Hurray for the blue wave. Cultural issues are easier, but economics and gas prices are a harder nut to crack.

I'm happy that we had the "blue tsunami" election, especially for cultural reasons. Divided government means less chance of dictatorship and I basically like DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion).

Economics and bringing down prices is a tougher task. As for gas prices, we can stop fighting Iran, but will Iran gladly reopen the Strait of Hormuz? Places like Iran and Russia are still brutal dictatorships sitting on lots of oil. They may have incentives to let more oil flow if we lift sanctions so their economies, and unfortunately their authoritarian governments, can eat a little better. Is that the right thing to do?

Alternative energy is a nicer way to go, but that doesn't necessarily bring down prices, at least in the short run. Washington State has among the highest gas prices in USA, partially because we are trying to address climate change with our Cap and Trade tax on fossil fuel companies. They, of course, pass the costs along to consumers. We are back to these difficult economic realities that cause political pendulums to swing. The blue tsunami may be fragile.

At least I like the culture of liberalism. Hurray for diversity, bike lanes, transit systems and so forth. I remember when Trump's transportation secretary disparaged what he called "DEI bike lanes." The US Transportation Department was better under the leadership of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

I think voting is usually more powerful than protesting.

Voting does matter. In many cases, I think voting matters more than protesting. I've been to some protests, so I see it as one tool, but voting is more powerful.

In the past, like around 2020, there were many angry protests that were counterproductive. Some of the anti police rhetoric, back then, was used to fuel Trump's return to power.

More recently, there has been the No Kings Rallies which were peaceful and respectful. The last No Kings was encouraging people to vote and use a drop box.

I feel like voting and our lifestyle / consumption patterns are the most powerful tools for social change. Consumption drives market forces. Voting determines politics.

Years ago, I remember the Occupy Protests. Occupy Wall Street was a big one. I remember being in some of those crowds, but more to observe, or just going with the flow. Looking back, I don't think the Occupy Protests were that effective.

People often have reasons for not voting. Some of it is not wanting to vote for what they say is the "lesser of two evils." This can make things even worse. It's like being a self-fulfilling prophecy. I tend to believe that the most permanent change usually comes incrementally. Nothing is perfect, but we can step forward.

In Washington State, we have all absentee voting by mail or drop-box. For 2026 election, there was worry about the reliability of the Post Office under Trump Administration so there were public relations campaigns for placing our ballots in the county provided drop boxes.

I celebrate Democratic victories in the 2026 US elections.

The blue wave of last night's election was fun to watch on YouTube. I found NBC TV coverage which brought back my childhood fascination with Rockefeller Center in New York. They made it look like the newscasters were sitting in Rockefeller Plaza. It was probably done electronically, but the effect worked.

I did some screen captures.

From a brochure I got in 8th grade when I wrote to Rockefeller Center way back in the late 1960s.

During childhood, I use to seek out NBC Radio and TV because much of it came from that fabled "city in one campus" Everything you would want across plazas without needing to cross streets. Yes, I knew there were busy streets through the complex, but I thought it was all connected underground by something they called a "shopping concourse."

It looks like they were right there.

With the Senate and the House results being counted on the ice rink.

I am very happy to have Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. We were getting dangerously close to one party rule before; with Republican majorities in all 3 branches of national government. Voting does matter. Yes, Trump is still president, but I'll guess he will deal with the new reality. He is said to be "transactional" without much in the way of a moral compass beyond his own ego and the god of prosperity.

I might be wrong, however. He and his people could clamp down clinging to the Republican Supreme Court (yes the majority of the Supreme Court is partisan). We'll see what happens. In the past 2 years, the lower courts have been a lifeline for Democracy, though eroded by the Supreme Court at the top.

I think there may be some staff shuffling within the administration to adjust to the new reality. Maybe the likes of Hegseth will go? Secretary of War back to being Secretary of Defense. As for the long-term prospects, optimism may become more in style, though solving deep economic problems remains difficult.

News commentators keep talking about people's anger at gas prices. Trump's war against Iran pushed them up, but will the straits of Hormuz reopen?

There are workarounds. Alternative transportation and energy are the best workarounds, but are they affordable? Supply and demand are big factors in the economy. Many are still dependent on fossil fuels. Increasing supply isn't necessarily something cheered by Democrats. I understand that, but I still favor reducing demand, for fossil fuels at least.

