Searching for contentment

In the fragrance of freshly worked wood⩘ 

The soft glow cast by shoji lamps⩘ 

The inspiration of good reads⩘ 

The wonder of daily living⩘ 

My heart is with the people of Ukraine

#StandWithUkraine

My contemplations about Ukraine⩘ 

Broken heart: Palestine, Gaza, the West Bank, Israel⩘ 

Abolish ICE! Restore Sanity!

When a pattern of human rights violations is so undeniably occurring and completely embedded within an institution, for decades, and with pervasive impunity, the only solution is to start over.… It has become clear that no amount of defunding, training or disciplinary measures will be enough. The extent and scale of the abuses and failures we documented lead to only one possible road to justice: ICE must be abolished.
– Opinion: It's time to abolish ICE⩘  by Amy Fischer, director of refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International USA, The Guardian, Oct 5, 2026.

Living in the Rockies

Autumn is here. The leaves are changing colors and dropping. The temperature is finally cooling down. I love this time of year. While I miss the beautiful green crowns of the trees after the leaves have fallen, I also appreciate that I can see vistas that were once a bit obscured by the leaves. This is a favorite bluff along the way of my daily walk that I can now see clearly. I love the gentle colors of its rock face and the contrasting deep greens of the Ponderosa trees on its crown. I also appreciated the gentle blue sky above with its wispy waves of clouds.

Larger version of this photo⩘ 
More recent photos⩘ 

Reading

Paris Marx, Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech's Data Empires

Well narrated by the author

The key issues this book exposes are the scale and quantity of the AI data centers being built around the world, and the related environmental, privacy, and surveillance harms they cause and enable. From the Introduction [my bolding]:

   The data center boom might be exciting to some tech executives and investors who hope to dominate a new market or cash in on the latest economic trend, but communities are dealing with the reality that comes with those facilities.…
   The problem here isn't so much the data centers themselves. The issue we're facing today is one of scale.…
   Data centers have been getting progressively larger for years, and the release of ChatGPT in November 2022 forced the industry into overdrive. ChatGPT and the generative artificial intelligence applications that came after it require immense amounts of computation. Generative AI is so computationally demanding that one simple conversation with ChatGPT is estimated to use about ten times the electricity as a regular Google search. As a result, the companies competing to win the AI race needed a lot more compute—the collective processing power held in the processors and graphics cards that fill the racks of data centers. That meant not only more data centers but much larger ones.…
   This is where the stakes start to become clearer. Data centers are always going to have some impacts on their environment, but many are manageable. That begins to change when they reach hyperscale, and especially when large numbers get clustered together, concentrating their demands on particular communities and regions. That's exactly what we've been seeing as the intensity of the buildout by major tech companies has escalated.…
   Those data centers don't just need a lot more computer hardware to run them; they also need the energy to power them and the water to cool them. For many communities, those demands are getting far too high—but the companies want to push ahead regardless. People are not just getting disillusioned; they're getting angry. And they have every right to be.…
   Amazon, Microsoft, and Google alone control 59 percent of the hyperscale data centers around the world. As the race to build more computation to power generative AI accelerated, it felt like one of the trio was announcing a new multibillion-dollar data center investment somewhere in the world every other week. They've cast their climate targets aside in their pursuit of AI-fueled growth and have no interest in acknowledging the social harm caused by the rapid proliferation of technologies known to generate false information and designed to keep users engaged at all costs.
   In that sense, data centers are just one part of a much larger problem. For the past several decades, tech companies have pushed a particular vision of digital technology: one defined by vast data collection that has spawned deep concern about privacy and surveillance. It's impossible to disentangle the infrastructure from all the harm it has enabled. People are not only starting to take on data centers; they're also starting to ask whether we need all this computation (and the services that depend on it) in the first place.

It's truly astonishing how degenerate and immoral the Big AI Tech companies are.

One example is Google. Some years ago, their slogan was "Don't Be Evil". Now, they exemplify evilness in their approach to building hyperscale AI data centers around the world while trying to obfuscate and hide the harms that will befall the citizens and the environment in the communities where they are building these behemoths. Just a couple days ago when I first started listening to this book, a story revealed one example of their devious behavior: 'Pure arrogance': anger in Finland as Google illegally fells 250,000 trees for datacentre⩘  by Miranda Bryant in Muhos and Otanmáki, The Guardian, Oct 22, 2026.

