Starting to learn my way around Blue Sky Social Media.

I now have a presence on Blue Sky, but I may end up still liking Facebook more. Blue Sky limits the size of posts so it is more of a realm of sound bytes, rather than in depth discussion.

I plan to link, from Blue Sky, to my blog where there is room for the nuance. Readers may be less apt to follow links than to click the "read more" link in a Facebook post. Still maybe not, it's a link. I think Blue Sky is more like Twitter (now X) only much better and not owned by Elon Musk.

I haven't used Twitter for writing, but I have used it some to follow things like space missions; linking out to NASA and other ongoing news sources.

A link to my presence on Blue Sky Social. It's mostly links back to this blog.

For more things, not already posted on this blog, Facebook users can find my Facebook wall.

An idea for reducing conflict between landowners when siting wind turbines.

Here is an idea I thought of today. Financial proceeds from leases for wind turbans could be paid to a special district, rather than individual land owners. Then all the landowners in the district could divvy up the proceeds.

Reason I think of this is I can guess that some of the opposition to wind energy comes from property owners who's land is less desirable for wind energy. Maybe they resent neighbors who's land is more desirable. Financial benefits could be shared with all in the area; even those with no wind farms on their land.

Wind farms do have some impact on the view, wildlife and so forth. I've heard the phrase, "there ain't no free lunch." At the same time, there are things that may need to be done for the greater good; such as energy production.

I've also heard that one turbine in one of the Snake River hydroelectric dams can produce as much power as over 200 wind mills.

Still, I sometimes think of windmills as being like modern art sculptures. As long as we are using energy, there is some price to pay, though wind farms may not be the best alternative. They do dot large portions of the landscape. Solar may be the best alternative energy in many cases.

There is now lots of arguing over the potential siting of another wind farm in the Palouse Region of Washington near where I grew up.

Eastern Washington has many wind turbines. It seems like there are very few in more densely populated Western Washington.

With my interest in geography, I realize that much of Washington State's power comes the eastern part of the state. Big power lines cross the Cascade Mountains.

Much of the power comes from dams on the Columbia and other rivers. Some of the power comes from a nuclear reactor in the Hanford Reservation. Solar is a growing source also. Here in Bellingham, many homes have rooftop solar panels.

My photos from various bicycle tours over the years.

Wind turbine in distance near Ellensburg, WA. Power line near Snoqualmie Tunnel. Generators at Lower Monumental Dam. Palouse wheatfields near Colfax, WA. Solar panels on restaurant in Palouse, WA.

Reconcilling trasgender issues and sports.

I've never been into competitive sports and I'm not that worried about the so called problem of transgender athletes creating unfair competition in women's sports.

I can see how some folks might be worried as we live in an age when the difference between winning and losing a race is measured by laser beams. In the old days, they used to say "measured by a micrometer." In sports, a tiny difference seems trivial to me, but I'm more into fitness and recreation than competition. In science, accuracy is important.

Lasers are a part of the most accurate measurements ever made in history. It's the distance between two mirrors that could be less than 1/1000th of the width of a proton. Those measurements are made at the LIGO Gravity Wave Detectors including one at Hanford.

Below photos from my 2023 summer bicycle and transit trip to LIGO Visitors Center at Hanford, near Richland, WA. from Bellingham, WA.

I am now on Blue Sky Social Media as well.

I've been fairly prolific on Facebook which is more interactive than this blog. I plan to keep my Facebook wall, but now opening up a new outlet on Blue Sky. This, in part, due to friends and followers leaving Facebook. They can now find me on Blue Sky.

It's like opening up a new transmitter, if one were in the radio business.

Problem is, Blue Sky limits the size of posts so many of my posts, there, will be links to this blog for more nuance.

I also use Flickr for sharing many photos. Reditt is kind of a learning curve for me, but I use it some. Pretty much my whole online presence is at my website which mostly serves as bookmarks to my archive of things across several platforms.

Scroll down to more of this blog, or visit above link to website.

Be careful not to jump to conclusions when hearing the headlines.

The man behind the incident known as Pizzagate was recently in the news again. On first glance, I was afraid Trump was appointing him to high office.

