Skyline Happenings

By Richard Buck – Special to The Seattle Times

The latest financial report on Social Security portrays a dire future of supposedly inevitable benefit cuts of 21%, starting in 2033, as the system continues to pay out more each year than it takes in.

This impending “crisis” has been well-known in government circles for at least 40 years. And so has a simple and fair solution: Stop giving workers with sky-high earnings a (nearly) free ride.

Right now, most workers are taxed 6.2% of their wages, but only on the first $168,600 they earn. After that, their Social Security obligation is done. That means the maximum annual contribution is $10,458.

Internal Revenue Service figures suggest that 10% of U.S. workers earn more than $170,000 a year. Those workers contribute less of their pay than the rest of us, yet they’ll most likely receive above-average benefits.  

A simple two-part solution could extend the life of Social Security as we know it for many decades. 

First, eliminate the $168,600 cap on wages subject to the tax. This is fair to everyone. 

Second, apply the 6.2% payroll tax to the total compensation of highly paid
C-suite executives. Despite their massive earnings and in some cases ridiculously high pensions, they will happily collect Social Security benefits, which currently max out at about $58,000 a year. This is money that they certainly will not need.

Think of Boeing’s CEO, Dave Calhoun. His total compensation last year was reportedly $32.8 million (a figure Boeing contests). Boeing most likely deducted $10,453 in Social Security payroll tax from his base salary of $1.4 million — and contributed its own share, for a total of $20,906.

Had he paid the same share of his total compensation as the average employee, it would have cost him $86,800 — an expense he certainly could have afforded.

Undoubtedly, Boeing and many other companies would easily find ways to circumvent such a change in the law. They could cap a CEO’s “salary” at $100,000, for example, and pay the rest in some form of compensation not subject to the Social Security tax. 

But an easy-to-understand second change would save employers all that trouble: Apply the payroll tax to executives’ total annual compensation as reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission — figures that every year are eagerly reported by the press.    

In Calhoun’s case, 6.2% of that $32.8 million would amount to a little more than $2 million. Certainly, he would feel that. But as a percentage of his compensation, the sting would be no worse than that felt by Boeing’s approximately 170,000 employees. 

Boeing would find a way to compensate him for this, and that compensation would be subject to Social Security tax as well. A win-win situation.

These two simple proposals would not fix the underlying problem with Social Security, which was designed when most people died before they could collect much, if any, of its benefits. And they might be politically impossible. 

But they would go a long way toward postponing any benefit cuts, and I believe they would give the overwhelming majority of workers a sense that they were being treated more fairly. 

Richard Buck was a Seattle Times business reporter from 1977 to 1997. Now retired, he lives in West Seattle.

From Buzznet – thanks to Bob P.

Over two million tourists visit Alaska every year, and many go hiking. But some of these hikes are dangerous. A deaf college student went on a hike alone and fell 700 feet down a mountain. What she found was that there was something else down there, too. Here is the unexpected story of how she was rescued.

A College Student’s Vacation Went Wrong

Amelia Milling was a college student at the Rochester Institute of Technology. That year she decided to spend some of her summer break on vacation in Alaska.

Although Milling is deaf, she is more than capable of handling a solo journey. The student flew from her native state of Tennessee to Anchorage, one of Alaska’s largest cities.

A Treacherous Three-Day Hike

While on vacation, Milling decided to hike the Crow Pass Trail. The trail, which is 30 miles south of Anchorage, is a three-day hike.

Crow Pass cuts through the scenic Chugach State Park. In June, the weather climbs over 50°F and the skies clear. It was the perfect time for that hike.

She Was Well Prepared For This Difficult Hike

Milling packed everything she needed for the hike: food, water, clothes, a tent, a sleeping bag, and other hiking gear. She even bought trekking poles, which act as a separate set of limbs that help people keep their balance.

Although Crow Pass is gorgeous, it is also challenging. The terrain can be rough, and the weather can change unpredictably.

A Lovely Day Of Hiking Quickly Went South (continued)

Thanks to Mike C.

