People have to change before politics can change.

Eroding support for Biden on the left could be enough to put Trump back in the Whitehouse. I plan to vote for Biden if that's the choice in November.

Democratic politicians walk a tightrope when they get in office with much of the US electorate leaning right wing. Possibly the majority still resides in the middle or left, but politicians also have to deal with our materialistic culture as well. Policies that stand in the way of consumerism usually don't fly.

My personal life tends to be somewhat detached from mainstream culture and I do think things could be a lot different, if most people lived like me. However, politicians have to work with the general public which includes folks on the right. As for folks in the middle and left, politicians still find they have to keep the current economy, that people are familiar with, going; this current economy, fossil fuels and all.

Radical solutions get people nervous if they fear they will loose what prosperity they have, or they can't make ends meet. The changes moderate politicians propose may not be enough, but it's the best they can do given the circumstances; unless our culture really makes big changes in technology and lifestyles at the grass roots level.

Biden still much better than what looks like what's going to be the alternative again.

It seems very foolish to blame Biden for the excesses of Netanyahu's military campaign in Gaza. Maybe Biden could call for a ceasefire and threaten to withhold military aid, but I think Netanyahu would just go ahead and do what he is doing anyway.

Meanwhile, many Republicans, backed by Trump, would be more apt to fully support Netanyahu. Republicans have an aid bill, in the House, with military aid for Israel while removing aid for Ukraine.

Biden is calling for restraint in that war but our country may not have much say in what other countries do; in the short run at least. I would guess that Israel has plenty of weapons without us.

I think it's terrible what Hamas has done, but the rightwing government, in Israel, can overreact.

Meanwhile, here in this country, many American Jews and others are critical of the right wing politics within Israel. Unfortunately some on the left, in this country, are taking their anger out on Jewish people. Left wing opposition would be better directed at some of the Christian Right which is more backing of Netanyahu's politics in Israel.

In pretty much every situation, anger tends to be misdirected and does more harm than good. Anger could bring Trump back to the Whitehouse.

Some Republicans want a more draconian bill than the compromise.

According to many Democrats, Republicans, in the House, sank the bipartisan border bill so Trump could use border problems as campaign talking points.

Republicans have a different take. They will say the border bill was sank because it wasn't tight enough. I would replace the word tight with draconian. Many Republicans want to, basically, close the border and send folks seeking asylum back to their dangerous countries of origin while turning a blind eye on human suffering.

Many Republicans would wish to round up undocumented folks to deport them, or place them in concentration camps. They advocate more draconian policies.

It is true that growing population and the worldwide migration crisis does overwhelm existing infrastructure in the countries that people are trying to migrate to. This situation does tend to fuel right wing politics around the world, including here in USA.

Instead of waiting 30 more years for high speed rail, lets improve regular speed rail and bus service.

I've read a sponsored link from Microsoft and Seattle Times advocating high speed rail between Vancouver, BC and Portland, OR. It says trains could be running by 2050; possibly too late to benefit me in this lifetime; maybe if there's reincarnation.

Meanwhile, if speed wasn't such a prerequisite, we can already go to Mount Vernon, from Bellingham for $2 on the County Connector bus that runs quite frequently. We can go on to Everett, via County Connector and then connect to many destinations in Seattle area.

We could use more frequent train service, besides only one per day, going from Seattle to Spokane that gets into Spokane around 2 am. More train service to Spokane could be provided within the next few years as rail lines already exist.

Train service could be brought back from Seattle to Yakima and Tri Cities on already existing rails.

We could use more frequent rail service between Bellingham and Seattle, but much of that route is only single track and right of way is congested. Meanwhile Amtrak is running electric buses, on I-5, for more service between Bellingham and Seattle, so I hear. The lower carbon future could be closer than we think.

Maybe we could even do both, but the high speed rail would need new right of way and so forth. Stuff that could take decades to finance and do.

