JOHNNY FIVE ALIVE

TO VIEW IN YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam
May 19, 2019 Volume 11 Number 39

Entirely Reader-Supported  Please Go Here.  Thank You.

INSIDE: Johnny Five Alive; Kharkiv, Ancient City of Youth; Good News; Not So Good News; Today’s News From Our Sources; According to Infamous Uncle Seamus; Our World and Beyond, Unabridged: The Green Beat; Health; Community, Home & Lifestyle; Best of the Net; Travel; Masha & the Bear, Kindle Books By Us; All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

By Rusty Miller

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  I watched a Chinese television news program with the sound off and discovered a couple of things.  Donald Trump actually makes more sense.  And it’s hard to see a nation as a global villain when it does things like this.  Trafficked Baby Seals Released Into Wild In China  And this.  China’s National Panda Park Will Be Three Times The Size Of Yellowstone

Robotics are a central theme of a novel by Clive Cussler I’m reading now entitled, very descriptively, The Rising Sea.  I’m also enjoying for the umpteeth time, the American film Short Circuit, in which a killer robot is struck by lightning and becomes both adorable and one of the good guys.

I enjoy entertainment like this because it doesn’t seem like that great a stretch to me, this notion that we – creations ourselves of a supremely sentient being and made essentially out of what remained after everything else was used up – could not create “life” in our image and imbue it with the full range of human feats and foibles.

This hybrid Tim Taylor the Tool Man and Mr. Rogers attitude might explain why nothing ever breaks down on me.  I take care of stuff and let it die of old age.  The clock radio I listen to was born before most of my neighbors.  It is also very likely to outlive them.

That’s it for this week, gang.  Take care, stay well and God Bless.

Rusty Miller is an award winning journalist, author, editor and photographer who lives in Seattle, Washington.  For comments, please go here 

Photo courtesy of: https://flights.flypgs.com/en/flights-to-kharkiv

KHARKIV, ANCIENT CITY OF YOUTH

By Olya Bereza

Hi Rusty:

Just returned from a short journey to Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. It is sometimes called “ city of youth” as it has a great number of Universities. That’s why it is also a very creative and dynamic city, so no wonder that singer Maruv who supposed to participate in Eurovision from Ukraine launched her singing career while studying there.

Historically, modern Kharkiv became the first Ukrainian city of the “new” Ukrainian Soviet Republic in December 1917.  It became, as well, the nation’s capital and remained so until 1934.l 1934.

The city suffered heavily during the Second World War and when the rubble was cleared away, Kharkiv celebrated its survival with large public squares and stunningly grand buildings.  It gives the city an incredible sense of space and freedom.  Kharkiv is clearly proud of its history and you can feel it in the air.

Coming back, it is nice to relax from journey by watching the long list of Eurovision contestants. I didn’t have the chance to watch all of them, of course.  But three I definitely liked included:   watch them all but at the moment definitely liked three: North Macedonia Tamara Todevska “Proud” which could be a hymn for feminism;, Germany Sisters – Sister again reminding about sisterhood — and of course, Australia “Zero Gravity” performed by Kate Miller-Heidke.  This one reminds us that we might be a bit too heavy to mother Earth.

Looking forward to seeing more of it.

Olya

Northstar columnist and associate editor Olya Bereza was born in the former Soviet Union and now lives in Ukraine.  Fluent in Russian, Ukrainian, and English, she is a degreed psychologist with a background in international marketing and personnel management.  For comments, please go here.

GOOD NEWS

Granville Coggs Fought Racism In The Military As A Tuskegee Airman

Meet The Arctic Farmer Hoping To Make His Town More Sustainable

It May Not Be A Bad Thing Fewer U.S. Babies Were Born In 2018 Than In Any Year Since 1986

Why Washington Is The Best State In America

Canada Increases Protections For Pacific Northwest Orcas

NOT SO GOOD NEWS

When It Comes To Waging War, Ants And Humans Have A Lot In Common

Carbon Dioxide Levels Reach Highest Point In Human History

American Airlines Pilots Confronted Boeing About Safety Issues Before Ethiopia Crash

Walmart Warns Tariffs On Chinese Goods Will Increase Prices For Customers

Rationing Begins, As Cuba Braces For Economic Impact From Venezuela Crisis

Trump Wants You To Buy American. Here’s Why That’s Almost Impossible

Monsanto Ordered To Pay $2 Billion In Case Tying Weed Killer To Cancer

TODAY’S NEWS FROM OUR SOURCES

Australian Broadcasting Corporation;  British Broadcasting Corporation;  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation;  Moscow Times;  Reuters;  Sightline Daily; The Smithsonian Magazine; TIME magazine;  US News & World Report

According to Rusty’s infamous Uncle Seamus, his pal Moses Murphy stopped feeling guilty when he learned that his favorite sandwich was named for a city in Germany and not the meat it sounded like.

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

Amazing, particularly given what we’ve thought before.  Arsenic-Breathing Life Discovered In Pacific

This is totally unreal.  An Explorer Made The Deepest Ever Manned Sea Dive—And He Found A Plastic Bag

Sigh.  We’ve Spent 100 Years Growing A Tinderbox Across The West. Now It’s Wildfire Season.

EARTH & CLIMATE CHANGE

The Glacier That Produced The ‘Titanic’ Iceberg Has Suddenly Stopped Flowing

The Teeth Of Early Neanderthals May Indicate The Species’ Lineage Is Older Than Thought

Clouds That Look Like Ocean Waves

How Do Hurricanes Get Their Names?

SPACE

San Francisco Is First Us City To Ban Facial Recognition

This Ingenious System Brings Water To The Chinese Desert

You Should Update Whatsapp Right Away. Here’s How To Do It Quickly And Easily

TECHNOLOGY

San Francisco Is First US City To Ban Facial Recognition

This Ingenious System Brings Water To The Chinese Desert

You Should Update Whatsapp Right Away. Here’s How To Do It Quickly And Easily

THE GREEN BEAT

The World’s Last Coal Plant Will Soon Be Built

What Happens When Wind Turbines Get Old?

How Washington’s New 100% Clean Electricity Law Will Work

Remote Islands Have Few People, Hundreds Of Millions Pieces Of Plastic

HEALTH

Welsh Doctors Can Now Prescribe Free Bicycle Rides

7 Workout Habits You Should Drop Now

12 Habits That Sabotage Your Mental Health

Are Onions And Garlic Healthy? Here’s What Experts Say

People Who Live To 100 Have These Traits In Common

Why We Should All Eat More Small Fish

Want To Stay Healthy As You Age? Let Go Of Anger

What Type Of Exercise Is Best For The Brain?

COMMUNITY, FAMILY, GARDEN, HOME AND LIFESTYLE

India Election 2019: A Journey Across Land And Sea To Reach 44 Voters

Three Simple Steps For Planting A Chaos Garden

Australia Election: Fines, Donkey Votes And Democracy Sausages

BEST OF THE NET

We Are Family

Genius Sea Otter Parents

Meerkats Are Just Like Us

TRAVEL

Oldest Known Tree In Eastern North America

A French Town Is Offering $2,250 Reward To Anyone Who Can Decipher This Mysterious Inscription

The World’s Oldest Vegetarian Restaurant 

 

DAILY 10 QUESTION TRIVIA QUIZ:  This one is from Daily Email Trivia and delivered to me in mine.  There is also an opportunity, the site, to take more quizzes on a wide range of subjects and to engage interactively and competitively.

KINDLE BOOKS BY US

A superpower no longer, a resource hungry and repressive America faces a Latin American armada rampaging its west coast and a strong, silent and powerful Canada manning the North Wall. The fires of rebellion burn in the Pacific Northwest and it is into this crucible and forge that the cybernetic patrol boat Testament and her crew of three men and three women are thrust. Individuals of duty and conscience both, when they join the other side, all Hell breaks loose. A rollicking adventure for anyone who loves the sea, a good yarn and characters who spring to life even as Testament herself leaps the waves. For a $4.00 Kindle Book adventure you will remember for a lifetime, please go here.

This is one of several of Olya’s short novels for the young and the young at heart. She is Holley Dovetail and Rocky is an absolute romp.  To preview and/or purchase, please go here.

ONLINE WRITER/EDITOR FOR HIRE:  Business Correspondence; Political, Classified and Commercial Writing, Editing, Proofing; Speeches, Jokes and Monologues; Online Writing Tutoring; Special Projects.  From my computer to yours.  For more information, please go here.

ALL CREATURES, GREAT AND SMALL

This is who Jaws thought it was. Photo https://www.aquarium.co.za/blog/entry/top-10-prehistoric-sharks

This is the kind of nightmares I have if I go to bed too soon after a good pepperoni pizza.  This Prehistoric Fish Makes A Great White Look Like A Goldfish

This is reassuring.  Bedbugs Scurried The Earth Alongside The Dinosaurs 100 Million Years Ago

In case you lost yours, this should be good news.  Escaped Pet Parrots Are Doing Great In The Wild

SHORTS

North Carolina’s Offshore Shipwrecks Have Surprising New Tenants—Tropical Fish

Giant Devil Rays’ Secret Birthing Zone?

Stranded Baby Elephant Rescued From Lake

Why ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ Trope Isn’t An Exaggeration

Mizmar Flying Car, one of TIME’s 50 worst inventions. Photo courtesy of TIME, Inc.

STRANGE BUT TRUE

Oklahoma Window Cleaners Rescued From Swinging Lift

How A Squid’s Color-Changing Skin Inspired A New Material That Can Trap Or Release Heat

Amazon Offers To Pay Employees $10,000 To Quit Their Jobs And Deliver Packages Instead

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/peanuts/38129/charlie-brown-and-snoopy-the-peanuts-movie-animation-cheats

ABOUT US:  The Northstar Journal has been called a 21^st Century Readers Digest.  Though modest in circulation, we reach people of 22 nations and we fly no flag ourselves.  Our international readership of strong, intelligent, proactively compassionate people like yourself are out there helping make this a better world and we are honored to serve them as an idea and topical information resource in that regard. We are meant to be shared with family, friends and workmates as well and we are on FaceBook.   If you would like to help us our readership, please go here.  If you would like to sponsor an edition or contribute in some other way, please contact us at minstrel312@aol.com  Thank you and see you next week.  Rusty and Olya

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

TO VIEW IN YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam
May 12, 2019 Volume 11 Number 38

$2.00 US – Free To Those Who Cannot Afford It.  

