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

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

GOODBYE, MR. SWAYZE AND WELCOME TO THE FRIENDLY SKIES OF CALIFORNIA’S WINE COUNTRY TO THE NOBLE PEREGRINE FALCON

Peregine Falcon

Hi again and yep, from the ramparts of the Bastion on the Puget Sound, it’s been another interesting week. And a sad one for the loss of Patrick Swayze, another good human being who shared the best of himself as an actor with those who loved his work; and as a good human being with those who had the honor and privilege of knowing him more intimately.

I remember him not so much for Dirty Dancing or even Ghost as I do for this outrageous film, A Tall Tale, in which he starred, along with Oliver Pratt, another of my favorite actors, as Pecos Bill. I grew up on legends like that so when I also got to see John Henry and Paul Bunyan, et al, it was like, yep, maybe not anywhere else, but in America, we have those who can lasso and ride a tornado and swing one mean axe. It was painted in the broadest possible brushstrokes and Swayze, who is not real tall, played it grandly.

The other film strikes deeper on a different level because despite the fact that the American government’s made some real mistakes abroad and her people have acted at times with what the International Community has considered incredible self-indulgence, there’s a lot more to us than that. Despite our size and power, we are yet historically a young and growing nation. Like any other, we are prone to wear our ignorance, our shortcomings, our character flaws and our mistakes in judgment on our proverbial sleeves.

I worry that groups bent on the destruction of anything not like them might read that the wrong way, and assume that Americans are not willing to die on their own shores to protect what they so cherish. The reality is that Americans die every day in defense of their country. I was raised by two generations of law enforcement and that’s the first among many examples which come to mind.

Red Dawn to me clearly demonstrated what Americans will do if pushed to the max. I don’t know how many of you remember the premise for that one but it was the invasion of a small town in the American Rocky Mountains and was a microcosm for apparently another world war. In it, Patrick Swayze starred as the leader of a handful of teenagers who rose up after their parents were rounded up and executed. That resistance group became known as the Wolverines. Yes, Jennifer Grey was his costar in that one.

It was a savage film and it was not made to glorify violence, promote anarchy, or to vilify those who brought this war to our shores. It was not meant to suggest that killing ~ under any circumstances ~ is pleasant, but rather that long after the land has restored itself, the human memories of what happened will remain. I’ve been to battlegrounds across the Pacific, including Nagasaki’s Ground Zero and yes, each and every one of them was haunted. In Red Dawn, they were too.

So to me, Patrick Swayze played to an American love of tall tales and big dreams. And he also resonated what Americans of any age will do if violence is brought to their land as it has been several times in the recent past. Our learning curve, by international standards, may be long
but we are neither weak nor stupid. It would be a tragic mistake in judgment to assume either.

Oookay, off the soapbox and moving right along here, I have got to love the reader who felt the need to share this bon mot of human behavior. Seems there was this couple in Wichita, Kansas whose options for romantic privacy were apparently slim next to none. They climbed into a dumpster to cuddle and stuff and were interrupted (apparently during the “stuff” part) by two old guys who robbed them at pocketknife point and then departed. The police apprehended the ‘perps’ so the couple got their belongings back.

I’m just trying to imagine, from both the police officers’ perspective and the couple themselves, the dialogue that must have gone on around what they were doing in the dumpster in the first place. What this also tells me is that this is NOT Dorothy’s Kansas. You guys accuse me every once in awhile of making this stuff up. So if you don’t believe me, check it out here. This was weird.

Closer to home, we here in Seattle are saying good-bye to a woman who not only proved there was no gender ceiling but also who epitomizes the best in community law enforcement. Her name is Linda Pierce and she was one of four assistant chiefs of police. Her time with the Seattle Police Department included, according to Seattle Times reporter Steve Miletich, command of “the Special Operations Bureau, overseeing operations and planning, the arson and bomb units, Harbor Patrol and the operational support and criminal intelligence sections.”

Chief Pierce is leaving to run the public safety department for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. She and her husband, who recently retired, have a home back there in this extreme northeastern part of Washington, on the Canadian border. We wish her and her family well and express our sincere gratitude for the exemplary service she gave this community.

