Regulaions can stand in the way of transition to a greener economy.

I can see why there is push back against regulation.

Regulations stop a lot of things, but we need to figure out how to build a greener future. We need to be able to build enough housing to keep up with population growth. We need to build alternative energy facilities without having to wade through years of red tape.

Much of these regulations are the result of lobbying groups, lawyers, fears of the future, neighborhood associations and risk adverse thinking. Government is blamed, but it is often a tool of these other things in society.

I still think population growth needs to be reduced, but we do need to build more. Just bringing the 8 billion people, already on this planet, up to more comfortable living standards means lots of building. Either that, or cutting back on our space and consumption demands; for instance less space for parking.

As immigrants come into this country, we need to build for, or at least adapt, to more people. One way to adapt is to use less, of course, but that's a hard sell.

There is a lot of push back against immigration which I see as a result of things like unaffordable housing and increasing traffic congestion.

Crime is often cited as a factor against immigration, but crime rates are even higher among native born. I think growth is a bigger factor, though crime tends to be pushed as an issue by the right wing. Growth is a huge problem if we are not building and / or adapting to it.

Just changing the system doesn't work without changing culture.

A recent NBC poll shows low approval rating for the Democratic Party. Trump's approval is falling also, but not as low as the Democrats.

I still think the Democrats come closer to my values than the Republicans, but my values and lifestyle is different than most people. My thinking is neither mainstream Democrat or Republican. I think I am less into wealth and consumerism than most people and I don't drive a car.

It seems like Republicans have an easier time aligning with mainstream culture than Democrats. Inexpensive energy, economic growth, low prices on consumer products and low taxes fit well with the aspirations of the general public as viewed in national polls.

What Democrats advocate is more of a stretch given our general culture of consumption. In the long run however, Republican values can lead to ruin. This due to things like climate change and wealth inequality. Most people tend to focus on short term pragmatic things, in their personal lives, rather than the big picture.

I keep thinking that just changing the system hasn't worked that well for decades, we need to rethink deeper cultural issues.

Many of these deeper discussions and aspirations do happen among people. These discussions also happen more among local, rather than national politicians; such as city, county and state level politicians. Figuring out something better than gridlock traffic and unaffordable housing tends to be talked about more at the local levels among individuals as well as politicians.

Learning more about our own communities rather than celebrities and sports could improve our politics.

It seems like most Americans know more about movies and sports than they do about the communities they live in. This could explain why so many of the politicians that get elected have bad ideas.

Basic knowledge about the workings of the government, the economy and the landscape is useful. For instance understanding a concept called "economy of scale." This can explain why large corporations often offer lower prices than small mom and pop businesses in spite of the high salaries they pay a handful of top executives.

Understanding the tradeoffs would be useful since we can't always "have it all."

Small might mean better community while large could mean more efficiency. Knowing what the tradeoffs are, intentionally making the choices and accepting the consequences can reduce anger and impatience.

At times, it seems like people are just lashing out and stumbling in the dark not knowing why things happen. Having more awareness of the landscape and systems around us would help us more than knowing sports scores or Hollywood celebrities.

Myself, I find the community and the landscape I live in to be more interesting than what happens on a football field.

Trade war recession might lower consumption and the carbon footprint.

An unintended consequence of the Trump Presidency and the tariffs is likely to be a recession or even a depression. It's not something most people are looking forward to, but it could reduce consumption and the carbon footprint.

It may take a bear market to be a check on Trump.

Due to incompetent Republican leadership of the national government plus some other economic worries, the stock market could be trending down, day after day, week after week. This could be what they call a "bear market."

The silver lining could be public opinion turning against Republican leadership in Congress and the presidency. Meanwhile it could mean US goes into a recession and quite a bit of savings gets lost; at least temporarily.

Money doesn't mean that much to me, but I do have a small amount in a mutual fund. I've been thinking maybe I should have pulled my small amount out of the mutual fund when I saw that Trump had won the election. I predicted that a bear market would be likely going forward. Still, my little account is set to low risk, so it's not that much exposed to stocks.

If I had closed out that little account and put the money into my regular bank account, at least it would be less complexity filling out my tax form. My income is so low, I hardly owe any taxes anyway, but having that fund adds a bit more complexity for figuring out how to fill out the form.

Confusion at IRS due to big layoffs is another topic in the news.

If nothing else, maybe economic problems will change minds. The workings of the economy; like the weather, is one thing that egotistical politicians can't really control. It's something much larger than politics, itself. Technocrats often have a better handle on managing an economy than ideologues.

Community wealth versus personal wealth. Private business assets that serve the public, can be considered part of community wealth along with public infrastructure and so forth.

I prefer community wealth to personal wealth. My thoughts are different than the thinking of many folks. I think community wealth can include private wealth that serves the public; for instance a store that the public can shop at. This is different than wealth is not open to the public; such as the store owner's private home.

Community wealth also includes wealth owned by government; such as parks, roads and schools. Community wealth can be owned by worker's collectives, coops, non profits and so forth.

Even large private corporations can be community wealth. Chains of stores, such as even Walmart, can serve the public if the public wants the fruits of "economy of scale." Bigness sometimes means lower prices, more selection and so forth. Small "mom and pop" stores offer other virtues; such as connection to local community.

Big corporations can be owned by a very wealthy individual who's wealth is invested in the stores themselves, or they can be owned by stockholders. Stocks can be owned by things like union pension funds, or exclusive private circles of super wealthy and often greedy owners.

Much of the quality of life depends on how people behave who own and use the wealth. Undue influence over politicians is irresponsible use of wealth. Advertising can be seen as a problematic use of wealth.

Community wealth, that is open to and used by the public, is better in my opinion, than personal wealth; such as a bunch of mansions that are for private use only.

Interesting to note; I've heard that Oprah Winfrey had one of her private homes on Orcas Island, near here. It was later sold to another owner.

Fun time at a dance.

Saturday night was a fun dance at the Hotel Leo for Bellingham Queer Collective. Music was full of energy from a real good DJ named Westwood.

I'm posing with some friends, Mark Allyn and Michelle, outside the dance in the hotel lobby holding a red blinker from my bicycle. Dancing the night away.

Dance organized by Bellingham Queer Collective.

San Francisco ferries made in Bellingham.

News from San Francisco, but most Bellingham people don't realize; it's also about Bellingham.

San Francisco is getting 3 new electric ferries and they are being made at All American Marine in Bellingham. Passenger only ferries made in Bellingham, but used elsewhere. Why not here? I would guess San Francisco Area is more viable for non automobile ferries due to higher population density.

From Bellingham, ferries would go to San Juan Islands and how does one get around on the island without a car? Maybe, in Friday Harbor, but no where else. How about by bicycle?

I remember when we did have passenger / bicycle only ferry service from Bellingham to the San Juan Islands as well as to Victoria, BC. This was back in the 1990s. They left from Fairhaven Cruise Terminal. The ferries were privately run for a few years before, I guess, the economics of this didn't workout.

Artwork in the alley at the downtown Bellingham parking garage.

Could US Republican Party lead to Ukraine's defeat and USA being expelled from NATO?

In my mind are various different scenarios that may, or may not be what the future brings.

One possible scenario, given Republican Party rule, in US, is Ukraine being defeated by Russia in the near future. Resistance to Russian rule, from Ukrainian people, would continue to be a thorn in Russia's side so Putin's victory would be similar to George Bush's famous moment on the aircraft carrier during the second Iraq War when he declared "mission accomplished." As history shows, Iraq remained in turmoil with US troops involved long after that moment.

Another part of this scenario holds that our NATO allies, including Canada, reconfigure NATO to, basically, expel the US as a member. This could happen formally, or at least in practice, if not officially. Other NATO members are starting to distrust the Trump Administration with security secrets. They fear information could be passed on to Putin.