INSIDE: Happy Mother’s Day; Enterprise In 21st Century Ukraine:  A Doll’s World?; Good News; Not So Good News; Today’s News From Our Sources; Rusty’s Infamous Uncle Seamus; Our World and Beyond; The Green Beat; Health; Community, Home & Lifestyle; Best of the Net; Travel; Masha & the Bear, Kindle Books By Us; All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

By Rusty Miller: Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  First of all, we’d like the wish the rest of the species on the planet ~ including us ~ a Happy Mother’s Day.  It is celebrated the world over at different times of the year and the traditions are older than Stonehenge.

Despite criticism for being over commercialized in America, I, for one, have no problem with it.  I’m a Hallmark Card and TV Special fan to the max and if the mercantile side of society wants to provide ways we can express our appreciation in these regards, I see no problem with that at all.  The folks who make the stuff they produce also buy it.

We also do this with every other major holiday, religious and secular, and it doesn’t really seem have taken anything away, as far as I can tell.  As much as we have to worry about these days, I would think we would appreciate any reason to affirm our own survival and the value of life itself.

This song is for all mothers and for mine in particular.  Thank you.

That’s it for this week, gang.  Take care, stay well and God Bless.

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller is an award winning journalist, author, editor and photographer who lives in Seattle, Washington.  For comments, please go here

Two toy creations by 10-year-old Ukrainian Yellow Butterfly https://steemit.com/@yellow-butterfly Photo by Olya Bereza

ENTERPRISE IN 21 CENTURY UKRAINE:  A DOLL’S WORLD?

By Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

It is interesting how the world changing gives us new opportunities for growth.  For example, before the Internet, one needed to build up their career vertically to receive wellbeing and respect.  Now, we can choose to grow horizontally, as well.

I’ll give an example.  If you are good at what you do, you do not need to be part of some group anymore.  You can achieve reach success developing your craft.  Whatever it could be, if you do beautiful handmade things and advertise them enough, people will purchase.  That is definitely a piece of good news for artists and creators of all kinds.

One of the most famous and highest paid artists in Ukraine is Eugenia Gapchinska, whose original positive and cute pictures of cartoon toddlers invaded the hearts of our people. Now, her creations are everywhere:  on packages of sweets; advertising of kids’ products; even illustrations of a newly published translation of Alice in Wonderland.  Meet Eugenia Gapchinska here.

As long as you are original and reach people to show your works whether it be via social media and/or the more conventional route of media advertising, then all really is possible.

I met a very special 10-year-old girl, whose creations are as special as those of Gapchinska. I can see one day a cartoon studio becoming interested in her characters. She’s somewhat introverted and her family experiences financial hardships but she believes that her art can one day lead her to a better life. At the moment she started to use steemit.com a network that rewards publishers. So meet Yellow Butterfly as she called herself 

That is a couple from hundreds of her wonderful characters and even looking at them always gives me joy.

Northstar columnist and associate editor Olya Bereza was born in the former Soviet Union and now lives in Ukraine.  Fluent in Russian, Ukrainian, and English, she is a degreed psychologist with a background in international marketing and personnel management.  For comments, please go here.

GOOD NEWS

California To Outlaw Widely Used Toxic Pesticide Deemed Harmful To Kids

Curator Will Plant 299 Trees In A Stadium To Make Statement On Climate Change

In America, TV Ads For Drugs Must Now Include Prices. It’s The Latest Effort To Drive Down Pharmaceutical Costs

Jailed Reuters Journalists Freed

Jay Inslee Steps To The Front Of The Thin Green Line

Pope Francis Makes It Mandatory For Clergy To Report Sex Abuse

Prince Harry And Meghan Present Their Newborn Son

Royal Baby: Congratulations Pour In For Meghan And Harry

The Women Who Waged War Against Sex Trafficking In San Francisco

NOT SO GOOD NEWS

Nature Crisis: ‘Shocking’ Report Details Threat To Species

One Million Species At Risk Of Extinction, Report Warns

Humans Are Speeding Extinction At An ‘Unprecedented’ Pace

Boeing Admits Knowing Of 737 Max Problem

TODAY’S NEWS FROM OUR SOURCES

Australian Broadcasting Corporation;  British Broadcasting Corporation;  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation;  Moscow Times;  Reuters;  Sightline Daily; The Smithsonian Magazine; TIME magazine;  US News & World Report

According to Rusty’s infamous Uncle Seamus, there is a great deal to support the belief that the Almighty is female.  Only a mother would have as much patience with their offspring as God has had with us.

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

Whether this applies to you or not, we looked at it as an opportunity to check our own specifics in these regards.  It’s Hurricane Preparedness Week. Are You Ready?

What Does A Biodiversity Emergency Mean For Humans?  Nothing less than our own survival and an imperative to act as a counterbalance.  Stop killing it and continue to restore it.

As long as it does not clash with local species, I think this is a very good idea.  How To Make Fish Farming The Center Of A Future Food System

EARTH & CLIMATE CHANGE

1,000-Year-Old Pouch From Bolivia Contains Traces Of Five Mind-Altering Drugs

Archaeologists Uncover An Ancient Roman Game Board At Hadrian’s Wall

Divers Find Ice Age Megafauna Remains In Underwater Mexican Cave

Massive Dust Storm Engulfs Australian City

North Carolina Bald Cypresses Are Among The World’s Oldest Trees

The Astounding Length Of Seaweed In The Sargasso Sea

Views: The Free-Wheeling Climate Solution

5 Ways Congress Can Support Farmers To Mitigate Climate Change

Climate Change Could Mean More Kids, Not Less

A Hot, Dry, Smoky Summer Forecasted For The American West

SPACE

Australia’s First Astronomers

Researchers Find Water In Samples From Asteroid Itokawa

India Aims For Landing Near Moon’s South Pole

TECHNOLOGY

Inside Japan’s Most Innovative City

With A Little Help From A.I., The Dali Museum Brings The Famed Surrealist To Life

Stanford Scientist Says In-Ear Gadgets Will Monitor Our Brains

THE GREEN BEAT

Europe ‘Takes Too Much Of Earth Resources’

With Renewables So Competitive, Oil And Gas Investments Look Risky

How To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint When You Fly

HEALTH

Are Sleeping Pills Safe? Here’s What Research Says

Heart Problems Are Killing More Americans—Even Younger Ones. Here’s How To Reduce Your Risk

How Often Should I Shower?

Many Marijuana Users Turn To The Drug For A Surprising Reason: Workout Fuel

Sunscreen Ingredients Are Absorbed Into Your Blood. Here’s What That Could Mean

The 3 Most Effective Exercise Moves That Don’t Require Equipment

The Hidden Dangers Of Shampoo And Makeup

Denver Approves Decriminalizing Psilocybin Mushrooms In Unofficial Results, As Public Support For Psychedelic Drug Research Grows

Why Dancing Is The Best Thing You Can Do For Your Body 

COMMUNITY, FAMILY, GARDEN, HOME AND LIFESTYLE

18 Little-Known, Amazing Things About Israel As It Turns 71

The Nordic Law Fearless Women Love

TIME Guide To Happiness

The Surprising Benefits Of Being Alone

Asia Bibi: Christian Leaves Pakistan After Blasphemy Acquittal

BEST OF THE NET

Viking Voyage – BBC TimeWatch, 2008 – YouTube  This reenactment begins with the construction of the vessel using not only materials of the period but the technology and a large crew of scientists, etc., most of whom were not nautically inclined.  You actually feel what they’re going through because the support camera work is outstanding as well.  This one gets all five stars.

TRAVEL

Havana’s Dazzling New Makeover

The Legend Of Harlem’s Apollo Theater

Six of the World’s Most Spectacular Sculpture Parks

DAILY 10 QUESTION TRIVIA QUIZ:  This one is from Daily Email Trivia and delivered to me in mine.  There is also an opportunity, the site, to take more quizzes on a wide range of subjects and to engage interactively and competitively.

KINDLE BOOKS BY US

A superpower no longer, a resource hungry and repressive America faces a Latin American armada rampaging its west coast and a strong, silent and powerful Canada manning the North Wall. The fires of rebellion burn in the Pacific Northwest and it is into this crucible and forge that the cybernetic patrol boat Testament and her crew of three men and three women are thrust. Individuals of duty and conscience both, when they join the other side, all Hell breaks loose. A rollicking adventure for anyone who loves the sea, a good yarn and characters who spring to life even as Testament herself leaps the waves. For a $4.00 Kindle Book adventure you will remember for a lifetime, please go here. 

This is one of several delightful short books for the young of all ages. The author, Holley Dovetail, is ~ in fact ~ our own associate editor, Olya Bereza. Tap the cover for more information.

ONLINE WRITER/EDITOR FOR HIRE

ALL CREATURES, GREAT AND SMALL

Photo courtesy: https://flipboard.com/@BBCNews/bobcat-coaxed-down-from-florida-power-pole/f-ba8b65ef37/bbc.com

I’m kind of curious about why it climbed up there in the first place.  Bobcat Coaxed Down From Florida Power Pole

Amazing.  Beetles Steer By The Milky Way

Narwhals Have Low Genetic Diversity—And They’re Doing Fine

SHORTS

The Strangest Crab That Has Ever Lived

Orca Recovery Bills In WA Bring Big Wins For Salmon Habitat, Environment

The Untapped Potential Of Honey Bees

STRANGE BUT TRUE

Photo by Rusty Miller © 2016

Why are we not surprised?  Wasps Are the First Invertebrates to Pass This Basic Logic Test 

We are still not clear on why this was done in the first place.  The Deepest Hole Ever Dug

Interesting spin this, on flying the friendly skies. Newly Discovered Bat-Like Dinosaur Reveals The Intricacies Of Prehistoric Flight

ABOUT US: The Northstar Journal has been called a 21^st Century international Readers Digest.  Though modest in circulation, we reach people of 22 nations and we fly no flag ourselves.  Our readership of strong, intelligent, proactively compassionate people like yourself are out there making this a better world and we are honored to serve them as an idea and topical information resource in that regard. We are meant to be shared with family, friends and workmates as well and we are on FaceBook.   If you would like to help us our readership, please go here.  If you would like to sponsor an edition or contribute in some other way, please contact us at minstrel312@aol.com  Thank you and see you next week.  Rusty and Olya

“BY THE END OF THE 21ST CENTURY…”

TO VIEW IN YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam
May 5, 2019 Volume 11 Number 37

Supported by Readers Like You.  To Contribute, Please Go Here.  Thank You.

