HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. PRESIDENT

Hi again from the Bastion on the Puget Sound. We’d like to wish American president Barack Obama a late Happy Birthday. The Eagle’s chief executive turned 49 this past Wednesday. We were sorry to hear that Michelle and the kids couldn’t be with him but then hard times don’t always make for traditional celebrations.

I found it sort of ironic that most of the press I’ve seen on this has used his birthday as another opportunity to attack his professional performance. What I have NOT seen so far are these same Sunday afternoon quarterbacks offering constructive alternatives.

Where I come from, if you haven’t got a better idea, people expect you to keep your mouth shut until you do. But then we also don’t have a lot of time for whiners either. We don’t really expect a lot from government and mostly, we’re not disappointed in these regards. Shrugging.

If you’d like to spend a few minutes learning more about Barack Obama

IN OTHER NEWS

We’re certainly glad that BP has apparently finally taken care of what many experts are calling the biggest oil spill in human history. It was also interesting to read a related story suggesting that what remains does not pose much risk. I’m sure that comes as comfort to someone but considering the damage that has already been done to the Gulf Shore economy, I cannot at the moment ~ for the life of me ~ imagine who that might be. So good luck with that one, guys. Sigh.

We’ve mentioned before that Seattle is preparing for electric cars by, among other things, installing recharging stations at the Park and Ride lots which serve the Puget Sound’s two major public transportation systems. Nissan is opening a dealership here for its Leaf and last week, one of our local television stations sent a reporter out to try one on possibly the steepest street in town. I had the opportunity to watch that segment and our terrain was no problem for the leaf. With a range of about one hundred miles per charge, the Leaf is still an urban option. But as the technology continues to evolve and as the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada engage in the parallel development of the appropriate infrastructure, it does appear that electrics are back this time and this time, to stay. For more, yep, go here.

In a related story, our neighbor to the south, Oregon, is trying out a new quick recharging station that can do in 20 minutes what it still takes several hours at most such stations currently. With both states committed to the electrification of Interstate Five, the American West Coast’s north-south freeway, and with the Greater Vancouver area and the province of British Columbia in general mirroring developments in these regards, travel in general in our region will be a lot quieter, a lot healthier and a lot better for the environment. And maybe it’s just me, but I believe that if we can do it here, it can certainly be done where you live. Yep, for more, go here.

SURVIVING HARD TIMES

Over the last three years or so, we’ve run an article a week on surviving hard times. We hope it’s helped and judging by your responses, it has some. I think sometimes a review of the basics ~ the short list, as it were ~ is in order. It’s a good reminder, at least for me, that there are, in fact, things all of us can do that will make a difference. Tricks Of Surviving In Hard Times, by Melvin Polatnick, does exactly that. I’ve printed this one out and posted it strategically. Yep, I enjoyed it that much.

ON THE CANCER FRONT

There’s a new invention which could reduce the need for skin cancer biopsies and improve the accuracy of diagnoses. It’s being tested at Vanderbilt University and the initial results are good. It uses a laser beam to illuminate several lays of the suspected area, analyzes it and compares it to the chemical composition of the different types of melanoma. For more on the one, please go here.

It is estimated that approximately 22,000 women in the United States have ovarian cancer and that 14,000 of them will die from it this year. It’s been a difficult disease to diagnose but that should change now that the Food & Drug Administration has approved a new type of blood test. Seattle KING 5 TV’s oncology reporter and herself a cancer survivor, Jean Enersen, explains that “the test, called Ova1, reads five specific proteins. It can determine if an ovarian mass is malignant or benign or if the patient needs to see a specialist for surgery.” Yep, for the full story, go here.

RESOURCES AND RELATED LINKS:
American Cancer Statistics 2009
Canadian Cancer Statistics 2009
National Cancer Institute (American)
Fighting Breast Cancer: Breast Cancer Survivor Stories
Science Daily: Health & Medicine News

HEALTH NEWS

With August being the hottest month of the summer for many of us, it probably won’t hurt to check out the quality of the sunscreen you’re using. It’s important, I think, to remember that one size does not fit all and that even when there doesn’t seem to be enough of the bright and yellow stuff out there to constitute a sunny day (any where other than Seattle), that sunscreen is still important. Yep, check it out here.

This is for the workout fanatics among us, and quite frankly, I hope there’s a few. I hate dancing by myself, as it were. When I relax and especially if I’m thinking of going on vacation/holiday, I feel a little guilty if I’m getting too much rest. It’s almost like there’s some weird comfort in being as tired at the end of the day as I usually am so I tend to add or sneak in an extra workout or two. NOT A GOOD IDEA, according to a recent study. To find out why, yep, go here.

SEATTLE SCENES

This statue of Sadako Sasaki, a little Japanese girl who survived the bombing of Hiroshima during the Second World War, only to die of radiation sickness at the age of 12, is the centerpiece of Peace Park, a minuscule green space at the end of a bridge leading to the University of Washington. Photo by Rusty Miller

If you’re visiting Seattle and would like to have a rather atypical experience, you might want to consider packing a lunch, leaving your hotel and grabbing a Metro bus for a short ride across the Ship Canal to the neighborhood of Fremont and a walking tour which includes mini-parks, some extremely interesting statues and vistas of two lakes, a towering dormant volcano and two mountain ranges that are simply not to be believed. For details, please go here

If you’re wondering why so many of us here are so passionate about the Pacific Northwest and the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, check out this slideshow of Mount Rainier taken recently and yes, on a sunny day.

SUMMER GUIDE: Let us steer you to the best beaches, festivals and fun.