I can see sharing my above post to Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, but he would never see it anyway, due to volume of mail and me being outside his district. He, as well as some other Republicans has played lip service to Ukraine remaining independent, but many of his actions and his support of Trump undermine that. The start reality of this situation is likely to face us.

One thought I have had quite often is that Ukraine could temporarily give up the Donbass and Crimea in exchange for protection to the rest of the country. If this could work as a cease fire it could be a step. Who knows what will happen, in the long run, to Russia or Ukraine. USSR did fall and that could happen again.

Looking way back to another, more optimistic era is this comment I placed on another person's post.

Things seemed much better back when the Soviet Union was trying to reform and develop more respect for human rights. The US and the west was trying to help USSR and then Russia reform. Things; especially in Russia, have gotten much worse since then. Maybe the former Soviet Republics broke away too quickly. I think maybe if the Soviet Union had held together a bit longer, the reforms could have had a better chance to take hold. Economic instability and chaos lead to return of authoritarian rule. As it is today, especially in Russia, I think human rights have been extinguished for the near future at least.

American dream is not about access to cheap goods. My different take on Treasury Secretary Bessent's comment.

I've thought that all along. I've advocated other qualities of life besides just material wealth and consumerism.

Still, I don't think that's what the Trump Administration and the voters for Trump had in mind. Tariffs slow down the flow of cheap goods leading to inflation. Voters voted against inflation.

Looking deeper, the way I like to think versus Trump, or even Democrat talking points, I think less consumption could be good for the environment. It could lower the carbon footprint.

Less consumption could also focus society on more intangible values; such as community connections, knowledge, good conversations and health; other values than just financially measured wealth.

Some Trump people don't necessarily have that in mind, but they seem to be pushing for bringing more manufacturing and production back to USA.

Many, on both the left and the right, envision an economy where we produce more of our own wealth. This could mean higher priced shoes, for instance, since they would be made locally. It could also mean higher wages as more things are made and grown locally. Higher wages, but more expensive foods and products.

Maybe housing would become more affordable, however, since other things, in the economy, such as consumable products and wages, would go up relative to housing and land, which has to be sourced locally. More local sourcing of goods and services sounds good, but there is another wildcard factor here; automation.

Re-localizing production will not necessarily lead to higher wages and less income inequality. Big business may still just automate and not really need the masses of people for producing the goods and services. Wealth may still only rise to the top.

Again, I keep thinking, we need to back away from so much lust for wealth and consumption overall. I'd like to see society focus more on the experience of life, itself; wealth and consumption only being one part of life.

Yes, survival and having food on the table is important, but a question I keep asking is, "what are we doing with our time?" "Are we spending our time in gratifying activities?" "Are we celebrating and uplifting our communities?" "Do we like and trust our neighbors?"

I keep asking, "what is the total quality of our lives beyond just what's measured with money?"

As some critics on the left may have almost wanted, US prosperity may crumble, but it's brought on by the right and the law of unintended consequences.

Tariffs are a way to finance the government versus income taxes. It's a way of shifting taxes to consumers. Lower income and middle class gets taxed more while higher income and wealth categories get taxed less.

This is what was voted in last November. American voters shooting themselves in the foot by a slim margin, back then. By now, maybe regret.

It will likely lead to higher inflation along with a downturn in the economy; possibly a steep downturn similar to when coronavirus happened.

Our relations with our allies and trading partners are going sour. Meanwhile the US is becoming more friendly to autocratic dictatorships; such as Russia.

Some people, including some folks in USA leaning toward the left, have been critical of American prosperity and consumerism all along. Consumerism has been seen as destructive to the natural environment; for instance. Also destructive to the human psyche.

Over the years, quite a few people have predicted a downfall of the US economy. This turmoil may be the reset some people have been predicting as in Mother Earth striking back.

My thoughts have been less drastic. I do think much of our consumer culture does need change, but not such a catastrophic change. I think we need to reduce consumption and probably value money less. At the same time, I would like to see us keep many of the good virtues we have had in our culture such as open mindedness, innovation and interest in the community's well being.

If we are smart, we can have a soft landing off what has been our somewhat too hectic economy. We may need to slow down a bit, but do it carefully. This is not what Trump voters had in mind and if it happens, it will be from the law of unintended consequences.

Unlike some folks on the left, I tend to not blame US imperialism for most of the world's problems. Yes, there is the history of imperialism. There has been slavery, land taken from native people's, the US conquest over part of Mexico in the 1840s and so forth.

More recently there has been some continued exploitation of world resources by US interests, but this has happened all throughout world history. The Romans did it. Various tribes among the American Native peoples did it before European settlers arrived. The world has a long history of conquest and bullying. Much of the world's problems, today, are not caused by the US.

World history has not been all about conquest and bullying. A case can be made that European conquest, during the so called Age of Discovery (Columbus and so forth), was the worst. Still, I think these problems of violence and greed are world problems and not necessarily all about the US.

The US has done many good things as well. Innovation, inspiration to much of the world. We have promoted freedom of thought, multi multicultural communities and so forth.

Especially, in recent times, we have done much toward looking at ourselves in the mirror. We've criticized our own actions; such as reexamining the Japanese internment during World War II. We have reexamined our own history of slavery and treatment of native Americans. We've criticized ourselves in regards to how we treat the environment. We've had many good intentions even though some might say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Lots of people, including many of our critics on the left, have benefited in their personal lives from the vary prosperity of the American economy.

There has been a lot about American culture and the American system that I continue to like. I'm hoping that the good things, in our culture, are salvageable; given the worldwide human condition that also includes greed and viciousness.

Short term populist "bread and butter" issues versus a longer term vision for a sustainable world. BP Oil looks more to short term.

The short term pragmatic pocketbook wins out over a long term vision of needs for the future. Putting food on the table comes first. Short term return on investment comes first. I think this is a result of pressure from populism around the world.

Businesses have trouble going too far out on a limb toward long term goals of global sustainability. If they go out beyond where the consumer markets, investors and voters were willing to go, they tend to pull back. Some folks would say, it was just "green washing" anyway so they wouldn't even get a lot of support, for their attempts at reform, from the traditional left. One can't expect an oil company to lead the way to a different future.

Pragmatism can be considered a virtue, but it's a virtue that focuses on short term needs. It's putting food on the table today, versus long term needs.

Culture needs to change, rather than just trying to change the system from top down, to reduce the carbon footprint.

For many years I have thought that most of the environmental movement has focused on the wrong strategy for making change. The strategy has been fighting government and corporations to try and get them to change. Instead, I think the problem is our culture. It's the consumption and voting habits of the masses.

At the same time, I don't necessarily blame individual people for the problem. One person is just a drop in the bucket so one person, alone, can't make the change either. What it takes is a realization that markets and voting patterns drive the situation.

More emphasis needs to be placed on culture and our mass behavior. The structure of our society, whether it's corporations, governments, or whatever, matters less, but it still does have an effect.

I tend to shift the emphasis back to the people, in mass, but I am not so naive as to think that the power of governments, corporations and wealthy individuals isn't a factor. It is, of course. It's kind of like a vicious cycle, but ordinary people, in mass, is the main factor I focus on.

It is really both, but most people's emphasis, as well as the media coverage, is usually on getting laws changed for trying to reform government and corporate structures from the top down.

Changes from the top down are usually met with populist uprisings over bread and butter issues, for instance the effect of carbon pricing on the cost of driving to work for ordinary people.

Populism tends to swing back and forth like a pendulum. It's almost like a pendulum with no long term vision. It is a floundering pendulum.

Personally, I haven't bought into as much of the consumer fashions of most folks. I seem to be less influenced by advertising, movies and so forth.

My life seems to be as enjoyable, if not more enjoyable, than mainstream consumer culture. At least I think it's less stressful.

