The Northstar Journal: The Magazine With Heart
News & Commentary; From Our European Desk ~ Witch Hunting In Poland; Meade Fischer ~ Morro Bay With Outdoor Writers; Good Examples, Bad Examples; Our Science Section Abridged; The Green Agenda; Health; Lifestyle; Funzone; Northstar Classifieds; All Creatures Great & Small; You Guys Think We Make This Stuff Up;About Us
October 9, 2016 Vol. 9 No. 5
WEEP FOR THE CHILDREN OF ALEPPO
This Week’s Theme Music: Bless The Beasts And The Children ~ The Carpenters
Hi again, gang, from the shores of the Salish Sea. Fasten your seatbelts. My column this week is not going to be a fun ride. It could not possibly be after reading this.
What I find toxically ironic is that every major religion in the world, including the several involved in Syria, places the welfare of children among the most Divine of concerns.
Where is this child’s voice when policy is debated, airstrikes planned, bomb runs made and damage assessed? Where is this child’s voice when diplomats accuse one another of things both do and hope they do not get caught at? Where is this child’s voice when men and women who were once children themselves butcher babies in the name of a god they shame by their bestiality and a jihad that has not been declared?
If we cannot protect the most vulnerable among us but instead choose to make war on them, by what right do any of us deserve to survive?
Have a great week, gang, and thanks for the ear.
Rusty
This Week’s Theme Music: Bless The Beasts And The Children ~ The Carpenters
THE NEWS
This is absolutely heart-wrenching. Video: The Bombing Of Aleppo’s Children
I sure hope the answer to this question is “yes.” Is The US Getting Closer To Becoming A ‘Clean Energy Superpower’?
This is even more dramatic than it sounds. See also From Our European Desk. Poland Rejects Near-Total Abortion Ban After Women Protest In Streets
INTERNATIONAL HEADLINE NEWS
World Food Prices Surge In September
ASIA
On Board India’s Mosquito-Busting Train
Showing How Art Critical Of Malaysian Premier Thrived During His Rule
Centuries Of Buddhist Tradition Make Room For Bhutan’s First Law School
AFRICA
Turning Bulbs Into Aerials In Sierra Leone
An Investor’s Plan To Transplant Private Health Care In Africa
Libya Starts Expanding Oil Exports — For Now, At Least
Stepping Over The Dead On A Migrant Boat
Why A South African Desert Blooms Into An Annual Flower Show
MIDDLE EAST
Sign Of Thaw With Iran: American Cellphones Ringing In Tehran
U.N. Syria Envoy Offers To Escort Rebel Fighters From Aleppo
World’s Oldest Man, After Century Wait, Celebrates Bar Mitzvah At Last
In Fight For Aleppo, Tangled Alliances In Syria Add To Chaos
West Bank Settlers Prepare For Clash, With Israeli Government
United States Criticizes Israel Over West Bank Settlement Plan
Israel Halts Yacht Trying To Break Its Blockade Of Gaza Strip
EUROPE
Mass Police Purge In Turkey Over Coup
Video: Pensioners Try To Topple Police Bus
Flash Crash In Asian Trading Hits Pound
Norway’s Short But Controversial Fence On Russia’s Border
How Sweden Became An Exporter Of Jihad
Kurdish Politician Who Vanished In Turkey Turns Up In Iraq
CANADA
Ottawa Unveils New Housing Rules To Slow Foreign Investment
Four Major Changes To Canada’s Housing Rules
Canada’s Banks Brace For Mortgage Overhaul
Ukraine Warns Canada Not To Trust Russian Co-Operation Over Arctic
LNG Approval Leaves BC Mayors Divided Over Pipelines
Trudeau Gives Provinces Until 2018 To Adopt Carbon Price Plan
Where Do Canadians Stand On Climate?
A Province-By-Province Rundown Of Canada’s Existing Carbon Pollution Policies
How Are White People Confronting Racism In Canada?
Canada Today: Giving Thanks, Canadian Style
Women In Royal Canadian Mounted Police Get An Apology For Years Of Harassment
Winnipeg Journal: A Museum About Rights, And A Legacy Of Uncomfortable Canadian Truths
