NOT WAITING FOR THE BED TO FALL ON ME

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam

April 11, 2021

Volume 13 Number 19

Reader-Supported  Please go here. Thank you very much.

 “There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe … the sun in the heavens and The Associated Press down here.”  Mark Twain

Inside: Not Waiting For The Bed To Fall On Me; Reflections From A War Zone; American Community, Culture & Lifestyle; Beyond Our Pale; People Making A Difference; Economics; History; Covid-19; General Health & Wellbeing; Home & Family; Garden & Kitchen; Our World and Beyond; Earth; Climate & Climate Change; The Green Agenda; Space; Technology; Funzone: Travel; Best of the Net; Movie of the Week; Masha & the Bear, All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

Photo courtesy of https://tutitu.tv/

NOT WAITING FOR THE BED TO FALL ON ME

Rusty Miller, Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  Sometimes I absolutely detest being right.  This is one of those times.  When Covid 19 surfaced in Seattle some 13 months ago, I feared that hate would emerge as the greater health crisis  This  CDC Declares Racism A Public Health Threat suggests to me I was right.

Hate is toxic and compromises the body’s first line of defense – the immune system – from being able to do its best job.  Your immune system is what you bolster up with extra vitamins and health foods, that physiological Maginot Line.

Love is healing and healthy and bolsters the body’s immune system.  It’s important not only to be loved by someone but to love someone yourself.  It does not in most cases need to be a fan club or a legion of followers, just people we really enjoy hanging (out) with who think we’re cool too. 

My sense is that while many of us may not appreciate it, most of us actually do have that. Covid-19 may not give us much choice when it comes to dying alone.  But it’s certainly our decision whether we want to live that way.

I prefer not to wait for the bed to fall on me.

Rusty

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller aka “Mishka” is an author, photojournalist and editor. A Northern California native, he has lived in Oregon and Washington State and resides now in South Seattle, Washington. For comments, please go here

Image courtesy of blogs.cuit.columbia.edu

REFLECTIONS FROM A WAR ZONE

Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

Hi Rusty:

You asked how I feel about the recent escalation in the east of Ukraine.  Within the context of the following headlines, I do not blame you for being concerned.

The US And Russia Are Sending Warships Into The Black Sea Amid Rising Tensions

Ukraine: Rapid Escalation Of Conflict In 2014 Has Lessons For Today

OSCE SMM Unable To Determine Type Of Ammunition Which Killed 5-Year-Old Boy In Occupied Village Of Oleksandrivske

I know all the above mentioned should make me worried and scared. I don’t know why I don’t feel that way. Maybe it’s “the boy who cried wolf” effect as one just can’t live for seven years in constant fear. This is how long that conflict has already lasted. In 2013-2014, I was really fearful and had severe panic attacks with long lasting effects so acute that had to leave my job.

Now in the same situation just a few hundred kilometers from the border for some reason I’m not. I am concerned for the people of Donetsk region.  They have already been through so much pain it is difficult to imagine how they will survive more military activity.

I was one of 75% who on presidential elections voted for a “peaceful solution” so I still think it’s the last resort to put on the shoulders of soldiers the task of solving the stalemate situation instead of politicians who should be on the front line of finding a way.

Maybe it’s my unconditional trust in the Universe and eternal sunshine of the Mind. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe in a better world.

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. She travels Europe in conjunction with a family intelligence technology business and is proactively involved in protecting the forests of the Carpathian Mountains.  For comments, please go here.

AMERICAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

Ageist Attacks Against President Biden Reinforce Outdated Stereotypes & Hurt Younger People, Too

How Jackson Residents Helped Themselves During February Storms

How Los Angeles Plans To Preserve The City’s Black Cultural Heritage

Navy Seabees Build VP Kamala Harris A Desk Out Of Wood From USS Constitution

US Public Warming Up Quickly To Electric Vehicles

What Counts As A Mass Shooting? Why So Much Of America’s Gun Violence Gets Overlooked

BEYOND OUR PALE

Greenland Election: Opposition Win Casts Doubt On Mine

Belfast: Stormont Ministers ‘Gravely Concerned’ After Fresh Violence

Family Torn Apart By Iran Imprisoning Father Begs For His Release

Japan’s Cherry Blossoms Hit Earliest Peak Bloom In 1,200 Years

Dolphins Spotted In Venice’s Grand Canal—For Real This Time

Myanmar’s Online Pop-Up Markets Raise Funds For Protest

Biden Administration To Restore $235m In US Aid To Palestinians

Russia:  Government Food Cap Unlikely

Spain To Try Nationwide 4-Day Workweek

U.K.’S Prince Philip Dead At 99

PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Boat, Snowmobile, Camel: Vaccine Reaches World’s Far Corners

A Colorado County Provides A Model For Saving The West’s Open Spaces

Indigenous Peoples Are The Best Protectors Of Forests, New UN Report Shows

Poets Of Color Pave The Way For The Next Generation

The Kind Of Heroes We Need To Actually Save The Planet

What We Can Do To Protect Monarch Butterflies

Young Activists Include Justice In Their Fight Against Climate Change

ECONOMICS

Fed’s Powell: US Nears Full Reopening To ‘Different Economy

Tech Company Gains Help Push S&P 500 To Record High

IMF Upgrades Forecast For 2021 Global Growth To A Record 6%

HISTORY

The Day Soviet Aircraft Attacked American Pilots

9 New Deal Infrastructure Projects That Changed America

8 Events That Led To World War I

When The Supreme Court Ruled A Vaccine Could Be Mandatory

Why The Civil War Actually Ended 16 Months After Lee Surrendered

Did Shakespeare Base His Masterpieces On Works By An Obscure Elizabethan Playwright?

Some Of Europe’s Oldest-Known Modern Humans Are Distantly Related To Native Americans

Egypt Says It Has Uncovered A Vast, Untouched, 3,000 Year-Old ‘Lost Golden City’

COVID-19

Biden Makes All Adults Eligible For A Vaccine On April 19

Deaths Among America’s Homeless Are Soaring In The Pandemic

Drones Are Delivering Covid-19 Vaccines To Underserved Communities

Fully Vaccinated People Can Travel With Low Risk Of COVID-19, CDC Says

How Social Lives Are Changing During The U.S. Vaccine Rollout

What To Expect After Getting A COVID-19 Vaccine

WHO Releases Results Of First Investigation Into The Origin Of Covid-19

Your Must-Read Coronavirus Coverage

GENERAL HEALTH & WELLBEING

12 Reasons Why Dehydration Is Bad For Your Body

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky Unveils Agency Initiative To Address Racism In Health

HOME & FAMILY

Forget Zero Waste: Just Become A Better Shopper

How Museum Collections Advance Knowledge Of Human Health

GARDEN & KITCHEN

Who Invented The TV Dinner?

We’ve Been Eating It For Centuries, Without Realising It

Fried Chicken Sandwiches With Acar Slaw

Japanese Fried Chicken (Karaage) Rice Burgers

Spring Onion Pancakes (Cong You Bing) With Scrambled Egg

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

In This Illustration, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Stands On The Red Planet’s Surface As The Perseverance Rover (Partially Visible On The Left) Rolls Away. Image Via NASA/ JPL-Caltech.

How To Watch The Mars Helicopter’s Historic 1st Flight

Watch NASA Astronauts Take SpaceX Spacecraft For A Joyride

Watch This Pine Tree Unleash A Huge, Fluffy Pollen Cloud

EARTH

A Tree Grows 40 Different Types Of Fruit

Newly-Discovered Dino Named  ‘One Who Causes Fear’

Explorers Survey World’s Deepest Known Shipwreck

CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change Linked To Increase In Arctic Lightning Strikes

Climate Vulnerability Should Be Factored Into Debt Relief, Says IMF Head

Cyclone Seroja Kills 160 People, Exposes Indonesia’s Climate Vulnerability

Health Must Be Put At The Heart Of National Climate Plans

Japan Set To Raise Ambition Of 2030 Climate Goal

Reports Stress That Climate Literacy Is The Key To A Greener Future

THE GREEN AGENDA

National Campaign Mobilizes Partners And Volunteers To Restore Our Earth

South Africa Sets Out To Tighten 2030 Emissions Target

SPACE

Michio Kaku Has Advice For Next Time You Get Abducted By Aliens

Mysterious “Spiders” Spotted On Mars Explained

NASA Funds Spacecraft “Swarm” To Explore Venus 

NASA Releases Breathtaking Rover Photo Of “Rainbow” On Mars

Scientists Detect X-Rays From Uranus

The Punishing Regime That Trained Russia’s Space Explorers

This Space Telescope Could Find A Second Earth

Use The Big Dipper To Find The Little Dipper

Latest Images From NASA’s Earth Observatory

TECHNOLOGY

“Direct Fusion Drive” Could Get Us To The Edge Of The Solar System In 10 Years

3d-Printed Earthen Home Merges New Tech With Ancient Material

Neuralink Co-Founder Says We Have The Tech To Build An Actual Jurassic Park

BEST OF THE NET: 

Mr. Holland’s Opus – The Marching Band

Mr. Holland’s Opus – Someone To Watch Over Me

Mr. Holland’s Opus – The American Symphony By Glen Holland

TRAVEL

Virtual Tour Restores Baalbek’s Stunning Roman Temples To Their Former Glory

Maldives Becomes Top Destination For Indians Seeking A Pandemic Escape

UK Could Resume International Travel From May 17, PM Boris Johnson Says

MEDIA OF THE WEEK: HOME OF THE BRAVE — From Academy Award-winner Irwin Winkler comes Home of the Brave, the story of four American soldiers nearing the end of their tours of duty in Iraq. Shortly after learning their unit will soon return home, they are sent on one final humanitarian mission to bring medical supplies to a remote Iraqi village. The unit is ambushed and takes heavy losses. The surviving troops suffer both physical and psychological injuries. Now, as they return to the United States, four soldiers must face memories of the past as they look towards the future and return to civilian life. These are their stories. Home of the Brave is about hope and courage and the impact of war on both the individuals who fight it and the people close to them. Running time: 1:46:45

WRATH OF THE TESTAMENT:  A super power 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. http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-USS-Testament-tale-rebellion-ebook/dp/B004DNWL6G

ROCKY THE ROCKET:  Associate editor Olya Bereza is also the children’s novelist Holley Dovetail. This is one of several of short novels for the young and the young at heart. To preview and/or purchase on amazon.com, please go here. https://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Rocket-Holley-Dovetail-ebook/dp/B071XYRDB5

RAINBOW RISING:  This is another of Olya Bereza’s works for kids.  This little fairy-tale short story dedicated to a pet-friend gone chasing the rainbow. For kids their first lost and challenge in life is letting go of their pet friends that once became part of their world. This little story will help in times they have to say good-bye without falling into despair.  Yep, go here. http://litnet.com/en/book/rainbow-rising-b187572

ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

Fascinating.  9 Interesting Facts About Wolves

I so wish I had been there for this.  Dolphin Stampede: 1,000 Dolphins Seen Swimming Off the California Coast

How Ants Help The Planet (And Do Lots Of Other Amazing Things)  Best part is the little dudes stay out of my house.

SHORTS

Associated Press Animal News

15 Buzzworthy Bumblebee Facts

Photo Of Extremely Elusive Antelope Is A First

ABOUT US:  The Northstar Journal is a Seattle and Lyiv, Ukraine -based general interest international online weekly magazine. We are also on FaceBook and Nextdoor.com. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to contribute to the next, please go here.  To contact us directly, minstrel312@aol.com

RECYCLING HISTORY MAY NOT BE GREEN

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam

April 4, 2021

Volume 13 Number 18

Reader-Supported  Please go here. Thank you very much.

 “There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe … the sun in the heavens and The Associated Press down here.”  Mark Twain

Inside: Recycling History May Not Be Green; 2,000 Years Of Testosterone And Suppression Of Female Strength; American Community, Culture & Lifestyle; Beyond Our Pale; People Making A Difference; Economics; History; Covid-19; General Health & Wellbeing; Home & Family; Garden & Kitchen; Our World and Beyond; Earth; Climate & Climate Change; The Green Agenda; Space; Technology; Funzone: Travel; Best of the Net; Movie of the Week; Masha & the Bear, All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

Photo courtesy of https://www.librarything.com/topic/206476

RECYCLING HISTORY MAY NOT BE GREEN

Rusty Miller, Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  Since it began with America’s Black Lives Matter, I’ve been wondering why we have been recycling the entire human rights movement.  This week, I ran into exclusionary legislation America enacted, even under the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, which seems to answer this question.  Before The Chinese Exclusion Act, This Anti-Immigrant Law Targeted Asian Women  When Did African Americans Actually Get The Right To Vote?  Why the Asian American Story Is Missing From Many U.S. Classrooms

As near as I can tell, white American male colonists had to fight a war to be free of the Crown.  Then, each in its turn, needed to win – by war or civil disobedience – its particular freedom.  This idea that unless all people are free, none truly are, is not as lofty as it is a practical observation.

Each time that has happened, American society has grown stronger.  We are a nation which not only tolerates diversity but embraces it and thrives on it.  It makes us amiable, gregarious and inclined to gather in places where the lethally disenfranchised can mow us down like weed eaters.

Jewish novelist Chaim Potok, in attempting to explain the Holocaust in a chapter from The Chosen, writes:  “I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant. Do you understand what I am saying? A man must fill his life with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life.”

Recycling may be good for the planet but it is not always good for human behavior.  Our penchant for periodic redefinition has not worked for us this time.  Nonetheless, the planet herself demands it and the pandemic is her way of getting it.

We need to be kinder to all life forms on earth, including and starting with one another.

Rusty

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller aka “Mishka” is an author, photojournalist and editor. A Northern California native, he has lived in Oregon and Washington State and resides now in South Seattle, Washington. For comments, please go here

Djeser-Djeseru, the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut.  Photo by Olya Bereza

2,000 YEARS OF TESTOSTERONE AND SUPPRESSION OF FEMALE STRENGTH

Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

Hi Rusty:

There was an interesting historical personality I became aware of after my little trip to Egypt. Let me introduce to you Hatshepsut, a successful female pharaoh whose reign in Egyptian history of about 3,500 years ago proved that a woman was just as capable at governing a country as a traditional male king. During the reign of Hatshepsut, under her foreign policy, aggressive war campaigns stopped and her land experienced unprecedented prosperity.

She was one of the most prolific builders of Ancient Egypt. I was lucky to visit the Temple of Karnak where she constructed the tallest in the world obelisk, erected at the entrance of the temple. I could almost feel how she would stand there in her temple in a flowing light gown observing the glory she created.

Another breathtaking moment was to see her colonnaded temple – Djeser-Djeseru or “the Holy of Holies” that, from distance, looks carved from a majestic rock cliff. It was her mortuary temple and, according to the legend her loved one ,Senenmut wishing to be close to her in the afterlife, constructed his tomb chapel in the hills overlooking the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut and his sarcophagus was of a matching pair with Hatshepsut’s. What a love story to put on screen in one of those Hollywood movies.

Unfortunately, I have never heard about a film about this great lady-pharaoh Hatshepsut even though she deserves no less attention than the oft-portrayed last pharaoh of Egypt Cleopatra or beautiful Nephrite. Many historians also believe she became a pharaoh named later in records named Neferneferuaten.

So, these are among the great untold stories I would definitely like to know much more about. These lady pharaohs who ruled thousands years ago are just more evidence supporting the contention that having women in power is actually a very good idea for a country to blossom. To me, it is particularly impressive given the greed for power of male representatives who felt threatened by rising female ambition and attempted to erase their achievements from history.

The successor of Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, did everything for her name to be erased and forgotten but the heritage of that extraordinary queen was too majestic for him to succeed. He was afraid Hatshepsut’s life would persuade future generations of potentially strong royal female s to not remain content with their traditional lot as wife, sister and eventual mother of a king and assume their crown as deserved one. If not for the attempts of Thutmose III, who knows? 

Maybe there were more she-pharaohs and definitely the reign of Hatshepsut had bigger historical impact. If she were a man, her reign would remain one of the most glorious pages in the history of the ancient Egypt and her name would be included in the official lists of kings of those times.

Coming back to our days, in my opinion, the balance of gender energies in the governments of all countries must be restored.

We simply cannot survive another 2,000 years of testosterone and suppression of female strength.

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. She travels Europe in conjunction with a family intelligence technology business and is proactively involved in protecting the forests of the Carpathian Mountains.  For comments, please go here.

AMERICAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

Ghostly Set Of Images, And A Glimpse Of Border Danger

Mass Shootings Are A Product Of America’s Violent Culture

Mississippi Returns Hundreds Of Native Americans’ Remains To Chickasaw Nation

President Biden And The Director Of The CDC Warn Of A COVID-19 Rebound If The U.S. Lets Up

States Where Efforts To Restrict Voting Are Escalating

White House Unveils $2 Trillion Infrastructure And Climate Plan That Seeks To Remake U.S. Economy

BEYOND OUR PALE

Crystals Found In Kalahari Desert Challenge Assumptions About Where In Africa Human Culture Arose

China Approves Changes To Hong Kong Election Laws

Japan’s Famous Cherry Blossoms See Early Bloom Amid Warming

Myanmar Cuts Wireless Internet Service Amid Coup Protests

Picnicking Around The Globe?