There are many deep changes that need to be made in popular culture for us to move toward a greener future.

I think the pendulum does keep swinging, so it looks like it will swing away from Trumpism, now that Trump is the incumbent.

Still the pendulum seems to not have much of a long term vision. It mostly just flounders around trying to figure out who is to blame for the state of the world.

Meanwhile most people are just looking short term at how to survive and feed their families in this culture. Long term visions remain on the back burner.

Worse economic conditions and bad health likely in the next few years.

I think the US life expectancy is likely to go down for a while due to more stress created in part by economic stress and disturbing news around Trump.

Also I think bad medical advice, such as the reluctance to use vaccines and turmoil among government health organizations will add to increasing death rate and lower life expectancy for a period of time in the near future.

Trump wants to call it Gulf of America while devastating North America as a trading block with Tariffs against Canada and Mexico.

Trump's desire to rename Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America is only symbolic. In reality he doesn't believe in holding together the North American trade zone which includes Canada, USA and Mexico.

Tariffs against Canada and Mexico would devastate North American industry; such as the auto industry that straddles these borders.

Things looked good in early 1990s reform of Soviet Union, but now the breakup of USSR has lead to backsliding; especially in Russia itself..

Things looked hopeful in the early 1990s as the Soviet Union was reforming and opening up to more human rights, freedom of speech and innovation.

I think the Soviet Union may have broken up into independent republics too quickly, however. Since then, things have been shaky and especially Russia, itself, has turned more toward a form of fascism. Russia is seeking to reconquer former Soviet republics, such as Ukraine. This has lead to a brutal war that has turned to stalemate.

Now Trump Administration, in USA, is changing course seeking an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, possibly at any cost. This potentially a form of peace without justice.

We'll see how this turns out. Hopefully still a lot of unknowns as to what the long term situation will bring.

When the right to life begins at conception and ends at birth.

Seems like Republican thinking cares more about the lives of the unborn than the lives of children and adults already born.

The 8 billion+ people already on this planet is a lot of people. This has lead to immigration around the world as folks seek safer and better places to live. There is lots of pushback against immigration.

Now cutbacks in USAID are in the news as well as possible cutbacks in Medicaid funding for those in need.

My 8th grade plans for a new floating state for USA. The state of Lincoln. It could float away if USA was not governed well.

Sometime around my 8th grade year, my interest in large ships and buildings motivated me to draw rough plans for a 100 mile long ship.

My ship would be a floating new state added to USA; the state of Lincoln. I remember thinking that if USA was not governed well, my state could just break ties and float away. It could become an independent country, join Canada or something, I guess.

I still have plans for that ship. It's a scroll of glued together pages photographed below.

A friend of mine, at that time named Carl Swanson (lived on our street), also drew up plans for a ship. His ship was called Washington. Talking to Carl's dad, back then, I remember saying, "if USA doesn't shape up, the state of Lincoln can ship out."

100 mile long ships wouldn't be viable on earth, but much more recently, I saw a documentary, on YouTube, about luxury liners and cruise ships. In the documentary it said that large ships could be a precursor to colonies in space.

My junior high (now called middle school) interest in ships.

There is recent news about the rusty SS United States luxury liner. It has been sitting at a pier in Philadelphia awaiting some new use. It's finally being towed to Alabama for cleaning and then to Florida to be sunk and turned into an artificial reef and tourist attraction for scuba divers.

During my childhood, I developed a big interest in the luxury liners. I also have an interest in large buildings.

Before air travel was so common across the Atlantic, there were the giant ships; like floating hotels. They made me think of floating cities, all in one building. There were Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, from UK, The SS United States, The SS France, Norway and so forth.

The largest one, back then, was the Queen Elizabeth. It was based in UK and did the trip from UK to New York. On board were staterooms, restaurants, I think maybe even a swimming pool. It was later brought out of service and they tried to turn it into a floating university. It would have had dorms, classrooms and so forth for visiting various ports of call around the world. Unfortunately it caught on fire during remodeling in Hong Kong harbor during my high school days. It ended up as scrap metal.
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Some of my interest in the ships might have been related to news about the Queen Mary which was brought out of commission, during my middle school years. It was turned into a hotel / museum at Long Beach, CA. I went onboard the Queen Mary, in 2003 during a bicycle trip down the coast. (More below).

During my middle school years, I also remember seeing a movie on television called "A Night To Remember." It was about the sinking of the Titanic. Not being much into movies, I do still remember just about every film I've seen in my lifetime of not many movies. That movie was in black and white; a dark scene indeed.

My interest in ships is related to my interest in buildings, campuses and cities. Places that have lots of variety under one roof, so to speak.

Now it's Trump's turn to become the unpopular incumbent.

Public opinion does swing like a pendulum. More people are becoming wary of what could be seen as Trump's overreach according to some recent polls.

Also lots of things, that people complain about like inflation, are difficult for any president to mgically fix. Tarrifs could make consumer products more expensive; especially in the short run.

In the long run, maybe society is too consumptive and dependent on long distance supply chains, but we can't "have it all" and change doesn't come overnight. Do we really want a recession? There is a phrase that goes, "be careful what you ask for as you might get it."

Recent news from New York.

An executive order might end congestion pricing, but it can't end congestion itself.

New York City was trying to reduce traffic gridlock on Manhattan Island with congestion pricing for automobiles on that limited space. No executive order can magically end traffic congestion or end worry about climate change, for that matter. On such a crowded island as Manhattan, public transit is a better way to go.

DEI acronym has become a punching bag.

It's unclear what effects, threats of cutoff in Federal funding programs will have on diversity programs in colleges of Washington State.

Here in Bellingham, WWU has some programs aimed at folks that could be considered on the margins of mainstream society, for instance myself as a gay person. Most funding is from state or other sources, but some federal funds are in question, I'd guess.

I think many of these programs are useful though I tend to be fairly critical of much of the anger, seen in the news, related to lack of total fairness in society; especially through history.

Society has had a history of discrimination, but things do improve. Meanwhile there is quite a bit of debate over this leading to push back from some folks who would like to turn back the clock to the way things were in past decades.

I still think most of these diversity programs are useful, going forward.

DEI gets criticism, but it's basically seems like just a more recent acronym for things that society has been progressing toward all along. Slowing down the rhetoric, DEI stands for diversity equity and inclusion.

I remember (actually Google AI helped me here). This was in the news years ago.

In a 1978 case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the Supreme Court ruled that colleges could consider race as one of several factors in admissions, but not as a quota. The ruling legalized affirmative action, but prohibited racial quotas.

McConnell played a big part in creating a Frankenstein.

Looks like Mitch McConnell, former Republican majority leader in the Senate has created somewhat of a Frankenstein in Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.

McConnell is known for pushing Republican agendas and not even holding the hearings to consider President Obama's last choice for Supreme Court nominee. Now that he is opposing some of Trump's more unusual nominee's, such as Kennedy for HHS. The MAGA movement turns on him as he announces that this is his last Senate term. Wobbly now at 84 years of age.

Surviving the Reagan budget cuts. A thought for today.

Near start of the Reagan Presidency, lots of budget cuts, similar to now. Being outside professional circles (I was working as a janitor) I thought I was more immune to the cuts. My informal art could continue.

Back then, before the internet, there was a funky network of artists who sent things to one another in the mail. There were shows that usually had no jury, so it could be a free for all of free thinking.

The network was informally called The Mail Art Network.

It does still exist today and many of the participants participate in social media, as well, these days.

Here is a copy of a collage I sent out to some show, or something (I forgot) with Reagan trying to pull the plug Mail Art which was basically powered by hobbyists; so to speak.

Cornucopia of creativity dumping out mail art while Reagan asking Nancy, his wife, where the plug is to pull the plug.