Turns out he was shot by police during a traffic stop as he was pointing a gun at the police. He died soon after.

This was the man who, in 2016, followed bizarre rumors that began with a leaked email referencing Hillary Clinton and pizza parties. It morphed into fake online news stories about a child sex trafficking ring run by prominent Democrats operating out of a Washington, D.C., pizza joint. Back then he showed up at the pizza parlor armed.

His demise came after a confrontation with police during a traffic stop in 2025.

Many years ago, I was listening to a late night talk show on the old KGO in San Francisco. Some elderly lady called in and was very upset that all the former presidents supported NAMBLA (National Man Boy Love Association). THe talk show host thought she was a kooky caller and hung up.

I realized she had heard a headline about all the former presidents supporting NAFTA (North American Free Trade Act). She thought NAFTA was NAMBLA due to poor radio reception and / or bad hearing.

Is having gratitude an option only for the privileged? Well, those who are privileged don't have enough gratitude either.

Some people think promoting the concept of gratitude is a bias enjoyed by folks with privilege. Not everyone has lots of things to be thankful for.

Still gratitude is important as even folks with privilege often don't have gratitude either. They are complaining about taxes, crime, their neighborhoods changing and so forth.

Gratitude is also pretty important for folks trying to improve their situations as people, who aren't that happy with their situations, often quarrel among themselves in a sea of complaint. The perfect can be the enemy of the good.

Quarreling often opens the door to "divide and conquer;" a tactic used by folks in power to stay in power.

2002's mini 911 that hardly phased a building in Tampa Florida.

Violence and even anger tends to not be a good agent for positive change. In recent news, there have been some acts of individual violence; for instance the cyber truck blowup in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. This said to be a wake up call, but from a former person said to have favored Trump.

I'm remembering 2002 when a mini 911 happened in Tampa Florida. Someone flew a small plane into an office building causing only light damage to a few offices. Building is still standing, I think, with this memory only a blip in history.

DEI has gotten a bad rap.

DEI stands for diversity equity and inclusion and it's getting lots of push back these days. It's not new. Dating back many decades there have been efforts to improve fairness and inclusion in society. I remember the days when there was sensitivity training and other things under different labels.

My first memories of the DEI acronym was around the time of the angry push back against police in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. I personally did not attend those protests, for several reasons including covid.

It's not that simple, but I guess just change a few buzzwords and strategies to continue efforts toward a more inclusive world.

Is the US an oligarchy or a democracy? It's a spectrum.

Some people think USA is already an oligarchy instead of a democracy. Basically run by the rich with their lobbyists, corporate power and so forth. The line between democracy and oligarchy is blurry. It's like a scale depending on where one draws the line, to some extent.

I wouldn't say we are an oligarchy, yet at least. Ironically, populism may be pushing us that way, however. Populism seems to follow celebrities ranging from Donald Trump and Elon Musk to Hollywood celebrities. There are celebrities influencing thinking on both the left and the right. Many conspiracy theories are based on Hollywood movies. I'm not into movies that much, but I remember seeing China Syndrome.

Many callers to radio talk shows seem to get the plots for their conspiracy theories from the movies. They often say, "this is happening like, you know, in the movie (fill in the blank)."

Culture needs to evolve before ideals on the left become viable.

I have thought that many of the ideals of us leaning to the left have run counter to consumptive culture. Dependency on cars versus climate change, single family homes versus attempts to curb sprawl, population growth versus the dream of a limited growth economy.

With the fires raging in California, I've read that Governor Newsome has issued an emergency order lifting some of the burdensome environmental red tape, which has been quite a thicket in California. This move to allow for rebuilding of burned areas at a more affordable rate.

Myself, rather than being a radical on "stick it to business" red tape, I understand the need for society to work. At the same time, I am somewhat of a critic of much of our culture ranging from population growth to over dependency on private automobiles to basing one's self esteem on one's wealth and career status.

I think, maybe, the best we can do toward a more sustainable world is incremental changes; a bike path here, transit there, incremental decrease in the size of homes and awareness of what kind of society we should have to be in more harmony with the natural environment.

