In what’s becoming just another day at the office in the world of American Banking, Washington Mutual was seized by the Federal Government today. An enormous number of bad investments in the mortgage backed securities market at the Seattle based bank forced the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to take control of WaMu and sell its assets off to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. for $1.9 Billion. The Company had been previously valued at having over $307 Billion worth of assets making its failing the largest in the history of the United States, by far.

The good news to be found in this troubling event is that the sale of WaMu eliminates any exposure the FDIC’s insurance fund had to the assets deposited in the bank, with those now being guaranteed by J.P. Morgan Chase. So at least WaMu’s customers are secure and we’re not all taking the hit on the irresponsible investments that the bank’s management should have known not to make.

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Just in case you woke up today wondering where your town or burg shows up on a list of most sustainable cities, SustainLane’s got you covered.   Once you hop over to their website, you’ll get the top fifty biggest cities in the nation ranked on “16 areas of urban sustainability, including an essential new measurement this year: Water Supply.”  So, what cities top the list?  I’ll give you a hint: they’re not in Texas.

1. Portland, Oregon. Ah, yes, the indie jewel of the Northwest.   SustainLane tells us this about Portland, because I’ve never been there so can’t really do it myself:

City-planners in Portland have been thinking green since the 70s, when the rest of the country was still embracing the strip mall. The city enacted strict land-use policies, implementing an urban growth boundary, requiring density, and setting a strong precedent for sustainable development.

2. San Francisco, California.

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While on business in Seattle this week I visited one of the most daring examples of public architecture of the past decade, the Seattle Central Library.   The building, designed primarily by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, has drawn mixed reviews both architecture afficianados and the general public as I found out in a conversation with a Taxi Driver the evening before my visit:

“Is that the Seattle Central Library?” I asked.

“Yeah.   But it’s pretty much become like an enormous Temple to Nerds.” he replied.

“Are there plaques to nerds in there?”

“No, but there are plaques to the companies run by nerds that gave them the money to build that piece of s***.  Microsoft, Amazon, Amgen…”

“Those are some rich nerds.” I added.

“Yeah, but the funny thing is that at this point all there products are f****** s***!”

At this point the conversation devolved into some typical thing about Bill Gates taking his ideas from other companies, yada, yada, yada.   But I digress.

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Not all green ideas are good ideas.   Case in point: Seattle’s Car-Free Weekends.   The concept seemed noble enough - Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels pushed an initiative to close one neighorhood each weekend to automobile traffic in the Emerald City, in an effort to get citizens walking, biking and using public transportation.

The problem however is that the measure is perhaps too much, too soon.   While the majority of residents of Seattle support environmental measures and reduction or elimination of fossil fuel consumption, in the present, the society is still dependent on the use of the internal combustion engine for individual transportation needs.   Residents who needed to use their cars on the weekend as well as visitors coming in from out of town found the initiative confusing at the very least.   One Seattleite told local KING-5 television, “A car passes by every once in a while, just people trying to get home. And they don’t know how to get home,”.  Another resident remarked, ““I think most people are scratching their heads. I’ve seen people move the signs and drive through anyway,”.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Katie Halper:

Debra Winger and Rights Camera Action!

James Byrd Jr. and the Struggle for Tolerance

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Nicole Hughes:

Green Video of the Week: 5 Tips for Reducing Your Garbage

The Week in Green Politics

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Andy Kondrat:

Disappearing Destinations: Visit Before They Vanish

Chuck Norris Wants America to Start Drilling for Oil Here and Now!

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Jon Popham:

NASA Plans Voyage to the Sun

The Girl Effect

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Giulia Rozzi:

Gay Discrimination at Seattle Baseball Game

Bison Brucellosis

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Gina Telaroli:

Fathers Day Celebration of Movie Dads #1

My Father’s Gift of Tecumseh!

Last week, an usher at Safeco Field asked a lesbian to stop kissing her date because it made another fan uncomfortable.

As the Mariners played the Boston Red Sox on May 26, Sirbrina Guerrero and her date were approached in the third inning by an usher who told them their kissing was inappropriate, Guerrero said.The usher, Guerrero said, told them he had received a complaint from a woman nearby who said that there were kids in the crowd of nearly 36,000 and that parents would have to explain why two women were kissing.

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The Out of the Darkness overnight walk for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention takes place June 7-8 in New York City and June 21-22 in Seattle. Walkers start at dusk and end at dawn, making friends, sharing stories and remembering loved ones along the way. Collectively, they’ll make a loud, proud statement that we can and must take steps to bring suicide and mood disorders “out of the darkness.” The funds raised will help further the mission of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research and education, and to reaching out to people with mood disorders and those impacted by suicide.

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