Hi again from the Bastion on the Puget Sound. Well, as I write, I’m also watching President Obama talk to some of my neighbors in a backyard not far from here. It’s going well. Under soggy skies, the rain has held off. The weather gods are not particularly cruel but as winter draws on, they have about as much patience for political scripts and posturing now as we do here down below, under the clouds. The President is here with one of our senators and my Congressman so if a lightning bolt is hurled, it’s going to be a heavenly “three for.”
He’s getting a good reception, even by the standards of perhaps the most hospital people in the Lower 48 south of Canada. He’s actually very well liked by those of us who live on the shores of the Salish Sea so he doesn’t need to spend a lot of energy defending himself or his administration. Besides, that’s not what we want to hear anyway.
We want to make sure he’s aware of our concerns, what we’re trying to do about them and what the federal government can or cannot do. We’re a very solution oriented, results propelled society here. Life’s too short to spend a lot of it in a critical mode. It’s like, “Okay, we’re all using this thing and now it’s busted. It doesn’t matter who broke it. We just need to get it fixed.”
He’s responding to our agenda in the low-key, relaxed, articulate and educated style we’ve come to appreciate. We like it that for the first time since John F. Kennedy, we have a national chief executive who doesn’t consider us too stupid for words of more than two syllables. On the other hand, I’m also glad he doesn’t use too many of those because I hate watching television with a dictionary in my lap.
Now, Mr. President is enroute to the University of Washington, where he’ll address a big indoor crowd of 15,000, some of whom have been waiting in line since four-thirty a.m. And it’s not to throw out of season produce at him either.
I’m betting he won’t get quite as smooth a reception etiquette-wise here, though. The University of Washington’s mascot is the husky and those are not known for being real quiet animals. They’re also the only canines I’ve ever seen with blue eyes and yeah, that weirds me out a little.
I’ve never understood this whole dogsled bit. Huskies are like first cousins to wolves. Wolves do everything together. Including eating other animals. So I’m betting the kids in the purple shirts are probably going to have some fun with their president.
This will be an energizing visit for an embattled leader. For a few hours, he won’t need to listen to the trumpeting of the elephants, the braying of other jackasses, the bleating of those to lazy to be anything else but sheep and the occasional raucous caws of circling birds which cannot emulate the nobility of the eagle and dishonor even the basest of those who feast on road kill.
Thank you for stopping by, Mr. President. Give our love to Michelle.
Related Stories:
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Obama talks economy, health care at backyard chat
Top Pot Doughnut enjoying sweet taste of presidential surprise
Obama lands in Seattle to aid Patty Murray campaign
Obama's visit to Seattle expected to cause traffic tie-ups
He’s getting a good reception, even by the standards of perhaps the most hospital people in the Lower 48 south of Canada. He’s actually very well liked by those of us who live on the shores of the Salish Sea so he doesn’t need to spend a lot of energy defending himself or his administration. Besides, that’s not what we want to hear anyway.
We want to make sure he’s aware of our concerns, what we’re trying to do about them and what the federal government can or cannot do. We’re a very solution oriented, results propelled society here. Life’s too short to spend a lot of it in a critical mode. It’s like, “Okay, we’re all using this thing and now it’s busted. It doesn’t matter who broke it. We just need to get it fixed.”
He’s responding to our agenda in the low-key, relaxed, articulate and educated style we’ve come to appreciate. We like it that for the first time since John F. Kennedy, we have a national chief executive who doesn’t consider us too stupid for words of more than two syllables. On the other hand, I’m also glad he doesn’t use too many of those because I hate watching television with a dictionary in my lap.
Now, Mr. President is enroute to the University of Washington, where he’ll address a big indoor crowd of 15,000, some of whom have been waiting in line since four-thirty a.m. And it’s not to throw out of season produce at him either.
I’m betting he won’t get quite as smooth a reception etiquette-wise here, though. The University of Washington’s mascot is the husky and those are not known for being real quiet animals. They’re also the only canines I’ve ever seen with blue eyes and yeah, that weirds me out a little.
