Thanksgiving didn’t really turn out all that well for the natives

Hi again and yep, from the ramparts of the Bastion on the Puget Sound, it’s been another interesting week. As the other flags on this modest masthead know, the first one on it is celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow. The second flag celebrated it last month. (For the benefit of non-subscribers, our email version has five small flags waving under The Northstar Journal banner. From left to right: America, Canada, Ireland, England, France)

From an historical standpoint, Thanksgiving in America is like the Irish song that is so popular here on St. Patrick’s Day. If you really listen to the lyrics of Wearing of the Green, you see there's no joy in it for those of Erin or shamrock descent.

Thanksgiving is sort of the same way for the folks who were here when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. It’s been painted as this spiritual communion between newcomers and natives.

Ultimately, it paved the way for the exploitation, humiliation, subjugation and slaughter of an indigent population established close to the land from one arctic pole to the other and one ocean to the other, as well. That’s the entire Western Hemisphere.

I’m recalled of a “joke” someone real close to me and who was what we now call in America, “First Nation,” told me.

“Micheal, you know what the Indian who watched the Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock said, don’t you?”

“With all due respect, Lass, nope.”

“There goes the neighborhood.”

She could say that a little easier than some who grew up “Indian” on blueblood Boston’s Beacon Hill, female and an orphan. She was incredibly beautiful and trust me, she forgave a lot.

Because her people were there long before any of those of Boston Tea Party royalty, she remembered a pristine Charles River. She knew what Thanksgiving really means and that it is seasonal and timeless.

It’s what’s done when the harvest is in. You tally it against a hard winter and a quick spring. It’s what every species on this planet does this time of year. She learned from what she considered and trusted a larger family. So do I.

As frightening and as uncertain as times got for her and for us, she believed that if you provided for your own and gave some left over, it would all even out. So do I.

Understandably then, and perhaps more at some times of the year than at some others, I miss her. I’m also real thankful for the pleasure of her company while she was among us. And that me and mine are still slogging along, just like when we did it together. And probably just about as naïve, bless her heart.

I expect some flags under this modest masthead can resonate some with that, now, then, eh?

Okay and moving right along here and stuff…

North England Takes A Torrential Pounding
Our hearts and prayers certainly go out to those of you in the United Kingdom and particularly in the North of England and Wales. Your island nation, which is about the size of the American state of Kansas, has been slammed with the worst rains and subsequent flooding in over a quarter of a century, according to the BBC and accounts several of you have shared with us personally. It’s impressive the way you’re handling it. You may no longer be the heart of a mighty colonial empire but you’ve lost none of the resolve that has, for centuries, characterized you. Hitler was wise not to invade you for it surely would have destroyed Germany. These storms will pass and there will most certainly once again be bluebirds over Dover’s white cliffs.

I Should Have Seen This One Coming
Canada’s having a contest to see which of its cities, towns and/or villages can become a Slow City. According to Living On Earth’s Washington correspondent Jeff Young:

A Slow City is a sort of quiet resistance to fast lane, drive-thru homogenization. The seaside town of Cowichan Bay, north of Victoria on Vancouver Island, doesn't have a single fast food restaurant in sight.

This is an on the scene radio interview and you can hear waves and seagulls in the background. You can also download it in mp3 format and share it with friends as a personal download. Check them out.

CRITTER STUFF

If you love seeing wolves in the wild, the video that goes with this one is going to make your day, possibly your week. According to the Portland Oregonian’s Abby Haight, these magnificent creatures are making a comeback in eastern Oregon and their Fish and Wildlife got a 90-second video of a pack running through a snowy forest. To watch it and learn more, go here.

I’m not a real fan of snakes. Growing up in high mountains, rattlers were an every day part of life. I’ve never been bitten. I respect them but I’m not afraid of them. Having said that, if I’d have been in the kitchen of this home in the South Puget Sound of Washington State and encountered a snake big enough to hug me to death and swallow me whole, I think I might have blown it totally. This housewife didn’t and now said python is vacationing in a local shelter, waiting the identification of an owner or adoption.

