Birthday celebration for Edward R. Murrow in Blanchard, WA.

Famous radio / TV newscaster Edward R. Murrow grew up in a place called Blanchard, WA. just down the road from Bellingham. He also attended Washington State College (now Washington State University) across the state from Blanchard in Pullman. I grew up in Pullman and remember when they built the Edward R. Murrow Communications Center at WSU while I was in high school. That was my first recollection of Murrow since most of my childhood was a bit after his time.

First TV newscasters I remember were Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. They were on NBC.

Last Sunday in April 2012, the folks of Blanchard decided to hold a festival for Murrow. It's hoped this event will become a yearly tradition.

I bicycled to the event from Bellingham; around 20 miles one way. Made for a nice day.

There were interesting lectures and discussion in the old chapel followed by a walking tour of Blanchard. Festivities continued at the old Blanchard Depot (now a community hall) where there was a birthday cake for Egbert Murrow. He changed his name from Egbert to Edward.

Can't have unlimited economic growth on a limited planet? How about asteroid mining?

Lots of talk in the media about some private firms exploring the idea of asteroid mining. Might be the start of a way to expand our economy beyond the confines of Earth in the really long term.

Citizens can participate in scientific research

Citizens can participate in science by joining the Zooniverse web site and looking for patterns in things like galaxies. The human brain is still good at this. I heard several radio interviews about this web site which now has over 600,000 participants. Even deciphering handwriting, I guess, reading old ship logs to fill in weather records. I thought about participating myself, but not sure if I would devote much time to it. One can devote as much, or as little, time as one wants. Maybe looking at thousands of galaxy images to see if any look unusual isn't too tedious a way to spend an afternoon?

I just think this is a cool idea. Participatory science. Sort of like a WIKI. A WIKI allowing you to put in your two bits for research. Zooniverse.org

Image from Zooniverse web site.

Global warming happens so slowly that people can deny it's happening

Some of the general public still doesn't believe global warming is happening; or at least they can't get real excited about it. There are several reasons for this, but one reason might just be the difficulty human minds have grasping gradual and long term issues.

People think in terms of a crisis, like the banking panic of 2008, but global warming is more gradual. If folks are expecting a crisis, it doesn't really happen so they get tired of waiting and put it on the back burner; so to speak.

Most folks think in terms of weather. There is always a lot of random fluctuation in the weather. Some years are warmer than normal, others are colder. These random fluctuations are more pronounced than the gradual warming due to global warming. These random weather fluctuations can confuse the picture. Long term trends seem to be warmer than cooler in most places, but for the most part, weather doesn't look that much different. After a colder than normal winter (which we still can have) folks take pictures of snowbanks around headlines talking about global warming. It becomes a big joke.

Scientists tend to say that global warming is for real. They see the big picture and notice things like glaciers retreating and long term drought in some parts of the world, including, for instance, the American Southwest. On the other hand, most people don't live in areas that are strongly effected by global warming. They get tired of waiting for the so called calamity.

Since we have 5 fingers on each hand, we tend to put emphasis on numbers that have fives and zeros after them. That means the year 2050 is often cited as a benchmark for predictions about global warming. Often scientists are quoted as saying "around 2050 it's likely that..." Well, a lot of post war baby boom generation isn't likely to even be alive then. It's just such a long term worry that many of the average folk have problems wrapping the mind around it.

Our minds are evolved to deal with more short term problems and crisis. Even though global warming is real, average people get tired of hearing about it and waiting. Some effects of it are already evident, but the effects are fairly subtle in most regions. Not quite as visible as something like the 2008 financial crisis, or today's weather.

Maybe a lot of folks don't necessarily deny global warming. They just aren't mentally equipped to react to something that's happening so slowly. People don't seem to be that evolved, emotionally, to deal with such long term issues. Scientists, on the other hand, use their rational minds to discuss the problem, but the average person tends to just think more in the short term and tends to think more emotionally.

Mitt "Wall Street" Romney

Looks like Mitt "Wall Street" Romney is most likely to get the nomination as the Republican candidate. Middle name Wall Street is a good sound byte to stick on his candidacy. People don't like Wall Street even though, in actuality, Wall Street isn't very big. It's just a narrow street in New York City, but symbolic of something much bigger and meaner. There's also a Wall Street in Spokane, WA. but I don't think people are thinking of that Wall Street.