Bellingham has recently taken a good step to reduce parking requirements for new developments in order to try and allow for more affordable housing. I notice some people, on the left, think this is a sellout to big developers who want to build and reap profits from less requirements. Some people say we have to have cars as it's "reality."

Less regulation, such as less parking requirements can, however, make it easier for mom and pop landlords to incrementally build. This might make it easier for smaller business to compete against the bigger developers who have more money for lawyers to navigate them through tickets of regulation. As for the never ending need for more parking, Bellingham's infrastructure is admittedly getting more cluttered with cars. On street parking is getting fuller, unless people are willing to walk farther from where they have parked than they are use to. This requires a cultural change.

To accommodate more cars, I doubt we will ever be able to afford widening I-5 through Bellingham. We could go to six, or maybe even 8 lanes to try and reduce the chock point. Self driving technology might help us add more cars to the existing 4 lanes, however.

Anyway, without cultural change, it looks like many environmental regulations will need to go.

Private ownership of business isn't necessarily worse than government, non profits, collectives or condo associations. It's about the people and the quality of stewardship.

I recently saw a video with Bernie Sanders standard augment that a small number of wealthy control the wealth while much of the rest of Americans are barely getting by. It could be true, but the majority of Americans haven't been voting to change this. Why?

I tend to think there is always going to be ownership of business whether it's government, non profits, worker coops, or private individuals. Someone is going to be taking leadership roles. It might be something owned by many, such as a condo association. I've heard that some condo associations are the "association from hell."

People don't always trust government though government leaders are elected while private owners aren't elected. What's wrong with government?

Worker owned businesses and coops might be better, but they have their issues as well. It depends on who's taking leadership roles? Not everyone is always happy. There is always majority and minority points of view as to how an organization should be run.

It seems like stewardship is more the issue; rather than whether it's private owners or not.

In some cases, private owners reinvest in the business and don't take that much out for personal profit. In other cases the owners milk it for all it's worth, ripping off the employees, customers and communities. Even with non profits there are folks, in leadership, who are bad leaders and even profiting from extravagant salaries. Non profits can be badly managed as well as coops, governments and private corporations.

Stewardship seems to be more the issue.

One wonders why we keep having bad leadership in so many cases. People don't always vote or shop, for that matter, in their best interest.

Some of the so called fat in government is good business for Elon Musk.

Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, is taking on the task of reducing government spending. Many folks have said that he could start with his own lucrative contracts from NASA for his Space X company.

Maybe, for all his billions, he could volunteer to pay, out of pocket, for the Space X resupply missions to the International Space Station.

While I am a fan of science, I've been less of a fan of the Space Station. The space station seems to provide less science per dollar spent than other missions; like for instance the Voyager Missions launched clear back in the 1970s and still sending data back from the outer edges of the solar system.

The space station has been going for a long time and costing NASA quite a bit of money. It has some interesting science, such as something called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer - AMS-02. There is other science onboard including Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER); which I follow somewhat and basically like.

I'm one of the rare breed that follows science more than what billionaire football teams are doing on the football fields. I know more about the stars in the sky than I do about the stars in Hollywood.

I think robotic missions tend to do more interesting science, per dollar spent, than missions with people on board.

Challenges can be useful, however. In it's later years, NASA's need to keep resupplying the space station has provided funding and incentives for companies; like Space X to innovate and fill that need. That has helped to get Space X's systems going so it has now branched out as part of the accelerating private space launch industry.

I use to have more respect for Musk, but his more recent reckless thoughts on X (formerly Twitter) cause me to hear that engineers run his companies and all but ignore the kooky billionaire at the top.

Can he streamline the government? I'm not holding my breath.

Taxing McMansions could be a lucrative and overlooked source of revenue for the state of Washington

They are talking about another wealth tax for Washington State, but there is always the worry that the super rich will leave the state and take their money with them, thus reducing available revenue.

How focusing more on taxing big McMansions in the state? There are sure a lot of them. Homes tend to be exempt from these wealth tax proposals, though they do pay some taxes.

