Skyline Happenings

Thanks to Bob P. for this whacky story from historylink.org.

On October 26, 1954, Roy Bergo pilots a child’s bathtub equipped with an outboard motor in an attempt to travel 1,200 miles from Edmonds, Washington, to Alaska. He returns the next day, having made it as far as Whidbey Island.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

The 50-year-old adventurer had quit his guard’s job at the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe earlier that year, and planned his voyage to publicize the International Canoe Racing Association, which he founded. During construction of his unique vessel, Bergo reduced his weight to 144 pounds, because the baby bathtub — measuring 18 x 36 inches and 11 inches deep — could not accommodate his 178-pound frame.

He attached two stovepipes to the washtub, outrigger-style, to act as pontoons. The craft was powered by a 2-horsepower outboard motor. Besides Bergo, the tub was stuffed with a seat cushion, a jug of extra gas, a tarp, a rain jacket, an oar, and other items essential for ocean travel. His plan was to gas up wherever he camped ashore each evening. He wouldn’t state how much money he was carrying, but said he had plenty of sandwiches and candy bars to eat.

The High Seas Await

Intentionally missing from his inventory of goods were maps, charts, and navigational instruments. “I will rely on my own judgment,” he stated. “I have the utmost confidence in my own ability and judgment.” Bergo expected his trip to take 25 days, and he hoped to acquire a sponsor by the time he reached Port Angeles.

More than 100 spectators gathered at Jim’s Boathouse in Edmonds to bid him bon voyage. Newspaper reporters, along with television and newsreel camera operators, were there too. Bergo’s wife and daughter were also in attendance, as were Coast Guard officials. Bergo was not to sail alone. Coast Guard officials planned to follow him as far as he went, and were ready to issue him a ticket for reckless operation if his craft floundered or sank.

Dressed in a wool cap, sweatshirt, and blue jeans, the intrepid navigator made a few statements to the press. He kissed his wife and daughter and then climbed into the craft. Out on the water, he lit up a smoke, waved goodbye, and away he went.

Journey’s End

By nightfall he had traveled 12 miles to Double Bluff, Whidbey Island — just past Useless Bay — and decided to camp for the evening. He set out the next morning, but after 15 minutes into the second leg of his trip, his motor conked out. Bergo tinkered with it, but could not repair it.

His glorious adventure over almost before it had began, Bergo signaled the Coast Guard for help. The perturbed guardsmen took him aboard, gave him passage back to his camp at Double Bluff, dropped him off, and informed him that he’d have to make his way back to Edmonds on his own.

Leaving his one-of-a-kind craft on the shores of Double Bluff, he began the long walk back home. As one observer later stated, “The poor guy. Bergo didn’t even bring back the ring from his tub.”

llie Young, 34, started the Ride to the Polls campaign in 2020 to register new voters in person and online

Melissa Hellmann in The Guardian (thanks to Pam P.)

In Diné, or Navajo, culture, the horse symbolizes strength and resilience, as well as a connection to the earth. Cowboy culture is so relevant to Native communities, that horseback trail rides are used to draw awareness to issues within the community including suicide prevention, and alcohol and drug use, said Allie Young, a 34-year-old Diné grassroots organizer. This fall, Young has harnessed the trail ride to engage Diné voters for the presidential election: her group’s voter-registration events will culminate with 100 Indigenous voters riding on horseback to a polling station in Arizona on election day.

“When one mounts a horse and is in rhythm with the horse, that reconnection happens,” Young, founder of the Indigenous-led civic engagement program Protect the Sacred, told the Guardian. “So when we’re connected with the horse, we’re then reconnected to Mother Earth and reminded of our cultural values and what we’re fighting for, what we’re protecting.”

Native American turnout is especially critical in the upcoming election, when tribal sovereignty could be threatened by the conservative blueprint Project 2025, which states that fossil fuel drilling should be facilitated on tribal lands. Political representation that brings needed resources into Native communities is particularly important on tribal lands, where 75% of roads remain unpaved. In part due to Young’s advocacy, Native American voters are credited with flipping the historically red state of Arizona to Democrat during the 2020 election. That year, up to 90% of the roughly 67,000 eligible voters in the Navajo Nation voted for Joe Biden, according to data. (click on Page 2 to continue)

Thanks to Pam P.