How about Canada's proposal for a big new pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific? A third and much larger pipeline is proposed from Alberta to a Vancouver area shipping port for serving Pacific Markets. Tankers headed out to sea through Strait of Juan De Fuca not far from Bellingham. Our governor and many Washingtonian's oppose it. Washington State oil refineries get some of their oil from that pipeline system, however.

Another thing that can look like a shining city. This oil refinery near Anacortes, WA. that I pictured across the water during a 2025 bicycle tour.

Yes, I know, Rockefeller Center was built on oil money also. It was built way back then. The Standard Oil Company money starting Rockefeller fortune.

I still had my childhood dream of an entire city in just about one building.

Front cover of the picture booklet I got in 8th grade.

Remember to vote on or before November 3

Washington State uses all absentee ballots instead of polling places. I brought mine to a drop box.

Happy Halloween.

See images on my Flickr

Freedom of thought is more important to me than prosperity. I think of prosperity as a byproduct of innovative societies.

I think of prosperity as being a byproduct of innovation and freedom of thought. Even though it seems like most countries strive for prosperity, authoritarian regimes seldom, if ever achieve it. More innovative societies often do. To me, the ability to innovate is more important than the prosperity itself.

Can we grow our way out of the national debt in a world with limits to growth?

Most strategies for reducing the national debt rely on growing the economy. This is especially true of Republican strategies which also include cutting government spending. With this strategy, the debt becomes a smaller percent of a bigger, mostly private economy.

One problem with any growth strategies are the environmental limits to growth. These limits are either real or perceived. Even if just perceived, they lead to significant regulation on new construction.

Population growth is also a driver of economic growth and US population growth is significantly slower these days. One brake on US population growth has been anti immigration sentiment, largely pushed by Republicans. This is contradictory for sure.

On the other hand, less population can make protecting the environment and lowering the carbon footprint easier. I see many contradictions in demands from mainstream political perspectives.

I found an interesting discussion about the debt where the growth solution was featured prominently, but it had no mention of limits to growth. Growth was especially prominent in the Republican perspective.

Budget cuts create their own problems due to how dependent people are on government spending; especially us seniors on Medicare and Social Security. Budget cuts also can reduce overall consumer spending which is, yet another obstacle in itself to economic growth.

As for relying on the growth paradigm, I see yet, another big flaw. Is GDP growth always the best thing for humanity?

True quality of life often improves in ways that are not measured by GDP. There are many things, such as happiness, health and longevity that are not always measured by GDP. Preserving a natural area can improve quality of life, though often not measured by GDP. On the other hand, a disaster, illness or car accident can be valued in GDP due to the economic activity it stimulates to fix the problems. War can add to economic growth as well.

Many quality of life things are not really measured in GDP like community connection and volunteerism. Even technological progress isn't often measured. Today's Smartphone is likely only worth a few hundred dollars, yet it can outperform an entire 1970s computer facility that was valued, back then, in the millions of dollars.

Maybe the only way we can grow our way out of the debt, if we rely on measuring things totally in dollars, is to inflate our way out of the debt. We can, of course, create more dollars. To some extent, we have done that already. A home, in the 1970s, cost far less than a home today. There is a big price difference between a 1970s fixer upper for $20,000 and one for $800,000 today.

This home value and cost situation is also a factor of limits to growth. There have been limits imposed on housing supply related to things like neighborhood restrictions, availability of water and traffic congestion. It also has to do with monitary expansion; more dollars chasing the same amount of land.

I realize that wealth inequality is a big issue as well, though I often look at other things. Basically, I think we need totally new values and paradigms about the economy and life in general.

Some infilling on its way. Putting Bellingham's former St. Luke's Hospital Campus back into use.

The former St. Luke's and later St. Joe's South Campus hospital site has sat unused for years. It has recently been purchased by WWU with WWU Foundation money. This creates an opportunity for expansion to serve an educational need in the growing healthcare field. It may be a while before much change is made, but the wheels are starting to move in a direction at least.

Photo from WWU News publication.

It's a large area of land centrally located in Bellingham that has sat mostly empty for several years.

When I first came to Bellingham, there were two hospitals, St. Joe's and St. Luke's. During the 1980s, I remember a bit of rivalry between the hospitals that was labeled "Scar Wars" in the media. The 1980s also saw Ronald Regan's Star Wars plan.

I wasn't involved in the politics about this so my memories are only very tangential to the hospital situation.

