Don't work too hard

Cyprus banks, safe havens and tradgedy of the commons

What good is money without a vibrant economy? Money can just be numbers in a computer. Even gold isn't edible.

So many of the world's wealthy don't seem to care about their communities. They hoard money, looking for tax shelters and so forth. They hoard their money in places like the infamous banks of Cyprus that are now teetering on bankruptcy. Wealthy Russian and other investors have dumped money into those banks, from what I understand.

Vast fortunes can be numbers in a bank account, but there has to be an economy of goods and services for the wealth to be realized. So many of the rich don't do much to contribute to the wealth of society. They often look for ways to dodge taxes. They pay low wages to their employees and try to figure out how to put as little into the overall health of society as they can. Then they expect their money to remain safe in the society that they so often neglect.

At least when one buys stock in a corporation, one assumes that wealth is dependent on the health of the corporation. If the corporation isn't healthy, the stock can loose value. That's understood.

Seems like these days, a lot of investment isn't in stock. The investment is in so called "safe haven" investments, like bank deposits or government securities. These are things that are supposed to retain their value in spite of ups and downs in the economy. Safe haven investments are often heavily placed in government debt which, in the age of Grover Norquist, is problematic. If governments aren't allowed to collect the taxes they need to pay off their debts, the money can come into question.

Maintaining the perceived wealth of the world, whether it's in bank accounts, stocks, real estate or whatever, requires there to be a healthy and vibrant economy. This requires investments in both private and public infrastructure and other things such as education. The wealthy class can't just "park" their money. They need to be part of the solution also.

Some of my thoughts after hearing news about the banking crisis in Cyprus. Also this interesting round table type discussion on the Diane Rehm Show carried over NPR Radio.

Boehner backing away from 24/7 debt crisis mode

GOP Speaker of the House Boehner came clean on yesterday’s edition of ABC’s "This Week" and admitted that "we do not have an immediate debt crisis." Landmark remark. My take on this is that the debt is like global warming. A serious long term problem, but not a crisis, tho people would feel that one must phrase it in crisis language to get anything done in Washington. Humans tend to respond to crisis while procrastinating the rest of the time. Then again, making everything a crisis isn't effective either as we either become gridlocked with anxiety or callus to the 24/7 background noise of "crisis;" like in "crying wolf." We have problems, like the debt, but even Boehner must realize that panic isn't usually productive.

Fun dancing at Bellingham Food Coop party. More fun than a corporation

They rent the majestic Bellingham Cruise Terminal (where Alaska Ferry berths) for their annual meeting, banquit and dancing. I missed most of the meeting and banquit, but got there in time for the dancing. Music from a live band named Pole Cat. Party was a gift to the community. Co-op members, but also free to the public.

Cruise terminal is quite a dramatic structure for Bellingham. Co-op dressed it up with banners for salmon safe, urban farming and other healthy concepts.


I got there in time for the last of the meeting. Financial reports and so forth. Like a corporation's annual report, but more fun than a corporation. Also, the share holders are the members with strong representation from the public. Community based.


Through the porthole like structure of the terminal building, watching as Coop Board member candidates gave presentations.


Fun dancing to the music of Polecat.


Across the atrium from the dancers.


Cruise Terminal clock.

Purple Church Dance

Current location as of Autumn 2015. At The Majestic on Forest Street. 1027 N. Forest. $5 or above suggested donation. It's now quarterly; like maybe 4 times per year.

It's a free form of dance versus a form where one has to follow certain steps. People dance by themselves, or connecting with whoever they want in groups and so forth. Inclusive of all ages and many backgrounds. Eclectic music. Volunteer energy and DJing. Dances started at Fairhaven College back in the late 1970s. The event has migrated to several locations over the years.


The Majestic on Forest Street.

History of past locations below

Corner of Ellis, Garden and Champion Streets in an actually Purple Church building with a square tower. Purple Church event rented from a place called Bell Tower Studios.





In 2013 season, dances were in the old (before 1950s) YMCA gym on Holly St. This building is mostly apartments. Between it's time as the YMCA and recent times, it was the Odd Fellows Hall.

Between 1995 and 2013, dances were in this building, An old German Language Lutheran church which later became Unitarian Church. Since sometime in the 1990s, it's been a house. The owner invited the dances to happen there from around 1995 to 2013. That house is located in the York Neighborhood of Bellingham.