TO YOUR HEALTH

We were delighted and impressed to learn that San Francisco, the butt of so many jokes over the last forty years or so, has a public health plan that works and can considered a prototype for other communities. Nice going, folks and finest kind.

UNDER THE CATEGORY YOU GUYS THINK I MAKE THIS STUFF UP

One of you, in this instance under the first flag (America), likes to explore weird places and find even weirder stuff. You tell me about it and I’m thinking, I’d really like to share this with the readership, but since I already have a credibility problem and this one is particularly out there…

(see first photo left at the top)
This time, however, I have proof. We’ll call this reader Annie the Archaeologist, or Anniark, for short. She went to Peru and in a crypt, found a bunch of human skulls. She explained that there is a lot of spiritualism in Peru: after 5 yrs of being in a crypt, the bones are removed and sent home. If you want to know more about this, email her care of us and we’ll pass your requests along.

Well, that’s it for this week, folks. Take care, stay well and thanks once again for the ear.

Mick
aka Rusty


NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS

FUN STUFF

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. (England)

For those into words that resonate, there are fewer finer contemporary craftsman I know than a man named Mike Browne, professionally known as Tomatoman Mike and the publisher of The Tomato Man Times. 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.

HEALTH

Ten foods that really do help prevent cancer.

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 several months now and yep, I feel a lot better.

Want to know how to live to be 100? Try this one.

Ever had trouble getting behind eating a lot of fruits and vegetables despite how good they are for you? Ever had trouble selling that one to your kids and grandkids? Ever been totally sold on the idea then gone to the market and been totally tasered by the price of good health in some places? If your answer is yes to any or all of the above, you really need to check this site out. Fruits and veggies: more matters.

ONLINE TOOLS FOR THE KIT

WorldStart.com - The best source of computer information, tips, education, entertainment, industry news, graphics and useful websites.

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.

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.

Entertainment

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.

BBC Knowledge Magazine – designed to give the American magazine National Geographic the proverbial run for its money,

News

BBC – Best source of international news.

The New York Times – Best source of American news.

The Vancouver Sun -- outstanding source for Canadian national, provincial and world 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.

KING 5 News – Best source of video news of Seattle and the Greater Puget Sound.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

The Northstar General Store

(see cat photo at the top)

Well, marching orders have come down from on high. We need to start selling stuff on this site. That does not, however, in any way, shape or form obligate you to buy any of the weird stuff that’s likely to appear on the shelves. We’re going to keep it real simple; Paypal for those who have it and regular mail/post and a personal check for those who don’t. We’re also soliciting others who have things they’d like to run here and signing them on for ten percent commission. One of the first things we’re putting out is a 2010 Sasha the Cat calendar. If you’re interested in sharing this experience with us and helping build it, by all means, email us here and we’ll talk.

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

Welcome to the World, J-46

Hi again and yep, from the ramparts of the Bastion on the Puget Sound, it’s been another interesting week. In a lot of ways, a lot more interesting than some in recent memory. Yep, a bit bigger lineup this week than usual so we might as well strap in and get on with it, eh?

Storms That Have Battered the Pacific Northwest
Contrary to seditious rumors floating about, Seattle has not been blown back to the Idaho state line. It’s only felt like it As of this writing, we’re between storms. No real high winds or heavy rains expected. Just thunderstorms.

I guess the rain gods have punished us enough for now. What I thought was so totally appropriate is that new PEMCO commercial that depicts a Seattle couple donning wool socks and sandals. That is so totally us. I’d show you mine but the screen’s not quite big enough for Birkenstocks built by the local boatyard. I’m 6’3” so the math isn’t rocket science.

To Gordon Lightfoot, a Brief Requiem
As also a Canadian, there’s been some somber reflection at the crossing over of Gordon Lightfoot, who died this week at the age of 71. To me, from his quiet statement of love to a woman whom he wished could read his silences as well as she could his words, (If You Could Read My Mind) to the unforgettably muted thunder and outrage over the Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, he spoke to the soul of a nation, strong, vibrant, and reckonable but without pretense and without bluster.