One Year On: How Russia’s Coronavirus Lockdown Hit The Economy

Sesame Workshop Is Talking More Explicitly About Race—And Welcoming Two Black Muppets

Spain Starts A School For Shepherdesses

Train Derails In Eastern Taiwan, Killing 48, Injuring Dozens

Ukraine Says Russia Massing Troops On Border, U.S. Warns Moscow

PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Difficult But Rewarding Work: Planting Trees To Aid Climate

Female Fire Lookouts Have Been Saving The Wilderness For Over A Century

Seattle Neighborhood Confronts Food Insecurity In The Pandemic

Meet Sophia Kianni, The Young Climate Change Change maker

Teen Makes 1,000 Bow Ties To Help Pets Get Adopted

ECONOMICS

Turbulence Ahead As US-China Tech War Spills Into Aviation Sector

UK Economy Ended 2020 Better Than Previously Thought

UK Pledges To Make Scaling Up Adaptation Finance A Priority At G7 Summit

Why Singapore’s Mighty Supermarket Has Covid-19 And E-Commerce Beat

HISTORY

5 Advances That Followed Pandemics

One Hundred Years Ago, Einstein Was Given A Hero’s Welcome By America’s Jews

When Did African Americans Actually Get The Right To Vote?

Why the Asian American Story Is Missing From Many U.S. Classrooms

Ten Historic Female Scientists You Should Know

How The Rosenwald Schools Shaped A Generation Of Black Leaders

Before The Chinese Exclusion Act, This Anti-Immigrant Law Targeted Asian Women

How The Seven Deadly Sins Began As ‘Eight Evil Thoughts’

3,200-Year-Old Mural Of Knife-Wielding Spider God Found In Peru

These Prehistoric Sharks Had Jaws Shaped Like Circular Saws And Sawtoothed Scissors

COVID-19

Study Of Vaccinated Frontline Workers Shows Covid Shots Prevent Infection And Symptoms

If I’ve Had COVID-19, Do I Still Need Two Doses Of Vaccine?

Vaccines Stop COVID-19 Infection, But Here’s Why You Still Need To Wear A Mask

WHO Report Says Animals Likely Source Of COVID

World Leaders Call For International Pandemic Treaty

Your Must-Read Coronavirus Coverage

GENERAL HEALTH & WELLBEING

Best Exercise For Living Longer

Department Of Health: ‘Don’t Travel Unless It’s Absolutely Necessary’

How The Sounds Of Nature Affect Your Well-Being

Reducing Gun Deaths In 4 Steps

HOME & FAMILY

The Most Common Houseplant Pests And How To Get Rid Of Them.

Ladders, Stairs, Or Slide-Out? This Tiny House Lets You Choose

Upgrading Housing Improves Health, Equity And Environment

Dollhouse-Sized Exhibition Will Showcase Mini Creations By Art-World Giants

GARDEN & KITCHEN

Welcoming Insects Into Your Yard

Reusing Glass Bottles In The Garden

Turning Your Yard Into An Ecological Oasis

Butterfried Leg Of Lamb With Sichuan Peppercorn Spice Rub

Grilled Leg Of Lamb With Yogurt

Sichuan-Style Cumin Lamb Kidneys

Get Lost In The Sauce With A Brand New Pasta Shape, Cascatelli

Israeli Tech Enables KFC, Pizza Hut To Accept Food Orders On Social Media, Chat

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

When Will The James Webb Space Telescope Launch? All You Need To Know About Hubble’s Successor

NOAA’s Weather Forecasting System Just Got A Major Update

Take A Virtual Tour Of Feminist Icon Gloria Steinem’s Historic Manhattan Apartment

This Insect Has Plant DNA In Its Genome

EARTH

Here Come The Brood X Cicadas

Study: US Pesticide Use Falls But Harms Pollinators More

To Save Everglades, Guardians Fight Time – And Climate

Butterfly On A Bomb Range: Endangered Species Act At Work

How A Small Stretch Of Ocean Stirred A Conservation Movement

CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

How Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Will Address Climate Change

India Calls Out Rich Nations For Setting Net Zero Goals Over Robust Short-Term Targets

It Took The Suez Canal Crisis To Highlight The Scale Of The Polluting Shipping Sector 

Saudi Arabia Aims For 50% Renewable Energy By 2030, Backs Huge Tree Planting Initiative

Under Fire Over Aid Cuts, UK Hosts Summit To Help Vulnerable Nations Fund Climate Action

THE GREEN AGENDA

8 Steps To Take Right Now To Live A More Local Life

Biden Administration Boosts Wind And Solar Ambitions

Can A Container Ship Be Too Big?

Can Organic Farmers Unlock The Secrets Of No-Till Farming?

IMF Relief Offers A Hope Of Green Recovery To Debt-Laden Nations

Nordstrom And Package Free Team Up To Make The World Less Trashy

Riders Abandoning Transit Is A Problem For The Climate

Salmon Recovery Requires Everyone On Deck

Top Oil Lobbying Group Now Supports Carbon Pricing

Zero Waste Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive

SPACE

Personal Writings Of Arthur C. Clarke Reveal The Evolution Of 2001: A Space Odyssey

Interstellar Visitor Borisov Could Be 1st Truly Pristine Comet

Vaya Space Emerges On The Small Satellite Market

Latest Images From NASA’s Earth Observatory

TECHNOLOGY

Study Looks At Covering California’s Canals With Solar Panels

Starving For More Chips In A Tech-Hungry World

Microsoft Wins $22 Billion Deal Making Headsets For US Army

BEST OF THE NET: 

How Far I’ll Go – Voices of Hope (Children’s) Choir

Mary Did You Know? – One Voice Children’s Choir

You’ll Never Walk Alone – Sissel Kyrkjebe

TRAVEL

Google Maps To Start Showing Eco-Friendly Routes

10 Ways To Be An Eco-Conscious Tourist

Bullet Trains And The Future Of Passenger Rail

MEDIA OF THE WEEK: THE LONGEST DAY  I did not know this was available in its plus two-hour run or I would have recommended it long before this.  Here’s what Wikipedia says about it:  The Longest Day is a 1962 American epic war film based on Cornelius Ryan‘s 1959 non-fiction of the same name^[3] about the D-Day landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944. The film features a large international ensemble cast including John Wayne, Kenneth More, Richard Todd, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Steve Forrest, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Peter Lawford, Eddie Albert, Jeffrey Hunter, Stuart Whitman, Tom Tryon, Rod Steiger, Leo Genn, Gert Fröbe, Irina Demick, Bourvil, Curd Jürgens, George Segal, Robert Wagner, Paul Anka, and Arletty. The film won two Academy Awards and was nominated for three others. A colorized version of this film was released on VHS in 1994, the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

WRATH OF THE TESTAMENT:  A super power 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. http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-USS-Testament-tale-rebellion-ebook/dp/B004DNWL6G

ROCKY THE ROCKET:  Associate editor Olya Bereza is also the children’s novelist Holley Dovetail. This is one of several of short novels for the young and the young at heart. To preview and/or purchase on amazon.com, please go here. https://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Rocket-Holley-Dovetail-ebook/dp/B071XYRDB5

RAINBOW RISING:  This is another of Olya Bereza’s works for kids.  This little fairy-tale short story dedicated to a pet-friend gone chasing the rainbow. For kids their first lost and challenge in life is letting go of their pet friends that once became part of their world. This little story will help in times they have to say good-bye without falling into despair.  Yep, go here. http://litnet.com/en/book/rainbow-rising-b187572

ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

This is not good news.  Both Of Africa’s Elephant Species Are Now Endangered

In Spain, Sanctuaries Give Forever Homes To Rescued Farmed Animals  There’s a very special place in the Next World for these folks.

This is good to know. The Deadliest Snake On Earth Comes From Washington?

SHORTS

How Studying Lemur Hibernation Could Make Long-Distance Space Travel Easier One Day

Las Vegas Was Inundated By 46 Million Grasshoppers On A Single Night In 2019

Learn About Dogs, Mangroves And Gardens At Free Online Natural History Programs This Month

ABOUT US:  The Northstar Journal is a Seattle and Lyiv, Ukraine -based general interest international online weekly magazine. We are also on FaceBook and Nextdoor.com. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to contribute to the next, please go here.  To contact us directly, minstrel312@aol.com

AS OLD AS ASTEROIDIAL ICE

March 28, 2021

Volume 13 Number 17

Reader-Supported  Please go here. Thank you very much.

 “There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe … the sun in the heavens and The Associated Press down here.”  Mark Twain

Inside: As Old As Asteroidial Ice; From The Shores Of The Red Sea This time; American Community, Culture & Lifestyle; Beyond Our Pale; People Making A Difference; Economics; History; Health, Home & Family; Garden & Kitchen; Our World and Beyond; Earth; Climate & Climate Change; Ecology; Space; Technology; Funzone: Travel; Best of the Net; Movie of the Week; Masha & the Bear, All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

Photo courtesy of http://www.cedricmartini.it

AS OLD AS ASTEROIDAL ICE

Rusty Miller, Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  Since several of you have asked, I need to make it clear that neither Olya nor I have strong political party ties.  As much as possible, we vote ~ in our respective countries ~ for what we think will be best for ourselves, our families, our neighbors and our communities.

Because the paperwork requires it, I’m a registered voter in the American state of Washington.  Even though I do not financially, professionally or personally, support any political party, based on the way I vote, I’m registered with one nonetheless. 

I’m sorry, but as often as I break ranks for the sake of the greater constituency? That seems dumb to me.  But as the Slavic blond with the eight million dollar brain reminds me, Mishka, you did not invent the wheel. Either steer or get out of its way.

I am also a strong proponent of the two-party system.  I take my model from nature.  No bird, including the eagle, flies with just one wing.  When people ask me which party I belong to, I tell them I am a registered Presbyterian.

People invariably assume that someone who cannot distinguish a religion from a political party probably does not count because they do not vote.  That might be the case with some but not for me.

I vote.  I just do not enjoy discussing the “finer” points.  I’m a political centrist.  I’m also a religious hybrid whose gene pool arrived here frozen in asteroidal ice.  My family was old when dirt got here.

Finally, when it comes to the mechanics of it, I am not a “checks and balances” person.  I’ll vote someone back into office as long as they do their job.  If and when that changes, it will be time for someone else, irrespective of party, to take the helm.

That’s it for this week, gang.  Stay safe and God Bless.

Rusty

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller aka “Mishka” is an author, photojournalist and editor. A Northern California native, he has lived in Oregon and Washington State and resides now in South Seattle, Washington. For comments, please go here

FROM THE SHORES OF THE RED SEA THIS TIME

Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

Hi Rusty, from the shores of the Red Sea this time:

While the world is whirling, it is sometimes nice to find a place to forget about it all and be back to yourself. And I think I found the perfect place to take a moment – Egypt.

Somehow it is so refreshing to experience the profound majesty of thousands of years of history, rather than following history “unfolding” on the daily news.  I say that but remember the two are not so mutually exclusive. Who could expect that Egypt’s Suez Canal blocked by huge container ship ?

Just walking around the temples of Luxor in 42C/107F sunshine makes one realize the majesty of the River Of Time (another name for the Nile) and that, unlike the Suez, its flow will never be blocked by the maritime commerce of man.

I love being in a multinational multilingual environment especially since both languages I speak – English and Russian — are widely understood here.  Russian speaking countries contributed a lot to the return of Red Sea tourist business this year.  When it first opened flights, Egyptian hotels started to run again. Ironically it’s behind the former Iron Curtain, the countries whose tourists are free to travel. I met here travelers from Estonia, Lithuania, Byelorussia, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

As I gaze out across these timeless waters, I am pleasantly overcome by a feeling of rightness about this.  I am beginning to seriously wonder if lockdowns do not need to be mitigated.  I am thinking, how about subsidizing risk for coronavirus people to go to nourish and refresh themselves with the positive benefits of a Red Sea holiday? Clean air, water, sun plus healthy food are basically what a human needs to stay healthy.

Egypt definitely has it all and the produce grown on fertile black soils of the Nile delta keeps the population mineralized and cheerful.  That probably explains why they are also among the nicest people I have met in my considerable travels. I like the respect that they pay to their guests and unique culture, something a bit lost in a more corporate world.

I truly enjoy the presence of different religions and how peacefully they co-exist, Christians, Muslims and Jews. I like that people can wear different gowns, more closed or more open, but there is no shaming or biased attitude to any. I think for us Slavs, it is easier to understand East as we are in a way geographically in the middle.

Like Egyptians, Ukrainians appreciate East and West, appreciating each for what they are and striking the balance all deserve.

This is why so many of my co-patriots love to go to vacation here.

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. She travels Europe in conjunction with a family intelligence technology business and is proactively involved in protecting the forests of the Carpathian Mountains.  For comments, please go here.

AMERICAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

Atlanta Shooting Highlights The Painful Reality Of Rising Anti-Asian Violence Around The World

Colorado Shooting Suspect Prone To Rage, Delusions

North Sound Woman Remembers Police Officer Brother Killed In Colorado Shootings

How Bike Education Transforms Lives And Communities

New Jersey Estate Owned By Napoleon’s Older Brother Set To Become State Park

Police Chief Says Miami Partying “Couldn’t Go On Any Longer”

Rallies Held In Edmonds, Bellevue And Across US Against Hate Crimes Targeting Asian Americans

San Francisco Experiment Gives Some Pregnant Women $1,000 A Month. Could Other Cities Be Next?

BEYOND OUR PALE

Asia’s Women Have Triumphed Even In Face Of Adversity

Australia Floods: The Weather Event As Big As ‘Two European Countries’

Australia – New York Times

Anticipating Robot Soldiers, Britain Is Downsizing Its Human Troops

Yes, Other Countries Do Housing Better. Case 1: Japan

Japan Lights Olympic Torch After One-Year Covid Delay

Telegram Raises $1Bln, Russian State Buys In

Russia’s Remote-Work Revolution Appears To Be Fizzling Out,

US, EU, UK, Canada Launch Sanctions Blitz; Beijing Hits Back

PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Green Seattle Partnership

Meet The Scientist Studying How Dogs Evolved From Predator To Pet

These Moms Work As Doctors & Scientists. They’re Also Fighting COVID-19 Misinformation Online

This High Schooler Invented Color-Changing Sutures To Detect Infection

ECONOMICS

China Set To Dominate Refined Oil Exports In Asia-Pacific Region, Observers Say

Many Banks Committing To Climate Goals Are Engaging In Greenwashing

Pandemic Has Changed The Way We Dress And Shop

HISTORY

Who Were The Scottsboro Nine?

Josephine Baker’s Daring Double Life As A World War II Spy

Violet Gibson, The Irish Woman Who Shot Mussolini

How The 1943 Khatyn Massacre Became A Symbol Of Nazi Atrocities On The Eastern Front

How World War I Helped Women Ditch The Corset

Legacy Of The Tuskegee Airmen Soars On The Wing Of This World War II Aircraft

16-Year-Old Chinese Immigrant Who Helped Lead A 1912 US Suffrage March

The Horrific Tragedy Of The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Led To Workplace Safety Laws

Meet Naturalist Graceanna Lewis, Who Played A Key Role In The Underground Railroad

 Extraordinary Life Of An Ordinary Girl Inspired An Exhibition

7 Events That Enraged Colonists And Led To The American Revolution

Decades Before The Civil War, Black Activists Organized For Racial Equality

Graves Of Enslaved People Discovered On Founding Father’s Delaware Plantation

Researchers Discover Ruins Of Maryland’s Earliest Colonial Site, A 386-Year-Old Fort

This Wooden Sculpture Is Twice As Old As Stonehenge And The Pyramids

3,000-Year-Old Gold Mask, Silk Linked To Enigmatic Civilization Found In China

Rare Bronze Bull Sacrificed To Zeus Found At Site Of The Ancient Olympic Games

Burrowing Bunnies In Wales Unearth Trove Of Prehistoric Artifacts

Discovery Of A 95-Million-Year-Old ‘Eagle Shark’ Fossil Makes Waves

HEALTH

5 Tips To Stay Healthy If You Sit At A Computer All Day

Better Late Than Never: Exercising Helps You Live Longer No Matter When You Start

One Body Part You’re Not Stretching (But Should Be)

Scientists Link This Common American Baseball Stadium Food – Hot Dogs — With Dementia Risk

All Over The U.S., People Have Gained Weight During The COVID-19 Pandemic

How Social Lives Are Changing During The U.S. Vaccine Rollout

Growing Risks Of Pesticide Poisonings

Your Must-Read Coronavirus Coverage

HOME & FAMILY

Flat-Pack Furniture Quickly Transforms This Loft-Free Tiny Home

Forget Transformer Furniture, It’s A Transformer Floor

10 Baby Items You Don’t Need To Buy

GARDEN & KITCHEN

Making Beneficial Insects Welcome In Your Garden

What To Consider When Planning A Wildlife Pond

Beneficial Plants To Plant Around Fruit Trees

Agroforestry Approaches For Gardens And Small Farms

Is Shellfish Healthy? Here’s What The Experts Say

This Is The Absolute Best Way To Wash Your Fruits And Veggies

‘The No-Waste Vegetable Cookbook’ Will Teach You How To Use The Whole Plant

Chinese Lamb Tongue Salad With Spicy Dressing

Steamed Clams With Mung Bean Noodles

Steamed Eel With Black Beans

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

Lovely Moments And Pandemic Images Win Sony Photo Awards  These Are Amazing Photos. This Won The Landscape Award, Which Reminded Me Of A Funny Cartoon.

