OUR APOLOGIES TO SHIRLEY SHERROD

Hi again from the Bastion on the Puget Sound. Well, I’ll tell you what, gang, in the midst of all this going on in the Gulf and in Congressional attempts to repair the economy, there’s an event that so astounded me that I almost asked the Mother Ship to beam me home. If this is an indication of what America is coming to, I’m glad there are six other flags with a sleeping bag welcome under this masthead.

The media, first, has sunk to a new low when it can accuse a dedicated black public servant with time in grade and a track record, of being racist. That’s shoddy journalism in the first place. In the second, it smacks of the worst kind of “deadline” editing. And yes, it clearly points to an issue of bigotry but it is not on the part of the one vilified.

Perhaps worst of all for what it implies about the readership is that the American public would buy it in the first place. It’s like “Do I really look THAT stupid?”

I’m also not real proud of the response of her boss. It’s one thing to be sensitive to the concerns of the constituency. It’s something else again to be held sway by the media. I would have thought that somewhere in the Department of Agriculture, there was someone savvy enough to say, “Consider the source and stick by her. She’s got a good track record.”

It bothers me that this apparently didn’t happen without a nudge from a busy national executive. It bothers me when the nation’s top food boss at first fires someone who is probably one of the best examples of what that department’s allegedly supposed to do, and then belatedly apologizes for it? And it also happens to be a black woman working in rural Georgia? Come on here, people, where is your sense of history?

It has not been easy for this woman. Civil rights and feminist legislation may come easier to Georgia now in these regards but “Damn Yankee” is still one word down there and old hatreds die hard on both sides.

So when a “cracker” (and I use that term with the utmost respect) says that this black woman employee of the federal Department of Agriculture helped him save his farm, that just about covers it, as far as I’m concerned.

I have worked with people like this woman and I know where their dedication comes from. Shirley Sherrod did not deserve this and though I had nothing to do with it, I am an American. And I may not speak for all of us when I offer her my sincerest apologies. Shirley, this should never have happened and I’m sorry that it did.

RELATED
Administration apologizes to official fired over distorted race video

IN OTHER NEWS

Well, Washington State’s budget woes have finally maxed out the patience of our Governor Chris (-tine Gregoire) so she’s set up a website to take suggestions from the constituency. I guess our she has realized that we might just have a collective better game plan than the suits and dark skirts we sent to Olympia to also manage our tax dollars. This is one of the more interesting experiments in direct democracy I’ve seen in some while. Yep, for more, go here.

I thought this one was kind of trippy. The map got changed earlier this month with the formal adoption by Canada and the United States of the designation Salish Sea to cover a region extending from South (Puget) Sound, where our capitol in Olympia is, clear up through the San Juans, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and about two thirds of the windward (Pacific Ocean) side of Vancouver Island. Technically, then, that means that the Bastion on the Sound is located about five miles from the southeast shores of the Salish Sea. Pretty cool. I missed living that close to the ocean when it was only Elliot Bay. Yep, check it out here.

We’d like to mount trumpeters the Bastion round to herald this one. There’s a federal employ in Akron, Ohio who almost makes me glad I pay taxes to the politicos on the Potomac. His name is Keith McVey and in the 20-odd years he’s been a mailman (person?), he’s saved the lives of three people, the most recent earlier just this month. If you want one of those Frank Capra/Gary Cooper/God Bless America/Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland, France and Australia, check it out. Tim’s numbers are not legion under the seven flags of this masthead but it is because of individuals like him in EVERY nation that the propensity for such noble acts of selflessness and species preservation are very much alive and swimming in the human gene pool. Tim, finest kind, sire. Finest kind.

SURVIVING HARD TIMES

Are you feeling the stress of the times and the need to really get away from it all so you can recharge? Take just a couple of hours a week to get off by yourself, sit down and listen to relaxing, peaceful music. That old saying, “Music hath charms to sooth the savage breast,” turns out, according to recent studies, to be totally true. For more on this and other relaxation techniques that really work, please go here.

Take a coffee break on Northstar. This is one of those “quick clicks” that will have you smiling for the rest of the day and humming to yourself. You’ll also want to pass this along to friends who will then think you are so cool in return. For a guaranteed Smile of the Day, go here.