From around 1976 to 1995, the dance gathering was called Fairhaven Undisco. It was in this lounge (pictured below) on the ground floor of Fairhaven College Academic Building. Lounge has a somewhat different look today. Back then it had orange carpet.

Bellingham has several dance experiences. Another is at Presence Studio. It's on Cornwall Ave.

County Council approves Reconveyance

County Council approves Reconveyance for quite a bit of land around Lake Whatcom. It goes from state timber lands to county park and watershed preservation. Hurray.

These lands used to be managed by County, but management was given over to state, back (I think) in 1930s. Now county is assuming management again. State used land for DNR (Department Of Natural Resources) timber management which helped fund Mount Baker School District, but an anonymous donor has stepped forward to cover much of that revenue stream if reconveyance was approved.

Also, there can still be some timber from the new parklands, very carefully managed. Several years ago, I read an article about careful logging that still takes place in Seattle watershed forests. Part of forest management.

So Whatcom County has a new park which will help preserve Lake Whatcom water and will be low maintenance cost. Good move.

Biggest obstacle to taxing the rich is usually the voters

Biggest obstacle to taxing the rich seems to be the voters. For example, here in Washington State, the voters sent a resounding 63.9 % yes to an initiative that would require 2/3rds vote in legislature for any tax increase. I-1185. Anti tax sentiment was still strong at the ballot box even though that same election was considered a liberal victory for legalized pot and gay marriage. The two thirds requirement has since been tossed out as unconstitutional by the Washington State Supreme Court, but seems like it's hard to get new taxes, on the rich or anyone else past the voters. California voters did pass a state tax increase in 2012, but such vote is still rare. If we really want to tax the rich, we have a lot of educating to do at the grass roots level. Convincing voters to vote for tax measures that can tax the rich.

Ballotpedia article on I-1185.

Accessibility of stocks ignored leaving low income people out in the cold

In spite of all the bad news, US household wealth regains pre recession peak. Still, when I read between the lines, it's a bad deal for low income people. Home ownership and the stock market are the primary means for saving wealth.

Problem is, if one is too poor to afford home ownership (too low income to qualify for the mortgage or haven't inherited the money) one isn't saving hardly at all. Bank accounts have been the way lower income people have saved in the past, but interest rates are extremely low these days. In many parts of the country, the bottom rung for home ownership is quite high.

Ironically, lower income people can save small amounts in the stock market, but most don't. According to this article, it tends to be the very wealthy that buy stocks even though I would add that one can put small amounts of money into a stock market mutual fund for less than what it would take to make house payments.

Local win in the limelight

Casting long shadows. Pullman High School basketball team wins Washington State double A boys championship for first time in Pullman history. I don't normally follow sports, but being a Pullman High School alum perks some interest. Go Greyhounds.

Also, it's interesting to note that even small town, local high school sports can now be watched on television. Well, maybe not television, but on the net. One can now watch more than just the big time things that could afford major television in the past. Even games as small as Colfax versus Rosalia can be seen on that web site. I watched a bit of the game which was played at the Yakima Sun Dome. Pullman beat Anacortes and took the state title.

Picture is a screen capture I got from the start of the game when the teams were being introduced. When the lights were dimmed for the starting lineup, Anacortes was in the spotlight, but Pullman was only back lit. Made for an interesting shadow effect, however.

State Rep. Ed Orrcutt's comment about bicycle pollution makes a funny distraction

A lot of heat and media comments are being generated by an assertion from Washington State Representative Ed Orcutt (R) of Kalama, that bicyclists cause pollution by just breathing out carbon dioxide. Washington State Rep. Ed Orcutt, Who Is Pushing Bike Fee, Walks Back Claims That Cyclists Cause Pollution. Headline in the Huffington Post.

Kind of a funny distraction. Carbon dioxide, from breathing, is basically a non issue compared to burning of fossil fuels, but it makes funny news copy.

The more real issue is about a proposal to put a sales tax on bike sales to help pay for roads that bikes ride on. I think it's a Democrat that first proposed the idea as part of a Washington State transportation bill, but a Republican has induced some hot air over the matter. The proposal calls for a $25 sales tax on bikes priced $500 and above. I'm a bicyclist, but I still see some logic in this as a way to partially pay for bike infrastructure.