INSIDE: By the End of the 21^st Century; Beluga Whale Accused of Espionage; Good News; Not So Good News; Today’s News From Our Sources; Rusty’s Infamous Uncle Seamus; Our World and Beyond, Unabridged: Earth/Climate Change, Space, Technology; The Green Beat; Health; Community, Home & Lifestyle; Funzone: Best of the Net; Travel; Masha & the Bear, Wrath of the Testament; Rocky the Rocket, All Creatures Great & Small; You Guys Think We Make This Stuff Up; About Us

Open air (Orthodox) Easter egg exhibition in Lviv, West Ukraine. Photo by Olya Bereza.

By Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

Another train trip across country in the communal compartment carriage tunes the mind to a philosophical observation. Compassion and empathy – that’s probably all we have left, that we can offer to each other in the future, when robots will be better than us in everything else, from accounting to drawing pictures.

And how little of these emotions we are prepared to show in everyday life, that sometimes you have to go to a psychologist just for a bit of human warmth. Ironically, the simplicity of the train car can provide free psychotherapy on wheels.

The opportunity to speak out to a stranger, to justify oneself, to get approval, and then just disappear from each others life.  When I studied at school, in our classroom, there was a famous quote on the wall that I learned by heart: “Compassion is the most important and, perhaps, the sole law of human existence.” – Fedor Dostoevsky.  While compassion is still in limited supply, it’s good to be able to put yourself in the shoes of another and 20-hour long train ride give you that opportunity to immerse into dozens of people’s life scenes circling around.

Also what is good on the train is a light read. For me this time, it was the fantasy book from childhood I mentioned before about the girl from future by Kir Bulychev. Luckily there are seven volumes of his Alice stories so there is always one I can reread. This time I was amused how simple is the solution for peace in the world it suggests

“By the end of the twenty-first century, there will be no longer any secret bases, armies, bombs or cannons on Earth. The idea of killing each other to take away land and cities or impose own way of living on others will become disgusting to people of the twenty-first century. The most important rule: a person should live as he wants, be friends with whom he wants, go wherever he wants. A person should be free. On one condition: his freedom should not harm other people. But when people learned this, it turned out that the number of happy people increased by thousands of times.”

Of course not everyone will be happy. This does not happen. Grievances, broken hearts, quarrels, and even such feelings as envy, hatred, anger, will remain. They cannot disappear. But if the society in which you live acts according to the principles of good, then your malice remains your personal matter. Your stupidity is your misfortune; your envy is your anxiety. We will become tolerant, and a sense of humor will become a must for all. Smile, doctors will say. Smile and you will feel better. Such medicine will help.”

I know it sounds a bit naive but hopefully miracles will happen and humanity will develop to another level more compassionate to each other.

On the pic is the Easter eggs exhibition open-air in Lviv, West Ukraine

Northstar columnist and associate editor Olya Bereza was born in the former Soviet Union and now lives in Ukraine.  Fluent in Russian, Ukrainian, and English, she is a degreed psychologist with a background in international marketing and personnel management.  For comments, please go here.

A beluga white wale wearing a harness is spotted off the coast of Finnmark, in northeastern Norway, in this photo shared April 29 by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries. The harness reportedly had the words “Equipment St. Petersburg” written on it, leading authorities to suspect the animal may have been part of a Russian marine mammal military program. Photo courtesy of Norwegian directorate Of Fisheries

BELUGA WHALE ACCUSED OF ESPIONAGE

By Merritt Scott (Rusty) Miller: Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  First of all, would like to wish 24.1 percent of the world’s human population a good Ramadan.  We respect those of the Muslim faith, as we do all of Khalil Gibran’s fingers of the same hand and we pray that this profound resonance of this holiday will be embraced by all.

Occasionally a headline grabs our attention not for what it reports, but for its assumptions and bias.  When it broke, this one in TIME magazine did both.  A Beluga Whale Is Allegedly A Russian Spy. There’s A Long History Of Marine Mammals In The Military

The whale in question was wearing a harness from Equipment St. Petersburg.  This was, according to experts quoted in this much better report, most likely for a camera, the kind used in marine research.  According to a Russian media source as recent as 2017, their military had disclosed that they use several species for patrolling their own waters and armed to repel invaders and perform other underwater maintenance tasks.  There is nothing in either source to suggest that they’re involved in using them for undersea espionage.

This whale somehow got loose and the concern now is that since it is accustomed to being fed by humans, whether it can survive in the North Atlantic Ocean without them.  So now, appropriate plans are being made by the Norwegians to monitor this creature and take appropriate action to save its life.

We personally hope Russia will join that effort but not request the whale’s return.

That’s it for this week, gang.  Take care, stay well and God Bless.

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller is an award winning journalist, author, editor and photographer who lives in Seattle, Washington.  For comments, please go here

GOOD NEWS

American Unemployment Drops To 3.6%, 263,000 Jobs Added, Showing Economy Remains Strong

For The First Time, Green Power Tops Coal Industry In Energy Production In April

France Harassment Law Hands Out 447 Fines In First Months

One Woman Risked Everything To Keep Big Oil Out Of Her Community

NOT SO GOOD NEWS

Surge In Anti-Semitic Attacks Has Caused A ‘Sense Of Emergency’ Among Jews Worldwide

NASA: Manufacturer’s Lies Caused Two Satellite Launches To Fail

More Teens Are Attempting Suicide By Poisoning. Here’s What Parents Should Know

Police Fire Tear Gas As Paris May Day Protests Turn Violent

Measles Cases Are At A 25-Year High. Here’s How To Tell If You Need A Booster Shot

Cyclone Fani: Mass Evacuations As Storm Moves Up India’s Coast

‘Our Water Pollution Is A Cancer’

TODAY’S NEWS FROM OUR SOURCES

Australian Broadcasting Corporation;  British Broadcasting Corporation;  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation;  Moscow Times;  Reuters;  Sightline Daily; The Smithsonian Magazine; TIME magazine;  US News & World Report

According to Rusty’s infamous Uncle Seamus, some of his ancestors grew such good potatoes during the Irish Famine that the Crown sent some of them to Botany Bay to work their magic on the local flora.  That’s how they became Australian.

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND, UNABRIDGED

Amazing.  A Japanese Probe Just Found Water On An Asteroid

So is this.  China Is Planning A Mission To Deep Space

With just a couple of technical twists, this might be the key to making other planets habitable and interstellar travel that could take generations.  “Biosolar Leaf” Tech Will Pull Pollution From London Air

EARTH & CLIMATE CHANGE

Rising Sea Levels: The View From A Canoe

Particles From Cold War Nuclear Bomb Tests Found In Deepest Parts Of The Ocean

Is This The World’s Most Dangerous Sea?

Soil Damage ‘Set To Fuel Climate Change’

From Apples To Popcorn, Climate Change Is Altering The Food We Grow

This Is What Climate Progress Looks Like

Climate Change Has Made Droughts More Frequent Since 1900

SPACE

Biggest Mission Yet For Blue Origin’s New Shepard

One-Third Of Exoplanets Could Be Water Worlds With Oceans Hundreds Of Miles Deep

SpaceX Is Sending Living Bits Of Human Organs To Space

NASA: Manufacturer’s Lies Caused Two Satellite Launches To Fail

TECHNOLOGY

Futuristic Robot Farm Begins Selling Its First Produce

Watch This “Police Robot” Pull a Car Over

This Virtual Security Guard Looks Like An Anime Character

Tesla Sued For Role In Deadly Crash Involving Autopilot

THE GREEN BEAT

Does What I Eat Have An Effect On Climate Change? 

Washington Leads On Climate Action: This Is What Progress Looks Like

Your Gas Stove Is Bad For You And The Planet

Increased Protections Sought For Coho Salmon In Oregon Coastal Rivers

From Apples To Popcorn, Climate Change Is Altering The Foods America Grows

Vancouver Unveils Boldest Climate Action Plan
Jay Inslee’s Climate Plan Is Keeping It 100

HEALTH

Is Seaweed Healthy? Here’s What Experts Say

The 7 Best Foods For Fighting Inflammation

How To Make Yourself Love Exercise

Scientists Identify New Type Of Brain Degeneration That Mimics Alzheimer’s. Here’s What To Know

The Long-Term Effects Of Going Hungry

Measles Cases Are At A 25-Year High. Here’s How To Tell If You Need A Booster Shot

15 Foods A Nutritionist Always Keeps In Her Fridge

Green New Meal: How Restaurants Goers Can Reduce Their Carbon “Foodprint”

Scientists Identify Factors That Make People Naturally Resistant To H.I.V.

COMMUNITY, FAMILY, GARDEN, HOME AND LIFESTYLE

US Neighborhoods Are Getting More Diverse

Sesame Street Is Now A Real Place

Japan’s Emperor Is Stepping Down This Week. Here’s What To Know About The Country’s Monarchy

Thai King Vajiralongkorn Marries Bodyguard Making Her Queen

Burger King’s Meatless ‘Impossible Whopper’ Is Going Nationwide

How To Shop, Cook And Eat In A Warming World

Humblebragging Makes People Dislike You, According To Science

BEST OF THE NET

Tiny Specks Zoom Into Beautiful Galaxies In Amazing Hubble Image

Reel: Why Did An Entire Civilisation Vanish?