I've scanned much of my vast collection of crude, political cartoon like, collages from past years. Above is one from early 1980s.

Some of the artists were behind the Iron Curtain in countries, like Poland (Back then) behind the curtain. Things were starting to loosen up behind the Iron Curtain back in those days. Homemade postcard a Mail Artist sent me, from early 1990s related to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Another somewhat related memory.

I remember when Reagan fired the Air Controllers. Their union PATCO had endorsed Reagan for president back in 1980; talk about voting against one's self interest.

He fired them after they went on strike for better working conditions during his presidency. He was trying to keep to his budget cutting promises.

Other unions said they wondered where was PATCO, when they needed support. Most other unions endorsed Carter instead of Reagan. The air control system did survive, however, during all that turmoil.

The planet Venus visible in an evening sky along a bike trail.

I have been adding to my large collection of photos on Flickr.

We need to figure out the science and economics for engineering a "soft landing" into a green future, from the fossil fuel based economy we depend on today.

This is more important than figuring out who's at fault.

For reducing climate change, I think we need to figure out the science and economics for engineering a "soft landing" into a green future, from the fossil fuel based economy we depend on today.

More important than figuring out who's at fault, We need to think about things like this. How to implement solar? Is nuclear fission okay? Can we figure out hydrogen fusion. Can we develop hydrogen as a chemical fuel for transportation? Can we make public transit more convenient? How do we plan neighborhoods for affordable housing? Should we think of natural gas as a "bridge fuel;" better than coal or oil at least?

These questions interest me more than who's to blame for the situation we are now in.

Trump's cutback on USAID is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

Picture of a local billboard about protecting life with some graffiti against government regulating women's bodies.

My message is somewhat different. I notice the irony about protecting life while sending an over supply of undocumented children and adults out of USA and potentially into harms way.

I took video, instead of still, because I noticed angle of sun and brisk wind made billboard look like it was on fire.

Some thoughts of mine about different churches.

Catholic church tends to believe that life begins at conception and should be valued throughout an entire lifetime, regardless of nationality. Catholics tend to support compassion and charity.

Conservative Protestant's are divided. Some tend to support charity while others support the politics of "holding on to your money." I think Bernie Frank once said, about the Christian Right that, "the right to life begins at conception and ends at birth."

Liberal churches, such as of my own upbringing, United Church of Christ, tend to support local choice in the reproductive matter. Not necessarily fans of abortion, but understanding that the complexity of these situations are difficult to dictate from afar; such as from the halls of Congress.

Liberal Christians tend to support compassion and sanctuary for people who face difficult situations in their lives.

Tariffs could mean shock therapy toward "buy local." Painful, but maybe what some folks, even on the left, wanted. Be careful what you ask for.

One potentially good thing about tariffs is that they could push local sourcing of supply chains, versus global supply chains. There are people who do complain about the so called "thousand mile salad;" food sourced from all over the world.

Locally grown produce is said to be better, though many of the folks, who celebrate local, still drink coffee; a product produced far from Bellingham, for instance.

I don't drink coffee, but I use chocolate and I do tend to eat from the thousand mile salad. In winter this area produces less variety anyway. In some areas, about all the agriculture there is would be grazing beef cattle; such as the high sagebrush deserts of Southeast Oregon.

Maybe we can adjust, however. Reduced consumption can help. I hear that the auto industry, which straddles many sides of international borders, is likely to take a hit.

This situation could result in a form of shock therapy toward re localizing of more supply chains. There are many tradeoffs in life. Be patient, hold on tight through bumpy waters and remember the Chinese proverb of blessing or curse, "may you live in interesting times."

Inflation coming again from tariffs and local sourcing. A different outcome than reducing inflation which is why so many people voted for Trump. It may, however, bring reduced consumption and localizing of supply chains.

An old cloth covid masks that were available before the n95 masks came out protects breathing from the cold on a wintery day.

Voting is among the most important things an individual can do to effect change.

I tend to think that the US would be better off if people were lived less consumptive lives, were less NIMBY against things like affordable housing, use alternative transit more and so forth. More important than all the above things is probably voting.

Quite a few people feel that there is little difference between Democrats and Republicans. This could be true, or it could just be a self fulfilling prophecy. Voting for a less than totally ideal candidate is usually better than not voting at all.

Of course there are some people who don't like the status quo so they think America needs "shock therapy," I guess. That makes some sense, but I still think voting makes a difference.

It is hard to be motivated to vote as each person is, basically, just one drop in the big bucket. Still, It's something I try and do and I like staying informed on the issues, versus football scores, for instance.

There are some issues I leave blank, on a ballot as admittedly some of it can be tedious to try and figure out. School boards? Judges?

It can be hard to read through the material. I still vote on what I have opinions on.

A rubber stamp, Republican dominated Congress.

Seems like the president can ignore the constitution as long as Congress doesn't provide a check against that. Most Republicans, as the slim majority in this Congress, seem to be going along with Trump as well as Elon Musk.

The courts are less apt to go along with Trump's every decree. Even Trump appointed judges have ruled against him. That might be because Judges are less beholden to lobbyists, campaign contributions and the problem of being ousted in primary elections.

Not enough room for the Palestinians.

There is lots of push back against the idea of relocating Palestinians to other Middle Eastern countries. I remember, from my high school days, news about a civil war between the PLO and the government of Jordan. It was early 1970s during the time when King Hussein was king of Jordan.

I seem to have a memory for news. I recently looked that situation up in Google.

I also like to think about geography. Countries, like Egypt, have lots of desert lands while their large populations cling to relatively small areas within the country. Much of Egypt's over 100 million people depend on the waters of the Nile River and live not far from it's banks.

I tend to think population is still an issue. In Egypt, people worry that some of the Nile waters could be used by new dams in Ethiopia, built on an upstream tributary called the Blue Nile. I study maps and follow news, though, admittedly, I have never traveled beyond the US and Canada.

On eliminating the penny in USA. Canada has already done this.

Eliminating the penny could be a good idea. Maybe it's another constitutionally questionable executive order that Congress should have done instead.

Canada has already eliminated the penny, made less useful due to inflation; such as housing prices. The dollar has become the new dime and both countries do still have the nickle.

Canada could be more nimble than giant USA so Canadians were able to do this years ago. I can see why some of the Trump supporters have been frustrated by the the difficulty of making any big changes in this country. There is lots of inertia in the way things are done.

We may be joining Canada in saying goodby to the penny.

I'd guess that some people still want to keep the penny, however.

Many transactions are now done electronically with no need for coins. I think, in Canada, 1 cent can still be used in electronic transactions.

Dealing with lots of coins becomes more of a burden than they are worth. It costs more to mint the penny than it's value in one transaction; though a coin is used over and over again for many transactions.

I often bring extra coins to a machine, such as Coinstar, to turn the coins into easier to use currency. It's worth it, for me, to pay a small service fee for that service.

Years ago, I remember paying for $6 in postage with a bunch of dimes that I had laying around. The person at the post office said, "here are your stamps and now we just have to count out sixty of these little buggers." In pennies, it would have been 600.

With tariffs consumer prices are likely to go up long before US industry is able to ramp up.

In the news now are tariffs on steel and aluminum. Tariffs slow down international trade and raise prices for consumers, but they could bring more customers back to American industry.

Will American consumers stand for this? Consumers are used to the abundance that global supply chains provide.

I doubt that US home based prosperity could come back quickly due to the time required in rebuilding local industries. Could tariffs bring back American Aluminum production, such as here in the Pacific Northwest?

Could this lead to the restoration of Alcoa (formerly Intalco) Aluminum works, here in Whatcom County? I am not holding my breath.

Edicts proclaimed by one moody person, the president, can rattle big corporations who seek long term predictable environments.

