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For several years, the grocery store on the southwest corner of 28th and Jackson has been plagued with graffiti, vandalism, open-air drug dealing and other criminal activity. The store owner would diligently paint out the graffiti, and it would reappear again and again. One day, Urban Artworks, a local non-profit headed by Leschi resident, Stephanie Tschida, received a phone call from Blast Radius, an online marketing and branding firm, offering 30 volunteers on a Thursday in August. The project, according to Blast Radius, should focus on a youth and family theme. Artworks contacted Randy Beaulieu, coordinator of the Central Seattle Drug Free Coalition (CSDFCC), and proposed a partnership to paint a mural for the 28th and Jackson site. Since the mission of CSDFCC is to reduce use of drugs and alcohol among underage minors, this mural idea was a perfect fit, and the Coalition agreed to fund the project. Urban Artworks’ artist Jake Wagoner, who also created the mural on 22nd and Jackson, designed a ‘Family Tree” idea, where actual frames would be mounted onto the painted tree, and, within the frames, photos of actual neighborhood families past and present! On August 23rd, the 30 wonderful young people from Blast Radius, along with Urban Artworks staff, the Central Seattle Drug Free Communities and Daniel Sims, of Seattle Public Utilities Graffiti removal program, arrived at 11 AM to begin painting the mural and over the graffiti on the opposite side of the building. We were joined by Colman Neighborhood’s Knox Gardner, founder of Jackson Commons, a movement to revitalize Jackson Street, who came with his “Pop-up Cafe”- chairs, tables and umbrellas, giving the site a festive appearance. Several neighborhood volunteers and members of the Seattle Police Department also joined us. As the project progressed, many more folks became involved. Neighbors have proclaimed that they will be watching it...keeping taggers away. We received amazing photos of neighborhood families, including the young Ernestine Anderson, who grew up in the neighborhood! This project has become a legacy to the history and pride of the neighborhood. We are witnessing community building at it's finest! ~Stephanie Tschida

Now that the soil has been softened by fall rains, it is time to tackle some of the invasive weeds trying to overtake our yards and parks. One of the most easily identified is English Ivy, which was originally brought over from Europe to “green up” our fair city after the clear cutting in the early 1900’s. It quickly became a pest, invading vacant lots and parks and attacking trees. It can be controlled by constant maintenance; with annual shearing, it can be a tolerable ground cover. But without a gardening staff to maintain it, it becomes a hazardous invasive, because it wants to climb upon every bush, shrub, tree and building. It flowers and produces berries which are transported by our avian friends to other areas. “Down with English Ivy” should be everyone’s mantra! Another noxious weed in our midst is wild clematis, sometimes called “old man’s beard”, because of the tiny puff balls of seed pods it produces. These become airborne in winter and spring, sprouting everywhere. Wild clematis is also an aerial climber, like English ivy, and with time, it produces tarzan-like cables. In big winds, these cables act like sails, capable of bringing down full-grown trees. Both ivy and clematis are fully controlled only by digging, but the roots can reach sizable proportions. Other invasive weeds that need controlling include Himalayan blackberries, Herb Robert (also called Stinky Bob) and Japanese knotweed to name a few. It is possible to learn more about these weeds and recommendations for control by contacting the King County Noxious Weed Control Program at 206.296.0290. Washington State Noxious Weed Control has an illustrated booklet identifying noxious weeds. Call 360.725.5764 to order PUB 820-264W (n/6/09) or go to nwcb.wa.gov. The Benefits of Eggshells If your family eats eggs regularly or you bake often, do not throw away the eggshells. They are good for your garden and for wild birds! First, you must rinse the eggshells, and then crush them before you add them to your garden beds. High in calcium, eggshells provide a nutrient often deficient in the northwest, according to Ciscoe Morris, but which is required for healthy cell growth in plants. They also release other minerals and nutrients as they break down. The finer the crush, the quicker plants can utilize these nutrients. Just work them into the soil around shrubs and perennials. These same shells, not so finely crushed, help to deter slugs, snails and cutworms, who do not like to have their tender undersides scratched on the sharp points of the shells. Just place around tender plants. Wild birds benefit from crushed eggshells in your garden; they provide grit for digestion and calcium for egg laying females, resulting in stronger egg cases. The Magic of Mulch Leaves from deciduous trees are beneficial to your garden too. Mulch your flower and vegetable garden beds with the fallen fall leaves, they break down over the winter to enrich the soil with many needed nutrients and prevent unwanted weed seeds from germinating, saving you much labor and yielding healthier plants too! The leaf litter also provides a warm and dry habitat for beneficial insects, e.g. ladybugs, butterfly larvae, spiders and others that need to hibernate until spring. If you have a worm bin, you can mix in leaves when it gets smelly or too wet. Or mix with grass clippings to compost at a 1 to 3 ratio. ~Diane Morris (with thanks to Ciscoe Morris (no relation) and Katie Vincent, Garden Hotline Educator for Seattle Tilth)

January 12, 2016—Attending: Diane Snell, Diane Morris, Kim Murillo, Jeff Floor, Yousef Shulman, Amy Fink, and Tracy Bier. Kim/Treasury Diane S. did a lot of work on advertising and brought in ad money. We also have some new advertisers. Please see Kim’s report. Financially we’re in good shape. Diane suggested we go ahead and pay $10,000 for the work done on Frink Park (based on the grant from King County). The motion was made and carried unanimously. Jeff/LURC LURC has been working on re-writing their bylaws. They’re in discussion with Vulcan for a site they may be interested in on the Promenade 23rd S. site. Jeff is looking at this situation as a potential subject for a general meeting. HALA Flexibility HALA is changing regulations around backyard cottages/basement apartments. The group is also looking for flexibility from communities in relaxing single-family zoning. Diane is looking for input/info on this subject. Jeff will take the request to LURC. Programming/February General meeting The board discussed paying an honorarium for the scheduled speaker, writer David Williams. The motion was made and carried. Moorage report The Parks dept. has received 2 proposals. One of the proposals is for Lakewood moorage only. The other proposal is from Foss. ‘Pot Shop’ Buffer Zone Issue The City Council voted to reduce buffer zones from 1000 ft. to 500 ft. Board offered no objections to this. The board noted that the corner Uncle Ike’s occupies has become safer since the pot shop moved in. Website We need a new hosting site; Yousef will research options. Central Area Senior Center Operation of the facility is a part of Senior Services, but the building is owned by the city. Senior Services may be interested in obtaining the building for multiple purposes, including low-income housing. There are some concerns as to whether the proposed changes might result in a loss in terms of community availability to the facility. Reminder Exec board elections are coming up in May. ~Submitted by Amy Fink