Museum Sleepovers And Other Things To Do At The Smithsonian In May

TRAVEL

Seven Of The Most Scenic Ferry Rides In The United States

Fewer Britons Choosing EU Countries For Holidays, Travel Firm Says

The Striking New Artworks That Follow Rockefeller Center’s Grand Tradition Of Public Art

DAILY 10 QUESTION TRIVIA QUIZ:  This one is from Daily Email Trivia and delivered to me in mine.  There is also an opportunity, the site, to take more quizzes on a wide range of subjects and to engage interactively and competitively.

ONLINE WRITER/EDITOR FOR HIRE

 

A superpower no longer, a resource hungry and repressive America faces a Latin American armada rampaging its west coast and a strong, silent and powerful Canada manning the North Wall. The fires of rebellion burn in the Pacific Northwest and it is into this crucible and forge that the cybernetic patrol boat Testament and her crew of three men and three women are thrust. Individuals of duty and conscience both, when they join the other side, all Hell breaks loose. A rollicking adventure for anyone who loves the sea, a good yarn and characters who spring to life even as Testament herself leaps the waves. For a $4.00 Kindle Book adventure you will remember for a lifetime, please go here.

This is Olya’s novel and it is an absolutely delight.

ALL CREATURES, GREAT AND SMALL

The 8.5-millimeter millipede had five-unit compound eyes and an unusually hairless rear end (Leif Moritz)

Cute, eh?  This Petite, 99-Million-Year-Old Millipede Was Entrapped In Amber

Washington State Bans Salmon Farms Let’s hope this somehow restores The Balance Between Orca And Salmon In The PNW

Canada Has New Rules Governing Its Marine Protected Areas. Do They Go Far Enough?  Let’s certainly hope so.

SHORTS

How A Tiny Endangered Species Put A Man In Prison 

Rare One-Horned Indian Rhino Born At Zoo Miami

How Scientists Are Giving Fraser River Salmon A Fresh Chance

Image credit: https://alien-ufo-sightings.com/2017/03/incredible-1989-nashville-ufo-photographs-provided-commander-graham-bethune-us-navy/

YOU GUYS THINK WE MAKE THIS STUFF UP

Inside The World’s Only Museum Dedicated To Ventriloquism

17th-Century Bible Stolen From Pittsburgh Library Recovered In The Netherlands

Weird Ways Nature Loves Or Hates Music

ABOUT US:  The Northstar Journal reaches an international readership of strong, intelligent, proactively compassionate people like you, who are out there helping make this a better world.  We are proud to serve them as an idea, information, and resource  platform in that regard.  If you would like to help us help them, please go here.  No contribution too large or too small.  If you would like to sponsor an edition or contribute in some other way, please contact us at minstrel312@aol.com  Thank you and see you next week.  RM/OB

HOLLYWOOD FOR STRESS RELIEF

TO VIEW IN YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam
April 28, 2019 Volume 11 Number 36

Supported by Readers Like You.  To Contribute, Please Go Here.  Thank You.

INSIDE: Hollywood For Stress Relief; Good News; Not So Good News; Today’s News From Our Sources; Rusty’s Infamous Uncle Seamus; For Your Consideration; Our World, Unabridged: Earth/Climate Change, Space, Technology; The Green Beat; Health; Community, Home & Lifestyle; Funzone: Best of the Net; Travel; Masha & the Bear, Wrath of the Testament; Rocky the Rocket, All Creatures Great & Small; You Guys Think We Make This Stuff Up; About Us

By Merritt Scott (Rusty) Miller: Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  We wish the 250-million Orthodox Christians in the world a Good Easter.  That includes our associate editor, Olya Bereza, who is spending the holiday with family in Dnipro, Ukraine.  It’s a little like flying without a wing mate but she’ll be back next week so we’ll carry on and give her something good to read.  And you guys.

I did not enjoy reading about how stressed the people of the world and my part of it ~ America ~ are.  Without going into biographical detail, I’ve known stress.  I’ve survived where so many did not and I escaped from an early age into books, television, films and now old films I find on YouTube or Frostwire.com that I can watch on a 27-inch screen.

I’m drawn to the life-affirming; to happy endings; to realism and to the portrayal of suffering and joy by all sides.

I also like media which uses “miracles” like lighting striking a robot and making it alive, as in Short Circuit, which I downloaded from Frostwire.com, a file sharing program I’ve used for years. Short Circuit’s “miracle” worked for Mary Shelly in Frankenstein some years earlier.

I also love the idea that extraterrestrial visitors might not be large, threatening or here to eat us but instead might be here to let us know it is not as cold out there in space as we think.  That was the premise of Batteries Not Included, which I snagged on YouTube.

I am an all creatures great and small person to the max and I’ve grown up with and all my life been around nature.  The news is also full of “miracle” stories and I enjoy those very much.  I got Disney’s Homeward Bound:  The Incredible Journey, starring the voices of Don Ameche, Sally Fields and Michael J. Fox on Frostwire.com,  It isn’t just the heroics of the animals they portray but the love they must have received from the humans with whom they shared their lives.

Since I am an American raised in the West and fascinated by history, Joel McCrea’s portrayal of William Fredrick “Buffalo Bill” Cody in a 1944 Hollywood film co-starring Maureen O’Hara, with an outstanding supporting cast that includes Edgar Buchanan, Linda Darnell, Thomas Mitchell and Anthony Quinn.  Long before it became fashionable and despite its tendency to take too much historical license, the film industry was producing films which told it like it was.  This is one of them.

Another is a Walt Disney film depicting the plight of homeless children in New York City in the mid-1800s.  Entitled Orphan Train, it chronicles the (ultimately) successful attempt to rescue some of them by finding homes for them in the west.  The train in question is what got them there.  The cast included four name actors of 1979 and absolutely unforgettable performances by all concerned.  The theme itself is a reminder of where so many of us came from, as well, and what these ancestors endured for what we have now.  I snagged it on YouTube and it’s still there.

So, while I certainly hope that what appears to be inflicting so many is not afflicting you, if it is, I hope this idea of “escaping” into another reality for awhile works for you.

That’s it for this week, gang.  Take care, stay well and God Bless.

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller is an award winning journalist, author, editor and photographer who lives in Seattle, Washington.  For comments, please go here

GOOD NEWS

Canada Banning Oil, Gas And Mining From Marine Protected Areas

Vancouver Unveils North America’s Boldest Climate Action Plan

Greta Thunberg: Teen Says Fight For Planet Will Never Stop

2019 TIME 100 Most Influential People

Ukraine Election: Comedian Zelensky Wins Presidency By Landslide

Massachusetts Elementary Students Led Campaign To Install ‘3-D’ Crosswalk In Front Of School

NOT SO GOOD NEWS

World Is Angry And Stressed, Gallup Report Says

Americans Are Among The Most Stressed-Out People In The World, Reporting Negative Emotions At Highest Rates In A Decade

SAS Pilot Walkout Leaves Thousands Stranded

Rain Over Asia Foreshadows Intense California Heat

U.S. Hits 626 Measles Cases As New York Outbreaks Continue

Ocean-Dwelling Species Are Disappearing Twice As Quickly As Land Animals

TODAY’S NEWS FROM OUR SOURCES

Australian Broadcasting Corporation;  British Broadcasting Corporation;  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation;  Moscow Times;  Reuters;  Sightline Daily; The Smithsonian Magazine; TIME magazine;  US News & World Report

According to Rusty’s infamous Uncle Seamus, ostriches, kiwis and penguins are great examples of the axiom that just because you may have been born a bird does not mean you need to fly to be one.

 FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: ‘Technology Needs To Be Regulated.’ Apple CEO Tim Cook Says No Oversight Has Led To Great Damage

OUR WORLD, UNABRIDGED

This is absolutely incredible.  The Man Who Ran Out Of Air

Huge Double Asteroid Will Pass Safely May 25  We certainly hope so.

Universe’s 1st Type Of Molecule Found At Last  Cool.  I wonder how long it’s been looking for us.

EARTH & CLIMATE CHANGE

What Caused The Great Dying?

How The Geologic History Of The Earth Provides Clues For Our Future

Salvagers Accidentally Found The Netherlands’ Oldest Shipwreck

Archaeologists Discover Some Of The Amazon’s Oldest Human Burials

Beer Fueled Diplomacy In This Ancient Empire

The Rich Get Richer Under Climate Change, 50 Years Of Data Shows

Climate Change Activist Greta Thunberg: ‘Listen To Climate Scientists’

Why Experts Are Worried About Trump’s New Panel On Climate Change

Climate-Change Activists Look To Courts As A Powerful New Ally

The Threat That Climate Change Poses To Women’s Health Is Real

Eight Ways To Teach Climate Change In Almost Any Classroom

SPACE

TESS Discovers Its 1st Earth-Sized Exoplanet

Closest Rocky Exoplanets Could Support Life

Mystery Solved: Mercury Has A Solid Heart

TECHNOLOGY

Brain Implant Device Allows People With Speech Impairments To Communicate With Their Minds

These Drones Can Perch And Dangle Like Birds And Bats

A Brief History Of Solar Panels

THE GREEN BEAT 

It’s A Groundswell Of State Power–Clean Power, That Is

Largest E-Recycling Fraud In US Uncovered

Green Jobs: Higher Wages, Lower Entry Barriers

HEALTH

World Health Organization Issues First-Ever Screen Time Guidelines For Young Kids. Here’s What To Know

Vegan Meat On The Rise

The NIH Hopes A New Study In 4 States Can Cut Opioid Deaths By 40%. Here’s How

Cancer Is Especially Dangerous For Immigrants In Texas. Here’s Why

This Is The Longest Flu Season In A Decade Due To Surprising Second Viral Wave

The FDA Just Approved The First Generic Nasal Spray To Reverse Opioid Overdoses

COMMUNITY, FAMILY, GARDEN, HOME AND LIFESTYLE

Human History In Your Face

Switzerland’s ‘Secret’ Fifth Language

The Weird Truth About English Rhubarb

What We Get Wrong About The American Heartland

BEST OF THE NET

In her column last week, Olya discussed satire as an instrument of change.  This venerable seven-minute, black and white, 1942 Warner Brothers cartoon entitled “The Ducktator” certainly backs her up.

