On Hiatus

Ill health has forced me to take a break from blogging. There are some matters to take care of, and I hope I will be back soon.

Birthday Boy

(nightcafe image)

I sat in my highchair next to the dining table. In front of me was a birthday cake and a candle. Everyone sang the birthday song, and indeed I was very happy. People found it hard to believe that I remember anything of my first birthday; even less believable was what I did on my second, so I stopped telling these stories when I was a teenager.

On my second birthday there were cake, ice cream, and presents, and again I was very happy. The next day, however, I felt keenly the passage of time. The joy of my babyhood wouldn't last; my mother would give birth in a couple of months, and I would have to leave my crib for a bed in another bedroom. In a few years I would go to school and grow up.

I stood in the crib and committed the surroundings to memory. The floor was polished dark hardwood, and the walls were painted turquoise. My crib was next to the far wall by the window facing the street. Looking from the crib, straight ahead was the door to the hallway. The black rotary-dial telephone was mounted on the wall just outside the door.

Inside the bedroom on the left was a full length mirror. To the right of the door was a chest of drawers where my clothes were stored. Further to the right was a small closet and a wall where family pictures had been hung.

My grandparents' home was torn down decades ago, and the image of my bedroom exists only in memory. Yes, it was an ordinary sight, but it's special to me, as was my second birthday and birthdays I am now fortunate to enjoy.

A Nail-Biting Classic

The Dodgers celebrate (LA Times photo)

The Most Valuable Player of the 2025 World Series was a pitcher who was born and raised in Japan, but he wasn't Shohei Ohtani. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the complete game winner of game two, was the starter and winner of game six, and was the closer and winner of game seven.

The seventh game of the World Series, often a letdown, was a nail-biting classic decided in the 11th inning, but it didn't start auspiciously.

When Bo Bichette hit a three-run home run off of Shohei Ohtani in the bottom of the third, it looked like Toronto was well on its way to a World championship; the Dodgers' anemic bats throughout the Series made a comeback a heavy lift. However, their relief pitching held the rest of the way as the visitors clawed their way back. The Dodgers were trailing 4-3 in the top of the ninth inning when their number-9 hitter became an unlikely hero.

Miguel Rojas became the first player to hit a tying home run in the ninth inning of a Game 7...Toronto was two outs from its first championship since 1993 when Rojas, inserted into the slumping Dodgers lineup in Game 6 to provide some energy, homered on a full-count slider from Jeff Hoffman and stunned the Rogers Centre crowd of 44,713.

“I’ve cost everybody in here a World Series ring," Hoffman said.

Rojas hadn't homered since Sept. 19.

The Dodgers finally prevailed in the 11th:

In the 11th, they finally won it, taking their first lead of the game on a Will Smith home run with two outs in the top half of the inning, then watching Yoshinobu Yamamoto — in his third inning of work, a night after throwing 96 pitches in a Game 6 win — close it all out on a double-play grounder to shortstop Mookie Betts.

The fans and even some players are talking about the Dodgers repeating as champions for the third year in a row. Los Angeles is not as dominant as the record indicates--just in the World Series there were a half-dozen plays where Toronto could have won the whole thing. Just appreciate what we just saw in Games 6 and 7 and let next year take care of itself.

It's Game 7, Baby

Your humble blogger is a front-running homer, that is, I usually follow baseball only when the hometown Giants are contending, but I have to admit that this year's postseason run by the Dodgers is must-see TV. Los Angeles' Shohei Ohtani has not only broken records, he has given us moments that Major League Baseball in its 149-year history has never seen before. Ohtani had nothing to do, though, with what happened in Game 6 of the 9th inning last night.

The ball hit the seam on the fly and became wedged

With the Dodgers nursing a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 9th, the Blue Jays leadoff hitter, Alejandro Kirk, was hit by a pitch and replaced by pinch-runner Myles Straw. Then a freak play happened. [bold added]

[Addison] Barger hammered a [Roki] Sasaki fastball over Hernandez's head in left field with a drive that left the bat at 106 mph as Straw rounded the bases. The ball headed for the padding on the outfield wall then became wedged just beneath it, stopping on a dime between the padding and the warning track.

