Pygmy OwlHi again from the ramparts of the Bastion on the Puget Sound. Well, I just finished looking at a story in the New York Times, which talked about millions of Americans, ending last year unemployed.
I am therefore delighted to report, then, that an American Congress which has been acting more like gladiators in Nero’s Coliseum than a united body of strong, intelligent, experienced, capable human beings dedicated to the best interests of the national constituency have apparently decided that passing an economic stimulus measure which will also keep millions from going homeless is probably better for their re-election chances than the infantile name calling and resistance for resistance sake which seems to have been an unfortunate by-product of a presidential election which also, initially, gave one party a majority on Capitol Hill. I mean, come on you guys, isn’t this just a little embarrassing late at night when there are no cameras on or spin doctors handy?
The measure passed the Senate and is expected to be endorsed by the House after, we assume, a couple three more tantrums just to remind us that arrested emotional development is not limited to Hollywood actors making a comeback or major sports figures who cannot keep their flies zipped. For more on this one, please go here.
I also watched Meet the Press last Sunday and was reassured somewhat that General David Petraeus, commanding general, US Central Command, intends to observe the Geneva Convention in Iraq and Afghanistan and to make things a lot better for the gay and lesbian soldiers. If war must be necessary and apparently these are, it’s probably best that they be conducted under rules of engagement which would not precipitate an international Judgment at Nuremberg and incite even more violence against the US.
Well, Seattle’s Park Director took it upon himself to ban smoking of tobacco in apparently what he mistakenly assumed was his domain. Nudity and firearms are both legal, but not tobacco. The Right To Die Slowly and Painfully literally rolled over when smoking was outlawed in pubs and restaurants here. I guess the idea of walking almost as far for a cigarette as some would for a camel and then being busted for lighting up was probably that proverbial straw. The Park Director got a flood of all kinds of mail and modified his policy enough to staunch the flow of protest. For this really weird spin on interactive government, please go here.
Anyone who helps children has my total support so this one about some folks in my state of Washington hosting kids from the part of Belarus, in the former Soviet Union, where Chernobyl happened, really captured my attention and my heart.
According to Seattle Times reporter Marc Ramirez, there are 45 groups nationally who do this. We probably a little more empathetic than a lot of areas because we host the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and before it was closed down, it infected a lot of people who lived in the area. These are known locally as “downwinders.”
As I read Marc’s story about this one 21 year old girl from Belarus getting to spend a summer out of a still really toxic environment, I found myself wondering what it would be like to go to Heaven for a summer and then have to come back to Earth. These Chernobyl Children have families who love them but I’d still like to make it possible for them to have their kids permanently placed here in the Northwest and in healthy places in Alaska, Hawaii, and the continental US. I’d like to see Canada, which has a lot more room, come on board with this too. Those Belarus kids are just as much the future of the world as those I see every day because I live next to the University of Washington. For more on this one, please go here.
For a scientific and yet dramatic account and explanation account of what happened on April 26, 1986, check out this speech and question and answer a Ukrainian scientist, Dr. Vladimir Chernousenko, gave to a group in Texas. For an excellent overview of this, please go here.
MORE GOOD NEWS
Well, we just got word that Washington State has qualified for a share of the $787 billion federal stimulus spending package. We’re getting a six-million dollar grant that will be used to train workers in energy-efficient construction jobs. According to Seattle Times reporter Kyung M. Song:
“The money will be used to pay for 4,700 veterans, disabled or low-income adults and other residents to get certified to work in green industries — one of the fields targeted for investment under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed by President Obama last February.
“The grant was announced Wednesday by U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis twice, once with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and separately with U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island.
“Murray said the grant would help the state capitalize on growing demand for energy auditors, insulation installers and other clean-energy jobs.
"’Washington is uniquely situated to become a leader in the field of green energy," Murray said. But "we have to build the workforce before we do anything else.’"
Yep, for more on this one, please go here.
I’ve long maintained that a community, no more than the proverbial “man,” lives by bread alone; that the arts are to the soul what a good loaf a wheat bread (or in my case, a monster pepperoni pizza) is to the body. Apparently patrons of Seattle’s cultural cuisine agree. The ACT Theatre is posting its first surplus in four years. To see how they managed to pull this off in the midst of a Recession, please go here.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
It’s been my experience ~ and I’m sure yours, as well ~ that survival is also always about attitude and often it’s about dispelling old fears and shining a real strong light on the things we hear in the dark, late at night. This celebration of growing older somehow seems to fit that definition and trust me, regardless your age, you’re going to love Seeing Old-Age As a Never-Ending Adventure. Yep, go here.
We reported earlier about a new “cult” of people who are taking things they enjoy doing and are good at and making a living. This is a series and the link to this one carries them all. We’re going to be running this reminder until that series is finished. Yep, go here.
