In spite of recession, dance energy still flows

Putting my feet in the air. I enjoy doing shoulder stands at some of the dances I go to.

Folks have been dancing up a storm this summer in a few Bellingham parks. The parks department sponsors concerts in the parks and other groups rent the parks for events also. This picture happens to be the Bellingham Food Co-op annual party which took place in Boulevard Park. Dancing to the tunes of Yogaman Burning Band.

In spite of the down economy, the energy keeps flowing. There's a lot of dancing in Bellingham which I'm sure helps improve public health. Some dancing is at places like Presence 5 Rhythms Studio and a place called Purple Church. Others is just out in the park free to the public.

There is even a new concert series being initiated at a park I never heard of; Woodstock Farm. Who said there was a recession? Some towns are closing parks. We've got a new one I haven't even heard of. Woodstock Farm was purchased before the 2008 bust, but few have known of it's existence. The new concert series might increase public awareness. The park is an old gentleman farm off Chuckanut Drive in the south part of our city. Buildings are fixer uppers even though there was a grand piano in the deal. Park is set aside as open space. I took a tour several weeks back. Never knew there was a Woodstock Farm.

I'm dancing. Also walked down to Fairhaven District's Village Green where there was a Balkan band. Some of the concerts are sit down and listen while others are get up and dance.

There's also dancing in bars, but I prefer the alcohol free dancing in the city parks and the fitness style dancing in places like Presence 5 Rythms studio. One of the dances at the studio is called Sweat Your Prayers.

Soon to start another bike tour

Stay tuned for more details. Most likely, the trip will be here in the Pacific Northwest.

Earlier this season.

Memorial Day weekend was fun. Attended Radical Faerie Gathering at Longhouse for the first time. Swimming, hot tub, conversation and a talent show. Longhouse gathering is just east of Redmond, WA. I also got some pictures, mostly of the bike trails I explored around Redmond; a multipurpose trip.

Whoretense, one of my Faerie Friends who is also from Bellingham area took this image of me.

The Servant Economy

I heard a very interesting interview on the Diane Rehm show about future job trends in our economy. Jeff Faux, author of a book titled The Servant Economy was interviewed.

The book talks about a trend toward low wage, low skill jobs in the future. Job growth projections from US Department of Labor seem to show the majority of job growth in occupations that do not require college education from now till 2020. Jobs like janitor, sales clerk and motel maid, for instance.

Much of this is described by the author as being the result of that growing gap between the very rich and the rest of the population. Wealth concentrating at the top. This relates a lot to political choices that voters made when President Reagan was swept into office. Also more recent elections, such as the T-party sweep of 2010.

In liberal media (as opposed to conservative media), much is written about the demise of the American middle class and the future it portends. This book fits right in.

I agree with a lot of what the author says, but have some of my own thoughts to add.

The growing wealth gap is a really big problem, but there are some other factors leading to our economic condition as well. Restrictions on the old paradigm of economic growth due to environmental concern is a big factor. The old American middle class, with it's cars and big houses is problematic to the environment.

Also to the distribution wealth around the world. Global wealth is now tending to become more even. Look at the rise of China. As other countries rise out of poverty, American appears to be sinking from it's former height.

Transition to what another author named Alvin Toffler describes as the Third Wave, or The Information Economy also brings it's dislocation in today's economy. Dawning of an information age can bring new joys, but it also brings stresses to old economic paradigms.

I'd say that the servant economy doesn't have to be all bad. One of the callers to that Diane Rehms show said she had a master's degree in education and was now cleaning houses. She and a partner run their own house cleaning business and they seemed to enjoy it. The author responded by saying there was nothing wrong with good honest work. His own mother was a waitress. It can be a good life, but one does not need to have $40,000 of student loan debt to clean houses.

Part of the problem, as I see it, is that we are not preparing for the servant economy, if in fact this is what the future brings. Young people don't need to be burdened with huge student loan debt to work as waiters. Housing and healthcare needs to be more affordable if we are to live in the servant economy.

To some extent, it seems like Americans are living in a fantasy world. A world where high profile jobs are always promised, but rarely materialize. Of course there will always be a percentage of the population that does the high tech / high end jobs. There will always be the folks like Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook). Small groups of employees, like the Facebook team will create interesting things in the economy that the rest of us can benefit from, often free of charge.

Life in the future, even in the servant economy, can be rich and varied. Not necessarily the dismal future that many fear. There has never before been such opportunities in personal networking, for instance. The volunteer sector continues to flourish enhanced by new networking technologies. Cellphones, Facebook and whatever; we are not just poor servants.

If we face up to a future of low end and hopefully low stress jobs, we can still flourish. Smaller families and more single people can help. Less materialism and more voluntary simplicity. Less consumption and more social life.

This may not be the world that some of the wealthy and their right wing think tanks expect to come out of where our economy is going, for the most part, under their watch. Much to their chagrin it might turn into a world of what some folks might call "hippie life."

On the other hand, human civilization might still figure out a way to get the economic juggernaut going again, but it will have to be bringing prosperity to the majority of ordinary people again.

Interesting to note; the front cover of that book shows a gold dust pan.