Because of a chance stop at a booth at the NW Flower and Garden show, I became familiar with the Blue Orchard or Mason Bee. From this encounter a few years ago, I have become involved in and fascinated by the raising of these energetic little guys and gals. They are native to our area and are perhaps a potential hardy supplement to our troubled imported honeybees. Since they are solitary and do not live in hives, they are less subject to the transfer of disease or pesticides to their compatriots. As pollinators, they are many times more effective per bee than honey bees, and so are potentially valuable for American orchardists. In fact, the Japanese, since WWII, have come to raise and use them extensively for pollination of apples as environmental change affected other pollinators. A recent study by the U. of Vermont Gund Institute shows that Washington State stone fruit production may be at risk due to the decline of native bees. This summer, our Mayor announced a “Bee Week” following a resolution by the City Council to make Seattle the nation’s largest Bee City. Native wild bees are an integral part of this effort. In fact, the U.S. Agriculture Dept. has funded a large study by Washington State University of native pollinators and their role in organic food systems. The research project will continue through 2016 on 18 local farms. You can Google or Yahoo “NW Pollinator Initiative” and “Common Acre” for more information. I have a small supply of Mason Bee cocoons and wooden blocks that are used to provide the holes that the bees need to raise their next generation. If any readers are interested in raising these gentle bees either for fruit tree pollination or just in order to observe their busy life cycle, they may contact me through the News. I will advise on placement and will collect the cocoons and materials at the end of the season. There is no need to feed or water them, just to enjoy. You do need to be quick though, because the bees will be ready to go soon and their housing needs to be set up and ready by late February, or early March at the latest. Placing these bees throughout Leschi will encourage more efficient pollination of our plants and trees. ~Jim Snell

BOOK REVIEW I've been reading (to be honest, listening to a downloadable audio book from our wonderful library) about Washington. Not that swampy place by the Potomac, the real living, breathing one. The book is Ron Chernow's Pulitzer-winning biography Washington: A Life . Chernow has had the benefit of the years of editing of Washington's vast collected papers that has taken place since the great biographies of the past were written. This new biography is certainly worth reading for that reason alone, but Chernow is also a fine writer, balanced in his views and with a gift for sorting through this enormous bulk of Washington's writings for the trenchant vignette. He also seems to have made himself thoroughly familiar with the many colorful people associated with Washington over his long career. Luckily, Washington had an eye on documenting his place in history, even demanding that handwritten copies of his correspondence be made in the field and shipped separately to guard against capture or loss. Washington emerges as just the person the nation wanted and needed for the role he was destined to play: man of integrity, somewhat aloof and above the hurly-burly of politics, tall and full of the gravitas expected in a leader of men and head of state. Of course, certain factoids will remain burned into my failing memory, such as the smallpox scars on his nose and cheeks, his hippopotamus ivory teeth, stained brown by port, and his sending to London after his marriage for Spanish Fly. He didn't hesitate to shoot mutinying soldiers. And he was a captive of his cultural conditioning, as we all are, being mystified that his house slaves, on at least two occasions, fled to freedom. He seems to have lost control of Indians under his command during a border skirmish (some have called it an ambush) with French troops before the French and Indian War was declared. On this occasion a French officer was clubbed to death while trying to read a diplomatic proclamation regarding French territorial claims. He then downplayed the rather gory facts in his report of the affair. He was quite ambitious in his youth and anxious to move up and into the higher realms of the very class-conscious Virginia society where British landed grandees ruled. He indulged in some sharp practices in accumulating great acreage in the West using agents who concealed his identity as they negotiated. He was always conscious of how he was being perceived by the larger society around him, especially as he became a prominent actor on the political stage. He was quite concerned with money and making his farms profitable. This entailed meticulous supervision of every detail of management through his overseers, and constant personal observation of his slaves' performance. He was not an advocate of severe punishments, but felt that the slaves had to be constantly supervised to prevent malingering. He was an affectionate husband and generous paterfamilias for the large extended family that surrounded him in his later years, and generous to friends in need. He seemed to have given his slaves the standard, rather meager allowance of clothing, but allowed them a good deal of freedom in the raising of food in their own plots and allowed them to travel to the town markets, unsupervised on occasion. There must have been an atmosphere of trust between him and his home farm slaves because there is recorded at least one occasion of slaves being given guns and allowed to hunt at Mt. Vernon. He was interested in the newest methods of farming and was a diligent reader of the scientific literature on that subject. He came to the conclusion that the crops that had demanded large numbers of slaves in order to be profitable were not the way of the future and experimented with new crops. In later years, when a good portion of his slaves were either aging or too young to do heavy work, he decided that he should free them all because he