2010 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES IN VANCOUVER
Under a definite “DO NOT EVER underestimate a Canadian woman” and with profound prejudice because we’re from the same province, we’d like to congratulate snowboarder Maelle Ricker on her gold, despite still recovering from injuries that would have kept most timberjacks I’ve ever known in camp for the season. I’m also proud that Maelle and I come from the same province. In Canada, that makes us practically back fence neighbors. For more on this particular flower of Maple Leaf athletic prowess and Canadian personhood, please go here.
Well, even though I’m from both countries involved, I was not pleased by the upset when the “underdog” American team delivered a surprising thumbing to the Canadians Sunday night.
In the first place, I’m not accustomed to viewing the United States as an underdog in any context. Second, I suspect that just maybe Canadians bought into that a little too much and set themselves up for a big fall. But that’s also why I don’t usually become involved in sports other than those in which I personally participate. However, I’ve come up with a rational that might work.
I’m taking the population of a particular nation and dividing it by the number of medals it has won. I’m not done with this by any means but based on current totals, between the United States and Canada?
So far, Canada has won a gold medal for every 5-million of her people; the U.S., one for every 44-million. In total medals so far, Canada’s per capita is about one in 31,000; the States, one in about 12-million. So yep, by this math, Canada is ahead. I can live with that.
I can also live with the fact that more Canadians watched this hockey game than they have anything in their history. I’m also pacifying myself with the knowledge that the gold is still up in the air. To see how Olympic hockey is organized, please go here.
For a daily tabulation of medals by country, please go here.
For an overview of the Olympics and daily news updates, please go here.
And for a schedule of upcoming events, please go here.
We would like to join our Australian readers in celebrating Torah Bright’s gold in the women’s halfpipe. I don’t imagine most of us associate Down Under or “Oz” with snowboarding but after what this lass did at Cypress Mountain, I expect that will change some. Nice going, Torah. Finest kind. Yep, for more on this one, go here.
HEALTH NEWS
I totally love it when a bad habit for which I’ve been criticized for years turns out to actually be good for people. So I’m coming out of the closet about this one. About once a week or so, I wake up in the middle of the night with a screaming case of popcorn munchies. Somehow, that seems to have not gone over nearly as well as the same penchant for ordering a pepperoni pizza, which makes me even less popular because this house does not have a graveyard shift. Well, the pepperoni cravings have yet to be validated but not the popcorn. It’s good for a person and you can read about it yourself by going here.
With all this really horrific weather we’ve been having this winter, I’ve noticed a lot of people stampeding to their local pharmacy or health food store for more vitamins. While the idea of prevention is totally on-target, you might just want to take about three minutes to read the Health Age article on supplements. As tight as money is these days, you’ll also want to consider it from that standpoint as well. For more information, yep, go here.
CRITTER STUFF
I am therefore delighted to report, then, that an American Congress which has been acting more like gladiators in Nero’s Coliseum than a united body of strong, intelligent, experienced, capable human beings dedicated to the best interests of the national constituency have apparently decided that passing an economic stimulus measure which will also keep millions from going homeless is probably better for their re-election chances than the infantile name calling and resistance for resistance sake which seems to have been an unfortunate by-product of a presidential election which also, initially, gave one party a majority on Capitol Hill. I mean, come on you guys, isn’t this just a little embarrassing late at night when there are no cameras on or spin doctors handy?
The measure passed the Senate and is expected to be endorsed by the House after, we assume, a couple three more tantrums just to remind us that arrested emotional development is not limited to Hollywood actors making a comeback or major sports figures who cannot keep their flies zipped. For more on this one, please go here.
I also watched Meet the Press last Sunday and was reassured somewhat that General David Petraeus, commanding general, US Central Command, intends to observe the Geneva Convention in Iraq and Afghanistan and to make things a lot better for the gay and lesbian soldiers. If war must be necessary and apparently these are, it’s probably best that they be conducted under rules of engagement which would not precipitate an international Judgment at Nuremberg and incite even more violence against the US.
Well, Seattle’s Park Director took it upon himself to ban smoking of tobacco in apparently what he mistakenly assumed was his domain. Nudity and firearms are both legal, but not tobacco. The Right To Die Slowly and Painfully literally rolled over when smoking was outlawed in pubs and restaurants here. I guess the idea of walking almost as far for a cigarette as some would for a camel and then being busted for lighting up was probably that proverbial straw. The Park Director got a flood of all kinds of mail and modified his policy enough to staunch the flow of protest. For this really weird spin on interactive government, please go here.
Anyone who helps children has my total support so this one about some folks in my state of Washington hosting kids from the part of Belarus, in the former Soviet Union, where Chernobyl happened, really captured my attention and my heart.