I think another way to re localize business is to consume less. This takes pressure off business giving it room to reform.

It helps to realize that consumer prices are likely to be higher; given more local supply chains. Wages and other business expenses tend to be higher, in USA, than in some other sweatshop countries. Product prices, from local production, are likely to go up relative to other prices; such as real estate prices in USA.

Below, pictures from my bicycle trips. 2024 powerlines near the currently shuttered Alminum mill in Whatcom County north of Bellingham. Two other photos from 2005 of an abandoned aluminum plant on the Washington side of Columbia River east of The Dalles, Oregon. If it's even still there, it wouldn't be easy to bring back into production, I'd guess.

I sign off for certain periods each day and I don't need to be on call for anyone. I still log onto the internet several times a day. Just not plugged in 24/7

As for unplugging from the internet, I do use it each day. I find the internet useful.

I don't unplug for long periods of time, like a wilderness adventure, or summer camp for unplugging.

Instead I unplug by just not being connected to it 24/7. I tend to use posts and comments to things like Facebook walls rather than real time chats. My relationships with people don't require me to be there for them 24/7.

I often tell people, I am not a 24 hour radio station.

Before the term 24/7 became popular, I was fascinated in 24 hour radio stations. They were more rare in the late 1960s / early 1970s. I had an interest in the tubes warming up and staying on for days on end.

Living in a basement room in my parents house, I had a 300 watt lightbulb with no lampshade. It did have a porcelain socket for safety. It reminded me of a powerful tube. During college, I set it up in my dorm room, but didn't use it that much. One time I did have it on when a friend was visiting and he said that he felt like he was being interrogated by the KGB.

Most radio stations, back then, went off the air, sometimes with the Star Spangled Banner to resume broadcast next morning. Each morning, they would warm up the transmitter tubes again. It took some time for the tubes to stabilize and then they would flip another switch to start the broadcast day.

TV, back then would often start the day, as well as ending the day with a test pattern.

During high school, I thought I would have a career in radio. Of course I didn't know about social media before that technology change.

I used to hang out in the studios of KWSU Radio, in Pullman to watch and chat with a student host named John Briel thinking it was good to familiarize myself with the field I was planning to go into.

Some material I got while attending Communications Center dedication.

One time, I arrived at the Edward R Murrow Communications Center early in the morning. It was dedicated with that name my senior year in high school. John let me in the building and I watched as he started up the station. When he turned on the transmitter tubes, I said, "they are warming up now." His response was, "yes, everything is starting to cook."

Back then, KWSU had a studio to transmitter microwave link. The transmitter was located out by Knott Dairy Center west of Pullman. Knott Dairy Center named for Joe Knott, a colleague of my dad in the Dairy Science Department. Also a neighbor who's house was kittycorner across the back fence from ours.

The control system was a telephone dial; a rotory dial. Different number codes commanded actions out at the transmitter. Codes for turning on the tubes, codes for sending just the carrior signal as well as codes for starting the broadcast day. One time, during sunset, I saw him dial up the transmitter so I ask, "what did you just do." His answer was, "I just turned on the tower lights." Allows pilots to see the tower and avoid crashing into it.

24 hour stations, in big cities, did interest me. I picked up both KGO and KNBR, from San francisco, at night due to ionospheric skip.

Even the 24 hour stations had to shut down sometimes for transmitter maintenence. KNBR used to have a broadcast week. At 1 am early Monday morning after their Sunday evening period, they went off the air. At 4 am, they would return to the air. Sometimes I would listen to the sign on and sign off with interest. KNBR would sometimes have interesting tones, after going off the air, as they callabrated audio, I guess. Then it would turn to static as they turned off the transmitter.

KGO never seemed to go off the air. It run 24/7, week after week. I figured they had 2 transmitters. When they needed to service one, the other transmitter was switched on.

Sure enough, many years later, on the internet, I saw a picture of the inside of KGO's transmitter building. 2 identical transmitters were side by side.

A strategy for reducing anxiety from the news while remaining engaged and informed.

I find the 24/7 news tickers add to my insomnia problems and anxiety. This is the "straight news," hard news, or just the facts; supposedly; as is described in Journalism school.

I do have to limit my consumption of that and stick to my own interests in reading, editorial analysis and educational things from sources like NPR. I also read columnists, from places like New York Times and even Wall Street Journal; when I can see them outside those publication's paywalls; on Yahoo News; for instance.

I often learn my news from Editorials rather than the hard news ticker. Editorials beyond just the silo of my own worldview. Some diversity of opinion on the spectrum of left to right, or other spectrum. Still admittedly, it is likely not humanly possible to be totally objective in what media I choose to listen to. Still, I go for thought provoking analysis and learning, versus the constant state of emergency, scary, drone of the 24/7 so called "straight" (there is a pun here) news ticker.

Is belief in climate change and or belief in God just a hoax?

Some people feel that climate change is a hoax. Other people might feel that belief in something like a god is a hoax.

The objective truth stands separate from our own perceptions of what each of us think is the truth.

First Friday of the month Downtown Art Walk in Bellingham. Passing a Cafe that is closed, but colored lights still on with art on the windows.

Passing Little Cheerful Cafe with my smartphone camera during Artwalk Feb. 7 2025.

Arab Americans for Trump changed name to Arab Americans for Peace. Why did they support the Republicans to begin with? Then I remember the Log Cabin Republicans.

Arab Americans for Trump has changed it's name to Arab Americans for Peace. This, after plans were discussed to turn Gaza into a resort during a meeting between Trump and the Israeli prime minister.

Odd that there would even be an Arab group for Trump, but I do remember that there has been a gay rights political group called the Log Cabin Republicans. Log Cabin Republicans support many of the principals of Republican economics; such as smaller government, low taxes and pro business interests. Mostly Libertarian in philosophy.

From article: In a press release issued Wednesday by Arab Americans for Peace, the group said its members “appreciate the president’s offer to clean and rebuild Gaza” but “take issue with the president’s suggestion of taking over Gaza and removing its Palestinian inhabitants.”

I say, people of various interests don't necessarily march, in lockstep, with any political party. I've heard of a book called What's the Matter with Kansas. It's about many poor and rural people still voting against policies that could help them; such as government spending on rural infrastructure or government programs that benefit folks in red states.

There is also a large segment of people who are just angry at the world, almost. They were dissatisfied with incumbent politicians, such as Biden was, who were not necessarily doing enough to improve the situation. This anger and disappointment often keeps folks away from the polls swinging, an election farther away from the goals of people sitting out the vote.

I think anger tends to be a counter productive emotion in politics.

Remembering a lot from the news over the years (if my memory serves me correctly). Log Cabin Republicans backed the Republican Party, but did not endorse Trump for 2016. They did not endorse any presidential candidate for 2016.

I also remember, from the news of years ago, when Log Cabin Republicans sent a donation check to (I think) Bob Dole who was running for President on the Republican ticket. The Dole Campaign refused to accept the check from a gay organization.

I haven't been paying that much attention to the news about that organization in recent years; such as 2020 and so forth.

DEI is just a newer acronym.

DEI is basically just an acronym related to a push, in society, to bring about a more equitable and fair society. Such efforts have been going on for decades under different names, such as civil rights.

It seems like whenever there is a lot of anger associated with these movements such as the anger against police after the killing of George Floyd, then there is push back. Often the push back is in a better position to prevail, given how close it is to the levers of power in society.

One of the best forms of nonviolent civil disobedience is living a less consumptive personal lifestyle.

Consumerism, or lack thereof, can bring mighty corporations, governments and economies to their knees. It doesn't have to be radical, or extreme. One can remain safe and comfortable, but just not falling for the latest fashions could be enough for bringing in a more ecologically friendly, humane, sustainable and enjoyable culture.

