Day Hook is an occasional feature on threesheetsnw.com in which bloggers Deborah Bach and Marty McComber visit urban cruising destinations around Puget Sound and check out things to do over a 24-hour visit. Today: Nanaimo. 

Nanaimo is a natural stopping-off point for cruisers crossing the Strait of Georgia or heading to and from Desolation Sound. The second largest city on Vancouver Island, with a population of more than 80,000, Nanaimo is a good place to provision and get boat parts, with a large grocery store and chandleries conveniently located near marinas.

But the city is worth a visit as a destination in its own right.

Read more here: 

All children deserve the best start in life and school possible ... and we all benefit when they get it. They're healthier, more successful in school and more engaged and productive in society and life.

Washington's new statewide early learning plan, which was released Sept. 1, will help give more children that great start in life and school.

Read more here: 

To effectively fight the prostitution of children, it helps to look at the chronic problem in terms of supply and demand.

“You will never bring down this business on the victim’s side. The driver is on the clients’ side,” said Kaffie McCullough, campaign director of the Atlanta non-profit organization A Future. Not a Past, dedicated to stopping the prostitution of children.

McCullough was one of about 80 service providers from non-profit, government and law enforcement agencies who gathered at Seattle City Hall Tuesday to focus on the problem. Few cities have a coordinated effort to help prostituted youth, and Seattle is now getting serious about tackling the problem.

The business is much bigger than many people think. McCullough shared the results of research in Georgia on the shadowy problem: 7,200 men a month in Georgia purchase sex with a female under 18 years old, and more than 400 girls are exploited each month. By 2013, that number could grow to 1,500.

Researchers counted... (more)

Last week, the Gates Foundation came under criticism for significantly increasing its investments in Monsanto. Many took it as a clear sign the world’s biggest philanthropy is championing the use of genetically modified crops, since this is the company leading the world in the production of GM seeds and crops.

It was taken as a sign because the Gates Foundation has been relatively silent on this issue, usually noting that its primary support for agricultural improvement in Africa is for a project known as AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) and that AGRA is “neutral” on the issue of GM crops.

This is a bit disingenuous, and disappointing for those interested in honest and open dialogue.

Full story...

A new study found infants living in poverty often have mothers with depression, The Washington Post reported.

Researchers found 11 percent of babies who lived in poverty had a mom dealing with severe depression, according to the study done by the Urban Institute.

In what was described as the first detailed portrait of its kind... (more)

From Larry Johnson's blog: Looking for Trouble.

Seven years after the invasion of Baghdad, the Iraqi people are experiencing a devastating legacy. Babies are being born with severe deformities and the cancer rate is skyrocketing. The following video from Australian Special Broadcasting Service’s Dateline program offers a visually disturbing look at this legacy.

Please be warned, journalist Fouad Hady, an Iraqi who went to Australia seeking asylum but returned to Iraq for a series of groundbreaking stories, pulls no punches in revealing the depth of the problem. The images are haunting.

(The embedding link has been disabled. When you click to start the video, you will get a message suggesting you watch it on YouTube. Please do. The video is long, but it is definitely worth watching.)

Here is a link to the study mentioned at the end of the video report:

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/7/7/2828/pdf, and a wiki page on the suspected cause:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium.

And here are... (more)

The House of Representatives took a step toward greater government transparency last year by posting its expense reports online, but the clunky PDF format makes it difficult to compare lawmakers’ outlays or to pinpoint exactly how the money is spent. The Senate, on the other hand, is moving at a glacial pace and has yet to offer details about its plan to start publishing expense reports online in 2011.

Each U.S. lawmaker gets an annual allowance of between $1.3 million and $4.5 million to operate their offices, pay staff, buy equipment and supplies, and pay for travel. The amount varies according to whether a lawmaker is a member of the House or Senate, and how far away his or her home state is from Washington.

In June 2009, following an outcry in Britain over Parliamentarians’ expenses, Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the House chief administrative officer to begin publishing the chamber’s expense reports online. The so-called Statement of Disbursements is a quarterly document that captures... (more)

The environmental groups that helped propel Barack Obama to the White House are feeling betrayed during a summer of discontent and climate inaction.

The latest blows to the environmental movement came this week when the administration decided to side with major polluters, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court ruling that would have permitted “nuisance” suits against major greenhouse gas emitters. In a separate decision, the administration also approved loan guarantees for a U.S. maker of coal mining equipment to sell to India.

The Justice Department’s friend-of-the-court filing in the case involving giant utility American Electric Power Co. came as a complete surprise to the green lobby, and had many in the movement turning red.

“What the heck is happening at the White House on climate?” Clean Air Watch asked on its website.