It may be a poorly designed tax, however. If this tax were imposed, there would be a lot of bikes selling for $499, to avoid the $500 tax cutoff. Maybe they should just have a $5 tax per hundred dollar price on bikes. Then the cheaper bikes, sold at places like Walmart, would be taxed as well as the more expensive bikes that tend to be sold at the locally owned bicycle shops. Level the playing field between discount box stores and local bike shops.

Still, I'm not totally against some revenue from bikes to help establish our legitimacy on roads in the public perception. Even with this tax, bike facilities are highly subsidized by other taxes and that is good. Since bicycling is healthy, promoting bicycling, by subsidizing bike paths, could help the entire population save on healthcare costs. So, yes, for the most part I favor giving bicycles a free ride, but I'm not against at least a small tax of some sort.

Contemplating innovation and Thomas Edison

After a recent Diane Rehm show about a book called "The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America," I decided to dig out a picture I painted in a high school art class.


Menlo Park, NJ. where Edison's labs were. It probably didn't look like this, but that was my impression.

The art assignment was "brown and yellow tone in tempera paint." I threw in blue for an out of the box twist and the art teacher loved it.

The blue was for arc lamps that worked on the spark gap principle. It was an 1800s style of electric streetlights. I added it to the warm yellow glow from inside the buildings from Edison's incandescent lamps.

Around the time of painting this, I was reading the book "Men and Volts, the story of General Electric."

The grade school I went to was Edison School. Edison School in Pullman, WA. where Thomas Edison was quite the role model. My childhood dream was to be an inventor when I grew up. Well, maybe writing unusual blog entries is good enough.

Edison School was an innovative design in it's day when it was built in the late 1940s. By the time I came along in the mid 1960s, it's problems with rotting timbers was already evident. The school district was discussing tearing it down. I felt sorry for the old school.

Some pictures I took of poor old Edison, in Pullman, during a bike tour around the state in summer of 1989. By then, it was abandoned.



They finally got around to tearing it down in the 1990s after it stood empty for many years. Apartment buildings now stand where Edison was as Pullman doesn't need as many grade schools as it did back then. There seems to always be need for apartments, however.

There is another Edison School close to where I live today. It's in the town of Edison, WA. just down the road from my home in Bellingham, WA. I've biked around Edison, Washington many a time; more recently.

Long past those early days, I've heard quite a bit about Edison's rival Nikola Tesla. While Edison stuck dogmatically to using direct current. Tesla was working with the magical properties of alternating current. It must have seemed like magic, back in his day as one of the properties of alternating current is it's ability to "induce" electricity to flow in a coil that's not even physically connected to another coil where electricity is flowing. It's as if the energy just magically jumps across empty space between two unconnected coils. The work of an electromagnetic field. Well, that little piece of magic is taken for granted today and it's what allows transformers to work. It's also what's behind the "magic" of radio.

In a world that was used to water flowing in pipes, the idea of inducing a current from one unconnected wire to another must have seemed revolutionary. Edison resisted, thinking that alternating current wouldn't be safe. Also, Edison was building his empire on direct current. It was his business model.

Eventually, alternating current won out. It won out for many reasons including it's ability to make transformers work. Transformers step the voltage up or down depending on need. This allows the high voltage transmission of power over long distances. High voltage power is then "stepped down" with transformers to lower voltage power which can be safely used in buildings. DC current isn't as easy to step up or down, voltage wise, so it forces people to choose one voltage. It forces a compromise that's either too low to be sent long distances or too high to be safe in the home. Transformers solved that problem and eventually Tesla's style of electricity won out, for the most part.

These days, there is somewhat of a cult following of Tesla. People think he may have had some magic that today's capitalists want to hide. Sending free power through the air in lieu of power lines, or something.

I'm not sure how practical it would be to send large amounts of power through the air for long distances. Radio works over long distances with tiny amounts of power. Transformers work over short distances with large amounts of power. It is possible to send power via microwave and there are proposals to build solar power satellites in space which would send power back to Earth in a beam of microwaves.

So far, the solar satellite idea hasn't been implemented, but it may have it's downsides. Imagine how much fear people would have about high powered microwaves zapping through the air from various installations. People are even paranoid about cell phone towers.