was very reluctant to sell slaves. That would break up families. However, ownership of a large proportion of them was in the hands of his wife and ultimately of her children by her earlier marriage. He did manumit his own slaves, but only upon his death. So, though he may be seen, from his expressions to others and his private writings, to want to free his slaves, this was impossible as he saw it. Washington was always under great financial stress. This was due to a combination of the economics of slave agriculture and his need to present himself as expected within the planter class. He felt the need to entertain according to southern standards of hospitality at home and the standards of polite northern society when he went north. And he obviously enjoyed living well. The long lists of luxuries ordered from London make this clear. His speculation in western land never brought him much profit. He was not a shrewd and grasping person, despite his clear desire to make money and move ahead in society. A striking proof of this is his refusal to accept a salary as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. He continually expresses the desire, above all else, to prove his impeccable honesty and dedication to the revolutionary cause. This unshakable adherence to a code of high integrity was held throughout his career, though he saw all about him merchants making fortunes while his soldiers literally starved and went without boots and coats. The stories of bloody footprints along the line of march, and men falling by the wayside and freezing to death are not exaggerations, according to Chernow. The modern reader finds it difficult to understand why the lower ranks of the army continued to fight without pay or decent supplies for months on end while others when conscripted could pay for substitutes. His physical courage was astounding. He braved bullets in very exposed situations, while men fell all about him and horses were shot from under him on several occasions. He appeared to genuinely feel that his fate was in the hands of Providence, though he was not a particularly fervent churchgoer. Washington had the looks and presence required of a charismatic leader, and at six feet, with his characteristic manner of standing straight as a ram-rod and stately walk, he impressed everyone when he entered a room, according to countless contemporary accounts. He was not easy to work for, demanding unceasing attention to detail by his subordinates and squads of clerks laboring over his tremendous correspondence when in office. But he also formed close and affectionate attachments to his immediate aides, typically very bright young men who could have been the sons that he and Martha never had. Notably, his attachment to Lafayette remained despite Lafayette's prominent role in the French Revolution to which Washington was strongly opposed. His demands could become unsupportable for a strong-willed subordinate, as Chernow relates in an incident in which Alexander Hamilton quits when upbraided for not hopping-to quite quickly enough. To his credit, the chief acknowledges his error and apologizes to Hamilton. But Hamilton gracefully declines to continue. He already had his eye on higher political position. Washington could swear a blue streak, but seemed to save such outbursts to confined quarters, or when in the field, to occasions when his men were dropping their guns and fleeing. He was very careful not to appear to be proud of his achievements. Washington typically was rather reticent in brilliant company. He felt his lack of conversational adroitness, and believed his lack of a college education put him at a disadvantage among men of distinction. However, his wide reading and great curiosity regarding science and history is evident in his very extensive correspondence on all sorts of matters. It was noted that he could loosen up noticeably when suitably lubricated with port. He liked the women who attended his table and often charmed them greatly. He liked to dance, though Martha did not, and often would expend a good deal of the evening dancing with some of the ladies when the government was established in New York or Philadelphia. He seems never to have had an improper affair with any woman, though his correspondence shows he was clearly attracted platonically to the wife of a close friend and neighbor in his early days, and perhaps another woman in his later years. I will leave the battle narratives for the reader to explore, but just say Washington seems by general consensus not to have been a brilliant tactician, slow to respond to quickly changing conditions in the field. But his great strength was in his unshakable determination to prevail over terrible circumstances, his developed skill in choosing his officers, the loyalty he inspired in his men, his very evident high integrity when this was in short supply among the politicians, and his sheer commanding presence when the nation desperately needed such a person. This last as much as anything may have swayed King Louis XVI to send the aid that tipped the balance of power in our favor, brought the defeat of Cornwallis, and convinced the British that the fight was not worth the cost. ~Jim Snell

BOOK REVIEW Since we have a clutch of big tax chiselers right here in River City*, this subject interests me greatly. As the Great Recession drags on for six years, with 9300 homeless just in our county, I have been puzzled by our economy’s apparent inability to right itself. This book and a couple of others have opened my eyes to central problems that don’t seem to get much attention, and certainly not clear analysis, in the media. To my mind the problems are those of offshoring of jobs, offshoring and withholding of capital, the resulting debt and the avoidance and shifting of tax burden down the social scale, further reducing the spendable incomes needed for a robust economy. This has all been done under the rubric of “deregulation for efficiency” and the supposed provision of more for everyone. However, any greater efficiency and increased GDP that has occurred since the deregulation craze began in the Carter Administration is due to advances in science, I believe, not deregulation. The fruits of scientific advance, on the other hand, are not being shared fairly. Much of the great developments in science are funded by us all through government sponsored research, and in any case are not the fundamental product of the creativity of the 1% who have reaped most of the benefits. The book Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson deals with the offshoring problem, i.e., the wizardry of tax avoidance, tax evasion, and the hiding of illegally acquired assets. He makes the case that this seriously hurts us, Europeans and the people of less-developed nations equally. The money lost just by U.S. taxpayers is estimated to be $100 billion per year. Just think how that might be used productively