TRAVEL

The Synagogues Preserved By Muslims

The Border That Disappears Once A Year

South America’s Shipwreck Island

DAILY 10 QUESTION TRIVIA QUIZ:  This one is from Daily Email Trivia and delivered to me in mine.  There is also an opportunity, the site, to take more quizzes on a wide range of subjects and to engage interactively and competitively.

A superpower no longer, a resource hungry and repressive America faces a Latin American armada rampaging its west coast and a strong, silent and powerful Canada manning the North Wall. The fires of rebellion burn in the Pacific Northwest and it is into this crucible and forge that the cybernetic patrol boat Testament and her crew of three men and three women are thrust. Individuals of duty and conscience both, when they join the other side, all Hell breaks loose. A rollicking adventure for anyone who loves the sea, a good yarn and characters who spring to life even as Testament herself leaps the waves. For a $4.00 Kindle Book adventure you will remember for a lifetime, please go here.

ONLINE WRITER/EDITOR FOR HIRE

This is Olya’s novel and it is an absolutely delight.

ALL CREATURES, GREAT AND SMALL

Photo courtesy of https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/fathers-day-animals-amazing-dads-national-geographic/

Cool.  Another good role model.  Male Emperor Penguins Are Good Dads

At very arm’s length, this looks so cool.  Gorillas Pose For Selfie With DR Congo Anti-Poaching Unit

Great White Sharks Are Completely Terrified Of Orcas  Since I don’t swim with either, this is definitely a relief.

SHORTS

Honey Bees On Notre-Dame’s Roof Survived The Fire

North Carolina’s Famed Shipwrecks Are Now Home To A Shark Conservation Research Study

Thanks To Facial Reconstruction, You Can Now Look Into The Eyes Of A Neolithic Dog

Image credit: https://alien-ufo-sightings.com/2017/03/incredible-1989-nashville-ufo-photographs-provided-commander-graham-bethune-

YOU GUYS THINK WE MAKE THIS STUFF UP

The Day The Asteroid Might Hit

The English Vegetable Picked By Candlelight

This Toothy Carnivore Was Bigger Than A Polar Bear

ABOUT US:  The Northstar Journal reaches an international readership of strong, intelligent, proactively compassionate people like you, who are out there helping make this a better world.  We are proud to serve them as an idea, information, and resource  platform in that regard.  If you would like to help us help them, please go here.  No contribution too large or too small.  If you would like to sponsor an edition or contribute in some other way, please contact us at minstrel312@aol.com  Thank you and see you next week.  RM/OB

 

THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND THE MOST HUMANE “WEAPON” IN OUR ARSENAL

TO VIEW IN YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam
April 21, 2019 Volume 11 Number 35

Supported by Readers Like You.  To Contribute, Please Go Here.  Thank You.

INSIDE: The Most Effective And The Most Humane “Weapon” In Our Arsenal; Easter, Earth Day And Our Prayers For Fukushima; Good News; Not So Good News; Today’s News From Our Sources; Rusty’s Infamous Uncle Seamus; For Your Consideration; Our World, Unabridged: Earth/Climate Change, Space, Technology; The Green Beat; Health; Community, Home & Lifestyle; Funzone: Best of the Net; Travel; Masha & the Bear, Sissel, Wrath of the Testament; Rocky the Rocket, All Creatures Great & Small; You Guys Think We Make This Stuff Up; About Us

By Olya Bereza: Associate Editor

Hi Rusty:

Quite interesting times in Ukraine as on last Friday an epic Presidential debate took place.  For the first time in our history at Olympic Stadium Comedian faces president in Ukrainian pre-election stadium debate

Already on Sunday the final round of elections will take place and as in a democratic country citizens are free to choose the candidate with whom they empathize most.

Still, for some people, words like “comedian” and “clown” carry a negative connotation. However, the Athenian democracy of ancient Greece was influenced by political satire.  It would seem then, that even as a young democracy, we here in Ukraine naturally and unintentionally followed the original template.

A subgenre of comedy, satire has a long history.  A great example of its importance was described by Matthew Hodgart in his work “Satire“.  He noted that when going to war, the ancient Arabs would send a satirist from both sides into battle to see which satirist could be the cleverer. The morale of two armies would be determined by the skill of their satirists, and occasionally a humiliated army would simply give up and retreat. Not a bad solution for a conflict, indeed.

Its power to serve as a medium of social influence should never be underestimated.  More importantly, it should never be abused.  Edgar Johnson in his “The Anatomy of Satire” writes, “If we ever become civilized, it will probably be satire almost as much as poetry that will have accomplished it”.

The elections in Ukraine unexpectedly have shown how powerful satire still is in inspiring reform and positive change.  This genre is uniquely human among all creatures great and small.  IT simply does not exist out of human society and is the result of human activity.

Despite satire being a double-edged literary sword, it is also a gift to humankind.  It allows us to see ourselves not in a mirror which knows better than to always be honest, but instead as a fellow adventurers visiting a strange civilization along with, say, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver.

Laughter is good when it comes from seeing something that reminds us of us.  In the long crusade against corruption, hypocrisy and inhumanity in general, that double-edged sword of satire is the most effective and the most humane “weapon” in our arsenal.

This time I have chosen the picture for the column from old times when I joined an amateur theater. From my own experience, it an indescribable feeling of freedom one gets while putting on some clowns make-up.

Olya

Northstar columnist and associate editor Olya Bereza was born in the former Soviet Union and now lives in Ukraine.  Fluent in Russian, Ukrainian, and English, she is a degreed psychologist with a background in international marketing and personnel management.  For comments, please go here.

Sadako Sasaki Shrine in Seattle. Photo by Merritt Scott Miller ©1996

EASTER, EARTH DAY AND OUR PRAYERS FOR FUKUSHIMA

By Merritt Scott (Rusty) Miller: Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  We received an update on a local disabled man who was mugged outside a popular supermarket here.  He’s doing much better now and thanks all for the prayers and best wishes which have made his recovery possible.  I know that some of you were among them so “finest kind,” guys and our personal gratitude.  We may not have the biggest circulation on the Net but we’ve got one of the classiest.

We would also like to wish our Christian readers a Happy Easter and to remind all of you that Monday, April 21^st is Earth Day,  The former celebrates both the life, death and resurrection of one of the most extraordinary human beings ever born.  The latter is a global celebration of all life, including us, on the planet.  Both, in my mind, are worth observing.

Our prayers go out to our brothers and sisters across the Pacific Ocean as those of them in Fukushima, Japan Begin Removal Of Nuclear Fuel From Damaged Reactor   We must, of personal necessity, hope that this venerable islands nation will continue to devote its efforts to finding alternative energy sources which will not only preclude another Fukushima, but will not evoke memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the latter of whose Ground Zero I have visited.

There is also a statue and simple shrine to Sadako Sasaki that I visit occasionally.  She was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.  She developed leukemia and at the age of 12, began creating origami cranes.  According to an ancient Japanese legend, a thousand origami cranes strung together will grant the creator of those birds one wish.

Unfortunately, and with all due respect, they didn’t work for her.  But they inspired the birth of an anti-nuclear ethic which has precluded the use of atomic and/or hydrogen bombs in the 74 years since.  In short, only two were ever used and America used both of them.

Those thousand cranes may not have saved Sadako’s life but they have saved the lives of millions of others.  If her sacrifice and the sacrifices of those like her are to mean anything at all, please, Almighty God, let this remain so.

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller is an award winning journalist, author, editor and photographer who lives in Seattle, Washington.  For comments, please go here

GOOD NEWS

World’s Best Teacher Peter Tabichi On How He Reached The Top

Five Countries Saving The Planet

Mohamed Salah: ‘We Need To Change The Way We Treat Women In Our Culture’

Feds Agree To Expand Habitat Protections For Northwest Orcas

This Star-Studded Anthem About Climate Change Is Breaking The Internet

New York City Passes Historic Climate Legislation

Jay Inslee’s Pitch For All-Climate Change Debate Gains Traction

NOT SO GOOD NEWS

Five Numbers That Explain US Border Crisis

Here’s How To Read The Redacted Mueller Report

Measles Cases Are Still Rising In The U.S. But They’re Even Higher Globally

Notre Dame Fire Put Priceless Art And Artifacts At Risk. Here’s What Survived — And What Didn’t

Peru’s Former President Dies After Shooting Himself During Corruption Arrest

Stalin’s Approval Rating Among Russians Hits Record High – Poll

What Was The Biggest Political Scandal In American History? 7 Historians Make Their Picks

TODAY’S NEWS FROM OUR SOURCES

Australian Broadcasting Corporation;  British Broadcasting Corporation;  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation;  Moscow Times;  Reuters;  Sightline Daily; The Smithsonian Magazine; TIME magazine;  US News & World Report

According to Rusty’s infamous Uncle Seamus, when you do someone a favor without asking them first, you’re doing it for yourself, not for them.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Can Major World Events Be Predicted?

OUR WORLD, UNABRIDGED

This is incredible.  Stonehenge: DNA Reveals Origin Of Builders

This week’s “That’s Reassuring Award” goes to Another Asteroid Disintegrates Over Russia

I’d be willing to give this a shot.  This Sci-Fi Plan To Beat Rising Seas Could Change The Way We Live – If It Works

EARTH & CLIMATE CHANGE

An Ancient Route The World Forgot

Ancient ‘Texas Serengeti’ Had Rhinos, Alligators, 12 Kinds Of Horses

David Attenborough Climate Change TV Show A ‘Call To Arms’

Independent Satellite Confirms The Planet Is Warming—And Fast

New Climate Models Predict A Warming Surge

Notre Dame Isn’t The First Historic Building To Be Rebuilt After Burning Down. Here Are 6 Others

Race To Rescue Ancient Ice

U.K. Construction Finds Neolithic Skeletons That May Have Been Victims Of Human SacrificeHow Libraries Of Things Fight Climate Change, Bring Communities Together

What Do We Really Know About Neanderthals?