I’ve never understood this whole dogsled bit. Huskies are like first cousins to wolves. Wolves do everything together. Including eating other animals. So I’m betting the kids in the purple shirts are probably going to have some fun with their president.
This will be an energizing visit for an embattled leader. For a few hours, he won’t need to listen to the trumpeting of the elephants, the braying of other jackasses, the bleating of those to lazy to be anything else but sheep and the occasional raucous caws of circling birds which cannot emulate the nobility of the eagle and dishonor even the basest of those who feast on road kill.
Thank you for stopping by, Mr. President. Give our love to Michelle.
Related Stories:
Obama visit caps whirlwind week for Wedgwood family
Obama talks economy, health care at backyard chat
Top Pot Doughnut enjoying sweet taste of presidential surprise
Obama lands in Seattle to aid Patty Murray campaign
Obama's visit to Seattle expected to cause traffic tie-ups
IN OTHER NEWS
Well, this one put a real shine on the emerald, as it were. A recent study has concluded that those working “green” jobs are 40% more productive than those in non-eco-friendly employment. I’m not surprised. I saw it in Oregon’s Cascade forests. Those planting trees worked just as hard as those cutting them down but seemed to be a lot happier. And a lot less inclined to the kinds of behaviors that contribute to the higher rates of substance abuse, domestic violence and early aging among those in heavy industry. For more on this one, please go here.
I remember how cool it was when ice was discovered beneath the surface of the moon, thus facilitating scientific colonization. Now, at the bottom of a deep crater, they’ve found an oasis NASA is saying is as wet as the Sahara. Well, I never thought of that desert as being moist but what it means is that eight wheelbarrows full of crater soil could be melted to yield around twelve gallons of water. Now, if we can just get people to start going there again and yep, for more on this one, please go here.
In a related story, scientists are now calling the moon “a treasure chest of elements” in a report NASA released Thursday which has analyzed the results of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS mission of 2009, in which samples were taken from the bottom of a deep crater. Yep, for more on this one, go here.
We were not particularly pleased to read about 1.53-million Toyotas worldwide have been recalled for a faulty brake system. In some cultures, that would be considered very bad karma and the Japanese motor vehicle manufacturer certainly seems to have had their share of it. It looks like these cars and trucks were designed to use only Toyota brake fluid. (The computer industry learned the folly of that marketing strategy years ago.) The models involved are the 2005–6 Avalon; the 2004–6 Highlander (except for the hybrid) and Lexus RX 330; and the 2006 Lexus GS 300, IS 250 and IS 350 models. Yep, for more, go here.
As proud as I am of the state in which I live, it’s tough to share a story about two Washington State Supreme Court Justices acting like people for whom I’d like to have an exclusive white sheet concession. For more on these two bigots in black robes, please go here. But not on an empty stomach.
CROSSING OVER
We join millions of others under at least these seven flags in marking the passing of Barbara Billingsley, perhaps best known as “Leave It to Beaver’s” mom, June Cleaver. Michael Pollak, of the New York Times, has written a thoughtful and well-researched tribute to an individual who was complex, intelligent, accomplished and, at one point in her life, the singe mother of two boys. She died Saturday in her Santa Monica, California home at the age of 94. For Michael’s eulogy, please go here.
If Barbara Billingsley was a television mother to millions of Americans, Tom Bosley was surely a father figure to them as well. An accomplished stage and screen actor of tremendous personal integrity, he was as devoted a husband and parent off camera as he was on the set of Happy Days. Born in Chicago, he died Tuesday at his home in Palm Springs. He was 83. For a moving and resonant tribute, please go here.
Sam: Your eyes are better than mine, Felina. Can you read any writing on them?
Well, this one put a real shine on the emerald, as it were. A recent study has concluded that those working “green” jobs are 40% more productive than those in non-eco-friendly employment. I’m not surprised. I saw it in Oregon’s Cascade forests. Those planting trees worked just as hard as those cutting them down but seemed to be a lot happier. And a lot less inclined to the kinds of behaviors that contribute to the higher rates of substance abuse, domestic violence and early aging among those in heavy industry. For more on this one, please go here.