As far as critter stories, there have been no new mountain lion incidents up our way but as I got out and sampled local opinion, I found some profound misconceptions about cougars that, if acted on, could really make things complicated for all involved. So far that hasn’t happened yet here but it has other places. So here’s a site that tells you how it really is with these magnificent cats. I’m suggesting reading this before you try to pet one or reach for the Winchester on the gun rack.

Well, vineyard owners in California have come up with a way to protect their grape harvest from the hordes of starlings which swoop in on them each year this time and which so far have proven pretty much immune to any other measures employed in these regards. I’m not a fan of starlings. I wouldn’t be if I was a bird. They are second on the obnoxious scale only to bluejays, with whom I also have issues.

So it comes as some personal satisfaction to learn that peregrine falcons are patrolling those friendly skies. Falconers hire out to individual land owners in an arrangement that seems to be working very well and is certainly not without precedent. Anyone with the slightest interest in falcons knows that they’ve been doing things like this for at least as long as the first wild dogs decided to share a cave and a fire with us. For a look at one of these noble works of talons, beak, feathers and superb aerodynamic engineering, please go here.

I’m also some relieved ~ as I’m sure most of you will be too ~ to learn that scientists have apparently decided that a squid’s brain may not have been as good a model to study how human gray matter works as they for awhile thought.. Apparently it’s taken them fifty years to reach this conclusion. Yep, I’ll give you a sec with that one.

First of all, I want to know what madness possessed these over-educated idiots in the first place. I have bad hair days but I have never remotely resembled this weird looking thing out of a Jules Verne nightmare.

Second, what conclusions were reached and what was tried on humans as a result of this profound hiatus from good sense? I mean, rats are a stretch for me too in these regards and I do not keep them as pets because with a Maine coon cat for a roomie, anything caged, breathing and smaller than a German shepherd puppy is a Sasha meal waiting to happen. There is totally no way a squid fits into this scenario. Now all that needs to happen is to learn that it’s been for half a century also in part funded by tax dollars. Alaska’s Bridge to Nowhere made better sense. At least it was good practice for those who planned and built it.

And on a final note, I was absolutely thrilled to learn that the University of Washington (three blocks from here) has been awarded a $126-million grant to build a 500 mile power and Internet grid along the floor of the Pacific Ocean on the Juan de Fuca plate. According to KING FIVE (NBC affiliate) television news reporter Lori Matsukawa:

“Researchers believe the data gathered will help them understand all sorts of natural phenomena such as volcanoes, earthquakes, storms, rainfall patterns, tsunamis, algae blooms, oxygen depletion and sea life. Natural events that influence climate change.”

These are good things for us who live here to know and what’s cool is that so much of what can be learned can be applied, appropriately modified, elsewhere. To me, it’s an appropriate use of both science and the funding source. I like it a lot better than thinking about my tax dollars going into finding out how much like a squid we’re not.

Until next week then, thanks once again for the ear. Take care, stay well and God Bless.

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
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.

Sightline Daily (formerly Tidepool) – The “United Press International/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. Update and informative collected news shorts from those sources. They also put out an excellent weekly environmental edition.

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.

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

COMING ATTRACTIONS

In the weeks to come, we’re going to create ~ in addition to Northstar Recommends ~ a Northstar General Store in which you, the readers, will have an opportunity to market your own goods and services and, as well, to shop here. We’re going to get real creative with this and whenever possible, we’ll have tried what we’re carrying on the shelves, as it were. We’ll be taking a straight ten percent for this, via Paypal. We’ll also consider barter and trade.
If you’ve got any recommendations of your own and are interested in the General Store, email me and we’ll talk.

INDEPENDENCE DAY TWICE: THE PASSION OF TWO NATIONS

Peace Arch Park
Blaine, Washington
Douglas, British Columbia

Well, hi again, yahoos and yahoo-ettes (and those with fancier titles in life). And happy birthdays to two countries I love. It’s Canada Day where I was born and about three days shy of Fourth of July in one I’ve come to care about some. So happy birthday, as well, to the States, from a son of an appreciative neighbour with some investment this side of the border, eh?

In honour of both the apparent love of the readership for critter stories and my pride in the maple leaf, we’re leading off this week with this one about a Canadian leatherneck turtle tagged in Halifax some while back and turned up in the waters off Columbia, South America. The Canadian Sea Turtle Network (CSTN) tagged 11 of them off Halifax.