How Film Helps Preserve The World’s Diversity

Extremely Rare Orchid Tricks Horny Beetles Into Carrying Its Pollen

This Map Shows You The Odds Of Finding A New Species In Your Neighborhood

Why Bald Eagle Populations Soared In The Last Decade

EARTH

9 Fascinating Facts About The Suez Canal

Amazon Rainforest Now Emits More Greenhouse Gases Than It Absorbs

Best Places In The U.S. To See Spring’s Migrating Birds

Hawaii Best Place On Earth To See Rainbows

Icelandic Volcano Erupts After 6,000 Years Of Dormancy

CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Markets Are Proving Resilient To The Coronavirus Pandemic – Christopher Kardish, ICAP

EU Ministers Demand Response To Trump Admin Critique Of Green Farming Reforms

Ireland’s Government Agrees On Climate Bill To Set 2050 Net Zero Goal In Law

Slash And Burn: How The UK Government Is Cutting Aid While Propping Up Fossil Fuels – Mohamed Adow, Power Shift Africa

Stuck In The Middle: Ukraine Aims For Net Zero But Struggles To Access Finance

Tornadoes Are More Destructive Than We Thought

Total’s Play For Ugandan Oil Tests The Climate Commitment Of International Banks

UK Rules Out Public Subsidy For East African Oil Pipeline

ECOLOGY

Air Pollution Returning To Pre-Covid Levels

Biden Plans To Quickly And Deeply Cut US Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Can We Keep Flying On Sustainable Aviation Fuels?

Covering California’s Canals With Solar Panels

Facing A Reckoning, Wyoming Wrestles With A Transition From Fossil Fuels

Feeding Seaweed Supplements To Cows Cuts Methane Emissions By 80%

How Starbucks Plans To Make Its Coffee Carbon Neutral

New Funding For First Nations Water Projects An ‘Important Step’

Railroaded By The Gas Industry

SPACE

Latest Images From NASA’s Earth Observatory

Just-Launched Spacecraft Will Use Grappling Hook To Destroy Space Junk

Long Trip To Mars May Cause Astronauts To Misread Emotions

Plans Unveiled For Grand Mars City

Scientists Capture Swirling Magnetic Fields In New Image Of Black Hole

NASA Chooses “Airfield” Location For Mars Helicopter

BEST OF THE NET: 

Listen To Robert Frost Read His Poems

Illustrator’s Dazzling Work Highlights The Magic Of Blue, Nature’s Rarest Color

An Outsider’s Eye, An Instant Camera And America Seen Anew

TRAVEL

10 Breathtaking Appalachian Trail Facts

You Can Still Visit These Six Former National Parks

Uluru Waterfalls: Rain Brings ‘Unique’ Sight To Australian Landmark

MEDIA OF THE WEEK: CHARLY The film stars Cliff Robertson as Charly Gordon, an intellectually disabled adult who is selected by two doctors to undergo a surgical procedure that triples his IQ as it did for Algernon, a laboratory mouse who also underwent the same procedure; additional roles are played by Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala, Leon Janney, Dick Van Patten and Barney Martin. Robertson was reprising his previous portrayal of the same role in a 1961 television adaptation, “The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon“, an episode of the anthology series The United States Steel Hour.  Our thanks to Wikipedia for this description.

WRATH OF THE TESTAMENT:  A super power 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. http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-USS-Testament-tale-rebellion-ebook/dp/B004DNWL6G

ROCKY THE ROCKET:  Associate editor Olya Bereza is also the children’s novelist Holley Dovetail. This is one of several of short novels for the young and the young at heart. To preview and/or purchase on amazon.com, please go here. https://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Rocket-Holley-Dovetail-ebook/dp/B071XYRDB5

RAINBOW RISING:  This is another of Olya Bereza’s works for kids.  This little fairy-tale short story dedicated to a pet-friend gone chasing the rainbow. For kids their first lost and challenge in life is letting go of their pet friends that once became part of their world. This little story will help in times they have to say good-bye without falling into despair.  Yep, go here. http://litnet.com/en/book/rainbow-rising-b187572

ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

We know this to be true from experience.  Are Black Bears Dangerous? Not As Much As Other Species But Yes.  Best leave them be.

I totally loved this.  11 Fascinating Swamp Animals

Interesting question and a fun one.  How Does Your Vision Compare To Other Critters In The Animal Kingdom?

SHORTS

Researchers Are Investigating Why Marine Animals Swim In Perplexing Circles

Czech Chimpanzees Use Video Calls To Fight Lockdown Blues

How Did This Walrus Get To Wales?

ABOUT US:  The Northstar Journal is a Seattle and Lyiv, Ukraine -based general interest international online weekly magazine. We are also on FaceBook and Nextdoor.com. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to contribute to the next, please go here.  To contact us directly, minstrel312@aol.com

HE UNDERSTOOD

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam

March 21, 2021

Volume 13 Number 16

Reader-Supported  Please go here. Thank you very much.

 “There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe … the sun in the heavens and The Associated Press down here.”  Mark Twain

Inside: He Understood; Criticizing Gently; American Community, Culture & Lifestyle; Beyond Our Pale; People Making A Difference; Economics; History; Health, Home & Family; Garden & Kitchen; Our World and Beyond; Earth; Climate & Climate Change; Ecology; Space; Technology; Funzone: Travel; Best of the Net; Movie of the Week; Masha & the Bear, All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

https://www.sfgate.com/books/article/The-Whitman-of-Big-Sur-Poet-Robinson-Jeffers-2929163.php

HE UNDERSTOOD

Rusty Miller, Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  It’s been a real fun week for Asian Americans, has it not?  And at a time when it seemed impossible for any more tears, now there are torrents.  Our reactions have become almost problematic.  When the script becomes familiar enough, don’t even plug the teleprompter in.  This man understood.  Perhaps we need to remember

SHINE REPUBLIC

Robinson Jeffers

The quality of these trees, green height; of the sky, shining, of

water, a clear flow; of the rock, hardness

And reticence: each is noble in its quality. The love of freedom

has been the quality of Western man.

There is a stubborn torch that flames from Marathon to Concord,

its dangerous beauty binding three ages

Into one time; the waves of barbarism and civilization have

eclipsed but have never quenched it.

For the Greeks the love of beauty, for Rome of ruling; for the

present age the passionate love of discovery;

But in one noble passion we are one; and Washington, Luther,

Tacitus, Aeschylus, one kind of man.

And you, America, that passion made you. You were not born

to prosperity, you were born to love freedom.

You did not say ‘en masse,’ you said ‘independence.’ But we

cannot have all the luxuries and freedom also.

Freedom is poor and laborious; that torch is not safe but hungry,

and often requires blood for its fuel.

You will tame it against it burn too clearly, you will hood it

like a kept hawk, you will perch it on the wrist of Caesar.

But keep the tradition, conserve the forms, the observances, keep

the spot sore. Be great, carve deep your heel-marks.

The states of the next age will no doubt remember you, and edge

their love of freedom with contempt of luxury. 

Rusty

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller aka “Mishka” is an author, photojournalist and editor. A Northern California native, he has lived in Oregon and Washington State and resides now in South Seattle, Washington. For comments, please go here

Photo courtesy of https://greatparentingshow.com/stop-criticizing-yourself/

CRITICIZING GENTLY

Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

Hi Rusty:

Criticizing gently is an interesting concept I just heard from one of the Russian feminist bloggers. It is just so true and perhaps more important than ever that we learn to do this rather than letting the abuse of political correctness destroy the balance of our world.

I single out political correctness because it seems that so many who claim to have it and they refuse to grant anyone else their own perspective.  Rather than rational discourse, it appears ht has again become trendy to attack personalities.  Generalizing, stereotyping, narrow thinking, and cursing are what one can expect today.

In the 21^st Century, political correctness is too often being used (even by people who claim they want to bring justice to the world) to justify rhetorical practices that are not only counter-intuitive (assuming our tendency is to be polite) but self-defeating as well.  It’s like the old question of who really follows a mad revolutionary?  Only people as angry as they are.  Any intrinsic goodness falls prey to unacceptable rhetorical tactics and practices.

The sad result is that, at the end of the day, we’re left asking ourselves why we even need to care about other people’s beliefs systems. So if the point of political correctness is now to justify the persecution of other people and exposing them to ostracism, well, I’m not taking that train. I’d rather forget “pc” and just be polite.  And not because it is trendy but because good manners are always in vogue.

I have seen much in my life of the downside of non-tolerance, growing up as I did in the Soviet Union and then moving to Ukraine.  My belief in humanity is strong especially with people like English blogger and celebrity Russell Brand Building A Better Society: Have we run out of new ideas? So to his question, I am sure new ideas of how society should work will come.

How we accept them and use them to build a better world depends vitally now on being respectful and kind to each other.  It is not the time for heartless political correctness.  It is a time for criticizing.

Gently.

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. She travels Europe in conjunction with a family intelligence technology business and is proactively involved in protecting the forests of the Carpathian Mountains.  For comments, please go here.

AMERICAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

Biden, Harris Offering Solace To Grieving Asian Americans

Atlanta Shootings: ‘It’s Scary Just To Be An Asian American Woman.’ — Video

Billions Of Cicadas May Be Coming Soon To Trees Near You

Divided Reactions In US As Pope Backs Same-Sex Civil Unions

It’s Not So Hard To Build Quality Housing, Just Follow The Recipe

Lawmaker Didn’t Know Where Guam Is, So Its National Guard Went To Visit Her Office

Putin Approved Operations To Help Trump Against Biden

Russia-U.S. Relations Plunged To New Depths After Biden Refers To Putin As A “Killer”

US Border: Risking Everything For An American Dream — Video

BEYOND OUR PALE

Australia – New York Times

Australia’s Cats Kill Two Billion Animals Annually. Here’s How The Government Is Responding To The Crisis

China Is Selling Deadly “Pterodactyl” Drones Around The World

China Economy Advanced At Start Of 2021, But Uneven Recovery Still Evident

1st US Ministers’ Japan Visit Under Biden To Focus On China

Pandemic Sets Back Italian Women’s Long Fight For Jobs

Martial Law Imposed In Parts Of Myanmar City As Deaths Rise

‘Republic Of Queues’: 10 Years On, Syria Is A Hungry Nation

PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Asian Americans Grieve, Organize In Wake Of Atlanta Attacks

Biologist Marie Fish Catalogued The Sounds Of The Ocean For The World To Hear

How Alicia D. Williams Is Reviving Storytelling For Black Children

GameStop: Reddit Users Investing In Gorilla Conservation

ECONOMICS

China Braces For ‘Turmoil In Financial Markets’ Following New US Stimulus

Coal-Backing Japanese Bank Bids For Green Climate Fund Partnership

US Economy To Grow Faster Than Forecast, Says Federal Reserve

Joe Biden: The Team He Hopes Can Fix The US Economy

HISTORY

The Victims Of Agent Orange The U.S. Has Never Acknowledged

How One Woman Wrote, Produced And Starred In A 1950s TV Show

The Woman Who Helped A President Change America During His First 100 Days

The 8-Year-Old Chinese-American Girl Who Helped Desegregate Schools—In 1885

Molly Pitcher, The Most Famous American Hero Who Never Existed

Israeli Experts Announce Discovery Of New Dead Sea Scrolls

8 Facts About The Celts

Archaeologists Discover Traces Of Early Christian Community In Egypt

Scientists May Have Discovered How The Ancient Greeks’ ‘First Computer’ Tracked The Cosmos

Analysis Of 6,200-Year-Old Grave Raises New Questions About Neolithic Massacre

Cool Animation Shows How Antarctica Linked To Old Gondwana Neighbors

For The First Time, Paleontologists Unearth Fossil Of Non-Avian Dinosaur Incubating A Nest Of Eggs

HEALTH

7 Lessons I’ve Learned From The Pandemic

Dirty Dozen List Reveals Produce With Most Pesticide Residue

How To Build A Better Homemade Face Mask, According To Science

What To Expect After Getting A COVID-19 Vaccine

Your Must-Read Coronavirus Coverage

HOME & FAMILY

5 Places Where People Live The Longest And Healthiest Lives

Van Life Pros And Cons

Disaster-Resistant House Prototype Boosts Local Resilience

Twin Birth Rates Have Soared Globally In The Last Three Decades

GARDEN & KITCHEN

Flowers I Like To Companion Plant With Vegetables

What My Mother Taught Me About Cooking

How To Buy Healthy Food Without Reading The Nutrition Label

The ‘Poor Man’s Burger’ That Inspired Mcdonald’s

Fusion Shrimp Curry

Abalone Katsu With Anchovy-Caper Mayonnaise

Vegan Thai Bean Curd With Ginger, Chillies And Spring Onions

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

Mars Is A Cold, Dry, Desert World – the world next door to earth – a place with a thin atmosphere, changing seasons and infinite mystery and fascination for earthly explorers and visionaries. This image comes from the curiosity rover in 2014. It’s via nasa’s Photojournal.

Is There Life On Mars Today?

Photos From Australia: Capturing ‘Flash Rips’ And ‘The Edge Of The World’

Sending DNA From Earth’s 6.7 Million Species To The Moon To Safeguard Life

The Wolf That Discovered California

EARTH

15 Groundbreaking Earthquake Facts

Ancient Lightning May Have Sparked Life On Earth

For The First Time In 75 Years, A New Invasive Species Of Mosquito Was Found In Florida

‘Ghost Forests’ May Become More Common As Sea Levels Rise

Russian Scientists Sink Giant Deepwater Neutrino Telescope Into World’s Largest Freshwater Lake

Was Ancient Earth A Water World?

What The Spring Equinox Looks Like From Space

CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Green Climate Fund Whistleblowers Urge US To Take Its Money Elsewhere – Until ‘Toxic’ Workplace Is Fixed

Indian Lawmaker Submits Private Bill To Achieve Net Zero Emissions By 2050

Lebanon Increases Climate Goal Despite Political And Economic Turmoil

Scientists Push To Add “Huge” Fish Trawling Emissions To National Inventories

ECOLOGY

Deep Trouble Awaits If We Pursue Seabed Mining

‘Underwater Roombas’ Scan Southern California Coast For DDT Barrels

Jet Fuel From Food Waste ‘Dramatically Lowers’ Emissions

To Fight CO2 Emissions, Cities Stake Out Their Own Solutions

Wildfire Smoke Wiped Out US Pandemic-Related Clean Air Gains

SPACE

Early Science Results, And More Sounds, From Perseverance Rover

New Images From China’s Tianwen-1 At Mars

Scientists Measure Size Of Mars’ Core

Life Materials Found On Asteroid Itokawa

Scientists: ‘Oumuamua Was Likely A Chunk Of A Pluto-Like Planet

Unusual Exoplanet Might Be Regrowing Its Atmosphere

TECHNOLOGY

8 Groundbreaking Inventions From The Second Industrial Revolution

House Plans Can Help Make Passive Design Solutions Go Mainstream

Lab Grows Human Tear Glands That Can Actually Cry

UK Plans Green Modernization Of Buses

BEST OF THE NET: 

Irish Rovers – The Orange And The Green

Jimmy Stewart Full Interview (1976) | Johnny Carson

150 Years Of Asian American History Unfold In This Documentary

TRAVEL

A Kingdom Hidden In Bolivia’s Mountains

Five Risk-Mitigation Strategies For All Would-Be Travelers, Regardless Of Vaccination Status. 

Will This Be The First European City To Ban Cars?

MEDIA OF THE WEEK: GO FOR BROKE is a 1951 black-and-white war film starring Van Johnson and six veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The film co-stars Henry Nakamura, Warner Anderson, and Don Haggerty in its large cast.  The film dramatizes the real-life story of the 442nd, which was composed of Nisei (second-generation Americans born of Japanese parents) soldiers

WRATH OF THE TESTAMENT:  A super power 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. http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-USS-Testament-tale-rebellion-ebook/dp/B004DNWL6G

ROCKY THE ROCKET:  Associate editor Olya Bereza is also the children’s novelist Holley Dovetail. This is one of several of short novels for the young and the young at heart. To preview and/or purchase on amazon.com, please go here. https://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Rocket-Holley-Dovetail-ebook/dp/B071XYRDB5

RAINBOW RISING:  This is another of Olya Bereza’s works for kids.  This little fairy-tale short story dedicated to a pet-friend gone chasing the rainbow. For kids their first lost and challenge in life is letting go of their pet friends that once became part of their world. This little story will help in times they have to say good-bye without falling into despair.  Yep, go here. http://litnet.com/en/book/rainbow-rising-b187572

ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

This is a total trip.  The Wild World Of A New Nature Preserve In Ecuador

How Can Suburbs Control Deer Populations? And More Questions From Our Readers  Excellent and timely question.

The Grizzly In The Driveway  This had to have put a crimp in the commute, eh?