SEATTLE FACTS AND FIGURES
Seattle Rainfall in Comparison To Other US Cities
Seattle Geography & Climate
For more information about Seattle
For live cameras on Seattle, the Puget Sound and Washington State

CRITTER STUFF

In a move which apparently re-establishes federal preeminence in the protection of wildlife, US District Judge Donald Molloy reinstated the Endangered Species Act to cover all three states in which the Rocky Mountain wolf runs. This halts planned hunts in Idaho and Montana this autumn. It is the result of a suit brought by Defenders of Wildlife and other groups. For more on this one, please go here. And to perhaps better understand the role this species plays in its environment, check this out.

Well, it looks like one of the darlings of the Greater Puget Sound is headed for celebrity status once again. Luna, an orca who just showed up suddenly back in 2001 off Nootka Sound, was the subject of a 2007 locally produced documentary, Saving Luna. Now she’s slated to star in a Hollywood style treatment entitled The Whale and this one has Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson as executive producers. There are several layers of genuine human to orca human interest in how this one’s coming together. I totally enjoyed this one and our thanks to Molly and Scott in Vancouver, BC for sending it to us. Yep, go here.

Related
A Whale’s Tale

Recommended Related Links:
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

There’s a town in Montana that’s been victimized by one of the biggest, cleverest and most elusive burglars probably in the history of crime as that state has known it in the 21st Century. Frustrated investigators have attributed as many as 20 home invasions to this particular suspect. They may finally, however, have a break in the case(s). It seems this particular thief in the night has a devout appreciation of pizza (I can relate) and was actually caught indulging in one during a recent break-in. The homeowner awoke to find the perp, a full grown adult black bear leaning on a big chest-style freezer, munching on a frozen pepperoni and Canadian bacon thin crust. Since there have been other incidents in neighboring communities, it is believed that this particular bruin is actually part of a gang. Authorities attribute the crime wave to a late berry season, which sounds like as good an explanation as any when you haven’t really got one. For film and more on this, 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.

The Northstar Journal is not for profit and funded, in part, by contributions from readers like yourself. To contribute, please go here and our sincerest thanks.

Rusty

CONGRATULATIONS, MRS. MEZVINSKY

Hi again from the Bastion on the Puget Sound. Well, today, Camelot blossomed once again as former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton wed long-time beau and best friend, investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, exchanged vows at a Beaux Arts estate on the Hudson River called Astor Courts.

Ms. Clinton was resplendent in a strapless white gown with silver beading around the waist and Mr. Mezvinsky was, we understand, quite dashing in a dark Burberry suit. The mother of the bride wore fushia. The two-part ceremony was conducted by a minister and by a rabbi, as per the religions of the bride and groom respectively.

It was, as well, a celebrity-studded event and besides close friends and family, those in attendance included Madeleine Albright, secretary of state during Chelsea’s dad’s second term; family friend and fashion designer Vera Wang, who created Chelsea’s wedding gown; and Hollywood couple Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen.

It was, by all reports, the stellar event of the summer on the Hudson and a good time was had by all. For more on this one, please go here.

Related
As Chelsea Clinton Celebrates Her Wedding, Town of Rhinebeck, N.Y., Elbows Its Way In

IN OTHER NEWS

At a time when it’s sometimes easy to feel as though things have gotten thoroughly and totally out of hand, it’s nice to read news to the contrary. And to me, when it involves as something as fundamental to survival as improving the quality of the air we breathe, the land we seek to sustain us, and most importantly, perhaps, the water on which we so vitally depend, I feel personally empowered. For an excellent example and a splendid treatment of the subject in general, yep, go here.

When a major industry embraces regional biofuels, I pay attention. When I’ve been involved in that industry and live in that region, I pay considerably more. And when it turns out to be an exportable model for the other six flags under The Northstar Journal masthead, I pass it along. Our thanks to Caroline Hidalgo of the Portland Oregonian for this one headlined “Northwest Aviation Leaders Aim To Develop A Regional Biofuel Industry.”

In a related development which has me just a little nervous, the Boeing Aircraft Company plans on having 90 percent of its jets recyclable by 2016. That means they’re going to be made of used materials or new ones which will be. And I’m thinking, oookay. I mean, I’m cool with drinking out of cups, wearing clothing, using a computer, shopping with and buying stuff in containers that have been recycled. But going up 30,000 feet at a little less than the speed of sound in this big roaring steel, glass and polystyrene mother ship made from stuff that at one time I probably drank out of, wore, keyboarded, packed groceries in and took a can opener to? Ummm, that’s like when I decide to get daring in the kitchen. Being the quintessentially polite soul that I am, I always offer housemates (and/or sometimes people who walk by in front of the place when I’m sitting out on the steps chowing down) my latest culinary adventure. If they survive the first couple of bites, I’ll try it. So for those of you who collect frequent flyer miles like a hypochondriac does symptoms, and who want to keep soaring across those friendly skies past 2016, let me know how it goes. If it still works out for you, I might try a flight from Seattle, Washington to Bellevue, Washington. Most of that’s over water so if anything goes wrong, at least I can swim home. Yep, for more on this one, go here.

SURVIVING HARD TIMES

A real big part of surviving hard times (and good) is having the energy to enjoy a full day and feeling good at the end of it. Those of us still looking for work or worried about keeping the income we still have often make the mistake of cramming so much into our waking hours that we either forget to eat breakfast or skimp, figuring we can catch up at lunch or dinner. That is sooo NOT a good idea and it’s totally self-defeating. For the profound medical truth behind this one, please go here.

CROSSING OVER

We join theatre goers and theatrical professionals under at least these seven flags in observing the passing of American-Canadian actor Maury Chaykin. Character actor and screenwriter True Boardman, Jr. once observed that the stage and screen were not supported by the stars among them but by those who remained all but invisible, who so became the characters they played and portrayed so many, that they lent credibility to both the best and the worst moments of Don Juans and divas alike. True was my mentor and I’ve enjoyed Mr. Chaykin’s contributions for most of my adult life. He left quite a legacy behind and his example has not been lost on others. For a much finer tribute than this, please go here.