UNITED STATES
Flint Hit With Bacterial Illness as Residents Shun City Water
Los Angeles Police Release Video of Fatal Shooting; Say Man Had Gun
2 Police Officers Are Shot and Killed in Palm Springs, Calif.
How U.S. Torture Left Legacy Of Damaged Minds
7 Deaths, 887 Water Rescues Reported in North Carolina as Matthew’s Flooding Causes ‘Massive Destruction’
LATIN AMERICA
Mexican Officials Arrest Suspect In Death Of Canadian Photographer
Hundreds dead in Haitian storm disaster
Seeing ‘Nothing To Live For’ As Haiti Seeks A Body Count After Hurricane Matthew
Colombian Opposition To Peace Deal Feeds Off Gay Rights Backlash
Colombia’s President, Juan Manuel Santos, Is Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
António Guterres Pledges To Help Vulnerable As Secretary General
Hurricane Matthew Makes Old Problems Worse For Haitians
Security Council Backs António Guterres To Be Next U.N. Secretary General
A List Of Previous Disasters In Haiti, A Land All Too Familiar With Hardship
OCEANA & POLYNESIA
Getting Weird In Queensland, Australia: From The Largest Sand Island On The Planet To Swimming With Turtles
Gina Rinehart Makes Joint Bid With Shanghai CRED For Kidman Empire
Hanson Pledges Support For Government’s CFA Bill
TOPICAL
NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS
Peace Prize For Colombia President
Physics Prize Goes To Three Who ‘Revealed Secrets Of Exotic Matter’
Tiny Machines Win Chemistry Prize
CLIMATE CHANGE
A Growth-Friendly Climate Change Proposal
A Curious Plan To Fight Climate Change: Buy Mines, Sell Coal
Why We Don’t Talk About Climate
Paris Climate Pact Set For Enforcement
Views: To Effectively Combat Climate Change, Involve Women
A Secret Climate Weapon For Temperate-Weather Cities
As Cities Get Warmer, Trees Lose Some Ability To Filter Carbon
FROM OUR EUROPEAN DESK
Tree of Hope, Keep Firm, 1946 by Frida Kahlo (www.fridakahlo.org)
WITCH HUNTING IN POLAND
Hi Mishka
“Compassion is the chief and perhaps the only law of being for all mankind”. F. Dostoevsky
This past Monday, thousands of Polish people ~ mostly women wearing black ~ went on strike. They were opposing legislation written by a largely male government but in response to a citizen’s initiative petition which drew 400,000 signatures in this nation of 38-million and which is supported by the Polish Catholic Church.
Poland already has one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws and but now there is a strong movement behind the implementation of five years imprisonment for any abortion attempt, even if pregnancy endangers the mother’s life or was a result of violence
How cruel is this for womankind, to punish a person even more? Not even saying about usual cases of single mothers when fathers just slip away and all responsibilities falls on fragile shoulders. Surely neither male deputies nor those who signed the petition didn’t spend more than a moment on that decision. And support by the Church again doesn’t mean much if one recalls the Inquisition and the rampant Vatican-sanctioned witch hunting of the Middle Ages.
And if we are going to cite the Bible for precedent, perhaps we should remember this quote from John 8:7. “Let the innocent one among you be the first to throw the stone”.
I’m sure that demographics plays a large role in this opposition to abortion but a tradition of religious, moral, political and cultural conservatism notwithstanding, again, often when governments try to step into the private lives of those they govern, it backfires heavily.
Consider, for example, China, where there is an asymmetry in young population. Beijing restricted couples to just one child and looked the other way when female fetuses were aborted in favor of bearing male children. Even if daughters were born, they were undervalued and now there is a new generation of Chinese women who ~ as accidents of birth ~ have very little self-esteem or much support for it.
There is only one way to change this demographic situation for the better and that is by education. On public transportation in Ukraine, for instance, you find advertisements of free psychological help for pregnant women in difficult circumstances.
What matters most, however, is social support guarantees. I was raised in the Soviet Union and remember very clearly when Moscow abandoned Communism in favor of becoming a socialized state which truly did look after the well-being of citizens. Part of that change involved decriminalizing abortion and re-defining its role in creating a compassionate, stable and viable population where both genders are valued.
This approach also helped Ukraine at the dawn of this new century, when Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko budgeted money help to mothers and young babies. Suddenly from demographic crises of 1990s, the nurseries of Ukraine that had been closed previously were opened again for a new generation of “baby boomers”.
A few times, I have been asked for advice by girlfriends in trouble, who didn’t know what to do. I have never been categorical with them, but just tried to be delicate and share my experience. Recently, several have given birth to wonderful children and never regretted it, despite all the obstacles.
That’s it for this week. Be safe, my cousin.
MEADE FISCHER TRAVELS
Where has one of North America’s foremost travel photojournalists and writers been lately and who or what has he been shooting? Morro Bay With Outdoor Writers
YOU MIGHT ALSO WANT TO CHECK THESE OUT
Scenic Sips: Enjoy Vino With A View At These Scenic California Wineries
20 Most Impressive Ways To Travel
FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE
The Return Of Cold War Thinking In Moscow And Washington
Remembering Slain Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaya
Russia Considers Reopening Military Bases In Cuba And Vietnam
Weekend in Moscow: Sarah Kane, Psychosis and Elyse Dodgson
GOOD EXAMPLES
First Lady Going All-Out To Preserve White House Garden
Meet The Woman Who’s Making Google More Sustainable
Shell Cancels Oil Train Plans For Puget Sound Refinery
BAD EXAMPLES
Video: Just How Bad Is Online Shopping?
