Ed. Note: In response to John Carlson’s Dec. 3 opinion piece, “Correcting big lies about America,” the Kirkland Reporter invited Redmond Reporter Editor Bill Christianson to write this weeks editorial.
Bah, Humbug!
Yep, it’s Christmas, and Washington State is doing its best to again turn out Grinch after Grinch after Scrooge to the disgust or entertainment (take your pick) of the entire country.
We have a rich tradition of such foolishness. The kerfuffle two years ago at Sea-Tac Airport over Christmas trees and accompanying decorations made us a national laughing stock as they went up, then down after one complaint, then up again, but renamed as benign “Holiday Decorations.”
It’s a disturbing irony.
The Moss Bay Recorder Society’s Christmas Play-along/Sing-along at the Kirkland Public Library is a highlight of my Decembers in Kirkland. This year’s event is Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. The program includes lovely music, most of which is not well known, nor disseminated as muzak in malls or elevators. All singers and players of recorders and of other compatible (acoustic) instruments are welcomed to sight-read the music. Rhythm instruments and bells are also provided to encourage participation. If you do not wish to join in as a singer or player, just come by to listen and enjoy!
There are few countries so eager to acknowledge their faults as this one.
As a father of five daughters, I understand that even as sophisticated as the World Wide Web has become, it is still a vast environment with ambiguous boundaries between appropriate and inappropriate, safe and unsafe information and media.
Political junkies are going through severe withdrawal, with the only businesses on the upswing these days being de-tox centers for campaign-addicted types. I escaped commitment by the hairs of my chinnie-chin-chin, which leaves me looking for newsy tid bits.
I am writing regarding the city of Kirkland’s “update” of the Shoreline Master Program. This is an environmental program designed to protect fish and wildlife. The city has employed the UW and Watershed Inc. to provide data with respect to the shoreline along Lake Washington in Kirkland. The city has identified some areas of paramount importance in protecting fish. The primary one, according to the city, is tearing out all bulkheads and armoring.
You can’t escape it, it’s everywhere. House values are plummeting, mutual funds are shrinking, and jobs are in jeopardy. Oh my.
Most of us probably can’t afford to take a pay cut.
After previous elections, it seemed to me that political signs hung around forever. So I was delighted to note the absence of all of them along Kingsgate yards recently. Here’s the Haiku I wrote in appreciation:
Should we let a developer threaten us into building an extreme project? That’s what seems to have happened with Parkplace.
(An excerpt from Jeremy’s book, Relative Discomfort: The Family Survival Guide.)
Nixon lost his bid for the State House. But he’s also ruling out a run for head of King County Elections, authorized by an initiative that passed last week and he helped get onto the ballot.
It’s b-a-c-k! Tent City 4 is back in town in residence at St. John Vianney Catholic Church on Finn Hill.
My father, uncles and grandfathers were veterans. Through them, I learned about the Normandy invasion, the sinking of the Quincy and Patton’s army. Their stories made my high school history books come alive. Many King County families have similar connections and understand that veterans deserve our support.
I enjoy having a local newspaper again. Although it concerns me if the local paper is not keeping the information balanced, then it starts to feel more like propaganda. I am referring to the big-above the fold-photo of Obama followers. I will be waiting to see if your staff photographer manages to find a photo of the McCain campaign to demonstrate balanced journalism. I hope you have more commonsense and understanding of your audience than the Times or PI!
I wanted to thank reporter Kendall Watson for the terrific article about Sherman Alexie and his author appearance at ParkPlace Books in the Oct. 22nd issue of the Kirkland Reporter. I thought he caught the spirit of the occasion very well and I very much appreciate his getting all of the facts straight about who was involved and what organization they belong to. We very much appreciate such full coverage for an event that was important to us. I sense a positive new direction for our local paper.
With Juanita High School going undefeated in Girls swimming — I hope to read about it in the only newspaper I’ve read in the past ten years … Your newspaper is the only printed paper that I have wanted to read.
I read the Kirkland Reporter each week and generally enjoy the content and presentation of information.