NORTHSTAR, THE DRAGON

HUMANS NEED TO CHANGE TO AVOID VIOLENT WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS

Shannon Moneo

Victoria — From Friday's Globe and Mail Published on Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010 10:34PM EDT Last updated on Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010 10:36PM EDT

As B.C. experiences a bizarre season of wildlife-human conflicts, with a rare attack by a black bear and deer being demonized for attacking people and pets, a wildlife ecologist says people need to change.

“Humans aren't particularly good at modifying their behaviour to accommodate wild animals,” said Chris Darimont, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and research scientist with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. “Humans have concluded we hold dominion over wild animals.”

But increasingly, humans are sharing space with mammals such as deer, who are in effect food migrants, following what Mr. Darimont refers to as “delicious things in gardens and lawns.”

Unpleasant incidents occur when humans push the instinctive buttons that animals have for dealing with predators, Mr. Darimont said from his Victoria office.

One example occurred on July 20, when a woman in Victoria went for a walk with her medium-sized mutt and saw a doe with three fawns. She cautiously kept moving, but the doe charged and later stomped on her dog, who wasn’t badly injured. To the doe, the dog was a wolf, and thus a threat to her fawns, so naturally she displayed anti-predator behaviour, Mr. Darimont said.

“We don’t think of deer as aggressors,” he said. “We think of them as big-eyed creatures.” When they attack, it’s completely unexpected, eliciting a raw response that harkens back to human evolutionary memories of being both predator and prey, Mr. Darimont explained.

In Cranbrook, a doe attacked a dog in June, and earlier this month a newspaper carrier was left with a black eye after a deer encounter. The eastern B.C. community, as well as neighbouring Kimberly, are polling their residents to see what should be done, with a cull as one solution. In Victoria and Nanaimo, residents have also been calling for deer culls due to the damage the animals are doing to gardens.

According to Ministry of Environment spokesperson Angie Poss, a cull is only one method. Repellents, landscaping alternatives and fencing are other possibilities. Population reduction strategies such as capture-and-relocate programs and fertility-control strategies are other options.

But eliminating deer from urban settings won’t be easy, Mr. Darimont said. The easily accessible, nutritious food found in yards, along with a loss of predators, are sustaining urbanized deer.

“The only default is to modify our behaviour to avoid encounters,” he said. “Fence our gardens better, don’t let dogs approach deer.”

Other animals are also losing their natural habitats. A 2004 Journal of Bioscience study reported that in North America, grey wolves have lost 42 per cent of their range, cougars have lost 36 per cent, grizzly bears 53 per cent and black bears 39 per cent.

In the case of the recent black-bear attack, a Vancouver Island man had been sleeping outside under a tarpaulin near Port Alberni, even though a bear had been spotted around the campsite three days earlier when food was briefly left out.

“If the camper had knowledge of a bear hanging around in camp, it’s likely not a wise thing to be sleeping outside,” Mr. Darimont said. “If the bear was hanging around camp, that bear had access to food before the event occurred.”

The attack on the sleeping camper, which left the man with head wounds requiring plastic surgery, as well as other wounds, was only the second ever on Vancouver Island by a black bear that resulted in injury. Mr. Darimont suspects the male, 68-kilogram bear may have mistaken the man for a deer.

Special to The Globe and Mail
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ON THE CANCER FRONT

This is another one of those, “I Get to Smile Because Something I Get Dinged For A Lot Turns Out To Be a Cancer Fighter.” I am a delicatessen sandwich-aholic and a fanatic for extreme toppings. I have learned that lots of onions, hot mustard, jalapenos, assorted exotic peppers and garlic at the right time also have certain socially tactical benefits like on company I really don’t want hanging around a long time. I have also discovered that it endears me to others who share my passion and to me, spice is all. In short, if there’s no horseradish in Heaven, I’m going to Hell for lunch. It turns out cancer hates horseradish as much as I adore it. Yep, for more on this one, go here.

RESOURCES AND RELATED LINKS:
American Cancer Statistics 2009
Canadian Cancer Statistics 2009
National Cancer Institute (American)
Fighting Breast Cancer: Breast Cancer Survivor Stories
Science Daily: Health & Medicine News

HEALTH NEWS

With August being the hottest month of the summer for many of us, it probably won’t hurt to check out the quality of the sunscreen you’re using. It’s important, I think, to remember that one size does not fit all and that even when there doesn’t seem to be enough of the bright and yellow stuff out there to constitute a sunny day (any where other than Seattle), that sunscreen is still important. Yep, check it out here.

This is for the workout fanatics among us, and quite frankly, I hope there’s a few. I hate dancing by myself, as it were. When I relax and especially if I’m thinking of going on vacation/holiday, I feel a little guilty if I’m getting too much rest. It’s almost like there’s some weird comfort in being as tired at the end of the day as I usually am so I tend to add or sneak in an extra workout or two. NOT A GOOD IDEA, according to a recent study. To find out why, yep, go here.

SEATTLE SCENES

If you’re wondering why so many of us here are so passionate about the Pacific Northwest and the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, check out this slideshow of Mount Rainier taken recently and yes, on a sunny day.

SUMMER GUIDE: Let us steer you to the best beaches, festivals and fun.

This is sooo Seattle I almost fell out of my chair laughing. First of all, I happen to share my neighbor’s passion in these regards and second, I love it when someone in my own town can turn me on to great seafood restaurants I’ve never heard of before. Check this one out then, under the headline “Why sardines ought to be on Seattle's plate”. Our thanks to Hugo Kugiya at Crosscut.com for this one.