From the transistor radio to the smartphone to ???

50 years ago, pocket radios called "transistor radios" were exciting new technology. Now, there are Smart Phones and Tablets. Amazing all the things Smart Phones can do compared to mere transistor radios. One can only imagine what progress technology will make in another 50 years. Gee, maybe we will have "Smart People!" Imagine that.

Whatcom County ride listening to the Punjabi station

Bike ride on a beautiful day with a different twist. Here's a picture of Mount Baker with zoom lens and a radio tower. It's the radio station in Ferndale. 1550 on the AM dial. Broadcasts in Punjabi and plays music from India.

Why in Ferndale? There was a station for sale a few years back in Ferndale and an outfit jumped on the opportunity to have a station in that location, close enough to Surrey, BC. to beam Punjabi programming into Surrey's large Indian audience.

I sometimes listen, here in Bellingham as I like Indian music; for a while at least. Sounds like Bollywood.

Today, I listened as I peddled. Got as far west as Douglas and Lake Terrell Roads before turning back to Bellingham.

A few more of the towers of KRPI pictured below. Located near the east end of Douglas Road.

Calling for tax increase on oil companies may be bad political strategy for Obama

When oil company revenues go up, it sounds good to ask, "why do they still get tax breaks?" Problem is, if they loose their tax breaks, they'll just pass that cost on to the consumer and add to the price of gasoline. Rising gasoline prices seems to be a thorn that Republicans are using in their campaigns against Obama.

Rising gas prices are a reality that's here to stay due to peak oil and not really Obama's fault. Still, it's being used as a thorn in Obama's side. Adding more tax to oil companies would just give the oil companies more reason to raise their prices as they pass the cost along to consumers.

Taxes are basically good especially since the government does need the money, but people who depend on cars are grumbling and the price of gasoline is becoming a campaign issue.

What we really need is to reform society so it's less dependent on fossil fuels. Central to that strategy is changing the way we plan cities. We need planning with more density. With density, commutes can be shorter and more errands can be done on foot, bicycle or public transit. Car commutes can be shorter also. There is too much sprawl in the way American's plan their living habitats.

Obama doesn't talk enough about city planning and how it plays such a big role in our energy future. Sure, it is more of a local issue, rather than a national issue, but Obama does have the "bully pulpit." Talk about city planning is a missing link in Obama's green energy strategy.

Green energy is not really that easy of a pill for Americans to swallow without changes in the way cities are planned. This doesn't have to mean whole scale rebuilding of our landscape. It can start by just encouraging a lot of simple changes in people's lives at the grassroots level. Moving closer to a job, for instance.

The reason why green energy is hard to swallow, without denser living environments, is a matter of cost. Green energy tends to still be more expensive than fossil fuels, even at today's higher gasoline prices. People are grumbling about high gas prices now, just imagine how bad it would be if folks had to pay the even higher cost of green energy!

Another form of tax on oil which is often suggested by folks fighting global warming is a carbon tax. Grumbling about things like high gasoline prices would really make it hard to impose a carbon tax since such a tax would just push gasoline prices higher.

All of these things, like taxes on oil companies and carbon taxes, are likely to be passed on to consumers and add to the grumbling. I hear that carbon taxes have been tried in Australia and a few other places, but the political fallout from higher fossil fuel costs makes these taxes improbable to sustain. Politicians can't survive the onslaught.

We really need to learn how to make society less dependent on inexpensive energy as a way help us afford the transition to greener technology which, at first, tends to be even more expensive.

Maybe, in the long run, green energy such as solar and wind can compete on a price level with fossil fuels, but that day is still in the future.

In the meantime, we need to adjust our society, lifestyles and city planning to accommodate higher priced energy.

Picture of moldy cellphone

Mildew at least. Is your phone old? I recently found mine in the bottom of my bicycle pannier where just a bit of moisture caused it to look like this. Wiping it off with bleach water and it was good as new. Still works even though my prepay plan has now expired.

I don't use phones very often as I prefer email where one has time to think about what one is saying.

I mostly use the cellphone while traveling long distance by bicycle. Have been riding around the local area, but not using the phone. Before this summer's traveling season, I plan to reactivate the prepay plan, or possibly get a Smartphone. Besides the phone, I also bring a netbook computer for WIFI access to the internet from stops along the way.