here. Google “Jeff Reifman and Crosscut” for a local example. As I listen to Thom Hartmann today pointing out that a third of all U.S. taxes in the Eisenhower years were paid by corporations and that it is now down to 8%, I think about the story told so entertainingly and persuasively by this book. It is a story of the offshore ways that U.S. corporations have perfected since the Eisenhower years to accomplish this. It is also a history of the development of opportunities to hide illegally acquired loot that has been offered internationally to new political leaders as the French, British and American colonial empires were nominally dissolved and the local elites adjusted their larcenous methods. Shaxson is a journalist who has specialized in African affairs, has written for the Economist and Financial Times and is an associate fellow with the Royal Institute of International Affairs. He begins his story with his own introduction to a mixture of oil money, French politics, intelligence services and bribery as it was applied to wealth extraction in Gabon, the small ex-French colony in West Africa. Wealth extraction and its concentration elsewhere is the theme of this book and that is what he sees as the greatly destructive effect of tax havens. They often divert funds in ways that corrupt democratic government at the source and always leave it less productive at its final resting place, or worse, free to finance mayhem. The small oil-rich ex-French colony of Gabon is portrayed as a jewel in the crown of post-colonial power relationships. Here the French even bivouacked a few hundred paratroopers within quick reach of the dictator’s palace by means of a tunnel, just to assure his continued compliant reign. He lived to be the world’s longest serving chief of state. As it happened, the author’s visit to Gabon came as what became known as the giant ELF Aquitaine corruption affair began to explode in France, revealing some of the nastier political and criminal effects of such arrangements. That, as he tells it, drew him into the study of tax havens that produced the book. His narrative draws the reader in like a novel of international intrigue. It has the appeal of telling you about the bad and semi-bad guys who are reaming you tax-wise, supported by extensive footnotes you can ignore, while making the whole thing go down easily, greased with spicy details. There is the overly inquisitive accountant who is poisoned, a miniature coffin sent to a French investigating magistrate, secret handshakes, the detective who knows when to back off, an executive found in the back of his burning hatchback, and naked girls greeting drug lords when they touch down at private Caribbean airfields. Even the statistics are riveting: As the dust jacket blurb points out, over half of world trade is routed through tax havens. Off balance sheet practices that caused much of the crash of 2008 can be traced to tax havens. And ten times as many dollars we send in aid to developing countries slip out the back door to the secret tax haven accounts of corrupt rulers and elites. Shaxson digs deeper and deeper into the details of the tangled and growing mass of havens such as Liechtenstein, the Isle of Jersey, the Caymans,the Bahamas, Hong Kong, Nevada, Delaware, Wyoming, Nauru and on and on. He finds that the connections circle back to The City of London. This is a small enclave within London proper that has only 9000 or so real inhabitants. It has been the center of international finance since the glory days of the British Empire and because of the firms officially located there has developed the strands of what he characterizes as a web of unregulated and obscure financial transactions for the purpose of secrecy. While Switzerland may be the final resting place of a great deal of invisible money, the records that would be necessary to trace the travels of that money are protected from any agency’s discovery by this carefully constructed web at which The City is the center. As we know from our daily news, London continues to provide the seductive advantages of dodgy financial supervision. You get whiffs of this in the episode of Morgan Chase’s multi-billion dollar London Whale fracas and the criminal fixing of international interest rates, to say nothing of the several strange Morgan employee deaths. Then there is the chapter detailing the corrupting effect of captured small governments on larger countries through the threat that companies can then make of leaving a relatively respectable jurisdiction for more complacent climes. The examples of Delaware and Jersey are striking. There, successful efforts were mounted to effect lax legislation in Parliament and Washington allowing, respectively, audit firms to avoid liability for bad audits and banks to remove limits on usurious credit card interest rates, both things that certainly contributed to our current troubles. All of this is justified, it seems, using the new twisted free market philosophy of subverting and reducing government while using what government remains greedily for special purposes. But the most troubling aspect of this story is the effect these financial pipelines out of poor countries have on their economies. This, he claims, is why places with great potential mineral or agricultural wealth remain desperately poor. Contrary to self serving theories of the benefits of minimal government, he argues, poor countries need sufficient bureaucracy to enforce a system of taxation, one to create the proper infrastructure conducive to a modern productive society and prevent this very outflow of loot that drains the country of investment funds. A healthy and honestly administered tax system, he says, can encourage creation of local enterprise and the democracy giving residents a stake in civil society that we tell less developed societies they should have. He finishes by providing a list of several correctives to the ills he sees, all of which are impossible to enact given the present political scene. The next step in any program of reform will clearly have to involve removal of the suffocating influence of big money in U.S. politics. That is another book altogether and a rant I will reserve for another day. A book that explores the matter of the economics of less developed nations, and in my opinion pretty persuasively destroys the inflexible “free-trade” rationale of the IMF and World Bank, is Cambridge professor Ha-Joon Chang’s Bad Samaritans. He points out that, in contrast with less developed nations of the present day, in our Gilded Age we had the advantage that the loot of the great buccaneers was kept at home to be invested by them in our economy. That book won’t be as much fun. No death, drugs and intrigue, but you might try looking at it as well. The two together could just shake up your whole worldview. Good books can do that. ~Jim Snell *“Right here in River City” refers to the song “Ya got Trouble” from The Music Man.

