<|endoftext|> forests, and rivers of the state are a limitless resource of arable and grazing land, precious metals, timber and hydroelectricity - and some of the pious among them like to quote the Book of Genesis, in which God is said to give man "dominion" over "all the earth".
Image caption Environmental activists are often dubbed "Seattle liberals" by ruralists
To environmental activists (usually described by the ruralists as "Seattle liberals"), the magnificent geography of Washington state is a sacred space, a wilderness to be lovingly preserved and restored, as closely as possible, to its original "pristine" state.
And Seattleites have been inclined to treat the rest of their state as a giant park, a recreational facility for hikers, fly-fishermen, climbers, mountain-bikers, birders, and the like, for whom the traditional occupations of the countryside appear simply as rude blots on the landscape.
Pitched battles have been fought between the city and the countryside over such bones of contention as the habitat of the spotted owl (that battle resulted in the end of logging on National Forest land), gold mines, cattle grazing, dams on rivers (which block the passage of the declining runs of Pacific salmon to their spawning grounds), brush-cutting and wetlands setbacks.
In the course of this long and continuing conflict about land-use, rich, liberal, green, high-tech Seattle, with its high proportion of college graduates, has emerged as a post-regional city, deeply resented for its political power by people who live beyond the metro area, who once thought of Seattle as their own.
Profound division
So the rancorous, yelling, give-no-quarter style of recent American politics plays out here in the top left-hand corner of the US.
It's worth remembering that in the presidential election of 2004, every city in the nation with a population of more than 500,000 voted for the Democrats and John Kerry. George W Bush won re-election in the outer suburbs, the smaller towns, and the countryside.
The talk about "red states" versus "blue states" boils down to the fact that, as a general rule, states whose cities can out-vote their hinterlands are blue, and those whose hinterlands can out-vote their biggest cities are red.
Metropolitan Seattle, ultramarine in its political colour, dominates by sheer force of numbers the rest of Washington state, most of which is painted a bright scarlet.
In races for the US Senate, the state governorship and the presidency, Democrats here have (often very narrowly indeed) prevailed over Republicans in victories that have only exacerbated the tensions between the city and the country, and it's depressingly hard to see how this profound division might be healed, either here in Washington or in the nation at large.
You can hear more from Jonathan Raban on the forthcoming edition of BBC Radio 4's Americana programme, at 1915 GMT on Sunday.<|endoftext|>Victor Anichebe was said to be deeply upset by the incident Premier League striker Victor Anichebe was challenged by police looking for a gang of robbers, as he looked in a jeweller's window with a friend. The innocent Everton player, who was wearing a leg cast after surgery, is now demanding an apology. Cheshire police said they acted because there had been a series of violent robberies in the area. During a "heated dialogue" between the two men and officers in Knutsford, Anichebe's friend was handcuffed. Everton FC spokesman Ian Ross said: "Victor was deeply upset and very distressed by the incident. "I believe he is still waiting for a full and unreserved apology from the police involved. "Once he has received that both the club and the player will consider the matter closed." 'Acting suspiciously' A Cheshire Police spokesman said: "For some time Cheshire Constabulary have been responding to a series of violent robberies targeting jewellers in Knutsford and in the wider Cheshire area. During the course of this exchange, an officer took the decision to restrain one of the two men concerned by applying handcuffs
Spokesman, Cheshire Police "We have robust plans in place to respond swiftly to any report of any suspicious activity at or in the vicinity of jewellers' premises. "As part of that plan, local CCTV operators identified what appeared to be two men acting suspiciously outside a jeweller's store on King Street. "Police attended the location within minutes and upon speaking with the two men, a heated dialogue developed in an attempt to ascertain exactly what the two persons were doing outside the jeweller's premises. "During the course of this exchange, an officer took the decision to restrain one of the two men concerned by applying handcuffs. "It was subsequently ascertained that there was no criminal conduct whatsoever on behalf of the two men concerned and they were in no way involved in any criminal activity."