Rep. Byron Donalds’s medical education consists of a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from Florida State University. But the Florida Republican played a doctor on TV over the weekend, telling Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that, after examining President Biden, he suspects the president is receiving a secret medication that makes him appear to be sharp-witted and totally on the ball.

“The American people need to understand if they’re giving him some injection so that he can actually look like he’s coherent,” Donalds said.

Dr. Donalds seemed not to have considered the obvious possibility that Biden looks like he’s cogent and clear because he is cogent and clear. Still, the good doctor’s diagnosis raises some key questions that must be considered:

There is a shot that cures incoherence in one dose? How can I get some? Why has nobody thought to give it to Kevin McCarthy all these years? And why, for that matter, doesn’t Dr. Donalds, who seems to think he should be Donald Trump’s running mate, inject his prospective boss with the stuff? Just last week, Trump’s attempt at saying “carried out by radical Democrats” came out as “carried owby rgbgb tdai.” (continued)

Thanks to Diana T. – from the The Dementia Action Collaborative

“We are excited to invite you to a webinar that will make an impact: Partnering for Progress: Washington State’s Action Plan for Dementia. This webinar, offered on two separate days, provides insights into Washington state’s comprehensive plan to address dementia, ongoing actions and how you can contribute to this vital cause.

The webinar is designed for diverse audiences, including:

• People interested in understanding more about dementia initiatives in Washington state.
• Aging and Long-Term Care Providers seeking to enhance their support for individuals with dementia.
• Health Care Providers eager to stay abreast of training options and resources available for themselves or to share with people in their practice. 
• Public Health staff who want to promote brain health and the well-being of those impacted by dementia.

Key topics that we will cover include:

• Overview of Washington State’s Action Plan for Dementia.
• Current actions and initiatives are underway to support individuals with dementia and their families.
• Opportunities for collaboration and involvement to enhance dementia care and support systems.

We believe that participating in this webinar will deepen your understanding of dementia-related efforts in our state and empower you to make meaningful contributions toward improving the lives of those affected by dementia.

No pre-registration required. Please mark your calendars and join a webinar on one of the dates below. Your active participation is crucial in creating a more dementia-friendly and supportive community.

📅 Webinar Date – Mark your calendar, save the link below and use it to join us

• 10 – 11:30 a.m. June 4, 2024 –  Join Zoom Meeting Thank you for being committed to this vital cause. We look forward to you joining us for these engaging and informative sessions.”

Thanks to Pam P.

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean —
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down —
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Comments by SALT: The most famous lines of this poem are the last two: they’re taped to mirrors and pinned to cork boards and framed in embroidery and on and on — and sure enough, they’re lines worth remembering. But the heart of the poem is a couple of lines earlier: “Tell me, what else should I have done?” What else, that is, besides “falling down in the grass, being idle and blessed, strolling through the fields all day.” At its heart, this poem is a little revolution, a provocative question mark beside the conventional answers to the query, What makes for a day well lived? How should I spend this “summer day”? This summer day, I mean — the one we’re in right now. The one we’ll live in tomorrow.

Oliver’s potentially life-changing proposition is that we very well may need to rethink what a “productive day” looks like. It may look a lot less like a day tied to screens and email and housework and errands and getting things done, and a lot more like the simple, astonishing affair of getting to know a grasshopper. This grasshopper, I mean. And if we remember that not everyone today has the opportunity to take a day in the fields to be “idle and blessed,” then this poem may redouble our efforts to build a world in which everyone — everyone! — has the occasional time and space to stroll through the fields, “wild and precious,” holding out a little sugar in our hand.

From crosscut.com

The King County Council greenlit a proposal that will boost the minimum wage in unincorporated King County to $20.29 an hour, one of the highest in the country.