SEATTLE FACTS AND FIGURES
Seattle Rainfall in Comparison To Other US Cities
Seattle Geography & Climate
For more information about Seattle
For live cameras on Seattle, the Puget Sound and Washington State

CRITTER STUFF


This one falls under “A Very Messy Job, Thank God Somebody Was Willing To Do It. In this case, it was cleaning off a bald eagle which landed in a sludge pond at an Oregon sewage treatment plant. The public utility workers didn’t mind wading in and getting the great bird but they had no place to put it so some volunteers from the Wildlife Center of the North Coast picked it up and drove it to their facility in Astoria. The female raptor rode the whole way in the lap of one of her human rescuers and then got to take four baths in warm water and Dawn liquid detergent. She’ll try out in the Center’s 100-foot flight cage and released later back around Newhalem. Nice going folks. And for more, go here.




Thanks to an exceptionally wildlife-savvy American jurist, the endangered lynx will now have thousands of acres more protected habitat in Montana, Idaho and Colorado. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy concluded that these creatures were wrongly excluded from the same protections granted other species facing imminent extinction. Thank you, Your Honor, and for more on this one, yep, go here.

Recommended Related Links:
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

This one ought to come as real good news to those who guard our nation from the undesireable and the just a little too our there. A guy tried to smuggle 18 baby Titi monkeys into Mexico in what authorities described as his “girdle.” He said he’d thought of leaving them in his suitcase but was worried that the x-rays might hurt them. He was taken into custody and charged with trafficking in an endangered species. The fate of the monkeys has not been officially disclosed but an informed source has it that the 16 who survived will be returned to their native Peru and placed in the care of local wildlife authorities.

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 not for profit and funded, in part, by contributions from readers like yourself. To contribute, please go here and our sincerest thanks.

Rusty

In Tribute to Miep Gies, Thoughts of Warmer Times, And Our Heart Goes Out to Haiti

Thoughts of warmer days. These were taken on Lake Washington on July 29, 2009, when the official temperature reached 103, making it the hottest day on record. For more hot/warm weather windows, please go here. For more photos like this, please visit my online gallery. Photos by MS(R)M

Hi again and yep, from the ramparts of the Bastion on the Puget Sound, it’s been another interesting week.

We join the rest of the world in mourning the passing, at age 100, of Miep Gies, the brave woman from the Netherlands who helped Anne Frank and her family hide from the Germans during World War II and, after the Gestapo finally discovered them, made sure Ms Frank’s diaries were returned to the only one of them to survive the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Anne’s father Otto. Anne died there at age 15 of typhus. For a moving tribute to a quiet, humble and incredibly brave human being, please go here. For more on Miep’s life and times, please go here.

And our heart certainly goes out to those hundreds of thousands in Haiti victimized by the worst earthquake in 200 years. For more on this one, please go here. And to learn how you can help, please check this link.

SURVIVING HARD TIMES

Workers at Portland, Oregon’s Daimler Truck plant received good news when it was announced that the struggling operation was awarded $40-million in federal funds to develop more fuel efficient technologies. Daimler was one of nine companies to receive such an award. For more on this one and a list of the others involved, please go here.

And under the category of breaking stereotype, Detroit takes best read in this category. As Susan Salny of the New York Times reports:

“With $6,000 and some Hollywood-style spunk, four friends opened this city’s only independent foreign movie house three months ago in an abandoned school auditorium on an unlighted stretch of the Cass Corridor near downtown.”

Yep, this is one of those, if they can do it there, maybe we can do it here stories so for more on this, please go here.

MORE GOOD NEWS

Congratulations to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for winning the Sightline Institute’s Cascadia’s Greenest City award. I’m also pleased that Seattle came in second and Portland, for whose major daily newspaper I once worked, third.

For those of you unfamiliar with Cascadia, it basically extends south from the Alaska Peninsula to San Francisco and east across British Columbia to western Alberta, then south through parts of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Northern California.

In my experience, there’s nothing quite so empowering and inspiring as a good example. So to find out what criteria the Institute used and how each city ranked by category, please go here.

A small Washington state community has found a unique way to recycle Christmas trees by letting the goats at a local animal rescue eat them. I love it and yep, only in Washington and remember where you read it first. Yep, go here.

Maybe not so good news but if anyone still doubts global warming, they might want to take a hike up Mt. Rainier. According to Seattle Times science reporter Sandi Doughton:

“The fallout from Mount Rainier's shrinking glaciers is beginning to roll downhill, and nowhere is the impact more striking than on the volcano's west side.”

I can see Mt. Rainer from the ramparts of the Bastion on the Puget Sound and I was on the Canadian border when her sister, Mt. St. Helens, erupted. A lot of us count on those glaciers to keep Lady Rainer cool, calm and unriled. Understandably, then, we’ll be keeping a close eye on this one. You can too, by going here.

CRITTER STUFF

We’ve got three totally beautiful stories to share with you this week and the first is about this absolutely darling dolphin who had the misfortune, as a baby, to get her tail caught in a crab pot rope. Despite every effort possible, Winter lost her fluke and it was decided she’d be safer in the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida, where she could also be rehabilitated. She became an instant hit, of course, and attracted the attention of a small company which has been making prosthetic flukes for her. This is one of the most moving and inspirational I’ve read in a long time. For an interview with Winter’s trainer, Abby Stone, on The Bonnie Hunt Show, please go here. To see where Winter lives, yep, please go here.

Closer to home, our local orca pot increased its number by one on New Years Day. A twelve-year-old killer whale had a calf, which was spotted as J Pod moved south of Vancouver Island and into the Puget Sound. Yep, he/she’s a cutie and for a pix of mother and child and more on this one, please go here. Our thanks to Dave and Marilee from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and to the Victoria Times Colonist for this one.

I loved this one because I love it when animals keep humans guessing. And according to Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle Outdoors Writer. Some are.

“The question on everyone's mind lately has been: Where have San Francisco's famous sea lions gone? The answer might lie about 500 miles north of the Golden Gate, where an estimated 2,000 sea lions have recently arrived off the central Oregon coast.”

