Hi again from the Bastion on the Puget Sound. Well, the story of the week in this house has to be the rescue of those miners in Chile. It resonates with us for several reasons that I suspect some of you under these seven flags can appreciate, as well.
It’s flat out and no debate, a story of human courage. I don’t know how many of you have ever actually been down in a mine and not. A few years back, I filed a story and photos about going down into a silver one in the Cascades of Oregon.
I was only several thousand feet underground for about what, maybe three hours? In the dead of winter with snow at the top of the shaft and sweat at the bottom. But the Canadians who ran the operation were only too glad to show me what each member of the shift did so I got to totally experience real noisy drills in action and a lot of really intense activity in a relative space that would give a canary in a Carlsbad cavern claustrophobia. And these miners have been a lot deeper and down there since August? And I whine when I’ve got to stand up in a crowded bus for a half hour? Yeah, that works in this house now.
Theirs is also a tribute to the international brotherhood of miners. This news reached every place on this planet where folks with hard hats and flashlights strapped to them go to provide for their families. That’s a consensus of opinion and action no religion, philosophy, political doctrine or pagan ritual has ever been able to achieve. The world’s miners didn’t wait on the flow tide of public opinion. They had brothers to save and they exerted their own influence.
I was also impressed by the virtually total absence of politics in this. The Chilean government moved quietly but by common consensus and anyone who has studied the history of Latin America as extensively as I have recognizes the savage history involved and appreciates the gravity of the accomplishment. The need for cyclic revolutions is over, at least in Chile. And perhaps her continental brother and sister nations will prosper from her example.
That’s also a personal prayer of mine, for latitudes and hemispheres beyond this one.
CROSSING OVER
We join some 45,000 University of Washington students and faculty in marking the passing of UW junior Carly Henley, who was found dead in the stairwell of a fraternity house on Greek row, an apparent victim of a depression-induced suicide.
Carly, a womens studies major, was also a singer and songwriter who performed at local clubs. She was a soft and totally ingenuous influence who radiated well beyond Husky Stadium. She was “special” and in her courage to be that, she empowered others.
For all of that, she was in so many ways (stereo?) typical and not likely to be noticed much in a casual walk across campus or in a big lecture hall. As unobtrusive as she was, she was among the best we had to offer current posterity.
She knew that, understood that sometimes if you talk to people about how frightened you are, you make them scared too and that’s not something you want to do to someone you care about. So you tuck it in and tough it out. For sinners, it’s acclimation to hell. For someone like Carly Henley, it was a purgatory that very, very special child did not deserve.
According to the American College Health Association, suicide is the second leading cause of death among higher education students and a spokesperson for the UW Crisis Clinic said she hopes that the very least that can come of this tragedy is more dialogue between students, their parents and friends. The Northstar Journal concurs. For more on this, please go here.
We also join music lovers around the world, and particularly those who enjoy the opera, in marking the passing of Joan Sutherland. The Australian-born soprano died at her home in Switzerland Sunday. She was 83. For a fine tribute to an international artistic icon, please go here.
IN OTHER NEWS
Thanks to, what the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, called, “Conceptually it looks to me to be one of the most interesting transmission projects that I’ve ever seen walk through the door,” much of the energy grid on the Atlantic seaboard will be reconfigured to not only redistribute energy from where it is cheap to where it is expensive but to prepare for fields of offshore wind turbines that will produce as much electricity as five nuclear power plants. Yep, for more on this one, go here.
One of the things I personally miss sometimes in reading about environmentally appropriate technology is how it impacts those living beside, say, a wind turbine or a field of solar collectors. I was, therefore, delighted when one of you sent me the link to this story, headlined, “Washington's wind power windfall: The harnessing of Columbia Gorge winds has transformed the landscape and the lives of rural residents.” It’s a beautifully written piece by Vancouver Columbian reporter Kathie Durbin with some panoramic photos by Steven Lane. Yep, check it out here.
Japan unveiled a dramatic glimpse of what life might be like in a post fossil fuels world. Called The Yokohama Smart City Project, it is an actual community unto itself, that is powered by a combination of environmentally appropriate energy sources and the resulting electricity distributed, by computers, to businesses, homes, electric vehicles and the infrastructure at large. I found this article absolutely fascinating so for more, please go here.
Our congratulations to the two Americans and the Englishman who are sharing the Nobel Prize for Economics. I found it more than a little ironic that they are being honored for explaining why unemployment can still be high despite a large number of job openings. What would have been even more impressive to me was if they’d been rewarded for finding out how to fix that. Yep, for more, please go here.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
Sometimes, the real secret to surviving hard times is also being inspired by good examples of people who not only “think out of the box” but keep inventing better boxes. That concept is hardly a novel one to the Atlantic Monthly magazine. They’ve been doing it for 153 years now, which means yep, I started reading them by whale oil lamp when I worked in that industry in New Bedford, awhile back. (I was there for the commissioning of the Pequod.) This year’s list of the bravest and most daring thinkers of the year includes:
The Journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas
The Doctor Carol Ball
The Prime Minister David Cameron
The Soldier Dan Choi
The Actor Kevin Costner
The General Michael T. Flynn
The Educator Deborah Gist
The Farmer John Hantz
The Scientist John Ioannidis
The Inventor Lonnie Johnson
The CEO Elon Musk
The Congressman Ron Paul
The Historian Diane Ravitch
The Team Owner Robert Sarver
The Businessman Tom Sullivan
The Watchdog Elizabeth Warren
The Judge Jack Weinstein
The Media Mogul Guillermo Zuloaga
The Humanitarian Sakena Yacoobi
Pretty cool, huh? Except that I only recognized three people on that list and none of them impressed me much. However, there’s a photo and mini-biography accompanying this list and over tomato soup with basil and two triple cheese jack sandwiches, I spent an hour yesterday making myself a little less ignorant. Yep, I totally enjoyed it so for more, please go here.