Oil shale is plentiful, but it's not cheap

I recently tuned passed Rush Limbaugh only stopping for a moment to hear him claim that America could get $2.50 a gallon gasoline from oil shale if only the politicians would get out of the way. He's forgetting one thing. It costs more than $2.50 per gallon to produce oil from our shale. If gas was to go down to $2.50 per gallon again on the world market, our shale production would probably just shut down and go dormant waiting until the price went back up. They aren't going to exploit our shale at a loss. We have plenty of oil, but it's the more expensive variety from oil shale.

People sometimes say we have reserves of oil comparable to the Saudis so the price should be low, but it's not liquid petroleum, its shale so it doesn't matter that we have a lot as far as the price is concerned. We can't produce it at a loss. We can "drill baby drill" and grind up that shale if we want, but we can't do it for cheap. We are producing from our shale today. People just lack patience.

Oil is not likely to get cheaper, unless something like another recession cuts demand. Society will just have to get smarter and learn to thrive in an era of oil from higher priced sources.

If this recovery transcends the gas price cycle, it's more solid

As the economy and fossil fuel consumption speed up, gas prices rise. this often pushes the economy back down again, but maybe that cycle can be broken. Is a robust economy always dependent on cheap fossil fuel?

We might be learning to have an economy less dependent on oil. That could be good news in the long run.

Slideshow video of my bike trip across USA

Just under 10 minutes.
From my first bicycle trip across USA with the music of Grieg in the background (from the Youtube approved music library).

Trip took place in 1991 from Bellingham, WA. to Salisbury Beach, MA. in 2 months. Then I took Amtrak back from Worcester, MA. and shipped my bike.

I also did a cross country trip in 1993 as well as other smaller trips in other years including 2011.

One thing possibly missing from coal free Bellingham campaign?

Petitions are starting to circulate around town to put something called the Bellingham Community Bill of Rights on the ballot.

If passed, this measure would allow the city to have some say about what is transported through city limits. This issue comes up in regards to the coal trains that travel through Bellingham on their way from coal fields in Wyoming and other places to a coal port in Canada and (most importantly) a proposed port just north of Bellingham.

It's kind of a legal experiment to see if local jurisdictions can regulate the flow of interstate commerce that happen to go through their borders.

Can this be done or does it violate powerful interstate commerce laws and precedence?

Proponents of the measure provide some examples of other cities that have regulated various forms of commerce within their borders. Cities banning the use of fracking for natural gas or factory farming are given as examples. These are things being produced, or mined within a city. Cities often do regulate things like mining within their borders.

Here's what seems to be missing.

None of the examples, I have heard so far, involve something just passing through a city on it's way from point A to Point B. Can this form of interstate commerce be controlled by each location along the way?

Could that bring us back to the days of trolls under the bridge blocking commerce? On the other hand, should the free flow of commerce and the obvious derivative being multi-national corporations always rule the day?

It will be interesting to see how this issue plays out both at the ballot box and in the courtrooms where it will, most likely, be discussed.

I, at least, signed the petition so it could be on the ballot and start the discussion. Could bring some interesting attention to Bellingham. I'm not sure exactly how I would feel about localities regulating interstate commerce. There are pros and cons, but the discussion of these matters will prove to be interesting. Part of the free flow of ideas, at least.

Another strategy that people who oppose the coal trains are using involves the permitting process with county government and state department of ecology about the proposed coal port north of Bellingham.

Cheap gas is like white sugar. Expensive gas is like honey

Honey is basically just another form of sugar to the body, but since it's more expensive, people tend to use it more wisely than white sugar or another form of sugar we call corn syrup.
* This can be disputed, see comments below.

When gasoline is too cheap, like eating unhealthy white sugar, society tends to promote sprawling development.

More expensive gas would support use of public transportation and compact urban development. Stuff the Growth Management Act, in Washington State, tries to promote. Growth Management tries to focus development into certain areas, but like a leaky sieve, development keeps sprawling. It sprawls one spacious parking lot at a time.

More expensive gasoline can create economic incentive for focused growth.

More expensive oil can help domestic energy production as well. I hear that America now produces more oil than it imports. When gas prices go up, oil deposits like the Bakken Shale, in North Dakota, become more viable. Green energy becomes more viable also.

Like using honey instead of corn syrup.

