News

Paul Raidna, Honorary Consul for the Estonian government

 

Paul Raidna, Honorary Consul for the Estonian government, said it all when he posited, “Estonia is recognized as the most digitally connected, transparent society in the world.” After the (most recent) domination by Russia, everything in Estonia is digitally connected to its citizens–all 1.3 million of them.

 

 

To wit:

  • Everything is instantly monitored and updated.
  • There are no checks. All payments are made by wire transfer.
  • An electronic chip in a card accesses a portal that tells all about an individual
  • All business is done electronically, except are weddings and real estate purchases.
  • Digitalization allows not only voting online but allows for a change of mind and reversal of a vote.
  • Information about a candidate is public and readily available.
  • This method saves 2% of the GDP in light of less bureaucracy.
  • A digital reader in a police car tells all about a passing car and its driver.
  • As of 2014, any Estonian can conduct transactions from anywhere in the world and can enjoy all the benefits of citizenship except the ability to vote.
  • Skype was developed in Estonia; 85% of all gaming software is from Estonia.
  • A child starts school at age 7. Criticism aside, there is a ranking of the top 4 or 5 in education in the world.  There is produced the largest percentage of technicians next to Finland.
  • Even the dogs are profiled. Vaccination records are on line.
  • They are told, “The Government does not own the data; you do.” Block chain technology provides security no access personal data is provided without user authorization.
  • It is hard to be corrupt when transparency is used. (So ’tis said).
  • To promote population growth, free digital dating is an effort to get singles together.
  • There is next to no unemployment in the fast-growing economy.

COMMENT:  All shall continue unimpeded as long as Estonia enjoys a NATO presence

Related Articles:  

Digital Estonia, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/18/estonia-the-digital-republic  

Building a Digital Society, https://e-estonia.com/

John Dobken of Energy Northwest: Nuclear is good

Prior to his talk, we asked John Dobken of Energy Northwest if his talk would be convoluted and hard to summarize. His reply was, “Just keep in mind: Nuclear is good.” Then he proceeded to explain why it is so.

 

 

 

And here is why:

  • Wind is a variable and at times is quiescent. In fact, most of it is in the Columbia Gorge.
  • Time is running out in re carbon emissions and the resultant carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
  • Solar energy is also hard to harvest in times of scant sunlight.
  • De-carbonization is essential as regards automobiles.
  • Nuclear is our largest source of energy. It is independent of the weather; produces zero greenhouse gases; used fuel is safely stored and can be recycled.
  • To cut back on coal, nuclear and hydraulic power sources will suffice.
  • More people are being born and will require the energy that uranium fission can provide. 3000 kilowatts = the good life.
  • China, with great pollution due to coal dependence, is building nuclear plants.
  • Nuclear plants run 92% of the time and can run for years.
  • The wartime sludge burden at Hanford should not be confused with the storable uranium pellets used for fuel.
  • Nuclear plants, water and air cooled, cannot melt down.
  • Nuclear plants can pair with wind farms, both bring carbon-free.
  • It is the safest.

Friends of the Children

Courtney Huck-Edgar Masmela

Courtney Huck and Edgar Masmela told us of the work of Friends of the Children, an endeavor that has merited monetary support from the club. Our, March 17, 2018, major fund raiser, “Debuts and Discoveries”, will highlight support for The Friends of Children.

They have been in Seattle 17 years, are in 12 school districts and 78 classrooms. The most vulnerable youth are identified as early as the kindergarten level. At this point, a professional mentor remains a presence with a child through the latter’s graduation from high school. To have one person in one’s life, a caring adult, becomes a huge impact. It imparts a sense of purpose and bears results.

There is many a cycle of generational poverty. Friends of the children (henceforth FOC) have repeatedly shown that stepping in, as a trained professional, makes a difference. One result is a child’s avoidance of the Juvenile Justice System. Helping one child in this way saves the taxpayers $900,000.

The mentors also serve as advocates, one example being in transition of a child from one foster home to another. The mentor will in such an instance make it easier for a child to adapt and see to the arrangements. Everything that FOC does is intentional. This includes having parents as partners in this work. If a child is weak in one subject, focus is placed on that subject.

Thus far, 84% of those mentored finish high school. And 94% have avoided the Juvenile Justice System even though their parents might have had experiences with the law. For each dollar saved, $7 is saved for the economy. 32 new children will enter the program in the next 4 years. Federal grants will expand the program. By 2020, more than 250 kids will be enrolled.

Comment: To have a one-on-one relationship with someone who encourages, and cares can translate risk factors into a success story. It is anticipated that, in generations to come, sordid family histories shall be left behind.

Walter and Nancy Sponsors

Christy Goff: Carb Conumdrum

 

Christy Goff, of PACMED, returned to us, this time in the capacity of dietician/nutritionist.
Her talk delivered many “pearls”, the major ones being:

 

 

  • Of all food elements, carbohydrates deliver the most energy.
  • They are broken down to glucose, to be stored in the cells, largely in the liver.
  • It is insulin that causes such storage, regulating circulating glucose normally at 70-100 mg/ml.
  • The good carbs are in unprocessed foods which are nutrient-dense and high in fiber.
  • Bad carbs are in processed foods, which are low in nutrients and high in calories, e.g., fruit juices.
  • Exemplary diets contain whole grains (oatmeal, breads, salads, brown rice, and protein whole fruits).
  • Several low carb diets were discussed, each containing fiber and protein).
  • Reducing diets at tines produce ketones which are detrimental to brain and kidneys.
  • Most of the reducing diets eventually fail due to a yield to the craving for carbohydrates.
  • Some simplistic advice: “Eat not too much food, and mostly plants”, “Eat less from the box and more from the earth.”

