Stay The Course?

I thought of a cartoon idea, while talking to a friend. Car driving toward a brick wall with driver saying, "stay the course."

My friend said I should submit a cartoon to the Bellingham Weekly. My illustration skills are marginal at best, but it's and idea.

Then another friend entered the conversation.

He said, "that was today's political cartoon in the Bellingham Herald."

What a co-incidence. No I hadn't seen the Herald yet.

The Herald cartoon was not a car, but a boat headed for the waterfall. One rower says, "I'm staying the course" while the other says, "We could use a flip-flopper." Cartoon was by a Mike Luckovich, from Atlanta Journal Constitution.

A coincidence indeed.

I like the idea of changing course, in theory, rather than always being bull headed. On the other hand, I don't necessarily think the US should "get out of Iraq yesterday, if not sooner."

On the Iraq war, I have always been a "fence sitter."

Like "flip-flopper," "fence sitter" is another thing that some people don't like.

There are arguments in favor of trying to bring some sort of democracy to Iraq as well as arguments against it.

Being decisive may be impractical, for me, at least.

How is that for hedging everything?

By the way, tonight is the first presidential debate between Kerry and Bush. While I lean in favor of Kerry, I don't see Bush as the embodiment of evil. Both Kerry and Bush plan to stay in Iraq, for the time being at least.

On the other hand, it's not a very good situation. Someone needs to introduce new ideas, like reducing our dependency on foreign oil.

My visit to Smith Tower in Seattle

Ornate ceiling in the Chinese Room, Observation lounge of Smith Tower, Seattle. Hang out in the lounge, or walk around observation deck. A 7 story penthouse apartment is in the pyramid above. It is private.

See more of my Smith Tower Photos

But Smith Tower is bigger than a house

Another tourist was amazed that this landmark skyscraper sold, in 1996, for only $13 million dollars. The way Seattle home prices are going, it wouldn't be too many years before one bedroom houses are $13 million!

I budded into the conversation and stated that this is a sign of our times. Residential real estate has inflated way ahead of other economic things, such as commercial real estate. Must be a sign of our selfish, narcissistic times. A lot of economic effort just goes into where people live.

Commercial property can be less expensive, by comparison, because it also brings with it the costs of running a business.

Smith Tower is being run very well these days, managed by a non profit foundation related to Jewish education and environmental preservation. They also have some properties in Pioneer Square. One could call this "good stewardship."

The guide, at top of the tower, also pointed out that Smith Tower was a "fixer upper." $30 million had to be invested in upgrades for wiring, pluming, safety and other things. This was done soon after purchase.

Now, the observation lounge is a nice asset in downtown Seattle that is open to the public. Ticket price for the elevator, $6, last I knew.

The Governor Mowing Your Lawn?

I hear campaign ads, on the radio, for Washington State Gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi, Republican. This woman came back from the hospital and heard someone rustling in her garage. Rossi was mowing the lawn - her lawn. What a nice neighbor, she says.

Knowing how to start a lawn mower may be a good qualification for governor, but if Rossi is elected, don't expect him to come over to your house and help out. The governor is too busy.

This is a "feel good" ad about neighborliness. A governor who sets an example of neighbor helping neighbor, rather than relying on state bureaucracies for help, such as "chore services" from DSHS.

Yes, this is a nice fantasy, but do the people of Washington State have time for one another? Will a Republican create the climate for this? I would guess not.

As the economic treadmill runs faster and faster, it seems like people have less time. The stakes and the "bar" keep getting raised. Good business, a healthy economy and prosperity often means more must be done to "keep up with the Jones'." As property values, rents, commute times and expectations keep rising, the time in each day gets shorter.

Kerry; Flip Flop or Flexibility

Presidential Candidate John Kerry gets a lot of flack for, supposedly, being a flip flop on issues. In other words, occasionally modifying, or updating his position.

Flip flop, or flexibility?

If Bill Gates never changed his tune, wouldn't we still be using the early versions of DOS?

Kerry defends himself, saying he really isn't a flip flopper.

Isn't that letting the Bush people set the agenda? Who invented the concept that changing one's position, every once in a while, is necessarily bad? Even a military strategist will realize that plans evolve as circumstances change.

Is this flip flop or flexibility?

Kerry does get a lot of flack for flip flop, but maybe he can say, "Flexibility." All these words do start with an "F."