Less Rush Limbaugh, more diversity in radio

I'm kind of glad to see yet another scandal rock the Rush Limbaugh empire. Not that I'm against free speech, but there are some areas of the country where it seems like Rush Limbaugh is the only thing on the radio. Thank goodness for the Iphone which can bring more diversity in radio to any spot within cellphone range. The days are declining when pretty much all of the stations one could get in some rural areas would simulcasted the same thing. Either Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Savage Nation.

Repeat, repeat, repeat, or maybe country and western music with a few fire and brimstone preachers to toss in the mix.

Locally originated programming? Forget it. Doesn't pay the bills.

Okay, NPR has relays covering much of those areas also, but most of radio has been pretty monotone.

Calling someone who testifies before Congress a slut and even suggesting she make videos for the taxpayers gets noticed. Unfortunately, in an era with a lot of background noise, the sensational is what's heard.

The mighty empire must be fed. Propping up the big voice on commercial radio, but it can overreach. Hard to know where to draw the lines.

Takes a big and voice to be on at all, when access to the airwaves is limited and expensive. Sensationalism is often used to prop up the ratings. Hopefully there can be more voices and smaller voices in a more diverse age of internet based radio.

Move over Rush Limbaugh, especially with the Iphone and the internet, more voices can be heard.

Living alone and loving it. A growing trend

Very good hour long interview on the Michael Krasney radio show about the growing trend toward living alone. Here's text from the show description in the archive of KQED Forum. Audio and podcast is available in a link from that page.

In his new book "Going Solo," Eric Klinenberg interviewed hundreds of people living alone. He wanted to know why in the modern world more than 50 percent of adults are single, and why so many love living alone. We explore the rise in solo-living and the sociology behind it.

According to show, around 49% of American households are now single occupant. A dramatic increase from 10% in 1950.

It's often not discussed, but a lot of people like living alone. Politics and planning needs to catch up. Rhetoric about "family values" that's spewed by politicians, especially Republicans, needs to be rethought.

Planning for smaller residential units is needed also.

There are interesting issues around the need for community which may be different for single people than for folks in families. Do families tend to be more insular while singles need to get out and value community more since there aren't people to come home to?

I'm glad these issues are starting to be discussed.

We spend a lot of time discussing gay marriage, but possibly the real change is that more folks are not in a relationship at all. This seldom gets mentioned. I'm in favor of allowing gay marriage, but I live alone and discussion of single living comes closer to truly hitting the spot for me.

Inexpensive way to help both homeowners and renters

Text of my letter to the editor, Bellingham Herald February 22 2012.

In some cities like Bellingham, there is a shortage of rental units leading to rising rents. At the same time, there are homeowners who are about to go into foreclosure because they can barely afford their mortgages. Why can't more of the homeowners take in renters to help pay the bills?

An extra income stream from renters is one way to help homeowners save their homes from foreclosure. At the same time it would provide more places for renters so rents could remain moderate. This could help solve two problems simultaneously.

In some cases, zoning would need to be changed from single-family residential to a less restrictive use that would allow a few rental units in the homes. It doesn't make sense to have much of the land area of our city used up in neighborhoods where the median price of a home is way above what the average person can afford. It also doesn't make sense for renters to face a housing shortage while single-family homes go empty and homeowners cannot afford the payments.

Given today's job market and financial situation, innovative solutions should be tried.

This article was in a recent Herald also about a shortage of rental properties in Bellingham.

Biking around Lake Samish at sunset a few weeks ago

Obama's apology did no good, but did no harm either

It was the right thing to do for President Obama to try and apologize to people in Afghanistan when some Qurans were burned along with the trash at a US military base. Too bad that the apology basically fell on deaf ears. It didn't really do any good. Santorum is giving Obama flack for even trying to apologize, but apologizing didn't do any harm either. It was the right thing to try, but it looks like it didn't do any good. Too bad it fell on deaf ears.

Sometimes even being President of the United States can be a thankless job.

The gas ceiling instead of the glass ceiling

The economy seems to hit a "gas ceiling" when ever it starts to pick up again. Like the famous glass ceiling said to be encountered by women rising toward the top of corporations, the entire economy hits a gas ceiling when increased consumption pushes up prices. Then high prices threaten to push the economy back down and a slower economy brings down prices again.