New Breast Examination Report
This new report about when women should start having regular mammograms ten years or so later now? Survival in general has always depended on at least a good diet, regular exercise, minimizing at risk behaviors, and learning how to manage stress.

It’s like the word “cool.” We all know what it means and having lost two of my own to this one, I’m not about to insult a five-country readership by preaching to the choir. For a short link to this one. please go here.

In Appreciation of Sarah Palin
I watched Sarah Palin on The Oprah Winfey Show and since I don’t take politics so seriously that I can’t appreciate the individual behind the office, as it were, I had a good time with it.

I like Sarah. Granted, I think she gets away with a lot sometimes but then don’t we all. Or wish we could. (Sigh). She’s got everyone from unreconstructed male chauvinists to radical feminists interested in what she has to say.

I like the options she generates. But there’s one thing that still bothers me. When an American national news reporter, Katie Couric, asked her what magazines and newspapers she read, Sarah didn’t give a straight answer and she didn’t when asked that same question on The Oprah Winfrey Show. I kept going like, “Sarah, just name three? They’re just filling in the blanks.”

Then I got to thinking about how busy she must be, as mother, grandmother and wife up there in the frozen north with a husband gone a great deal of the time. So I figure she doesn’t have a lot of time to sit around reading newspapers and magazines. And talk radio’s not a real big option either. There just isn’t much, left, right or center on.

But that’s not what’s important up there. Up there, it’s about the land and close survival. In as hard and as unforgiving a place as ever an angry God created, post Eden. Hell, I got offered an invitation, knowing my love of aviation and horses, to come up and learn how to ride their mosquitoes. I
She may not be what all of America needs, but before I’ll consign her to one more dog and pony show and take deep issue with those millions who supported her and the ticket, I’ll certainly give her a much fairer hearing than I feel she’s received so far. Regardless the jackass or the pachyderm, she is an American and this is a big country.

CRITTER STUFF

Welcome to the world, J-46. You’re a real cutie, Sweetheart. Yep, our orca neighbors had a blessed event. There are three clans, or pods as they’re more properly called, which visit the Salish Sea/Puget Sound. In 2005, they were an endangered species when their population dipped to 79. With this new addition, that number now stands at 87. For more on this one and a look at this little darlin’, please go here.

From the sea into the air for these next two. Thanks to recovery efforts by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and based on a 2007 U.S. Fish and Wildlife plan, that delightful feathered beachcomber, the snowy plover, is making the proverbial comeback. The Portland Oregonian’s Lynne Terry reports the agency counted 201 to 208 birds on Oregon beaches between April and September. That is the highest number since monitoring began in 1990, when biologists estimated there were only 50 adult plovers. Nice going folks. Finest kind. And for more, on this one.


“Today we can say the brown pelican is back," said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in a conference call with reporters in Washington. "Once again, we see healthy flocks of these graceful birds flying over our shores. The brown pelican is endangered no longer." The Associated Press’ Dina Cappello goes on to say that this is after four decades when the scales could have been tipped either way. Again, nice going folks and for more, please go here.

TO YOUR HEALTH

Well, here’s something hippies and half the known world has known since the first cave person took a long walk in the sun on a full stomach and that is that meditation is good for you. Apparently that’s now been documented in a clinical study conducted to see if TM could reduce the rate of cardiac incidents. Thanks to one of our British readers for this one and for more on it, click the blue print.

UNDER THE CATEGORY YOU GUYS THINK I MAKE THIS STUFF UP

The City of Seattle has found a unique way to defray the cost of maintaining its water egress and sewer systems and preventing flooding at the same time. They’ve initiated an “Adopt a Street Drain” campaign that residents are really getting into. The City supplies all the tools and other resources and folks in the neighborhood do the rest. Yep, this is one of those ideas that is working other places and I’m certain can in some communities who haven’t yet tried it. Yep, click here.