So the magic of Tesla and, for that matter Edison, is already around us today. Things that may have seemed magical in the past, like electrical induction, are common place today. I'm sure more innovations are being thought up now, tho, as always, new innovations often meet resistance from the status quo.

Sequester cuts are not worse than regular, permanent cuts proposed to avoid sequester

People are mad at politicians for the sequester cuts, but one alternative is also cuts; the more permanent budget cuts that Republicans (and some Democrats) call for. Cuts are cuts.

Maybe the sequester isn't that bad compared to the other cuts that Obama could agree on to avoid the sequester; permanent cuts that mostly Republicans want, but Congress hasn't really come up with a cohesive budget; except for maybe the famous Ryan Budget. The sequester may not be worse than a regular budget with permanent cuts. Sequester is across the board and a bit hard to swallow due to it's rigid "across the board" nature, but cuts are hard to swallow in any form they take.

The sequester tries to balance cuts between military and domestic things like Medicare, but Republicans would rather cuts be focused more on Medicare so they can spare the military from cuts. However we cut it, it's going to hurt if we have to cut the budget.

At least the Republicans are getting more of the blame than the President, at the moment, but all politicians are getting an earful.

So many Americans say, "cut, but don't cut what I depend on."

Speaking of earful and cuts, politics can seem crazy at times. I remember hearing about artist Van Gogh cutting off an ear. Are we shooting our economic recovery in the foot?

Sequester is probably about as good as this Congress can do if they want to cut the budget, but many people question the desirability of cutting the budget at this time.

Is it hurting yet? Remember the old phrase, "if your neighbor is out of work, it's a recession, but if you are out of work, it's a depression." Cuts are never pretty as someone always needs the money whether it's medicare patients, veterans, the military, disaster relief or whatever. No matter how they piece it together, there isn't any good way to put a smiley face on it. Cuts are cuts, so I guess if we must have cuts, the sequester is that, like it or not.

Sunset among the utility lines. Artistic in its own way.

A recent sunset among the streetlights and wires near where I live.

Taking a real look at what Republican budgets might bring

Finally finding out and facing what we would have to do without if sequestration happens is a good exercise. The military laying off, Medicare cutting, flight controllers working less, airline delays and so forth. We learn that government plays a big role in our lives and it's kind of hypocritical to want to slash it while we are dependent on it.

To avoid sequestration, the Republicans want Obama to agree to some more permanent cuts to Medicare and so forth. Too bad the Republicans tend to not talk enough about the bloated defense budget. Another good exercise would be for Obama to work out a draft Medicare plan within the Republican budget. Let people know what the co pays might look like, what the premiums might look like and what services would have to be ended. For instance could there still be a Medicare prescription drug benefit?

Taking a hard look at some of these budget proposals might get people clamoring for more taxes on the wealthy. Still, even taxes on the wealthy might not solve the whole problem as we do tend to live beyond our means, but we need to start thinking realistically, starting with our huge military budget. Can we really afford (I believe 11 if the Enterprise is replaced) aircraft carrier task forces? Do we really need all those fancy jet fighter programs and weapons systems started during cold war days?

There are some games where community people come together and work on a draft budget. Can be instructive as an exercise in just what it could really look like, beyond just the rhetoric. Get the people to go beyond nativity and see what various proposals do to our comfort zones.

LED work lights work well for bicycle lights

We are fortunate to have a lot of products using light emitting diodes available these days. Many can be retrofitted as bicycle lights. Most recently, I found Larry 8 by Nebo. Can clip right to the front brake or gearshift cables. Easy to install and take off and place in one's pocket to prevent theft when parked. Bright light. Uses regular AAA batteries.



I also have the other shop light I got a few years back.

Mural at Alamo Apartments

Mural of Bellingham on back of Alamo Apartments. Recently featured in Bellingham Herald.

Artist lives in one of the apartments and did the work in exchange for a month, or so, rent, according to the Herald. A modest fee. Lots of artistic talent resides in ordinary places in Bellingham.



See several other murals that are starting to appear around the area by this same artist.

Alberta tar sands. Wouldn't it be better to just use the gas and forget about the oil?

Keystone XL Pipeline was discussed on Diane Rhem a while back.

They mentioned that a lot of natural gas needs to be burned to cook the tar sands for extracting the oil. I wondered, "why not just use the natural gas for energy, rather than using the natural gas to then produce the oil?" Wouldn't just using the natural gas be better for the environment?