I’ve been to Florence this time of year and it’s a real nice break from the pandemonium of urban society. San Francisco’s been going through a lot of changes lately and they’ve never been known for doing anything on the hush and nod.

My guess most of these new arrivals to Sea Lion Caves were probably light sleepers who just needed to catch up on their zzzzzs. As large as they are, those are probably ZZZZZZZZZZZZs. I expect they’ll be up there some while. San Francisco doesn’t show any signs of keeping it down past ten p.m. Yep, for more on this one, please go here.


FROM YOU GUYS FOR YOU GUYS

ty mick. i liked hearing about the coyote. my dad had a coyote for a pet when he was a teenager and evidentally both adapted well until my grandfather sold the coyote. i have always thought that was mean spirited of him. warmest regards, fay

Fay, as always, a pleasure, lass. We kind of tripped out on it too.

Well, when I first heard about this one, I didn’t believe it so I don’t expect you guys to either. Yep, into the YOU GUYS THINK I MAKE THIS STUFF UP category for this one. To make a point recently, some passengers on Seattle’s newly initiated light rail line boarded the train in downtown’s Westlake Center and then took their pants off. On the scene were television crews, astounded passengers and more pundits than vultures on the Great Serengeti after a lion feast.

The Chamber of Commerce is not going to like this but Seattleites have a reputation for doing things sans clothing. Nudity is legal in all our public parks (I’ve never seen anybody in their birthday suit in the 20 years I’ve lived here but then I don’t go looking for stuff like that with gun or camera.)

I guess my objection to it is primarily aesthetic. I’ve staged special events and if I was going to get a bunch of semi-nude people together to draw attention to a cause or complaint, I’d hire models of both sexes and all gender persuasions. If we’re going to appeal to the libido here, for crying out loud, let’s get them ogling good before they turn away in mock outrage and impersonate the fine, upstanding and straitlaced citizens that give a town a good reputation.

That’s it for this week. We’ve got some cool stuff down below you might want to check out. Stay the course, gang. We’re getting there and we’re going to make it. And thanks once again for the ear. And stuff.

Rusty


NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS


FUN STUFF

Virtual Experiences

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.

REVIEWS

Music CDs

Over the holidays, I had a chance to experience Susan Boyle’s “I Dream A Dream” CD. And if ever there was a good time for this one, it is surely now, when it seems as though the whole world could use some hope, some inspiration and an example of how a complicated soul simply expressed can make a difference. I was a professional dance and show combo leader with time in grade at 18 and I know what it takes to move an audience.

It’s a lot more than just being able to sing well. To sing for working class people, who don’t really believe anybody who hasn’t been where they have, it takes being able to get inside the song and become that song.

Check out the selections on her CD. They include: Wild Horses; I Dreamed A Dream; Cry Me A River; How Great Thou Art; You’ll See; Daydream Believer; Up To The Mountain; Amazing Grace; Who I Was Born To Be; Proud; The End of the World; and Silent Night.

Susan does that with each and every one of them. Getting into the song and becoming the song. Like most folks, I suspect, I wanted to hear I Dream A Dream first. That was the same stellar experience the first time I watched her totally wow a panel of British judges and then do it all over again in the Colonies as it were.

As I listened, though, to the other songs, I totally forgot about Susan, the one who did that one. Like she did, I became the soul of those for whom these songs are written and for whom she sings them. It wasn’t hard because I am one of those.

And as haunted as hard times make all of us, including me, she took me to a place where people experience it about as deep as it cuts and yet survive to grow and find a better life. She made me feel a little less lonely and a lot more connected.

I was brought up to believe that whatever a person did in this life, they should never forget who they are as a person. Ms. Boyle has done that both by personal example and in her art. I expect me and mine will be in her debt for some while.

Thank you, Susan, Lass. We are honoured by your society.

To purchase this online, we invite you to go here.

Good Reads

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.

FOR YOUR ONLINE SHOPPING CONVENIENCE

We invite you to do all your amazon.com through by tapping the photo of Susan or the ad. The Northstar Journal receives a 15% commission on whatever you purchase through this link.

SURVIVING HARD TIMES

I made chowder, you made pickles. Let’s trade
I so love it when my “home and native land” proves yet again that they have something to teach the International Community about surviving hard times. You’ll love this one, gang. With thanks to the Toronto Globe & Mail.

And lest we think this is limited to country folk, consider this one, headlined, Bootstrapping taken to new extremes in tech industry

Or how about a seasonable application regarding Christmas trees? (This will be a real stretch for those of you in Toronto, New York, Dublin, London and Paris) Ever imagine having one delivered to your home by bicycle? Real close to the category of You Guys Think I Make This Stuff Up so by all means, go here ye yahoos of little faith

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 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

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.”

CCleaner - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com
The home of Spybot-S&D! “For the past few years I've been using two free programs to remove the tracking cookies we accumulate every time we visit a site. Both have proven safe and reliable. Try them. You'll be surprised at the amount of binary barnacles your pore little hard accumulates as it sails the cyber seas. Sorry, but neither program eliminates alliterative purple patch prose. Like mine.”
Mike Browne, Sacramento, CA

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.

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

NAKED BICYCLE RIDERS, A COOL PRESIDENTIAL PRESS CONFERENCE, AND A BATTLING BRITISH MOTHER TAKING ON 10 DOWNING STREET

Hi again, yahoos and yahoo-ettes. Well, a weird week sort’ve got an early start, due in part to my propensity for spontaneous bus rides and impetuous debarkations. It’s usually pretty tame stuff like the aroma of a good restaurant, the faint strains of a talented street musician, the masts of a schooner moving through the Ship Canal, the kinds of things the inner child in me notices.

Well, this time that inner adolescent got the rest of me right in the middle of a bicycle race whose contestants were mostly nude, pretty much so or dressed in body paint and a couple layers of devout immodesty. This is Seattle, where it’s legal to go nude in our public parks. I’ve got to say, though, that in 20 years, I’ve never seen a naked person having a picnic or doing the dueling tennis balls bit.