SPACE

What Does It Take To Become A Cosmonaut? RT’s Documentary Finds Out

NASA Celebrates Earth Day With Social Media, Public Events

Christina Koch Is Scheduled To Spend 328 Days In Space—A Record For Women Astronauts

NASA Prepares To Build Spacecraft Bound For A Metal Asteroid

TECHNOLOGY

Robot Dogs Pull Truck And Other News

Robot That Tidies Up Bedrooms

‘World’s Largest Plane’ Takes To The Air

Robot Supermarket Shelf Scanner

Robot News Presenter Causes A Stir On Russian Tv

Motorized Scooter Boom That Hit A Century Before Dockless Scooters

THE GREEN BEAT 

The Cities That Need A Warning Label?

Microplastics Found In Remote Region Of France’s Pyrenees

Indigenous Activists Lead Environmental Protests To 44 Chase Bank Branches

HEALTH

This Is The Longest Flu Season In A Decade Due To Surprising Second Viral Wave

Want To Live Longer? Science Says To Do These 5 Things

New York County Bans People With Measles From Visiting Public Places

Why Spicy Food Makes Your Nose Run—And Why It’s Great For You

Is Honey Healthy? Here’s What Experts Say

9 Common Myths About Exercise

Indianapolis-Based Company Recalls Melon Products In 16 States After Salmonella Outbreak

COMMUNITY, FAMILY, GARDEN, HOME AND LIFESTYLE

The Secret Lives of Saudi Women

How And Why Did Religion Evolve?

Carl’s Jr.’s First CBD Burger Hits on 4/20 in Denver

How Super-Commuter Couples Make It Work

You Asked: Do Religious People Live Longer?

10 New Fruit Trees And Edible Vines For Your Garden This Spring

Gardeners Were Right: Marigolds Do Help Prevent Tomato Pests

BEST OF THE NET

Smithsonian Magazine Online.  This is one of the most engagingly informative sites I’ve ever visited and it certainly reflects the quality of the brick and mortar museum in Washington, DC.  Here’s a sample:  What Was The World’s First Currency And More Questions From Our Readers

TRAVEL

Reel: The Tiny Village Hidden Inside The Grand Canyon  

The Camino De Santiago’s Ancient Secret

World Of Wonder

DAILY 10 QUESTION TRIVIA QUIZ:  This one is from Daily Email Trivia and delivered to me in mine.  There is also an opportunity, the site, to take more quizzes on a wide range of subjects and to engage interactively and competitively.

Meet the global singing sensation Sissel (Cecelia) from Kyrkjebo, a small town in Norway.  A clear voiced soprano with a classical background, she has crossed over into gospel and popular with stunning effect. She is also multi-lingual and has recorded in over a dozen languages and dialects. Her looks are as international as her music and when this statuesque Scandinavian takes the stage, she does so modestly, sincerely but with quiet command that comes from the support of every member of the production.  She has also collaborated with a number of the finest performers in music today.  Hers was, as vell, the voice in the theme of the most recent version of the epic film, Titanic.

For a truly unforgettable experience, we give you, then, Sissel.

Amazing Grace, with the Oslo Gospel Choir

Auld Lyne Syne, Live On Swedish TV4

Bridge Over Troubled Water, with Russell Watson

Going Home

The Prayer, with Josh Groban

ONLINE WRITER/EDITOR FOR HIRE

A superpower no longer, a resource hungry and repressive America faces a Latin American armada rampaging its west coast and a strong, silent and powerful Canada manning the North Wall. The fires of rebellion burn in the Pacific Northwest and it is into this crucible and forge that the cybernetic patrol boat Testament and her crew of three men and three women are thrust. Individuals of duty and conscience both, when they join the other side, all Hell breaks loose. A rollicking adventure for anyone who loves the sea, a good yarn and characters who spring to life even as Testament herself leaps the waves. For a $4.00 Kindle Book adventure you will remember for a lifetime, please go here.

This is one of Olya’s children’s books and it is an absolute delight.

ALL CREATURES, GREAT AND SMALL

Photo source: http://ktmf.images.worldnow.com/images/3868141_G.jpg

This needs to happen more often.  It’s part of an approach with which I totally agree.  Researchers Protect One Of The Grizzly Bear’s Favorite Snacks, The Huckleberry

Here’s a Kodak Moment.  Panda Doesn’t Realise She’s Had Twins! | BBC Earth

Amazing.  Owl Stuck In Fishing Line Freed By Snorkeler Who Came ‘Out Of Nowhere’

SHORTS

3 Captivating Bald Eagle Co-Parents Are Raising A Family Together

How A Tiny Endangered Species Put A Man In Prison >

The Disease Devastating Deer Herds May Also Threaten Human Health >

YOU GUYS THINK WE MAKE THIS STUFF UP

This Library In Anchorage Lends Out Taxidermic Specimens

‘Giant Lion’ Fossil Found In Kenya Museum Drawer

‘I Was Boiling.’ Woman Wears All Of Her Clothes To Avoid An Extra Baggage Fee

ABOUT US:  The Northstar Journal reaches an international readership of strong, intelligent, proactively compassionate people like you, who are out there helping make this a better world.  We are proud to serve them as an idea, information, and resource  platform in that regard.  If you would like to help us help them, please go here.  No contribution too large or too small.  If you would like to sponsor an edition or contribute in some other way, please contact us at minstrel312@aol.com  Thank you and see you next week.  RM/OB

CELEBRATING THE BEGINNING OF THE SPACE ERA FOR MANKIND

TO VIEW IN YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam
April 14, 2019 Volume 11 Number 34

Supported by Readers Like You.  To Contribute, Please Go Here.  Thank You.

INSIDE: Celebrating The Beginning Of The Space Era For Mankind; To Those Who Dare To Slip The Surly Bonds Of Earth, Put Out Their Hand And Touch The Face Of God; Good News; Not So Good News; Today’s News From Our Sources; Rusty’s Infamous Uncle Seamus; For Your Consideration; Our World, Unabridged: Earth/Climate Change, Space, Technology; The Green Beat; Health; Community, Home & Lifestyle; Funzone: Best of the Net; Travel; Masha & the Bear, Sissel, Wrath of the Testament; Rocky the Rocket; All Creatures Great & Small; You Guys Think We Make This Stuff Up; About Us

Photo courtesy of https://www.un.org/en/events/humanspaceflightday/

By Olya Bereza: Associate Editor

Hi Rusty:

This week on Friday, April 12, in this part of the world we celebrated Cosmonautics Day also known worldwide as The International Day of Human Space Flight: Celebrating the beginning of the space era for mankind

It was on this date in 1961 that the first human being, Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, was launched into space.  Exactly two decades later, America’s Space Shuttle program began.

Unfortunately, I don’t know about American children back then (communication was difficult if not impossible among children of other nations) but for myself it was the era of such uplifting an interest in space that my childhood drawings reflected this – my whole album was full of pictures of rockets and stars.

All my favorite children books were about space explorations, the favorite being  “Alice: The Girl From Earth” by Kir Bulychev. The writer was so prolific that he made 45 stories about Alice Selezneva, the girl from the future. His vision of the world where all the wars are finished and humanity is busy with more interesting things such as searching the space and time travel is still quite attractive to me.

Ukraine has quite big and successful past in this industry that, after the turbulence of the 1990s, temporarily went downhill. But the interest has never been lost and as the soil of Ukraine is one of the best in the world, the same could be said about human minds here. So surely one day we are going to be back on track  Ukrainian Space Sector Anticipates Big Changes.

I’m not drawing rockets anymore as personally, I think that the idea of heavy rockets is a bit outdated and not good for environment. But I like the idea of small space crafts and international space stations.

That’s it for this week, Mishka.  Happy flying, cousin mine.

Olya

Northstar columnist and associate editor Olya Bereza was born in the former Soviet Union and now lives in Ukraine.  Fluent in Russian, Ukrainian, and English, she is a degreed psychologist with a background in international marketing and personnel management.  For comments, please go here.

Photo credit: http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/poetry/john-magee.html

TO THOSE WHO DARE TO SLIP THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH, PUT OUT THEIR HAND AND TOUCH THE FACE OF GOD.

By Merritt Scott (Rusty) Miller: Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea. Olya’s column this week resonates with me personally and on several levels.

I’ve had a lifelong love affair with exploration and a special place in my heart for those who dare to slip the surly bonds of earth, put out their hand and touch the face of God.  My father was a radio gunner on dive bombers and I crewed two destroyers who fished fighter pilots out of the West Pacific when the flak they took on a mission made that their only alternative.

I also grew up just north of the Sacramento Municipal Airport, then sited at the extreme southern city limits.  They had a lot of restored aircraft from three wars.  My favorite indoor hobby was making plastic models, with my father’s help in the beginning, and then painted them according to one of the planes we saw at the airport.  The names Aurora, Monogram and Revel still evoke fond memories, despite the toxic effects of the adhesive required.

As with most folks, no story of my life or about it lacks its own cast of characters and I the central one in this context is an individual whose real name I choose not to divulge.  He has living relatives and his has strong overtones of Icarus.  That, for the purpose of this narrative, is what I shall call him too.

Icarus was Southern American going back to colonial times.  He served in the United States Army, got a degree in mechanical engineer at a prestigious university in Texas, then went on to enter the aerospace industry as a designer and project lead.  He is mentioned in James Michener’s epic novel Space.

The “sun” which undid Icarus was his discovery of defective “O” rings on the space shuttle Challenger.  Those whom he tried to warn either minimized the risks as acceptable and not worth the tremendous effort it takes to call of a scheduled launch or ignored Icarus entirely.

When Challenger exploded with the loss of all aboard, Icarus crashed too and spent the remainder of his life in and out of alcoholic rehabilitation in Southern California.  He eventually died in the arms of his daughter and wife in a home in Dixie he loved so much but could not bring himself to come back to until he knew for certain he was preparing for his own launch into those surly skies he loved.