Back in the early 1980s, Bellis Fair had not yet been built so there was a lot of debate over where expanded retailing should go in Bellingham; downtown or the outlying plans for Bellis Fair Mall. At some point, there was a plan, among many plans, to build a bigger shopping center near the current Fred Myers on Lakeway. Fred Meyers was there, but there was quite a bit of vacant land just south of it where a shopping center could "possibly" go.

In the middle, just west of I-5, was St. Luke's Hospital which, at that time, had some expansion plans, as I remember. It was trying to keep up with St. Joe's.

I wrote a letter to the editor envisioning a mall going in south of Fred Meyers as it was still somewhat close to downtown with Lakeway being just east of I-5 and downtown being west. For some reason I remember having a brain storm about St. Luke's in the middle becoming "St. Luke's University."

I was thinking that the central part of Bellingham could be a focus of growth; more compact growth than the plans to spread out along I-5 and Meridian.

As for a retail core in central Bellingham, I-5 has been like a barrier preventing this core from feeling cohesive. A strong mall, or downtown area, needs cohesiveness to offer the many choices within walking distance. This "core" is still pretty spread out and divided by I-5. Where busy Lakeway goes under I-5, there isn't much room. It's a bottleneck.

Imagine if a much wider connection crossed under I-5 in central Bellingham. Imagine if there was better bicycle and pedestrian connection. Then imagine if some of the commercial development, of the Meridian area, ended up more compact and in central Bellingham on both sides of I-5.

In reality, Bellis Fair eventually arrived much farther north at Meridian and I-5. Downtown has become a multi use area with more residential development. Downtown has evolved beyond just retail to multi use and residential. These days, retail is becoming less important in the era of online shopping anyway.

Fast forward to 2026. At least the old St. Luke's Hospital campus, that sat mostly empty, like a void in the middle of Bellingham, for several years, is now in a position for infill as Western Washington University puts that campus to use.

Underutilized parking lot.

Old hospital.

Chestnut Professional Building also part of the deal.

Autumn at the west end of Lake Padden.

The desire to bring down oil prices is pushing Trump toward becoming more friendly with Russia. Democracy becomes less important than economic expediency.

Sexual minority rights can be used as a litmus test for whether a country is truly democratic.

Source www.cato.org/blog/democracies-autocracies-same-sex-unions.

I have often thought that sexual minority rights can be used as a litmus test for whether a country is democratic or authoritarian. It seems quite accurate. I ran the idea past AI and found that there is quite a bit of writing about that connection. Here is one of the interesting articles that came up in my search including a clear graphic.

I've also thought that the world is struggling to provide for over 8 billion people so it doesn't make sense to persecute people who are less likely to procreate.

Coming in AI's response is this sentence, "Authoritarian regimes do not look at population through an ecological lens; they look at it through the lens of economic and military power."

Now phasing in my own words, I see competition between countries and races for power vested in workers and solders. This goes back to ancient times, but could lead to mass die-off of populations today. Today's technology has much stronger impact on the environment than before. Old thinking becomes obsolete.

Old ideas continue to be propelled as much of the world is facing a demographic shift as population growth slows down. More retired people versus young workers. This causes countries to push "pro-natalist" policies viewing traditional families as units to replace the workforce.

On the other hand, democracies face a solution to the possible worker shortage as an overwhelming number of migrants wish to relocate to those countries as they flee the more authoritarian and war torn societies. This is overwhelming existing infrastructure for housing, transportation, water supply and so forth. Rather than embracing this new talent pool, democracies are tending toward tighter restrictions on immigration.

As time goes on, the need for labor may be reduced due to AI and automation as well.

AI talked me through making a do it yourself dipole antenna for FM radio.

AI can be a help for do it yourself projects. I recently made an FM dipole antenna out of lamp cord, a fiberglass rod I had, some tape and alligator clips. This significantly improves my FM radio reception.

Some folks would wonder why I don't just listen over the internet. I do that also, but I enjoy the old art of DXing stations. People who go fishing at a stream enjoy doing that versus just buying fish at a supermarket. Ironically, AI has helped me figure out a way to reduce dependency on the internet for radio reception. Sometimes I use radio as white noise for sleep, but I feel guilty using bandwidth through the internet if I'm just sleeping to it.

It's not a fishing pole, but I got fiberglass pole way back in 1979 when poles with red flags were a popular safety feature on bicycles.