Whoops, We Haven’t Been Counting A Huge Source Of GHGS: Dams
Video: Memories Of A Secret C.I.A. Prison
OUR SCIENCE SECTION, ABRIDGED
This is interesting. The Electric Car You Can Drive For Free
This, to me, is frightening. Can you imagine being conscious like this? Growing Human Brains – Without A Body
I love this. Range Is All The Rage In Paris, As Electric Cars Steal The Show
OUR PLANET
New Earthquake Fault Discovered In Southern California
The Protein Bubble That’s Destroying The Planet
What Is A Fogbow?
SPACE
Planet In Star System Nearest Our Sun ‘May Have Oceans’
A Third Saturn Moon Has Subsurface Ocean
Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ Rocket Company, Passes an In-Flight Escape Test
TECHNOLOGY
How To Feel What A Robot Feels
The Moral Dilemma Of Memory Implants
A Playground That Teaches Kids To Love Their Bikes
NORTHSTAR ALSO RECOMMENDS EarthSkyNews
THE GREEN BEAT
Portland, Oregon’s Small-House Movement Is Catching On
Single-Family Homes… But Who’s The “Single Family”?
Oregon’s ‘Do-It-Yourself’ Approach To A Clean Economy
Over 190 Countries Adopt Plan To Offset Air Travel Emissions
HEALTH
Habits That Age You
Eat For Better Sleep
The Best Lunch For Your Heart
What’s The Longest Humans Can Live? 115 Years, New Study Says
LIFESTYLE
India’s Dish That Unites – And Divides
Where People Believe In Wizards
The Idea That Shaped The World
Was Modern Art A Weapon Of The CIA?
Voting Is Super Boring. Should We Just Admit That?
This One Pacific Northwest County Could Show All Americans How To Vote Better
FUNZONE
BEST OF THE NET
Studio Uno Michel Dvd Presenta La Modella Alina Petrov
Animal Bible’s Almost Too Cute To Be Real
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
A reminder of the science behind what many of take for granted this time of year: Why do leaves change color in fall? | Earth | EarthSky http://earthsky.org/earth/why-do-tree-leaves-turn-red-in-fall
To subscribe and experience Thoughts in their original, please contact Ame at SpringggRain@aol.com
MASHA & THE BEAR
KIKORIKKI ~ a truly fun way to experience science
NORTHSTAR CLASSIFIEDS
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A superpower no longer, a resource hungry and repressive America faces a Latin American armada rampaging its west coast and a strong, silent and powerful Canada manning the North Wall. The fires of rebellion burn in the Pacific Northwest and it is into this crucible and forge that the cybernetic patrol boat Testament and her crew of three men and three women are thrust. Individuals of duty and conscience both, when they join the other side, all Hell breaks loose. A rollicking adventure for anyone who loves the sea, a good yarn and characters who spring to life even as Testament herself leaps the waves. For a $4.00 Kindle Book adventure you will remember for a lifetime, please go here.
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ALL CREATURES, GREAT AND SMALL
Class of 2015 whales swim near Victoria, B.C. (Valerie Shore/Eagle Wing Tours and Shorelines Photography)
Since they are our neighbors, this is especially good news. West Coast Orca ‘Class Of 2015’ A Sign Of Hope For Endangered Species
This tipped the weird scale a little. Snake Eats Lizard Eats Beetle
What do you know about wildlife crossings? Test your knowledge here.
SHORTS
How To Ask A Horse What It Wants
Oregon Protects Forage Fish, The Tiny Critters In Ocean
FOLKS WE FOLLOW: The SeaDoc Society’s October 2016 newsletter is now online and it’s a good one.
YOU GUYS THINK WE MAKE THIS STUFF UP
These Kayakers Found a Century-Old Ghost Ship: Its History Will Haunt You
VIDEO: New Zealand Police ‘On The Beat’
In Senegal, Absolution Comes With A Wing And A Prayer
ABOUT US
FRIENDS OF NORTHSTAR: Amnesty International, EarthSkyNews, Ecofinder-Kenya, GritTV With Laura Flaunders, Help End World Hunger & Poverty | Heifer International® | Heifer.Org, Mother Nature Network, Nature Conservancy in Washington, National Wildlife Federation, No Camels – Weekly Israeli Innovation News, Ocean Conservancy, Outside Magazine, The Rainforest Site, SeaDoc Society: People & Science Healing The Sea, Showcase Magazine: Today’s Media For Artful Living, Sierra Club, Sightline Institute, The Sun Magazine, Wildlife Conservation Society, Wildlife Extra Magazine, World Wildlife Fund, Writing For Peace, YES magazine
Rusty Miller – Editor in Chief
Dennis Steussy – Associate Editor
Meade Fischer – Contributing Editor
We are a reader-supported weekly Internet magazine reaching readers in 22 countries. Ranging in age from 12 – 93, they cross all demographics but are united in a sincere desire to help make our world a better place to live. We are both proud and honored to be a resource for them in that regard. If you like what you read and would like to contribute to the next edition, please go here. International currencies accepted. For more information and to receive us in your email if you currently view us on our website, contact us at minstrel312@aol.com
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