And this will come as real good news to chocolate lovers and thank you, Francesca, love of my life, for this one. There’s a Spanish firm that’s come up with a low calorie version but one that has chemicals in it that trick the brain into thinking your stomach’s full. That sounds a little weird to me but we read it in the Daily Mail so it must be true. Check it out.


A quick correction regarding the author of the Francesca Diaries. I had a brain freeze and said she got her architectural degree from Oxford University when, in fact, she graduated from Warwick University. She lives in the shire of Oxford, not far from the town.

Well, that’s it for this week, folks. Take care, stay well and thanks once again for the ear.

Rusty


NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS

TO YOUR HEALTH

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.

Ever had trouble getting behind eating a lot of fruits and vegetables despite how good they are for you? Ever had trouble selling that one to your kids and grandkids? Ever been totally sold on the idea then gone to the market and been totally tasered by the price of good health in some places? If your answer is yes to any or all of the above, you really need to check this site out. Fruits and veggies: more matters.

ONLINE TOOLS FOR THE KIT

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.

MEDIA

Entertainment

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

The New York Times – Best source of American news.

Reuters – Best in world news and an international perspective on American headlines.

Sightline Daily (formerly Tidepool) – The “Reuters of the American West.” Updated and informative news shorts with links to the source. Its editors draw from a coverage area which includes Alaska, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. They also put out an excellent weekly environmental edition.

The Vancouver Sun -- outstanding source for Canadian and world news.


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

REMEMBERING THOSE WHO MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE AND A TASTE OF AUTUMN IN OXFORD

Hi again and yep, from the ramparts of the Bastion on the Puget Sound, it’s been another interesting week. It seems sad and more than a little disturbing to be reflecting on Remembrance Day in Canada and the United Kingdom and Veterans Day in the United States while still reading about that American army major who killed and wounded all those people at Fort Hood, Texas last week. Our hearts certainly go out to the victims and their families and all the others so dramatically affected by this tragedy.

What bothers me even more than this is not the fact that this major was a Muslim but that he was could, if we’re not careful, cause another American jihad here at home, where every Muslim, including those who are serving responsibly and with honor in the armed forces of the United States and in every other aspect of American Society is considered a terrorist threat and dealt with accordingly.

It’s not like this hasn’t happened before in America’s history. It wasn’t right when we interned Japanese Americans and it was certainly not just, fair or compassionate when we forced Native Americans onto reservations and, by unfair laws, blacks into the ghetto and Hispanics into the barrio.

These are not noble deeds of a strong nation and a strong people. These are the acts of weaklings and cowards who find it easier to hate than to love and to subjugate and exploit, rather than to understand and embrace. They are not worthy of citizenship in any nation which holds democracy dear and they certainly do not belong in the America I love and fought for in a long ago war.

That notwithstanding, The Northstar Journal salutes those brave men and women who have served and in some cases, gave that ultimate sacrifice so that human beings of all races, religions and political perspectives can live without fear on a planet where bigotry is absolutely not tolerated.

FROM MERRY OLDE ENGLAND, A NORTHSTAR HOLIDAY SPECIAL
This week, we are absolutely delighted to bring you a slice of autumn in England. The author of this piece is an environmental architect who received her degree from Warwick University and is studying for her masters in urban planning in London at Westminster.


THE FRANCESCA DIARIES - HEDGEROW HARVEST
A few miles north of Oxford, UK

The carefully etched pumpkin mask collapses in on itself as it hits the compost heap, its putrid smell of burnt and rotting flesh finally bringing autumn to a close. The increasingly cruel winter winds laugh at the scuttling leaves which were inevitably released from their tenuous hold on what was; a remarkable autumn and its harvest of plenty.

In these hard times, I was in awe of the abundance that nature provides, so much so that I was on a bit of a mission to gather and catalogue, by means older than time; to distil the tastes of the season and to enhance the pleasures of the season to come.

