April 3, 2022 Volume 14 Number 4
FOR THE BIRDS
Rusty Miller, Editor
Hi again, from the shores of the Salish Sea. It has been another interesting week, has it not? Looks like the Ukrainians are getting tougher and the Powers That Are in Russia keep going “Ooops.” This invasion is uniting the world around the sanctity of statehood and what makes this so bloody important is precisely its global impact.
Olya, the Russian-born Ukrainian associate editor of this magazine, believes that sometimes bad things happen to good people for a good reason. Olya is also a blue-eyed blonde with an eight-million-dollar mind and a penchant for batting them out of the ballpark with a fly swatter.
America continues to practice partisanship rather than cooperation and it is frustrating to me that the message of our national symbol, the eagle, seems to be so lost on so many. No bird flies with just one wing or even with predominantly one. From the hummingbird, or the smallest democracy, to the eagle, or the greatest, they all fly with both wings .
I feel fortunate, especially now, to be living in a place where cooperation begins at the neighborhood level. Seattle has been called six cities in search of a town hall (thank you, Mr. Pirandello).
This of course is not true. We have a fine city government. Most of our communities do as well. And these blend into strong county governments and in mine (King), includes the best bus and commuter light rail system in America, according to Forbes magazine several years ago.
Perhaps what pleases me most is that we learned from other places and now have knowledge and insight of our own to contribute.
Nice going, folks.
Rusty
Merritt Scott (Rusty) Miller is a Northern California born author, photojournalist and editor now living in Seattle, Washington. For comments, please go here
PRAYING FOR PEOPLE OF UKRAINE TO BE SAFE
Olya Bereza, Associate Editor
Hi Rusty, from the shores of The Solent this time:
It was interesting to find the local newspaper, Isle Of Wight Observer reporting the first Ukrainian refugees to set foot there. Since the United Kingtom opened its program for refugees on March 18, More than 100,000 Britons register to sponsor Ukrainian refugees in first hours of scheme opening. That’s very reassuring, how the world can be united to help huge humanitarian crisis in Ukraine with already More than 4 million have fled Russia’s ‘senseless’ war on Ukraine, says UN
I contacted the local charity organization on the Isle with an idea of creating Saturday schools with teachers who can speak their language, for kids who arrived in the UK. This will also help the kids more quickly find friends and socialize. That last part, as according to my experience with a teenager, it could be a struggle under the best of circumstances.
Another shelling this night on the airport in my parents’ home town Dnipro so depending how the war theater unfolds, I expect many more people will be leaving the country or be displaced within the country to safer regions like West Ukraine Ukraine Displacement: As Displacements Hit 10 Million Mark Vulnerable Groups are Exposed, Neighbouring Countries Rely on Civil Society and EU Assistance, Commission Rejects Mandatory Distribution of Refugees
Praying for people of Ukraine to be safe
Olya
Northstar 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.
IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS
Biden To Release Up To 1M Barrels Per Day From Oil Reserves
FDA Authorizes Second COVID-19 Booster Shot For Some People
Organizing Across State Lines To Stop A Pipeline
U.S. Will Rename 660 Mountains, Rivers And More To Remove Racist Word
Poland To End All Russian Oil Imports; Germany Warns On Gas
In UK, Five Million Households Face Energy Budget Crunch As Bills Soar Overnight
UKRAINE
Putin Misled By Advisers On Ukraine, US Intel Determines
Number Of Ukraine Refugees Passes Worst-Case U.N. Estimate
Russians Leaving Chernobyl After Radiation Exposure
Ukrainians In US Mobilize To Help 100,000 Expected Refugees
Ukraine Asylum Seekers Begin Reaching Washington State
Ukrainian Pharma Executive Vows To Continue Production ‘Until We Win Or We Die’
Ukraine’s Other Fight: Growing Food For Itself And The World
Ukraine Strike On Russian Territory Reported As Talks Resume
Australia To Send Armored Vehicles To Ukraine After Request
QUALITY OF LIFE
Apple’s Deaf Mute Drama ‘CODA’ Triumphs At Oscars
Can Monthly Cash Payments Make Our Economy More Equitable?