Confusion was everywhere. Dodgers center fielder Justin Dean raced over and threw up his hands, calling attention to the trapped ball. Hernandez, who initially also had his hands up, ran over and started yelling at Dean to grab the ball and throw it into the infield because Barger was circling the bases.

"I was just screaming at him to get the ball and throw it in because that's the umpire's discretion," Hernandez said. "The fact that the ball stuck there doesn't mean that they're actually going to call ground-rule double. So I was screaming at him. That's kind of why I've lost my voice a little bit."

Left-field umpire John Tumpane called time as soon as he saw the ball trapped under the padding. Taking nothing for granted, Barger rounded third and crossed the plate. The fans thundered, certain they had seen the Blue Jays tie the score on a two-run, inside-the-park homer.

"Been here a long time," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. "I haven't seen a ball get lodged ever. Just caught a tough break there."

The play was ruled a ground-rule double, sending Barger back to second and Straw to third. They advanced no farther after the wild play was confirmed on replay.

The Dodgers had caught a huge break. Still, there was a man on second and third with no one out and the potential winning run was coming to the plate. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Sasaki and installed potential Game 7 starter Tyler Glasnow in relief. Desperate times....

The ball arrives at 2nd a split second before Addison Barger

Glasnow got Ernie Clement to pop out to first base on the first pitch. The next batter, shortstop Andres Gimenez, hit a line drive that would normally have been a single and brought in the runners from second and third.

However, the Dodgers Enrique Hernandez was playing in shallow left field, caught the line drive and alertly threw to second baseman Miguel Rojas before Barger could get back to the bag. (Barger represented the tying run and had aggressively wandered too far from second base in case the ball fell for a single.) It was the first 7 to 4 game-ending double play in World Series history. (Position 7 is left field, and position 4 is second base.)

Bring on Game 7, baby!

Apple: Keep the Faith

NASDAQ is up 23% year-to-date, while AAPL has gained 8%. Still, it's 101 points higher than April.

As an Apple investor and fan of its products, I've been rushed (panicked?) into doing things too soon. Last April, worried about tariffs and a trade war with China, I mothballed my 6½-year-old XS Max and bought an iPhone 16 Pro Max. (Halfway through the product year I would have normally waited to order the new iPhone models in September.) Two months ago, pleased that the stock had recovered from the April tariff scare when it had hit a low of $169.21, I sold some AAPL at $241.50.

Tim Cook (Morris/Bloomberg/WSJ)

I should have had faith that the new iPhone 17 would be a hit, the problems with China would lessen, the stock would rise even more, and that CEO Tim Cook knew what he was doing.

It took two quarters for Tim Cook to save Apple from what was almost a disastrous year.

President Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs risked massively increasing the company’s costs. A pending court ruling imperiled Apple’s lucrative Google contract. Plus, the company was seen as lagging on artificial intelligence.

Facing so much uncertainty, Apple tumbled to a market capitalization of $2.6 trillion in April and lost its title as the world’s most valuable company.

Six months later, Cook pushed Apple’s market value above $4 trillion for the first time. That’s more than 10 times what the company was worth when Cook took over as chief executive from Steve Jobs 14 years ago.

I am pleased with the iPhone 16 purchase and that I took some profits in the stock. However, if I had not let emotions cloud my judgment, it would have been even better.

Robert Louis Stevenson Monument

Robert Louis Stevenson monument

Portsmouth Square Park in San Francisco predates the 1848 Gold Rush, and its monument to poet and author Robert Louis Stevenson is 128 years old. Portsmouth Square is undergoing a $71 million renovation, and Chinese-American organizations want the monument to be removed, apparently because "Stevenson 'had nothing to do with Chinatown.'” Writer Ron Lee, whose grandfather was a friend of Stevenson's, says removal would be a mistake.

Before marrying and leaving San Francisco in 1880, Stevenson lived in Chinatown. While in the city, he made daily jaunts to Portsmouth Square, where he sat for hours on end, watching the comings and goings of residents.