Some senior citizens get breaks on property taxes if their ongoing income is below a certain level. They still might own a home worth over a million, but their money is all tied up in the house. This break is unfair to renters who still have to pay indirectly through their rent; if not in subsidized housing. I'm fortunate to be in subsidized housing, but there is a long waiting list to get in.

Maybe the senior citizen homeowner tax break could be treated like a reverse mortgage? One could benefit from the tax break until the house sells, or gets inherited. Then back taxes could be collected.

Maybe there is already something like this in place, but I'll have to research it more. I know that taxing homes is sort of a political no no.

Taxing business is more popular because it's taxing something "other;" rather than taxing people directly.

Ultimately business is just people also. If the owners and executives make huge profits, that can be taxed. It would be taxing the owners and folks making loads of money. Tax their personal wealth and their mansions.

On the other hand, some businesses can be on a thin margin. There may be a high volume of revenue, but it almost all goes back out to expenses. A business may have lots of capital, on paper, but that's the buildings and machinery it uses to do it's business.

Taxing business, especially if it isn't real profitable, falls back on people anyway, in terms of hurting customers, workers and the economy. It can kill the goose that lays the golden egg, so to speak; or at least send the goose flying out of the state.

Picture I took of the Christmas tree in my childhood home on Christmas Eve.

See more of my images about Christmas.

Advent of heat pumps can lead to increase use more areas using air conditioning.

Map I found from a few places online. Darker areas need more air conditioning.

I'd add that increasing use of heat pumps for heating will increase use of air conditioning in cooler cities such as Seattle and Bellingham as air conditioning is an easy add with heat pump technology.

Heat pumps are good, but they may add their own increase in use of air conditioning beyond the increase due only to climate change.

This can effect estimates as to who is likely to get air conditioning in future years and how much energy savings heat pumps will provide.

Cascadia High-Speed Rail project may not be the best way to improve rail service in Washington State.

Money being spent to study high speed rail in Western Washington.

The most difficult part of the project would be procuring the right of way through Western Washington's built up environment. High property values, multiple road crossings, lots of neighborhood and environmentalist objections are likely to be deal breakers.

Maybe speed isn't as important as most of mainstream society thinks. When I travel, I enjoy the scenery along the way as well as conversation with other passengers on the train. The trip itself is as much part of the experience as the destination.

I think money would be better spent extending passenger rail service to underserved areas of the state; such as the Yakima Valley. There could be more convenient service to Spokane besides the only train arriving late at night.

Some of those areas already have underutilized right of way for rail such as the double track rail line that carries only an occasional freight train over Stampede Pass from Seattle area to the Ellensburg and Yakima areas. This could connect Yakima Valley to the Tri Cities thus connecting with existing Spokane to Portland passenger route. Money might be better spent to improve service east of the Cascade Mountains.

Double track rail line crossing near Snoqualmie Pass between Seattle and Ellensburg.

There is already a double track rail line over Stampede Pass just south of Snoqualmie Pass. I took this picture during a bike trip along yet another rail right of way crossing Snoqualmie Pass; the old Milwaukie Line now a bicycle trail. Trains can still use the Stampede rail route while bicycles use the old Milwaukie line; now called Cascades to Palouse Trail. No need to take out a bike path.

Around 2004, this below cartoon appeared related to a Highway 9 Transportation Corridor Study. Yes, improvements could help alternative transportation, but I guess residents of the Acme area worry that it comes with more mainstream development and traffic.

On a personal note, someone drew this cartoon for the front page of this little newspaper, while my letter to the editor, holding out hope for improvements along Highway 9, was inside. The Sun is no longer published, but I keep it as a fun keepsake. I like to chuckle thinking about these planning meetings. That Transportation Corridor Study is basically now collecting dust, as far as I know.

Today, much of highway 9 is still a dangerous road with no shoulder along many stretches with increasing volume of truck and car traffic. I now refuse to ride on most of Highway 9 for my own safety.

Easier for politicians to promise more from Social Security than to increase the taxes to pay for it.

It's easier for politicians to promise benefits than it is to take away benefits. Even enough Republicans went along with this, in spite of worries about Social Security's long term solvency.