Another example is the mammoth Colossus xAI data center Elon Musk built in a neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee. Despite the fact that gas turbines require permits that he did not secure, he installed three dozen huge gas turbines for the site. Neighbors immediately noticed that the air—you know, the air they need to breathe in order to live—became saturated with the smell of toxic gas exhaust fumes. At first, xAI claimed that only a few of the generators were actually being used and that it would be only temporary, but a flyover by a drone that could view the site in infrared revealed that 33 of the 36 generators were active at that time. Then they tried to argue that the turbines were exempt from the permit requirements. It took a year and a half for a ruling on that claim to be made (the ruling: xAI acted illegally). In the meantime, those turbines continued to spew toxic exhaust into the air. Elon Musk's xAI datacenter generating extra electricity illegally, regulator rules⩘  by Dara Kerr, The Guardian, Jan 15, 2026.

   The health of Memphians would not stand in the way of the ambitions of one of the richest men in the world to become a competitor in the generative AI race. They might feel the effects in their lungs and the tissues of their bodies, but the world will suffer through the worsening natural disasters fueled by the quest for computation by some of the most powerful people on the planet. When Elon Musk was trying to sell electric cars, he used to claim climate change was the biggest threat facing humanity. But that concern now seems beneath someone who feels he can shape the course of humanity itself to align with his every whim.
   Musk's actions in Memphis might be the most openly egregious business conduct we've witnessed. But the entire industry has been demonstrating that it holds the same contempt for the well-being of people and the planet alike. The natural disasters fueled by climate change will get worse, the environmental degradation faced by communities will become more acute, and that is all acceptable as tech companies vie to beat one another on generative AI.

The xAI hyperscale datacenters near the Memphis neighborhood also emit a continuous and terrible noise. Musk's solution: buy all the homes in the neighborhood and use them for employee housing. 'Elonville': US residents say Musk's xAI offered to buy homes if they don't sue over datacenter noise⩘  by Oliver Milman, The Guardian, Oct 28, 2026.

   "It sounds like an airplane engine but it's continuous, it's incredibly loud," said Elizabeth Rose, a piano teacher, of the xAI site which sits about two miles from her home. "I've been woken up at 2am by it, I've been woken up at 3am by it. I sometimes have to just get away from it because it makes me so angry."
   Rose said she was shocked when the power plant, a former Duke Energy site housing 69 temporary gas turbines to feed the new datacenters, began its low-level growl in August last year. "All of a sudden there was a plant there," she said. "And now I get the feeling they are trying to expand the buyout to the entire neighborhood. It will become Elon Musk's little playground, basically. Elonville."

Examples like these go on and on in communities around the world where the neighbors are adversely affected by harmful air and ground water pollution, disturbing and continuous noise pollution, severe local water shortages, and skyrocketing electricity bills. Shameful. There is an alternative.

We can make a better world with better technology.

Riverhead Books, 2026; Bookshop.org⩘ ; audiobook: Penguin Audio, 2026; Libro.fm⩘ .

More recent reading⩘ 

Contemplating

We've known the answer for decades

Photo by Michal Petráš, Pexels⩘ .

Twenty years ago, a 700-page report published by Nicholas Stern used standard economic tools and methods to underscore three economic conclusions:

• The costs of inaction on the climate are greater than the costs of action.
• The climate crisis is a market failure.
• Economic growth is compatible with cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

So far, we've ignored these clear conclusions and have allowed ongoing devastating damage to our home planet. In fact, in the U.S., we have a administration that is actively making things worse in order to enrich the wealthy businesses run by greedy businessmen who profit off the destruction of our planet.

   In a press release, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, Lee Zeldin, praised what he called Trump's move "to end the war on oil and natural gas" by revising oil and natural gas regulations under the Clean Air Act. The proposal is expected to produce an estimated 210m additional barrels of oil and 1.41tn cubic ft of natural gas, according to the EPA.
   The EPA's proposal violates the Clean Air Act's duty to protect public health and welfare and would seriously harm communities near oil and gas development, as well as the wider public, said Darin Schroeder, the methane legal and regulatory director at Clean Air Task Force (CATF).…
   Since the EPA announced it would no longer enforce oil and gas regulations in March 2025, oil and gas operators have leaked, vented or flared $7bn worth of natural gas, according to calculations by the Environmental Defense Fund.
   Rosalie Winn, senior director and lead counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the Trump administration was seeking to curtail the federal government's ability to do anything to address climate pollution across all of the largest sectors responsible for emissions.
   "What this administration is doing is enabling the worst polluters in the industry to continue to make ever more money off the back of American consumers while they're wasting energy," she said.

Trump says government to 'terminate' Biden-era methane emissions rules: Critics warn of climate danger as president in Texas claims change will save companies and consumers billions⩘  by Sara Sneath, The Guardian, Oct 28, 2026.

The stupidity and greed on display is appalling. We are committing global suicide.

The climate crisis will destroy our economies – we learned this 20 years ago. When will we act? ⩘  by Fiona Harvey, The Guardian.

More recent contemplations⩘ 

Fighting for American democracy

We must use our time and our space
on this little planet that we call Earth
to make a lasting contribution,
to leave it a little better than we found it,
and now that need is greater than ever before.