The CSTN has since removed that tag from the one who showed up down there and yep, by going down there and doing it and studying that turtle to see how she'd taken the trip. That turtle was a lady named Nuevo Esperanza. I know that wasn’t lost on Ottawa. It’ll be interesting to see how it resonates beyond the pale.

I’m also tempted to wonder what Lady New Hope is going to do down there but it gets a little busy around here so I can only assume that, being Canadian and all, she’s got her reasons, and she’ll get back to us.

This Canadian lady leatherneck turtle comes from a quietly strong land and one with a great deal of patience in the face of the unappreciative. She has a vision of a simpler world and for all her struggles to actualize it within her own boundaries (Quebec, sigh), she has achieved more than enough domestic success to justify promoting it quietly to a southern neighbour especially, who could benefit from the perspective.

There is also a stark reality behind this worth remembering on the independence day of two contiguous neighbours. If Canada’s strength must be measured by the sons and daughters who have fought and died for the former British Empire and then beyond, given the percentage, her record for walking her talk for democracy, freedom, equal rights, and a clean planet are unimpeachable.

As vast as Canada is, there is not one square kilometer of that panoramic yet relatively sparsely settled and often icy and tempest-tossed land that is not consecrated in the blood of her citizens, from Inuit to French Canadian to all the others she’s taken in under the shadow of a French statue a bit south of her southern border. Canada may be a ‘small land’ and her people a modest one. But as I love both countries, she can be as passionately devoted a friend as she can an implacable enemy. I’m glad America is one of her best buds. If you’d like to learn more about Canada, here’s a good place to start. So and stuff and moving right along, eh?

And about the time that America celebrates her 222nd birthday (I used 1787 because that’s when the U.S. Constitution was ratified), a Seattle native will arrive in Boston to add a bit to that city’s population. His name is Ivan and he’s a fur seal who, despite some opportunities locally, doesn’t seem to have found a mate here on the West Coast. We’ll miss him but behind wishing him the best of luck on the “other coast,” we’ll be some humbled by the realization that as much as we’re proud of the Pacific Northwest, it does not work for everyone. Take care of him, Linda, and remind him to occasionally write home.

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, and it’s going to be a real blow to a couple of generations raised on the power of positive thinking and daily affirmations. A new study by Canadian psychologist Joanne Wood and reported in Psychology Today found that for those with high self-esteem to begin with, saying things like “I am lovable” tended to reinforce an already healthy ego.

But for those at the other end ~ those who, for one reason or another had an extremely low opinion of themselves ~ these affirmations did a lot more damage than good by reminding them that if they needed to say things these to themselves, about themselves, it’s because they were NOT okay.

Quite frankly, I’ve been skeptical of pop psychology ever since a mental health care professional counseled a lady rape victim friend of mine and a guy I served with in Vietnam to keep reliving the traumatic experiences until the pain went away.

What a flipping crock. It just made it worse. They didn’t need to remember that stuff and when they started putting good memories between themselves and the bad, they got better. Why am I somehow not surprised?

This past week, the world of man – woman relationships also got a rather seismic jolt in the United Kingdom when the Daily Mail Online’s Victoria Lambert revealed that men who married women 15 – 17 years younger added years to their own life. However ~ and this is a BIG however ~ the same study showed that those younger women died earlier than those of their peers who married people closer to their own age. Ms. Lambert’s story also has some very practical tips for both genders on extending both the duration and the quality of their lives and I found it, if for no other reason than that, worth the read.

It also comes as no surprise to learn, from an article in Environmental Health News, that far more premature babies are born in areas of heavy traffic, like freeways and neighborhoods adjacent industrial parks. The numbers sent a chill through me. Pregnant women living in the worst traffic-generated pollution were 128 times more likely to deliver too early. American author Pearl S. Buck contended that "If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all." To me, the wakeup call couldn’t be much clearer.

On a lighter note, for those of you who enjoyed Ann Landers or the advice columnist in your high school newspaper, here’s a blog that delivers the amiable maternalism of Ms. Landers, the slightly off-centre humour of Erma Bombeck and the ingenuousness of an unreconstructed romantic with no axes to grind. The name of this blog is Ask Barbie, Advice Columnist. Enjoy, then?