SHORTS

Saving One Of The World’s Rarest Toads From Extinction

13 Curious Types Of Crabs

A Small Band Of Panamanian Golden Frogs Is Saving Their Species From Oblivion

ABOUT US: The Northstar Journal is a Seattle-based general interest international online weekly magazine. We are also on FaceBook and Nextdoor.com. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to contribute to the next, please go here.  To contact us directly, minstrel312@aol.com

THIS BABY ORCA WEARS PINK

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam

March 14, 2021

Volume 13 Number 16

Reader-Supported  Please go here. Thank you very much.

Inside: This Baby Orca Wears Pink; Maslenitsa; American Community, Culture & Lifestyle; Beyond Our Pale; People Making A Difference; Economics; History; Health, Home & Family; Garden & Kitchen; Our World and Beyond; Earth; Climate & Climate Change; Ecology; Space; Technology; Funzone: Travel; Best of the Net; Movie of the Week; Masha & the Bear, All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

THIS BABY ORCA WEARS PINK

Rusty Miller, Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  We would like to welcome a new neighbor.  Born last year but of unknown gender, she recently surfaced and did a belly roll, which allowed experts to determine that the latest addition to the Salish Sea’s orca J pod does, indeed, wear pink.

My passion for these creatures is paradoxical.  I’ve studied them extensively and watched hours of videos of them.  I have used them as characters in a novel called Wrath of the USS Testament  I follow news of our several Salish Sea/North Pacific pods and they’ve been a featured attraction in this magazine for well over 13 years.

I have never seen one in real time.  Despite that, I experience them as are both sentient and spiritual.  I feel I can communicate with them as I do with God.  I also believe in telepathy because I have that link with several human beings and most animals I’ve ever met.  It’s a “gift” if you will and millions of humans have it. 

I respect them enough to leave them alone in their environment and my love for them is another reason why I am neither blue nor red but green.  We need very much what these gentle giants represent.  If we destroy their world, we will have created a true Hell on Earth and we will suffer as even Dante could not have imagined.

As angry and as frustrated as I become with the misanthropic antics of our species, I’m not ready to see that happen.  I sincerely hope you are not either.

Rusty

P.S. Yet another reason to be happy. Washington State Ranks Best In Nation  Has Held Ranking Since 2019

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller aka “Mishka” is an author, photojournalist and editor. A Northern California native, he has lived in Oregon and Washington State and resides now in South Seattle, Washington. For comments, please go here

MASLENITSA

Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

Hi Rusty:

Another train ride dashing through the snow fields of Ukraine. Coming closer to center and east of the country I feel bliss looking into the traditional painted white one storey village houses with intricate wooden windows.

As I regard myself as a nomad, it is difficult for me to call any place in particular home, but whenever I approach Dnipro city in the east of the country, I feel joy. Maybe it is blood memory as quite a few previous generations of my family have lived in this area so I always feel comfortable here.

Winter doesn’t want to go even though it is the time of our Easter-oriented holiday, Maslenitsa. It is a Slavic folk tradition to eat pancakes the whole week, I assume a symbol of a long awaited sun.  At the beginning, we make a Snow Queen doll out of straw, and at the end of week say farewell to winter by burning same.

So, as you see, old traditions and Orthodox Christianity are quite interestingly combined in this part of the world.

This Sunday is called  Forgiveness Sunday . The Church remembers the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise.  Before the following fast, people are supposed to ask forgiveness of one another so that God will forgive them.

“If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14).

Irrespective of anyone’s attitude towards religion, I think this tradition is very needed now indeed and maybe more than ever. Perhaps if people followed these teachings, all conflicts would cease on their own.

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. She travels Europe in conjunction with a family intelligence technology business and is proactively involved in protecting the forests of the Carpathian Mountains.  For comments, please go here.

AMERICAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

Congress Oks $1.9T Virus Relief Bill In Win For Biden, Dems

Washington State Ranks Best In Nation  Has Held Ranking Since 2019

People Drove Less During The Pandemic, But Car Crash Fatalities Rose 24%. Why?

President Marks International Women’s Day By Signing 2 Executive Orders Promoting Gender Equity

Task Force Calls For Permanent National Guard Force To Protect DC

This Meteor Exploded So Violently That It Shook Entire Buildings Below

BEYOND OUR PALE

A Year On, WHO Still Struggling To Manage Pandemic Response

A Year Ago, WHO Declared A Covid-19 Pandemic. So, When Will It Be Over?

Australia – New York Times

Communist Party Seeking China’s ‘Rejuvenation’

Iran: Judicial Action Sought Against “Those Who Enforce Solitary Confinement & Superiors Ordering It”

Japan Marks 10th Disaster Anniversary But Still Recovering

Post-Soviet Co-Ops: Mongolian Herders Borrow A Tool From The Recent Past

Myanmar Coup:  People Of Different Faiths And Ethnic Groups Unite To Defy Junta

Myanmar Media Defiant As Junta Cracks Down

Filipinos Go Hungry Amid ‘Double Whammy’ Of Job Losses, Rising Prices

Russia Celebrates International Women’s Day

Why Automakers Flock To This Small Swedish Town Every Winter

For Syrians, A Decade Of Displacement With No End In Sight

PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

9 Women Whose Remarkable Lives Deserve The Biopic Treatment

10 Most Innovative Social Good Companies Of 2021

In Mississippi, Small-Town Bluesman Keeps Aging Music Alive

Kim Ng, Major League Baseball’s First Female Gm, Finally Gets The Top Job

Making Fish Curry To An Audience Of 5.6 Million

Meet Barbara Dane And Her Proud Tradition Of Singing Truth To Power

One Farmer Is Introducing Americans To Sea Beans

Peres Center Honors 11 Women With Inaugural ‘Medal Of Distinction’

They Cannot Be Intimidated Or Bought. The Women Leading India’s Farmers’ Protests

International Humanitarians Listens To The Land In Appalachia

‘We’ve Had Enough.’ Australian Women Force A Reckoning On Sexism After A Rape Allegation In The Government

ECONOMICS

China Resumes Debt-Reduction Campaign As Covid-19 Drives Borrowing Binge

The Cost: 12 Months Of The Pandemic In America

Why China Chose Not To Set A Specific GDP Growth Target For Five-Year Plan

Fedex Investing $2 Billion In Electrification, Greener Jet Fuel, Carbon Capture, And More

The Cost: 12 Months Of The Pandemic In America

HISTORY

How An Earthquake Triggered Japan’s 2011 Nuclear Disaster

How The 1996 Dunblane Massacre Pushed The U.K. To Enact Stricter Gun Laws

World War Ii Couple’s Love Letters Found Beneath British Hotel’s Floorboards

Researchers Uncover Remains Of Polish Nuns Murdered By Soviets During WWII

Why Suffragists Helped Send Women Doctors To WWI’s Front Lines

How A Cuban Spy Sabotaged New York’s Thriving Illicit Slave Trade

How British Royals Tested Support For The Crown In The 17th Century

This 17th-Century Cookbook Contained A Vicious Attack On Oliver Cromwell’s Wife

Silver Diadem Found In Spain May Point To Bronze Age Woman’s Political Power

HEALTH

Building Resilience In A Crisis

Going Circular: 7 European Cities’ Sustainability Quest

Health At Every Size

Big Ideas: Linking Food, Culture, Health, And The Environment

Your Must-Read Coronavirus Coverage

HOME & FAMILY

From A Prolonged Pandemic, A Rethink Of Life’s Milestones?

Home-Bound Children Drive Surge In Lego Sales

How To Take The Museum To Learners Who Can’t Be There

Lightweight ‘Traveler’ Camper Has Retro Exterior, Adaptive Interior

These Eye-Catching Bricks Are Made From Textile Waste

Wild Skating Has Brought Joy To This Pandemic Winter

Woman’s Charming Van Conversion Includes An Important Safety Feature

GARDEN & KITCHEN

16 Border Plants To Frame Your Garden

Using Data And Citizen Science For Gardening Success

Virtually Celebrate Peak Bloom With Ten Fun Facts About Cherry Blossoms

Follow The Food: The Future Of Food Is Growing In Our Cities

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

A spectacular fireball seen in the UK and northern Europe on February 28 led, just a few days later, to a rare meteorite recovery. This image is from a video by Ben Stanley, processed by Markus Kempf of the AllSky7 network, via Imperial College London.

Spectacular Fireball Display In UK Leads To Rare Meteorite Recovery

Physicists Propose New Idea For “Human-Safe” Wormholes

Vote For Your Favorite Earth Photos By ISS Astronauts

EARTH

Is Reclaimed Water A Solution To Farming In A Drier Future?

Scientists Believe They Found A Chunk Of An Ancient Planet In Africa

Food Systems Responsible For ‘One Third’ Of Human-Caused Emissions

CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

As Climate Fight Shifts To Oil, Biden Faces A Formidable Foe

Hall Of Shame: 9 Countries Missing The Chance Of A Green Recovery

South Sudan Plans To Raise Climate Ambition Amid ‘Dire’ Humanitarian Crisis

When It Comes To Climate Solutions, We Must Embrace Uncertainty

There’s A Global Plan To Conserve Nature. Indigenous People Could Lead The Way

ECOLOGY

Four Fatal Flaws Of Renewable Natural Gas

UK Supermarket Chain To Move Its Farms To Net-Zero By 2030

The West Has A New Front In The War Over Electric Cars

SPACE

China And Russia Sign Deal To Build Research Base On Moon

Perseverance Landing Site Named After Science Fiction Author Octavia E. Butler

Perseverance Is Now Officially Searching For Life On Mars

SpaceX Just Rolled Its Next Starship Prototype Onto The Pad

TECHNOLOGY

How To Store Wind, Solar Energy Without Batteries

How Hard Is It To Build A Virtual Power Plant Anyway?

Industrialization, Labor, And Life

BEST OF THE NET: 

Senior Citizen (Who Looks Like Jimmy Durante) Plays Piano And Then Magic Occurs

Martin Hurkens – You Raise me Up

The Statler Brothers – Maple Street Memories

TRAVEL

The Barcelona Gym That Became A Social Experiment

A Nation Without Access To Its Own Sea

Were These Underwater Structures Built By An Ancient Civilisation?

MEDIA OF THE WEEK: STARGATE: THE ARK OF TRUTH Stargate: The Ark of Truth is a 2008 Canadian-American, military science fiction, direct-to-video film in the Stargate franchise.  While digging on Dakara, SG-1 discovers a box that they believe contains the Ark of Truth.  Starring: Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Michael Shanks, Beau Bridges and Claudia Black.

WRATH OF THE TESTAMENT:  A super power 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. http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-USS-Testament-tale-rebellion-ebook/dp/B004DNWL6G

ROCKY THE ROCKET:  Associate editor Olya Bereza is also the children’s novelist Holley Dovetail. This is one of several of short novels for the young and the young at heart. To preview and/or purchase on amazon.com, please go here. https://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Rocket-Holley-Dovetail-ebook/dp/B071XYRDB5

RAINBOW RISING:  This is another of Olya Bereza’s works for kids.  This little fairy-tale short story dedicated to a pet-friend gone chasing the rainbow. For kids their first lost and challenge in life is letting go of their pet friends that once became part of their world. This little story will help in times they have to say good-bye without falling into despair.  Yep, go here. http://litnet.com/en/book/rainbow-rising-b187572

ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

Watch out for this one, tropical fish lovers.  Officials Say Invasive Zebra Mussels Are Hiding In Aquarium Decor Sold Across U.S.

15 Remarkable Red Panda Facts  They really are most remarkable.

It’s time to sort fact from fiction about these gentle giants.  

ABOUT US: The Northstar Journal is a Seattle-based general interest international online weekly magazine. We are also on FaceBook and Nextdoor.com. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to contribute to the next, please go here.  To contact us directly, minstrel312@aol.com

IT DOES HAVE A UNIQUE RING

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam

March 7, 2021

Volume 13 Number 15

Reader-Supported  Please go here. Thank you very much.

Inside: It Does Have A Unique Ring To It; C-19 In Ukraine: A Tale Of Two Mothers; American Community, Culture & Lifestyle; Beyond Our Pale; People Making A Difference; Economics; History; Health, Covid-19; Home & Family; Garden & Kitchen; Our World and Beyond; Earth; Climate & Climate Change; Ecology; Space; Technology; Funzone: Travel; Best of the Net; Movie of the Week; Masha & the Bear, All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

IT DOES HAVE A UNIQUE RING TO IT

Rusty Miller, Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  Well, under the heading of “This Is Getting A Little Old,” March 4, Another Day That Could Have Lived In Infamy never happened.  We apparently learned something from the snafus of January 5^th.

Another idol is falling from grace and he’s doing it to the embarrassment of millions.  He admits to sexually joking with women in his circle.  But he denies inappropriate touching.  He then said that there are hundreds of photos of him kissing people.  He doesn’t do that because he’s licentious, he contends.  He does it because he is affectionate.

I’m affectionate too, Governor Cuomo.  I’m also a nice guy with women friends, sisters and a best friend who is female.  Among them, I’m quietly and gently affectionate.  Otherwise, I keep my hands (and the rest of my anatomy) to myself.  People can tell it’s a two-way street.  “Look but don’t touch.”

If Mario Cuomo ever approaches any of those women, his own karma will impel him to a most unpleasant place where handsome older men ~ particularly those convicted of crimes against kids or women ~ fetch a high price among guards and inmates alike. That’s how Mario Cuomo would spend the rest of his life, satisfying the sexual appetites of men who will never know women again.

There are rumors rampaging that suggest Donald Trump may make another presidential run.  It would not surprise me, given his talent for recreating himself, to hear him claim to be the beneficiary of Divine Intervention and the Loving Light of Liberalism.  Given his sway with Christian fundamentalists, he could be seen as the new archangel.  Archangel Donald.  He certainly has the ego for it.  And it does have a rather unique ring to it.

Okay, gang, that’s it for this week.  Stay safe.  We can’t afford to lose any of you.  Neither can God.

Rusty

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller aka “Mishka” is an author, photojournalist and editor. A Northern California native, he has lived in Oregon and Washington State and resides now in South Seattle, Washington. For comments, please go here

C-19 IN UKRAINE: A TALE OF TWO MOTHERS

Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

Hi Rusty:

I need to praise Ukrainians specialists who plan how to keep COVID situation controllable in my country. I really cheer  cooperation of our intelligence technology community and all medical professionals in these regards.

When travelers arrive here from a Covic 19 Red Zone, they are required to be tested for Covic-19 and to register with and install a screening application called Vdoma

Then there is a choice to either stay self-isolated for 14 days (the app gives you two hours of freedom a day for a walk or necessities shopping) or take the PCR test. Test results arrive within a day or two. So for instance, with negative test, if one comes on Saturday, on Monday they can go free for own business.

I think this is great as it allows business connections still going. We all know how restrictions put down the economies of countries so I think it is quite a reasonable way to handle the situation. Also the prices for tests are quite reasonable.  Since April of last year, we have had our own COVID tests so they are widely available.

A PCR test, for instance, costs about 30 dollars which is much less expensive than in the UK, for example. Since there is a difference in the standards of living, the cheaper tests for Ukraine make sense. Some companies allow discounts so this guide is quite useful for those in need Where To Find Cheap Covid-19 Pcr Tests For Travel  There are several varieties of tests available at the market and it was interesting to learn more about them. Antigen Vs. PCR Tests For COVID-19: What’s The Difference?

The medical system managed to cope with COVID patients reasonably well and their curing protocols show good results, so our Minister of Health, Maksym Stepanov, should be praised too, along with everyone else in the health care profession.  

It saddens me that politics remain involved when we talk about vaccination campaigns. With strained relations with Russia, Ukraine unwisely rejected their offer to share the formula for Sputnik V (which already showed good results worldwide) so it could be produced in Kharkiv, the biggest Ukrainian city.

I think if the vaccine was made in Ukraine, we would have more trust in it. At the moment, the population is not really enthusiastic about Indian vaccine the government ordered so our leaders had to publicly do the shots themselves  Ukraine’s leader gets vaccine shot to dispel public doubts

This situation reminds me of King Solomon’s tale of two mothers. I think when it is about the health of population, politics should be disregarded as life always comes first.

In general, both the Ukrainian information technology and medical industries deserve a big thumbs up.  Thank you.

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. She travels Europe in conjunction with a family intelligence technology business and is proactively involved in protecting the forests of the Carpathian Mountains.  For comments, please go here.

AMERICAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

Officers Maced, Trampled: Docs Expose Depth Of Jan. 6 Chaos

What Hearings Have Revealed About Jan. 6 Failures

A Grainshed Rises In The Northeast

The Big Issues Facing The American West

Women And The Pandemic

BEYOND OUR PALE

The Australia Letter – New York Times

Canada: Photos Raise Alarm Over Old-Growth Logging In British Columbia

China’s Two Sessions – What Is It All About?

Iran:  At Least 23 Killed By State Forces Since Unrest Began In Late February

Myanmar:  Defying Lethal Shootings, Protesters Back On Streets

YouTube Cancels Myanmar Military-Run Channels, Pulls Videos

Myanmar Authorities Charge Associated Press Journalist

Nigeria School Abduction: Hundreds Of Girls Released By Gunmen

Palestinian ‘Techno Queen’ Sama’ Abdulhadi Faces Court Over Shrine Event

Russia Fines  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Media For Violating The “Foreign Agent” Law.