Any difference between Harris and Trump? I doubt Harris would have wanted to turn Gaza into a resort, but other solutions worn't working either. I did vote for Harris, however.

I doubt that Kamala Harris would have proposed turning the Gaza Strip into a Riviera style Mediterranean resort. Then again, it seems like no solution that Harris, Biden, Trump, Bush, Obama, or anyone else tried, was working.

Some people think there isn't much difference between politicians, Democrat or Republican. I tended to still side with the Democrats, most of the time, but I do think that human culture shapes the world, anyway; human culture, beyond what politicians can usually fix.

How good is Blue Sky Social as an alternative to other platforms?

I am starting to, somewhat reluctantly, learn how to post in a "sound byte" world, due to my new account on Blue Sky Social.

I often use that to link to my own blog for more nuance. I also use it to point out articles in other media, or my own photos on Flickr.

I think Blue Sky is more of an alternative to X than it is an alternative to Facebook. If Blue Sky were to have a division that worked like Facebook, it would be a great alternative to Facebook.

In the past, alternatives to Facebook; such as Ello, never got off the ground. This, due to privacy curtains around friend groups. Newcomers to the platform, didn't have networks of friends already established so it was lonely out there on the frontier.

Facebook got started early, so the friend networks are well established and hard to reconstruct elsewhere.

I still to keep using Facebook due to the warmth of the friend networks here. That is hard to beat elsewhere.

Blue Sky does have a good chance to "get going big time" due to having less, or maybe no, privacy curtains preventing newcomers from interacting with folks across the platform. I think the feeds on Blue Sky are visible on the open web also so they can be "spidered" by Google and other search engine's giant databases.

I'm very trusting of an open platform because I would not put anything on social media, including Facebook, that I wouldn't want to see published in national media.

On the other hand, I doubt national media is likely to come looking for little me here in Bellingham (where?) WA. In Washington State, we keep having to remind world folks that we live in "the other Washington," versus Washington, DC.

A concrete jungle may not be so bad after all given wildfires at the low density urban / rural fringes of cities like Los Angeles.

Inner city neighborhoods tend to be more resilient to wildfire spread than areas who are trying to have the best of both worlds; natural setting and the California Ranch Style Home.

More on this topic.

Ironically, many Republican's who talk about sanctity of life also wish to have more restrictions on too many "achor babies" here in USA.

There are folks that sound kind of NIMBY like. They might say, about children being born; "we believe in the sanctity if life, but we don't want those babies here." For instance what are sometimes referred to as anchor babies.

I disconnect by just forgetting to bring my phone with me when I venture out from home. I'm absent minded. I have no one that I need to be "on duty" for anyway.

Periods of disconnecting from the net can be seen as a good thing for mental health. Information overload can make one batty. I don't set a goal to disconnect, however. Ever since childhood, I've just been absent minded. I often leave home and forget to bring my smartphone with me.

That's okay because I don't need to be on call 24/7. I'm not working a job that requires being "on duty." I don't have a family, or close loved ones, who expect me to "be there" for every little crisis that comes up in their lives.

I do have lots of friends and community connections, but they can wait.

When I was a child, I was so absent minded that I forgot to bring the new lunch box, my parents bought for me, home from school. It got lost at the school.

They bought me another one and I accidentally left that at the school also. After that, they refused to get another lunch box for me. They still packed a lunch for me, but it was in a disposable paper sack.

I often wonder how today's kids can hang on, so tightly, to their smartphones, when I couldn't even hang onto a lunchbox.

Unlike some other post war baby boomers, I don't have a vintage, "early 1960s" lunchbox to show for it on eBay.

If I wanted to establish a carreer as a psychic, I would predict a stock market downward correction for Feb 3.

If I wanted to establish a career as a psychic, I would predict a major downward correction in stock markets on both sides of the US, Canadian border tomorrow (Feb. 3 2025).

Worries about disruption of US, Canadian and Mexican trade, that keeps things like the international auto industry healthy, could cause problems in the markets.

Then again, I admit that I don't have a crystal ball. It isn't necessarily easy to predict the future.

Several scenarios cross my mind. A temporary disruption, or crash. Maybe the Republican oligarchs will panic and get Trump to reverse course; as if running America from the seat of his pants. The disruption becomes only temporary, due Trump changing his mind. Markets recover soon. That's one scenario, but there are others, too many to write, that cross through my mind.

Another, of many thoughts I have. This looks like an artificial coronavirus crisis without a real virus. Like the artificial debt ceiling, in Congress, it’s a problem rooted in worry without much basis beyond just fear itself. The bull is in the chinashop of international commerce.

I just listened, over radio, to the Feb. 2 2025 edition of Cross Country Checkup on CBC Radio in Vancouver. This episode was about potential disruption of trade between US Canada and Mexico and it's effects on each side of the borders. Very interesting.

Remember speed reading?

Back in my college days, I remember a bunch of ads for speed reading classes. Pay some money and learn speed reading.

It seems like one doesn't hear much about speed reading classes, these days. Maybe it's because folks are less likely to be reading books than before.

I had difficulty getting through big reading assignments, in college, due to my lack of speed reading skills, I guess. I tend to work more slowly and I tend to favor more interactive learning than just absorbing tons of information. Shorter readings and things like NPR podcasts of round table discussions are more my speed.

Sound bytes and debates on X don't appeal to me. I tend to go for the middle ground when it comes to consuming information; modest sized, but more nuanced than things on X. I also seem to need to express my own feelings and ideas along the way.

Many good years without an airliner crash in USA until this year.

One thing that is shocking about the recent plane crash in Washington, DC is how, in recent times, it's rare for an airline to crash in the USA.

I read that the last major crash was back in 2009. This has been a very good safety record, compared to the so called "good old days" of the 1800s when catastrophes, in factories, transportation and so forth, were more like just "another day at the office." Safety standards have evolved, toward safety, over the past century.

A vindicative president.

Trump accusing Washington DC aviation disaster on DEI policies, Biden and so forth.

A less vindictive president would wait till the investigation provided a clearer explanation of why this disaster happened. The investigation is in progress; assuming the investigators have not been laid off from the government.

Turning the inflation clock back to 2019.

It wasn't enough to satisfy some right wingers that inflation went down to around 3% under Joe Biden's watch after it had risen to around 9% a year after the pandemic.

The overall inflation rate went to around 9% after the Fed dumped lots of money into the economy to pay for keeping things solvent during the pandemic. This propped up businesses and people, while rents and mortgages were still due, but businesses had to reduce indoor gathering. This also had the effect of propping up high property values as rents and mortgages could still be paid while many people were not working. It paid for unemployment and things like The Cares Act.

Under Biden's watch, inflation went up due, in part, to that extra money sloshing around in the economy. Biden ask to have more money put in to pay for things like the so called "Inflation Reduction Act;" infrastructure bill.

Right wingers bitched due to the higher inflation, though, later in Biden's term, the Fed was scaling back and inflation was going down rapidly.

This wasn't enough to satisfy right wingers who noticed higher grocery prices, gasoline prices and so forth. They wanted something more. They said, "bring prices back down to the 2019 "before pandemic," levels. Food prices go up with wages, passing added costs to consumers. During the pandemic, some workers were more highly regarded than usual and people were calling them "essential workers."

Now, well after the pandemic, the talk about essential workers has subsided and people are bitching about inflation.

Okay, I noticed that home values went up faster, during that period after the pandemic, than the overall inflation rate. In some cases home values went up around 20%!

Let's bring home values back down to 2019 levels. This could reduce the cost of living. Lets bring rents back down to 2019 levels. How about stock values? Let's crash the stock market so stock values can drop to 2019 levels as well.

Do the right wingers wish for that?

I say, "be careful what you ask for as you might get it."