Dead Butt Syndrome Is One More Reason You Shouldn’t Sit All Day
Janet Sobel: The Woman Written Out Of History
Minimalism May Be Trendy, But It Certainly Isn’t New
Pope Francis Apologizes To Indigenous Delegates For ‘Deplorable’ Abuses At Residential Schools |
Port Moody, BC, Canada Police Praise Man For Saving Child
Single Dad Adopts 13 Year-Old Boy Abandoned At Hospital For 2 Years
Teen Takes His 92-Year-Old Great-Grandma To Prom
Ukraine Soldiers Perform Traditional Music In Kyiv
Washington State’s Missing Indigenous People Alert System Will Be First In The US
HOME & GARDEN
Enjoy Spring Tonic Herbs From Your Garden
How To Plant Edible Climbers And Vines
Rising Food Prices Won’t Slow Down, Per USDA
The Joy Of Discovering My Own Backyard
Why Sunflowers Are Ukraine’s National Flower
SCIENCE
This Historic Community Is Pushing America Toward A Wind Power Revolution
Oru Lake Kayak Is The Essence Of Origami Design
EARTH
2022 Pew Marine Fellows Work To Improve Ocean Health
A Mysterious Solar Farm Crops Up In Colorado
As US Fails To Pay Its Debt, UN’s Flagship Climate Fund Warns Of Austerity
Australian Carbon Traders Defend Troubled Offset Market Against Whistleblower Claims
Canadian Ex-Minister Catherine Mckenna Named To Head UN Greenwash Watchdog
Canadian Government Ducks Fight With Oil And Gas Industry
Over Half Of U.S. Waters Are Too Polluted To Swim Or Fish
Russia, China Oppose ‘Human Rights’ In Nature Talks, Amid Slow Progress To A Deal
SKY
Grab Your Boarding Pass – We’re inviting people to send their names to be included on a flash drive that will fly on the Orion spacecraft during the agency’s Artemis I mission – and now you can obtain your Artemis boarding passes in Spanish. ¡Vamos a la Luna!
Record-Setting NASA Astronaut Returns To Earth
Asteroid Ryugu Harbors Life’s Building Blocks
Most Distant Star Yet Seen Spied By Hubble
Voyager 1 Says “Hi” From 13 Billion Miles Away
NASA Seeks More Partners For Lunar Landers
Pluto’s Hidden Ice Volcanoes Hint At The Possibility Of Life
Voyager 1 Says “Hi” From 13 Billion Miles Away
TRAVEL
For Climate Migrants In Bangladesh, Town Offers New Life
Conservation Officials To Revert Land Near Stonehenge To Natural State
On The Road With Steve Hartman
Celtic Woman, Téir Abhaile Riú | Live from 3 Arena Dublin
Celtic Woman – A Woman’s Heart
Celtic Woman – Non C’è Piú
ROCKY THE ROCKET by Olya Bereza/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.
RAINBOW RISING by Olya Bereza This little fairy-tale is dedicated to a pet friend gone chasing the rainbow and a child’s good-bye.. Yep, go here.
ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL
Bear That Escaped Ukraine
Critically Endangered Blue-Eyed Lemur Born at Florida Zoo
Flamingo That Escaped From a Zoo in Kansas Is Spotted Once Again in Texas 17 Years Later
Florida’s Starving Manatees Ate ‘Every Scrap’ of Food in Trial Feeding Program
How One Wyoming Mule Deer Won Friends And Influenced Science
Increased Numbers Of Steelhead Return To The Elwha River
Monkeys Near Florida Airport Delight Visitors
Seven Species Named After Musicians
A Welcome Comeback For Norway’s Walruses
The Northstar Journal 