PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - Departing the Pacific Northwest through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport ("Sea-Tac") last night, it was notable that there was no holiday display of any kind in the airport--just a winterscape. That wasn't because the Port of Seattle, which owns and operates Sea-Tac, is remarkably efficient in removing decorations after a holiday. There weren't any left yesterday because no holiday displays went up in 2008 at all (or in 2007 for that matter), a common occurrence on public property in the Pacific Northwest.
In 2006, Sea-Tac gained national attention when Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky asked for a menorah to be displayed at the airport. Bogomilsky intended it to supplement the Christmas Trees that were on display, but the Port removed all holiday decorations for a time to try to avoid a lawsuit over holiday displays. The situation was well-summarized in this 2007 Seattle Times article, and it caused the Pacific Northwest to become Ground Zero in pundit Bill O'Reilly's attempt to highlight the "War on Christmas."
O'Reilly targeted Washington state again this year over the displays at the Capitol Rotunda in Olympia, Washington. The state allowed any group to apply to place a display there during the holidays, and an especially fervent atheist group was one of the organizations whose message appeared. The resulting hullabaloo was again well-summarized in a Seattle Times article.
The apparently-secular nature of the Pacific Northwest really amounts to a high level of tolerance that dates back to before people of European origin entered the region. The Native American groups that lived here figured out how to get along between different tribes with different resources by establishing a regional culture of respect, cooperation, and conservation of resources that greatly influenced the region even after it became part of the United States. The slow, consensus-based political decision-making process of the Pacific Northwest also may be traced to the era before Lewis and Clark arrived.
It's not about avoiding religion, just about respecting all religions the way a Seattle native would say the US constitution intended. That's exactly why something like this year's flare-up over the holiday displays in the Capitol Rotunda could happen here. There was a nativity display there--Christianity was hardly being suppressed, it just wasn't given a dominant role.
I grew up in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, which many feel represents the core of the secular culture. In Bellevue's public schools, Christmas is almost never mentioned by name--except maybe in a high school class covering comparative religion. The district is scrupulously careful about avoiding religious symbols. In 2005, a "giving tree" at Medina Elementary school was turned into a "giving counter" because of a complaint that the "giving tree" was really a Christmas Tree by another name.
Despite that, even my Jewish, Bahá'í, and Atheist peers (admittedly, I cannot claim to have asked any Muslims) learned about all the Christmas traditions by osmosis of the culture anyway, and I don't recall any of my Christian peers expressing any concern about the lack of "official" Christmas activities. December was still a special month of the year, if for no other reason than it was time for Winter Break.
The fact that the rest of the United States doesn't seem to understand how religious freedom works in the Pacific Northwest reflects poorly on the rest of the nation, not the Pacific Northwest--the fact of the matter is that it does work.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Margin Notes: Snow, Seattle, Ballard, Viaduct
Snow covered my grandparents' home in Kennewick, Washington on 2-January-2009
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - No matter where I go, it seems to snow. After my arrival in Kennewick, Washington on New Year's Day, it snowed about an inch overnight to create a white landscape across the Tri-Cities on 2-January-2009. The sun came out by the afternoon, so the roads were passable and it was actually the most delightful winter environment I have encountered this season.
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The landscape outside might have been different, but very little has changed in the inside routines of my grandparents over the years. They still watch "The Price is Right" on television nearly every weekday morning. "New" host Drew Carey has been well-received by these long-time viewers; they don't seem to miss Bob Barker at all--and my grandfather still does a better job of estimating prices than most of the over-enthusiastic contestants.
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A Union Pacific SD9043MAC locomotive led three Canadian Pacific AC4400CW's on an empty grain train at Napavine, Washington on 1-January-2009
My first train of 2009 came enroute to Kennewick on New Year's Day. A southbound Union Pacific grain train was noted from I-5 near Centralia, so I requested a brief detour off the freeway to Napavine, Washington to see it crest the well-known Napavine Hill, resulting in the photograph seen above.
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This view of Seattle's sports stadiums was taken from the Alaskan Way Viaduct on 31-December-2008, just one of many scenes visible from the structure
Transportation matters of a different kind have been in the news in Seattle. Just when it appeared that the Alaskan Way Viaduct would be replaced by another viaduct or a revised surface street arrangement, suddenly the idea of a tunnel has risen again. The aging and earthquake-susceptible structure has been designated for replacement by the state for years pending the approval of a replacement plan by the City of Seattle. While the cut-and-cover tunnel rejected by voters remains off the table, now a new tunnel proposal has come forward. This one would route the tunnel approximately under First Avenue, potentially far enough inland to avoid at least some of the water table and sea wall issues that made shoreline tunnel so expensive. I have yet to hear a timetable on the disposition of this proposal.