Using energy more efficiently can keep the economy going. Drilling for more oil is happening, but that oil is more expensive; unlike the Republican dreamers would like you to believe. The cheap deposits are already depleted. There's still lots of oil, but it's harder to extract.

Alternative energy tends to be more expensive also, at least in the short run. Maybe something like Moore's Law applies to solar collectors; like it has applied to computer chips. Doubling in efficiency every 18 months? Then using electricity to charge batteries for cars, or make hydrogen fuel, might be more viable.

Solar collectors are getting better, but maybe not progressing as fast as computer technology has been progressing. Alternative energy is likely to be more expensive than even expensive oil for a while; at least in automobiles. Solar can be quite inexpensive for heating, if one has the right south facing windows and remembers to open and close their drapes at the right times.

My brother has solar collectors on his house and he recently got an electric car. He reports, in his Facebook posts, that he drives on sunlight. He says around 60% of his electricity for home and car comes from the sun with the remaining 40% from the power grid.

Some say we should use natural gas instead of oil as a fuel for transportation. It may be cheaper than oil for a while, but at start there are conversion costs. Also, in the long run, it's still a greenhouse gas; tho less carbon based than oil or coal.

A rising tide swamps some of the boats

Some say a rising economic tide of the rich getting richer helps all as "a rising tide rises all boats." This may be true in part, but there's a counter argument as well. A rising tide swamps boats also. For example, if the billionaires start to price the millionaires out of neighborhoods, where can the rest of us live?

Being a janitor in the information age

Being a custodian has some advantages in the age of information overload. There's more time to absorb that information when one is doing simple tasks such as mopping a floor. Radio can bring lots of learning to the ear while the hands and the eyes are employed in what some call mindless tasks. In this digital age, internet radio and the MP3 player brings vast choices to the discerning ear.

Here are some of my favorite sources of good discussion on the radio that I download for listening to later during my custodial shifts at night.

I download the shows to my computer and then transfer them over to my MP3 player. People with smart phones can probably just click on listen, if their smart phone is in range of a wireless, or cellphone source.

KQED in San Francisco has a show called Forum. Wide range of topics. Interviews many authors and others. Archived with good description and a photo for each episode. Archive goes back years. Show aired most weekdays.

The Diane Rhems Show on WAMU, Washington, DC and NPR. Round table discussion. This one's hard to explain how to get to the podcast, but I find my way there for it to download. Seems like the only show available is the second hour of the most recent show. I click on podcast at the bottom of the show page. All the shows are archived for streaming, but seems like only the most recent 2nd hour is available for podcast.

I also like NPR Science Friday for good science news. Easy to find the download.

Many other shows are available. Just takes some time and thinking to find them. Learning to be organized.

Having the time, without a lot of distractions helps. Like the advantage of being a custodian in the information age.

Rick Santorum misguided as technological progress is only part of the poverty story

Rick Santorum says poor people in USA are much better off than even the rich were 50 years ago. Well, we do have a lot more technology than 50 years ago. Smart phones, the Internet and more channels on TV, but housing, healthcare and education is less affordable. Also poor people still live in the shadow of the wealthy and the gap between rich and poor is far wider and in some ways more demoralizing.

Also he says the comforts of the poor, such as having smart phones, is part of America's great dynamism. Increasingly technological wonder can not be attributed to American greatness. It is a worldwide economy now and technological progress is increasingly coming from other parts of the world even though Americans can still use it.

Earth enjoying humans while other planets look worried

Like glistening jewels from space, cities near Gulf Coast of United States as seen at night from International Space Station.

Remember that cartoon showing Earth being ill with the disease "humans" while other planets try and comfort Earth?

I have a new variation of that cartoon idea.

In my cartoon (I can't draw) Earth is jumping with joy, all excited as humans are it's new creation. It's Earth dazzling with the excitement of civilization. Other planets are looking on with worried looks on their faces. They are saying to Earth, "you'd better be careful." "Don't hurt yourself."

In other words, humans are not thought of as a disease, but instead an accomplishment of Earth. Our civilization is part of nature, a crowning achievement of nature. Earth is happy, not sick. Still, there's some cause for concern. Other planets, looking duller than Earth, some just bland looking gas balls like Uranus, are cautioning Earth to be careful. They say to Earth, "just don't get carried away with your new newfangled humans."