A dipole is made from two wires going in the opposite directions held straight by the pole. The wires meet at the center, but they don't connect. Then they both form the feedline to a nearby radio. I did not separate that part of the lamp cord.

The two sides of the dipole are a certain length to resonate with the frequency of FM station on the part of the dial I am aiming for. It's the right size to pick up the whole dial of stations, but can be aimed to any one station for best results. Works well for the whole dial, especially if the station one is aiming at is toward the middle of the dial.

If the radio does not have two antenna terminals, such only having a single whip antenna, instructions say to connect one wire to the whip antenna. The other wire clips to some part of the radio that goes to the chassis ground. A terminal for the battery works. The radio is plugged into an adapter for power so no batteries are in the way. Alligator clips work well.

My fiberglass pole was photographed in the Bellingham Herald with another use back in 1979.

The economy over human rights.

It seems like Trump just thinks Ukraine is an annoyance in the way of better relations with Russia. Russia is rich in oil and other natural resources to be devoured by industry.

The political pendulum swings back and forth on pocketbook issues as the pocketbook never satisfies. I hope Democrats win based on many other cultural issues.

I hope the Democrats can take back Congress. It does seem like the economy has never been totally fixed in my lifetime, but there are other values that are threated by Trump's rule, still supported by too many Republicans.

Trump's leaning toward dictators, such as Putin, with his distain for Canadian and European Democracies is a case in point. The list of Trump's cultural damage is long including purposely stirring up divisiveness between Americans, using government agencies to go after his enemies, using the government to stroke his own ego, trying to rig elections and opposing attempts to deal with climate change.

Now it looks like he wants to sell out to Putin due to the lust for lowering diesel prices in time for the election.

The pendulum of voter sentiment seems to swing back and forth based on trying to fix the economy and it looks like its swinging back to the Democrats. In the long run, the Democrats may struggle with the economy as well. The economy never seems to satisfy people, but there are other cultural values that are important as well.

Transactional Analysis versus ethics that are said to be transactional.

In my past, there was a trend in psychology called "Transactional Analysis." It was about dividing the self into the roles of parent, adult and child to analyze human interaction. A topic of discussion in the liberal UCC Church where I grew up. I remember someone saying that he thought TA was replacing the Bible in discussions.

Today's talk is about past ethics being replaced with choices being "Transactional." Donald Trump the master of transactional deals. This is something totally different. I'd say this has been brought on more by many conservative Christians and others who voted for Trump.

According to an AI search I did, "When people say things are becoming transactional, they mean that human connections, daily interactions, and social expectations are increasingly treated like business deals, trades, or contracts rather than acts of care."

I say it is the ethics of things like dividing up the world into spheres of influence versus international cooperation. It is ideas such as "might makes right" and "the winner keeps the spoils;" more like the old ethics of the conquering Roman Empire.

As for writings in the Bible, those are among many things discussed and debated in liberal, open minded environments. Compassion, charity, love, conquest, rules, drama; you name it. Thinking of those writings as rigid laws is problematic. Unlike the laws of physics, which seem iron clad, ethical ideas offer lots of opportunity for civil discussion.

In liberal circles, compassion, charity and love tend to get more emphasis.

I find AI to be quite useful, but over emphasis on competition pushing it too fast can create "garbage in garbage out."

As for AI's threat to civilization, the old computer adage applies, "garbage in, garbage out." The pressure to keep up with the Joneses, either China or other corporate competition drives us forward, but it sure creates a lot of garbage.

Like having a personal tutor with plenty of time, AI has been useful as I took Windows off my old computer and installed Linux Mint. The old computer now works on Facebook, but it is still slow, that's okay. I have Theslowlane.com website.

I also now have my new computer running smoothly on Windows. It's remanufactured so the price was far less than even my monthly subsidized rent for this studio apartment. I got it online as local retail choices for remanufactured computers are scanty at best.

The future is ours, not to mention the billionaires we still follow. That's living in the modern world. At least I don't drive a car, speaking of the modern world.

Getting my Dell remanufactured computer, vintage 2018. It still works great. Thanks Santa Amazon, a repair shop and my bicycle.

My new computer has arrived. It's a remanufactured Dell Optiplex 7060 from the 2018 era. Seems to be working great. A much better price than new.

Just got it out of the box. Like Christmas. Now getting ready to put it on the shelf behind my desk and get it set up.