Councilmembers Girmay Zahilay, Rod Dembowski, Teresa Mosqueda and Jorge L. Barón co-sponsored the measure, which aims to lift wages in unincorporated areas to match those of nearby cities. For example, the current minimum wage is $16.28 an hour in Skyway, a county neighborhood next to the city of Tukwila, which has a minimum wage of $20.29. Seattle’s minimum wage is $19.97 per hour and the state’s is $16.28. 

This ordinance impacts only unincorporated areas of King County, and would not include cities like Redmond or Bellevue that abide by the state’s minimum wage, or cities like Renton, where voters recently set a city minimum wage of $20.29, which starts in July.

The proposal, which would also need a signature from King County Executive Dow Constantine, would take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, and could be subject to increase based on inflation at that time. 

There would be exceptions for small businesses with lower revenues and fewer employees. Businesses with 15 or fewer employees and an annual gross revenue of less than $2 million would be allowed to pay employees $17.29 an hour, $3 less than the proposed legislation. This difference would decrease annually by 50 cents until there is no difference in 2030. 

Businesses with 15 or fewer workers but have an annual gross revenue of $2 million or greater, and businesses with more than 15 but fewer than 500 employees, would have an hourly minimum wage of $18.29. This difference would decrease annually by $1 until there is no difference in 2026. 

Alex Wong/Getty Images

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA (The Borowitz Report)—The wife of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito took “full responsibility” for the piles of men’s clothing that suddenly appeared on the couple’s front lawn Monday morning.

Neighbors awoke to an unusual spectacle outside the Alito residence, where an extensive wardrobe of men’s slacks, shirts and judicial robes had been dumped in a haphazard manner.

A frantic Justice Alito emerged from his home to collect the items and lower a pair of boxer shorts that had been flapping in the wind atop the flagpole. In a terse statement, Mrs. Alito said she was “sick and tired of wives being thrown under the bus,” adding, “If the Republicans go down to defeat in November, Sammy Boy will probably blame me for overturning Roe v. Wade.”

Thanks to Bob P. (Hope this doesn’t catch on to, but it might liven up a Mariner’s game)

By Amy Woodyatt and Jacob Lev, CNN

A furry pitch invader paused Major League Soccer play on Wednesday as a rogue raccoon ran onto the field during a match between the Philadelphia Union and New York City FC.

The athletic critter ran the length of the pitch at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, deftly evading capture while sprinting stadium staff tried to apprehend it using a trash can.

“We need to find him a ball because he’s moving very well in the center of midfield,” a commentator quipped during the kerfuffle, adding that it was “entertainment of its own kind.”

Raquinho the raccoon was eventually captured and later released. Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters

The match was paused for five minutes as crews tried and eventually succeeded in capturing the animal, dubbed “Raquinho the Raccoon” by MLS.

The Union sent out an update saying that the raccoon was “put in good hands” and was safely released.

“Unofficially, Raquinho the Raccoon spent 161 seconds on the field tonight, which was the most by a raccoon in @MLS history,” the league communications said in a post on X.

NYCFC went on to take the game 2-1 after a second-minute goal by Alonso Martínez and a Hannes Wolf free-kick in injury time in the first half.

Thanks to Bob P. — Agence France-Presse in Paris

‘Bakery scent’ added via microcapsules to postage stamp celebrating ‘jewel of French culture’

The French Post Office has released a scratch-and-sniff postage stamp to celebrate the baguette, once described by President Emmanuel Macron as “250 grams of magic and perfection”.

The stamp, which costs €1.96, depicts a baguette decorated with a red, white and blue ribbon. It has a print run of 594,000 copies.

According to the Parisian shop Le Carre d’encre, which sells it, the stamp has a “bakery scent”. The ink used on the stamps contains microcapsules which provide the fragrance.

It was released for sale on Friday, after a launch on Thursday, the day of Saint-Honoré, the patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs.

“The baguette, the bread of our daily lives, the symbol of our gastronomy, the jewel of our culture”, La Poste says on its website.

“This scent is encapsulated. We buy it from another manufacturer,” Damien Lavaud, printer at Philaposte, told France Bleu.