Backyard birding is a wonderful way of observing wildlife from the comfort of your own home. In all seasons, it’s possible to attract a steady flow of birds to a well-stocked and well-positioned bird feeder. The green spaces that punctuate the shores of Lake Washington attract a wide variety of birds that may be passing through in any season. The parks and gardens in Leschi and Madrona provide an abundant source of food, shelter and nesting habitat for songbirds. (Bushtits feasting on a suet feeder.) A well-sited feeder can animate a garden and help observers develop an informed understanding and appreciation of some of the amazing wildlife that is probably outside of the window - right now! Collectively, by feeding birds together, our neighborhood has the potential to be a sanctuary for birds! This mini-guide is based on my experience of attracting some of our feathery friends to gardens in Madrona and Leschi, and it is not intended to be comprehensive. The lists of birds that I have provided are based on the birds that I have seen in my backyard. (Downy Woodpecker) Please note: Basic hygiene is essential with feeders and they should be cleaned on a regular basis – this minimizes the transmission of viruses. Tip: If possible, buy a feeder with a tray underneath to catch any discarded seed. Many birds like to feed off of the discarded seed that ends up on the ground, however, in urban areas they are easily predated by cats (I own one too), so I prefer to prevent any uncontrolled spillage. Furthermore, discarded food is likely to attract mice and/or rats. (House Finch) Backyards To become a backyard birder, you don’t even need a backyard! I lived in a downtown apartment with a tiny balcony, but I was still able to attract a steady stream of finches and chickadees. A balcony will suffice but a garden with any shrubs or trees nearby is likely to attract a much wider variety of birds. Please note: Anna’s Hummingbirds overwinter in Seattle. They are at the northernmost edge of their winter range in NW America and as a result are extremely susceptible to temperature changes. If their feeders freeze over, or are not cleaned and replenished at least twice a week, the chances of your hummingbirds surviving the winter are severely reduced. Before even thinking about feeding hummingbirds in winter (or any other birds), please consider the commitment that will need to be made to ensure that they survive! (Anna's Hummingbird) Tip: Binoculars come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. I would recommend a pair of 8 x 32 magnification binoculars that can be purchased from an Audubon store that specializes in birding optics. Feeders, Food and Birds There are a number of different types of feeders that are available and they are all effective in attracting different types of bird when sited correctly. I use all three of the commonly available types listed below, but any one will provide you with years of joy if they are well stocked: 1. Squirrel proof seed feeder – the metal caged feeders are the best and, if you buy one with more than 6 holes, you won't have to fill it every other day. When choosing a feeder, select one that has a canopy to protect the seed from rain. Seed for the seed feeder – It’s possible to buy a wide range of seeds for your feeder but by far I find sunflower heart chips to be the most successful in attracting a wide range of locally common species. Sunflower chips are expensive; I find it cheaper to buy several sacks that will last me through the winter! BIRDS: Northern Flicker Black-Capped Chickadee Chestnut-Backed Chickadee Red-Breasted Nuthatch Spotted Towhee (ground) Song Sparrow (ground) Golden-Crowned Sparrow (ground – winter) Dark-Eyed Junco House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow 2. Squirrel proof suet feeder – I prefer the metal caged varieties that hold at least two blocks of suet; the greater the capacity, the less it will need to be refilled. Suet blocks for suet feeder – Suet blocks are fantastic at attracting other types of birds that do not frequent seed feeders and they tend to last a long time. The blocks come in a number of varieties where the suet is mixed with berries, seeds or even insects. I find the insect varieties work best. BIRDS: Flicker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Stellar’s Jay Bushtit Red-breasted Nuthatch Yellow-Rumped Warbler Townsend’s Warbler Bewick’s Wren 3. Hummingbird feeders – These tiny birds with their flashy iridescent colors are the jewel in the crown of the birds that can be attracted into a backyard. It’s also possible to attract hummingbirds to feed right next to a window, which allows for fantastic close-up views. Hummingbirds are attracted to anything red, so most feeders on the market consist of a clear container to hold liquid food solution and a red plastic feeding station. Hummingbird feeders are the cheapest of feeders to buy, BUT they are the most difficult to maintain, and careful consideration should be given before getting one. By nature, hummingbirds are highly territorial and once established, they will defend their feeder from other hummingbirds that may take an interest in what they consider to be their food supply. Food for