Robert W. Service in him. He’s a romp to read, trust me.
U Got Style is a monthly ezine dedicated to independent films. Fully illustrated, it features hard news, interviews, reviews and a wide variety of other information. It’s also fun to read.
Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean – Live from the smallest record store in North America. Canadian humor, entertainment and commentary at its maple leaf best. Popular on National Public Radio in the States.
News
BBC – Best source of international news.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (multi-media), the Toronto Globe & Mail and the Vancouver Sun -- outstanding sources for Canadian national, provincial, and world news.
KING 5 News – Best source of video news of Seattle and the Greater Puget Sound.
New York Times – Best source of American news.
Reuters – Best source of an international perspective on American headlines.
Sightline Daily (formerly Tidepool) – Best source of Pacific Northwest regional news. Delivered daily by email, it covers Alaska, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. They also put out an excellent weekly environmental edition.
Talent For Hire
Rusty Miller, Freelance Photojournalist – Whether it’s a one time press release, book or product review, difficult business correspondence, resume or classified ad composition you need, take a look at the services offered menu on my writer-for-hire homepage and we’ll get together on it.
Are you a travel editor looking for color shots of Seattle? Are you an art dealer looking for new work to carry on consignment? You might enjoy checking out a gallery of my work for sale
See you next week, eh?
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