I remember how cool it was when ice was discovered beneath the surface of the moon, thus facilitating scientific colonization. Now, at the bottom of a deep crater, they’ve found an oasis NASA is saying is as wet as the Sahara. Well, I never thought of that desert as being moist but what it means is that eight wheelbarrows full of crater soil could be melted to yield around twelve gallons of water. Now, if we can just get people to start going there again and yep, for more on this one, please go here.
In a related story, scientists are now calling the moon “a treasure chest of elements” in a report NASA released Thursday which has analyzed the results of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS mission of 2009, in which samples were taken from the bottom of a deep crater. Yep, for more on this one, go here.
We were not particularly pleased to read about 1.53-million Toyotas worldwide have been recalled for a faulty brake system. In some cultures, that would be considered very bad karma and the Japanese motor vehicle manufacturer certainly seems to have had their share of it. It looks like these cars and trucks were designed to use only Toyota brake fluid. (The computer industry learned the folly of that marketing strategy years ago.) The models involved are the 2005–6 Avalon; the 2004–6 Highlander (except for the hybrid) and Lexus RX 330; and the 2006 Lexus GS 300, IS 250 and IS 350 models. Yep, for more, go here.
As proud as I am of the state in which I live, it’s tough to share a story about two Washington State Supreme Court Justices acting like people for whom I’d like to have an exclusive white sheet concession. For more on these two bigots in black robes, please go here. But not on an empty stomach.
CROSSING OVER
We join millions of others under at least these seven flags in marking the passing of Barbara Billingsley, perhaps best known as “Leave It to Beaver’s” mom, June Cleaver. Michael Pollak, of the New York Times, has written a thoughtful and well-researched tribute to an individual who was complex, intelligent, accomplished and, at one point in her life, the singe mother of two boys. She died Saturday in her Santa Monica, California home at the age of 94. For Michael’s eulogy, please go here.
If Barbara Billingsley was a television mother to millions of Americans, Tom Bosley was surely a father figure to them as well. An accomplished stage and screen actor of tremendous personal integrity, he was as devoted a husband and parent off camera as he was on the set of Happy Days. Born in Chicago, he died Tuesday at his home in Palm Springs. He was 83. For a moving and resonant tribute, please go here.
Felina: Samuel, there is another one of those human transportation systems going by down past the glen. That is the fifth one today. Are they migrating?
Sam: Your eyes are better than mine, Felina. Can you read any writing on them?
Felina: There is this flat thing on their rear-ends. White and it has a picture on it. It appears to be some sort of government notice. It has the provincial name on it, some letters and some numbers.
Sam: I believe that's called a license plate, Lass.
Felina: Ah. Quite so then. And what function does this license plate perform on the transportation system?
Sam: Organically, none. It proves that this transportation system has the government’s permission to operate.
Felina: A transportation system needs a note from Victoria?
Sam: Yep, that’s it pretty much. And on the other side of the mountain too. What else can you see on the butt of that vehicle?
Felina: There is a word with which I am totally unfamiliar. It is spelled T-O-Y-O-T-A.
Sam: Oh, okay. Toyota is the name of an honorable family in Japan which makes transportation systems and sells them all over the world.
Felina: So all of these Toyota transportation systems are going to a family reunion, then?
Sam: In a manner of speaking, yep. A lot of them are going home because they were not made in the Creator’s image. The humans who use them cannot rely on them.
Felina: When we lived in Manitoba, where the humans ride horses, if one of the mounts limped, it was treated by this human with this very strange symbol on his black leather bag. When the horse was well, human beings started riding it again. Is it like that?
Sam: It’s a lot like that, Felina. These Toyota transportation systems that are going down the mountain are the children of lesser creators, gods as it were who do not love their progeny as the Creator loves us. So millions of these Toyota transportation systems came into the world with defective components.
