Two conservative teams battled to a standoff in Seattle. The city, itself, won by calling it the Pride Match.

While both countries are culturally conservative about gay rights, Egypt and Iran's teams played to a tie score in the World Cup. This game took place in the US city of Seattle, noted for liberal attitudes on gay rights; the city calling that game "The Pride Match."

Some rainbow flags were flown in and around the stadium to the dislike of both Egyptian and Iranian officials. Meanwhile, back in the Middle East, war is still more deadly than a soccer game. Missiles fly between Iran and Gulf state Sunni nations more aligned with Egypt. The Sunni and Shiite split, in Islam, is one of many friction points among conservatives in the Middle East.

Ironically, the "elephant" in the Middle Eastern room is the United States with its ally Israel, each with the most powerful weapons of all. These countries are leading a sputtering war against Iran under the leadership of their conservative leaders Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Still, within the belly of the US elephant, rainbow flags fly peacefully in Seattle, in spite of more conservative leadership at the top of the US government. Freedom of speech is still alive in USA.

The soccer match between Egypt and Iran took place to a stalemate, as rainbow flags flew and crowds cheered more peacefully than the war that is now taking place in the Middle East itself.

Here in Bellingham, far out in the hinterlands of Seattle, some rainbow color projected on our Acid Ball Sculpture. Sculpture, a leftover from former Georgia Pacific Pulp Mill.

Seattle Seahawks win the Superbowl.

Even though I am not a sports fan, I say congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks for winning the Superbowl. Seattle, 90 miles south of Bellingham where I live. It's historic.

I like Ferndale better than Hawkdale.

The city council, in Ferndale, WA. has voted to temporarily rename that city Hawkdale. It's Hawkdale this week till after the Superbowl due to Seattle Seahawks playing in the Superbowl.

I'm not a sports fan, but today was a nice day. I decided to bike out the 7, or so miles to Ferndale to see if any road signs had been temporarily changed. I found no changes. It still looks like Ferndale to me.

I found no road signs or banners across Main Street saying Hawkdale.

Not even any reader board was changed to Hawkdale, as I could see.

I mostly went for the ride itself. Here along the Nooksack River.

In Hovander Homestead Park now mostly reopened after recent flooding.

Part of my trip was along the Nooksack River Dike Trail.

Seattle's new mayor elect Katie Wilson lives a car free lifestyle. Very good. Also my thinking on the economics that may not favor government run grocery stores.

Seattle's mayor elect Katie Wilson is said to not own a car as she uses public transit and bicycling for transportation. That sounds like me. It's also said that she and her small family live in a one bedroom apartment. It's good to have role models for lower footprint lifestyles.

Some folks are critical of her ideas; like government owned grocery stores. Yes, some of those ideas might have drawbacks. I've done some Google research to learn a bit more. It does seem like private industry does a good job with grocery stores. Profit margins, in large discount stores, tend to be thin. Lower prices usually come from big chains; the benefits from "economy of scale." Giants like Costco and Winco come to mind.

Yes, there are food deserts in certain neighborhoods and other problems with the fairness of food. Again, I can blame the automobile for some of these problems. Here in Bellingham, I've noticed most of the big grocers are near I-5 with acres of parking; not in denser residential areas where people can easily walk to the store from home.

In some cases, government can help by investing in neighborhood developments. Government can be a landlord attempting to lure a grocery store into an area. There are also alternatives to privately owned stores run for private profit motive. Winco is employee owned. Bellingham has two branches of the Community Food Coop which is a community coop. Some of it's prices are more expensive than the large box stores, but I still find it reasonable enough.

I often shop at the Coop as it's one of the only stores in the downtown area that's easy to get to by bike. Our downtown is becoming more dense with housing, so lots of people live nearby.

Since I'm single and don't cook much, I often eat at the Coop's instore deli. It also serves as a social outlet as many of my friends can be found there, on occasion. That's my lifestyle.

I sometimes call a local radio talk show with perspectives from my lifestyle. While the host of the show is fairly liberal, some of the callers skew more to the right. I remember one caller describing me as that bicyclist who seldom needs to stop for a breath (long winded?) who also likes living in a shoebox. Yes, my small apartment.

One point should not make or break everything, unless it is a winner take all situation.

One reason why I tend to avoid competitive sports is the winner take all situation. The Seattle Mariners lost their bid to the World Series by 1 point.

1 trivial, measly point can make, or break the outcome. Those who follow the Mariners had, at least, a good season.