Nope, it took blithely and innocently cruising into the annual Fremont Solstice Festival Parade to give me my first glimpse of Seattle homo sapiens in public buff. If I didn’t love that inner child so much, I’d be tempted to give him a good spanking. I’m an orphan, though, so I’ve learned to be my own parent. That’s kind of like being self-employed and getting mad at the boss. Yep, I’ve got a few issues yet to work out.

That, however, doesn’t stop me from admiring someone who takes on a worthy cause and ramps it to the max. This one involves a British mother with an autistic son whose campaign for more government support for families with kids like hers ended up with a very productive meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Hers is a very empowering personal example and a reminder of what a single dedicated individual can accomplish in this life. Her name is Polly Toomey and if you’d like to learn more about her and her organization, here’s a good place to start.

Someone else who really impressed me this week was President Obama. Because of the decidedly bipartisan nature of this blog’s readership and its internationalism, I try not to lean on politics too much. And since I’m not nearly as good as most journalists at analyzing the national scene, as it were, I’m better off boring you guys with different stuff.

I enjoyed the way the American chief executive interacted with the press Tuesday morning. In my opinion, he articulates his positions with intelligence, candor and perspective. He’s also not afraid to laugh at himself and that’s probably what keeps him taking his job more seriously than he takes himself.

He’s also not afraid to spar with reporters and to remind them of where the boundaries are between his personal/family life and his responsibilities as the leader of a nation of some 307-million people. Above and beyond any political considerations, this president is good theatre and that too, is a quality I’ve come to value in a leader.

Here’s another of those stories from the Old West and I can particularly relate because “this county that refuses to die” is familiar to me. And the ghosts of Captain Jack and a desperate band of Modoc Indians. It’s a land of volcanoes, high desert and soaring forested granite peaks. Settled by those who crossed America in Conestogas, it remains a sparsely inhabited frontier where tradition and ingenuity are now bringing an increasing degree of economic stability to one of the Northwest’s most beleaguered counties.

Further north up the Interstate Five corridor, in Snohomish County, Washington ~ north of Seattle between the Puget Sound and the Canadian border ~ farmers are getting into the tourism business by offering hands on excursions of family-owned dairy and truck operations. With both Seattle and Vancouver, BC to draw from, this agritourism, as they’re calling it, should play well for those who grew up among orchards, hay lofts and milking stools as well as those with a romantic love of same. It’s also an excellent opportunity for sell local produce directly and to acquire same. It looks like another win-win situation to us.

It also provides a nice segue into the first of this week’s critter story. And after you read about this one, I swear by Old MacDonald’s ghost and the Kentucky Colonel that you have never going to look at chickens in quite the same way again. For those of you to whom this would constitute a major dietary event, we advise skipping this one.

We’re talking about a white rooster and a Cornish game hen known to a local community as “Care Chickens” because the woman who owns them takes them to visit residents of the town’s health and rehabilitation center. This is northeastern Montana farming country, so it makes sense. Petting a rooster and a Cornish game hen, I mean. Okay, it seems a little weird but like Grandpa Seamus used to say, “if it’s working, do NOT mess with it.”

And finally, to top off the tank, in a special to ABC News, Opinion writer Lee Dye asked the question, “Wouldn't it be handy if you could write yourself a note in midair and have it safely stored where you could retrieve it later?”

Ummm. No. In the first place, if I could read my own writing, I wouldn’t keyboard everything from a shopping list to another novel in progress. In the second place, how do I know that other people in the vicinity with similar phones couldn’t receive that note? Third, since I’m supposed to be a communications professional, how would I spell and grammar check such a missive?

Now just watch. Thanks to those researchers at Duke University and their "PhonePoint Pen", the next big rage will be air writing. Could be a boon to the air entertainment industry. Air guitars have been popular for quite awhile. If this triple-P threat could annotate music, I’ll bet it would catch on with air composers. And think about aspiring writers who never learned to type. In 20 years, they’ll be awarding a Pulitzer Prize for Air Literature. The applications of this new technology stagger the imagination. Where (oh where) is Grandpa Seamus when we need him now, eh? Sigh.

And on that note, folks, it’s been a pleasure and thanks once again for the ear. Take care, stay well and God Bless.

Rusty

P.S. Since next week’s both Canada Day (July 1) and American Independence Day and picnics are real popular, we thought we’d turn you on to a source of dynamite potato salad recipes. Cooking’s a hobby in this house and this is perhaps the best website we’ve found yet. It’s called cooking.com.

THANKS TO DIGITAL TELEVISION, I GOT TO WATCH BONNIE HUNT CALL TONY DANZA A RAT BASTARD

Bonnie Hunt

Hi again, yahoos and yahoo-ettes. Well, technology can certainly be a wonderful thing, can’t it? In anticipation of this conversion to all digital on Friday, I cranked up the late birthday present I got from my brother Denny and lo and behold, I got to tune in Channel 5.2 in time to hear Bonnie Hunt call Tony Danza a rat bastard. Somehow that makes it all worth while. (Sigh) Ain’t life in America grand, folks?

Actually, with all due respect, I wasn’t the least bit shocked, nor would I have been in regular broadcast mode. I’m a fan of the Bonnie Hunt Show and I may be one of the few who don’t remember her from any other ‘role’.

As the star of the Bonnie Hunt Show, she comes across very real to me. I like it that she’s a former nurse from the Midwest and continues to fight for cancer patients in a way now equally as appropriate.

I love that her production company is named after her mother and father and that her mom continues to be a mainstay of Bonnie’s professional life. In short, despite her celebrity, she comes across pretty much like the girls I grew up with. She’s working class Chicago Southside Irish and, as far as I’m concerned? That’s just about as Middle America as it gets off the farm.