Bellingham Alternative Library Dance July 21 2012

People from Bellingham Alternative Library remembered that I have a blog so they ask if I would post this. I'm planning to go. Should be a fun time for dancing and so forth. Event at Make.Shift Gallery, 305 Flora in downtown Bellingham. More info on Alternative Library.

One type of family that gay marriage could harm

In a family where one of the spouses is a closeted gay person, the advent of gay marriage and more lifestyle choices in society could be a threat.

Back in the so called "good old days" lots of gay people stayed in the closet and got married into heterosexual relationships. They often raised families. This is still going on today, but it was very common in the past. In many cases, those families stayed together as people just toughed it out. It wasn't ideal, but in some cases, they stayed together for the sake of the kids. They "grinned and bared it," so to speak.

Now days, expectations are higher. Gay marriage has been legal in Canada and a few other nations for several years. Here in the US, it's making progress in a lot of states. I'm in favor of gay marriage, of course, but I got to thinking that more choices and freedoms in society bring higher expectations. Folks that have been closeted in earlier times are apt to expect more out of life than in the past. Many of these closet cases have been married. Often it's said that these people are living a lie. Living the heterosexual family life when they weren't really all that heterosexual. Folks often marry without fully knowing who they are or where the entire mix of their feelings are at the time. Marriage is never perfect, of course, but in the past, people often forced it together with duct tape and bailing wire, so to speak. They did it for the sake of the kids, because churches and parents expected it, because other choices were just not thought about.

Now days, bailing wire and duct tape might be used as props for a Leatherman fetish party, but that's a different story.

I'm remembering an old TV show called "All In The Family," with the husband Archy Bunker. I'm not thinking he was closeted gay, necessarily, but he didn't seem very happy. Life wasn't always a piece of cake. It was a bit dysfunctional and not often that fulfilling, but they grit their teeth and made it work. The old lunch bucket blue collar days.

These days, people are expecting more. More honesty, more transparency, more choice. "Find your true bliss path," so they say. Don't just do heterosexual marriage because it's the only accepted option. Now there is more freedom in our society so marriages that have never been based on totally ideal reasons are splitting apart. People seeing better options out in society so they are striving for more. People may be getting more restless, in some ways. Marriages where one spouse is gay, but in the closet while the other is be heterosexual have been common and they often don't last the onslaught of other choices portrayed in the media, from neighbors and on the internet.

The cat has been let out of the bag.

Come to think about it, there are societies where marriage isn't about love anyway. It's an arranged affair. Set up by in laws, parents, churches and so forth. Arranged marriage. Not choosing who you want, but fulfilling your assignment to society.

Now that we are getting more honesty and choice in society, I don't think people will want to go back to the past. Expectations are higher, but with higher expectations can also come the reality of more disappointment.

I'm for going forward towards more lifestyle choices and out of the closet honesty, but I also realize that there is a problem when expectations are high. Are we a spoiled bunch? Just look at American society. Yes there is a lot of turmoil, these days in all kind of situations. Marriage's braking apart, gay relationships not being what people have expected, in some cases at least. Folks not keeping up with the "Joneses." The grass is always greener on the other side.

Striving for something better means progress, but it also means stresses and strains in the process.

Pictures of me on front pages of The Betty Pages

I made it to front page of Betty Pages again as part of a gathering holding the rainbow flag for a photo shoot. I'm with a bicycle helmet on the left.

Picture makes Bellingham look quite green. Above the grass of Point Zuanich Park is Sehome Hill with 2 dorms of Western Washington University at center. Nash and Mathes dorms. It wouldn't look quite this green if picture was taken in Walmart parking lot.

Haggrid hatched a good idea for the front page of Betty Desire's local tabloid. Why don't we pose with Betty under the sign that flashes "Pansies" at Garden Spot Nursery on Alabama Street?

The Betty Pages is this region's most inclusive alternative-lifestyle and entertainment tabloid. It's published by a drag queen named Betty Desire who almost always poses as part of her front cover. On Betty's left, this month, is Haggrid who came up with the idea for the shot while I'm on her right with my rainbow hat. Betty's in the middle.

The shot also promotes Bellingham's Radical Faerie organization that meets for coffee and conversation each Saturday at noon. I don't drink coffee, but there's plenty of chocolate milk for me. It meets at Public Market, a reinvented Safeway store near downtown Bellingham. Now that building is full of alternative businesses. Faerie Coffee meets near the Trapeze Kiosk which serves coffee, hot chocolate and other things. Trapeze Kiosk is run by Bellingham Circus Guild.

It's spring and time to reinvent a lot of things.

Bicycling in the Higgs field

When bicycling up hill, one experiences the field of gravity. Pedal harder or else the bike tries to roll back down hill toward the center of the earth.

What about the Higgs field, does that effect bicycling as well? They say this field is responsible for inertia. Inertia means it takes effort to get something rolling from a resting position. It takes a push to get rolling and then one must put on the brakes to stop. This is the property of inertia.

I assume this property of inertia is related to the Higgs field the way weight is related to the field of gravity. Seems to be the case, from everything I can gather reading about Higgs particle and field.