According to Seattle Times reporter Marc Ramirez, there are 45 groups nationally who do this. We probably a little more empathetic than a lot of areas because we host the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and before it was closed down, it infected a lot of people who lived in the area. These are known locally as “downwinders.”
As I read Marc’s story about this one 21 year old girl from Belarus getting to spend a summer out of a still really toxic environment, I found myself wondering what it would be like to go to Heaven for a summer and then have to come back to Earth. These Chernobyl Children have families who love them but I’d still like to make it possible for them to have their kids permanently placed here in the Northwest and in healthy places in Alaska, Hawaii, and the continental US. I’d like to see Canada, which has a lot more room, come on board with this too. Those Belarus kids are just as much the future of the world as those I see every day because I live next to the University of Washington. For more on this one, please go here.
For a scientific and yet dramatic account and explanation account of what happened on April 26, 1986, check out this speech and question and answer a Ukrainian scientist, Dr. Vladimir Chernousenko, gave to a group in Texas. For an excellent overview of this, please go here.
MORE GOOD NEWS
Well, we just got word that Washington State has qualified for a share of the $787 billion federal stimulus spending package. We’re getting a six-million dollar grant that will be used to train workers in energy-efficient construction jobs. According to Seattle Times reporter Kyung M. Song:
“The money will be used to pay for 4,700 veterans, disabled or low-income adults and other residents to get certified to work in green industries — one of the fields targeted for investment under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed by President Obama last February.
“The grant was announced Wednesday by U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis twice, once with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and separately with U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island.
“Murray said the grant would help the state capitalize on growing demand for energy auditors, insulation installers and other clean-energy jobs.
"’Washington is uniquely situated to become a leader in the field of green energy," Murray said. But "we have to build the workforce before we do anything else.’"
Yep, for more on this one, please go here.
I’ve long maintained that a community, no more than the proverbial “man,” lives by bread alone; that the arts are to the soul what a good loaf a wheat bread (or in my case, a monster pepperoni pizza) is to the body. Apparently patrons of Seattle’s cultural cuisine agree. The ACT Theatre is posting its first surplus in four years. To see how they managed to pull this off in the midst of a Recession, please go here.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
It’s been my experience ~ and I’m sure yours, as well ~ that survival is also always about attitude and often it’s about dispelling old fears and shining a real strong light on the things we hear in the dark, late at night. This celebration of growing older somehow seems to fit that definition and trust me, regardless your age, you’re going to love Seeing Old-Age As a Never-Ending Adventure. Yep, go here.
We reported earlier about a new “cult” of people who are taking things they enjoy doing and are good at and making a living. This is a series and the link to this one carries them all. We’re going to be running this reminder until that series is finished. Yep, go here.
2010 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES IN VANCOUVER
Under a definite “DO NOT EVER underestimate a Canadian woman” and with profound prejudice because we’re from the same province, we’d like to congratulate snowboarder Maelle Ricker on her gold, despite still recovering from injuries that would have kept most timberjacks I’ve ever known in camp for the season. I’m also proud that Maelle and I come from the same province. In Canada, that makes us practically back fence neighbors. For more on this particular flower of Maple Leaf athletic prowess and Canadian personhood, please go here.
Well, even though I’m from both countries involved, I was not pleased by the upset when the “underdog” American team delivered a surprising thumbing to the Canadians Sunday night.
In the first place, I’m not accustomed to viewing the United States as an underdog in any context. Second, I suspect that just maybe Canadians bought into that a little too much and set themselves up for a big fall. But that’s also why I don’t usually become involved in sports other than those in which I personally participate. However, I’ve come up with a rational that might work.
I’m taking the population of a particular nation and dividing it by the number of medals it has won. I’m not done with this by any means but based on current totals, between the United States and Canada?
So far, Canada has won a gold medal for every 5-million of her people; the U.S., one for every 44-million. In total medals so far, Canada’s per capita is about one in 31,000; the States, one in about 12-million. So yep, by this math, Canada is ahead. I can live with that.
I can also live with the fact that more Canadians watched this hockey game than they have anything in their history. I’m also pacifying myself with the knowledge that the gold is still up in the air. To see how Olympic hockey is organized, please go here.
For a daily tabulation of medals by country, please go here.
For an overview of the Olympics and daily news updates, please go here.
And for a schedule of upcoming events, please go here.
We would like to join our Australian readers in celebrating Torah Bright’s gold in the women’s halfpipe. I don’t imagine most of us associate Down Under or “Oz” with snowboarding but after what this lass did at Cypress Mountain, I expect that will change some. Nice going, Torah. Finest kind. Yep, for more on this one, go here.