Now, I wish national politics could go back to being less of a winner take all situation.

A sports cliffhanger is a source of anxiety that I can avoid.

Whether Seattle Mariners win today and make it to the World Series is a nailbiter.

I tend to not follow sports so it's a cliffhanger source of anxiety that I don't really need. There's plenty of problems in the world such as the outcome of nailbiter elections that matter more to my life. Sports is basically just a game among multi millionaires.

Yes, it would be nice if the team got to World Series as it's the closest big city to me plus the only team that hasn't been there yet, but in the big scheme of things it doesn't make a lot of difference to me.

Is it overpopulation, or just not enough parking for all the cars? Resentment against immigration is being driven by all these factors.

Amazing how much traffic there is everywhere. There are bike lanes, but wow, I never fail to be impressed by the volume of traffic.

Yes, I think overpopulation is the main driver of anti immigrant resentment. Our spaces are getting more crowded. It isn't just the number of people, which have doubled since my college days, but more importantly the number of cars. I ask AI. A 400% increase worldwide since 1975. The number of cars on the road worldwide has grown from approximately 300 million in 1975 to nearly 1.5 billion today, an increase of about 400%. This growth has been driven primarily by rising incomes and urbanization in emerging economies in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. My interpretation below.

In US it hasn't changed that much except nearly doubling population so doubling number of cars. We were car dependent in 1975 also.

Thinking of climate change, the rest of the world has changed more dramatically pushing that worldwide average to 400% more cars since 1975. This is why we notice climate change now, when back in 1975 it was hardly an issue. Scientists knew it would come, but people tend to think about short term needs more than what might happen 50 years down the road.

Back then, they thought oil would run out, but then we figured out how to extract it from shale. Now the climate effect is 400% more. Climate change has arrived.

Number of cars is also an indicator of overall consumption in homes and other areas. Growing world prosperity and demands which are double the underlying population growth. Another figure effecting our lives; housing cost.

I wrote this on Facebook during my September 2025 transit / bicycle tour. Now transfering to my blog. Amazing how much traffic there is on Everett Bothell Highway near 405! Glad there is a shoulder, but I never fail to be amazed how car dependent people are!

Missed opportunities for meaningful dialog at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle.

In the news I read about an event and two protests in Seattle that went totally different directions than my thinking. The event was at Cal Anderson Park on Capital Hill. It was a religious rally related to the pro life movement, so I hear.

Counter protesters were pro transsexual and LGBTQ. My response to so called "pro life" is to point out the irony of pro lifers who support Republican policies of sending migrants back to dangerous countries and possibly kicking people off Medicaid. Wouldn't those policies be a threat to life?

The religious group is also, I'd guess, not friendly to us LGBTQ folks.

The religious folks sponsoring that event later held a protest at Seattle City Hall as they were upset with a message from the liberal mayor and the way the city handled the whole thing. There were arrests at both protests.

Disruptive and angry protests from either side are counterproductive. It's just people shouting past one another. Much of the protests were likely peaceful, but disruptive behavior soured the whole deal.

I still keep seeing the irony of folks saying they believe in the sanctity of life while livelihoods and healthcare are threatened for many.

USA from a perspective of alternative lifestyles.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Seattle from the perspective of a bike path.

Link to photos from a 2024 bike tour in Seattle on Flickr.

Pictures from my recent (June 21 to 23) trip to Seattle.

Remember, even the Chop Zone in Seattle happened during Trump's watch.

People forget that the Chop Zone in Seattle and much of the unrest against police happened during the Trump Presidency; 2020. Biden is more into de escalating the situation. Trump antagonized people on purpose and they pushed back. Things do seem to be a bit calmer today. I fear that if Trump were back in office, both the left and the right would rise up in anger and most of us would be caught in the middle.

How about a lane just for transit and tractor trailers?

I've seen a proposal to allow big trucks to have their own lane on multi lane freeways of 3, or more lanes in each direction. Might be a good idea because I've always thought there should be a "bus only" lane for transit. Maybe buses and big trucks could team up to get this through, politically, plus getting through the constant clog of traffic.

Today's HOV lanes, through Seattle area, don't seem to work as they allow vehicles with only 2 occupants. There are so many 2 occupant vehicles that traffic seems just as clogged, in the HOV lanes, as in the regular lanes.

If transit could get through without being held up in traffic, maybe there would be less traffic as there would be more incentive for folks would use transit instead of private cars.