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Amongst the stickers on this vehicle noted on 15th Ave West in Seattle on 31-December-2008 was one proclaiming "Free Ballard"
One of the reasons the route of the Alaskan Way Viaduct is so important is connecting Sea-Tac Airport and other destinations south of downtown to Seattle's northern neighborhoods, including Ballard. This bumper sticker was noted in the Interbay neighborhood of Seattle south of the one-time separate city of Ballard. The history of the "Free Ballard" movement is explained on the Archie McPhee web site and dates back to the 1907 annexation of Ballard by Seattle, but rather than being about seceding from Seattle, it's about maintaining a distinct, Scandinavian character to Ballard. In response to the "Free Ballard" movement, there is apparently a "Flee Ballard" movement as well, though I haven't seen its bumper stickers. A distinct Scandinavian character? The next thing we know, Greg Nickels may be declaring Ballard a "nation".
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Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels may be facing approval ratings rivaling that of George W. Bush as a result of his handling of the "Snowmaggedon" sequence of storms in December. Nickels had the audacity to give his efforts a "B" when most Seattle arterials were still covered with compact snow because of the city's decision to use little more than sand to make the streets passable. As shoppers stayed away from Seattle in favor of better-cleared suburbs, Nickels' popularity plummeted. He will likely face a serious challenge in 2009 elections. While he has yet to lower the "B" grade, the city has announced that it will use salt and other deicing techniques if the forecast is for more than four inches of snow in the future. The best headline of my stay in Seattle has come from the Seattle Times: "Licking Political Wounds, Nickels Revises Salt Policy."
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Radio Pick: Capitol Steps
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - This week's pick comes from The Capitol Steps.
A whole year cannot pass without citing the best of political satire, especially when it involves a "Little Plumber Boy" named Joe, a "midnight raid on Georgia," and a new Lirty Dies, the "Load to the Erection 2008" (wip your flords and you'll figure it out). The 59-minute program presented the best in sketch comedy.
Listen to MP3 of the Capitol Steps "Politics Takes a Holiday"
A whole year cannot pass without citing the best of political satire, especially when it involves a "Little Plumber Boy" named Joe, a "midnight raid on Georgia," and a new Lirty Dies, the "Load to the Erection 2008" (wip your flords and you'll figure it out). The 59-minute program presented the best in sketch comedy.
Listen to MP3 of the Capitol Steps "Politics Takes a Holiday"
Media: Marketplace Hits 20
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - Yesterday, the public radio program Marketplace turned twenty years old. The half-hour weekday program has been bringing United States audiences financial news and information each evening on several hundred public radio stations since 1989. Besides more significant honors, it has been on my ideal radio schedule since that feature was created in 1998.
Interestingly, this means that I have been listening to public radio for nearly twenty years. Previously a commercial radio listener, I happened to flip to FM on an analog radio when the pre-game show for a Seattle Mariners game began on KIRO 710 AM in the summer of 1989, which started for home games at 6:30 pm. KUOW 94.9 FM just happened to be on the same dial position on that band, and I heard news programming, so I kept listening. The program was Marketplace; KUOW was one of the early stations to adopt the program, and it has been in that time slot nearly the entire two decades except for a brief period when it was moved to 7 pm.
The early Marketplace was a very different program than it is today, much closer to the Nightly Business Report in content. One of the first shows I listened to happened to run a story on the ill-fated Southern Pacific Santa Fe (SPSF) railroad merger, and that convinced me that I should listen every day. It has been a staple of my evening listening ever since--and as a result of Marketplace, I started listening to KUOW in other time slots and was soon introduced to Weekend Edition Sunday, All Things Considered, and the BBC Newshour.
While the show has changed, from the beginning it was intended to have a consumer focus, so even the stock and market information given has always been aimed at the casual investor with a 401(k) plan, not a finance professional. In fact, the case could be made that a regular listener to Marketplace may be the only non-finance professional that can manage their own diversified investments.
It is amazing to me that I have been listening to that show for nearly twenty years, and even more amazing to me that I am one of a relative handful of people that still remembers Michael Creedman as Marketplace host. Jim Angle, quintessential host David Brancaccio (with the longest tenure, about ten years from 1993 to 2003), David Brown, and Kai Ryssdal have followed.
Thank you to all that have worked on Marketplace over the years. May the show and my public radio listening continue indefinitely.
Interestingly, this means that I have been listening to public radio for nearly twenty years. Previously a commercial radio listener, I happened to flip to FM on an analog radio when the pre-game show for a Seattle Mariners game began on KIRO 710 AM in the summer of 1989, which started for home games at 6:30 pm. KUOW 94.9 FM just happened to be on the same dial position on that band, and I heard news programming, so I kept listening. The program was Marketplace; KUOW was one of the early stations to adopt the program, and it has been in that time slot nearly the entire two decades except for a brief period when it was moved to 7 pm.