A warm and arid spring led to a summer of ceaseless rain and then into the delights of an Indian summer...hedgerows groaned with their gifts and woodlands their earthy renderings.

For the price of a few (well quite a lot in my case) bags of sugar and prudent spicing, the aroma fairies, wafting enchanting and enticing spells of gluttony and avarice. Well, who could complain?

September produced masses of darkly purple blackberries, bursting with juice, and on their heels an abundance of apples in all their varieties. Blackberry and apple puddings and pies were just made for this time of year, and nature, in all its complexity; thoughtfully provided the makings. Pears were soon to follow, spiced and bottled, ready to accompany the Christmas goose, and at times, drunkenly simmered in cheap red wine with cinnamon and vanilla to be served whole, elevating a Saturday night supper with friends and an old film to the extraordinary.

Crab apples, elderberries, rosehips and quince were hanging fatly by mid October, and were soon artfully retrieved, unfeasibly large pots unearthed and plates placed in the refrigerator in anticipation of that elusive setting point for the jams and jellies and Membrillo, a quince cheese, delicious served with a hard cheese, cold meats or slathered on hot buttered sourdough bread crumpets and muffins. You get the picture.

The elderberry and rosehip berries sat lazily on the stove, viscous bubbles, popping rhythmically as it reduced itself to pure syrups and a pure source of Vitamin C and remedies for the seasonal colds and flus which all found me exhausted by my own efforts, a glutton as always for both the pleasure and the pain of creativity.

In the early rising mists of the mornings when the dew is heavy underfoot and the leaf mold is glistening, a trug in the crook of my elbow (See? I even looked the part.) my greatest and sometimes terrifying pleasure, of playing Russian roulette with the wild mushrooms and fungi.

Suitably laden, at home I pay the price for my over-exuberance, laboriously poring over the definitive book of mushrooms and toadstools, decisively discarding those I don’t have a clue about. Today is not the day I will get high on magic mushrooms or kill myself in a foaming frenzy. Having, selected the meaty morels to be dried for unctuous risottos and heart warming stews and finally, my reward, scoffing the field mushrooms on toast with lots of butter and a big smile. Shame the season is but a few short weeks.

Finally the first frost bites which brings on the ripening of the medlar fruits and sloe berries. Don’t be put off by the idea that medlars are to be fully bletted (squishy) and the slimy pulp removed and eaten fresh or made into wine, jams and jelly. An indescribable flavour as can be witnessed in the poem by D.H. Lawrence, ‘Medlars and Sorb Apples’ and a bard’s nod to medlars in not one, but four of William Shakespeare’s plays.

Then to the fat, smokey blue sloes steeped in Gin and sugar and imbibed cautiously by a warming fire, or more refreshingly diluted with tonic or lemonade with a sprig of mint and a slice of lime, as the spring turns to summer.

The race is on now to gather the hazelnuts and walnuts before the squirrels literally squirrel them away and claim them as their own.

And You know what? I will not be shopping for Christmas presents this year. I have made them.

There is a lot to be said for Autumn. What’s in your hedgerow?

Save the Tigers

Two Siberian Tigers were almost euthanized when a rural northwest Washington couple divorced and the former wife could no longer afford the $400 a month it costs to feed them. The call went out to the media and as of this writing, Puget Sounders have contributed some $2,000 to the Save The Tiger Foundation, which is coordinating the rescue and preservation operation.

Wildlife advocates are trying to find homes for the two big cats on a certified game preserve or refuge. Since the couple acquired the tigers, it’s become illegal for private citizens to own animals like this, not just in Washington but in most other states in America. To learn more and to find out how you can help, please go here.