The show moved on to other aspects of the XL Pipeline issue, rather than talking more about the gas used, but I was left with questions. How much natural gas is used for the amount of oil extracted?

Some folks advocating the pipeline see it as a way to keep our economy going while we transition to cleaner energy. For transition fuel to greener energy, wouldn't we be better off just adapting more of our transportation system to burn natural gas instead of petroleum?

Does the oil have to be extracted to produce the gas? Is it really worth it?

Questions for both US and Canadians as the decisions about the tar sands and the pipeline are mulled over.

Some discussion from my Facebook Wall.

Ironically, I was listening to a talk earlier today and the guy was talking about how during the gas shortage of the 70's the oil rigs couldn't get enough gas to make the oil or whatever, I might have my nouns mixed up. But, certainly, there's a point where it seems backwardsly wasteful.

My response: Natural gas could have been used for years as a fuel for the oil pumps. With the tar sands, even more natural gas is used to pump steam into the ground and loosen up the oil. One caller to the show mentioned the law of diminishing returns.

I believe Obama has been making that grand Canada-Texas pipeline anything BUT a reality. It would be a great job creator though. Though, do you think oil prices will go down or there will be more oil here if America suddenly gets direct access to things like that or starts drilling more oil? No, anything America creates will be shipped far away. Like trees in Washington. Do you think they keep them in Bellingham? Only after China has stamped them.

My guess is the XL Pipeline would moderate the rise in oil prices. Prices would be lower than they would be if it wasn't built, but the general trend is that the prices are going up anyway. World oil is running out and getting progressively harder to extract and world demand increases. While the pipeline might reduce the inevitable price increases, the prices would, most likely, still go up; they would just go up a bit slower. The people would grumble and say, "we built this pipeline and are still paying higher prices."

Due to global warming worries, I still think I'm against the pipeline, but I don't have a real strong feeling about it. I know it would be real tempting to build as it plugs right into the economy conveniently. They say most of the oil would be used in the US.

It goes to Texas as that's where much of our "east half of USA oil refining infrastructure" is already located. Also, on it's way, it goes past North Dakota which is bursting with domestic oil fields looking for a pipeline to plug into. The Bakken Shale fields are in North Dakota. The pipeline would be for both domestic and Canadian oil. Today, North Dakota ships some of it's oil by rail.

Since we live in a world oil market, some of the oil might be exported through the Gulf Of Mexico, but that all ebbs and flows with the world market. They say most of the XL Pipeline oil would be used domestically. There's plenty of demand in USA. If Canada builds a pipeline west to the BC coast, most of that oil would be sent to Asian markets, most likely, and some to the US west coast, plus, of course, Vancouver.

While tempting to build and plug in to our existing economy, it's still a global warming menace. We are a hungry species. The bottom line is, people will always be complaining. Maybe I'm a bit cynical this early in my day, but on one positive note, I find the geography of these things quite interesting.

They may say most of the oil would be kept here, I've heard that too but I don't believe it, as that sort of contradicts Obama's plan to make the U.S. the number 1 oil producer. What good is being the #1 producer if you don't sell the oil? We may make enough now to not worry about exporting, but when you tap into all that oil that suddenly looks like a great thing to put on the world market. Yes, it's getting harder to extract, though there is still so many untapped resources in the Arctic. And, they - even they really wanted - could put pipelines off the shore of America (which Obama has also been stopping, though he's giving money to South American countries who ARE building offshore drilling sites). Though, I think that does more harm than good in the long term. And, we need to ween off of oil if anything not suck what remains out of the ground that only hurts the environment in the long term (I'm surprised it hasn't done more damage, aside from spills).

Even if we become the world's number 1 producer of oil again, we might not export that much since we are such a big consumer. We are (or soon close second to China) by far the largest consumer of oil. We can be the largest producer and still consume all our own oil. We used to import 2/3rds of the oil we consumed, but now we produce more so we only have to import around 45% of what we consume if my numbers are correct.