– John Lewis, 2020

———

"If to belive in freedom and equality is to be a radical,
then I am a radical."

– Patsy Mink, the first Woman of Color and first Asian-American woman elected to Congress, served in the United States House of Representatives from the state of Hawaii, 1965 - 1977 and 1990 - 2002.

———

"So what do those of us who love American democracy do? Make noise. Take up oxygen…. Defend what is great about this nation: its people, and their willingness to innovate, work, and protect each other. Making America great has never been about hatred or destruction or the aggregation of wealth at the very top; it has always been about building good lives for everyone on the principle of self-determination. While we have never been perfect, our democracy is a far better option than the autocratic oligarchy Trump is imposing on us."…

I write these letters because I love America. I am staunchly committed to the principle of human self-determination for people of all races, genders, abilities, and ethnicities: the idea that we all have the right to work to become whatever we wish. I believe that American democracy has the potential to be the form of government that comes closest to bringing that principle to reality. And I know that achieving that equality depends on a government shaped by fact-based debate rather than by extremist ideology and false narratives.

– Professor Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American⩘ , Sep 15, 2025.

———

Swearing an oath to our constitution

United States Constitution with its preamble "We the People"
Government of the United States of America
Photo⩘  by Joseph Sohm⩘ ; licensed via Shutterstock

I admire the leadership of retired Maj Gen Paul Eaton who is speaking up in defense of our constitution and against the ongoing effort to politicize our armed forces.

Maj Gen Paul Eaton has sounded the alarm, saying in an interview with the Guardian that the effort to bend the higher echelons of the military to the US president's will was unparalleled in recent history and could have long-term dire consequences. He warned that both the reputation and efficiency of the world's most powerful fighting force was in the balance.

"There is an active effort to politicise the armed forces," Eaton said. "Once you infect the body, the cure may be very difficult and painful for presidents downstream."

I'm hoping that many people, both military and civilians, listen to his message.

Trump push to politicize US military 'reminiscent of Stalin', top general warns⩘  by Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, Jan 5, 2025.

More recent contemplations⩘ 

Woodworking

A note about the image at the top of this page

The Windtraveler—a shoji lamp I created in the shape of a deltoidal hexecontahedron—is made of 60 deltoid-shaped faces (like kites) framed in maple. Each five deltoids meeting at the more pointed bottom tips form a pentagon, creating a total of 12 pentagons, which is a dodecahedron. Each three deltoids meeting at the broader top tips form a triangle, creating a total of 20 triangles, which is an icosahedron. Within each deltoid frame are thinner 1/4 inch inner frames made of mahogany, with additional strips that run from the top tip to the bottom tip of each deltoid forming 120 right angle triangles, which reveal a hexakis icosahedron. The inner mahogany frames are backed by washi, a traditional Japanese paper, which creates a gentle shade for the light cast by the light bulbs within to pass through.

More about this project⩘ 
More woodworking⩘ 

My journey

Love nature. As a kid, I just wanted to be out playing in the woods that surrounded our small town home. When younger, I lived a few places around the world and visited several others … then found a place in the foothills of the Rockies and my heart was home. When I'm out walking, I snap photos and post the better ones on this site to preserve the opportunity to revisit some of these exquisite experiences. Photos⩘ 

Love reading. Growing up, I carried armloads of books home each week from the library. Now tend to carry around a virtual stack of audiobooks. I deeply appreciate authors, narrators, and translators. Since 1999, I've been posting reviews on this site, in the more recent years focused on just those books I appreciate the most. I listen to or read a lot of genres, fiction and nonfiction, and particularly appreciate well done speculative fiction. Reading⩘ 

Love woodworking. A passionate amateur, I revere wood. My main focus has been shoji lamps in the shape of polyhedra. I love the light that glows through washi and deeply appreciate the folks who make these papers. I'm entranced by the dance of polyhedra patterns, and keep notes on my website about the experience of making some of the lamps. I've also made a fair bit of our furniture, and have done some woodworking to fix up our old home. Woodworking⩘ 

Love our beautiful, fragile planet. I'm deeply concerned about our climate and all the life we are carelessly and rapidly degrading and destroying.

Photo credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

Awed by space and astronomy. Photos of spiral galaxies melt my heart and also inspire me to wonder whether I'm originally from another planet in another galaxy far far away. See also: Our home in this wondrous universe⩘ 

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Value privacy. I think online privacy should be the default state. Because it's not, I try to protect at least some of my privacy online, especially against greedy corporations.

See also:
Why I dislike artificial intelligence⩘ 
Privacy Is Power by Carissa Véliz⩘ 

Keystones: Respect, compassion, empathy, acceptance. We're all in this together.