Felina: Ah, so they are going home to become children of the greater Toyota gods?
Sam: Yep, they’re being “recalled,” is the human word for it. They’re going back to where they were made.
Felina: Several million of them. There is something rather troubling to me about this.
Sam: Just remember, this is the same species which builds on volcanoes and earthquake faults. For as busy as they appear to be, they never seem to have time to do it right the first time but an infinity to do it over and over again.
Felina: Like the American college football coach who told his players that they would run the same play over and over until they got it right. I cannot recall his name at the moment but his university is called after that large building of theirs in France where that poor hunchback lives.
Sam: Umm, I’ll take a shot and say maybe we’re talking about Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian?
Felina: Quite so. And Quasimodo.
Sam: The hunchback who lives in the big building in France.
Felina: Yes, that Quasimodo.
Sam: You are nothing short of amazing, mate of my life.
Felina: And love of it too?
Sam: And love of it too. When did you start watching American football?
Felina: Since I learned they have a team called the cougars. In some ways, their obsession with mock combat is an absolutely fascinating aspect of their behaviour.
Sam: No argument there, oh sun of my day and moon of my night.
Felina: Oh, here comes that Yankee Doodle flipping charm again. I love it!
Sam: And on that note?
Felina: Quite so. And on that note, gentle readers, until next time. And may the Creator bless and keep you.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
One way to survive hard times is to manage time better. In a delightful article headlined “'You Have More Time Than You Think,' argues author Laura Vanderkam,” it’s pointed out that while Americans work longer hours than any other industrialized nation, we also spend more time watching television. Ms. Vanderkam offers a simple five-step program for better time management. So yep, for more, go here.
ON THE CANCER FRONT
Another study confirms not only the link between hormone treatment after menopause and the increased risk of breast cancer, but also concludes that when the disease is diagnosed under those conditions, it is invariably in an advanced stage. Yes, for more on this one, please go here.
One way to survive hard times is to manage time better. In a delightful article headlined “'You Have More Time Than You Think,' argues author Laura Vanderkam,” it’s pointed out that while Americans work longer hours than any other industrialized nation, we also spend more time watching television. Ms. Vanderkam offers a simple five-step program for better time management. So yep, for more, go here.
ON THE CANCER FRONT
Another study confirms not only the link between hormone treatment after menopause and the increased risk of breast cancer, but also concludes that when the disease is diagnosed under those conditions, it is invariably in an advanced stage. Yes, for more on this one, please 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 definitely falls under the category “Attitude Is All.” Researchers have discovered that optimists get less colds than pessimists or other kinds of people who tend to bring other people down. So next time you run into someone like that, hand them a small packet of tissues and say a prayer for them the next time you’re moved in that direction. For more on this and other practical tips for avoiding a cold or mitigating its impact, yep, go here.
GOOD EXAMPLES
As any health care provider knows, individualized attention to patients can make all the difference. A nurse practitioner in Bellingham, Washington, a community of 80,000in the northwest corner of the state on the border with Canada, visits her patients at their homes and workplaces on a specially designed bicycle and trailer. Two years ago she started Mobile Medicine and made quite an impact on the community. For more on a dedicated medical profession who found a way to return to the days when country doctors made house calls, yep, please go here.
In what is seen as a brilliant academic application of cyber technology, the Israel Antiquities Authority, the custodian of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the 2,000-year-old biblical and apocryphal texts discovered last century in caves in the Judean desert, earlier this week announced that it is joining with Google to download newly digitalized images of these ancient writings and make them available on the Internet. Now, since the reproductions are at least as legible as the originals and in some case, more, there’s no need to risk further degradation of them by exposing them to light and air. Yep, for more on this one, please go here.
I’ve always been a strong proponent of fathers and sons doing cool stuff together but I’ve got to admit I’d never have imagined such a team putting a camera into outer space, recovering it and publishing some incredible photos. Then again, these two individuals are native New Yorkers and even more specifically, from Brooklyn. If I’ve learned one thing about this particular “tribe,” it is that it is they who put the “push” in pushing the window. Nice going, guys. Yep, for a video on how they did it, go here.