To this day, I cannot look into a clear midnight sky without seeing his face, hearing his voice and sharing what turned out for him and for so many others, a magnificent but tragic passion.

Keep ‘em flying Up Yonder, Pappy.  Dixie is proud.  So am I.

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller is a journalist, author, editor and photographer who lives in Seattle, Washington.  For comments, please go here

GOOD NEWS

B.C. Introduces Law To Require New Cars, Trucks To Be Zero Emission

Boeing Makes 96 Flights To Test Software On Troubled Max Jet

Elderly Women ‘Moving Like Never Before’

India Election 2019: Oldest Voter Explains Why It’s Important To Vote

Katie Bouman: The Woman Behind The First Black Hole Image

Libyan Teenager Starts Weekly Fast For Peace

Student Reunited With Mother After 12 Years

Washington State Legislators Approve 100% Clean Energy By 2045

NOT SO GOOD NEWS

China Doesn’t Want California’s Waste. Now What?

Gender Pay Gap For Doctors Is Getting Worse. Here’s What Women Make Compared To Men

Herbal Drug Called Kratom Has Been Linked To Almost 100 Overdose Deaths, The CDC Reports

New York City Declares Public Health Emergency In The Face Of An Intensifying Measles Outbreak

Plastic Bottles Overtake Plastic Bags As The Biggest Threat To Oceans

Toxic Chemicals:  A Growing Post-Wildfire Problem:

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Is Facing Extradition To U.S. Here’s Everything We Know So Far

TODAY’S NEWS FROM OUR SOURCES

Australian Broadcasting Corporation;  British Broadcasting Corporation;  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation;  Moscow Times;  Reuters;  Sightline Daily;  TIME magazine;  US News & World Report

According to Rusty’s infamous Uncle Seamus, sometimes you just have to wonder which of their parents barks.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

What If California Seceded From The US?

OUR WORLD, UNABRIDGED

This is a “must read.”  The Events That Shape Humanity’s Course

So is this.  I Am The Rabbi At Tree Of Life. Here Is A Simple Thing We All Can Do To Help Stop The Next Christchurch

This sounds like fun and yep, we’re doing it too.  The Largest Unnamed Object In The Solar System Needs A Title—And You Can Help

EARTH & CLIMATE CHANGE

An 870km Path To The ‘End Of The World’

As White House Questions Climate Change, US Military Is Planning For It

It Could Take 10 Million Years To Recover From Mass Extinctions

What Causes Landslides And Mudslides?

Young Republicans Breaking With Their Party Over Climate Change

SPACE

SpaceX Nails Triple Booster Landing After Satellite Delivery

The 1st Real Image Of A Black Hole

We Finally Learned What A Year In Space Did To Astronaut Scott Kelly’s Body

The First Group Of Female Cosmonauts Were Trained To Conquer The Final Frontier

TECHNOLOGY

Driving An Electric Car From Amsterdam To Sydney

Google Wing Launches First Commercial Drone Delivery Service

Police Detectors To Warn Mobile Phone-Using Drivers

Sony Creates Colossal 16K Screen In Japan

‘The Era Of Self-Regulation Is Over.’ Facebook Is Facing New Rules All Over The World

The Man Who Invented The Wingsuit

UW Student Creates New Online Tool For Transit Riders

THE GREEN BEAT 

Mass Timber Is Taking Off In Construction. But How Green Is It Really?

This Montreal Company Turns Juice Pulp Into Food

Amazon Employees Challenge Company To Lead On Climate

The Recycling Crisis Is Serious, But You Can Help

Washington, New York: We’ll Fight Order Boosting Coal, Oil Projects

HEALTH

Vitamins And Supplements Can’t Replace A Balanced Diet, Study Says

Everything You Need To Know About Duck Eggs

A Baby Was Born With DNA From 3 People. Here’s How

A Milestone For The ‘Ageing Time Bomb’

COMMUNITY, FAMILY, HOME AND LIFESTYLE

Afghanistan’s One And Only Jew

Fashion 20 Years From Now

How To Network If You’re Shy

Paradise Fire Survivors: ‘Losing Everything Has Made Me Stronger’

How The Humanities Lead To Success

10 Tricks And Gadgets To Freshen Up Your Garden This Spring

BEST OF THE NET

High Flight

Ever Seen A Dolphin Order Fish Off A Menu?

The Minstrel Boy – Danny Quinn

TRAVEL

Booking A Flight Soon? These Are The Best (And Worst) Airlines, Researchers Say

Why Scotland Loves The Unicorn

Why Airlines Lengthen Trips On Purpose

Cape Town’s Inspiring Medical Marvel

DAILY 10 QUESTION TRIVIA QUIZ:  This one is from Daily Email Trivia and delivered to me in mine.  The site also offers a rich variety of topical quizzes and competitive interaction.  The coolest part for me is that you can create your own quizzes.

Meet the global singing sensation Sissel (Cecelia) from Kyrkjebo, a small town in Norway.  A clear voiced soprano with a classical background, she has crossed over into gospel and popular with stunning effect. She is also multi-lingual and has recorded in over a dozen languages and dialects. Her looks are as international as her music and when this statuesque Scandinavian takes the stage, she does so modestly, sincerely but with quiet command that comes from the support of every member of the production.  She has also collaborated with a number of the finest performers in music today.  Hers was, as vell, the voice in the theme of the most recent version of the epic film, Titanic.

For a truly unforgettable experience, we give you, then, Sissel.

Amazing Grace, with the Oslo Gospel Choir

Auld Lyne Syne, Live On Swedish TV4

Bridge Over Troubled Water, with Russell Watson

Going Home

The Prayer, with Josh Groban

NORTHSTAR MEDIA SERVICES 

A superpower no longer, a resource hungry and repressive America faces a Latin American armada rampaging its west coast and a strong, silent and powerful Canada manning the North Wall. The fires of rebellion burn in the Pacific Northwest and it is into this crucible and forge that the cybernetic patrol boat Testament and her crew of three men and three women are thrust. Individuals of duty and conscience both, when they join the other side, all Hell breaks loose. A rollicking adventure for anyone who loves the sea, a good yarn and characters who spring to life even as Testament herself leaps the waves. For a $4.00 Kindle Book adventure you will remember for a lifetime, please go here.  

(Holley is Olya and this little kindle book is an absolute romp)

Falco peregrinus, Pismo Beach, CA Bird fledged less than 12 days ago.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/marlinharms/28056305966/

This is amazing.  Fly With The World’s Fastest Bird

We could not agree more.  Views: It’s Time To Fully Fund Salmon Recovery

Somehow, I don’t think Old McDonald had these on his farm.  10 Farm Animal Hybrids You Didn’t Know Existed

SHORTS

Birds Meet Their Fly Sneaker ‘Twins’ In This Highly Amusing Thread

This Animal Has The Biggest Ears On Earth (Relative To Size)

Making Peace In The Golan Heights—Between Humans And Wolves

Artist’s Conception: Leonardo DaVinci’s “Air Screw” (helicopter) inspired by his notes, sketches, etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfH6e3IUWAo

YOU GUYS THINK WE MAKE THIS STUFF UP

4-Legged Whale Fossil Found Along Coast Of Peru

Police Respond To ‘Intruder’ And Find Robot Vacuum Cleaner

71-Year-Old Goes On 17-Day Hunger Strike To Save Starving Orcas

ABOUT US:  The Northstar Journal reaches an international readership of strong, intelligent, proactively compassionate people like you, who are out there helping make this a better world.  We are proud to serve them as an resource in that regard.  If you would like to help us help them, please go here.  No contribution too large or too small.  If you would like to sponsor an edition or contribute in some other way, please contact us at minstrel312@aol.com  Thank you and see you next week.  RM/OB

 

BUS STOP ATTACK ON DISABLED RAINIER BEACH SAFEWAY EMPLOYEE

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam
April 7, 2019 Volume 11 Number 33

Supported by Readers Like You.  To Contribute, Please Go Here.  Thank You.

INSIDE: Bus Stop Attack On Disabled Rainier Beach Safeway Employee; A Nation The Size of Texas and Its Presidential Election; Good News; Not So Good News; Today’s News From Our Sources; For Your Consideration; Our World, Unabridged: Earth/Climate Change, Space, Technology; The Green Beat; Health; Community, Home & Lifestyle; Funzone: Best of the Net; Travel; Rusty’s Infamous Uncle Seamus; Masha & the Bear, Sissel, Wrath of the Testament; All Creatures Great & Small; You Guys Think We Make This Stuff Up; About Us

Rainier Beach Safeway Photo by Merritt Scott (Rusty) Miller

By Merritt Scott (Rusty) Miller: Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  The incident I am about to share with you, as cruel and as unprovoked as it was, fortunately does not happen often where I live.  Rainier Beach, in South Seattle, is a homogenous blend of African, Asia, Hispanic and European Americans.  The scene of the crime is a covered bus stop at one of the busiest intersections in that neighborhood.  This report comes from Nextdoor.com, which is very popular, very active and very effective here.

Bus Stop Attack On Disabled Rainier Beach Safeway Employee

Many of us read the report of the vicious attack of a developmentally disabled man at a bus stop on Rainier Ave. on March 24th. The victim is Ray Pieczynski who is a courtesy clerk at Rainier Beach Safeway. Ray retrieves the shopping carts and keeps the parking lot free of trash. He’s a great guy. He loves his job and is the sole support of his twin brother who is also disabled. Ray is in Harborview right now and his sister has begun a Go Fund Me account to try to keep help with the numerous bills during his recovery(He may also have hearing loss plus the brain injury.) Everything about this attack is heartbreaking on so many levels . This community is better than this. I’m hoping when the neighborhood learns the details that we’ll step up to help Ray. There are more details on Q13 news web site.

The Northstar Journal has donated ten dollars, which is a lot for us sometimes, and we wish it could be more.  We also join our neighbors on Nextdoor.com in offering our assistance to the Seattle Police Department and the King County Sheriff’s Office in apprehending the perpetrators.