The early Marketplace was a very different program than it is today, much closer to the Nightly Business Report in content. One of the first shows I listened to happened to run a story on the ill-fated Southern Pacific Santa Fe (SPSF) railroad merger, and that convinced me that I should listen every day. It has been a staple of my evening listening ever since--and as a result of Marketplace, I started listening to KUOW in other time slots and was soon introduced to Weekend Edition Sunday, All Things Considered, and the BBC Newshour.
While the show has changed, from the beginning it was intended to have a consumer focus, so even the stock and market information given has always been aimed at the casual investor with a 401(k) plan, not a finance professional. In fact, the case could be made that a regular listener to Marketplace may be the only non-finance professional that can manage their own diversified investments.
It is amazing to me that I have been listening to that show for nearly twenty years, and even more amazing to me that I am one of a relative handful of people that still remembers Michael Creedman as Marketplace host. Jim Angle, quintessential host David Brancaccio (with the longest tenure, about ten years from 1993 to 2003), David Brown, and Kai Ryssdal have followed.
Thank you to all that have worked on Marketplace over the years. May the show and my public radio listening continue indefinitely.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Heritage: Biggest Invention of a Lifetime
KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON - For a member of Generation X, which has seen most inventions be luxury entertainment items such as video cassette recorders and portable music players, the question of what constitutes the most important technological advance of its lifetime is not a particularly compelling question. For someone of my grandparents' generation, which was born in the first quarter of the 20th century before widespread indoor plumbing or electrical distribution, the question is considerably more profound.
In previous conversations with my paternal grandparents here in Kennewick, they had expressed the opinion that the technological advance that created the greatest change in their lives had been radio. Before the advent of radio, both their ability to hear news from outside the eastern portion of Washington state where they lived and their forms of entertainment had been radically different. Their citing of radio was especially interesting considering the fact that television has since completely supplanted radio in both roles in their lives.
On this visit, I asked a slightly different question--what invention did the most to make life easier. The answer again came through very clearly--the washing machine. Where previously each garment had to be processed individually, even if there were some mechanical aids before, the washing machine allowed an entire load to be completed at once, a major time-saver that even the dishwasher did not match.
Arguably, the availability of electricity was really the underlying invention that led not only to the washing machine but lighting, refrigeration, automatic dishwashers and eventually all of the modern home appliances. However, my grandmother was pretty clear that in terms of saving time as a housekeeper, her choice was the washing machine.
So what would my choice be? I think that one is also pretty clear--the same technology you are using right now to read this essay also allows people to stay in touch with lost friends and acquaintances worldwide, form interest communities, and find obscure out-of-town news and facts--the Internet wins.
In previous conversations with my paternal grandparents here in Kennewick, they had expressed the opinion that the technological advance that created the greatest change in their lives had been radio. Before the advent of radio, both their ability to hear news from outside the eastern portion of Washington state where they lived and their forms of entertainment had been radically different. Their citing of radio was especially interesting considering the fact that television has since completely supplanted radio in both roles in their lives.
On this visit, I asked a slightly different question--what invention did the most to make life easier. The answer again came through very clearly--the washing machine. Where previously each garment had to be processed individually, even if there were some mechanical aids before, the washing machine allowed an entire load to be completed at once, a major time-saver that even the dishwasher did not match.
Arguably, the availability of electricity was really the underlying invention that led not only to the washing machine but lighting, refrigeration, automatic dishwashers and eventually all of the modern home appliances. However, my grandmother was pretty clear that in terms of saving time as a housekeeper, her choice was the washing machine.
So what would my choice be? I think that one is also pretty clear--the same technology you are using right now to read this essay also allows people to stay in touch with lost friends and acquaintances worldwide, form interest communities, and find obscure out-of-town news and facts--the Internet wins.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Radio Pick: God Talk 2008 Review
KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON - These links will expire on Sunday morning, so I want to publish this now rather than waiting for my Saturday radio pick.
Since he took over KGO-San Francisco's "God Talk" program in April, San Jose State professor Brent Walters has truly created a "college education on the airwaves" with many shows trying to place religious writings in their proper historical context, with interesting consequences for their modern application. More than anything else, Walters has advocated applying critical thinking to one's faith.
For his final show of the year on Sunday, Walters did a "God Talk in Review" program, reviewing some of the key concepts that he had covered in his early programs and doing his best job to date in fielding calls on many topics. This show had it all--discussions of how the concept of the devil and of hell have changed, a call to separate faith and religion, and even a call from longtime caller Steven from Santa Rosa. This was a best-of show that wasn't a repeat, and is worth a listen if one cares about issues of morals and ethics at any level.