NORTHSTAR FAVORITES
Sightline Daily is the best Pacific Northwest source of environmentally friendly news we’ve encountered yet. They draw from newspapers and National Public Radio sources in Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state.
Meade Fisher Observes Humanity From A Safe Distance is a blog authored by an outdoor writer, photographer, West Coast kayaker and environmentalist living in the San Francisco Bay area. These short, humorous, few holds barred observations on the machinations of the human species run from the whimsical to the arid and occasionally to the quietly outraged. I’ve been a fan of this particular writer for years and I’ve always found him worth the read.
SEATTLE SCENES
Even in Seattle, moss still grows on the north side of the tree.
And the roof.
Photo by Merritt Scott (Rusty) Miller.
What’s Going On Here?
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
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
A five-year-old Maine coon cat named Stewie has just replaced another of his breed in the Guinness Book of Records. The Reno Nevada feline measures 48.5 inches/123 cms. Maine coon cats are the only domestic breed native to North America. Yep, for more, go here.
Without getting totally Zen about it, I happen to believe that human beings can learn from the other species on this planet so I love it when another “discovery” is made which confirms that. This one’s a link between an African frog has that can be shared without hurting the amphibian and which will save countless human lives. What I also appreciate is that it seems to support something I’ve believed for a long time. Every living thing on this planet has a reason for being, including English lords, congenital idiots, bed bugs, bigots and the Bubonic plague. No offence to the germs intended. Yep, for more on this one, go here.
Without getting totally Zen about it, I happen to believe that human beings can learn from the other species on this planet so I love it when another “discovery” is made which confirms that. This one’s a link between an African frog has that can be shared without hurting the amphibian and which will save countless human lives. What I also appreciate is that it seems to support something I’ve believed for a long time. Every living thing on this planet has a reason for being, including English lords, congenital idiots, bed bugs, bigots and the Bubonic plague. No offence to the germs intended. Yep, for more on this one, go here.
When two baby fishers, a cousin of otters, mink and martens, were orphaned several weeks ago in Washington state’s Olympic National Park by a hungry bobcat, it could have very well been the end for the pair of kits as well. Their cries of fear and hunger from their den high up in an evergreen attracted the attention of human visitors, who contacted park officials who, in turn, called the State Department of Natural Resources. The DNR sent out a biologist who climbed the tree, rescued the kits and turned them over to a local wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. The people there taught the baby fishers how to hunt and otherwise take care of themselves and now, as young adults, the kits are back on their own in the wild and doing very well. For a video and more, go here.
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
YOU GUYS THINK I MAKE THIS STUFF UP
When two baby fishers, a cousin of otters, mink and martens, were orphaned several weeks ago in Washington state’s Olympic National Park by a hungry bobcat, it could have very well been the end for the pair of kits as well. Their cries of fear and hunger from their den high up in an evergreen attracted the attention of human visitors, who contacted park officials who, in turn, called the State Department of Natural Resources. The DNR sent out a biologist who climbed the tree, rescued the kits and turned them over to a local wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. The people there taught the baby fishers how to hunt and otherwise take care of themselves and now, as young adults, the kits are back on their own in the wild and doing very well. For a video and more, go here.
When two baby fishers, a cousin of otters, mink and martens, were orphaned several weeks ago in Washington state’s Olympic National Park by a hungry bobcat, it could have very well been the end for the pair of kits as well. Their cries of fear and hunger from their den high up in an evergreen attracted the attention of human visitors, who contacted park officials who, in turn, called the State Department of Natural Resources. The DNR sent out a biologist who climbed the tree, rescued the kits and turned them over to a local wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center. The people there taught the baby fishers how to hunt and otherwise take care of themselves and now, as young adults, the kits are back on their own in the wild and doing very well. For a video and more, 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.
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Rusty
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