I used photo from NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day, November 4 2010.

Pitting education against other state services is uneducational

Letter I wrote to my state legislators against a proposal to fund education first at the expense of other state services, HB-2533. Also see (below) good personal response I got back.

I think things like the Fund Education First bill just pits education against social services and other valuable things that the state does. It is kind of problematic to have the state constitution putting education ahead of all other functions of state government, or at least some ways of interpreting the constitution create this situation.

Seems like just about all functions of state government can be viewed as providing education. For instance state parks do a lot with visitor centers, museums, interpretive trails and programs that educate children and the public about history, the environment and so forth.

For some folks, the only access to a doctor could be things like the Washington Basic Health Plan. Contact with a doctor can be seen as an educational experience. Education on lifestyle, diet and so forth that is important. Things like public broadcasting and city libraries are important to education as well.

All of these things in the community can help the teachers and the schools do their job rather than pitting the schools against the other functions of state government.

It is true that there isn't enough revenue to meet all the needs. Still, the entire state needs to work together. Revenue increases for state government need to be considered also as a means to improve school funding as well as funding for the other services.

On the Internet, I listened to an interesting interview with education expert Diane Ravitch who was on Michael Krasney's Forum show January 18 2012 on KQED Radio in San Francisco. One of the things Diane said was that student achievement could be correlated with amount of poverty in the student's life. If this is the case, then it makes no sense to gut anti poverty programs for things like housing and healthcare in order to try and improve schools for better test scores.

The rest of the state programs can actually help the teacher do their job by addressing the situations that kids and families reside in.

We all need to work together to help the teachers and schools by, in part maintaining the rest of the state. Co-operation is better than pitting the schools against the rest of the state.

Thanks.
Robert Ashworth, Bellingham

Good personal response from Representative Kristine Lytton.

Dear Robert,

Thank you for your message regarding the Fund Education First legislation that has been introduced. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

I share your concern that, during this challenging budget time, we are pitting important programs against each other rather than finding ways to work together and support all of the priorities of our state government. House Bill 2533 was heard in the House Committee on Education Oversight and Appropriations; although I am not a member of that committee, I am familiar with the ongoing conversation we are having in our state about this issue. Now is not the time to be pitting important programs against each other. We need to be cooperating to fund solutions because so many programs do positive work that relates to the work of other programs.

Washington's constitutional provision that identifies basic education as its "paramount duty" (Article IX) is unique among the 50 states. As a public school parent and former school board member, I am grateful for this provision, because providing a quality education to every student is the cornerstone to building healthy individuals and strong communities. However, I do not believe that HB 2533 is a productive step in addressing the state’s need to fully fund education and adequately provide for its citizens.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts. With so many difficult decisions ahead, I value the input that I receive and hope you will continue to share your views with me.

Regards,
Kristine

Remember Governor Moonbeams? Now there's Newt Gingrich

Thinking outside the confines of the box, California Governor Jerry Brown was called Governor Moonbeams back at the time he was seeking nomination of the Democratic Party for US president around 1980.

Cynical pundits can now put the moonbeams label on Newt Gingrich for his recently revealed proposal to establish a colony on the moon by 2020.

If "liberal" Jerry Brown gets laughed at for thinking outside the confines of some journalist's cubicle, folks can now laugh at "conservative" Newt Gingrich.

Thinking beyond the mundane is something I applaud, but one does have to ask, where's the money going to come from for "fast tracking" a moon colony; especially while Republicans, like Newt, try and downsize the government. Of course government isn't the only source of money for space technology, but corporations don't seem to be clamoring for a moon base in the near future.

By the late 1970s, Governor Brown expressed a fascination with outer space and proposed that California launch its own space satellite. His 1980 campaign slogan was "protect the earth, serve the people and explore the universe."

In a nutshell, that's basically what society should be doing, but Brown got snickered at for presenting the "big picture."

So now it's Newt's turn. snicker, snicker. Who's going to pay for said moon colony?

Yes, even Republicans can be accused of idealistic dreams, thinking outside the mundane. Something I'd often applaud, being a space exploration advocate myself, but if Jerry Brown can get flack for this, so should Newt Gingrich.

Speaking of California, where far reaching ideas can percolate and Jerry Brown is now serving again, many years later, as governor, there's another way out proposal. This time it's not from the governor, but from another Republican; like Newt Gingrich.