Ottawa to Investigate Decline in British Columbia Salmon Runs

The sockeye salmon run in British Columbia, Canada’s Fraser River hit a half-century low this past summer and Ottawa is not pleased. They witnessed another such dramatic decline on their other coast, with the Atlantic cod and apparently they are not in a mood to let it happen again. They’ve directed a major judicial review, which means that scientists will be compelled to testify about conditions causing this slide into extinction. The Fraser River Valley lies east of Vancouver and Surrey Township, both of which have been experiencing considerable growth in the twenty years the sockeye runs have been declining. For more on how our neighbors to the north are handling this wildlife concern, please go here.

A Vision So Totally Cool, and with thanks to Ernest ‘Chick’ Callenbach

Imagine never having to pay another coal, electric, gas or heating oil bill from now until the sun totally goes out. Envisage every human on the planet never freezing to death or dying of heat exhaustion for the lack of power. No, none of us may live to see it but according to a recent issue of The American Chemical Society’s journal, Inorganic Chemistry, personalized power grids could very likely be a reality by 2100. As we’ve reported here, the Green Revolution is no longer a matter of speculation, trepidation or wishful thinking. As Ernest Callenbach predicted in his bestselling novel Ecotopia, it’s a fact of life and perhaps the most important one we’ve established yet. For more on this, please go here.

Seattle Citizens Elect a Green Mayor

Much closer to home, we’d like to congratulate Seattle’s new mayor elect, environmental attorney Mike McGinn, whose grassroots, low budget, literally freewheeling (as in he rode his bicycle to a lot of campaign events) style endeared him to Puget Sounders of every demographic. He defeated incumbent Greg Nickels in the primary and in the general, an opponent who dramatically outspent him and was considered the heads on favorite. Seattle’s nickname is the Emerald City and counselor McGinn certainly seems to be the people’s choice to lead us down our own path to healthy growth and an environmentally sustainable local economy. For a video interview of this rather colorful and controversial civic leader, please go here.

Well, that’s it for this week, folks. My special thanks to Fran and my brother Dennis on this one. Take care, stay well and thanks once again for the ear.

Mick (McGuire) aka Rusty


NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS

TO YOUR HEALTH
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.

Ever had trouble getting behind eating a lot of fruits and vegetables despite how good they are for you? Ever had trouble selling that one to your kids and grandkids? Ever been totally sold on the idea then gone to the market and been totally tasered by the price of good health in some places? If your answer is yes to any or all of the above, you really need to check this site out. Fruits and veggies: more matters.

ONLINE TOOLS FOR THE KIT
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.

MEDIA

Entertainment

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

The New York Times – Best source of American news.

Reuters – Best in world news and an international perspective on American headlines.

Sightline Daily (formerly Tidepool) – The “Reuters of the American West.” Updated and informative news shorts with links to the source. Its editors draw from a coverage area which includes Alaska, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. They also put out an excellent weekly environmental edition.

The Vancouver Sun -- outstanding source for Canadian and world news.


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

SOUR GRAPES IN THE PUGET SOUND, SHE BEAR CAPTURED IN BREMERTON, MATH REVIVES COMATOSE TEEN

Hi again and yep, from the ramparts of the Bastion on the Puget Sound, it’s been another interesting week. Our congratulations to South Carolina for winning that Boeing 787 Dreamliner assembly plant contract. The Palmetto State, one of the oldest in the Union, has been particularly hard hit by this Recession and those jobs are desperately needed there.

And my apologies for some of us here in Seattle and Everett for forgetting two things; Boeing’s never been stable employment in the Puget Sound and sometimes the Puget Sound forgets that it’s also part of the greater America and that what benefits South Carolina will, if we give it a chance, benefit the rest of the United States, including us.

SWINE FLU

Like everywhere else in the States, we’ve been hit hard by a shortage of the swine flu vaccine. A lot of us with jobs but no sick leave have had to go to work possibly sick with it but with no health insurance. It’s a grim choice for bosses especially if it involves a critical need for emergency services. Sometimes when you’re a Metro bus driver with a route to serve, you drag yourself out and pray to whatever gods you can to get you through it.

It’s the same over most of this city and what we’re learning is to first of all, step back a second and take a deep breath. Stress is the number one killer and root cause of most deaths in America and, I suspect, some elsewhere.