This pipeline is mostly about bringing Canadian oil to US so it might not count that much in making us the biggest oil producer again. It's Canada producing, however it would go past North Dakota where American production is gearing up as well. We are still too dependent on oil, but riding my bike helps a bit. News item: Bellingham just got 8 new Hybrid buses to add to the fleet. Using less oil at least. http://www.westernfrontonline.net/news/article_34735ab4-6fa5-11e2-a467-001a4bcf6878.html Hybrid buses roll into Bellingham Eight new hybrid buses entered the Whatcom Transportation Authority’s fleet

Being number 1 oil producer (not necessarily number 1 oil exporter however) does kind of contradict Obama's push for clean energy. I had forgotten if he was pushing that also. Well, I'm remembering the "Carter Synfuel debacle." After 1970s oil shortages, President Carter pushed for alternative energy and conservation, but also pushed for research on synthetic fuels. Basically grinding up shale, developing tar sands and cooking out the oil. Also revisiting the turning of coal into gas, which had been done earlier (for instance old gasification plant where Bellingham's Boulevard Park is today). The Carter Synfuels went bust as soon as less expensive traditional petroleum hit the market again. Today, the attempts to push up America's domestic production of fossil fuels is mostly private as the price is right (higher gas prices) and technologies such as fracking coming on line. If Mr. Clean Fuel Obama doesn't have much backbone, he's basically just going along for the ride as our private fossil fuel economy is doing this on it on its' own.

Image from Diane Rhem web site. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

Rare asteroid coincidence

All on the same day when the asteroid passed within 17,200 miles from Earth, another one explodes over populated areas in Russia. Quite a coincidence. Astronomers say these two events are not related. Still, amazing coincidence as it is rare that a meteor causes injury and damage. Usually they blow up unnoticed over the ocean (I'd guess) as most of the earth's surface is ocean. Some meteors do appear over land, but rare that they come close enough to human habitation to cause damage. All on the day of close approach for another asteroid.

Are the "forces" out there dropping hints?

Pay attention, we are living on a planet, but that planet is in space. In a way, we are living in space.

Defense spending, a big reason for our national debt

Finally there is some much needed talk in Congress about paring down our massive defense budget during these deficit worrying times. Both some Republicans and Democrats talking who share concern over our national debt. Yes, if you want to cut the budget, defense is a big chunk of the spending.

Future generations might not miss the penny

Canada is more innovative than USA with their currency. They are phasing out pennies. USA currency is so caught up in inertia that change is hard. Canada has already done away with 1 dollar bills. They use coins instead of 1 dollar bills. They also have a 2 dollar coin. They use the Looney and the Tooney.

We may have to do things like retiring our penny and use higher numbers on our money due to inflation. It's kind of like "add another zero, for instance." Things like Quantitative Easing when the Federal Reserve puts lots of new money into the economy can lead to inflation. Most likely, new money needs to be created to provide funding for the huge federal debt. Inflation appears to be really low these days, but certain sectors, like house values and healthcare costs often inflate ahead of the rest of the economy.

As for across the board inflation, future generations wouldn't really see the difference since they would be using the higher numbers from start on their money. Inflation does ravage the savings of current generations. That is a problem.

As we struggle with our huge national debt, maybe we shouldn't feel guilty about the debt stealing from future generations if we inflate our way out of the debt. We are stealing from current generations, however. Its current folks who have savings in money that's being devalued.

Life goes on and we adjust. At least Canada wouldn't be stuck with piles of almost worthless pennies around.

Ghostly Dahlquist Building comes back to life

The Dahlquist Building is coming back to life. I just ate at Dashi Noodle Bar which is one of two businesses redeveloping the main floor.

Back in 1976, a fire ravaged the upper floors.

See pictures from 1976 Western Front newspaper.

I watched having just come out of an art class at WWU (then WWSC). As I walked out of the art building, a column of smoke could be seen rising from downtown Bellingham. It lured me to the excitement. Passing my sister's house as I ran down the hill, I knocked on her door and she came running also. We got to the corner of State and Holley just as the roof was collapsing sending flames so high that folks reported seeing it from Mount Baker. More sirens whaled as extra firefighters rushed to the scene, but my sister started leaving the corner. I followed asking why she was leaving just at the climax and she remembered that she had run off leaving the door to her house wide open. She thought she had better head back before folks wandered into her place.