These shows are no longer available on the KGO web site.
Since he took over KGO-San Francisco's "God Talk" program in April, San Jose State professor Brent Walters has truly created a "college education on the airwaves" with many shows trying to place religious writings in their proper historical context, with interesting consequences for their modern application. More than anything else, Walters has advocated applying critical thinking to one's faith.
For his final show of the year on Sunday, Walters did a "God Talk in Review" program, reviewing some of the key concepts that he had covered in his early programs and doing his best job to date in fielding calls on many topics. This show had it all--discussions of how the concept of the devil and of hell have changed, a call to separate faith and religion, and even a call from longtime caller Steven from Santa Rosa. This was a best-of show that wasn't a repeat, and is worth a listen if one cares about issues of morals and ethics at any level.
These shows are no longer available on the KGO web site.
Holiday: Last Year of the Glasses
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - Last night on coverage of the New Year's festivities at Seattle, Washington's Space Needle, KING-TV chose to interview Richard Scalfani and David Cicero of Brainstorm Novelties. That local Pacific Northwest company came up with the idea for the glasses that have been appearing at this time of year for a decade--those with the digits "00" covering the eyes and a number dangling off on each side to form the number of the new year.
I first saw such glasses during the nerve-wracking "millennium" celebration as 1999 turned to 2000. This was the part of the era of my life in which my freshman roommate from college, who grew up in Connecticut, would come to visit me for "First Night" in Boston each year. Boston, with its many arts performances and family-friendly "midnight GMT" fireworks at 7 pm in addition to midnight fireworks, was a great place to be on New Year's Eve, never mind the temperatures that were usually below freezing.
On 31-December-1999, my former roommate and I were walking down Tremont Street after the fireworks when we saw glasses spelling out "2-0-0-0" for the first time. After a few seconds to process how clever they were, I made a realization that I expressed verbally: "We're going to be seeing those glasses for the next decade!" Indeed, as easily as 2000 could be formed, so could 2001 through 2009.
It turns out I have little excuse for not having seen such glasses nearly a decade before. According to recent press coverage, Scalfani and Cicero came up with the idea for the "2000" glasses in 1990--and shortly thereafter realized that with minimal modification to form a "99" in the center instead of "00", could be used for the decade of the 1990's as well. The first year of large sales was as 1990 turned to 1991.
In that era, Seattle's local comedy show, "Almost Live!", did a "New Year's Live!" show on New Year's Eve. Host John Keister wore the "1991" glasses (one of only two palindromes in the whole series--the other being 2002--though since the numbers "9" and "2" are not symmetric, the glasses didn't look significantly more stylish than other years) on air during the show, and from there, popularity and sales would take off and last for almost two decades.
Yet, while my premonition of many more years of "200x" glasses certainly did come true, the last of those years, 2009, has arrived. Scalfani and Cicero humorously claim that they do not intend to continue sales "for safety reasons." A run of nineteen years is not bad for a novelty item.
I first saw such glasses during the nerve-wracking "millennium" celebration as 1999 turned to 2000. This was the part of the era of my life in which my freshman roommate from college, who grew up in Connecticut, would come to visit me for "First Night" in Boston each year. Boston, with its many arts performances and family-friendly "midnight GMT" fireworks at 7 pm in addition to midnight fireworks, was a great place to be on New Year's Eve, never mind the temperatures that were usually below freezing.
On 31-December-1999, my former roommate and I were walking down Tremont Street after the fireworks when we saw glasses spelling out "2-0-0-0" for the first time. After a few seconds to process how clever they were, I made a realization that I expressed verbally: "We're going to be seeing those glasses for the next decade!" Indeed, as easily as 2000 could be formed, so could 2001 through 2009.
It turns out I have little excuse for not having seen such glasses nearly a decade before. According to recent press coverage, Scalfani and Cicero came up with the idea for the "2000" glasses in 1990--and shortly thereafter realized that with minimal modification to form a "99" in the center instead of "00", could be used for the decade of the 1990's as well. The first year of large sales was as 1990 turned to 1991.
In that era, Seattle's local comedy show, "Almost Live!", did a "New Year's Live!" show on New Year's Eve. Host John Keister wore the "1991" glasses (one of only two palindromes in the whole series--the other being 2002--though since the numbers "9" and "2" are not symmetric, the glasses didn't look significantly more stylish than other years) on air during the show, and from there, popularity and sales would take off and last for almost two decades.
Yet, while my premonition of many more years of "200x" glasses certainly did come true, the last of those years, 2009, has arrived. Scalfani and Cicero humorously claim that they do not intend to continue sales "for safety reasons." A run of nineteen years is not bad for a novelty item.
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