“And the difficulty for us is to apply this ink without breaking the capsules, so that the smell can then be released by the customer rubbing on the stamp.”

The French baguette was given Unesco heritage status in 2022

Thanks to Ann M. – from the Daily Art Magazine Newsletter

If you’ve witnessed someone fainting in front of great masterpieces, it could have been Stendhal Syndrome—an art lover’s sickness.

Stendhal Syndrome, also known as hyperkulturemia or Florence syndrome, is a psychosomatic disorder characterized by rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion, and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to a collection of artworks perceived as exceptionally beautiful, often encountered in settings like art galleries or museums.

While not officially recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Stendhal Syndrome profoundly affects individuals. Some sufferers experience symptoms severe enough to necessitate hospitalization and even antidepressant medication. Florence’s Santa Maria Nuova Hospital often attends to tourists who feel dizzy or disoriented after admiring renowned works like Michelangelo’s David or the masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery.

The syndrome gained its name in 1979 from Italian psychiatrist Graziella Magherini, who documented over 100 similar cases among visitors in Florence. It pays homage to the 19th-century French author Stendhal, who recounted his own encounter with the phenomenon during his 1817 journey to Florence in his book Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio.

Stendhal visited the Basilica of Santa Croce, where Niccolò Machiavelli, Michelangelo, and Galileo Galilei were buried. He also saw Giotto’s frescoes for the first time and was overwhelmed with emotion. He wrote:

I was in a sort of ecstasy, from the idea of being in Florence, close to the great men whose tombs I had seen. Absorbed in the contemplation of sublime beauty… I reached the point where one encounters celestial sensations… Everything spoke so vividly to my soul. Ah, if I could only forget. I had palpitations of the heart, what in Berlin they call ‘nerves.’ Life was drained from me. I walked with the fear of falling.

Ecstasy, sublime beauty, celestial sensations… Have you ever experienced the Stendhal Syndrome?

Thanks to Mel B.

The Skyline Chorale will be performing songs from “South Pacific” on Wednesday evening, May 22 at 7:30 PM in the Performance Hall.  We are encouraging people to invite family members who might enjoy the show.  It is about an hour long and should be fun.

Thanks to Mary M. – for complete info click on this site: https://waterfrontparkseattle.org/the-park/