The only times I've recently been on that section of freeway, between Marysville and Seattle, I've been on a bus stuck in traffic in the HOV lane.

Last summer, when I was on Greyhound through that area, the bus took Highway 99 from Marysville to Everett and then went around by way of I-405 and I-90 to Seattle. This route hoping they could get around the traffic on I-5; HOV lanes and all.

How about putting Seattle's new airport in Cle Elum area? Yakima is friendly to it. Cle Elum or Ellensburg are closer.

Humankind often grows by what is called "slash and burn" which can include moving on or expanding to new territory.

Here in Washington State, our population and economy is outgrowing Sea-Tac Airport. Rather than changing our ways, a second airport may be needed. Other areas, near Seattle, resist the development so, in the spirit of moving on, Yakima steps forward. Yakima is a long ways out, but there was news, a while back, that Yakima would welcome the new airport.

I got to thinking that Cle Elum might be a good place for the airport. No place near Seattle metro would likely welcome it. Yakima is still farther, but Cle Elum or Ellensburg area might be the best bet. There is more open space, starting around Cle Elum east of the Cascade Mountains.

Some folks actually commute to work in Seattle area from Cle Elum area, so I hear. In many cases preparing for a life of retirement east of the mountains with only a few years left to work. It's a long commute, but those kind of commutes are normalized; as in the phrase, "only in America."

Changing our ways would mean, I guess, not needing another airport. There could be other alternatives like slowing down the rat race, Relying more on rail transportation or even less travel and more cyber travel online.

When I posted this on Facebook, someone suggested airships based on hellium balloon technology.

Yes, that's a great idea. Less need for big runway space. Might still fit closer to Seattle Metro west of the Cascades. Airships combine my concepts of slowing down while also living in style. Could work well for shorter trips, like forinstance Seattle to Spokane or even to San Francisco. More comfort and enjoy the view. Would also use much less energy than jet travel according to articles I have seen on airship travel.

Below: Airship image from Gardian News UK.

Assuming that Puget Sound Region is outgrowing Seatac Airport.

Watch out for planes crossing the bike path near Renton's little airport; one of many small airports. Seatac is a much bigger airport. Image taken 2013.

If the economy and population keep growing and air travel remains like it is today, in spite of climate change, this region outgrows Seatac Airport. The state of Washington is looking ahead to 2050. New airport sites by Tacoma and Olympia are on the "short list" for, possibly, a brand new airport.

According to an article I read (Sept. 24 2022 Bellingham Herald) Puget Sound Region is projected to see 27 million more annual passenger boardings than it can accommodate and twice the amount of current cargo demand by 2050.

From what I read, Seatac serves 50 million passengers per year. That's more than the population of Washington State, but lots of people fly several times per year and some from other areas transfer at Seatac. By 2050 room for even more passengers and cargo is projected to be needed.

Near Tacoma, “Pierce County East” and “Pierce County Central” sites were deemed attractive due to the potential number of passengers they could accommodate: 20 million and 19 million annually, respectively.

Paine Field, in Everett, is another place discussed for the expansion, but I guess it isn't large enough already. They would want to add to it. There must be a lot of development around it constraining expansion?

Paine Field is already taking some of the load off of Seatec.

I've heard people talk about using Bellingham Airport for this, but I don't think it's in the study. Must be too far from Seattle and expanding it, to more runways, would be an issue. Bellingham is already, kind of, an alternative airport for Vancouver, BC.

One wonders if we will find low carbon fuels for jets? One wonders if other technologies, such as telecommuting or slow floating helium airships, will take much of the load away from jet traffic? Seems like procuring right of way for high speed rail is unlikely, however.

Light rail is so expensive. Maybe Bus Rapid Transit is the way to go.

For decades, the freeway traffic in Seattle has been so congested that commutes are a crawl. One would think after all these years they would figure out a better way to go.

If they could have a transit only lane on all freeways through Seattle metro that had at least 3 lanes of traffic (6 lanes both ways), there could be something called "bus rapid transit." Seattle metro has lots of freeways with at least 3 lanes in both directions.

Bus rapid transit could use existing infrastructure. It would be less expensive than trying to build light rail; something that takes years to develop. They did just finish Sound Transit Light Rail as far north as the old Northgate area and it's under construction farther north into Lynwood and east across Lake Washington. This takes years and billions of dollars to build.

On the freeways, they do have HOV lanes, but populism allows too many cars into the HOV lanes so the traffic is just as gridlocked in the HOV lanes as in the regular lanes. Everything gets stuck in traffic.

