The new craze in Alaska is bear attacks. Ok, I guess I can't call it a craze, but it is an increasingly common phenomena. Usually the story is very similar--someone is jogging or biking in the twilight hours near a bear & cubs--then gets attacked. Almost always this is a grizzly (brown bear).
Now, the argument is--are the amount of bears increasing in the city areas? Or are the amount of people increasing?? Interestingly these two arguments are nicely sliced between the "greenies" and the "hunters". The greenies claim there are too many people in bear territory, but the other "hunter" group thinks bears should be hunted and prohibited/eliminated from living in city limits.
What makes it a little funny, is that the group claiming the bears should be shot--isn't the one getting attacked. As these outdoor hikers & joggers are often greenies--they don't necessarily "blame the bear" when interviewed afterwards. And thank goodness that everyone has survived this year, otherwise it would certainly be a different story.
My own personal bias, is that more and more people are becoming "bear phobic". Especially towards the more common, smaller and shy black bears. For some reason everyone likes to use the term "bear" without differentiating between the two species. The end result being innocent black bears get shot on sight (like the poor guy who was roaming our neighborhood) or folks become afraid to go hiking and enjoy the great outdoors. It's really a shame.
Bottom line: everyone should always practice good bear behavior. Make noise, wear bells, stay away from salmon streams at dusk. And most of all --watch your rear when jogging!!!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Economics -- is it all in our Heads??
Recently there has been some talk in the media-- that US economic turmoil is actually a psychological phenomena. Needless to say, I sometimes agree with them.
First of all, everyone seems to have forgotten that 50-60 years ago we were spending a bigger percentage of our paycheck on food than now, nobody owned more than one car and everyone was happy as a clam to live in their tiny one bathroom Levittown-type house. Fast forward to 2008 where many "middle-class" Americans live in homes with 3 times the square footage, teenagers drive themselves to school in their own cars, and everyone is busy buying "storage solutions" for all the crap they have accumulated at Wal-Mart.
Bottom line, is the economy declining--or are we expecting it to grow at unrealistic rates?
I do know that in a place like Alaska, high fuel costs are enough to have people worried--simply because of the lack of public transportation and need to heat their homes. However, I'm not sure if that is an "economic problem" in so much as an "energy problem". Many will argue that fuel costs trickle down and affect all costs--but according to the experts we're still spending less of a percentage of our income on food than 50 years ago, but more on items like big screen TVs.
Or, same as in Alaska, throughout the midwest--especially near Chicago, I saw recently built development after development. Not tiny little dwellings, but giant beige architecturally inept monster homes. Add to that the box-store corrals located down the street from all the beige enthusiasts, and you have to wonder--who are all these people? And are they really worried? And if they are, is it only that they can't buy their kiddies 16 new pairs of back-to- school jeans?
What is probably happening is that the bigger problem of income disparity between the rich and poor is becoming more exaggerated. But is that really an economic problem or a long-standing problem of our lightly regulated capitalistic system?? And lack of decent public transportation??
So if the economic debate is to continue in this country, then Americans need to ask themselves--what is a good economy? How much is enough? Should every American really be able to afford a Hummer and live in a McMansion? What are we really entitled to? And at what point do we realize that our grandchildren can not sustainably all be millionaires??
First of all, everyone seems to have forgotten that 50-60 years ago we were spending a bigger percentage of our paycheck on food than now, nobody owned more than one car and everyone was happy as a clam to live in their tiny one bathroom Levittown-type house. Fast forward to 2008 where many "middle-class" Americans live in homes with 3 times the square footage, teenagers drive themselves to school in their own cars, and everyone is busy buying "storage solutions" for all the crap they have accumulated at Wal-Mart.
Bottom line, is the economy declining--or are we expecting it to grow at unrealistic rates?
I do know that in a place like Alaska, high fuel costs are enough to have people worried--simply because of the lack of public transportation and need to heat their homes. However, I'm not sure if that is an "economic problem" in so much as an "energy problem". Many will argue that fuel costs trickle down and affect all costs--but according to the experts we're still spending less of a percentage of our income on food than 50 years ago, but more on items like big screen TVs.
Or, same as in Alaska, throughout the midwest--especially near Chicago, I saw recently built development after development. Not tiny little dwellings, but giant beige architecturally inept monster homes. Add to that the box-store corrals located down the street from all the beige enthusiasts, and you have to wonder--who are all these people? And are they really worried? And if they are, is it only that they can't buy their kiddies 16 new pairs of back-to- school jeans?
What is probably happening is that the bigger problem of income disparity between the rich and poor is becoming more exaggerated. But is that really an economic problem or a long-standing problem of our lightly regulated capitalistic system?? And lack of decent public transportation??
So if the economic debate is to continue in this country, then Americans need to ask themselves--what is a good economy? How much is enough? Should every American really be able to afford a Hummer and live in a McMansion? What are we really entitled to? And at what point do we realize that our grandchildren can not sustainably all be millionaires??
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