They say they are pretty sure they've found the Higgs Boson at the LHC. It's a particle that implies there is a Higgs field permeating the entire universe. Higgs bosons are rare, indeed, at least in our earthly experience. To find it, one must rattle part of the Higgs field with intense energy, such as during proton proton collisions at Hadron, for the particle to appear.

While the particle is hard to find, the field influences our everyday experience. Like gravity that is felt when one travels up or down, the Higgs field creates the effect of inertia.

Gravity is less evident on a flat road, but the effect of inertia is still prevalent. One still has to pedal the bike to get it rolling. If there were bicycle tours in outer space, inertia and the Higgs field would be easier to deal with than gravity. Just give the bike a push and it can coast indefinitely, unless something makes it stop. A spacecraft can coast after one engine burn gets it going. With no air resistance in space, coasting can go on indefinitely.

On earth, this kind of coasting is not allowed. Wind resistance takes away energy. One especially notices wind resistance on a bicycle. It's the difference between a headwind and a tailwind. Another factor effecting travel, here on Earth, is friction from wheels rolling on pavement and other moving parts. The occasional hill brings gravity which works against you going up, but gives you a boost coming down.

I've noticed that cars often have trouble starting on a steep hill. There are many hills in downtown Seattle with stoplights at the top. To get started again, one must overcome both the force of gravity and the effect of inertia to start rolling again from a dead stop. Is this having to deal with both the Higgs and the gravitational fields simultaneously?

What about when something is in orbit, like for instance the moon orbiting the earth. Inertia says that an object will continue traveling in a straight line until something stops it. In the case of being in orbit, gravity keeps the object from traveling in a straight line. Without gravity, the moon would fly off in a straight line away from earth. The gravity keeps it going around earth, like it's tied to a string. Being in orbit means the moon's inertia and the force of gravity are in equilibrium. Does that mean that the effect of the Higgs field and the field of gravity are in equilibrium in regards to the moon so it remains in orbit?

Assuming that there is a connection between Newton's laws of motion and all this talk about the Higgs particle and field. I wish I could sit down and have coffee with a physicist someday, but I don't like coffee. How about they have coffee while I drink my chocolate milk?

Photo from North Idaho to Spokane Centennial Trail near Post Falls Idaho.

"Age diversified" is more inclusive than "all ages" dance

All ages dances tend to not really be all ages. They are usually mostly teenagers and folks under 21. All ages must mean inclusive of folks who are under the legal drinking age of 21 as well as others who are over 21, but the emphasis is that folks under 21 can go.

We need a new phrase which is inclusive of all the ages from childhood to senior citizen. How about "age diversified?"

Back when I was a teenager, I didn't dance very much. The music wasn't that great. Not easy to dance to heavy metal. Pullman, where I grew up, there was a youth center in the city hall building. I missed most of the dances, but remember standing in the parking lot showing off my multi-band radio to folks heading into the dance. I didn't go inside, myself, but thought the folks headed to the dance would be a good audience for taking a tour of my radio before they headed into the dance.

Then along came disco when I was in college, but I didn't appreciate it at the time. There were a few dances, but they weren't very well attended. There was one that I described as a waste of disco power. The music blasted into a mostly empty room. Even at it's height, the death of disco was being pronounced. "Disco sucks" was a popular phrase, but so many of the old favorites are disco tunes. It just wasn't appreciated in it's time. Disco favorites sure have a lot of energy. Often played, these days, on oldies stations. It is heard in supermarkets as background music, but no one is dancing. Unfortunately dance bars seem to avoid disco, these days. They seem to prefer some kind of "house formula" that sounds like music fragments remixed and then extruded from a machine. I've never been much of a bar person anyway.

In the 1970s, the gay club at Western Washington University had a few dances, but even then disco was usually avoided. They had garage rock bands, a few times, that were basically too loud. At one dance, a straight person walked in not knowing it was a gay dance. He sat there for a few minutes and then, realizing what it was, he bolted for the door. On his way out, he started grumbling about wasting his money, so to amend the situation, he decided to steal one of the potted palms out in the main foyer of the Viking Union. The night clerk at what I then called the "candy counter" chased him down the street demanding he bring back the stolen property. He came back looking like a Santa Clause delivering the Christmas tree only it was returning the potted palm. Then he fled down the street.

Those were the days? Actually, the best dancing is really today for me. Bicycling and dancing has kept me limber in recent years, yet most of my earliest dancing memories are more dis functional.

It wasn't till the early 1980s that I started realizing how fun free form dance could be. Maybe the earlier dances were more of a couple's thing and if you didn't have a mate, you felt left out. In the early 80s there was something called the Fairhaven Undisco. No offense to disco, but that was a catchy name. People dancing mostly by themselves and the whole room kind of dancing together. It was attended by many ages, including a few seniors.

Later, that dance migrated to a place that is now called The Purple Church. It's a bit confusing since Bellingham has 2 places called The Purple Church. One has Zomba classes while the other houses free form dance. The Purple Church I dance at is on Franklin and Gladstone Streets while the other one is over on Ellis. My "Purple Church" is really more blue than purple. Their dances are during the colder months of the year, usually starting in October.