Has Russia Beaten Boom And Bust? 

‘Don’t Play With Fire,’ Russia Warns After U.S. Navalny Sanctions

Syria War: Tens Of Thousands Of Detainees Still Missing, UN Says

The Philippines: Work From The Beach, Resorts Target Local Long-Stay Tourists

PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Atlanta Has Created The Largest Free Food Forest In The Country

Amid Pandemic, Pope Goes To Iraq To Rally Fading Christians

Baking Homemade Bread Becomes A Public Good

How European Cities Are Making Space For Nature

Fighting the Climate Crisis through Climate Literacy, Monday, March 8th at 1pm EST

Meet The Inspiring Heroes Fighting Food Waste And Hunger

The Inside Story Of The School Groundskeeper Who Took On Monsanto: Book Review

Teenager Helped Launch Seed Libraries In Every State

Women Scientists Were Written Out Of History. It’s Margaret Rossiter’s Lifelong Mission To Fix That

ECONOMICS

A Basic Income Experiment In Stockton, CA Pays Off

Coronavirus Could Cost China US$417 Billion In 2021, Researchers Say

In Talk With Poland, Xi Offers Chinese Vaccines And To Buy Farm Goods

Indonesia Woos Tesla, Chinese And South Korean Firms, In Bid For Electric Vehicle Battery Crown

Shoe Company Allbirds Invests $2 Million In Plant-Based Leather

Why Singapore’s US$19 Billion Coronavirus Jobs Support Scheme Is The Envy Of Asia

HISTORY

Rare Birmingham Jail Logbook Pages Signed By MLK Resurface After Decades

Breaking The Highest Glass Ceiling

American Women In WWII Took On These Dangerous Jobs

5 Black Suffragists Who Fought For The 19th Amendment—And Much More

Women’s History Milestones: A Timeline

Three Major Myths About Helen Keller’s Life.

How Black Women Brought Liberty To Washington In The 1800s

The Actress Who Left The Stage To Become A Civil War Spy

University Building Identified As One Of The U.S.’ First Schools For Black Children

Part Of Being A Domestic Goddess In 17th-Century Europe Was Making Medicines

Newly Restored Pompeiian Frescoes Capture Hunting Scenes In Vivid Detail

‘Miraculously’ Well-Preserved Ceremonial Chariot Found At Villa Outside Of Pompeii

Did A Viking Woman Named Gudrid Really Travel To North America In 1000 A.D.?

Valhalla: How Viking Belief In A Glorious Afterlife Empowered Warriors

Is This 2,000-Year-Old Egyptian Burial Site The World’s Oldest Pet Cemetery?

Oldest Known Mummification Manual Reveals How Egyptians Embalmed The Face

Climate Change May Have Aided Dinosaurs’ Journey From South America To Greenland

World’s Oldest DNA Sheds Light On Mammoth Evolution

Why Medium-Sized Dinosaurs Are Often Missing From The Fossil Record

HEALTH

Best Way To Treat Sore Muscles After A Workout

Democrats’ Relief Bill Hands The Health Care Industry A Big Win

How Much Caffeine Can You Safely Consume?

COVID 19

Texas And Other States Ease COVID-19 Rules Despite Warnings

Biden Vows Enough Vaccine For All US Adults By End Of May

Covid-19 Variants Pose ‘Real Threat’ To Vaccine Progress, CDC Warns

FDA Approves Johnson & Johnson Vaccine, Another Valuable Tool Against Covid-19

New P.1 Strain Can Re-Infect People Who Already Caught Covid

The Pandemic Has Spurred A Return To Low-Cost Fitness Activities

Asian Coronavirus Coverage

AP Exclusive: Countries Call On Drug Companies To Share Vaccine Know-How

France Approves Astrazeneca Vaccine For Over-65s

US: We’re In The Third Quarter Of The Pandemic. Here’s Expert Advice On How To Get Through It

US: FDA Authorizes Johnson & Johnson’s One-Dose Covid-19 Vaccine

Women And The Pandemic

HOME & FAMILY

Couple’s Elegant Tiny House Integrates Some Ingenious Space-Saving Ideas

Rooftop Solar Would Boost Electrical Systems’ Resilience

Stay Social When You Never See Your Work Friends

GARDEN & KITCHEN

A Garden Can Help You Feel Better

Bold Ideas For A Steeply Sloping Garden

Bring Life To Dying Soils

Community Of Plant Parents Grows In Confinement

Engage The Senses With A Sensory Garden

Beef And Vegetable Bibimbap

Hainan Chicken Rice

Most Helpful Multi-Tasking Tools In My Kitchen

New Cookbook Offers Culinary Journey Into World Of Ancient Israelites

Shrimp And Vegetable Fried Rice

Tuna’s Last Stand

World’s Cleanest Tap Water

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

Artist’s Concept Of An Asteroid Striking Earth During The Age Of Dinosaurs. Image Via Britannica.Com/ NASA/ Don Davis.

Asteroid Dust In Chicxulub Crater Seals Deal On Dino Extinction

How Quantum Mechanics Could Explain An Omnipresent God

NASA Selects 16 Futuristic Space Technology Concepts

Life Discovered Deep Beneath An Antarctic Ice Sheet ‘Shouldn’t Be There’

Frog’s Lungs Act Like Noise-Canceling Headphones

EARTH

Astronomers Spy A Nearby, Blazing Hot Super-Earth

Earthquakes Rattle New Zealand. Tsunami Warnings Now Lifted. Thousands Return Home

First Ever Space Hurricane Spotted In Earth’s Upper Atmosphere

Gulf Stream At Its Weakest In Over 1,000 Years

How Rivers In The Sky Melt Huge Holes In Antarctic Ice

Scientists Discover An 81-Year-Old Snapper

SPACE

March 2021 Guide To The Bright Planets

Cosmic Ray Originated In Cataclysmic Event

Parker Solar Probe Snaps Luminous Photo Of Venus

Scientists Observe Eight-Hour “Space Plasma Hurricane”

Startup Unveils Rocket Capable Of Sending Humans To Space

What Is A Quasar?

CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Australian Contender For OECD Top Job Backtracks On Climate Skepticism

French Climate Bill Set For Rocky Ride After Citizens’ Assembly Slams Weak Ambition

Further Delay Feared As ‘Like-Minded’ Countries Resist Online Climate Negotiations

Japan, US Exposed As UN Chief Urges G7 To Commit To 2030 Coal Exit

Methane Emissions From Russian Pipelines Surged During The Coronavirus Pandemic

UN Suspends Climate Work With Myanmar Government Following Military Coup

Will The Climate Crisis Tap Out The Colorado River?

ECOLOGY

Energizing Today: Power Delivery News & Information

As Southeast Asia Puts Its Electric Vehicle Revolution In Gear, Are Musk & Co All Hype?

Building Waste Plastic Into Roads Makes Them More Flexible

Carbon Neutral Goal: China To Pass UK As Top Offshore Wind Farm Installer

China Makes No Shift Away From Coal In Five-Year Plan As It ‘Crawls’ To Carbon Neutrality

Fisherman In Kenya Swap Petrol Outboard Motors For Electric Engines

Greenpeace Ranks US Grocers For Plastic Reduction Efforts

The Interior Department Is Moving Fast To Enact Biden’s Environmental Agenda.  

The Steep Challenges To Reaching Renewable Energy Goals

TECHNOLOGY

9 Groundbreaking Inventions By Women

All-Electric Airplane Tested

Artificial Intelligence To Battle Covid-19

Infrastructure Can Be Beautiful, Like This Power Plant in Montreal

Paralyzed Man Walks More Than 100 Miles In Powered Exoskeleton

Robots That Paved The Way For Apollo

Tiny Drill Burrows Through Brain With Magnets

BEST OF THE NET: 

Watch First Time-Lapse Footage Of A Rare Moonflower Cactus Blossoming

Photo Awards Highlight Environment, Nature, Pollution, And Resilience

Sissel Sundays – Love Is Blind

TRAVEL

Theodore Roosevelt’s North Dakota And 27 Other Smithsonian Programs Streaming In March

This Hans Christian Andersen Museum Asks You To Step Into A Fairy Tale

Major Donation To MOMA Spotlights A Century Of Women Photographers

MEDIA OF THE WEEK: THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN (1969) is a 1969 British Second World War film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz. The film documents the events of the Battle of Britain. The film drew many respected British actors to accept roles as key figures of the battle, including Laurence Olivier as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Trevor Howard as Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, and Patrick Wymark as Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Air Officer commanding No. 12 Group RAF. It also starred Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer and Robert Shaw as Squadron Leaders. The script by James Kennaway and Wilfred Greatorex was based on the book The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster. (Our thanks to Wikipedia for this description)

WRATH OF THE TESTAMENT:  A super power 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. http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-USS-Testament-tale-rebellion-ebook/dp/B004DNWL6G

ROCKY THE ROCKET:  Associate editor Olya Bereza is also the children’s novelist Holley Dovetail. This is one of several of short novels for the young and the young at heart. To preview and/or purchase on amazon.com, please go here. https://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Rocket-Holley-Dovetail-ebook/dp/B071XYRDB5

RAINBOW RISING:  This is another of Olya Bereza’s works for kids.  This little fairy-tale short story dedicated to a pet-friend gone chasing the rainbow. For kids their first lost and challenge in life is letting go of their pet friends that once became part of their world. This little story will help in times they have to say good-bye without falling into despair.  Yep, go here. http://litnet.com/en/book/rainbow-rising-b187572

ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

8 Peculiar Facts About The Icelandic Chicken  Now that I know this, my life is enriched.

Twelve Epic Migratory Journeys Animals Take Every Spring  Awesome. 

Oldest Known Wild Bird Hatches Chick At Age 70  I’d love to watch her teach this kid to fly.

SHORTS

9 Beguiling Facts About Belugas

Scientists Discover Glow-In-The-Dark Sharks

Long-Lost Babbler Bird Documented In Borneo For The First Time In Over 170 Years

This Bird Mimics An Entire Flock To Woo Females

ABOUT US: The Northstar Journal is a Seattle-based general interest international online weekly magazine. We are also on FaceBook and Nextdoor.com. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to contribute to the next, please go here.  To contact us directly, minstrel312@aol.com

LEARNING FROM TEXAS

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam

February 28, 2021

Volume 13 Number 14

Reader-Supported  Please go here. Thank you very much.

Inside: Learning From Texas; Ukraine Winter Play; Community, American Culture & Lifestyle; Beyond Our Pale; Economics; History; Health, Covid-19; Home & Family; Garden & Kitchen; Our World and Beyond; Earth; Climate & Climate Change; Ecology; Space; Technology; Make A Difference; Funzone: Travel; Best of the Net; Movie of the Week; Masha & the Bear, All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

Photo courtesy of www.newsbreak.com

LEARNING FROM TEXAS

Rusty Miller, Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  And happy extreme weather.  Sigh.  Our hearts go out to Texans everywhere for what the Lonestar endured when Old Man Winter lashed out with a one-two combination that toppled the grid and left several million people in polar temperatures without power. 

Of all the interesting things that have happened recently, including a great showing on several fronts by America’s new president, this rankles me most.  I’ve never been to Texas and, with all due respect, have no plans to visit.  I served in the United States Navy with people from all over that great state.  I admire them and I care about them.

If I sound angry, pat yourself on the back for your perception.  Given the evolution of integrated energy systems, storage and delivery, there is no justifiable reason for the failure of the Texas power grid.

The event motivated me to examine where I live.  I urge all of you to do that, as well, regardless the flag over your post office.  Find out how vulnerable you are and what your options are.  Don’t be afraid to explore.

As a “for instance,” you might be pleasantly surprised to know that generators have come a long way; that there are battery operated clothes, heaters and hand warmers.  There are the old Coleman standbys, lanterns and camp stoves, which work great in ventilated spaces.  Fireplaces served our pioneer ancestors as stove and oven. They can do that for us now.

Even if a power outage is not an imminent concern, why not make a game of it?  Make it a family or friends’ activity, with the goal of not only surviving a power failure but actually enjoying a break from the grid.

We cannot change what happened in Texas.  We would be foolish, I think, to let it happen to us.

Rusty

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller aka “Mishka” is an author, photojournalist and editor. A Northern California native, he has lived in Oregon and Washington State. He resides now in Seattle.  For comments, please go here

Lyiv, Ukraine at night.  Photo by Olya Bereza

UKRAINE WINTER PLAY

Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

Hi All:

It has been several really wintry weeks here in Ukraine and in my town of Lviv, pure, innocent snow covers all the hustle and bustle of busy streets and brings smiles to people’s faces. 

Yes, there have been troubles for transport and communal services but that was nice to see our mayor,  Andriy Sadoviy,  with a shovel, urging  people to clear the paths near their houses. And people followed his example.

It took us back to the days before the Internet, when things were real and not virtual.  We were transported to a land which kids and adults alike could enjoy again throwing snowballs or riding sledges, building snow castles or digging Hobbit holes in a snow.

Winter can be so lovely as long there are places to get warm. Ukrainians are used to cold winters so the houses are built for it as well as heating systems.

Cup of cacao and coffee were probably the best heating for frozen palms.

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. She travels Europe in conjunction with a family IT business and is proactively involved in protecting the forests of the Carpathian Mountains.  For comments, please go here.

AMERICAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

America’s Pandemic Toll Over The Course Of One Deadly Year. — Photos

Foreign-Born Doctors Fill Physician Shortages In The West

How Texas’ Drive For Energy Independence Set It Up For Disaster

Military Personnel Save 1,100 Stunned Sea Turtles From Frigid Texas Waters

President Biden Holds First Foreign Meeting With Canada’s Justin Trudeau

President Biden Marks ‘Heartbreaking’ 500,000 Virus Deaths  – Video

White House Ceremony Honors The Dead.  – Video

BEYOND OUR PALE

Australia Passes Law To Make Google, Facebook Pay For News

Advantage China, As Democracy Slides From View In Southeast Asia

Amnesty Report Describes Axum Massacre In Ethiopia’s Tigray

Columbia: The Most Important Humanitarian Gesture In Decades

Hit By Hurricanes And Covid, More Central Americans Go Hungry And Plan To Migrate

Disha Ravi, India Human Rights Activist, 22, Granted Bail By Court

Death Of Iran’s Behnam Mahjoubi Will Be Followed By Others Without Urgent Action

Iraq’s Christians Hope Visit By Pope Will Help Them Survive,

Kenya: A Sustainable Solution To Locust Swarms?

EU Agrees To Sanctions On Russia Crackdown

Russian National Sentenced To 8 Years In The Gulag Prison For Selling Secrets To China

Swede Charged With Espionage For Selling Local Automobile Manufacturers Secrets To Russia.

Spying Charges Filed Against Man Suspected Of Passing On Data To Russian Secret Services.

Despite Facing Years in Prison, Turkish Opposition Leader Not Backing Down

More From Around The World

ECONOMICS

Algramo Makes Zero Waste Shopping Affordable And Convenient

Apple Buys A Company Every Three To Four Weeks

As Shopee Succeeds In Southeast Asia, Rivals Such As Tokopedia Are Heating Up The Competition

China’s New Five-Year Rural-Revitalization Plan Emphasizes Food Security

E-Commerce Sales In China Set To Outstrip Bricks-And-Mortar Retail In 2021

EU Spent €440 Million On Failed Gas Projects Since 2013, Study Finds

Put Unemployed Miners And Drillers Back To Work In Restoration

Russia’s Government Debt Rose 40% In 2020: Moscow Still One Of World’s Lowest Debt Levels

U.S. Economy

US Firm To Acquire Israel’s Myheritage For Reported $600M

Why The Rise Of Singapore’s Tech Giant Sea Is Making Waves In Southeast Asia

HISTORY

How Barbara Jordan’s 1974 Speech Marked A Turning Point In The Watergate Scandal

What School Didn’t Teach You About The Black Panthers

The Once-Classified Tale Of Juanita Moody: The Woman Who Helped Avert A Nuclear War

The US Raised The Iwo Jima Flag, Then Occupied The Islands For 23 Years

This African American Artist’s Cartoons Helped Win World War Ii

Why American Labor Unions Declined In The 1920s

What The Negro Leagues Brought To Baseball

Looking Back At The Legacy Of ‘The Great White Hope’ And Boxer Jack Johnson

The Great Blues Singer Gladys Bentley Broke All The Rules

Reconstruction: A Timeline Of The Post-Civil War Era

How Darwin’s ‘Descent Of Man’ Holds Up 150 Years After Publication

The Everyday Resistance Of Enslaved Women

Anonymous Artist Installs Bust Of York, Enslaved Explorer Who Accompanied Lewis And Clark, In Portland Park

Black Soldiers Played An Undeniable But Largely Unheralded Role In Founding The United States

The Pitfalls And Promise Of America’s Founding Myths

How The Aztec Empire Was Forged Through A Triple Alliance

Did Viking Warrior Women Exist?