CROSSING OVER

We join the rest of America and the International Community in mourning the passing of journalist Daniel Schorr. Mr. Schorr was a personal icon for me, standing as he did shoulder to shoulder with his perhaps better known colleagues, Walter Cronkite and Peter Jennings, in exemplifying the news as information, and as fairly, as rationally and yes, as compassionately as it was possible for them to do so. I came of age on National Public Radio and no matter what the story was ~ how heartwarming or how tragic ~ it was somehow reassuring to hear it from Mr. Schorr. Born in New York City, he died at Georgetown in Washington, DC, Friday. He was 93. For an excellent tribute, please go here.

NORTHSTAR, THE DRAGON

Earlier this month, the stupid airplane pilot in the history of flight dove his small plan within 20 to 30 feet of one of our resident orca pods, endangering these affectionate leviathans as well as local kayakers and sailboaters.

The aircraft was spotted by members of Soundwatch, a citizens group along the Salish Sea which keeps track of our two pods, rescues any who become beached and report violations such as this to the authorities. They were able to get the plane’s registration number and the pilot now faces a variety of charges ranging from animal endangerment to state and federal aviation violations.

I’d like to see that plane dismantled and recycled and the pilot’s wings clipped for life. Animal cruelty is not condoned in the Northwest and hasn’t since the first time most of us read Moby Dick and found ourselves rooting for the whale.

ON THE CANCER FRONT

Those suffering from advanced breast or ovarian cancer should take heart from the discovery of a new drug that is showing remarkable results. It’s taken in capsule form and apparently what it does is “destabilize” malignant cells so they become too week to survive. One of those who participated in the study had her breast cancer go into total remission two years ago and it remains so today. Yep, check it out 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

Well, this one surprised us a little but it probably shouldn’t have. Recent studies have concluded that the average American spends five hours a day in front of the television set. So now someone’s come up with a fitness regimen that can be done in front of the boob tube. Yep, one less excuse for letting your butt take root on the sofa. Check it out here.

SEATTLE SCENES

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

Well, I was some relieved to learn that intelligent bears who do weird things are not limited to the suburbs of Seattle. Apparently, in Colorado, this bear broke into an unlocked family car because it wanted the peanut butter and jelly sandwich left on the front seat. In the process of eating said delicacy, the bruin apparently knocked the shifter into neutral (I don’t believe it was accidental) and rode the rig for something like 125 feet before it came to rest. The bear finished the sandwich then left a nice big “calling card” behind him and rambled off into the woods. For a video on this one, yep, go here.

If you love cats and abhor the thought of homeless kitten, you’re going to love this story about a very special Seattle-ite named Delyn Kosbab, a woman who’s been rescuing cats since she was 4 years old, when her family set up an injured animal nursery in their garage. Delyn and 14 volunteers run a place called Kitty Harbor, probably the most humane, forward thinking, financially practical and creature friendly place of its type I’ve ever read or written about. The woman is inspirational and her model will work other places. This site also had a video and some cat pictures almost as cute as the one of Sasha, above. Yep, check it out here.

Related Links:
BBC’s wildlife finder
National Geographic Daily News - Animals

YOU GUYS THINK I MAKE THIS STUFF UP

Okay, here’s one I totally never thought of. When you’re riding a tandem bicycle and you’re in front? How do you know if the person in back is pedaling as hard as you are? I don’t do tandems because my legs are too long but I am curious. Is this some kind of trust thing or do you guys like sign a contract that says you’ll contribute equally to the locomotion aspect? Seems like another potential for lots of drama. Does it like really crush you if you find out the person behind you isn’t breaking the same sweat? Is this like some fundamental trust issue with other implications? Is it something that may end up on the Dr. Phil Show? Well, thanks to this neighbor of ours who lives on Bainbridge Island, there’s no need to put up with shady peddlers, not when you have Joules, the bike-pedaling robot as your traveling companion. Joules is shy and not much of a talker. Then again, he’s honest to his chips and you’ll never have to wonder if he’s putting his feet up. To meet Joules, the bike-pedaling robot, and his creator, please go here. This site also has a really cool video.

NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS

One of the best books I ever read, in terms of being inspired by other Americans, historically and in present times, was John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage. I’ve since discovered a coffee table collection of paintings with bios entitled Americans Who Tell The Truth. It is awesome. To read about it in the artist’s own words, go here. If you like it and would like to purchase it, please go here.

Well, that’s it for now. Thanks for the ear. Before you leave, if you’re in a shopping mood and into some interesting choices? We’ve got a “reader stocked” General Store that you might want to check out. If you’d like to sell something with us or know someone who does, email us at minstrel312@aol.com and we’ll see what we can do.

