Live Last read · last published · next check
The national debt just reached 40 trillion dollars. No wonder they are pushing AI. It's seen as a possible "cash cow." There is an overwhelming need for money. Money is just a number. Not a real product or resource. We can just create more money with entries into a computer, but that leads to inflation. Yes, we've been creating money for many decades. It's called "quantitative easing." It's…
I often hear that third world countries suffer more from climate change that is caused by first world countries. Still, all that shaming of first world countries doesn't seem to move the needle toward transformational change. Meanwhile many, in third world countries, are struggling to build first world economies, including the mistakes that the first world has made. Conservative religious values…
Bellingham is still quite spread out with quite a bit of vacant land. Still, the land is very expensive these days. I remember, when I was in college, I did a project where I ranked cities and towns in Washington State by size of land area versus population. Bellingham had a lot of land compared to its number of people while Pullman, where I grew up, was a lot more compact. That was in the 1970s.…
I have some ideas for cartoon punchlines, but not much skill in drawing. So, I tried out AI to draw a cartoon based on one of my ideas. Here is what I got. Not bad, but I added a few things and altered the layout a bit using my old graphics program called Neopaint. AI generated what's in black while I added what's in red. Then I ask, "how much power does it take to generate this image?" It takes…
For a few years, I've had some arthritis in just one ancle. It bothers me some while walking, but not while bicycling. Bicycling is still my means of transportation and it still feels good. These days, there are more wildfires effecting areas I used to do long tours in. Another situation, in my retirement years, is prostate cancer. I have a mild case of that which is treatable. It's serious enough…
Whether far to the left, or moderate, I would still vote Democrat as Democrats just about all vote, in Congress, to curb Trump nearly running everything by dictatorial means, such as executive order. Too bad the far left does win in primaries due to the danger of Republican's far right more likely winning in the general under those circumstances. There are lots of disagreements over things like…
I'm for higher taxes on the rich, but I realize that there are consequences to everything which effect the masses of voters. We can't "have it all." For instance, high taxes on high incomes might make it harder for the Seahawks football team to recruit top players. An income tax might make our state less competitive in that arena, but what do we really value? I value things like good parks and…
Wildfires are getting a lot worse in recent years. The summer dry season is getting longer in many regions. More droughts and in other areas more floods. I think this effect from climate change is more noticeable than just the few degrees of temperature rise.
In some places it seems safer to bike carefully on the sidewalk. I prefer the street, if there is a space for bikes, but sometimes the sidewalk is safer. I prefer the street, or road if it has a shoulder. There's often more pedestrians in the street by parked cars than on the sidewalk. It can be easier to see a pedestrian on the sidewalk than when they are darting out between parked cars on the…
Crazy map of my errands today. I was enjoying it anyway. I was looking for a new kind of battery, but ended up ordering it from Amazon. Local stores don't have it. Going by bicycle. Bellingham is mostly bicycle friendly, but some retail areas are more car-centric. Riding on sidewalk to avoid traffic in some areas. Beautiful day. There's plenty of stores sprawling out in different areas and lots of…