Tomb Painting Known As Egypt’s ‘Mona Lisa’ May Depict Extinct Goose Species

Remnants Of Iron Age Settlement, Roman Villa Found In England

Remnants Of Tenth-Century Buddhist Monastery Found In India

17,000-Year-Old Kangaroo Painting Is Oldest-Known Australian Rock Art

HEALTH

A Rural Remedy To Health Care Access

Do You Sleep Less Before A Full Moon?

Flu Season: Flu Cases And Hospitalizations At Lowest Levels In Decades

Light Pollution Is Getting Worse Every Year. That’s Bad For Your Health

The Surprising Link Between Marriage And Heart Health

We Need An Operation Warp Speed For Alzheimer’s And Dementia

COVID 19

The Best Global Responses To The COVID-19 Pandemic, 1 Year Later

We’re In The Third Quarter Of The Pandemic. Antarctic Researchers, Mars Simulation Scientists And Navy Submarine Officers Have Advice For How To Get Through It

Large Real-World Test Of Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine Has Confirmed That It’s Very Effective At Preventing Serious Illness Or Death,

J&J Vaccine

Covid Deaths Have Dropped Dramatically Since January

Rural Death In America Rate From Covid-19 Falls By A Third

HOME & FAMILY

Sarika Kale: The Sports Star Who Could Afford Just One Meal A Day

Electrify Everything Or Keep A Gas Backup?

Prepare For An Extended Power Outage

Hybrid Cabin Incorporates ‘Animal Architectures’ To Boost Local Biodiversity

Family’s Fabulous Bus Conversion Has Play Loft And Roof Deck

GARDEN & KITCHEN

5 Inspiring Examples Of Zero Waste Gardening

The Number Of Climate Victory Gardens Has Grown Rapidly In Past Year

Creative Ideas For A Child-Friendly Garden

How Chickens Took Over America’s Dinner Plates

Chicken Wings With Peanut Butter And Thai Green Curry

Skillet Chicken With Turmeric And Coconut Milk

Fried Rice With Salted Fish And Chicken

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

The magnetic reversal of 42,000 years ago helped bring about earthly extinctions, scientists said. Around that time, the skies would have been lit by spectacular auroras. Image via Unsplash/ UNSW.

Magnetic Reversal 42,000 Years Ago Linked To Upheaval And Extinctions

AIs Are Teaching Themselves Some New Tricks Without Human Help

Rare Yellow Penguin Photographed For The First Time

NASA Releases Mars Landing Video: ‘Stuff Of Our Dreams’

EARTH

A Dam Good Example Of Collaboration On California Water Issues

Deforestation And Mining Increased In Tropically Forested Countries During COVID

Italy’s Mount Etna Keeps Belching Lava And Rocks — Video:

Rare Yellow Penguin Photographed For The First Time

SPACE

The Latest From NASA’s Earth Observatory

3D Map Of A Million Binary Stars

Fish Farming On The Moon Can Air Pollution Help Us Find Alien Life?

Best Observing Targets For Binoculars

Swarm Of Black Holes Discovered

Tel Aviv University’s Research Satellite Soars Into Space

How To Keep Up With NASA’s Perseverance Rover As It Explores Mars

CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

China, US Urged To Step Up As UN Warns World ‘Very Far’ From Meeting Climate Goals

What’s Happening To Polar Bears And Narwhals As Arctic Ice Melts

Will The Climate Crisis Tap Out The Colorado River?

ECOLOGY

Bangladesh Scraps Nine Coal Power Plants As Overseas Finance Dries Up

Blackout Misconceptions: People On Social Media Become Overnight Power Experts

China’s Carbon Neutral Push Gathers Pace As Coal Power Plants Drop Below Half

Europe Reduces Waste By Guaranteeing The Right To Repair

Fragile Countries Call For Investment In Rooftop Solar To Expand Energy Access

Maryland Suburb Places Largest Electric School Bus Order Of Its Kind In US

Mauritius Oil Spill: Questions Mount Over Ship Fuel Safety

Michigan Joins 11 Other States To Examine Electricity Planning For Optimized Grid

Unionization And The Rising Tide Of Electric Vehicles

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Sets Goals For Electric, Automated Freight Vehicles 

Why Fleet Electrification Could Be A Game Changer For Electric Vehicles

TECHNOLOGY

Passivhaus Challenge Shows How Well Passive House Buildings Hold The Heat

US Army Testing Machine Gun-Style Laser Weapon That Vaporizes Targets

US Military Tests Satellite For Beaming Power Down To Earth

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Protect A 60,000-Year-Old Underwater Forest

Save Our Restaurants

BEST OF THE NET

In Pictures: Crews Brave Sub-Zero Temperatures To Restore Power

O Happy Day – Voices of Hope Children’s Choir

Floating Cities, Biodegradable Burial Pods, Flying Cars, Smithsonian Envisions Multitude Of Futures

TRAVEL

Australia:  The New York Times

FAA Orders United To Inspect Boeing 777s After Emergency

10 Ways To Protect Coral Reefs When You Travel

MEDIA OF THE WEEK: THE ADVENTURES OF MARTIN EDEN (1942) — Martin Eden (Glenn Ford) wants to be a writer but embarks as a sailor on a merchant ship. Author writes about his experiences sailing at sea, struggles to get his work published.  This is Jack London’s autobiography and is well-rendered.

WRATH OF THE TESTAMENT:  A super power 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. http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-USS-Testament-tale-rebellion-ebook/dp/B004DNWL6G

ROCKY THE ROCKET:  Associate editor Olya Bereza is also the children’s novelist Holley Dovetail. This is one of several of short novels for the young and the young at heart. To preview and/or purchase on amazon.com, please go here. https://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Rocket-Holley-Dovetail-ebook/dp/B071XYRDB5

RAINBOW RISING:  This is another of Olya Bereza’s works for kids.  This little fairy-tale short story dedicated to a pet-friend gone chasing the rainbow. For kids their first lost and challenge in life is letting go of their pet friends that once became part of their world. This little story will help in times they have to say good-bye without falling into despair.  Yep, go here. http://litnet.com/en/book/rainbow-rising-b187572

ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

Elizabeth Ann, The First Cloned Black-Footed Ferret And The First Cloned Endangered Species Native To North America, Pictured Here At 50 Days Old. (USFWS National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center)

Elizabeth Ann Is The First Cloned Black-Footed Ferret.  Absolutely amazing.  These creatures are important to the ecosystem in which I live, in the American Pacific Northwest.  Hopefully we’ve stopped degrading the environment.  For their sake ~ and for ours ~ I hope so.

Animal Rescue Has Helped 1 Million Street Dogs Worldwide  People who do this are saints in Animal Heaven.  And welcome at my table without bringing their own mess kit. Or tea.

The Dogs That Grew Wool And The People Who Love Them  I just discovered they are neighbors.

SHORTS

This Bouncing African Mammal Glows Under UV Light

For The First Time, Scientists Clone Endangered Species

12 Animals That Reproduce Asexually

Rare Yellow Penguin Photographed For The First Time

Turtles Caught In Disastrous Oil Spill Treated With Mayonnaise

B.C. Defers Logging In Home Of Canada’s Last Three Wild Spotted Owls

ABOUT US: The Northstar Journal is a Seattle-based general interest international online weekly magazine. We are also on FaceBook and Nextdoor.com. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to contribute to the next, please go here.  To contact us directly, minstrel312@aol.com

NICE GOING, NASA, THE LITTLE DUDE MADE IT

February 21, 2021

Volume 13 Number 13

Reader-Supported  Please go here. Thank you very much.

Inside: Nice Going, NASA, The Little Dude Made It; Humans Are Social Creatures; American Culture & Lifestyle; Beyond Our Pale; Economics; History; Health, Covid-19; Home & Family; Garden & Kitchen; Our World and Beyond; Earth; Climate & Climate Change; Ecology; Space; Technology; Funzone: Travel; Best of the Net; Movie of the Week; Masha & the Bear, All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

NICE GOING, NASA, THE LITTLE DUDE MADE IT

Rusty Miller, Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  This week, the best of what we are capable of eclipsed our chronic dysfunctionalism and the adventure of a little mechanical dude not much bigger than a Volkswagen Beetle stole headlines from the pandemic, Donald Trump, President Biden and even the Arctic lashing Texas took from Old Man Winter

I watched it and you can too by going here.  NASA has its own media team and television channel and they are as good as any in the business.  They blend the technical with the emotional and I appreciate that because that’s how I react to it.  So do millions of others not only in America but around the world.

I grew up in a city connected with the aerospace industry and have had a lifelong passion for most things aerodynamic.  I studied its history, from the legend of Icarus through the Wright brothers and the V2 rocket.  The only launches I’ve missed were those which occurred during my time in the West Pacific with the Seventh Fleet.

It’s easy for me to think of Perseverance as a living creature and all those at NASA as its family.  My maternal grandfather, a high mountain horse rancher, believed that if God could create a sentient being from the material at hand, that sentient being could do the same.  He treated his horses, his tractor and his cars and trucks with equal care.  They responded by loving him and rarely letting him down.

A lot of work went into creating that little dude who landed on Mars this past week.  He was tested more than a precocious child and when he was finally sent out into the solar system, half his human parents experienced empty nest syndrome and all of them riveted their attention to his trip to Mars and his descent.

It is a triumph not only of human technology but of the human spirit.  It clearly demonstrates what we are capable of when we fully unite behind a common goal and cooperate without negotiation.

It is also living proof that we are capable of dealing appropriately with the pandemic, Donald Trump, President Biden and even the Arctic lashing Texas took from Old Man Winter

Rusty

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller aka “Mishka” is an author, photojournalist and editor. A Northern California native, he has lived in Oregon and Washington State and resides now in South Seattle, Washington. For comments, please go here

Photo courtesy of https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-jessamy-hibberd/the-rise-of-imperfect-mot_b_14898818.html?yptr=yahoo

HUMANS ARE SOCIAL CREATURES

Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

Hi Rusty:

This time I would like to dedicate the column to a very important issue of mental health that is not highlighted enough now.  It is more important than ever, with the struggle of people in isolation during lockdowns around the world as well as the “pandemic of fear” some media spread without realizing how fragile and vulnerable we can be to negative news that we not be bombarded with fear 24/7 and expect a healthy population.

News programs especially should consult with a psychologist for the best ways to communicate better information with more transparency and certainly more accountability for how it impacts its audiences.

The teenagers are whom I worried most in this regard. Just because of the age they are going through with their development and hormones, the communication with peer groups for them is much more important than for any others.

Younger children would maybe even appreciate staying in closer contact with their parents during lockdowns. For kids ten and older, while they are not mature enough to alone decided how to entertain themselves appropriately or to communicate with one another effectively, severe consequences can occur

Being all the time on their gadgets, whether it is online schooling or just because they are bored and don’t have enough willpower to force themselves to do anything offline, they become apathetic, distressed and in a place most unhealthy mentally and emotionally.  If something is not done, we are going to lose this generation.

More and more I see those almost typical stories on media like the wave of suicides among teenagers in Ukraine especially after winter lockdown. And this problem is relevant not only here but in others countries too.  Mum Calls For Schools To Return As Lockdown Takes Devastating Toll On Daughter

The kids are crying for help but are the governments hearing that bell?. Was there enough done to weigh the virus threat to younger people and the threat to their mental state?

I felt very sad to notice the same symptoms with my child too after the month we spent in lockdown in England. The weeks of non-communication led to my son becoming sociophobic and depressed. I also noticed how in social media like Tik Tok, teenagers share the same negative attitudes and dark thoughts. 

The question myself — like any other mother would ask – is “Are we prepared to risk the mental health of that generation to that extent? Humans are social creatures and that must be taken into account.

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. She travels Europe in conjunction with a family IT business and is proactively involved in protecting the forests of the Carpathian Mountains.  For comments, please go here.

AMERICAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

12 Surprising Facts About The Legislative Branch

A House That Love Built—Even With A Border Wall In The Backyard

Anthony Fauci Wins Israel’s Dan David $1m Prize For ‘Defending Science’

Why The Power Grid Failed In Texas And Beyond.

TX Storms, CA Heat Waves, And Vulnerable Utilities

BEYOND OUR PALE

331 Human Rights Defenders Were Murdered In 2020

A New Ebola Epidemic

Australia:  New York Times

Biden Repudiates Trump On Iran, Ready For Talks On Nuke Deal

Biden To Lay Out His Foreign Policy At G-7, Munich Summit

FaceBook Blocks News Access In Australia

France’s Youth In Despair

Greater Asian-American Representation Needed To Stem Hate Crimes

How A Group Of Women Saved Their Island From Plastic

Iran Must End Systematic Denial Of Healthcare In Prisons

Myanmar Coup: Army Promises New Elections Amid Protests

Nigerian Okonjo-Iweala  Is First Woman, African To Lead World Trade Body

‘Pawri Girl’: A Five-Second Video Brings India And Pakistan Together

Princess Latifa: UN To Question UAE About Dubai Ruler’s Daughter

Russian Women Form Human Chain Following Navalny Protest Crackdown

Three North Korean Hackers Wanted For Trying To Stealing $1.3B In Crypto

ECONOMICS

Amazon Vs Reliance: Why Are Two Of The World’s Richest Men In Court?

China’s Booming GDP Masks Millennial ‘Despair’ Over Personal Prospects

China Must Maintain Stimulus To Ensure Economic Rebound: Beijing Adviser

HISTORY

Digitized Iwo Jima Footage Shows The Human Side Of The Famous Battle

How Maggie Lena Walker Became The First Black Woman To Run A Bank In The Segregated South

Florida Archaeologists Find 29 Unmarked Graves At Site Of Razed Black Cemetery

Black Heroes Of The American Revolution

1,000-Year-Old Bavarian Frescoes Depict Life And Beheading Of John The Baptist

2,000-Year-Old Figurine Of Roman Love God Cupid Found In England Did Early Britons Sport Mullets And Mustaches?

Scientists Name Old Dinosaur For The Smithsonian

HEALTH

Bite Reinvents Toothpaste To Go Zero Waste

Combat Pandemic Fatigue.

How Will We Know We’ve Reached Herd Immunity?

Life-Altering Effects Heat Is Having On American Children

Lose Weight On The Mindfulness Diet

Nostalgia Is Good For Your Mental Health

COVID 19

Yes, You Should Still Wear A Mask After Covid-19 Vaccination

Coronavirus May Never Go Away But Could Change Into Mild Annoyance

How Do We Know The COVID-19 Vaccines Are Safe?

Huge Drop In U.S. Life Expectancy In Pandemic. 

India Infections Begin To Plummet, About 11,000 New Cases A Day, From Peak Of Nearly 100,000.

Vaccines: Macron Proposes Sending 4-5% Of Doses To Poorer Nations

Vaccine Champions In France Defying Death Threats To Convert Anti-Vaxxers

World’s First Human Trials Given Green Light In UK

HOME & FAMILY

A Love Letter For All The Days After Valentine’s Day

Education Experts Ask UK Government To Give Kids A ‘Summer Of Play’

Explore Every Stitch Of The Famed Bayeux Tapestry Online

How To Make Cowboy Coffee Over A Campfire: Another Useful Skill For When The Power Is Out.

How To Shovel Snow

How To Work From Home Without Burning Out

Ten Research-Backed Tips On Parenting In A Digital Era

GARDEN & KITCHEN

The Young Minds Reshaping Farming

Where Hamburgers Began—And How They Became An Iconic American Food

Bibimbap With Marinated Vegetables And Seared Beef

Vegan Mung Bean Noodles With Pressed Bean Curd And Spicy Sesame Dressing

Fish And Clams With Sake In Parchment

Inside Naples’ World-Famous Pizza Culture

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

View larger. | Perseverance’s first raw image from the surface of Mars, acquired just minutes after landing yesterday. See the rover’s shadow? Image via NASA TV.

Touchdown! Perseverance Lands Successfully On Mars

Farthest Known Object In The Solar System Identified

Meteor Lights Up Melbourne Skies

Mysterious Sponges Live On A Boulder Under 3,000 Feet Of Antarctic Ice

This Fungus Makes Convincing Fake Flowers From Scratch

EARTH

A Cold Water Bath Save The Great Barrier Reef?

Cities Are So Heavy That They’re Sinking Into The Earth

Extreme Winter Weather Causes U.S. Blackouts

Islands That Protect Germany From The North Sea

Mount Etna: Mesmerizing Pictures Of Latest Eruption

Researchers Use Whale Calls To Probe Undersea Geology

Sea Foam Showers County Waterford Village In Republic Of Ireland

Snowstorm That Changed Everything

SPACE

Astrophysicists Chart Source Of Asteroid That Killed Dinosaurs

China And Russia Agree To Collaborate On Lunar Base

How ‘Star Trek’ Helped Nasa Dream Big

Latest Images From NASA’s Earth Observatory

NASA Rover Releases First Photos From The Surface Of Mars

NASA’s Helicopter Ingenuity Will Attempt The First Flight On Mars

New Study Knocks Theory Of Planet Nine’s Existence Out Of Orbit

CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Angola’s Oil Dependency Thwarts Its Exit From The Group Of Poorest Nations

Climate Change Likely Drove Extinction Of Mammoths And Other Large Animals

EU Member States Divided Over Green Reforms Of Energy Investment Treaty

How Winter Storm Uri Impacted The United States

Is The Recent Wave Of Severe Weather Across The U.S. A Harbinger Of Climate Change?