Some people might think I am just trying to put a good spin on a dangerous thing.

I still have to ask, "who ever said one must always be rigid?" "Isn't it good to turn the wheel when one is headed straight into a brick wall?" Even for the sake of our nation's defense, flexibility can be an asset.

What kind of building withstands an earthquake? Rigid brick or flexible steel?

Bush probably would say, "that's an irrelevant question."

I would ask, "why is that irrelevant?" Who are we allowing to set the agenda for discussion?

Maybe flip flop isn't the end of the world. To put a better spin on this, call it flexibility.

Of course none of the candidates has hired me as a consultant.

No wonder we get politics as usual.

I still vote for Kerry, but we really do need new paradigms for the discussion.

Yes, I am a little tired of hearing Kerry and Bush keep regurgitating that Vietnam War as a campaign issue.

Defending the homeland is important, but who said flexibility, in strategy, is bad?

Maybe Fundamentalists!

Aren't we trying to prevent fanatical fundamentalists from harming us? Why do we let them set the agenda?

By the way, what about health care?
Campaign 2004

Both Bush and Kerry have strategies for dealing with this nation's spiraling health care costs. To be honest, the media is so wrapped up in rehashing Vietnam War stories that I am not really sure what Kerry would propose. It's probably spelled out in a stack of musty position papers.

Two sound bytes from the Bush plan caught my ear, but an important thing is missing from Bush's proposal, at least from what I have heard.

One of the two things that sounds good is putting caps on medical malpractice law suites. This would save money as the liability issue is a huge factor in spiraling medical costs.

The other thing that sounds good is medical savings accounts. If a portion of people's medical expense came from their own savings, they might use health care more wisely. Become careful consumers. Also this would be an incentive for living healthier lifestyles in order to keep medical expense lower.

Still, one doesn't normally associate the Bush agenda with "healthy lifestyles, bike paths and all." Often Republicans even fight attempts to create things like smoke free workplaces. Of course they would argue against laws regulating business such as bans on smoking in taverns.

Still one can give the idea of medical savings accounts some brownie points.

Missing from the Bush plan is a very important thing. How does society care for the folks that are not so fortunate? Folks who don't have enough money to build up the medical savings account and/or folks who have medical conditions that need lots of care?

Incentives for staying healthy and saving money are good, but a significant portion of our population is basically "not there."

What does one do if someone needs the care and does not have the resources to provide that care?

It seems like there is no way out of some kind of "wealth transfer" from the more fortunate to the less fortunate in order to maintain universal access to medical care. There is no way around it.

The gap between haves and have-nots is getting so wide, in this society, that certain people will just have to be denied care. This isn't just a few drunks hanging around some mission. It may be a significant portion of the American public. Possibly as much as 50%.

It is hard to come up with a figure, but I am sure lots of people will be left out. Especially when one contemplates that some folks don't have any savings at all while others are sitting on home equity that has inflated them into becoming millionaires. Others have multi-million dollar assets.

The disparity of net worth, among Americans, will make it impossible to realize a cornerstone in Bush's rhetoric. That cornerstone claims to value all human life. This is why they oppose abortion and often intervene when someone's feeding tube is about to be removed. The question worth asking is, "what happens when someone's "feeding tube" of money runs out? Who will provide the care?

It seems like Democrats have a better solution to the question of valuing all human life. Partially subsidizing health care to those who can not afford it seems like an unavoidable thing.

If we could put the best of both health care plans together, that might work. Control run away malpractice costs, create incentives for staying healthy and help those who are less fortunate.

Picture Boulevard Park walkway, Bellingham

The new walkway south of Bellingham's Boulevard Park is done. Connects the park to the old Taylor Street Dock. I don't use it often if I am just trying to bike to the south side of town. Crowded with strollers, I only use it if I am in the mood to take in the view; poke along. For a more pragmatic bike commute, I use access road out of the south end of the Boulevard Park parking lot. Then head south on Tenth back to the trail.


This is not a normal rock, seen between the shoreline and the new walkway south of Boulevard Park. Early in Bellingham's history (so I heard) a big cannery swept tin out the back door, over a period of years. The pile bacame a tiny tinflake island.

One can swim out to this island, but the flakes of metal are sharp. It is easy to get cut sticking your hands here.