Below: A double track line over Stampede Pass near I-90, east of Seattle, that's not super busy. Could do more to link Seattle to points east.

Without compromise, government becomes one party dictatorship.

It seems to me that logical thinking would imply that legislation has to be a compromise. The other alternative is one party dictatorial rule.

Newt Gingrich, recently wrote that the Republicans should not deal with the Democrats at all. He thinks they should just deal with the American people. Problem with his logic is that the American people are divided as well. There are at least as many hard core liberals as hard core conservatives.

I think most people are more in the middle with almost equal numbers of minority opinion on either the extreme right or the extreme left. That means that if government comes from either extreme right or extreme left it must become a one party dictatorship. Otherwise it does have to be somewhat of a compromise.

Compromise tends to maintain the status quo, which, I know, some folks feel is unsustainable. Folks on the left might feel it's unsustainable due to climate change, for instance. On the right, folks feel it's unsustainable due to the growing federal debt or increasing numbers of folks immigrating to USA.

Still, the status quo is what supports the lifestyles of most people. Revolutionary, or catastrophic change would be more like a dictatorship.

Incremental change and at least some spirit of compromise seems to be what works best.

Biden is only slightly older than Trump, but Biden has better policies and a better team behind him.

Both Biden and Trump are up there in the years and subject to gaffs. Who isn't subject to gaffs? It looks like the choice will be between Biden and Trump again and I agree with Biden's policies more.

In Biden's case, he has a better team behind him; including Democrats in Congress.

If you really want a clown show, besides Trump himself, just look at Republicans in the US House of Representatives.

Some thoughts about various grocery shopping experiences in Bellingham and beyond.

If more people rode bicycles, it would look different than this. In the background, the serine view of mountains in Canada.

Recent news, in Bellingham, that Bellingham Food Coop employees have voted in favor of unionizing brings up some of my thinking about the grocery business.

Coops are a different structure than corporations, but all businesses are effected by similar economics. Large corporations often offer lower price due to the reality called "economy of scale." I still go to the Downtown Food Coop due to other factors besides just the lowest price which is often associated with economy of scale. Other virtues, such as being in a location safely accessible by bicycle matters to me and the price difference doesn't seem that much.

I get ready to eat salads at the in store Coop deli. There, I often find folks I know who share good conversation.

Large outfits, such as Fred Myer, owned by Kroger, or Winco, said to be owned by it's employees, have economy of scale and are said to offer low prices. I've almost never set foot in Winco, due to it's unfriendly location for bicycling. That whole area is kind of a traffic nightmare.

There is also a branch of the Coop in that part of town, but I usually go to the downtown Coop. The northside Coop isn't as convenient for me, but it's location is still better than Winco, traffic wise, in my opinion.

Pictured above is the Costco which is popular among progressives, but also lots of cars. One needs to have a Costco membership that I haven't gotten. Being single and living in a studio apartment, I don't need pallot loads of toilet paper.

Whether it's a corporation, or not, economy of scale relates mostly to numbers and size. Corporations aren't necessarily worse, in my opinion, than other arrangements. It's mostly about the people who are there and the overall experience.

From what I read, the Coop management has been okay with the decision of employees to unionize. Another workplace, Starbucks, is also in the news as more resistant to it's employee union efforts.

From what I gather, Starbucks started out as a small alternative favored by progressive minded folks in Seattle, but it grew into being a big corporation. I often think it's not so much the structure of the organization that matters. To me it's more about the people who are there and how they are running things.

It's also about the values we all have; what matters most? Is it traffic nightmare or bicycle / pedestrian access. Friendly conversation or the absolute lowest price.

With rent being my biggest expense each month, I may not notice saving a few cents on price. I save more money by just not owning a car.

The virtues, I value, are not always things brought by economy of scale, but I understand some of that economics and that's part of the reason why I think, just getting rid of corporations will not solve all our problems. That's just the structure of the organizations, but the way we all live and what we value matters the most.