There are “simple” precautions that can be taken and changes in diet and exercise. This is not some weird extraterrestrial microbe that flew into the tucked wings of our last space shuttle. It began here. It’s among us. We can deal with it.

We just may need to shed some unworkable behaviours in the process. And that goes as much for the CEO who won’t pay sick leave to the worker who has no choice but to show up know matter how ill they are simply because they literally cannot afford to be sick. The best all of us can do right now is to try to stay healthy and to take appropriate precautions. Here are our local best sources for getting through this.

CRITTERS

Well, Puget Sound critters are once again in the news. In this case, it was a black bear who decided to visit Bremerton, a small city northwest of Seattle and which is known for its shipyard and its US Navy installations. It’s not apparent what she wanted but she didn’t cause any damage. It was just a little unnerving for the locals so rather than risk some human getting trigger happy or the she bear getting claw quick, State Fish and Wildlife caught the bear.

It’s not apparent from the story what happened to the bear but we called Fish and Wildlife and their public relations person told us it was another catch, transport and release, which is pretty much the way they handle interspecies relations. Most of the time, these animals are only passing through or just curious and leave on their own. When the local community figures they’ve stayed long enough, DFW comes out and all’s well that ends well.

This week we’ve got several more under this one and I love it because this first “critter extra” comes from Western Canada and involves really easily harvested abalone that, as it generally goes, are tasty and somewhat vulnerable to exploitation by the quick grab and run set. The local community, however, is getting a bit riled and if you’d like to know more about how “quiet Canadians” deal with stuff like this in their own backyards, go here.

The next involves a cougar who was spotted on the outskirts of Tacoma, Seattle’s sister city at the southern end of the Sound. It didn’t stay around long enough to make much news.

In an interesting interpretation of American-Canadian critter relationships, it’s also worth noting that American president Barack Obama has decided that polar bears need protection. Considering Alaska and despite his interesting history with that state, he’s addressed a continental concern close to the hearts of Americans and Canadians alike.

A MIRACLE

Thank you to the reader who sent us this “miracle” story from across the Pond. After you read it, you’ll never look at a math education again the same. Seems there was this fifteen year old girl who could not be aroused from a medically-induced coma and despite all efforts, the medical team at Leicester Royal Infirmary prepared the teenager’s family for the worst. Her father wanted to try one last thing. His daughter had a passion for math so he began posing questions for her. Her brain started showing activity and slowly, she surfaced and is now fully conscious. This is a real tearjerker. For a photograph and more detail, please go here.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY

This week’s Self-Sufficiency Award goes to a retired United States Marine Corps officer and his wife who own and work a small farm in the Rogue River country of southern Oregon. Not only do they run a herd of small Nigerian goats for the milk to make cheese, they also raise horses to ride, a steer for beef and most of the other food stuffs one would expect from a typical family operation. What makes this one unique is that it also generates its own electricity and joins a growing number of small farms in Oregon which are not only prospering in the agrarian sense but getting off the grid. For more on this one, please go here.

Well, that’s it for this week, folks. Take care, stay well and thanks once again for the ear.

Rusty


NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS

TO YOUR HEALTH
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.

Ever had trouble getting behind eating a lot of fruits and vegetables despite how good they are for you? Ever had trouble selling that one to your kids and grandkids? Ever been totally sold on the idea then gone to the market and been totally tasered by the price of good health in some places? If your answer is yes to any or all of the above, you really need to check this site out. Fruits and veggies: more matters.

ONLINE TOOLS FOR THE KIT
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.

MEDIA

Entertainment

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

The New York Times – Best source of American news.

Reuters – Best in world news and an international perspective on American headlines.

Sightline Daily (formerly Tidepool) – The “Reuters of the American West.” Updated and informative news shorts with links to the source. Its editors draw from a coverage area which includes Alaska, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. They also put out an excellent weekly environmental edition.

The Vancouver Sun -- outstanding source for Canadian and world news.


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