And finally, we’re totally delighted to report that Seattle, Washington’s Green Bike Project is more than living up to the expectations of it. In a story headlined “Green Bike Project reduces congestion, changes lifestyles” Seattle Post-Intelligencer Online reporter Scott Gutierrez reported that the program involved 25 area employers and some 265 people.

It was a pilot project whose future funding is at issue but I’ve a strong hunch it’s attracted the attention of Bill and Melinda, Paul Allen or other community benefactors, agencies and associations. Seattle may be slow to actualize a good idea (light rail) but this particular city is even more reluctant to give up one. The Emerald City is convinced that biking to work is good for all concerned so, one way or another, that’s pretty much how it’s going to be from now on.

That’s it for this week, folks. Once again, thanks for the ear. Take care, stay well and God Bless.

Rusty

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NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS

The Tomatoman Times – a life commentary blog with the blended stylings of John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, Jack London and Will Rogers. Poignant, at times rancorous but very contemporary and ultimate celebration.

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.

Ask Barbie, Advice Columnist. -- a blog that delivers the amiable maternalism of Ms. Landers, the slightly off-centre humour of Erma Bombeck and the ingenuousness of an unreconstructed romantic with no axes to grind.

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

WHEN POLITICIANS ACT LIKE QUARRELING CHILDREN

Hi again, folks, from the Bastion on the Sound. In response to several of you who have asked for my reaction to President Obama’s Monday address to the world and press conference following, he continues to live up to my expectations. He’s assuming personal responsibility for the problems he’s having building consensus for the economic stimulus package he’s proposed. He also reminded us that he’s already told us he’ll make mistakes occasionally.

While that thought doesn’t exactly inspire me to bluegrass and The Happy Dance, I appreciate his candor. He’s a human being governing a nation of same and I expect no more or less of him than I do myself or anyone else. He’s got a job to do and I sincerely believe he’s doing the best he can. I’m a little less than impressed with the Republican Party for continuing to play "politics" at a time when the constituency needs THEM to attend to the task at hand, restoring the national economy and contributing to the fiscal healing of the global community. In other words, knock it off and FOCUS.

Closer to home, our own elected officials are moving swiftly. While waiting for our share of the above-cited federal economic recovery package, Washington governor Christine Gregoire is streamlining state government by eliminating more than 150 state boards and commissions and closing 25 Department of Licensing offices. She estimates that the latter measure would save approximately $2.6-million over the next two years. For the full story, click here.

Seattle’s mayor Greg Nickels, apparently taking his lead from Olympia, is working on a capital improvements plan which is expected to create 6,464 jobs and cost an estimated $223,758,774. It covers everything from AMTRAK to low income housing, energy, streets and roads, and the hiring an additional nine officers for the Seattle Police Department. For a breakdown, click here For an overview on what other American cities are doing, click here.

(For those interested in a quick but dynamic overview of what our region, including British Columbia and California are doing, I strong recommend the Sightline Daily. It gathers news from the print media, large and small, and presents it with the lead and a link to the rest of the story. I’m learning a great deal and it’s having a real effect in countering what seems like an overwhelming amount of negative coverage by the other media sources I consult each morning.)

To our north, Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has promised more relief in addition to the $40-billion slated for economic recovery over the next two years. He's proposing this should the global community's fiscal problems continue to impact this nation of 36 million.

Harper, a Conservative, is having some of the same problems with opposition party members of his government that have thus far plagued President Obama and has sent the same message to all concerned. He invited the leader of the Liberals to "do something he never did in the pre-budget period, which is actually provide some economic policy suggestions to Parliament." For more on this, click here.

It appears American elected officials are not the only ones prone to putting party politics before the welfare of the constituencies they were elected to serve. Both our nations, I believe, are fortunate to have chief executives who are not afraid to take a firm but measured hand in insuring the integrity of the true national agenda.

Well, that’s it for this week. Keep the faith, folks. Granted, times are tough now, but as long as we pull together, communicate and continue to love one another, we’ll get through this. Whether you’re American, British, Canadian, French, Irish, or Scots, you live in a nation of heroes. And heroes don’t give up, do they?