In the years since that fire, the Dahquist stood mostly empty like a haunted shell. Some taverns and a dingy looking cafe called "The New China Cafe" occupied the downstairs, but much of the time, even that was empty. I kept calling it the haunted building. Well, now it's coming back to life. Dashi Noodle Bar is in one store front with Acme Farms & Kitchen soon to operate out of the other.

Several days ago, someone was shining a bright light at the Dahlquist. Were they making a movie? Who knows. Reminds me of that day in 1976 when Bellingham firefighters shined floodlights into the second floor windows to look for hotspots after dousing the 3rd floor fire.

Future plans call for restoration upstairs as well.

I'm glad to see the building coming back to life.

* Doing a Google search, I found an interesting article in the April 30 2012 Bellingham Herald by historic writer Dean Kahn.

Winter ride at Lake Padden

Thin ice, sunset, Lake Padden Saturday afternoon bike ride to and around the lake.

Pictures from an earlier ride to Padden in November 2012.

Bike ride up to Lake Padden along Padden Creek in Samish Hill Neighborhood of Bellingham.

Cool looking steam rising from power plant

Cool looking because that power plant is not normally used unless it's really cool weather. It's usually used for peak power demand; like when folks turn up the heat. We've had some cool, clear days recently. Frosty with lows around the 20s. Typical of winter.

Orange cloud band of sunset and windows of YMCA near by. Power plant, which is located on Bellingham's waterfront, burns natural gas. It used to be a co-generation plant when Georgia Pacific pulp mill used it's leftover steam. Now, with Georgia Pacific gone, the power plant runs alone; when in use. I think it's been upgraded so more of it's waste steam runs another turbine to generate power, rather than going to the Georgia Pacific that isn't there.

A few proposals are circulating to incorporate this plant into the redeveloped waterfront using leftover heat again. That is, if the waterfront development ever gets going. Woops, I forgot to read the last update in the newspaper on that.

Photos from a crisp winter ride

Looking out toward Olympic Mountains south of Bellingham Bay.

Washington State could go back to charging more for license tabs

They say the gas tax isn't enough to cover cost of roads in Washington State because more fuel efficient cars are buying less gallons of gas. Also people may be driving less. Other sources of revenue are being considered including the possibility of tracking cars with GPS and charging an additional fee on a per mile basis. Some folks think this GPS solution is unworkable and also some folks feel it would be a violation of privacy for the government to track private cars with GPS.

So, maybe we could go back to higher license fees as an alternative source of revenue; rather than GPS tracking?

The license tab was a broader tax base than just the gas tax alone, but it was thrown out by voters, in 1999, as part of Tim Eyman's famous Initiative 695. Before 695, more revenue was available from license tabs and the tax was graduated. Expensive cars paid more while less expensive cars paid less. 695 gave a break on the cost of license tabs, especially the higher cost for more expensive cars as it lowered the rates and made the rates more like a flat tax. Regressive.

695 was tossed out by courts as unconstitutional after that 1999 election, but governments have, to some extent, preserved it's intent. Maybe the license tab fees could be revisited?

More recently, the state is holding some meetings discussing alternative revenue sources in light of the falling gas tax revenue.

Some folks say that the license fee was siphoned away from roads before I-695. In truth, a lot of it went to non car transportation. Much of the funding for public transit came from the license tabs and people tend to forget that public transit can help automobile drivers by reducing overall traffic.

Why does it cost so much to build roads in Washington State? Part of that may be the high cost of land needed to build new road capacity. Also the high cost of living, especially in central Puget Sound region, tends to bring up labor costs and so forth.

We got a classy state here, but we can't have it all. Million dollar homes and inexpensive roads. It doesn't necessarily add up.

I don't drive. I ride my bicycle. I know, I'll never get people to stop griping. Maybe the license tab shouldn't have been broken in the first place, but on the other hand, if they decide to track cars with GPS, I'm okay with that also.

They can even track my bicycle. Wait a minute, they'd be charging me a tax also. I'm almost okay with that; a reasonable fee at least. Traveling through Wisconsin on a bike tour, I didn't mind buying the day permit that helped pay for maintaining Sparta to Elroy Trail. Year permits are available also. The permit is good for many of the Wisconsin bike trails that charge for their use. I think the Wisconsin program is run by their state department of natural resources.

Now why have I gotten on that subject? Oh oh, I've opened a Pandora's box now.