Comment: One who overeats one’s tasty carbs/Is oft exposed to verbal barbs.

Jeffrey Smith, Seattle University Chair of Professional Ethics

In the Seattle University Business school, a requirement for completing a degree is a course in Business Ethics. Jeffrey Smith, Chair of Professional Ethics, stated the high objectives of this program. These include fairness, dignity of humanity, values-driven business leaders, social justice, social responsibility, and ethical awareness.

The Northwest Ethics Network arose from these standards. Here, individuals concerned with the subject, meet to discuss pertinent questions and ideas.

  • The question is posed as to what individual and organizational factors cause otherwise good people to do bad things.
  • One is a tendency not to recognize adversely impact ethical standards.
  • Another is management systems and their tendency to lose sight of values and principles.

Some barriers to ethical conduct in business:

  • Excessive hierarchy, in which decisions from the top do not allow for input from the lower strata.
  • Time Pressure. Deadlines can lead some to cut corners.
  • Isolation and Separation with poor communication regarding ethical conduct.
  • Short term success in place of long term considerations.
  • Excessive reliance on routine.
  • How are we paying our employees? At time, when compensation depends on performance, principles may be compromised.

W.C. Fields on ethics: “Anything worth having is worth cheating for.”

Di Zhang, SPL, “Fake News Survival Guide”

Deluged as we are with news, it has now gotten to the point at which the genuine from the false needs to be determined. Di (Day) Zhang, of the Seattle Public Library, excerpting from the “Fake News Survival Guide”, arrived to be of help.

Referring to online news, he cautioned that it is easy to create content, with the risk of it being false. The information cycle (major event–TV–social media–web) moves so fast that fact-checking cannot easily be done, except for TV. It does, in fact, take time and $ to check facts.

Information goes out quickly and generates clicks. Each click generates ad revenue. Fake news imitates websites. Sometimes, the purveyors of fake news vanish, only to resurface at unannounced times.

Evaluation of information comes under these headings:

  • Consistent with sources found
  • Inconsistent with sources found
  • Inconclusive, given sources found
  • Outside the scope of service.

Three tips:

  • Read article first before sharing
  • Check the sources
  • What is the support?

Also, consider a subscription to a reputable service.

The concept of the “filter bubble” concerns familiarity with one’s interests. Then one receives information consistent with one’s likes, with the dislikes filtered out.

Overall advice: Ask a librarian.

Twain: “A lie is halfway around the world before the truth has its shoes on.”

 

Dr Scott Jameison and your eyes.

USR member Scott Jamieson, in his best of humor, took the assemblage on a rapid-fire visit to eye diseases. Several of his points:

  • Good vision is the main cause of blindness, in that, by the time something sinister (or dextral) is found, it may be too late.
  • Other risk factors are smoking, aging, sedentary lifestyle, and nutritional matters.
  • The optic nerve is actually part of the brain, and as such, is largely unforgiving in injury or illness.
  • Antioxidants are deemed beneficial in reducing risk of eye disease.
  • The macula, occupying a small part of the retina, is responsible for 95% of vision. Ergo, Macular Degeneration (MD) is a serious threat.
    • The “dry” type of MD, typified by the stippling presence of drusen, cannot be treated.
    • Dry MD can lead to the exudative or “wet” form, with its proliferation of abnormal blood vessels and spillage of red cells.
    • An injection treatment for wet MD may slow the process, but is no cure. Untreated wet MD leads to blindness.
  • Diabetic retinopathy is the second leading cause of blindness.
  • Bleeding into the vitreous can result in clots to impair vision, as can retinal detachment.
  • Retinitis Pigmentosa is untreatable.
  • Glaucoma is often an insidious condition in that there is often no pain.
    • In glaucoma, blood flow is compromised, starving the anterior part of the eye of oxygen.
    • It is important to realize that glaucoma can be managed but never cured. The pressure must be kept down.
    • African Americans are quite susceptible to glaucoma. Per Scott: 50% have the condition and do not know it.
  • Cataract surgery now entails the choice of the lenses to be implanted.

In conclusion: “Those who are wise take care of their eyes.”

Melanie Barstow, Following the Boys in the Boat

*Onward like the swallow going
Flies the speed of oar and shell.
Oh the wild delight in knowing, ‘
Tis our pow’r that does the rowing…..


Captivated by the book ,”The Boys in the Boat”, Melanie Barstow has successfully volunteered to conduct tours of the University of Washington shell house and related historic spots. The response has been large.

 

 

 

In her talk, she reviews the book’s story, noting:

  • the Depression era
  • the fortitude of the rowers
  • the privations of the young men
  • the hard and dangerous jobs they had to take
  • the adversities, including the family’s abandonment of the principal character at his age of 15.

Altruism, self-sacrifice, and fortitude were the sine qua non that made possible the successive triumphs of this Husky crew, This culminated in their Olympic triumph in Berlin in 1936 as they represented the U.S. Specifically, the order of finish; USA/Italy/Germany. It is notable that the margin between winning and not winning is at times measured in hundredths of a second. In 1936, the times were 6:25.4, 6:26, and 6:26.4.

*All in unison of action, with the noble satisfaction….
…..Coolly every power invoke…
Onward, make her cut the water,
Onward make her cut the water—
And for fame of alma mater, stroke, stroke, stroke.

*Excerpts from the Cornell Rowing Song.