Speaking of Zumba, aerobics was big in the 1980s. It's still done today, but not as big as it was in the 80s. Bellingham YMCA used to have big aerobics classes in it's old gymnasium. Around 75 folks in a big circle around the instructors. People would sometimes even come in costume. Now it's in a smaller room, but similar idea. Somewhat of a shadow of it's former gymnasium self, aerobics and Zumba music still energizes upstairs classes at the Y.

Possibly my favorite movement experience now is the 5 Rythems Dance offered at Jenny Macky's Presence Studio in downtown Bellingham. Age diversified and as full of energy as one wants. Happens all year round on both Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings.

Bellingham is also lucky to have dances in the parks sponsored by the parks department. Bands come to the band shelter at Boulevard Park every other week in the summer months. There are concerts in other parks as well; like Thursdays in Elizabeth Park. Big crowds often come and dance to these free concerts. Very age diversified and a good way to promote public health.

Concert brochure from Parks Department.

Recycling awning cover isn't always a good idea

As paint over wears thin, the former identity starts to break through. Was once the Newsstand International. Now is a smoke shop. I would have not noticed, walking past frequently, but a friend was visiting town and saw it right away. Looks a bit cheap. Smoking is kind of a tacky habit anyway.

Select Congress by random lot. A work around Citizens United ruling obstacle to better represent people

Choose legislative body by random lottery, rather than election. Then it doesn't matter how much money one spends on the campaign. Winning the seat is just up to random lottery. If the legislative body is large enough, it would represent a random cross section of the population.

This idea came to my mind after listening to a Diane Rehms interview with Kevin Bleyer about his book "Me The People: One Man's Selfless Quest To Rewrite The Constitution Of the United States of America." While he mentioned the idea of selecting the president by random lot, I got to thinking how about a legislative body instead? Problem with selecting the president randomly is that you're stuck with only one president and the lottery could pick a real "bone head." On the other hand, given 100, or more, rolls of the dice for a legislative body you would begin to get a random distribution across the entire population.

This would be a total rewrite of the government. It might not be called democracy anymore though maybe only one body of the legislative branch would be selected this way. The other body could still be elected, by popular vote. It would be a new twist to the concept of "checks and balances." Not totally unprecedented in our society, we do have random selection of juries in the judiciary branch. Somewhat random selection, that is. Why not random selection in part of the legislative branch?

Currently, those who are elected are the ones who run the most popular campaigns. Often the ones who can get the most money backing. Not really representative anymore. Attempts at reforming campaign finance never seem to work very well. There's always ways around the best intentions. Always ways to circumvent the rules.

Then along comes the Citizens United Ruling by Supreme Court which really screwed things up. Gives corporation unlimited ability to dump money into the process.

So much money is now running politics that people have become cynical and say that we have already lost the democracy. Money runs it all. Might as well not even vote.

Since democracy is basically already dead and gone, I guess (maybe I'm not quite that cynical) time to change the system. This is especially true at the national level. Local government may not be quite as ruled by money due to things being on a smaller scale.

How about selecting the Senate this way. Get a random selection across the population. Some would be boneheads, of course, but a large enough random lot would chose people from many walks of life not well represented now. There would probably be some farmers, teachers, janitors, solders, scientists, small business owners, electricians and so forth. A better representation than just slick campaigners and lawyers.

I'd say choose the Senate this way since the House means each district only has one representative for that district. At least with the senate, each state would get two tries and having the lottery come up with a decent politician.

Ideally, the body of random legislators would be selected at large, rather than from states or districts. Maybe we could replace the House, rather than the Senate, but have it selected at large. Members of the House could represent various walks of life, rather than representing geographical districts.

Of course those who don't wish to run for office could be taken out of the pool of potential legislators. People could sign up for the "lottery" if they wanted to have the chance to serve. Then, in rare instance, if your number gets selected, you head to Washington DC to sit in the body.

Under this system, many legislators wouldn't know much about politics and there would be this danger (or maybe it's not that bad of a danger). Other branches in government might lead and bully the random legislative body around. I might turn into something like the Washington insider pros leading around the freshmen in the body picked by random lot. The "seniors," figuratively speaking, from the President's office, other legislative body and the bureaucracy, in general, bullying the greenhorns around.

It wouldn't be a perfect system, but what we have now isn't perfect either. What we have now has been pretty much corrupted with too much campaign money. The idea of random selection, for some of the legislators, is worth contemplation at least.

Fourth Of July at the Cern Labs

Looks kind of like fireworks, but it's the kind of output particle accelerators show looking for the Higgs Boson. Big press conference is planned at European Cern Lab this Fourth Of July. Speculation is that they may feel confident enough to announce having found the Higgs. If so, it's a Fourth Of July to remember.

Cut, cut , cut Congress' bark louder than it's bite

Just in the nick of time, even Republican controlled House Of Representatives didn't allow the cuts to happen that would have doubled interest rates on student loans and brought a lot of highway construction to a halt. Talk of cuts sound good until they actually hit the people dependent on those things. Meanwhile, tax cuts stay in place so we continue adding to deficit.

I'm not against these needed programs and it is interesting to note that even the Tea Party Republican Congress steps back from the political abyss of pulling the plug on constituents.