I was able to have Amazon send it to a computer repair shop that held it for me. Local retail choices for remanufactured computers are scanty at best.

The repair shop sold the cables it needs and was a safe place for non post office carriers to leave it at; versus, at best, to my door on the 7th floor, or maybe in the lobby of my apartment building.

Then I brought it home on my bicycle, of course. It fits well in the pannier. I squished down some of the packing material to toss out at home.

Things looking up for the Chrysler Building in New York City.

As a child, I used to have a fascination in New York's Rockefeller Center. Now it looks like the company, owning Rockefeller Center, is saving the Chrysler Building from being strangled by rising land lease costs and changing ownerships. They are buying the land lease under the Chrysler Building. Restorations are planned. Better sewardship of assets in the works, I assume. Interesting article in New York Post.

My picture of Chrysler Building from 1993 during the end of my second bicycle trip across USA. Starting that year's Amtrak trip back home.

During 8th grade, I was interested in Rockefellor Center thinking that it's large blocks were connected, below ground, by a "shopping conicourse." This, I thought, created a "super block" that one could walk around in, without crossing the streets that divide blocks in towns and cities.

from 1968 vintage brochures and more related to Rockefeller Center.

During my 8th grade year, Jeff Goebel and me were playing that we had various blocks in Pullman. I took a big block that had everything from farmland, at the edge of town, to the towering Rogers, Orton and Stevenson dorm complexes.

1973 view of Pullman with Rogers, Orton and Stevenson Dorms plus more rural lands to the right. Much of WSU campus to the north. The tallest building Webster Hall was built after my 8th grade year. Built around 1972.

Soon I realized that Jeff's block was (maybe) better than mine. He had the WSU Student Union, the stadium, playfields, gyms and the Holland Library; more diversity of things for people can do. I then deceded to extend the borders of my part of the fantacy to outside of Pullman.

Later in history, Jeff's block has expanded more, as WSU has turned many of its central streets into pedestrian plazas.

Meanwhile, my large block on the edge of town has been split (I think) into two by a new street connecting campus to the the Pullman Moscow Highway. Looking on Google Maps, it's SE Forest Way.

New uses for an old Safeway Building.

In downtown Bellingham, according to the webpage of Whatcom Talk, this underutilized building is planned to become an active event space for a Bellingham organization I didn't know much about. I've heard of Fire and Water Story Festival on the waterfront. Now I'm learning more about their year round activities. This is in my newsfeed read from eclectic sources.

My photo from 2020 just before it served as a larger space for Lighthouse Mission homeless shelter. It had several uses after Safeway and sat empty for some of the time.

The old building was once a downtown Safeway supermarket. I remember when there were 3 supermarkets, for a while (maybe 4) in downtown Bellingham during my college years. This was before automobile dependency and limited space for parking pushed supermarkets closer to the outlying areas along I-5.

In my college years, we had Safeway on Cornwall. We also had Thriftway on Holly (where WECU later had their headquarters).

I think there was also Prairie Market where Grocery Outlet now resides. Then I remember when they first built the building now occupied by Habitat For Humanity. It was a brand new Tradewell that didn't last long.

This old Safeway Building is now owned by the WTA transit agency who is using it to promote downtown transit friendly development, such as housing and retail. It is also future space for transit use.

If the US military were to charge for pushing oil through the gulf, it could be like a carbon tax that should be charged for burning fossil fuels.

As gas and especially diesel prices go up, some, mostly conservatives, call for relief in gas and diesel taxes. Problem is, potholes in the roads. Most of these taxes maintain the expensive highway system. Yes, foreign wars are costly. We can't do this all on low taxes. War taxes, carbon taxes, we may have to pay for what we get.

Whether one believes in climate change, or not, insurance companies are raising rates for property insurance in high risk places from seaside areas of Florida to dry forests of California.

Trump has signed one of his many executive orders broadening the sale of so called red dye diesel to other users besides farm use. I just learned about the existence of this tax free diesel for use on land that isn't the public roadways. Truckstops and other fuel retailers are reluctant about this plan, so says the news.

A red dye is used to better prevent tax cheating if that fuel is found being used where it is not supposed to be. We learn a new thing everyday.

I remember a famous red dye taken out of food. Now I look up in AI to aid my memory. It was Red Dye #2, removed from food in 1976 due to a 1969 Soviet Study linking it to more tumors in rats.