On the Waterfront news + happenings from Friends Alliums bloom at sunset by Pioneer Square Habitat Beach. Photo by Land Morphology. It’s hard to say if the sun is here to stay (after all, it is only May.)  What we do know is we’ll take this over the gray any day.  So come on down to this bay, enjoy that salty Puget spray,  catch a sunset before it goes away,  in this here world class park reclaimed from a former highway.  🌥⛅️🌤☀️ Construction Update:   Waterfront Park is transforming our downtown shoreline, with 20 acres of brand new public space filled with thousands of new plants and trees, incredible feats of civil engineering and landscape design, and beautiful public art – but there is even more than meets the eye!   Waterfront Park also contains some innovative environmental improvements, many of which are not visible from the surface. Marine habitat enhancements support our marine neighbors including nearshore fish migration corridor and Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) that filters and cleans stormwater before it reaches the Puget Sound.    Check out this SDOT Blog post by our city partners at Waterfront Seattle to learn more about habitat improvements, and how continuing work on landscaping and pedestrian improvements are helping to keep Elliott Bay healthy. A photo of the seawall face which includes grooves and nooks to promote algae growth, shallow water and rock beds on the bay floor for fish to hide and forage at lower risk of predation, and a light-penetrating surface in the sidewalk above to provide light for marine plant growth and guidance for young salmon during their migration. Courtesy of the City of Seattle. The Free Waterfront Park Shuttle Returns!   What’s blue and orange, runs on a continuous loop in the downtown corridor, accessible and free for all, and back later this month? You guessed it, the Free Waterfront Park Shuttle is coming back to offer rides from Seattle Center, Belltown, Pioneer Square, the International District, and the waterfront. We’re excited to be managing the shuttle this year in partnership with the Seattle Historic Waterfront Association. Service will start on May 24 and span through September, so don’t miss out on free rides to all your favorite Seattle destinations! Last year, the Free Waterfront Park Shuttle offered over 14,000 free and accessible rides to visitors to the waterfront.   Pier Party 2024 July 26th, 5:30pm-9pm @ Pier 62   Tickets are now available for Pier Party, Friends of Waterfront Seattle’s 2nd annual fundraiser, featuring a night of inspiring art and performances, James Beard award winning food and drinks, and a look into the bright future of Seattle’s Waterfront Park! Get your tickets today and join us on July 26th for an unforgettable night! Events in the community:   Africatown’s Summer of Soul 2024 All summer long   Our friends and partners at Africatown Community Land Trust are celebrating Black excellence, resilience, and joy, all summer long! Kickoff the summer celebrations with Honoring our Black Wall Streets on May 27 with over 100 Black-owned businesses, live music, guest speakers, and more! Learn more!   Madaraka Festival  June 17th & 18th   Madaraka Festival is returning to Seattle for a Juneteenth celebration! If you attended any of One Vibe Media’s events at Pier 62 over the last couple of years you know they’re an incredible time, featuring internationally acclaimed East African musicians. Get your tickets. EBC will connect the parks along the Elliott Bay Waterfront with a new pedestrian and bicycle greenway trail and restore and revitalize Myrtle Edwards and Centennial parks.  Elliott Bay Connections    Our partners at DSA, the City of Seattle, and the Port of Seattle have launched a new website for the upcoming Elliott Bay Connections project that will connect, restore, and revitalize public parks along the Elliott Bay waterfront. Learn all about this exciting new project just north of Waterfront Park, and sign up for a live online presentation and Q&A on May 16th at 6pm!  Learn about EBC Follow us on Instagram See the latest and greatest Friends happenings and Waterfront Park news. We want to hear from you!   Take our survey to share your thoughts on our programming, public safety, and experience at Waterfront Park, and enter to win a $100 Visa gift card! View in browser Copyright (C) 2024 Friends of Waterfront Seattle.  All rights reserved.  You have received this email because you subscribed or are affiliated with Friends of Waterfront Seattle. Our mailing address is: 1201 Alaskan Wy #200, Seattle, WA 98101 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe

Touching essay in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Thanks to Ann M. who notes, “Tom Lehrer is now age 96—this performance brings back happy memories!”

Thanks to Frank C.

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By Sam Whiting in the San Francisco Chronicle (thanks to Bob P.)

The marathon swim from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon Islands is considered one of the hardest in the world, combining strong currents, fierce wind and frigid water frequented by great white sharks.

But UCSF nurse Amy Appelhans Gubser conquered it this weekend — when she got off work, took a quick nap and then swam into history.

It was early Saturday, 3:25 a.m., when Gubser jumped from a boat on the east side of the Golden Gate Bridge, and went into her freestyle stroke headed west under the span and into the open water.

When she came back out, 17 hours later, Gubser was at the Farallon Islands, 29.7 miles away. She had become the first swimmer to complete the treacherous Gulf of the Farallones swim in the outbound direction, and just the sixth swimmer to do it in either direction, according to the Marathon Swimmers Federation. 

The westbound swim is harder because it involves fighting a punishing tide and wind most of the way. 

“It was the toughest thing that I have ever set out to do,” said Gubser, 55, on Tuesday during her lunch break at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital where she works as a nurse coordinator in the fetal cardiac unit. She is a mother of two, with two grandkids and a third on the way.

A Pacifica resident, Gubser swims at the South End Rowing Club on San Francisco Bay.

“I look out at those islands every day from Pacifica,” she said, of her motivation. “I joke with my husband all the time that I could swim there. It just draws me because it is so captivating and eerie.”  (continued)

Thanks to Pam P.

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – In the latest setback for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential bid, a worm who dined in the candidate’s brain wrote a brutal Yelp review shortly before dying, the reviewing site confirmed on Monday.