If they had bus only lanes, at least the buses could get through. Then there would be more incentive to take the bus thus reducing the congestion of cars in all the lanes.

I remember, a few years ago, the HOV lanes worked kind of well as one had to have at least 3 people in a vehicle to be in the HOV lane. Eventually this limit was lowered to two people so the HOV lane is almost as congested as all the other lanes with single passenger cars.

Everyone is still stuck in traffic after all these many decades.

Recent Goal Keeper's report says world prosperity now in reverse. I wonder if world has reached peak prosperity?

Something called the Goal Keepers Report, from the Gates Foundation, has recently come out with a report saying world poverty is increasing again. Poverty had been in decline for quite a few years. Prosperity and health was on the increase, but most recently, these trends may have reversed. Report cites the corona virus pandemic as the main cause.

My thinking goes beyond to wondering if the world has reached something that could be called "peak prosperity?" Beyond just the virus, global warming brings other threats to the global economy.

Unless there are major changes in our ways of living and doing business, the growth of prosperity could have stalled.

There have been big problems all along, but increasing global prosperity has brought a form of complacency. Dire predictions of global die offs and the ongoing extinction of species has been countered by an overall increase in world prosperity. How long can these contradictions last?

World population growth continues to be a big problem, tho it has been slowing down as much of the world's standard of living has improved. There may be a limit to how much prosperity we can create for how many people. A limit given the way most of the world has been functioning up until now. Continuing dependency on fossil fuels as a case in point.

This report focused on effects of the pandemic, but I'm thinking beyond and questioning whether prosperity, itself, may have stalled.

Some people are critical of Bill Gates for having much wealth, himself. Still, I would guess the foundation does have a lot of knowledge about worldwide trends. Many of the things the foundation is trying to do are beneficial, such as research on vaccines.

Sometimes I do think about the Microsoft fortune in relation to the concept of missed opportunity, however. Much of it's work has focused on improving global health and education. The world is a big place and it seems like just drops in the bucket tho I'm sure it has been beneficial to many lives. Not always visible from our North American vantage point.

Meanwhile, in Seattle Metropolitan area, where Microsoft and the Gates Foundation are headquartered, the area is becoming, in some ways, more dysfunctional. I think lost opportunity.

Investments could have been made for Seattle area to solve it's traffic gridlock problems, lack of affordable housing, carbon footprint, transit and so forth.

One can't necessarily blame Microsoft for all of this as the whole culture, in USA, isn't that conducive to sustainable living. Former Microsoft Billionare Paul Allen comes more to mind with his local investments in sports teams for Seattle and the Experience Music Project.

It would have been neat if Seattle could have been a world leader for making it's city more livable, investing in affordable housing, transit, bike paths and so forth. It has done some, but the problems of population growth and traditional visions of prosperity outpaces the greener visions. At least one thinks dysfunctional looking at the traffic and the cost of living. Remember the CHOP Zone and social unrest. Does that city no longer work?

One way forward, for the world, is to look at things in Europe, I guess. Cities like (from what I've heard) Copenhagen in Denmark as examples of city planning and greener living. Cities that are prosperous. The world ought to aspire to be like those places.

Seattle area isn't that great an example.

Pressure to reduce police budgets from both the left and the right. From the left for ideology. From the right from tax cuts and loss of local revenue.

On the right, the law of unintended consequences related to tight budgets. From the left, the idealism of transfering resources from police services to a utopia of softer social services.

Seattle City Council is proceeding with a 4 million dollar cut in police budget due to pressure from BLM protesters. Less noticed is an even larger 20 million dollars in cuts that are probably inevitable due to reduced local tax revenue. The second, bigger figure is strongly influenced by reduced local revenue due to the virus situation.

The police are being chopped at from both directions; no pun intended, since there was the "Chop Zone" in Seattle a few weeks back. This is pretty much a worrisome situation for public safety.

Some people on the left want to transfer money from police to other softer and more preventative things such as affordable housing and mental health resources.

Like the phrase an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; cure being calling the police.

As there are problems in society, the police are the one's who get called when things like domestic violence happen. The last resort, versus, for instance, a therapist.

Problem is that just about all services of local government, from police to mental health services, are facing the potential for larger cuts due to the loss in tax revenues.

Tho conservatives tend to oppose this, there still needs to be a financial bailout, or backstop, for local government from the federal government. Yes, it does seem like we just need to keep printing the money.