As for gas prices, right wingers want to bring gas prices back down to when Trump was in office for his first term.

I say, when, during Trump's first term? Are you talking about around March of 2020 when oil was at the record low of $0 per barrel? That was when oil demand plummeted, around 95% of airlines were grounded, cars were sitting in the driveway and people were staying home. Biden accused of hiding in the basement.

It cost more money to store the toxic substance called "oil" at the wellhead, than it could be sold on the market for. Oil drillers started turning off the wells.

The global warming carbon footprint went down, the polluted skies got clearer and life became more mellow. Some people thought that period of quiet was almost like being in heaven.

Okay, after 2021, the economy is basically back to normal again, so prices are higher due to demand. In spite of Joe Biden, oil production, in USA, have hit record levels even before Trump took office for his second term. Carbon footprint is back up to normal again, and some folks are denying that global warming even needs to be addressed.

Who is more immoral, the Palestinians or the Israelis?

On my moral scale, both are equal.

So why have the Israelis killed so many more people than the Palestinians?

In my opinion, only because the Israelis have more powerful weapons.

The violence and hatred is similar on both sides, but larger weapons will only amplify the violence.

Folks on both sides who wish for peace are of higher moral character than those who wish for war.

I say the best way to liberate people from oppression of a powerful ruler is to subvert the ruler's system in some none violent and creative way.

Innovation tends to works better than violence.

If one is going to fight fire with fire, one needs to have equal firepower.

What happens if government stops keeping reliable economic statistics?

Potential cuts in government agencies that collect statistics on the economy could bring interesting results. What would Wall Street due without a reliable measure of inflation?

So much of the news and business decisions rely on accurate measures of things like unemployment levels, inflation and so forth.

Without these numbers, maybe more economic chaos? Would it be a blessing in disguise to be less mindful of money. Would people sing, "don't worry, be happy?"

Are Washington State's carbon limits actually reducing the state's carbon footprint?

Some Republicans in Washington State Legislature want quicker access to results for lower carbon emissions from the state to measure if things like Cap and Trade are actually working.

Personally, I have a different measure. What do we get in return from the money collected? It could be bringing us less traffic, expanded bus service, more trains to Spokane, than only one train that arrives after midnight, and so forth. Worth it.

As for emissions from this state, I think it's working, somewhat. Not always an easy measure, due to other factors clouding the results; such as state population, continued car addiction and economic growth. In spite of these other factors, clouding the measurement of results, are carbon emissions, from our state, actually going, down?

Selfi taken at a dance.

Someone I met and posed with after a conversation at a birthday party. Picture turned out good. Party was at Presence Studio in Bellingham, where I sometimes attend the free form dances.

Being a minimalist has some virtues and drawbacks.

View from my old apartment, several years back, with my painted homemade particleboard organizer.
One drawback was I have no backup pair of shoes, or laces when one of my shoelaces turned into a big granny knot that I had to cut off. Then I used the pieces of lace to tie shoe as best I could to get to a store to buy new laces.

A virtue, about minimalism, is not worrying that much about my material possessions. A radio show about LA fires talked about the grieving over keepsakes lost.

I thought about what things matter most to me. What material possessions would I take with me if I was evacuating my home. Top of the list might be my sculpture made out of dried Elmer's Glue. Pretty unique and irreplaceable. I made it during college. I could survive without it however.

Other unique keepsakes would come next. Small things with their own stories. One piece of furniture high on the list I made from particleboard and glue in the 1980s, it turned out well. I would try and save that, but it wouldn't be easy to carry.

As for photographs and writings, the important stuff is scanned to digital. The most important stuff is in the cloud, on my website, Flickr, or blog. If the paper burned, it wouldn't be that big a deal, though I don't plan to throw out the paper.

I would likely grab my external hard drive with the scans I have done and organized. As for my computers, I have 6 old ones, counting smartphones. I could sell all of them for less than one month's rent of my apartment and buy new more up to date electronics.

I have several radios that could be replaced. Clothing and other items could be replaced.

My bicycle is well used and not not top of the line bicycle, but still works fine. It could be replaced.

A front wheel of the bicycle that took me across America, years ago, would be missed however.

My Elmers Glue sculpture from college. Not made for a class, just a hobby in my dorm room.

Debate over Los Angeles fires. Land management or climate change the cause? It's both.

I'll admit that land management might have the upper hand, but climate change may be a close second in the debate over why the fires were so bad.

I call myself a liberal, but it seems like most liberals have forgotten a good talking point for environmentalism that I learned in my 1970s city planning classes from college.

I learned that sprawl is bad. Building at the urban / rural fringe is problematic; especially if homes are spread out among fire prone natural landscapes. Good city planning tends to favor more compact development within "urban growth areas" versus so much encroachment into rural areas.

If houses are sprawling out into nature, it's likely that populism and anti government regulation, will take the side of the houses meaning a win for removing natural vegetation if the vegetation is fire prone. Populism will want to "pave paradise and put up a parking lot," as the old song goes; especially an empty parking lot as a fire break. Of course a full parking lot could mean car fires spreading from gas tank to gas tank. Good firebreaks are needed around development.

Still, climate change is an issue as the environment is likely to become dryer, do to persistence of drought as well as becoming warmer. Longer fire seasons in the forests and scrub lands, for instance.
Image I found on the net

Poem by me. The Trump Comeback.

Is it the second coming of Donald Trump?

Some evangelicals think he’s anointed by God.

Then there is another meaning of the word come, or do I mean cum as in the stormy waters of Stormy Daniels?

How many evangelicals will stay on that ship or will they fall off to the ocean of soul searching?

Some hang on tight because of traditional marriage and commitment to money and power.

Glad I can still write this in USA, but who knows what the future could bring.

I couldn’t write stuff like this in the Christian nation of Russia, now at war with it’s former colony Ukraine.

I couldn’t write this in Afghanistan or Iran, noted for their hatred of “difference” and their war on women.

Cartoon of my fears.

Two fears that people, including myself, often have. These fears cancel each other out.

Personal to the left on the chart.

Communal, about the state of the country and the world, to the right on the chart.

Poem by me. Immigration.

Is it too many families, children and individual adults flooding our borders looking for safety from trouble overseas? Overpopulation?

Is it too much foreign money, flooding into our country and using it as a safe haven for money inflating property prices so Americans can no longer afford to live in our own country?

Vancouver, BC, in Canada has something called an empty condos tax. Discouraging foreign investors from buying condos to keep locked and empty as better investments than low interest at the bank.

Is it too much money, seeking our safe haven, making our dollar too strong so our products cost too much for the products to immigrate to cheaper countries?

Maybe we can solve this problem by crashing our own dollar, then we can export our products. We can be like a third world country and let the foreigners drill, baby drill our natural resources for export markets.

Yes, maybe not a bad idea, as our natural gas can help Europe get by until it reaches the utopia of green energy. This because the so called good Christians, in Russia, are being boycotted by Europe after Russia invades it’s former colony; Ukraine.

New attorney general, in my home state of Washington, plays a role in the news about birthright citizenship today. Sometimes known, by rightwingers, as the anchor baby topic.

President Trump issued an executive order that attempted to end automatic citizenship to babies born in USA, whether the parents are US citizens or not.

This could be called the "anchor baby" issue as many of Trump's right wing supporters seem to be tired of all the anchor babies born in USA. Over population? But many of these Trump supporters call themselves pro birth.

Anchor baby is kind of a derogatory term used to describe the situation of having a child in the US; like placing an anchor toward better life in America.

Birthright citizenship is in the constitution so Trump's executive order is on shaky grounds. A Federal Judge ruled, today, to suspend that order for the next 14 days while there are more briefings in the legal challenge.

Our new attorney general, here in the state of Washington, played an important role in that case now making national news.