Thanks to Sybil-Ann

Thanks to Kate B.

Thanks to Mike C. who notes that this should be THE issue.

Videos by Chevaz Clarke and Aaron Byrd

By Peter Baker and Dylan Freedman

Please click on this link to view the article and videos.

An ampersand (&) is a symbol that represents the word “and”. It originated from the ligature of the Latin word et, which also means “and”. The term “ampersand” comes from the phrase “& per se and”, which was shortened by English speakers over time. The treble clef is a symbol used in Western music notation to indicate the pitch of higher-pitched notes. It’s also known as the G-clef because the innermost curl of the symbol encircles the note G on the second line of the staff.

It’s kinda fun.

And maybe your friends will like it, too.

Take any 3 digit #.

Like 222.

Repeat it.

Like 222222.

Then divide by 13.

Then divide by 11.

Then divide by 7

You’ll get your original 3 digit #.

I feel a year younger already!

In case you missed the Health Care presentation last week, it will be presented on Zoom via the King County Library System on Friday, the 18th at 2 PM. You can register by clicking on this link.

OAKS, PA (The Borowitz Report)—In a spectacle that onlookers deemed worrisome, an elderly man struggled to dance in time to music for over half an hour on Monday.

After swaying unsteadily and bobbing his head in a random fashion for 38 minutes, the man was escorted away by his minders.

The septuagenarian has exhibited concerning memory issues of late, including last weekend in the Coachella Valley when he wandered off and abandoned hundreds of people in the desert.

His arrhythmic exertions in Pennsylvania, however, deeply troubled his caregivers, one of whom observed, “He danced so much better with Jeffrey Epstein.”

Thanks to Mary Jane F.

Ed note: This will be interesting to follow and large population studies are needed to see whether the clinical outcomes of a large group are improved. Even a one out of 50 (2%) false positive test rates will generate lots of unnecessary anxiety and testing in large numbers of otherwise healthy individuals. Also, how about false negative tests?

Mionco screening has potential to be a ‘gamechanger’ in five years, says health secretary, Wes Streeting

Nadeem Badshah Sat 5 Oct 2024 in The Guardian (thanks to Pam P.)

The government will provide funding for a £120 blood test that has the potential to detect the 12 most common forms of cancer before symptoms develop.

The Mionco screening can identify 50 cancers before producing a false positive and is a form of the PCR test used during the Covid pandemic, according to the scientists involved in its development.

It checks the 12 most common forms of the disease: lung, breast, prostate, pancreatic, colorectal, ovarian, liver, brain, oesophageal, bladder, bone and soft tissue sarcoma, and gastric.

The government will provide £2.5m via the National Institute for Health and Care Research to improve the speed of the test, the Sunday Mirror reported.

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, a cancer survivor, told the newspaper it could be a “gamechanger” in revolutionising treatment of the disease in five years.

Streeting said: “Just a couple of drops of blood could tell you if you had lung, breast or bladder cancer, helping end months-long waits for tests and scans.

“These innovations could be gamechangers and life savers. But Tory underinvestment has left the NHS 15 years behind the private sector when it comes to tech. We have fewer scanners per patient than Greece.

“Your life chances rely on your postcode and whether you can afford to go private. I am determined to equip the NHS with cutting-edge technology so it benefits the many, not just the few.”

Scientists at Southampton University are understood to have used clinical information from 20,000 cancer patients to develop the screening.

The next stage involves improving the efficacy of the artificial intelligence involved, which analyses the test samples and biomarkers by entering 8,000 blood samples from people of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Prof Paul Skipp from Southampton University said: “A test like this could save many lives, catching cancers much earlier. We hope to have an NHS test in five to seven years.”

Currently, breast, bowel, cervical and lung cancer have NHS screening tests but they involve a scan or a biopsy.

Skipp added: “The UK spends £800m a year screening for these four cancers, and an additional £91m is spent on false positive follow-ups.”

Last month, a £42m screening trial aimed at revolutionising the treatment of prostate cancer began in the UK.

Thousands of men will be involved in its initial phase, and several hundred thousand volunteers could be recruited as the programme progresses in coming years, say the trial’s organisers.