Since they did this, next step should be to raise the cap on income that is subject to the Social Security tax. This would return the Social Security fund to more solvency, but it's harder for politicians to propose any increase in taxes.

Passed in the Republican House and in the Senate. Biden will likely sign it.

A reason why federal debt is hard to reduce.

Whether Republican, or Democrat, politicians get elected by promising things to the voters. Delivering bad news, such as big cuts to things like veterans benefits, Medicare or disaster relief doesn't play well for getting reelected. Promising tax cuts is also popular. Even the recent bill increasing Social Security benefits to former federal workers who opted for a lower amount due to their already existing pension plans did pass the Republican dominated House. It may not pass the Senate, however. Delivering unpolular news about tax hikes or real budget cuts is not a formula for getting relected.

The US economy outperforms others, but money doesn't always buy happiness.

The US has grown three times as fast as its largest comparable economies in the G7, which include Japan, Germany and the UK. In the 1990's the US was 40% of the G7 pie; today it's more than 50%; according to Economist's Simon Rabinovitz on the Indicator podcast.

Still, Americans are not the happiest which indicates that money doesn't always buy happiness.

Wealth inequality is one part of the problem; not only inequality between the super wealthy and everyone else, but also inequality between those thriving in the middle class and those struggling with housing insecurity and so forth.

Still, most people seem to think that increasing overall wealth, in the economy, will fix the problems. The general feeling that the economy is not doing well is a factor leading to Trump's victory, but some of Trump's policies may undermine success of the American economy.

The cutbacks on immigration could be bad for the growth in labor and consumer markets. If you begin to undermine the rule of law, that can undermine confidence in American markets.

We need a better paradigm for determining the purpose of our economy. Does more volume of wealth necessarily mean a better quality of life? How well does our economy do in terms of promoting health, longevity, scientific progress and stewardship of the environment? These are the bigger questions we need to be discussing. Just money, by itself, doesn't always buy happiness.

USA from a perspective of alternative lifestyles.

For years it seems like just blaming the rich, corporations and the government for our problems hasn't been working; politics of resentment.

The grassroots culture of a consumptive society is a big part of the problems we face as a society. More people need to choose the gentler scenic routes.

Modifications, even just incremental modifications, in our entire culture of consumption are needed. It's something I hope people can still do in our local lives.

Yes, the corporations and institutions have manipulated us into a consumptive society, but the people have followed.

I tend to be less influenced by advertising, movies and fashions than most people. Possibly because I am somewhat of a loner. Traditional social and family connections tend to trap people into the need for mainstream living.

I have a more non traditional life, but I still have lots of friends and connections in my life. My connections are likely not the same type of relationships that most people seek; such as on dating sites and so forth.

My lifestyle seems to work for me. I might be bias, but I tend to think that if more people lived a bit closer to my lifestyle, some of the problems of the world would be less.

The basic structure of American society, with it's openness to innovation, lifestyle diversity and even major architectural achievements could continue, but maybe with a bit less of the pressure of mainstream living.

Seattle from the perspective of a bike path.

Rather than trying to keep up with the rich, we ought to figure out how people can live fulfilling lives even if only with modest incomes.

Ideally, a political party; like the Democratic Party, would not necessarily focus on having everyone try and keep up with the rich. Even if keeping up is only partial, it's still kind of a rat race.

Instead, one ought to be able to have a life of fulfillment, safety and dignity even if their income and wealth is more modest.

The paths to creating that is what we need.

Democratic Party should focus more on alternatives to Republican planning on energy, economics, city planning, transportation and environmental issues.

There is quite a bit of talk that the Democratic Party should place less emphasis on what is called "identity politics," such as men versus women, sexuality, race, class and so forth.

I have a slightly different take, but similar. I think the goals of a more equitable society are still valid, but old strategies to achieve them seem to be at a dead end.

I would like to see more focus on the technical issues of how to make our economy greener and work better for everyone. We need to be talking about city planning, transportation, power grids, water, streets, housing and so forth.

There are lots of good ideas that are often discussed in the local level of politics, that should be more discussed at the national level. Topics such as how do we deal with lack of water in the Colorado River, for instance?