hummingbirds – I feed hummingbirds with granulated white sugar diluted in warm water on a ratio of five parts water to one part sugar. BIRDS: Anna’s Hummingbird Rufous Hummingbird (mainly summer months) Two Other Essentials The two other things that a backyard birder should consider buying are: Field guide – It’s always nice to be able to identify what you are looking at! There are lots of field guides available, some that focus on birds in Seattle and some that focus on Washington; my preference is for The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. Binoculars – It helps if you can see what you are looking at! Although binoculars are not absolutely essential (especially if feeders are located near windows), they help with identification, and the views that are attainable with modestly priced optics are probably worth the investment. So long as you commit to filling your feeders up, you will be rewarded with a constant stream of different birds at different times of the year. Siting Feeders Garden birds do not particularly like feeding in the open where they are likely to be predated, so you will attract more birds by locating your feeder near to shrubs or trees where birds can shelter from any danger. Always site feeders high enough off the ground so that they are out of reach of cats - seeing the beloved Townsend's Warbler that frequented your feeder in the jaws of your neighbor’s pet is not what any backyard birder wants to see! Don’t situate them above plants where cats can hide in wait. A feeder situated above a clear area will provide ground feeding birds with a better opportunity to flee if a cat is present. Birds likely to be predated on the ground include sparrows, towhees and juncos. Seasonal Variations There are significant variations in the types of birds that can be attracted to your backyard that are based on the types of trees and even the aspect of a property. For example, woodpeckers are more common in areas with localized tree cover than in areas that don’t have many trees. Some birds are very specific about the type of habitat that they need. Where you live in Madrona or Leschi and where you locate your feeder will determine the type of birds that you attract. Uncommon Birds By attracting birds into your garden, it’s possible that you will also attract other birds that associate with flocks but that don’t feed on your feeder. I’m not sure whether this occurs because birds have their curiosity aroused by the activity of other birds, but several times this year Red Crossbills have been present within large flocks (charms) of Pine Siskins. At any time of the year, it’s possible to attract less common birds, so always expect unexpected visitors! Here are a few of the less common birds that I’ve seen in my backyard whilst living in both Madrona and Leschi: Hutton’s Vireo Western Scrub-Jay Western Tanager Yellow Warbler Townsend’s Warbler Wilson's Warbler Cedar Waxwing Spotted Towhee Red Crossbill Evening Grosbeak Birds of prey like Coopers Hawk and Sharp Shinned Hawk are also likely to be drawn towards the small flocks of songbirds that congregate near your feeder(s). When these stealthy predators strike, be prepared for some natural attrition - this hobby has everything to do with bringing the natural world into your backyard! Remember to occasionally look up, too! Overflying birds that I have seen include: Turkey Vulture Merlin Peregrine Falcon Bald Eagle Vaux’s Swift For those living closer to the margins of Lake Washington, the opportunities to observe additional species abound, but for now this article is for budding backyard birders! Perhaps that is for another day. All photographs were taken in my backyard - © Clive Lissaman 2013 Useful Resources Feeder Manufacturers Duncraft - http://www.duncraft.com Local Stores Selling Feeders The Nature Shop Seattle Audubon Society 35th Ave. NE Seattle, WA 98115 www.seattleaudubon.org/sas/TheNatureShop.aspx Seward Park Environmental & Audubon Center 5902 Lake Washington Blvd S Seattle, WA 98118 http://sewardpark.audubon.org Wild Birds Unlimited Overlake Square 15155 NE 24th St. Redmond, WA 98052 http://redmond.wbu.com Free Online Resources Free web based field guide with songs and calls - Birdweb: http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/index.aspx Free local bird news and stories by email – Tweeters http://www.scn.org/tweeters/ Advice from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/backyard/ APPS Audubon Birds, A Field Guide to North American Birds – by Green Mountain Digital Sibley eGuide to Birds of North America – by mydigitalearth.com Field Guides Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America – (2003) David Sibley, Random House Inc Birds of Seattle and Puget Sound - City Bird Guides (1996), Lone Pine Publishing Birds of Washington State, (2006) Brian H. Bell and Gregory Kennedy, Lone Pine Publishing About Clive Lissaman Clive has had a lifelong interest in birds and has travelled in Europe, Africa, North America and Asia in pursuit of his hobby. Clive is an Arts Education Consultant working locally and internationally on a wide range of projects. Clive and his family lived in Leschi for about two years and recently moved to Madrona.