Italy Creates Ecological Transition Ministry But Campaigners Warn Against Gas Support

The Fierce Urgency Of A Slow-Burn Climate Crisis

The Texas Power Grid Failure Is A Climate Change Cautionary Tale

Warmer Weather Will Increase Flooding In The Columbia River Basin This Century

World Leaders Applaud US Formal Return To Paris Climate Pact

ECOLOGY

6 Eco-Friendly Presidents

As US Formally Rejoins The Paris Agreement, Eyes Turn To 2030 Emissions Goal

Blackout Misconceptions: People On Social Media Become Overnight Power Experts

Blue Dogs Discovered Near Abandoned Chemical Plant

Every Home Should Be A Thermal Battery

EVs Are Just One Part Of Sustainable Transportation

Fuel-Switching, Retrofits Are Potent Tools To Reduce Emissions

How California Crops Fought Off A Pest Without Using Pesticide

How Rooftop Solar Benefits Your Neighbors

Jaguar Says All Its Cars Will Be Electric In Just Four Years

Southern Power To Add Battery Energy Storage Resources To California Solar Projects

To Meet Ambitious Emissions Goals, Large Food Companies Are Looking To Lock Carbon In Soil

Why Is Coal So Important To China’s Economy?

Why Drilling The Arctic Refuge Will Release A Double Dose Of Carbon

TECHNOLOGY

5 Iconic Mashup Inventions That Have Stood The Test Of Time

7 Best Solar Power Banks Of 2021

Lessons From The Polar Vortex: Build Resilient And Passive

Russian Scientist Proposes Using Lasers To Melt Space Junk

US Military Is Getting 3d Printing “Factories” Inside Shipping Containers

Wooden Prefab Cabin In The Forest Is Off-Grid And Passive House

BEST OF THE NET

Best Staycation In Every State

How Great Thou Art | Caleb + Kelsey Cover – YouTube

O Happy Day – Voices Of Hope Children’s Choir

TRAVEL

National Geographic’s Weekly Escape

How Can We Make Travel For All?

In Many Ways, This 100-Person Town Represents The Story And Spirit Of The US

Intrepid Travel’s Virtual Tours Allow You To Travel From The Comfort Of Home

MEDIA OF THE WEEK: INHERIT THE WIND — Acting legends Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott electrify the screen in this stunning remake of the most dazzling courtroom drama of all time. With its stellar cast, “Inherit the Wind” depicts the famous Scopes Monkey Trial with clarity and power.  Stars: George C. Scott, Jack Lemmon, Beau Bridges, Piper Laurie, Kathryn Morris, Lane Smith, Tom Everett Scott

WRATH OF THE TESTAMENT:  A super power 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. http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-USS-Testament-tale-rebellion-ebook/dp/B004DNWL6G

ROCKY THE ROCKET:  Associate editor Olya Bereza is also the children’s novelist Holley Dovetail. This is one of several of short novels for the young and the young at heart. To preview and/or purchase on amazon.com, please go here. https://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Rocket-Holley-Dovetail-ebook/dp/B071XYRDB5

RAINBOW RISING:  This is another of Olya Bereza’s works for kids.  This little fairy-tale short story dedicated to a pet-friend gone chasing the rainbow. For kids their first lost and challenge in life is letting go of their pet friends that once became part of their world. This little story will help in times they have to say good-bye without falling into despair.  Yep, go here. http://litnet.com/en/book/rainbow-rising-b187572

ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

The greater glider was recently proven to be three distinct species (Credit: Minden Pictures/Alamy)

Fascinating.  Australia’s Charismatic Glider Marsupial.

Pigs Can Learn To Play Video Games When Tempted By Treats  Unreal.

Himalayan Songbirds Adapted To The Cold By Sporting Thicker Down ‘Jackets’ And humans do it by layering up.

SHORTS

12 Curious Narwhal Facts

SCE’s Avian Protection Program

Barred Owl Rescued From Fireplace

ABOUT US:

The Northstar Journal is a Seattle-based general interest international online weekly magazine. We are also on FaceBook and Nextdoor.com. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to contribute to the next, please go here.  To contact us directly, minstrel312@aol.com

LOVE IN WAR

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam

February 14, 2021

Volume 13 Number 13

Reader-Supported  Please go here. Thank you very much.

“Success is not something you can ever declare in public health.  All you ever make in science is progress.” – Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director, World Health Organization

Inside: Love In War; Digital Resistance; Community, American Culture & Lifestyle; Beyond Our Pale; Economics; History; Health, Covid-19; Home & Family; Garden & Kitchen; Our World and Beyond; Earth; Climate & Climate Change; Ecology; Space; Technology; Funzone: Travel; Best of the Net; Movie of the Week; Masha & the Bear, All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

LOVE IN WAR

Rusty Miller, Editor

Married once and younger then, their lives had been a collage of rain dimpling a duck pond, wishing games in the high branches of the evergreens, intimate meals in the kitchen and nights that grew richer with familiarity.

A strange, almost inarticulate love, theirs, and perhaps best captured in the mornings she’d fall asleep at her easel, exhausted over a night’s work, or the cold-coffee dawns he’d come home with raw fingertips and nothing to show for a week on the road with his band.

“I like it.”

“You don’t think the trees are too green?”

“They’re beautiful.”

“I’m glad you’re home.”

“Me too.”

“How much do we owe the landlord?”

“I’m glad you’re home.  The landlord will keep.”

There were, as well, those funny/sad times when the edge cut so deep it blunted itself on midnight cornflake conversations.

“What are you doing still up?”

“Couldn’t sleep.  What’s your excuse?”

“I missed you.  Go for a walk?”

“Like this?”

“You look fine.”

“OK.”

And then they’d stroll the quiet streets, reaping a clear night star harvest, or stand alone on the levee, watching the moon play on the rolling glass river.  Sometimes it was back to the all-night coffee shop, where they would sit across from each other without talking, or needing to.  Theirs was the rule of no apology, and that gentle dictate blessed their lives for two years and a season.

Then time and an era caught up with them.

His best friend was killed in combat over Thanksgiving, and she sold two of her canvases, only to learn they’d been purchased for their frames.  She began her rage at one end of town, he his at the other, and they met in the heat of it all at the coffee shop.  She cursed him for something he said, and he slapped her.  In a moment of absolute terror, they told each other they were sorry.

He came back 18 months later with a limp and a double row of campaign ribbons.  They talked over coffee, and he whistled at the prices her paintings were bringing.  She reached out to touch the gaunt planes of his cheeks.  They dined together, then went walking.

Along dusty country lanes, they played in rainbow leaves, chased squirrels and waded in the Indian summer silt of bullfrog ponds.  They renamed the trees and called the southbound geese by the colors of the palette.  He memorized her eyes again, and traced her long mane from bangs to shoulder blades.  She felt the gentle strength of his hands and heard the quiet joy of words a cordite-parched throat could barely speak.  Loves was theirs once more — and for an emerald instant — time and an era left them in peace.

When he returned to stay, she met him at the airport and saw him through the final mile home.  He never smiled or told her how glad he was to see her.  She never mentioned how much she had missed him.  When the final strains of epitaph faded into the eternal chill, she walked home and sat down on the living room couch.

Rain fell softly beyond her.

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller aka “Mishka” is an author, photojournalist and editor. A Northern California native, he has lived in Oregon and Washington State and resides now in South Seattle, Washington. For comments, please go here

Pavel Durov.  Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

DIGITAL RESISTANCE

Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

Hi Rusty:

As you know, I enjoy acquainting you with some extraordinary personalities from my part of the world so this time I would like to write about Pavel Durov, a founder of Telegram messenger, which became the most downloadable mobile non-gaming application in January 2021.

Pavel is known here to anyone of my age and younger first of all for creating the first popular social media in the Russian-speaking part of the world,  Vkontakte. He has never denied that he was inspired by the early experience of FaceBook. So yes, you could imagine him  as a combination of Russian version of Mark Zuckerberg, someone trying to promote new technology like Elon Musk and a fighter for individual freedom like Pavel’s personal hero, Keanu Reeves’ Neo from the famous The Matrix film.  With the last, they even have similar appearances.

Another well-known fact about him is that Durov left Russia for Dubai after he refused to cooperate with the Russian secret service by providing encrypted data of Vkontakte users. After Vkontakte was banned in Ukraine for political reasons, millions of the users joined FaceBook.

How the founder of the Telegram messaging app stood up to the Kremlin — and won

Pavel Durov Resigns As Head Of Russian Social Network VK.com, Ukraine Conflict Was The Tipping Point

By his principles, Pavel Durov earned the general respect and trust of the now Telegram users who believe him saying he’s not going to sell it and thus reveal the users privacy data. I guess that is what any user of any social network wants to hear, that they are not selling points for advertising for corporations or their data is not being given to any other agencies.

Now, according to Pavel Durov, among the registered users of Telegram are heads of state of Brazil, France, Israel, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. 

How Journalists In Ukraine Have Turned Telegram Into A Preferred Source Of News

The Telegram App Gives Voice To The Oppressed In Belarus And Russia. But Hate Groups Are Using It Too.  

How Telegram Became The Weapon Of Choice For Ukraine’s Far

The more I research Pavel Durov, the more I see similarities in our world perception. Probably we are one generation lucky enough to keep free thinking from slipping between the ideological cracks. Our textbooks were made by people who were free from agenda and were interested in research and truth first. I still reread those textbooks sometimes when seeking for more weighted information.

Like Pavel, I am a nomad at core.  I was born in a country that does not exist anymore so automatically, mentally, I became a citizen of the world.  I now believe only in one thing that we can count on and that is ourselves.  Our own free will is the first and ultimate value.  The perspective may well be akin to a mindset I one day hope earthlings have.  Astronaut Bruce McCandless said it best.

“You Can’t See Borders from Space”

As for the other nomad?  Pavel Durov is also already on Forbes list of billionaires. Probably his plans to develop cryptocurrency TON for Telegram users will get him to the top of the list.

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. She travels Europe in conjunction with a family IT business and is proactively involved in protecting the forests of the Carpathian Mountains.  For comments, please go here.

AMERICAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

A Tale Of Two Insurrections

Kamala Harris Portrait Draws Inspiration From The Glass Ceiling She Shattered

15 Of America’s Most Historic Restaurants

3 Ways White People Can Support Antiracism At Work

The Deadliest Week For US Avalanches

History Of American Impeachment

Meet Massachusetts’ Official State Dinosaur

Much Of America’s Seafood Comes Through This City. Here’s How It Controlled COVID-19

U.S. Postage Stamp Will Honor The ‘First Lady Of Physics’

What Qualifications Do You Need To Be President?

BEYOND OUR PALE

Australia – NY Times

Is Keystone Xl Really Dead?

China Population Concerns Grow As Registered Births In 2020 Plummet

Biden Must Not Ignore Iran’s Human Rights Record

Myanmar’s Creatives Fighting Military Rule With Art Facing Draconian New Cyber-Security Law

ECONOMICS

Gamestop Investors On A Wild Ride: ‘It Was A Rollercoaster Of Emotion’

Heineken Cuts 8,000 Jobs After Covid Hits Sales

Israeli Companies Raised Record $1.44B In January Alonet

Oil Prices Return To Pre-Pandemic Levels

Russia’s Growth Too Slow To Catch Advanced Economies – IMF

HISTORY

Who Was The Real St. Valentine?

Hollywood So Often Gets Black History Wrong. Black Filmmakers Are Setting The Record Straight

Venetian Glass Beads May Be Oldest European Artifacts Found In North America

2,000-Year-Old Terracotta Figurines Of Deities, Mortals, Animals Found In Turkey

Archaeologists Discover Ruins Of Emperor Hadrian’s Ornate Breakfast Chamber

Trove Of 650 Coins Bearing Likenesses Of Caesar, Mark Antony Unearthed In Turkey

How A Stone Circle In Wales Paved The Way For Stonehenge

The World’s Eighth Continent Was Hiding In Plain Sight

Why Did Ancient Indigenous Groups In Brazil Hunt Sharks?

Hear The Musical Sounds Of An 18,000-Year-Old Giant Conch

120,000-Year-Old Cattle Bone Carvings May Be World’s Oldest Surviving Symbols

HEALTH

5 Ways Love Has Surprising Benefits For Your Health

A Short Meditation Can Help People Drink Less

Climate Change Is Making Allergy Season Worse

Do You Know About Warm Sweater Day?

Best At-Home Workouts For A Socially Distant Winter

If We Can’t Touch While In Isolation, Can ‘Digital Intimacy’ Help Fill The Void?

Israeli Hospital Adopts Nanofiber Artificial Skin Burn Treatment System

Seattle Ranks Among The Healthiest In The US

Study Shows People With Dementia At Higher Covid-19 Risk

What Eating Processed Foods For Two Weeks Does To Your Body

COVID 19

After You Get A COVID-19 Vaccine, What Can You Do Safely?

Case Counts Have Started Falling In The U.S. This May Be Why

Do Vaccines Stop The Spread Of COVID-19? What You Need To Know

Finally, Encouraging Signs In The U.S.

U.S. Vaccination Drive

We May Never Eliminate COVID-19. But We Can Learn To Live With It

HOME & FAMILY

Six Ways To Celebrate Perseverance This February

How The Pandemic Is Changing Kids’ Friendships

How To Have The Most Fun In Your Free Time, According To Science

My Kids Are In Daycare. How Should That Affect My Family’s Social Distancing Strategy?

You Don’t Need Fast Fashion In Your Life

GARDEN & KITCHEN

The Garden In Winter

Use Your Garden For A More Sustainable Valentine’s Day

What You Need To Germinate Seeds Successfully

Got Milk? Food Tech Startup Serves Up Cow-Free, Lab-Made Dairy

How Do I Turn Meals Into A Meaningful Family Moment?

Thai Grilled Spring Chickens

Thai Seafood And Avocado Salad

The Delicious, Ancient History Of Chocolate And Vanilla

Who Invented Pizza?

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

Photo courtesy of TIME magazine

Underwater Noise Pollution Is Disrupting Ocean Life—But We Can Fix It

We’re Teaching Robots To Evolve Autonomously—So They Can Adapt To Life Alone On Distant Planets

The Odd Hawaiian Fish That Climbs Cliffs

Why Sea Turtles Are Endangered And What We Can Do

EARTH

Dramatic Bushfire Image Wins Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Award

Fatal Himalayan Glacial Lake Outburst Highlights Destabilising Effect Of Warming

How Glaciers Can Burst And Send Floods Downstream.

‘It’s The Insects That Save Us All’

Magnetic Fields Detected In Venus Flytraps

Rescuers Look For Survivors Of Indian Glacier Flood Disaster

Super High-Speed Footage Captures The Moment A Lightning Bolt Forms

SPACE

3 Missions Arrive At Mars This Month

He Was The Fifth Man On The Moon, But That Wasn’t His Most Famous Flight

NASA Is Using Fitbits To Prevent COVID Spread Among Astronauts

New A.R. App Is The Coolest Way To Learn About Mars

Radio Telescope Is So Powerful It Can See The Surface Of Other Worlds

SpaceX Is Now Taking Starlink Preorders

CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Biden Finds Climate Ally In Canada

Biden Orders Adviser To Explore Options For Resettling Climate Migrants

Civilian Climate Corps Straight Out Of The New Deal

How Slowing Climate Change Saves Lives

Number One Question In Tackling The Climate Crisis

Three Ways The EU, China And US Should Deepen Cooperation On Climate In 2021

ECOLOGY

$100M Prize for Carbon Capture Announced

British Airways Partners With Sustainable Jet Fuel Company

Florida Commission Supports Duke Energy’s Five New Solar Projects

$26.75m Raised For Lab-Grown Meat Production

Pm2.5 From Fossil Fuels Killing Way More People Than Previously Thought

Record Environmental Fine

The Pandemic’s Toll On Coal Clears Way For A Green Recovery

This Teenager Helped Launch Seed Libraries In Every State

Watch: The Price Of Saving Paradise

TECHNOLOGY

Best Selling Electric Vehicles In The U.S., By Make And Model

How Museums Can Be Spaces For Reflection And Connection (Even With Their Doors Closed)

The Rise Of Thinking Machines

Oonee Introduces The Mini For Curbside Bike Parking

World’s Largest Solar Project Might Change How We Think About Power

BEST OF THE NET

Home Free – God Bless the U.S.A. (featuring Lee Greenwood and The United States Air Force Band)

How Far I’ll Go – Voices of Hope Children’s Choir – America’s Got Talent

Mack The Knife – Ella Fitzgerald – Ella In Berlin

TRAVEL

Beaches of Normandy Tours

In The Fair City Of Verona, Star-Cross’d Lovers Want To Believe In ‘La Casa Di Giulietta’

Israel’s ‘Green Passports’ Plan Could Lead Way In Reviving World Tourism

Nominate Your Favorites For Our Sustainable Travel Awards

Spring Travel: 

The Strange Allure Of A Flight To Nowhere (And Other Places We’re Desperate To Go)

https://mashabear.com/

MEDIA OF THE WEEK: MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COWBOYS — Scott Glenn is H.D., a champion bull rider whose career is ruined after being gored by a bull. He returns to his hometown of Guthrie, Oklahoma to discover things have drastically changed — the family farm has been abandoned, his old girlfriend Jolie (Kate Capshaw) is a now a widowed mother, and his sister Cheryl (Tess Harper) has put his father (Ben Johnson) in a nursing home. H.D. rescues his father from the home and returns him to the ranch. But when H.D. leaves the farm to visit Jolie, his father seeks out Cheryl. Cheryl retaliates by threatening to return her father to the nursing home and sell the ranch. At this point, H.D. takes notice of a rodeo which would give him $100,000 if he can ride four bulls for a total of 32 seconds. H.D. bonds with his father as he gruelingly prepares for a return to the rodeo to win the contest and buy the ranch.  Cast: Scott Glenn, Kate Capshaw, Balthazar Getty, Ben Johnson, Gary Busey, Tess Harper, Mickey Rooney, Clarence Williams III, Dub Taylor 

WRATH OF THE TESTAMENT:  A super power 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. http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-USS-Testament-tale-rebellion-ebook/dp/B004DNWL6G

ROCKY THE ROCKET:  Associate editor Olya Bereza is also the children’s novelist Holley Dovetail. This is one of several of short novels for the young and the young at heart. To preview and/or purchase on amazon.com, please go here. https://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Rocket-Holley-Dovetail-ebook/dp/B071XYRDB5

RAINBOW RISING:  This is another of Olya Bereza’s works for kids.  This little fairy-tale short story dedicated to a pet-friend gone chasing the rainbow. For kids their first lost and challenge in life is letting go of their pet friends that once became part of their world. This little story will help in times they have to say good-bye without falling into despair.  Yep, go here. http://litnet.com/en/book/rainbow-rising-b187572

http://minstrel312.tripod.com/

ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

Koala rescued after causing 5-car pileup on Australian freeway in Adelaide  Un-flipping-believable.