One of my friends has a situation not often heard, related to this issue. He was born, in USA, to Latin American parents. A child born to a a family drawn to USA for a professional job. Being of US citizenship and growing up here, he was very American.

Later in life, he moved to the Latin American country where his parents lived because he was having trouble finding professional level work, in this part of USA.

Maybe he could have stayed here if he had aspired to be a janitor with interesting hobbies, like me.

This friend has a BA degree from college in the humanities and has career interest in film production and teaching.

Try getting a job at a university, or some other institutions in USA, without more credentials.

No PHD? Little work experience in the field? A catch 22. No Ivy League degree? No way.

Back in his parents home country, a college education is worth more than a dime a dozen. He moved to a Latin American country and to a world less flooded with over qualified humanities graduates. His professional career took off; teaching, writing and so forth.

He still misses many things about life in USA, but moving overseas was a good career move, in his case.

Often it does seem like, in USA, there's no room at the inn.

About getting the momentum started on a new social networking platform.

I think the Blue Sky platform will have better luck competing with Facebook than attempts to compete with Facebook in the past. Granted, it's not quite the same, it's more like Twitter (now X).

In the past some attempts to compete with Facebook couldn't get the momentum going due to platforms playing lip service to privacy.

Privacy is kind of the antithesis of social networking. If folks are on a new network, privacy will mean little content can be seen until one builds up a network of friends. Getting this momentum started can be difficult.

Facebook got going early so the friend networks are established. Other platforms have trouble breaking that momentum unless they are more like the open web where content can be searched in Google and so forth.

Where content can be found without having to be friended in friend networks. In a more open environment, friend networks can still develop over time.

I think the wish for privacy may have made Ello, an alternative social network launched in 2014 never really got off the ground. It closed in 2023.

Content on Blue Sky seems to be more available to newcomers who haven't yet established friend networks there. Reddit is similar in being more open as are platforms like Flickr.

When do we call USA an oligarchy instead of a democracy?

There is a shade of gray between oligarchy and democracy. Where the line is drawn depends on who one is talking to.

According to some folks on the left, we've already been an oligarchy for a long time. A nation run by the rich and the corporations. Little or no difference between the major political parties; the Democrats behold-ant to corporate power as much as the Republicans. Some might say it's been there all along so it's nothing new.

Others, like me, would say it has been more of a democracy during my lifetime. I tend to believe the people, in mass, determine the outcomes. Personal behavior in the marketplace, voting booth and so forth.

It's been most likely a product of both undue influence from the wealthy and "the people have spoken." Of course not all people think the same, but the summation of all creates the culture.

The future is undecided. Will future historians point to January 20 2025 as the date democracy turned to oligarchy? That's the date of the second inauguration of Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Ops, I mean Trump and JD Vance; Freudian slip.

The pendulum could swing back the other way in the future. Who knows what the future will bring.

Another question is, if folks believe we have been in an oligarchy, has that been a self fulfilling prophecy? Only time will tell.

Standardized modular housing construction. A way to reduce insurance costs.

The standard American home and nature often don't mix; especially in urban / rural fringe areas such as where many of the recent Los Angeles Fires occurred. Future insurance policies could be written to only replace the building with a basic minimum dwelling, such as like a FEMA trailer. For households of more people, maybe several of these units could be installed together for more space.

This type of policy would likely be more affordable than one that tries to rebuild what was on the lot before.

Insurance and or government should just pay for FEMA type trailers to rebuild, after LA fires and call it good.

My quirky idea for rebuilding homes that have burned due to the recent LA wildfires. This idea also addresses the lack of coverage / insurance crisis as well as the government funding burden. Provide cheap modular structures; like FEMA Trailers, so people have a place to live and call it good.

If folks wish to rebuild something larger, or different, they can pay for it out of their own pockets; if their private insurance coverage doesn't cover rebuilding the home.

This solution can work for all people living in high risk areas; such as floodplains or the coast of Florida.

Can USA get along with tarriffs on Canadian fossil fuels?

Natural gas fired boiler plant heating WWU buildings. Sun reflecting off the vapor cloud.

A recent speech by Trump said, we don't need Canadian energy, "we can produce our own."

I realize that northern parts of USA get much of our natural gas, for heating, from Canada. How fast can we ween ourselves from Canadian fossil fuel and build heat pumps for heating? I don't think that's what Trump has in mind.

I can elaborate more. Much of the US natural gas production is in different areas than the customers with no currently operating pipelines to connect. Pipelines can not be "built in a day", unlike Rome; as the old story goes. This takes time and patience, if it's a good idea anyway, in the era of climate change. I assume that climate change can't be waved away by a magic wand either.

At WWU, there is lots of talk about converting the system from natural gas to heat pump technology.

I would guess that makes lots of sense as a campus is already used to underground utilities so they should know how to install a system of "Earth to heat pump" technology.

Still it can't be built in one day.

Natural gas burns somewhat cleaner than gasoline that's made from oil. It burns cleaner than coal, but it's still a fossil fuel. Water is it's main "smoke" because it has more "hydrogen" and less "carbon" than other hydrocarbons; like oil.

I do find science interesting.

A poem I just wrote. Things that have been thought of as pipe dreams.

Total US energy disentanglement from Canada, in short order. Can we build pipelines quickly from our natural gas to our own customers?

Another thing called a pipe dream. Mass markets adopting my own minimalist lifestyle.

Yet another thing thought of as a pipe dream. Converting to green energy on short order.

Yes, it all does take patience.

I partially thought up this post because of the pun about pipe dreams and pipe lines.

Like it or not. Adapting to a changing world.

I can think of two aspects of addressing climate change. One aspect is reducing carbon emissions. The other aspect is community resiliency. Thinking about the fires in Los Angeles, resiliency comes to mind. Something similar can be said about Florida and many other localities. As the natural environment is changing the need for things like better fire breaks is needed to protect people's homes from wildfires. This could mean altering the natural environment; such as introducing invasive species that are less flammable than the natural species of plants in an area. This may have to be done if people's residences are, basically invading that same natural area. Modern American homes and the natural environment, in an area, don't mix. Modifying the natural environment, since the residential areas are already nearby, protects the homes from wildfire.

This can be done carefully by thinking about what plants to put in an area to better suite that area for the "American lifestyle and neighborhood planning" that has already invaded the area; for instance single family homes scattered out among a forest or area of naturally flammable brush.

Another idea related to resiliency that is more compatible to not altering the natural environment is to alter our city planning and lifestyles. More compact and denser city planning can be another form of resiliency which creates less sprawl of homes and buildings into formerly natural areas. Less use of the automobile and more alternative transportation can help reduce congestion in denser development. Changes in lifestyles and expectations, to more urban and less consumptive living, can make urban life work and even thrive.

Similar thinking can apply to places like Florida where rising sea levels and storms can mean too much water, rather than too little. Retreating from the coast is one strategy as the ocean starts to reclaim low lying areas.

Making buildings and houses more resilient to fire, flood and wind is also a strategy. These are strategies of resilience given the other strategy of curbing worldwide carbon emissions is slow in coming or could be difficult to achieve. Reducing worldwide carbon emissions is said to be the best strategy of all, however. How is that done?

Similar to community resiliency on the local level, it requires changes in planning, lifestyles and technology. Changing the plant mix in an environment, such as altering things for better firebreaks is a form of change also, though it's less popular with environmentalists. That type of practice, building the fire breaks, removing the flammable forest, for instance may end up being what will be done; especially in the era of Donald Trump. Problem is, Trump is not noted for careful planning. Thinking carefully about how to alter an environment works better than just saying "nuke em and bring in the bulldozers."

Similar situations exist in places like Florida where rising sea levels are likely to change the map of Florida.

A graphic I found on the web. This indicating the potential flooding of Florida. Graphic: Green Policy 360

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.