How do we juggle energy needs with, for instance, the effects of hydropower dams on salmon?

How do we integrate solar energy into the power grid? Can we develop more nuclear power and ideally hydrogen fusion? What is the future of the automobile, transit, the Interstate Freeway system and so forth?

How can we change the economy so housing becomes more affordable to more classes of people (speaking of classes "identity politics"). I think that the goals of equity are still valid, for the most part, but I think technical, planning and economic discussions could work better.

As for race and identity politics, lack of affordable housing is one of the big things that divides people. People of color, tend to be less apt, on average, to be homeowners and can be locked out of neighborhoods not necessarily due to overt racism, but simply due to price.

Do people really wish to significantly increase inheritance taxes, for instance, to create more equity? We could tax windfall homeonwer value back to the community; rather than allowing so much wealth to be passed down from generation to generation.

Zoning has a lot to do with this also. Too many popular areas are still zoned in restrictive "single family zoning." We need more mixed use zoning. Steps are being taken, in that direction, by many local levels of government; such as state, county and city governments. That is a positive sign.

Is inflation a problem? Quality of life should be the true bottom line.

Sunrise. Image from my smartphone at the end of the hallway in public housing outside my studio apartment. Hallway lights reflected on window glass to the right.

Republicans have won some elections being propelled by public concern about inflation. Some folks would like to roll back prices to pre pandemic levels, but that would be deflation; something associated with depression. Be careful what you ask for cause you might get it.

Deflation can lead to much less consumer spending as consumers postpone purchases till the price comes down farther; not necessarily always a bad thing, but be careful what you ask for. In the computer field, we have already had deflation, but consumption does continue. For decades, advancing technologies have lower prices while increasing capabilities. This trend is often called "Moore's Law."

Moore's Law has not lead to a total collapse of spending as people still buy things in order to use them. Waiting years, before buying a computer or smartphone, while waiting for a better deal, means going without the use of such devices for years. People buy anyway and then upgrade when the newer models become available.

There is still a brisk enough consumer market, in electronics, so many good phones go to landfills. Phone and internet service providers still push upgrades making their networks less compatible to older devices.

Certain things, like housing and healthcare, continue to get more expensive and deflation, in those areas, could lower the overall cost of living. Do homeowners want their home values to deflate? Deflation is usually seen as bad and leading to unemployment as well. We all need to be careful what we ask for as we might get it.

For renters and first time home buyers, dropping property values can be a good thing; if one is able to stay employeed, however.

Often it does seem like the economy is a meaningless treadmill. For every step we go forward in wages, we fall 2 steps back in prices; especially for things like housing and healthcare.

Taking a deeper look at what we are trying to accomplish, with our economy, is what needs to be done. How gratifying is life? Are we happier? Are we heathier? Is the economy making progress toward climate stability? Is our technology improving in ways that enhance civilization?

This fuels the pendulum of politics as in we have met the enemy and that is us.

It seems like when the government starts to lean a bit left, most of the pushback from the people is from the right. When those in power, in government, are right wingers, pushback from the people tends to swing more to the left. This provides hope for the left after election 2024. It's the pendulum of politics.

Those following Taylor Swift.

My 2012 picture of BC Place Stadium.

A billionaire, Taylor Swift, coming to Vancouver, BC; near Bellingham.

This is expected to have an effect on I-5 traffic to the border. I hear the tickets to see her in concert sell for around $900 (my guess $900 Canadian, maybe not quite $900 US).

I guess people on the right of the political spectrum can worship Donald Trump and Elon Musk while folks more toward the left have their billionaire idols as well. We might need the billionaires on our, more left side of the political spectrum, as in fighting fire with fire, so to speak.

The priorities I spend my money on are quite a bit different than going to live concerts like that. I don't go to football games either.

I have gone to Vancouver, BC to be among 500,000 folks in Vancouver's Gay Pride Parade, however. I bicycled to a motel in Surrey and took the Skytrain from there. No luck finding an affordable room in Vancouver, itself during that big event. The gay parade, itself, was free.