Rusty

A PARTIAL WISH LIST FOR THE COMING YEAR

Hi, again, folks, this time from Soggy Seattle. Now that the snows have stopped and melted off some, our rivers are doing something they don’t usually do until Spring. Imagine that’s familiar to a lot of you folks about now.

All in all, we’re handling it real well and so far, mostly without the help of the federal government. The Army Corps of Engineers has been activated to help out, and if necessary, Governor Chris will call out units of the Washington State National Guard in dryer places. As close as we all are in this region, it won’t be a big call out. Most of our daughters and sons, fathers and mothers, cousins, et al will already be where they’re needed.

Yes, there have been tragedies associated with this and our time of mourning will come. Right now, we’re still rescuing the living. We do, however, truly appreciate the concern expressed from those in other parts of the States, Canada and abroad. Compassion is not lost on us. And we do remember far longer, those who stood by us in hard times than we ever will those we attracted during good. Thank you, then, eh?

Well, so far, I’ve evaded every editorialist’s annual responsibility to predict what’s in store for us the rest of the year. As some of you know, I’ve done that in years past and did last year, as well. Alas and alack and stuff, I’ve found out I’m not as good at it as I once was. Like Grandpa Seamus used to say, "If you can’t remember the cards, time to get out of the game."

So this year, I’d like, instead, to share with you what I HOPE happens?

I’d like to see economics shift from national to regional to serve first local markets and then the rest of the nation. I realize that in order to do that, we’re going to have to scale back some but we’re already seeing the precursor to that in certain businesses like Subway adjusting their prices to their consumer base. Seems to me that’s the kind of flexibility necessary right now for any of this to work.

Each region of this nation has something unique for "export". Each region in this nation is capable of economic independence by appropriately using its available resources. Every region has universities doing research in everything from environmentally appropriate agriculture to integrated energy sources to alternative transportation.

The historical precedent for the shift is there. And every civilization, present and past, has gone through the same evolution. America moved from the predominantly agrarian to the highly industrialized and into the technological. The scientific and technology communities have not failed us. Our own greed did. But both communities are still there as resources.

I had the rare privilege, during the late Seventies, to read a ‘novel’ entitled Ecotopia. That small book and it’s prequel and sequel, talked about a regionally environmentally appropriate, stable state economy. Despite some of its Swiftian overtones and its premise that for Ecotopia to fully evolve, it needed to secede from the Union (Why am I seeing a smile of the faces of some of you who live below the Mason Dixon, north of Monterrey, California or in Quebec province now?), it works from a technological perspective.

Ecotopia, as a regionally adapted model, was and is both plausible and possible, certainly more now than when the books were written, some three-plus decades ago. An article in one of last month’s editions of the New York Times seems to support that contention, as well, by the way.

Perhaps as a sidenote, I also had the unforgettable experience of meeting the author, Ernest ‘Chick’ Callenbach. He was also at that time, the editor of the University of California’s Film Quarterly. He was a man of the arts, with an appreciation for and an understanding of appropriately applied technology. A soft-spoken, gentle man, he was also the father of two sons he did not want going to war.

So another thing I hope for this year is that there will be a renewed interest in his books as a viable resource. I’d like, as well, for some soft media attention to be focused on him for his ideas in these regards. In my mind, in times like these, he’s one of our best thinkers. And he’s not going to be around forever.

I also hope, as much for my own region, as for others, that we take another look at "land use". I’d like to see us go back to the earliest studies of the Pacific Northwest and, because I live here, the Puget Sound. We superimposed our needs on this land and at first, I think that was okay. But when we grew too large by cutting down too many trees, etc., we ultimately ended up ~ have and still do ~ spending more on disaster control (which never really works here), disaster mitigation and disaster victim relief than we would have if we’d just sited ourselves more appropriately.

There seems to be this stubborn streak in some of us that makes it okay to get washed away and then rebuild on the same flood plain without, apparently, much thought to moving to higher ground. Grandpa Seamus would have accorded them that right under the U.S. Constitution but he would not have paid one dime in taxes to support, enable or perpetuate that particular brand of foolish thinking or behavior.

Most of all, I hope we remember that we got ourselves into this and if we really want things to be better, we will work together to get ourselves out. Several blogs ago, I issued a call for ideas in these regards and I’m renewing that call again.

Rusty

P.S. I want to take this opportunity to express my personal appreciation for the response I received from this last blog about Samantha and what she’s going through. I owe particular gratitude to another Native American, fellow Northern Californian and Vietnam veteran, Mr. Tom Two Crows. Thank you, Chief. I passed the word along.