We are sorry this happened.  We are proud of how our neighbors are responding.

Take care, stay well and God Bless.

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller is a journalist, author, editor and photographer who lives in Seattle, Washington.  For comments, please go here

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukrainian comic actor and candidate in the upcoming presidential election, takes part in a production process of Servant of the People series in Kiev, Ukraine March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

A NATION THE SIZE OF TEXAS AND ITS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

By Olya Bereza: Associate Editor

Hi Rusty:

Things are getting interesting and a little bit unexpected here in Ukraine with the presidential elections.

In the first round, the winner ~ with about 30 percent of the votes cast ~ was Vladimir Zelenskiy, a famous actor, entertainer and producer who won in 19 of 24 districts in Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv.  Incumbent Petro Poroshenko came in second and career politician Yulia Tymoshenko finished third.  For live updates please go to this Kyiv Post article.

According to Ukraine election laws, if no candidate received more then 50%, we go into a second and final round, with the two winners of our primary.  This is scheduled now for April 2`, 2019.

Zelenskiy is definitely made front page news with his results.  Much of this was possible because he was already portraying a president on our television series,  “Servant of the People” . Though famous now for his acting, he does, in fact hold a law degree from Kyiv University so unlike the American actor who became chief executive, Zelenskiy has the education for the job.

In campaigning, he took the intiative in the first few days.  In the final election, he has invited his opponent to debate him at the Olympiysky stadium in Kyiv, with full media coverage and Timoshenko moderating.  His motto is “the more transparent the politics. the better it is for the country.”  Obviously the recent corruption scandal in Ukraine’s defense procurement didn’t do any good for the rating of our incumbent president just before the elections. One can read more here Why Ukraine’s defense corruption scandal is actually a good thing.

To be frank, I didn’t expect Zelenskiy to be this successful, despite the fact that many of my friends and acquaintances throughout our nation, which is as big as your state of Texas, voted for him.  I do, however, respect the opinion of the citizens of Ukraine as they see in him a hope for change. Everyone understands that he might not have enough experience but there were a few factors that influenced people’s choice. First of all, he made his own success and did so honestly at a time when so many here attained theirs illegally. Secondly, we have Parliament-President Republic so his power will still be limited. Thirdly, he is more focused on solving the domestic problems of our nation and in seeking diplomacy rather than confrontation and conflict.

Sometimes the success of Vladimir Zelenskiy is compared to newly elected president of Slovakia Zuzana Caputova. Both have targeted corruption; both of them have liberal views. Ukraine is striving to find its own independent way. Negotiating with other countries trying to influence our destiny for their own gain has not historically worked and is not good for us now.  And that, in our case, does not go just for Russia. How do you think we feel when we read these kinds of articles?   Financial Times “A comedian for president? Don’t make me laugh“.

With all due respect, I’d like to ask the nations of the world to please let us run our own country?  And in return, if we need your advice, we will ask for it.  Thank you on behalf of all 43,844,772 of us.

Northstar columnist and associate editor Olya Bereza was born in the former Soviet Union and now lives in Ukraine.  Fluent in Russian, Ukrainian, and English, she is a degreed psychologist with a background in international marketing and personnel management.  For comments, please go here.

GOOD NEWS

Terrified Man Who Fled New York Blast Immediately Returned To Help Victims

Judge Restores Obama-Era Drilling Ban In Arctic

Chicago Elects Lori Lightfoot As First Female Black Mayor

Hero Saves Cat From The Thames

Quick-Thinking Off-Duty Firefighter Saves Restaurant Full Of People From Carbon Monoxide

Meet The High-Level Trainer Who Quit Everything To Start A Gym For People With Disabilities

A 23-Year-Old Just Schooled Fox News On The Costs Of The Green New Deal

NOT SO GOOD NEWS

CO2 Levels Are As High As They Were Three Million Years Ago

2018 Global CO2 Growth 4th Highest On Record

Cyber-Attacks ‘Damage’ National Infrastructure

Judge Who Asked Sexual Assault Victim If She Closed Her Legs Faces Suspension

TODAY’S NEWS FROM OUR SOURCES

Australian Broadcasting Corporation;  British Broadcasting Corporation;  Canadian Broadcasting Corporation;  Moscow Times;  Reuters;  Sightline Daily;  TIME magazine;  US News & World Report

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Can this lost tribe save the world?

OUR WORLD, UNABRIDGED

This is definitely a “wow moment” in the House of Northstar.  NASA And Google Partner For Human Mars Exploration

And This Week’s Winner Of The “That’s Reassuring Award” Goes To Speedy Asteroid Buzzed Earth Last Week, 1 Day Before Being Detected

If this doesn’t turn our perception of DownUnder around, I’m not sure much ever will.  60% Of Bird Species Came From Australia

EARTH & CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change Is Warming Canada At A Rate Twice As Fast As The Global Average

UN: Extreme Weather Displaced 2 Million People In 2018

What Makes Famous Blood Falls Red?

Alaska’s Mountain Glaciers: A 10-Year Story

SPACE

Yesterday’s ISS Resupply Mission Broke An Incredible Record

Japanese Spacecraft ‘Bombs’ Asteroid

Saturn’s Rings Coat 5 Tiny Moons

TECHNOLOGY

Toyota To Share Hybrid Vehicle Secrets For Free

The Death Of The Early Internet

Box Lifting Warehouse Robots Unveiled

THE GREEN BEAT 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Defiantly Promises A Green New Deal Congress Can’t Refuse

This One Idea Can Save Us From Climate Breakdown, Say Campaigners

The Surprising Reason Your Clothes Are A Huge Source Of Ocean Pollution

HEALTH

What Does Air Pollution Do To Our Bodies?

Even One Drink A Day Increases Stroke Risk, Study Finds

How Much Water Should You Drink A Day?

Robot Can Feed People With Disabilities

COMMUNITY, FAMILY, HOME AND LIFESTYLE

Researcher Identifies The Last Living Survivor Of The Transatlantic Slave Trade
America Needs A National System For Transit Access

Russians Are Incapable Of Escaping This Slippery Ice Prison

BEST OF THE NET

Despite its reputation for taking extreme license with actual events and personalities of history, Hollywood occasional gets it right and Buffalo Bill, the Life of William Fredrick Cody, made in 1944 and starring Joel McCrea, Maureen O’Hara (without John Wayne), veteran character actor Thomas Mitchell and as fine a supporting cast as ever assembled.  G-rated, I’d recommend this for family viewing and as a gift to those who may not be familiar with this chapter in American history.  MS(R)M

TRAVEL

The Massive Cost of Restoring the Notre Dame Cathedral

Calculate Your Perfect Holiday Length

A World Isolated From Civilization By 900 miles (1450 km)

According to Rusty’s infamous Uncle Seamus, it’s probably a good thing for most atheists that while they may not believe in God, God believes in them.

DAILY 10 QUESTION TRIVIA QUIZ:  This one is from Daily Email Trivia and delivered to me in mine.  There is also an opportunity, the site, to take more quizzes on a wide range of subjects and to engage interactively and competitively.

This is Sissel (Cecelia) from Kyrkjebo, a small town in Norway, a Scandinavian nation of five million. I recently discovered her by accident and I am absolutely, totally and without reservation enjoying becoming a devout fan of perhaps the finest vocal performer the last of an old century and the first of a new has yet produced.

A clear voiced soprano with a classical background, she has crossed over into gospel and popular with stunning effect. She is also multi-lingual and has recorded in over a dozen languages and dialects. Her looks are as international as her music and when this statuesque entertainer takes the stage, she does so quietly, sincerely and without command. She has also collaborated with a number of the finest performers in music today  Hers was, as vell, the voice in the theme of the most recent version of the epic film, Titanic.

For a truly unforgettable experience, we give you, then, Sissel.

Homepage

YouTube Videos

Amazing Grace, with the Oslo Gospel Choir

Auld Lyne Syne, Live On Swedish TV4

Bridge Over Troubled Water, with Russell Watson

Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina

Going Home

In Concert

In Concert – All Good Things

The Prayer, with Josh Groban

A superpower no longer, a resource hungry and repressive America faces a Latin American armada rampaging its west coast and a strong, silent and powerful Canada manning the North Wall. The fires of rebellion burn in the Pacific Northwest and it is into this crucible and forge that the cybernetic patrol boat Testament and her crew of three men and three women are thrust. Individuals of duty and conscience both, when they join the other side, all Hell breaks loose. A rollicking adventure for anyone who loves the sea, a good yarn and characters who spring to life even as Testament herself leaps the waves. For a $4.00 Kindle Book adventure you will remember for a lifetime, please go here.

ALL CREATURES, GREAT AND SMALL

Cuter and smarter cousin of the one below.

Skunk Rescued After Getting Head Stuck In Beer Can  The hangover must have been fun too.

California’s Secret Wildfire Weapon: Goats And Sheep  To whom is this a secret?  That’s one of the things goats and sheep do in nature without any help from us.

Advocates Say Orca Recovery Legislation Urgent   They’ve been gumming this one to death but so far, we’ve yet to see more than mouth.  And with all due respect, that’s not going to help.

SHORTS

These Rare Wolves Are Unique Species. Here’s Why That Matters.

Jane Goodall’s Original Tale Of Chimpanzees Still Astonishes Today

Cambodia’s Endangered River Dolphins At Highest Population In 20 Years

YOU GUYS THINK WE MAKE THIS STUFF UP

‘Living Fossil’ Given New Home At ZSL London Zoo

‘Eerie, Witty, Stylishly Told Stories’

Yes, Giant Technicolor Squirrels Actually Roam the Forests of Southern India

ABOUT US:  The Northstar Journal reaches an international readership of strong, intelligent, proactively compassionate people like you, who are out there helping make this a better world.  We are proud to serve them as an idea, information, and resource  platform in that regard.  If you would like to help us help them, please go here.  No contribution too large or too small.  If you would like to sponsor an edition or contribute in some other way, please contact us at minstrel312@aol.com  Thank you and see you next week.  RM/OB