She’s a nice looking lass and I’ve considered experiencing some of the films and television productions Ms. Hunt’s been involved with. I’m sure I’d be impressed. My friends are. But I think for now, I’ll forgo that. I can get Hollywood with an ease that is altogether too tempting, believe me. Good neighbors are not, at least in my experience, so easy to find.

Well, if this column had a GOOD NEWS - BAD NEWS DEPARTMENT, these next two would surely fall under that. On one hand, the unemployment rate is going up. On the other hand, in my home state of Washington, they’re predicting that this Recession is coming to an end.

It seems to me that the economic landscape is still changing and while I appreciate the wisdom, generosity, and humanitarian enlightenment of these economic stimulus packages, I’m still looking for sustainable examples and they keep coming from weird places all over the four countries this blog seems to reach week after week. (You people have the patience of saints).

In Eugene, Oregon, they’ve discovered that if citizens increased its bicycle usage to half that of Amsterdam, “the city would enjoy more than $212 million a year in local economic stimulus, an analysis of traffic cost data shows.”

As far as relevant statistics, the article was pretty much a washout. I couldn’t find out how many people in either Amsterdam or Eugene are currently using bicycles. What I appreciated was the breakdown on why bicycles are “greener” than fossil-fueled transportation. It’s a good solid argument for anyone seeking to implement those kinds of changes in either their own life or in the lives of their community.

There’s also an outfit in Idaho which is recycling bottles and providing incarcerated women with a second chance. As most of you know probably better than I do, hard times produce desperate behavior when feeding and providing for one’s own are concerned and that’s the approach the Idaho Department of Corrections Chief admits is working. According to this article in Boise Weekly Overall, Idaho's prison chief is supportive of more workforce training for inmates.

"They are working their way back out," said Brent Reinke, director of IDOC.

I can remember a time when the only fit labour for the imprisoned was breaking rocks, building roads and making license plates. I’ve never seen a low recidivism rate behind that either. It’s encouraging to see another example of the system breaking stereotype and getting the drift that we’re all in this together. Those who can return to society deserve the chance. Those who cannot deserve the chance, nonetheless, to contribute. Staying where their flaws can’t hurt anyone but at least paying for their keep.

So yep, if those who predict this Recession is coming to an end are seeing things like this and counting them important, I’d say we’ve reason for guarded optimism. What’s cool about this and perhaps a little frightening is that for perhaps the first time ~ President Obama and Congressional generosity notwithstanding ~ it’s still up to us.

I remember this totally outstanding commercial on television with these big hands coming down and enfolding a house and family. I’m thinking we’ve learned not to depend so much on Allstate and a bit more on ourselves?

And finally, occasionally I come across a website so cool I just can’t help passing it along. If this column had a CUTTING THE STRESS DEPARTMENT, this would certainly fall into it. The medical community has known for years that mental exercise ~ including and especially crossword puzzles, brain teasers, etc. ~ keeps the brain healthy and can postpone and sometimes prevent the onset of Alzheimer's. Do yourself and those who love you a favor and check this out. Arcamax.com.

Until next time, then, eh? Take care, stay well and God Bless. We’ll see you next week, if not before. And thanks for the ear.

Rusty

A GOOD PEFORMANCE, FULL OF PROMISE, THUNDER AND HOPE; AND ANOTHER EVERGREEN STATER GOES TO THE WASHINGTON ON THE POTOMAC

Former Washington State Gov. Gary Locke

Well, as I’m writing this, I’m also waiting for Barack to say something that will break his rolling chain of golden eloquence. (a few minutes later) Well, turns out he didn’t and I’m some relieved. Seems to me there’s a rusty old saw someplace that says that the longer the speech, the greater the chance of blowing it big time. This president is perhaps the greatest orator we’ve ever had and likely the most closely scrutinized. No pressure there, eh? Max dropped by to watch it with me and at one point, we looked at each other and he grinned.

"The President is pissed."

"Big time."

We figured Barak had been saving some of this up, the way he rolled out with it. He’s been slammed a lot lately for his poor cabinet choices, "his failure" to generate more bipartisan support for his economic stimulus package; his implicit insistence that education and the arts were also part of the recovery process and his consistent tendency to read the American public and respond to them, rather than the media. He doesn’t wait for the input of his constituency, he goes out looking for it.

At one point, Max mimed reaching for a fourth of July sparkler, lighting it, and waving it. I was hearing Kate Smith singing "God Bless America," and getting teary-eyed before Max took a swig of his root beer, belched and observed,

"Good staging."

I enjoyed it, both as good television and for the performances. Now, though, it seems like the time for talking about this is over. It’s filtering down to the state level and even though Seattle’s Viaduct project didn’t get funded, Governor Christine got ahold of Mayor Greg and said she’d work to get other federal funding for it. She’ll contact Senator Patti and the Representatives involved and eventually, it’ll get done. He tells that to his constituency, then gets on with the other business at hand.

I hope that happens soon. According to our local NBC affiliate, KING 5 News, Seattle now ranks as the 10th most congested metropolitan area in the United States. That Viaduct project, like the proposed light rail system, isn’t just necessary. It’s long overdue.

Where it’s possible, I still favor a minimum reliance on federal support. I’m also a proponent of regional economic independence. I think that if the Northwest is handling the current fiscal downturn any better than other parts of the country, it’s because we’ve learned the hard way what happens with an over-dependence on the international market place.

Now that green’s been proven profitable, there’s a stampede in that direction and the industrial processes themselves are environmentally viable. They’re ideal for a small community or co-op approach, as well.

The same "revolution" has taken place in organic farming in North America. Europe’s decades ahead of us and so are other parts of the world, including Japan. Now, community gardens and small farms employing more human beings and fewer machines are not only viable, but extremely appropriate. Here in Seattle, there are low cost housing units for seniors going up which offer rooftop garden plots.