BOOK REVIEW Though the title implies that this is another book on the stock market, it is, rather, a review of the history of America’s experiment with democracy and of the difficulties that experiment has entailed over the years. It includes, of course, a prophecy. This might sound depressing and dull, but it is not. For those who are not familiar with Thom Hartmann through his many books and his daily call-in program on KBCS, it should be made clear that he is an unabashed progressive, totally committed to social democracy. His beliefs conform to those of Jefferson and he frequently cites Jefferson’s letters in support of his views. This is lively in its combativeness. His enemy is monopoly capitalism and the excessive inequality in welfare and political power that it causes. The surprising phenomenon of the insurgency of Sanders and Trump may make this book especially timely for those who have turned away from politics in disgust. The failure of both parties to deal with the nation’s economic problems has clearly contributed to terrible rates of voting participation over the years. Yet the excitement generated by Obama, (quickly disappointed) and the emergence of the current insurgents may indicate a political sea change in activism is in progress. The question at hand is whether this will lead to more or less effective political representation for society as a whole, and whether its effect upon the general welfare will be beneficial. Hartmann argues that removal of big money as an influence in politics, the universities and corporate news media is key. If you are wondering what all the fuss is about among the Bernie-ites, this book will present their point of view with lots of easily digested historical references as backup, going back to Aristotle and forward through Lincoln to FDR. His analysis of our problems relies heavily on Jefferson’s radical thoughts on the need for periodic adjustment of the laws to current circumstances. Jefferson believed the living generations (about two) should deal with their own welfare, and not be bound to past generations’ ways. Hartmann also believes in the existence of a “Great Forgetting” by the generations, which explains the recurring 80 year cycle since the 1760’s of financial excess and crash, war, reform, and a return to concentration of wealth. He refers to Arnold Toynbee and current historians in this matter. They see a cycle consisting of about four generations during which the experience of the difficulties of the previous period disappear from the cultural memory, allowing the cycle to continue. His hope is clearly that the historically unprecedented explosion of the middle class after WWII and the Roosevelt reforms might break this cycle through better education and welfare. But the middle class must be preserved as essential to this. To my mind, his material on the effect of tax and trade policies since the early 80’s on our middle class is most important. He bears down on the influence of reduced tax rates on corporate leaders’ decisions to either invest in their company or take money out in the form of bonuses, salaries, stock options and dividends. The reduced tax rates begun by Reagan are seen as inducing this tendency to take the money and run, letting domestic investment in technological advancement languish. He sees the offshoring of wealth and jobs and a turning to international banking financial legerdemain as a direct result of the lowering in tax rates for the very wealthy begun in the 80’s. He believes this has led to the breaking of the domestic circulatory flow of production and employment and the subsequent reduction of demand for production within our economy. This in turn, has caused the great disparities in income and wealth we have experienced. In this regard, it is persuasive that writers, such as Forbes columnist, Eamonn Fingleton and Reagan’s former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and associate Wall Street Journal editor Paul Craig Roberts, support this analysis. In fact, Roberts is so fervent a convert that he advises his readers to read deeply and take-to-heart the writings of Michael Hudson, a Socialist economist. Hudson advocates government infrastructure investment, and student and consumer debt forgiveness, as necessary to escape the debt-deflation trap we are mired in now. And our own Nick Hanauer advises his fellow billionaires to take heed, that the pitchforks may come if they don’t soon embrace reform. Change is certainly in the wind. ~Jim Snell

Thank you to everyone who checked their labels and renewed their membership! And a special thanks to those of you who included something extra for our work in the community. And thanks to those who wrote some atta boys, i.e., “Thanks for all you do in the community! “ Now that we are in 2016, it seems like a good time to review the 2015 goals that we set. It’s certainly a mixed bag of success and failure! We did keep up the stairway work until November; both rain and the fact that SDOT had recently cleaned the Spruce St. stairs forced us to cancel. We will start up again in March. The Living Wall on the Lake Dell retaining wall became an impossibility as not enough space had been left at the base of the wall to install plants. We will consider other options, but they are significantly more expensive. No threats to Bus #27 were perceived, but the best way to keep this bus is to ride it, so it’s up to all of us! Great difficulties finding a date for the annual ArtWalk interfered with plans to have a concert on the pier, but that is still in our plans for this year. Membership increased slowly; we did not have a membership drive and we need to discuss that for this year. There is strength in numbers and we need to increase our numbers. NextDoor Leschi is now another venue for posting our events; thanks to Jeff Floor for keeping this up. Improving relationships with Parks was a mixed bag according to John Barber, who has the most interaction with that department as our Parks Chair. In the November Leschi News, he detailed what worked and what didn’t. We need to keep a dialogue going with Parks. We will create new goals for 2016; please forward any ideas you might have to leschinews@comcast.net. If you want to become more involved, check out the volunteer activities on our website at leschinews.com and do consider running for office in May. Our current officers are term-limited and we need new folks to step forward and assume these responsibilities. We’ll post the positions and the tasks in the March issue and you can always email us at leschinews@comcast.net or call 206-726-0923 if you want to talk to someone about the tasks involved for each position. Be the change you want to see in the world. ~Gandhi ~Diane Morris & Diane Snell