Congressman Dan Lungren is toying with the idea of draining the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to expose another Yosemite like valley in California. It's quite a dream to have a second valley like the majestic valley that graces Yosemite National Park. There's a cost, of course, which would be draining the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Hetch Hetchy now provides water to the city of San Francisco and much of its surrounding area.

Hetch Hetchy Valley was flooded by a dam built early in the last century. That dam was opposed by an early environmentalist, John Muir, but the water stored in that reservoir has served San Francisco for decades. Draining that reservoir means having to find a new way of suppling San Francisco with water. It could be expensive; especially, as employees of the San Francisco Water Department point out, if it involves burning energy for pumping water all the way to the city. That water can currently flow all the way through a gravity feed system. Loss of the high reservoir (Hetch Hetchy) would, most likely, make pumping more necessary.

Is the San Francisco water department just a bunch of government bureaucrats who say it can't be done, or are they the true one's watching out for the taxpayer's pocketbook?

Lungren has proposed at least doing a study to look into the feasibility of this dream for a second Yosemite, but critics remind him that money is tight.

Dream on, both Republicans and Democrats. I can't fault folks for striving to have achievements beyond the mundane. As we dream, we all deserve the term moonbeams and we should be careful when we poke fun at people. Those who dream of living in glass houses can't throw many stones.

Bike path to Barkley Village in the snow

Bellingham is having one of it's fairly rare snow events. A few folks still bike, but I prefer walking in the snow. Yesterday, I had a reason to go to the Barkley Village district. Took the bus out there and then walked back.

Little Tokyo restaurant has a welcoming glow in the snow.

Plaza across the street from Little Tokyo.

Barkley Village is sometimes called a "new urbanism" style of development. Slightly more density than the average strip mall sprawl. Some multi story buildings with use of brick and a "Main Street look" along New Market Street.

One of the things that causes me to go to Barkley more often than other satellite developments in Bellingham is the ease of access along Railroad Trail. It heads through the woods behind Barkley Village.

Being a non driver, trails make a difference to me.

Other developments in Bellingham, like Cordata and Bellis Fair Mall, are out where the sprawl is horrible. Few trails or pedestrian facilities. All built for the automobile. There are plans to retrofit some of those areas, but progress is real slow. Barkley seems more accessible to non drivers.

There still is plenty of parking for those who participate in mainstream culture. One of Barkley's biggest features is a 24 hour Haggens Super Market. It's near a large parking lot which also serves as the parking for businesses along New Market Street.

Across Woburn Street from the Haggens is a big construction site. New movie theaters. I hear 17 screens? Lots of grading. There will most likely be a big parking lot. Also some artificial wetlands for storm water retention.

One wonders if a big theater project will work, but at least it doesn't look like we're in a recession when you see the construction equipment going. Bellingham gets some spin off from the robust economy of Vancouver, BC, just across the border. It's still hard to find work here, but Vancouver's economic engine is close by. Shoppers come down to Bellingham to buy milk and other products by the truckload.

Canada is where the controversial coal trains are headed which rumble through Bellingham. They go to a coal port in Canada. Controversial because there is a proposal to build more port facilities on this side of the border which would likely increase the coal traffic being exported to "power house economies" in Asia.

Meanwhile the snowy world of the bike path is only a few feet from commerce.

Below posted January 10 2012 on a day that wasn't snowy.

Freeway looks kind of neat when crossing after sundown.
An hour or two earlier heading east.
While I-5 looks pretty ominous, or might I say "majestic," I'm glad I'm on the bike trail.

Autumn view along Railroad Trail. Image taken in 2010.

Gay liberation may be the most successful of movements loosely called the left

I remember when proposals to legalize gay marriage were thought of as radical and way out on the fringe of suggestions for adopting as planks in the Democratic Party platform.

Forward just a few decades to now and Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire feels Washington State is ready to legalize gay marriage at the state level. I'll have to hand it to the gay rights movement. Gay rights may be the most successful social cause that has been associated with left leaning politics.

Picture from Wikimedia Commons. Gay rights demonstration 11 July 1976 at the Democratic National Convention, New York City. Leffler/Library of Congress via pingnews.

Washington has had domestic partnership for gay and lesbian couples over the past few years. Sometimes called the "everything but marriage law," but now we may be ready for that next step; calling it marriage.