A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT

Hi again folks. Before I launch on the topic at hand, I want to thank you yahoos for your responses to my last blog. Fifteen emails and IMs during the first hour it was published is phenomenal for a readership of this size. What’s even more gratifying to me is that they came from all over the States, Canada and the U.K. You said you felt the same way and several told me I said it well. That tells me I’m doing my job for you folks. I need to hear that once in awhile. Thank you.

I watched most of the Inaugural, off and on. I was online looking for work in the Seattle area and places to publish the other stuff I write. Even though I know that most of us enjoyed that national celebration, I’m also well aware that some of you, for whatever reasons, did not. So I’m not going to talk about that. Instead, I’m going to address our newly elected national executive. Yeah, I know this will never actually reach him, but play along with me, okay?

Happy Second Day of Work For Us, Mr. President. Do a good job over the next one hundred and I’ll call you Mr. Obama. If you’re still cool by Christmas, you’ll be Barack after that and if and until we find out that a mistake was intentional. We know you and your team are going to make some. You’ve said so and we know that because we’ve made some too.

We’re not looking for you to be a hero, Mr. President. In this country, a lot of them get killed and that’s not something I think needs to continue, with all due respect. Americans don’t need heroes, as you well know. We’re a nation of them.

I’m glad you made it, Barak. Since childhood, you’ve been caring about folks on BOTH sides of the color line and if ever this country needed that extended to the International Community, it’s now. I read about what you did in your dad’s part of Africa back last year and I remember thinking, ‘If ever there’s a potential president who can negotiate, this guy Obama is it.’ And I was a Hillary supporter at the time. Please don’t forget that skill’s needed at home too, Mr. President.

Barack, we know it’s not going to be easy helping us get back on our feet financially. People are skeptical of bailouts. They’re not donations, they’re loans. Remind all concerned of that too, Mr. President?

Well, like my last letter to Santa Claus, I’d best keep this brief. (Don’t even go there, guys). Sooo, in summation and stuff.

Mr. President, keep your end of the contract. We’ll keep ours. And please don’t forget who you work for.

Thanks for the ear, then, folks, and until next time.

Rusty

TRIAL OF A NATION

As I write these lines, it is four a.m. on the morning of what will probably be remembered as either the day Americans turned the corner and lived up to the passion and prayers of the Founding Fathers or chose instead to go the way of other empires which vanished for no other reason than the greed of their citizens and the self-serving enabling of the government which allegedly served them.

To me, this is about more than electing a president whose ancestors were both brought over here in chains and made that hellish voyage possible in the first place. In our rush to celebrate our racial enlightenment, I think we forget that Barack Obama is also white. He is, in a larger sense, the hybrid alluded to by the term melting pot. He is the product of the forge and the crucible; the legacy of Nate Thomas and Simon Legree; Gettysburg and the Reconstruction; the Ku Klux Clan and the Congress of Racial Equality; Dr. Martin Luther King and Governor George Wallace.

He exemplifies a new generation of Americans, born and raised to believe that all things are possible it one refuses to envision anything except success. He understands perhaps better than any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the need for cooperation and consensus. He is far more a statesman than a politician; far more a facilitator than a charismatic leader; far more a walker than a talker, despite an eloquence which springs from the heart and the mind across one tongue and a language common to every single citizen he has pledged to serve.

He represents the best that is in each of us and he is vulnerable to the raging beast that co-exists in the often convoluted and contradictory character of the nation itself. He has willingly admitted that he cannot do the job without us; that his solutions depend on the willingness of each of us to participate in the process. He is not a benevolent genius ordained by God to lead his people out of the self-imposed bondage of material greed. He is much simpler than that. He is an American who understands what it is to be one.

Regardless of whether his plans for economic salvation succeed or fail; regardless of whether his foreign policy returns this nation to a place of honor and respect among all nations; whether his fireside chats reach the Blackberries and the laptops of his constituency here and around the globe, Barack Obama himself will not pale before the promises he has made, for no single individual is mighty enough to let an entire nation down.

If we end up sinking into the mire of abysmal economics and sealing our own extinction, it will not be because Barack Obama failed. It will be because we, as individual citizens of the noblest social experiment in history, chose to do so. And we will have no one to blame but ourselves.