“Some believe the Obama White House, having failed to enact climate change legislation, has adopted the old maxim when it comes... (more)

And USAID Confused?

That, at least, appears to be the assessment of one Till Bruckner, a former Transparency International aid monitor in Georgia (the country in the Caucasus, not the Peach State).

In brief, Bruckner’s complaint stems from a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) he made to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) asking for detailed descriptions of the budget and finances of ten NGOs active in U.S.-sponsored development projects in Georgia.

Flickr, by Austin Kleon

Redacted Information

As a journalist who has had lots of frustrating experiences with FOIAs and trying to get answers from government agencies, I had to chuckle when reading Bruckner’s exasperated comments about waiting 14 months only to receive highly redacted copies of the information. I feel his pain.

Full story at Humanosphere...

It appears the city is still planning to cut its Crime Prevention Coordinator positions next year, and is apparently preparing to farm out some of their duties to police officers and neighbors.

As we've previously written, the CPCs at each of the five precincts work with neighbors to secure their homes using Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, and also help organize block watches and the yearly Night Out, among other things. However, due to budget issues, the CPCs will likely be out of a job next year.

Full story at SeattleCrime.com

Economists, researchers and advocates talk a lot about the economic return of good quality early learning, but few are as compelling and clear as University of Chicago professor James Heckman.

The Nobel Prize-winning economist explains the importance of putting returns of early learning efforts, such as teaching self-discipline and other soft skills, in the correct context, in a question-and-answer on the Washington Post’s “Economics and Domestic Policy, and lots of it” blog.

So what you’re learning is self-discipline, to stay on task, you’re learning social relationships, because you’re doing this assessment collectively, and you’re building a set of life skills that turn out to be important. So we looked at what the consequences were of these changes early in life for the child. And we see that those patterns are there...

Read full blog post at Birth to Thrive

The documentary photography exhibit, “Paradoxes of Living on Holy Land: Photographs from Jerusalem and West Bank,” opens at Seattle University’s Vachon & Kinsey Galleries September 20 and runs through December 3rd. Local photographer Rajiv Kapoor will speak about his work on October 8 at 6 p.m. in Wyckoff Auditorium on campus; a reception and viewing will immediately follow.

The exhibit showcases a series of photographs in two galleries, drawing visitors into a land of conflict and history. Kapoor’s images capture everyday life amid the constant reminders of territorial disputes.

A poster of a martyr hangs in a barbershop. A woman pushes a baby stroller past a checkpoint. In Jerusalem, a city dating back to the beginning of writing (4000 BC), Hasidic Jews can be seen everywhere among Muslims and Christians practicing their faith.

The old city of Jerusalem (0.35 square mile) is a walled area within the modern city of Jerusalem which is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter, the... (more)

Grab your library DVDs now! Seattle public libraries are set to close Monday and remain shut until Tuesday, Sept. 7, due to library budget cuts totaling $3 million.

  Here's a list of the many things you can't do during the closure, according to a library press release:

Services unavailable:

Most Library services will be unavailable during the one-week closure and will have the following impacts:

• No materials will be due and no fines will be accrued.



• The last day to check out Library items before the closure is Sunday, Aug. 29. The Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., will be open until 6 p.m. that day and another 11 branches will be open until 5 p.m. Visit www.spl.org or call 206-386-4636 for more information on Library locations and hours.



• No book drops will be open. The Central Library book drops will close at 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 29 and will reopen at 6 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7. Book drops at branches that are open on Sundays will close at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 29. The book drops will reopen...

The September issue of Fortune magazine will feature a 7-page advertising supplement touting Washington as a great place to do business. One of the key selling points: it's one of a handful states without an income tax. But an income tax measure is on the fall ballot. 

Read the full story here: 

For area church-watchers, the recent news that the Ballard-based Mars Hill Church has purchased the University Baptist Church building may not be surprising, but it is noteworthy, even striking. The tale of these two churches — the decline of one and the ascent of the other — tells a story of larger shifts in the Northwest.

University Baptist Church, near the University of Washington, had long been a standard bearer for progressive religion and social-activist politics. In the 1980s and 1990s, University Baptist was led by Donovan Cook. A charismatic minister, Cook often could be found in the forefront of demonstrations and protests against wars and for social equality. But Cook’s pastorate ended badly. He was charged with having been involved in a string of sexual affairs, some with members of the congregation.

Cook was followed by Tim Phillips, now senior minister at First Baptist Church, just east of downtown on First Hill. The University congregation, under Phillips' leadership,... (more)

Two story themes have come out recently that should remind us that bacteria rule this planet.

Bacteria were here first, they constitute most life on the planet, we wouldn’t survive without them and the best we can probably hope for is prudent accommodation.