Tax cuts tend to be "front loaded" (cut the taxes now) while spending cuts tend to be "back loaded" (kick the can down the road several years before cuts go into effect). This interest rate increase for student loans was passed 5 years ago, according to news I have read, but just before actually coming to pass, they backed off.

Even Tea Party Republicans tend to have trouble saying "screw you" to the American people, except in general terms like saying, "cut government." It's easy to say cut government while government is a theoretical entity, but when specific cuts hit people, like students, who have votes, it's a lot harder.

My part in GLBT history display at Wilson Library

Back when I was in college, I collected a bunch of posters and articles from gay and lesbian activities around campus. Years later, I donated that archive to a growing collection of artifacts about GLBT activism that is being maintained by Western Washington University's Center For Pacific Northwest Studies.

Yesterday, I just found out that they did a display with some of my things in it along with contributions from other folks.

Looks good.

Rode my bike up to WWU campus and took a few pictures of the display.

To right side of sky bridge entrance between Haggard Addition and Wilson Library.

Poster for a dance they did in 1975. I forgot who created that artistic poster, but I kept it.

My impressions about a class I took on gay people that was taught in 1975. Written down from an oral history project.

Supreme Court preserves Affordable Care Act

Good news though it's not out of the woods yet. Right wingers pledge to take the battle against affordable healthcare to the voters in November 2012 and Congress. Outcome of 2012 election will be another important step. Hopefully Democrats will do good. The Affordable Healthcare act, often also called "Obama Care" isn't perfect, but it's a step toward something better than what USA has now for healthcare financing.

Two pictures of mine have come out in a book

About World Naked Bike Ride. Author Richard Foley who has been corresponding with me and many other cyclists worldwide. 250 photos are in this colorful book with lots of text about the WNBR movement. Available at bookstores and sites like Amazon. Forward written by a Conrad Schmidt of Vancouver, BC.

Even here in Bellingham, we have had WNBR rides for the past 4 years which I've documented with links to some images on Flickr.

I think of the ride as being more an advertisement than a protest. An advertisement for the fun and erotic bicycling lifestyle.

Facebook: too big to grow?

You've heard of banks that are too big to fail. How about corporations that are too big to grow? Less talked about, but possibly a telling issue as people discuss the need to grow our economy and create jobs.

Little doubt that Facebook has been an extremely sucessful company. 800 million users worldwide, influential in social change, a household word. All this before Facebook started trading on the stockmarket. Can they top what they've already accomplished? Did Facebook wait too long before their ipo? Did their stock go public just in time for them to reach market saturation? Is there anymore room to grow?

This is an issue facing many larger than life corporations as well as our economy as a whole. Is there more room for expansion or are many of our corporations just too large? No room to grow and thus facing stagnation. Where will the new jobs come from?

Another problem has to do with the transition toward what is called an "information economy." Futurist author Alan Toffler talks about civilization going through various transformations. We've gone from the stoneage to the agricultural age. From the agricultural age, we've progressed into the industrial era. Now we are headed into the information age. Each transition brings economic disruption as old jobs die while new jobs and ways of doing business emerge.

The information age seems to be a tough one for figuring out how to make money, or, to put it a better way, "monetize the activity." No wonder Facebook stock dropped as soon as it went on the market. There is a lot of enthusiasm and activity on Facebook with people posting worldwide, but does that energy translate into money?

I see this as an analogy for the information age. An era when our old modles of business that were developed for the industrial age are less useful today. Newspapers are struggling in the same way. Does journalism still pay, or is it being somewhat replaced by what is often called "crowd sourcing?" Seems like we are entering a golden era for volunteerism and grassroots networking on the internet, but meanwhile, how do we pay for food and rent as well as other things that are still influenced by our industrial mindset.

Reader board at Carver Gym on WWU campus.

How many widgets do we have to make to pay the bills and are the widgets we make being properly compensated? Tangible products are the easiest to measure in terms of GDP. Do we need all the material posessions we buy and sell in order to create our economy? Can the Earth support all the billions of new families entering middle class life in places as far flung as India and China in an economy measured with the flow of goods and to some extent services?

These are important questions to ponder as we transition toward what could be a golden era of information trading. Like a global conversation, we're doing it, but there is an old phrase that says "talk is cheap."

It's time for some new thinking about our economy.

I participated in 4Th annual World Naked Bike Ride in Bellingham

Follow link to my album on Flickr. Another fun event. Low carbon footprint can be fun. Ride took place June 10 2012.

Obama uses more drones than Abraham Lincoln did. Wait a minute.

Obama gets blamed for using drones more than Bush, but maybe drone technology was not as prevalent during the Bush years. Technology is changing fast. One can say Obama uses more drones than Nixon did and for that matter Abraham Lincoln. Future presidents will likely use them more while using piloted aircraft less. It is, however, disappointing that humans still wage war.

Exposing children to junk food advertising may be worse than exposing children to nudity

Disney corporation has recently anounced that it plans to phase out junk food advertising in the parks and media outlets it manages by the year 2015. Seems like a good idea. It's suggested that other corporations could make this voluntery decision as well.