We were headed down this road before this latest economic down turn and I think it’s a real plus that we’ve blended the two priorities. Considering it was over-industrialization driven by unrealistic expectations that contributed so substantially to planetary pollution and global warning in the first place, this looks like one solution derived directly from the problem. That kind of straight-line thinking is encouraging to me.

It’s also validating to see another Evergreen State native headed for the "other Washington". Former Governor Gary Locke, the first Chinese American elected to that office, has been tapped by President Obama as Commerce Secretary. Gary’s well-qualified for the position and he’s honest. The White House seems to be making more appropriate choices in these regards and yep, that’s another reason to be guardedly optimistic.

Until next week, then, take care, stay well and God Bless.

Rusty

--------------

LINKS TO RELEVANT SITES:
The PCC Sounder Consumer
Sightline Daily

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND ECONOMIC STIMULUS

Mt. Rainier, from the U of Washington

Photo by MS(R)M

Hi again, Folks. Well, as I’m putting this together, it’s still President’s Day. I understand Abraham Lincoln’s been voted the best national chief executive we’ve ever had and George Washington, the second. I notice that George is on the one-dollar bill and Lincoln’s a little higher up but not by much. Grover Cleveland and William McKinley are waaay up there.

I’m sorry but that seems to me just a little out there, even for Americans. It’s like we’ve got this weird inverted pyramid going for us. I’m thinking, albeit real generously right now, that it just goes to show that in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, you don’t have to be first or even historically important to have value in this country. At least not on our money, eh?

However, I digress…(front page news, right?)
One of you sent The Northstar Journal a letter he wrote to his elected officials, with permission to publish. He’s from Michigan, where his governor is making some history of her own. Her name’s Jennifer Granholm and it looks like she’s proving that both cleaning up and producing industrial products that address the root causes can pay off for her constituency. I caught her on the news the other night in a story about the solar panels being produced in Michigan and being used to provide energy to a variety of structures and enterprises in the States and abroad. The author of this letter has books on a wide variety of topics, is an avid golfer, has a radio show and is a cancer survivor.

Dear Senator,

Regarding this economic crisis I would recommend you and congress explore putting a 9 month stay on home foreclosures with a mandatory provision for face to face renegotiation; 10% reduction in payroll taxes; suspend issuing new personal credit cards and a freeze on renewal of existing credit cards for a period sufficient to facilitate a balancing of personal credit system.

These actions are cost effective and quick to implement. Should you have any questions let me know.

Kindest regards,
Michael Cortson
Attorney at law (retired)
Writesit@aol.com

I need to share with you folks a real nice email I got from Senator Patti Murray (D) Washington.

Subj:
Response from Senator Murray
Date:
2/12/2009 1:34:26 PM Pacific Standard Time
From:
Senator@murray.senate.gov
To:
mailto:minstrel312@aol.comminstrel312@aol.com

Dear Mr. Miller:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Northstar Journal blog. I appreciate having the benefit of your views on this matter.
The views of Washingtonians are very important to my work. I will keep your thoughts in mind, and I encourage you to stay in touch. Please do not hesitate to call on me whenever I may be of assistance.

Again, thank you for contacting me. I hope that you will continue to let me know about this and other matters of interest to you.

I hope all is well in Seattle.

I also had a real nice phone chat with Maria Cantwell’s press secretary and they’re reading us as well. Maria’s our other U.S. Senator and coincidentally also a Democrat. Both of these people have served Washington state, the Pacific Northwest, America and, by the resonance of what they do on these levels, the international community as well.. Neither was born into money, power or politics. The term "bootstrapping" comes to mind. They have, I suspect, a lot in common with us and with Barack.

At the risk of offending those of you from other political persuasions, they didn’t have much in common with their immediate predecessor. We don’t do the dynasty riff very well out here. The Pacific Northwest is, among other things, a land of volcanoes, earthquakes, deep lakes, swiftly moving streams, mountains which reach up to touch the face of the Creator, the North Pacific in all her moods, schizophrenic weather and all-year around Birkenstocks.

My best friend of 30 years, Dennis W. "Denny" Steussy, a farm boy from Minnesota and a mover and shaker in the arts community in greater Seattle, is also sending the NSJ along to our legislators in Olympia. Denny and I have been saddle bums for some while now, like Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott. He’s a good man, this one, and he knows stuff.

What it basically means for the readers of this blog is that what you share with The Northstar Journal is shared with people positions to act on it. I don’t want to get into a "we are the world riff, but one of the reasons I started this blog was to also provide a reader forum or perhaps, more simply expressed, an opportunity to share ideas, experiences, feelings and resources with one another.

As this blog goes to press, President Obama’s in Denver, signing that $787-billion economic stimulus package into law. Only three Republican Senators voted for it but at a recent annual meeting of American governors, 22 Conservative state chief executives endorsed it. Congress still seems a little slow in waking up and smelling the coffee.

Maybe we should fund a round-trip to Seattle on a warm sunny day; Seattle, aka Land of Starbucks and Seattle’s Best. We wake up to the aroma of coffee. We go to sleep and dream by it. We buy stock in small Brazilian plantations which produce it. If it wasn’t also on the expensive side, we would very likely bathe in it. There’s even been some talk about making it the State Beverage.

I also noted a new study out of Duke University which says that angry men don’t live as long as their mellower counterparts. I got to thinking about all the angry people I’ve encountered and most of them have also been bigoted, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, jingoistic or in some other way, extremely humanity impaired.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I was glad to learn that obnoxious people don’t live as long as the rest of us. I just also wish they wouldn’t keep procreating and polluting the global gene pool. Do me a favor? The next rude person you run into? Promote celibacy. And solitude. Total solitude.

Until next week, then, take care, try to relax and keep communicating with one another. We’re going to get through these hard times and this time, yep, we’re going to learn from them.

Rusty