BOOK REVIEW Michael Perino’s 2010 history of the Pecora hearings entitled The Hellhound of Wall Street will induce any reader to ask: Why we can’t find such a crossexamining prodigy today? The story begins in 1932 when a progressive Republican Senator, angered by years of the bankers’ poor treatment of farmers, and now Chairman of the Banking and Currency Committee, resolves to delve into the causes of the Great Depression. He knows he will soon be relegated to Senate obscurity as the Democrats take power and that this inquiry is his last chance to leave his mark and influence policy in a matter close to his heart. After a series of very cautious interrogators are appointed as Committee Counsel and go through the motions for short periods and then withdraw for various reasons, Senator Norbeck of S. Dakota finds Ferdinand Pecora, it seems, only as a desperate, flailing accident of history. Pecora is a diminutive Sicilian immigrant who, through prodigious effort and talent, and against all odds in a period rife with anti-Italian prejudice, pulled himself into moderate prominence as an honest New York City Assistant District Attorney. His life story in itself is a tribute to our dream of American opportunity for all and this appeal helped catch the eye of the press. However, the New York press had been strangely somnolent despite the graveness of the county’s situation until Pecora’s questions began to provide good copy. He soon had the Senate press gallery hanging on his every word as his remarkable skills of cross-examination begin to appear. The details of his investigative methods and his rather quick stripping-away of his tycoon subjects' supposed infallibility makes fascinating reading for anyone with a taste for courtroom drama. I am inclined to guess that another interrogator with the same energy, self-confidence, flair for the dramatic, integrity, and, most essential of all, the backing of a fearless Senator or two could do something similar to our lords of creation today, given the support of a truly independent major media. The author begins with a moving description of the state of the nation and Washington D.C. in 1933 as Roosevelt delivers his inaugural address. He reviews the stark facts on that day at the bottom of the Great Depression, and I take the following from his narrative: Thirty-eight states had closed all their banks. Bank failures had been running in the thousands per year. In those days, before Federal deposit insurance, one-fourth of the country’s families had lost their life savings. Industrial production was one-half of the 1929 level. Unemployment was at 25%. Shantytowns were popping up everywhere. Bread lines wound around city blocks throughout the country. The signs of malnutrition among schoolchildren were increasing. On the day before the inauguration, the DOW was down 86% from its extreme 1929 peak. The NY stock exchange had announced it would be closed indefinitely. Pundits had been calling for Roosevelt to assume dictatorial powers. In parts of the country, revolution was openly discussed. The previous summer Douglas MacArthur and Dwight Eisenhower had dispersed hundreds of World War I veterans gathered to petition for early release of promised bonuses. Cavalry, drawn sabers, fixed bayonets, tanks and tear gas had been used. There was still tension in the city. Machine gun emplacements were set up along the inaugural parade route. A crowd of 100,000 shivered expectantly before the East Portico of the Capitol. Roosevelt promised “action and action now” while Hoover sat next to him grim-faced. Applause suddenly erupted from the quiet crowd when he said that the moneychangers had fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization and that we may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. Roosevelt said that the words came to him as he sat in church. But, as the author says, it was clearly Pecora’s revelations of greed, arrogance, bad judgment, and tax evasion in hearings concluded just two days before that prepared the country for the reforms of Roosevelt's historic "100 Days." The lesson for me is that even Pecora could not have done what he did without the support of a sympathetic press and a resolute Senate Committee willing to issue subpoenas to obtain answers under oath to his penetrating questions. Today, that appears to require campaign finance reform. ~Jim Snell

Friends of Peppi’s Woods received a grant in July from the Department of Neighborhoods to do the work to formalize the informal social trail at the north end of the woods. By widening the trail which currently exists and modifying it to save trees as well as reduce the slope of the trail, we will make the access to the woods easier for a broader range of people. Many Leschi residents as well as parents of Leschi students have committed time to participate in work parties or provide refreshments for work parties. With the support of Seattle Parks Department Natural Area Crew, we will prepare the route for the trail, and cover it with gravel. Our steering committee consists of John Barber, Erikka Sagor, Joanne Donohue, Jana Robbins, Liz Ohlson and 5 students from Leschi whose intimate knowledge of the woods is essential to our work. The focus of our Saturday, October 18 work party will be the removal of the ubiquitous invasive plants throughout the woods and removal of plants from the trail route. On Saturday, November 8, our fall planting will occur. Further work party dates will be determined as we coordinate our trail work with Seattle Parks Department. We thank Leschi residents for their enthusiasm for and appreciation of the work done to restore the woods. ~Liz Ohlson

Thanks to the Leschi residents who came forward to be bee stewards as we place mason bees throughout the neighborhood. Each steward receives a shelter with a wooden bee-nesting block. At the end of the season, the homes and the blocks will be collected. The harvested bee cocoons can be traded in for permanent nesting blocks and shelters should the steward want to continue, but the important object of this is to spread pollinator awareness and a sensitivity to chemical threats to bees and other living things around us. One of the stewards has a small orchard and the Mason bees really like early stone fruits so we are anxious to see what happens in this setting. Even if you don’t have a bee home, you can encourage bees by planting the flowers and plants that attract bees. Neighbor Ruby Holland has been doing this and sends us some suggestions. ~Jim Snell