Legalization of marijuana in Washington is largely driven by sound financial reasons

Saves money on incarceration, courts and police time. A new source of revenue for state taxation when the distribution network is set up. Conservatives often hate this kind of thing. They are always griping about making state government more efficient, but they (stereo typing on my part) oppose so many things that can put the fiscal house in order. Of course the Libertarians tend to be happy with this kind of thing and Libertarians can be found on both the left and the right of the political aisle as well as other spots on and off the chart.

I'm not a libertarian either, but would most likely call myself a maverick who tends to lean liberal. I just see hypocrisy in a lot of conservative efforts to balance state budgets. More states should try legalization of pot and so should the feds; and I don't smoke pot either; or at least very seldom, if I do.

Federal Debt is not necessarily stealing from future generations

Federal debt is borrowing from current generations who have savings. Future generations don't have any money yet.

If we have to print money and inflate our way out of debt, it's current generation's savings and assets that will be affected. Future generations don't have anything to loose yet. If inflation means that the dime becomes the new penny and the ten dollar bill becomes the new one dollar bill, future generations aren't going to know the difference. They will just be born into a world where the penny is silver colored instead of copper and they will just build from there. Maybe they'll still call it a penny as the dime can be renamed the penny.

It's current generations who have saved money in today's dollar that will loose value. Inflation is less of a problem to folks yet unborn as they can just pick up where we left off. Today's dollar is worth less than the dollar of the 1930s, but modern life is still richer than the 1930 in many ways at least. They didn't have MP3 players or Google in the 1930s. Some folks might have preferred the life of the 1930s to now, for instance when one could fish without a fishing license and the world was less crowded, but that doesn't have to do with the dollar's value.

Generations not yet born will not notice the difference if there is across the board inflation before they arrive. They'll just be used to using the dime as the penny, but of course transactions are often by computer these days; rather than using coins.

Inflation is a problem for current people, especially people with savings.

Now, maybe future folks who would stand to inherit lots of money will be diminished if those assets are affected, but I'm not too worried about that.

Across the board inflation isn't really a problem for people who are not yet born, but there is one problem. Inflation is uneven across the economy. That's a big problem. Some things are inflating terribly while other things hardly inflate at all. This "shearing" in the economy could effect future generations, but folks born in future times will have to fix these kind of problems so the economy continues to work. Hopefully these problems are being addressed now, so we, who are alive today, can continue to function as well.

Our most important gift to future generations is simply a world that is livable. The debt isn't stealing from them, if anything, it's stealing from people alive today.

Makes water less boring

Drinking just plain water can be kind of boring and one is tempted to drink fruit juice or even soda pop instead; thus ingesting too much sugar. One good thing about saunas is that one can get somewhat dehydrated and then just plain water tastes pretty good.

Saunas give regular tap water more of an appeal and make it easier for me to drink more water. I don't go for real hot saunas, however. I go in for a fairly short period and then go back and forth as it's more of a social time for me at the YMCA than anything else.

As for body cleansing properties, I don't know if it's that big a deal, but it does make me work up a thirst that can be quenched by nice cool water. I'm getting into the habit of drinking water more and fruit juice less. A good way to cut down of sugar since most Americans have way too much sugar in the diet.

Dancing is another good way to work up a thirst. There's one dance here in Bellingham entitled "Sweat Your Prayers."

Soda pop, that's even worse than fruit juice. I don't drink that very often. I use Stevia to sweeten my chocolate milk rather than the regular chocolate syrup they use in commercial chocolate milk.

I drink some fruit juice and even a small glass of soda pop once in a while.

There was an interview on Diane Rhems about too much sugar in American diets. They talked about crushing 6 oranges into a glass of juice versus eating 6 oranges. One gets the sugar of 6 oranges from the glass of juice, but one wouldn't normally eat that many oranges in once sitting if they were eating the oranges as oranges. Maybe better to just eat one or two oranges and then drink water. Less sugar and more fiber.

My blood sugar level is still pretty tame compared to the average American.

Biking into another year

From start of Marine Drive overlooking Bellingham Bay.

Good advice not to run down hill

Back when I was in middle school, a youth camp counselor gave good advice to the folks in our cabin. Running down hill is bad for your joints. I'm glad I heard that advice early in life as I have not done much downhill running. My knees and joints are still working fine many years later.

I jog carefully and mostly on the level or up hill.