HEALTH NEWS
I totally love it when a bad habit for which I’ve been criticized for years turns out to actually be good for people. So I’m coming out of the closet about this one. About once a week or so, I wake up in the middle of the night with a screaming case of popcorn munchies. Somehow, that seems to have not gone over nearly as well as the same penchant for ordering a pepperoni pizza, which makes me even less popular because this house does not have a graveyard shift. Well, the pepperoni cravings have yet to be validated but not the popcorn. It’s good for a person and you can read about it yourself by going here.
With all this really horrific weather we’ve been having this winter, I’ve noticed a lot of people stampeding to their local pharmacy or health food store for more vitamins. While the idea of prevention is totally on-target, you might just want to take about three minutes to read the Health Age article on supplements. As tight as money is these days, you’ll also want to consider it from that standpoint as well. For more information, yep, go here.
CRITTER STUFF
Well, it’s not every day, I don’t imagine, that a pelican attacks a member of the media. Even in Sydney, Australia. Nobody seems to know exactly what the provocation was. This particular journalist was not a member of the paparazzi undercover at the Taronga Zoo to get the goods on an errant avian spouse. This was a weather person. But, as Ralph, our resident raccoon and advisor on such matters opined, in these regards, “How would you like it if that weather dude broadcast from YOUR front porch? Thanks, Ralph. Yep, for more on this one, please go here.
YOU GUYS THINK I MAKE THIS STUFF UP.
Okay, this is weird, even for us so I’m not going to Bronx cheer the skeptics among you guys this time. If I wasn’t familiar with a city in the United States and the Pacific Northwest that reminded me a lot of a Bambi movie on orange tab acid, I would be inclined to totally not believe me either. The scene is Portland, Oregon (and yeah, for our readers in Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas and Australia, “the one in Oregon”. The species involved: the pygmy owl. Once thought nearly extinct in the American Pacific Northwest, these little nocturnal flying pest control devices are apparently making a comeback among a whole bunch of human beings who are glad to see them. Yep, check it out here.
To see a real cool video on this little avian and to get an excellent copy of an online wildlife field guide, please go 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
To receive The Northstar Journal as a weekly ezine, with enhanced graphics, please email a request for same to minstrel312@aol.com
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 Seattle 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.
REVIEWS
ZamZuu.com: “The Ultimate Shopping Experience”
In keeping with our policy of encouraging economic recovery through individual entrepreneurship, this one comes to us with a human interest resonance to it, as well. There’s a woman who works in public affairs in Washington, DC who, when this Recession hit, though not in danger of losing her own job, wanted to help busy families save money and time.
She also wanted to do so using more of her education in finance and experience with people than her full time professional position required. So she’s decided to start her own online business. It’s called ZamZuu.com, in memory of her father, whom she loves and reveres but who is not, unfortunately, still among us.
ZamZuu.com advertises itself as the ultimate shopping experience and while that sounds a lit-tle high-flying for anything smaller than Saks, Macys, etc. Upscale, it does offer this really interesting combination of travel and online mall shopping.
“Ultimate” is also a real subjective word, at least for me. In the circles I run, ultimate might be this like totally Zen meditation experience in the Himalayas. Etc., right? Well, when it comes to online shopping, ultimate to me is “easy to get into, easy to navigate, cool stuff presented so even a Cro-Magnon could understand it and affordable on my extremely limited budget."
I had a good time with this one so, in this case, I go along with the hyperbole and Northstar’s recommending it. Check it out here.
Writer At Work is a blog which comes to us from Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, England and here’s another case of appropriate hyperbole. Cadie, its author, is a university writer in training with a visually impressive informational website worthy of a professional with three decades more time in grade. Whether it’s specific advice to her peers or a dynamite story on a literary event in the United Kingdom, she does an admirable job of, as they say in the Colonies, “covering her bases.” She learns quickly, this one, and passes it along. What I also truly like about this site is that it is also a lifestyle slice of Merry Olde and from as ingenuous a source as I’ve met in some while. She’s a trip, gang. Check her out here.
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.
FOR YOUR SHOPPING CONVENIENCE
We invite you to do all your amazon.com shopping by tapping this link.
ZamZuu.com: “The Ultimate Shopping Experience”. For a truly rewarding mix of travel bargains and online mall shopping, you'll love this one.
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”
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.
Seattle Times – Best source for news of the city and the Puget Sound. Its reportage is unbiased but their columns and other opinion pieces do reflect the predominant values of the Pacific Northwest.
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.
Entertainment
BBC Knowledge Magazine – designed to give the American magazine National Geographic the proverbial run for its money,
Writer At Work -- a visually impressive informational website which includes specific advice to writers, a list of resources for same and dynamite stories on a literary events in the United Kingdom, this one is for the aspiring writer and the professional alike.
TomatoMan Times -- For those who love good writing, there are fewer finer contemporary craftsmen out there now than professionally known as Tomatoman Mike. He’s as Northern Californian as John Steinbeck is, 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.
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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