In an ideal society, there would be more affordable housing and a better social safety net. As funds to provide these things professionally are dwindling, it looks like more services will need to be provided by volunteers. Many of the softer services, such as mental health and housing, could be provided by informal and more volunteer means. Tiny home villages, for instance.

As for volunteer police services, there is the worry about citizen vigilantism.

Urban areas with different values need to have more autonomy

I think this country would work better if urban areas had more autonomy. After the $30 car tab initiative passed, here in Washington State, this columnist, in the Seattle Times, suggests the more in "urban" King County, be allowed to tax itself. Tim Eyman's tax cutting transit crippling initiative didn't pass if the vote were just taken within King County.

There is a big split between rural and urban thinking when it comes to the need for things like public transit. Unfortunately, statewide rules put limits on what urban areas can tax within their jurisdictions; even if the people within the urban areas vote for the taxes.

According to the article, the denser populated areas of King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties voted for more expensive car tab taxes to support the Sound Transit light rail plans. Other more rural areas in those counties voted against those taxes along with most of the rest of the state.

I think, if the taxes could be levied and voted on by precinct, it would be best. Even county lines don't always fit. Big areas of those 3 counties are less urban. The less urban voters in Pierce and Snohomish Counties were able to carry those counties for the cheaper car tab measure. The Tim Eyman measure. King County, itself, did vote against Tim Eyman on that.

This author is suggesting Sound Transit drop it's plans for expanding into Pierce and Snohomish Counties. Only do the build out within King County. There are a few Sound Transit services already in those counties, however, like the Sounder Train to Everet and the light rail in downtown Tacoma. He would suggest no more plans to expand light rail beyond King County.

I do tend to also see some merit in a comment, in the article, from Pierce County's executive who must not be a fan of rail. He says we would be better off with rapid bus transit. Bus transit rather than light rail. He could be right in that. Seems like America really can't do rail. In China, rail gets built whether property owners, in its path, want it or not. USA is different.

Buses might still be more practical, tho not as glamorous. The Pierce County executive suggests a dedicated "bus only" HOV lane between Seattle and Tacoma. This would get the buses out of the traffic snarl. Bus only HOV. Not an HOV lane that considers 2 passengers in a car to be mass transit. The current HOV lanes are clogged with traffic also.

Allowing urban areas more autonomy would be a great help. The needs and problems of rural and urban America are quite different.

All electric over natural gas? A lot of electric comes from natural gas. Cars are still the elephant in the room.

Seattle considering a ban on use of natural gas on buildings built after July 2020, at least.

I think, probably a bad idea. The main alternative, used in buildings, is electricity. Guess what. A lot of our electricity comes from - natural gas. It doesn't really stop the use of natural gas; a fossil fuel.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, most of our electricity does come from hydro electric dams, but natural gas is another big source of our power. We have more hydro power than most places, but as our population and prosperity grows, there aren't enough rivers to keep up with demand. If there isn't enough hydro power, much of our electricity comes from natural gas; such as the Encogen power plant on Bellingham's waterfront.

Wind and solar generates power also, but not that big a percentage; yet. We need to use the wind and solar more.

Some people might say that electricity is best as it's the most adaptable. One can generate electricity from many sources, including solar, nuclear, coal and so forth. If we convert to "all electric," it might force us faster into adopting solar, but in the meantime most of our Northwest power is hydro. Hydro has it's problems too. Think dams on the salmon streams. There's even a proposal to dismantle some of the dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers to help the salmon and the whales. Several native American tribes are pushing this idea.

The biggest problem is our transportation. Still way to dependent on fossil fuel powered cars and trucks. That's the true elephant in the room.

13,000 years ago, Seattle was under 10,000 ft of ice, but Seattle wasn't a city then. Human caused climate change could happen while the city is there.

Some people say, "why worry about climate change?" "The climate is changing anyway."

Over 13,000 years ago, Seattle was under 10,000 ft of ice. Of course, Seattle wasn't there back then. 13,000 years is much farther back than all of recorded history.

The global warming worry is about the next 100 years. Can we make it through the next 100 years? Our kids and grand kids. That's an important question for civilization. After that, who knows. Maybe we will be building huge colonies in the solar system by then; if civilization survives.

It's the next century that's the time scale for global warming worry, as far as civilization goes. As for other species of plants and animals, yes, they have come and gone. Many have gone extinct over the millions of years before we were here to care.