I got to thinking that society expends a lot of effort trying to protect children from being exposed to public nudity. Also, of course, pornography while these things are legal for consumption by adults. Supposedly, this is to protect vulnerable children from psychological harm. Well, what about junk food advertising that may contribute to uncontrolled lifelong desire for eating poorly? Corrupting children to a life of obesity.

Seems like much of the marketing that children have been exposed to is possibly more harmful than nudity, at least. What harm would nudity cause? A life of heightened and uncontrollable sexual desire?

Seems like we have taken a lot of things for granted in society. Junk food advertising, for instance. Then people get real worried about other things, like nudity.

Is nudity really that harmful, or is junk food advertising harmful as well as many other things we take for granted? Interesting to ponder these questions.

At least in the area of junk food, I'm glad to see more concern about the potential of harm. Nudity; maybe it's less of a worry than people have thought in the past.

Social norms keep changing with the times.

Main point of Obama's comment today. Public sector isn't doing fine

But the campaign gets lost in sound bytes.

Republicans are giving President Obama flack for saying that job growth in the private sector is doing fine. They are seizing a sound byte to make it look like Obama is out of touch.

Since then, Obama has admitted that the private sector isn't really doing fine. Recovery is anemic at best. While a lot of political hay is being made out of whether Obama was mistaken, or not, in saying that the private sector is fine, a more important point is being lost. The public sector is retrenching.

Well, maybe that's part of the reason why job growth in the private sector is anemic. Like it or not, the public sector is a big market for goods and services created by the private sector. Softness in the consumer market is probably the main reason why private sector growth is anemic at best. Who wants to invest in expanding production if they don't feel there's going to be a market for that production?

Some conservatives are happy that the public sector is shrinking since they feel that the public sector is not the way to stimulate the economy.

Conservatives keep asking whether the public sector is a good way to lead a recovery; especially while the public sector is so far in debt.

Maybe it is. Maybe it's not a good way to lead a recovery. If not, then one needs to ask, is there another way to stimulate the private sector, besides growth if spending in the public sector?

Increasing exports comes to mind; for instance.

Regardless of whether growth is in the public sector or the private sector, here is the big question I keep asking. Is there a way to grow the economy without destroying our natural environment? If we can answer that question, we're on our way to recovery.

Krugman's stimulus ideas are good, but there are some problems with stimulus as well

Lots of liberals, like myself, praise Paul Krugman's economic analysis calling for more generous government spending in time of depression to help stimulate the economy. Still, there are some problems with this idea.

Krugman says the time to stimulate is now, during depression, and the time to cut back for reducing the deficit is during times of prosperity. Problem is, even during prosperity, there often isn't enough for everyone since poverty remains even in prosperous times. This makes it hard to cut back at anytime as we become accustom to a certain level of spending.

Here is an interesting aside. I heard a conservative talk show host criticize Krugman using the nation of Germany as an example. He said that Germany is calling for austerity during the European financial crisis yet it still has only 5% unemployment. He says, look, Germany is for austerity and it has low unemployment.

Problem with that talk show host's logic is that he is really comparing apples and oranges. Germany does not have our big military to support. Germany has a more affordable health care system than USA. I hear that Germany encourages people to go to part time work schedules when business slows down. This really helps keep the unemployment figures lower as people are still technically employed even while working part time. I've been an advocate of more acceptance for job sharing here in USA.

Also, I'm sure Germany is a bit more socialist than we are anyway. More expensive gasoline due to a tax. More expensive electricity, so I read, and a big percent of their electricity comes from solar. Americans would probably grumble loudly if we lived like the Germans. Our sprawling suburban style development would choke on their high gas prices.

It does work in Germany, but what about USA? Basically our people and our culture are too obese to make that kind of argument for austerity. Even conservatives here in USA are not serious about real austerity. Our military is too large, the paychecks for our corporate executives are too fat, we are too addicted to sprawling cities, cheap oil and expensive health care.

Maybe we can change, tho, and be more like the Germans.

Some pictures of 4Th annual used appliance soapbox derby in Bellingham

Appliance race where people make soapbox derby cars out of old appliances in Bellingham. Race down Maple Street between State and Cornwall. Sponsored by appliance reuse shop called Appliance Depot.

Crowd along Maple St. near some new downtown apartments.

I took photos while the go carts where being pushed back up the hill.

Refirgerator headed back up the hill for another downhill run.

Human brake.

A dryer mobile.
Below pictures taken June 2010 at a different location, Bay Street.

Appliance Races drew crowd to corner of Holly and Bay Streets. The buildings look kind of neat from that corner. Old B&B Furniture Building at left; a triangular shape. Mount Baker Apartments and then the tallest building is Bellingham Towers. It's Bellingham's old downtown skyline.

Bicycling a washing machine. Legs through the lint screens.

It was a race, but I can imagine these would make good entries in a parade as well.

Chuckanut Ridge compromise, like I suggested years ago

Recent article in Bellingham Herald says that Bellingham Mayor Kelli Linville has proposed a small fairly dense neighborhood be built in part of the Chuckanut Ridge area. That's similar to the idea I came up with way back in 2005 during the heyday of the Chuckanut Ridge controversy.