This next one comes from an unemployed American but I sense it resonates well beyond the shadow of the first flag on this masthead. It’s entitled, “If You Really Want To Help Me.”
If you really want to help me, please care enough to experience me as the person I am. Don’t let me become a stereotype and please do not treat me like one. I’m the same person I was before I lost my job. I didn’t devolve from a working stiff to another bum from the ‘hood.
If you want to help me, remember me and all the things I can do that people need, value and pay for. It won’t take a miracle to keep me from going homeless, only something I can do and be paid for. No job too small, flexible rates and yep, I’ll work for a roof.
When you talk about me, emphasize the positives. Pick out an achievement or an accomplishment of mine so I’m not an “a” somebody but a “the” someone who did something good for his family, his community, etc. Present me as a person of value, of worth, of accomplishment. Make me sound worth a helping hand. Don’t sell me. Inform people that I am available for hire.
If you really want to help, listen when I tell you what I need and please do not presume to know how I feel or lecture me with platitudes that inevitably make me depressed and feeling invisible. That form of patronizing is perhaps the bitterest part of this experience and it is the one, which lingers the longest because it is humiliating and especially hurtful coming from people we thought really did care. I’m not another number. Please don’t treat me like one.
Finally, even if it’s an ecard, dropping by with a pie or a couple of sandwiches and having coffee, but staying in touch and letting me also give you a hand from time to time. Treat what I’m going through as a problem with a solution and accept no other outcome but success.
If you really want to help me, care.
ON THE CANCER FRONT
There’s now a blood test which can accurately predict how many men 60 and older will probably contract prostate cancer, a form of this disease which as yet has no cure but into which a tremendous amount of money, research and dedication into curing this pervasive and insidious “reaper” of the human male population. For more, yep, go here.
Cancer respects no age so a new form of immunotherapy that prolongs the life of children with neuroblastoma, a nervous system cancer, should come as very good news. The numbers on this one are impressive. Neuroblastoma claims the lives of 12 percent of cancer patients under the age of 15. For more, yep, go here.
RESOURCES AND RELATED LINKS:
Cancer Research Journal
National Cancer Institute (American)
Fighting Breast Cancer: Breast Cancer Survivor Stories
Science Daily: Health & Medicine News
American Cancer Statistics 2009
Canadian Cancer Statistics 2009
HEALTH NEWS
This certainly must come as good news to dieters but not necessarily to the insomniacs among us. Apparently, getting a good night’s sleep helps lose weight. Yep, for more on this one, go here.
Having a connection with an autistic child, I so loved this one. And I’m not sure who Pohla Smith of the Pittsburg, PA Post-Gazette is but the one thing I can say is that the lead to this one got me in there and delivered on a promise.
“He's a Carolina blue color with big floppy rabbit ears, and when the furry creature is happy, those ears go straight up. When he's mad, his green eyes turn a devilish red. Equipped with a movable mouth and paws, he also can express such emotions as sad, confused, surprised and embarrassed.”
This is a robotic toy that mimics human facial reactions to tone of voice and for a lot of autistic kids who come out extremely sensitive to the emotions of those around them ~ and also the chaos that can involve ~ that’s one step removed and a safe one. Yep, for more on this one, please go here.
SEATTLE SCENES
University Heights, looking north
Seattle’s University (of Washington) District
Photo by Merritt Scott (Rusty) Miller.
Whether you live here or plan to visit ~ and whatever it is you enjoy doing at home or as a tourist ~ you’ll find it, you’ll find it listed here at seattlepi.com.
SEATTLE FACTS AND FIGURES
Seattle Rainfall in Comparison To Other US Cities
Seattle Geography & Climate
For more information about Seattle
OTHER RELATED STUFF FROM THE SHORES OF THE SALISH SEA
For live cameras on Seattle, the Puget Sound and Washington State
Mount Rainier slide show
Eat healthy while you’re here – Seattle PCC Co-Op
Take some fresh produce back to your hotel – Seattle Farmers Markets
CRITTER STUFF
Recommended Related Links:
National Wildlife Magazine
Go Northwest: Northwest Wildlife Websites
BBC’s wildlife finder
National Geographic Daily News - Animals
Retrieverman’s Weblog: Engaging articles on domestic & wildlife in the American South
This issue seems to have evolved around a “thinking outside the box” theme so this definitely fits. And it’s almost one of those “Only in Alaska” stories except it’s usually obnoxious Texans who are associated with having the biggest of a lot of things, including longhorn steers and born bloody liars. So not only is this probably the biggest Radio Flyer in the world now, it’s likely the only one that can cruise the highway at 60 mph/96.5 kmph. For more on this and a slide show of how these folks did this, please go here.
Well, that’s it for now. Thanks for the ear. Before you leave, if you’re in a shopping mood and into some interesting choices? We’ve got a “reader stocked” General Store that you might want to check out. If you’d like to sell something with us or know someone who does, email us at minstrel312@aol.com and we’ll see what we can do.
The Northstar Journal is funded by contributions from readers like yourself. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to contribute to the next, please click the donate button below.Rusty 
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