The worm’s review began on a discouraging note, claiming that Kennedy’s brain was “almost impossible to find.”

“Once I managed to get there, I couldn’t believe how cramped it was,” the worm continued. “I’m all for intimate dining but this place was ridiculously tiny.”

The worm also slammed the noise level in the candidate’s brain, complaining, “I couldn’t hear myself think with all the different voices in there.”

With one star, Kennedy’s brain ranks last in Yelp’s “Worm Dining” category, tied with Kristi Noem’s brain.

Thanks to Janet M.

Thanks to Mike and Diana C.

By Claire Withycombe Seattle Times staff reporter

OLYMPIA — Bob Ferguson could face Bob Ferguson and Bob Ferguson in the August primary.

That’s Bob Ferguson, the state attorney general; Bob Ferguson, a retired state employee in Yakima; and Bob Ferguson, a military veteran in Graham.

All three are running for Washington governor.

Conservative activist Glen Morgan recruited two people who share a name with the Democratic front-runner for governor to also seek the state’s highest office. They officially filed to run Friday, at the close of Washington’s candidate filing week.

“If I had started a little bit earlier, I would have been able to have six Bob Fergusons,” Morgan said. “I contacted about 12. I just ran out of time.”

Morgan, who answered calls Friday to the numbers listed for the two campaigns, declined to provide The Seattle Times with the contact information for either of the two Bob Fergusons who filed.

This year, the governor’s seat is open for the first time since 2012. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat who has led the state for more than a decade, is not running for a fourth term. Attorney General Ferguson has amassed a campaign war chest of nearly $7 million, according to campaign finance reports.

Morgan says he thinks “a lot of people” are upset about the attorney general “trying to pretend that he cares about public safety when he’s done everything to look the other way and avoid solving any of the problems and almost every activity he’s done as the attorney general has actually made it a lot worse.”

“These guys want to clear their name,” Morgan said of the other two Bob Fergusons. All three Bobs are running as Democrats, according to voter filing data.

On Friday, the campaign of Bob Ferguson (the attorney general), tapped former Gov. Christine Gregoire to make a statement on behalf of the campaign.

“There’s only one Bob Ferguson who is qualified to be Governor — one who has a long and distinguished career standing up for Washingtonians,” Gregoire said. “There’s no doubt this last-minute filing by two unknown candidates is an effort to deliberately confuse Washington voters. It’s nothing less than an attack on our democracy. Washington voters are smart and will see through this highly deceiving — and potentially illegal — effort to mislead them.”

State statutes say that it is a felony for a person to file a declaration of candidacy with a “surname similar to one who has already filed for the same office, and whose political reputation is widely known, with intent to confuse and mislead the electors by capitalizing on the public reputation of the candidate who had previously filed.”

by Christine M.E. Guth in the Harvard Magazine (thanks to Ann M.)

BENJAMIN SMITH Lyman was living proof of the benefits to health and well-being of the lifestyle he advocated in his Vegetarian Diet and Dishes, self-published in 1917, when he was 82 years old. A graduate of the Harvard class of 1855 that included scientist Alexander Agassiz, Phillips Brooks, Rector of Boston’s Trinity Church, and journalist and abolitionist Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, Lyman was an eminent mining geologist and published more than 150 articles on the topic. During his nine years as a mining engineer under contract to the Japanese government between 1872 and 1881, he also mastered that language. A linguistic rule involving the pronunciation of the initial consonant in compound words is still known as “Lyman’s Law.”

After becoming ill, possibly from poorly canned meats, while conducting a survey of mercury mines in California, Lyman became a vegetarian in 1864. His abstinence from meat was regarded as highly unusual at the time and shaped his work and relationships both at home and abroad: in India, where he carried out surveys in the Punjab for the British colonial government between 1869-70; in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he grew up and lived following his return from Japan; and in Philadelphia, the birthplace of American vegetarianism, where he lived from 1887 until his death in 1920. (continued)

by Heather Cox Richardson

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