Back then, the land was in private hands and developers were proposing a subdivision of over 700 homes to be built. Bellingham's open space advocates were outraged fearing the loss of that forest. They were suggesting the development be stopped.

Stopping that development which was on private land would have been a hard nut to crack. The city could buy the land, but I think the price tag was around $18 million. Quite a sum. It would deplete city funds which might have been better used for things like parks and trails in other more "park starved" areas of town; like, for instance, the Cordota Neighborhood.

Here's the compromise I suggested in my 2005 blog entry.

Build a few high rises in one corner of the property and leave the remainder as open space. That would be my kind of solution. Encourage non family and non car oriented folks who can live in small units. Provide bus service. Cluster the housing into mostly high rises in one corner of the land and preserve much of the remainder for open space.

Then the land cost could be justified and much of the forest could still be preserved.

Well, since then, 2008 came along and the real estate market crashed, nationally at least. Horizon Bank, which was heavily invested in that land went belly up and the price came down.

Eventually the city bought at a much lower price than was being ask before 2008 so the forest remains. Still, the city had to borrow some money from it's Greenway's trust fund to cover all the cost. In the long run, this could jeopardize green space in other parts of town, plus there may be some legal questions about using the money in that way over the long haul.

Basically it means the city needs to come up with some money to pay back the fund, thus this proposal to sell off some of that land for a fairly compact development. Most of the land could still remain forest while the city pays back some of the cost of the original purchase, thus shoring up city funds again.

Not a bad idea.

Wow! was 2005 7 years ago? Seems like it was just yesterday.

Congratulations Space X for successful mission of Dragon Capsule

A step in the history of expanding human commerce to more areas than just this planet. Some folks say private enterprise must have growth and an expanding economy to function. Since we are running out of elbow room on this earth, expanding into space is one answer. Space X is the first private corporation to launch a spacecraft to the International Space Station. The unmanned supply mission brought supplies into orbit, docked with the space station and then returned to Earth successfully. A historic step in bringing commerce to space. Several companies are now starting to get into the space launching business.

Naked and / or nearly naked bike ride 2012 planned for Bellingham

Sunday June 10 Around 11:30 PM to get ready ride at 1. Starts from yard behind 717 N. Forest Alternative Library.

Reprinted from Zack's posting on Facebook.

Some ride to feel free, others to protest an "indecent exposure" to fossil fuels. Whatever your reason, we invite you to vulnerably share the road with us on this soul affirming event!

Help us celebrate Bellingham's 4th annual Naked Bike Ride! We will start staging at 11:30 with body painting. At 12:30 please come to the legal debrief and discussion of intentions. At 1:00pm, We Ride!!!!

We will be riding on Sun, June 10th so if you have family visiting for graduation, please invite them! All are more than welcome!

Zac was interviewed on The Joe Show broadcast over Bellingham Progressive Talk AM 930 radio. Wednesday June 6 2012.

The Bible is just a book of history and mythology

I grew up in a liberal church that I still have good feelings for. It basically thinks of the Bible as being a document of history and mythology. Can be interesting reading for folks studying the humanities, like reading Shakespeare, but not that good for prescribing how to live our lives, do politics or explain the origins of the world. We have science and a few other tools for that. While I don't use the Bible, I still think it's possible that there is something that folks could call a spiritual dimension to life.

Would a shorter workweek be good for the economy?

Unemployment too high? Doesn't it make sense to distribute the work more evenly? While some people work full time and even overtime, others can't find a job. Would't it make sense to hire more people and relieve the load on the over employed?

Sounds logical, but it also depends on the reasons for the economic downturn. I've been an advocate of a shorter workweek for years, but I just had an interesting epiphany. Reduced work time makes a lot of sense if the downturn is based on environmental limits to economic growth. For instance, if there is a limited amount of work to go around due to things like shortages of water, energy, fish or timber. Then it makes sense to spread the limited work more evenly.

On the other hand, economic downturns might also be blaimed on weak market conditions. Basically this would be people not having money to buy enough products and services to maintain a reasonable level of employment. If this second situation is the case, then shortening the workweek might only exasurbate the problem. People who work less earn less money, thus leading to even softer consummer spending power and then even higher unemployment.

Both situations, as well as other factors, can lead to economic downturns. In some cases, the shorter workweek seems like a great idea, while in others, maybe not.

In the case of economic problens caused by environmental constraints, reducing work hours makes sense. It allows more folks to be gainfully employed in an environment of limits. For those who are now working too much, a shorter workweek can lead to significant improvement in the quality of life. Workers could have more time for family, friends, volunteer activities, excersize and even rest. It can be seen as a way to improve the quality of life without having to expand economic production.

More free time works, of course, if people can afford their rents, mortgages and other living expenses. Things like bubbles in the price of housing tend to sabotoge this concept. "Working less, consuming less and living more fully" doesn't sound very appealing if one cannot afford the rent. Of course downsizing to smaller residences can work, but even rents, or mortages for tiny spaces can be a high percentage of one's income in some locations.

