Hi again from the Bastion on the Puget Sound. I had the opportunity to watch a television interview with United States Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Guinta after President Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor for heroism displayed during a night fire fight in Afghanistan three years ago.I was struck by the total ingenuous of this professional soldier and his wife. The sergeant does not consider himself exceptional and it is very likely that he is correct. He was not saying that he is not a good soldier but rather that they all are. It is very likely he is correct about this too. He also claims that what he did was not extraordinary but rather what he and others like him are trained to do and ~ perhaps most importantly ~ do every night and every day not only in Afghanistan and Iraq but wherever American men and women under arms engage the enemy.
I admire Staff Sergeant Salvatore Guinta for insisting that he is an ordinary American soldier, for he infers that such courage is commonplace and it is. It is also why the suicide, domestic violence, and adrenaline-junkie behavior rates are skyrocketing among returning veterans.
It takes running into a hail of bullets to keep a fallen comrade from being captured to win these wars. It takes watching buddies blow up or perhaps worse, being blown up but not killed to win these wars. It takes knowing that darker side and that My Lai Massacres did not begin or end in another generation’s war.
And this generation of American soldiers goes back time after time after time. There is a limit to what the mind can take and recover. I think there must be a limit to what can be expected of these young men and women. I know two who served in the Persian Gulf War in Operation Desert Storm.
They did not believe in war, no more than I suspect many do now. They believed in answering their country’s call, in paying America back for providing them a relatively safe and nourishing place in which to grow to young adulthood. They chose the military as their way of doing that.
Staff Sergeant Salvatore Guinta is doing his best now to make sure that at least the American public understands that he represents all of them. I do not envy him the spotlight. I have memories of my own and I do not enjoy recounting them because they are not pleasant ones.
I hope we listen to Staff Sergeant Salvatore Guinta and I hope we believe what he is saying to us. This may be the bravest battle any soldier has ever chosen to fight. If he is successful, he may have just given peace one more chance and our soldiers in arms can come home and serve their nation in ways which do not destroy their souls in the process.
IN OTHER NEWS
We applaud Pope Benedict XVI for sanctioning the use of contraceptives to present the spread of AIDS. While in no way condoning their general use, his statement is considered a major reversal for the chief cleric, who on a tour of Africa last year, said condom fidelity and abstinence prevented the spread of AIDS, not condoms.
We mourn once again for Ireland as the worldwide Recession continues to destroy one of the most prosperous economies in recent European history, once again forcing thousands of young men and women to seek work abroad. It will be a sad time in Erin but it will not compromise her integrity, for as the world has learned, it is easier to wear down an iron mountain with words than it is to destroy the Irish soul by lash, rack, saber or bloody bayonet.
Last week, we reported that the Washington State Liquor Control Board put a temporary ban on the sale of the caffeinated alcohol beverage Loko, after several Central Washington University students were served it at an off-campus party, got sick and were taken to the emergency room of a local hospital. Apparently the Federal Drug Administration is taking this seriously. Last week, gave the four leading manufacturers of this product 15 days to either remove the caffeine from it or stop selling it. Now, that’s how I like to see my tax dollars in action.
Felina: This American human hero whose name I cannot pronounce so whom I will call Sergeant G., he seems like a very nice creature.
Sam: I’ll take a shot at this and say we’re talking about United States Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Guinta.
Felina: Quite so. That Sergeant G. He was wearing this decoration that looks like the ones they give at the human Olympics. It has a very pretty blue ribbon on it. With all the attention he seems to be getting, I assume this “medal,” I believe they call it, is for superb performance as a killer of other human beings in this rather quaintly lethal ritualistic paring down of their population called ‘war’.
Sam: Yep, Felina, that Sergeant G. That’s the Medal of Honor. It’s like Canada’s Victoria Cross.
Felina: The one named after that big human colony on Vancouver Island. I think that is the difference between American and Canadian humans. The one is named for a virtue, the other for a city that even I must admit is beautiful.
Sam: Felina, you do know that Victoria wasn’t born with its own name, right?
Felina: Quite so. In my eyes, Queen Victoria of 19th Century England was also a beautiful creature. If they must have monarchs, let them reign as Victoria.
Sam: Or Diana.
Felina: Quite so. Or like Princess Diana, who did not like war either and dedicated a lot of her time and energy to removing those horrible things humans plant in the ground which continue to kill, cripple and maim long after the war is over.
Sam: Land mines, Felina.
Felina: Excuse me?
Sam: They’re called “land mines,” Felina.
Felina: Ah, quite so. Such a cunning and clever device, created by the children of the Creator and totally devoid of conscience.
Sam: It’s a talent they have, creating weapons of destruction, implements of planetary population control, as it were.
Felina: And yet this same species can produce a creature as nice and as caring as this United States Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Guinta.
Sam: Whose name you’ve apparently figured out how to pronounce, yep. And in all fairness, killing is not the only thing they do in the military.
Felina: Oh, I know. It has always just struck me as very odd that so many human beings of otherwise divine character could also treat taking another human life as an honorable occupation. And bestow such glory as they do on those who excel at it.
Sam: Maybe that’s something the Sergeant G.’s of their species can change, Felina. If anyone’s got a shot at it, he does.
Felina: It would be so nice to see them rewarding the peacemakers among them as generously.
Sam: No argument there, love of my life. And on that note, then?
Felina: And on that note, gentle readers, until next time. And may the Creator bless and keep you.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
Sometimes, surviving hard times is knowing when it is time to let go of certain attitudes, certain ways we ~ as individuals ~ define ourselves and those around us. This story, by former print journalist Claudia Rowe, looks at the lives of several professionals whose careers have been terminated by the Recession. Ms. Rowe is a powerful writer and this story is not a dry intellectual read. Implicit in its conclusion, however, is that perhaps it is time to stop defining ourselves in terms of how we serve the economy and once again by how we treat one another. For more, please go here
ON THE CANCER FRONT
A new gene introduced into mice whose skin cancer had spread to the rest of their system re-engineered the immune system of these rodents and the cancer went into complete remission. Yep, for more on this one, 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
We’ve known for a long time that deep breathing has a real calming effect on the system and a rejuvenating one, as well. Researchers have found another good reason to do this. It helps prevent wrinkles. Yep, for more, go here.
GOOD EXAMPLES
In the wake of illness and death from contaminated food products such as peanuts, beef, eggs and produce, the United States Senate last week passed a bill which would give the Food and Drug Administration sweeping powers to inspect food products before they reach the market; to inspect and if necessary close down processing plants, and to enforce stricter standards to protect the public.
Last week, thanks to the efforts of the University of Washington's Student Labor Action Project, the University Book Store introduced a line of clothing from a third world country which pays a living wage. Way to go, Huskies.
Thanks to Los Angeles Times Op-Ed writer, Jonathan Bloom, we’ve discovered one way everybody can make a real difference. Eat all of the food we buy. According to Bloom’s research, 40% of what’s produced is not consumed. About 50 percent of what is purchased is wasted. That’s a real waste of the energy used to grow it, produce it, package it and bring it to the consumer. I totally loved this one.
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.
The Northstar Gallery features photography of Seattle available as postcards, computer wallpaper and workspace art.
Santa came early this winter too, U District, Seattle 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
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 isn’t weird, it’s totally fascinating and it has the coolest photos I’ve seen in a long time. Back in February, the International Space Station got Internet capability. In June, American astronaut Douglas Wheelock, known to his nearly 68,000 Twitter followers as Astro-Wheels, took command of the orbiting facility, has been using the station’s cameras to beam down hundreds of pictures of the earth from 225 miles “up”. For more on this one, yep, 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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