A big story over the last few weeks was the warning of a new superbug, which wasn’t quite right.

It was actually a new gene mutation — dubbed New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase 1, or NDM-1 for short — that can transform a normally harmless bacterium like E. coli into a drug-resistant menace.

Full story at Humanosphere...

  "In many fisheries, the minute the season opens, boats race to reel in as many fish as they can," reports Janet Babin of American Public Media's Marketplace.

Photographer Karen Ducey, formerly of Seattle P-I, crabbed under this system in Alaska's Bering Sea.

KAREN DUCEY: You would work around the clock, and you would work like 100 miles an hour -- I think we'd get about four hours of sleep a night. That's where the danger element would come in because you're exhausted.

  Full story and more photos...

  (Above photo depicting Bering Sea crabbing is by Karen Ducey.)

Could autism overwhelm federal programs that support children with disabilities?

Autism appears to be nearly everywhere these days - 1 in 110 children are now diagnosed with the disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It is on “Oprah,” national magazine covers and the minds of parents.

Now there are signs not every child that could have autism is getting diagnosed. Researchers found lower rates of diagnosis among African American and Hispanic families and suggestions that parents’ education may play a role in getting a diagnosis, according to a commentary.

Full story...

RELATED

A special needs family finds few options in today's child care world

If you voted in last week’s primary, pat yourself on the back.

The word from the State Elections Division is that voter turnout for last week’s Primary Election cracked the 40 percent mark today, exceeding the 38 percent turnout that Secretary of State Sam Reed predicted.

According to Elections Director Nick Handy, it’s likely that the final turnout for this primary will be around 41 percent. Regardless, this sets a new modern record for a Washington State Primary held in an even-numbered year in which there was not a presidential election, Handy said. Washington’s 2006 Primary turnout was about 38.8 percent of the state electorate. The 2008 Primary, which was the first to use the Top 2 system, resulted in 42.6 percent voter turnout.

The top four counties for turnout so far in this year’s Primary are Wahkiakum (64 percent), San Juan (63.2 percent), Columbia (62.2 percent) and Lincoln (60.9 percent).

The four counties with the lowest turnout so far are Pierce (35.3... (more)

It is worth noting when the nation’s top central banker talks about things besides interest rates and inflation, and earlier this month Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took time to urge state policymakers to continue investing in early childhood education.

The busy Fed chief reminded his audience that while a strong K-12 system is an important factor in building a good workforce, quality early learning classrooms also play an important role.

Research increasingly has shown the importance for both individuals and the economy as a whole of both early childhood education as well as efforts to promote the lifelong acquisition of skills. The payoffs of early childhood programs can be especially high. (more)

 

more at Birth to Thrive

The following is from the Media with Conscience news site and is used with permission of the author:

Iraq has between 25 and 50 percent unemployment, a dysfunctional parliament, rampant disease, an epidemic of mental illness, and sprawling slums. The killing of innocent people has become part of daily life. What a havoc the United States has wreaked in Iraq.

UN-HABITAT, an agency of the United Nations, recently published a 218-page report entitled State of the World’s Cities, 2010-2011. The report is full of statistics on the status of cities around the world and their demographics. It defines slum dwellers as those living in urban centers without one of the following: durable structures to protect them from climate, sufficient living area, sufficient access to water, access to sanitation facilities, and freedom from eviction.

Almost intentionally hidden in these statistics is one shocking fact about urban Iraqi populations. For the past few decades, prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the percentage... (more)

Most people who die from cancer, and most cancer cases, are in the developing world.

Yet cancer is seldom included in any discussion about global health.

Some powerful people — from the high-profile health activist Dr. Paul Farmer to the even more high-profile Lance Armstrong (not to mention CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta) — want to change that. They present their case for making cancer a global health priority in an article published online Monday in The Lancet and, more generally, on their web site.

Full story...

The cover of the August 9 edition of Time magazine was designed with shock and awe in mind. It shows a picture of Bibi Aisha, a young woman from Afghanistan whose nose and ears had been cut off. The photo was accompanied by the headline: “What happens if we leave Afghanistan”.

I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that Gen. David Petraeus almost simultaneously began giving interviews to The New York Times, the Washington Post, NBC, Meet the Press and others voicing his opinion that a withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan would be unwise.

Normon Solomon wrote an article in Common Dreams.org today, "Gen. Petraeus Goes to Media War," which says: "Let's be clear about what's happening here. The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, with the evident approval of the White House, has launched a fierce media blitz to cripple the policy option of any significant military withdrawal a year from now. Riding high in what is supposed to be a civilian-run military, Petraeus is engaging in strategic... (more)