8 Mystical Ocelot Facts  In my opinion, they are among the most beautiful wild felines in the world.

Amazing.  Fear And Love Surround Escobar’s Hippos Thriving In Colombia

SHORTS

7 Ways Pets Improve Your Health

10 Wild Warthog Facts

14 Fun Facts About Bright Pink Animals

From Aerial Acrobatics To Sexual Deception, See Eight Of Nature’s Wildest Mating Rituals

Giraffes With Large Groups Of “Friends” Live Longer

Great Backyard Bird Count Begins February 12

Noise Pollution Makes Crickets Less Picky When Mating

Tangled ‘Cord’ Mistaken For Litter Is Actually A Sea Creature

ABOUT US:

The Northstar Journal is a Seattle-based general interest international online weekly magazine. We are also on FaceBook and Nextdoor.com. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to contribute to the next, please go here.  To contact us directly, minstrel312@aol.com

TO BRIAN SICKNICK

Pacem, Libertatem, Justitiam

February 7, 2021

Volume 13 Number 12

Reader-Supported  Please go here. Thank you very much.

 “If we tolerate vulgarity our future will sway and fall under a burden of ignorance. It need not be so. We have the brains and the heart to face our futures bravely. Taking responsibility for the time we take up and the space we occupy.”  Maya Angelou

Inside: To Brian Sicknick; Cheers” To Diversity And A Free Social Media; Community, American Culture & Lifestyle; Beyond Our Pale; Economics; History; Health, Covid-19; Home & Family; Garden & Kitchen; Our World and Beyond; Earth; Climate & Climate Change; Ecology; Space; Technology; Funzone: Travel; Best of the Net; Movie of the Week; Masha & the Bear, All Creatures Great & Small; Strange But True; About Us

Photo courtesy of https://www.theepochtimes.com/capitol-police-officer-brian-sicknick-lies-in-honor-in-rotunda_3682829.html

TO BRIAN SICKNICK

Rusty Miller, Editor

Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea.  Our hearts and prayers go out to those who knew and loved fallen Washington, DC Capitol policeman Brian Sicknick, the honoring of whom I watched as it unfolded last Wednesday, February 23..

As most of you know, I was raised by two generations of law enforcement and covered the police beat for several newspapers in California, Oregon and Washington State. Two Seattle Police read this online weekly magazine.  I’ve worked with the SPD on Seattle’s noise ordinance and a McMinnville, Oregon detective and I saved the wrong man from going to trial after we found a suspect who so closely resembled the arrested man they could have been twins.

I am aware that like any profession, there are good officers and there are people who should not be wearing a shield.  But this particular profession involves individuals as thoroughly trained as Marines and these days, armed like them too.  When one of them goes rogue, they don’t go “Ooops, excuse me.”  They murder people.

Brian Sicknick was not a bad cop.  He manned the wall for us, like those two FBI agents in Florida gunned down serving a warrant for pornography.  And like thousands of blue knights from this country’s shores and shining seas.

I never knew Brian Sicknick.  But I know where he is now.  And when I get there myself, I’m going to look him up.  I want to shake his hand and thank him.  He deserves at least that.

Rusty

Merritt Scott “Rusty” Miller aka “Mishka” is an author, photojournalist and editor. A Northern California native, he has lived in Oregon and Washington State and resides now in South Seattle, Washington. For comments, please go here

“CHEERS” TO DIVERSITY AND A FREE SOCIAL MEDIA

Olya Bereza, Associate Editor

Hi Rusty:

In recent months, as you probably know, there were some shifts in social media platforms I found quite interesting to observe it.  It has been inspiring to see how ordinary people uniting can take their power back from corporate interest. There was an example of how social media can be used as an instrument for positive change when individual investors on the Reddit Network noticed that GameStop stock  had been shorted by some big money hedge funds and combined efforts to stop the speculation. The Big Gamestop Short: Reddit Traders Outmaneuver US Hedge Funds

I support people fighting for their rights and freedoms, including privacy of personal information so this seemed like another success story on this front.

There was whirling with WhatsApp Up messenger after WhatsApp said it will share data with FaceBook.  But now, thanks to pressure from the people, the app had to hold it back Whatsapp Clarifies It’s Not Giving All Your Data To FaceBook After Surge In Signal And Telegram Users

Both stories were possible because people have choices. Monopolies ~ regardless what they control ~ deprive people of options and since options are freedom, their liberty as well.  As a psychologist, it appears to me that our species has a passion for freedom that extends to every other realm of human experience.

So “Cheers” to diversity and a free social media.

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. She travels Europe in conjunction with a family IT business and is proactively involved in protecting the forests of the Carpathian Mountains.  For comments, please go here.

AMERICAN COMMUNITY, CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

President Biden

Biden Poll

Public Land No Longer On Sale To Oil And Gas Companies

President And First Lady Pay Their Respects To Slain Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick

In His First Two Weeks, Biden Signs Nearly As Many Executive Orders As FDR In His First Month. 

New U.S. Executive Orders Elevate Science

Biden Economy:

Refugee Admissions:

Americana

Associated Press Overview: U.S. Schools: 

Haunting Images Of America’s Past

Bringing Bison Back

Linemen Compete At The Super Bowl Of Rodeos

Strong Towns By Street And Block

BEYOND OUR PALE

50 Countries Join Ambitious Plan To Protect 30% Of Earth By 2030

India Clamps Down On Free Speech To Fight Farmer Protests

Iran Isn’t Just A Nuclear File — The Biden Administration Should Put Human Rights At The Center Of Its Policy

Kameel Ahmady: British Academic Facing Jail Escapes Iran Over Mountains

How Myanmar’s Fragile Push For Democracy Collapsed In A Military Coup

Can Myanmar’s Democracy Survive Without Aung San Suu Kyi?

When It Comes To Myanmar, Also Known As Burma, A Lot Is Contained In A Name.

Key Events In Myanmar, Long Under Military Rule.

Why Is The Military Taking Control In Myanmar?

Moscow’s Jails Overwhelmed With Detained Navalny Protesters

How Russia Has Tried To Stem Pro-Navalny Protests

The South African Chefs Fighting Hunger With Food Waste

Solar Energy Empowers Young Women In Yemen

ECONOMICS

Gamestop’s Stock Surge: 3 Important Lessons For Investors

How The Gamestop Trading Surge Will Transform Wall Street

Jeff Bezos Is Stepping Down As CEO Of Amazon

Kuaishou Share Price Nearly Triples On Market Launc

Student Debt Cancellation Is Vital For Economic Recovery

HISTORY

8 Steps That Paved The Way To The Civil Rights Act Of 1964

Lessons Worth Learning From The Moment Four Students Sat Down To Take A Stand

Shirley Chisholm: Facts About Her Trailblazing Career

The Graphic Novel That Inspired Generations Of Civil Rights Activists

7 Boundary-Breaking Black TV Shows

Black History Milestones: A Timeline

How Tuskegee Airmen Fought Military Segregation With Nonviolent Action

Newly Unearthed I.D. Tags Tell The Stories Of Four Young Holocaust Victims

How Black Composers Shaped The Sound Of American Classical Music

Black Heroines Of The WWII Homefront

5 Black Suffragists Who Fought For The 19th Amendment—And Much More

How Photography Tells The Story Of The Civil War’s Black Soldiers

America’s First Black Regiment Earned Their Freedom By Fighting Against The British

Archaeologists Unearth 600-Year-Old Golden Eagle Sculpture At Aztec Temple

Egypt’s Royal Power Couple

‘Love Child’ Of Caesar And Cleopatra

Archaeologists In Egypt Discover Mummy With Gold Tongue

Anglo-Saxon Cemetery Found Beneath Demolished University Housing

This Ancient Egyptian Mummy Was Encased In A Mud Shell

The Search For Aboriginal History Off The Coast Of Australia

The Book Of The Dead

Scientists Reconstruct Ötzi The Iceman’s Frantic Final Climb

An Evolutionary Timeline Of Homo Sapiens

Why Pterosaurs Were The Weirdest Wonders On Wings

HEALTH

Best Way To Rehydrate That Isn’t Water

Bringing AI Into Healthcare Safely And Ethically

How To Shovel Snow Without Hurting Yourself

Why Skiing Is A Ridiculously Good Workout

COVID 19

After Wuhan, It’s Time For Global Response Reset: Covid-19 Probe Chief

Biden Calls In Active-Duty Troops For COVID-19 Vaccination Effort

Cases And Deaths Fall Across The U.S.—But Are Still Alarmingly High

Deadliest Month In US Ends With Signs Of Progress In Covid-19 Battle

How To Calm Your Child’s Anxiety About The Coronavirus Vaccines

Russia Vaccine: Sputnik V Vaccine Appears Safe And Effective Against COVID-19.

Should You Get The COVID-19 Vaccine While Pregnant? Here’s What Experts Say.

Sinovac And Sinopharm – What Do We Know About The Chinese Vaccines?

U.S. Vaccines:

Why Your Kid’s Dark Pandemic Play Is Normal—And Healthy

Why You Should Get Whichever Covid-19 Vaccine You Can

HOME & FAMILY

Balancing Homework And A.P. Classes, These High Schoolers Discovered Four Exoplanets

Beautiful Micro-House Built In Sustainable Community For Formerly Homeless Folks

Clever Transformer Furniture Maximizes Space In This Family’s DIY Tiny House

Domestic Violence Is A Pandemic Within The COVID-19 Pandemic

How Agriculture And Science Will Feed A Growing Planet

Mon Coeur Makes Children’s Apparel From 100% Recycled Materials

GARDEN & KITCHEN

Chicken Dumplings With Ginger

Color In Kitchen Gardens: Growing A Rainbow For Cheer

Minced Pork And Vegetables In Lettuce Cups

Savoury Tang Yuan (Glutinous Rice Flour Balls)

Street Food That Wins A Worldwide Honor

The Kitchen Of The Future May Look Like This Kitchen From The Past

The ‘New’ Crops That Can Improve Food Security.

Top Sustainable Garden Trends For 2021

Which Gardening Approach Provides The Highest Yields?

OUR WORLD AND BEYOND

This Abandoned Parking Garage In Paris Is Now A Mushroom Farm

JADES Will Go Deeper Than The Hubble Deep Fields

Stepping Off The Shore & Into The Sea – Hakai Magazine

2021 Bloomberg Index Of Innovative Countries

EARTH

Biggest Snow Storms In US History

Bringing Back The ‘Most Endangered Bird’ In The U.S.

California’s Central Valley & Colorado River Delta Are Epicenters For North America’s Migratory Birds

Surreal Photos Of India’s Living Root Bridges

What Life Is Like In A Hidden Siberian Village

SPACE

Farthest Star Humans Have Ever Seen

How Does Earth Look From Space?

Will Private Spaceflight Actually Become A Thing?

February 2021 Guide To The Bright Planets

CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Blocked Migrant Caravan Leaves Thousands Trapped In Hurricane-Hit Honduras

Chinese Inspectors Slam Energy Authority Over Coal Expansion Spree

Climate Veteran Xie Zhenhua Returns As China’s Special Envoy

Cop26 Dream Team: The People Setting The Climate Agenda On Seven Key Issues

Court Condemns French Government Over Climate Inaction With Symbolic €1 Fine

Fighting Climate Change In America Means Changes To America

How Fast Will Biden Need To Move On Climate? Really, Really Fast

Indian Farmers Head For Showdown With Government Over Agricultural Reform

Joe Biden’s Biggest Climate Move: Signaling That Fossil Fuels Are Not The Future

New Zealand Urged To Accelerate Emissions Cuts In Line With 2050 Net Zero Goal

Surprisingly, Climate Is Presenting An Early Test Of Biden’s China Doctrine – Nick Mabey, E3G

US Campaigners Call On Joe Biden To Commit $8bn To The Green Climate Fund

ECOLOGY

AES Commissions Alamitos Battery Energy Storage System In California

Europe Generated More Electricity From Renewables Than Fossil Fuels In 2020

‘I Got My Florida School District To Convert To Electric Buses’

Reusable Cups Are Slowly Returning To Coffee Shops

U.S. Cities Are Underestimating Carbon Emissions, New Research Shows

TECHNOLOGY

Artificial Intelligence In Asia Will Focus More On Security Aspects

Attempts To Commercialize Microgrids Fall Short In California

Best Selling Electric Vehicles In The U.S., By Make And Model

Chili Pepper Compound Increases Solar Cell Efficiency

China EV Battery Race: Tesla’s Rivals Join NIO In Efforts To Achieve 1,000km Driving Range On Single Charge Target

Plug In And Drive. The Rapid Advance Of New Energy Vehicles In China

In China’s EV War, Here’s How Tech Giants Will Shake Up The World’s Biggest Auto Market

The Stones In The Road For China’s 2025 Plan On Electric Vehicles

First 3D Printed House Goes On Sale In United States

Hyperloopism Comes To Carbon Capture And Storage

Smarter Than The Average Hardhat

BEST OF THE NET

Still I Rise – Maya Angelou

Ella (Fitzgerald) In Berlin – Mack The Knife

God Bless The USA – Home Free & Lee Greenwood

TRAVEL

Australia – National Geographic

New Way To Travel Across US

Tourism Booming In Europe’s Icy North

Wearing A Mask Now A Federal Requirement For Travelers

MEDIA OF THE WEEK: KENNEDY CENTER HONORS JAMES STEWART 1983 with Carol Burnett – As long as my nation produces men like this, America is safe and so is the rest of the free world.

WRATH OF THE TESTAMENT:  A super power 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. http://www.amazon.com/Wrath-USS-Testament-tale-rebellion-ebook/dp/B004DNWL6G

ROCKY THE ROCKET:  Associate editor Olya Bereza is also the children’s novelist Holley Dovetail. This is one of several of short novels for the young and the young at heart. To preview and/or purchase on amazon.com, please go here. https://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Rocket-Holley-Dovetail-ebook/dp/B071XYRDB5

RAINBOW RISING:  This is another of Olya Bereza’s works for kids.  This little fairy-tale short story dedicated to a pet-friend gone chasing the rainbow. For kids their first lost and challenge in life is letting go of their pet friends that once became part of their world. This little story will help in times they have to say good-bye without falling into despair.  Yep, go here. http://litnet.com/en/book/rainbow-rising-b187572

ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

They are neighbors so of course, we’re delighted to read this.  Killer Whales: ‘Transient’ Orcas Are Thriving

This is a total romp.  Watch Giant Pandas And Other Zoo Animals Frolic In The Snow

I found this absolutely fascinating.  How Dogs Migrated To America From Ice Age Siberia 15,000 Years Ago

SHORTS

18 Extraordinary Types Of Monkeys

9 Fascinating Facts About Seals

Chameleon Discovered In Madagascar May Be World’s Smallest Reptile

From Laddie Boy To Major And Champ, White House Dogs Have Comforted Anxious Americans

Gifted Dogs Learn New Words Rapidly

Goat School Is Back In Session

Large New Whale Species Identified In The Gulf Of Mexico

Naked Mole-Rats Speak In Community Dialects

Overfishing Has Caused Shark, Ray Population To Plummet By 71%

Pet Pantries Meet Rising Need During Pandemic

Small Spiders With Big Appetites Use A Pulley System To Catch Large Prey

ABOUT US:

The Northstar Journal is a Seattle-based general interest international online weekly magazine. We are also on FaceBook and Nextdoor.com. If you enjoyed this edition and would like to contribute to the next, please go here.  To contact us directly, minstrel312@aol.com