A few states have already taken that step and most importantly the whole nation of Canada has legalized gay marriage both at the provincial and national level.

What has happened to other causes brought up at various Democratic Party conventions over the decades? For many years, people have been marching for world peace. Are we any closer now than we were in say, 1976?

What about reducing our carbon footprint? Many a conference on global warming has come up with resolutions, but has the footprint actually been reduced?

How about fairness of income distribution? Especially in American society? Are common people getting a better deal than say in 1976?

Many would answer no, but in spite of what has seemed like gridlock over the years, the gay movement continues it's gradual progress. How can this be, when it was thought of as one of the most fringe of the causes, not that long ago?

Gay rights advocates deserve some pride for their successes. At the same time, one does have to wonder why other causes have been stuck in neutral all this time.

Besides gay rights, it seems like the most obvious progress being made in society is on the technological front. Back in the 1970s, no one had Smart Phones, access to Google or web sites.

Technology keeps marching forward though some would say more technology is not necessarily progress for the better. At the same time, of course, there are some who say that progress toward gay rights is not really for the better either. There are still folks adamantly opposed to things like legalized gay marriage.

Even within the gay community, itself, there are some who miss the days when gay life was more clandestine; more underground. They would say it had more color back then.

There is the famous comment that goes, "Promoting marriage among gays?" "Haven't the gays suffered enough as it is?" This implying marriage isn't really all that great.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the concept of traditional marriage, but I am in favor of fairness and equality among both gay and heterosexual folks if they do wish to get married.

As for some of these other causes, like low carbon footprint or peace in the world, I don't know what's holding us back. Around the edges, maybe we can say progress is being made. Contrary to popular opinion, the rate of violent crime is actually dropping, according to recent crime statistics I've been reading. That's the rate of violent crime on a per capita basis, here in USA. Maybe that's a sign of progress toward more peace in the world.

In other causes, such as lowering the carbon footprint, it seems like some progress is being made behind the scenes, if nothing else. The technology for more efficient solar collectors is on it's way; so they say. Bike paths abound, throughout Bellingham at least, but its hard to say if use of these paths has gone "mainstream" or not.

Speaking of bike paths, another metric for measuring social progress could be in looking at the health of the population. After years of "wellness programs" are we any healthier than before or are things like obesity and diabetes on the increase?

Sometimes it feels like we're just running no place in a squirrel cage. Obesity seems to be on the rise, but at least less people are smoking. Maybe there's some progress.

Fairness of income distribution is really a tough one. Seems like society is just going backwards on that, but the descent into "income gap hell" is not as pronounced as one might think. Technology comes to the rescue again. At least poor people now can have access to things on the Internet that even the wealthy couldn't have dreamed of enjoying decades ago.

Obama can only bat the bad balls (bills) Congress sends him

When Obama reluctantly signed the recent defense authorization bill, maybe he should have vetoed it instead. He is getting a lot of flack for signing it because of the provisions about detaining US citizens. A real turkey of a bill. I think his only choice was to sign or veto, unless he has line item veto. That bill may have been the best bill this Congress, with the Republicans in the house of Representatives, could have sent him. The best this Congress could do. Good question to ask is, should he have just vetoed the whole thing and let the military starve for lack of funds?

Maybe he's like a batter in a baseball game who bats bad balls (bad bills) since that's the only balls the pitchers send him.

Ron Paul could teach Republicans a few lessons, but Obama still makes a better president

Those who preach small government could learn a few lessons if Ron Paul were to really get the Republican nomination. A true libertarian in a more purist sense, Paul supports really cutting things like the military. Other Republicans talk small government and taxes, but still continue to support things like Homeland Security, Veterans benefits, the military, border patrol, Medicare and so forth. Things American people have become dependent on. Talking low taxes, but not cutting back on these things means deficit.

Libertarian thinking, which really would call for cutting back the government, is a good discussion point. A discussion point that could be turning Republicans inside out especially if Ron Paul were to get the nomination.

Still, I would hope Obama wins the presidency. Libertarian ideas make for an interesting part of the discussion, but small government would not provide the safety net, civil rights protections and environmental protections that we need, not to mention things like federally funded research and development. Libertarians would most likely lead to a world dominated by corporations and the most powerful. Even worse than today.