Seems like the thinking for a shorter workweek would be a good way to deal with the worry about economic growth harming the environment. Maybe we can still grow and progress toward a higher quality of life by just figuring out how to give people more free time. Hurray for the 3 day weekend. Civilization can still move forward. It just has to progress toward more quality of life rather than greater consumption. Seems like preserving the concept of progress is important to most people, including myself. Who wants to just stagnate?

Of course some folks would say that environmental constraints on the economy are not absolute. The economy does find ways to substitute and do business even when limits are reached. For instance, rather than constrain oneself with limits on natural fisheries, just build fish farms and grow a lot more salmon than was ever available before.

More than a few environmentalists will cringe here.

But still, the world is full of examples of new technologies and innovations that allow economic output to continue growing inspite of perceived limits. This factor also tends to make the shorter workweek a less popular idea among more than a few economists.

Still, I like the idea of having more time. It's a quality of life issue. Having more time is a way to improve the economy without necessarily having to always grow the economy.

Freight train going by as I write this blog post on a sunny day in Boulevard Park.

When the downturn is related to soft markets, rather than environmental constraints, a shorter workweek could be seen as exasurbaing the problem. Paying folks even less money to participate in the market. I just read that California is asking many of it's state workers to cut back to a 4 day workweek. Why? To conserve, not the environment, but the state budget. Seems like fiscal conservatism and environmental conservation have some things in comon. Limits. In the case of the state budget, it's a limited amount of money. Limits inspite of the fact that less government spending can put a damper on economic growth as state workers are a big part of the market that shops in private business. When there's a shortage of revenue, states can't just print money. In the long run, states have to balance their budgets.

The Federal government, and the Federal Reserve banking system can print money; so to speak. This gets into the arguements about fiscal stimulus versus a more "low growth" approach. We can print money, but there is the downside that printing money can lead to inflation.

Should we not worry too much about future inflation and print money to put people back to work? Are we too worried about deficits if the downturn is caused by anemic consummer spending?

A similar question could be ask if the downturn is caused by environmental limits. Are we too worried about harming the environment so we kill too many projects that create jobs?

Another question to ask is this. Are there ways we can use new technologies and business practices to create jobs in spite of various limits?

And finally, why are we trying so hard to create all these jobs and all this consummer spending. Wouldn't a lot of people be better off with more free time?

These are questions that there are no definate anwers to. It's good food for the discussion, however.

Some employers will say that they must give some workers overtime, even in a soft economy. They would say that there is no one else readily available to do the job who has the needed amount of training and credentials. This is when there is too much work that needs to be done; like a construction project that needs to hurry and get the job done on time.

Would my shorter workweek philosophy sabotage their business?

Not really, simply because I wouldn't advocate legislation requireing a shorter workweek. In each situation, people and their employers, need to work out what is best for their given circumstances.

Problems happen with "one size fits all" solutions. One size fits all as imposed by governments, or even businesses for that matter.

Rather than proposing legislation, I just wish to have good discussion. It's good to have conversation about the various balances between work, free time, preserving the environment and even preserving the budget. Downsizing and reducing the workweek doesn't get enough airplay.

Aside from legislation, discussion can help to progress human culture.

Let's be less productive. Interesting article in New York Times that someone brought to my attention. Discusses shorter workweek, but suggests another approach. Slowing down at work and going for quality rather than quantity of output. New York Times article by a Tim Jackson, professor of sustainable development at the University of Surrey and the author of "Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet."

Going nowhere, but still outside

On Bike To Work Day, YMCA has "class outside." Stationery bicycle fitness class gets to go outside on that day if the weather is nice; like having the math class go outside.

Downtown Bellingham Celebration Station for Bike To Work and School Day. May 18, 2012.

America's addiction to automobiles could sink Obama presidency?

That would be bad since things like gay rights and Supreme Court nominations are effected by the presidency. Americans grumble about high gas prices.

According to one conservative talk show host I listen to, Dr. Bill Wattenburg, Obama's administration may be shooting itself in the foot by overlooking natural gas for fueling vehicles. Instead, Obama officials have opted for more distant and harder to implement strategies; green energy technologies. Natural gas is not quite as green as some of the other ideas, but it's greener than oil and according to Dr. Bill, it is so plentiful here in USA that prices could be a lot lower than the oil based gasoline that so many Americans are grumbling about now.

Of course fracking for the gas is an issue and Dr. Bill tends to downplay those problems.

Wattenburg thinks Obama should issue an executive order getting the government to buy natural gas powered vehicles when it orders new vehicles. This major buyer would help jump start more natural gas vehicle manufacturing with the related infrastructure, filling stations and so forth to keep the vehicles on the road. We just need a big buyer, such as the Federal government, to get that ball rolling.

He says that finally, a bit late, Obama's energy secretary is starting to take natural gas more seriously and describing it as a "bridge fuel" toward greener technology.

I am not against natural gas, of course, but I'd also add that we should find ways to reduce dependency on automobiles in our city planning and personal lifestyles. If nothing else to reduce obesity.

I hope the gas price situation does not lead grumbling short sighted Americans into sinking Obama's hopes for a second term.

Riprap along the shoreline

Bricks from buildings torn down, concrete chunks and other things along the shore of Boulevard Park. Summer weather is beginning in this area.