He also became friends with a loquacious Chinese teenager named Chow Chong, who later in his life became my grandfather. Chong’s family lived in a building facing the square on what is now Walter U Lum Place, and he took Stevenson on tours of Chinatown.

My grandfather belonged to a family of seafarers who routinely sailed their ocean-going junk on trade expeditions back and forth to Kwong Hoy, China. They were in the funeral trade and members of the clan in their home village manufactured teakwood coffins to be sold in San Francisco. They also embarked on monthly trips to Monterey Bay, and Stevenson described his newly found Chinese friends as “vagabonds of the seas.”

R L Stevenson (Brittanica)

Stevenson was invited on two occasions to join my grandfather’s family on a voyage to the Chinese fishing village at Point Alones in Monterey Bay. Along the way, they anchored at China Beach on the northern tip of San Francisco, and Stevenson watched while Chong and his uncles climbed a hill and started digging up boxes. Stevenson, who would go on to write the classic novel “Treasure Island,” imagined his new friends must be uncovering their own hidden riches. Instead, he learned that boxes contained human remains of Chinese nationals that had been earmarked for repatriation to villages across the Pacific.

The practice known in Cantonese as “jub gwut,” meaning “pick up bones,” was a sacred tradition to Chinese “sojourners” who had come to “Gum San” (Gold Mountain) with hopes of earning a fortune and then returning home. If one should unfortunately perish along the way, their remains were considered by their descendants to be more valuable than gold, and a burial back in an ancestral village was a sacred vow.

The voyages, plus Chong’s tales of avoiding pirates and British gunboats in the seas around China, deeply influenced Stevenson. In 1880, he published stories in a magazine called Frasier’s that were similar to those that had been told to him by my grandfather’s family, only with a treasure-hunting theme. It’s speculated that those stories eventually led him to write “Treasure Island,” and I often wonder whether the novel’s protagonist, Jim Hawkins, was partly inspired by a Chinese teenager.

Stevenson also wrote disapprovingly of rabble rousers such as Denis Kearney, whose racist rants went a long way in the eventual passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred most immigration from China.

Despite the fact that Robert Louis Stevenson was not Chinese, or that his monument may have been funded by a man who was an anti-Chinese racist, it seems like a good idea to retain the cenotaph in the renovated square. Stevenson did nothing objectionable and had a historical connection to Chinatown. Besides, haven't we had enough attempts to erase history? I hope this is one monument that won't be torn down.

Costco's Iconic Hot Dog

Around lunch time there are customers who come into Costco just for the hot dog. The hot dog and soda combination costs $1.50, the same price when it was first introduced in 1984. While the direct cost of the material ingredients could possibly be less than $1.50, Costco undoubtedly experiences a loss once one includes Food Court labor, utilities, and the capital cost of the equipment and space.

Instead of a cost-based approach, the Chronicle estimates what the price would be if it had merely kept up with inflation:

What’s still a $1.50 hot dog and soda would be setting you back well over twice as much: $3.96.

..The $1.50 hot dog deal is more about marketing than money-making, said Martha Gimbel, the executive director of the Yale Budget Lab.

“There’s so much that is changing right now in our world. Everything feels very uncertain. It sounds kind of silly, but you can rely on the fact that Costco has a hot dog for $1.50,” she said...

It’s still a soda and a hot dog, but the dog is now made by Kirkland Signature instead of Hebrew National. They were first sold at carts, then in an area dubbed “Cafe 150” (named for the price), though it’s now just known as “the Costco food court.”

At one point, the food court sodas at Costco came in cans from vending machines, but Costco switched to fountain soda to save money....And this summer, the retailer shifted from Pepsi back to Coke in yet another cost-saving move.

Even at $3.96 I would still buy the combo, but the $1.50 hot dog and $4.99 rotisserie chicken have become iconic. They're also a lifeline to those on a shoestring budget, so kudos to Costco for holding fast.

Sam Wo Lives (Again)

The late, great Edsel Ford Fung (left), the "world's
rudest waiter," in a gallery photo from the website.

When we first posted on Sam Wo Restaurant 22 years ago, the signs of its demise were unmistakable: the menu was dated, the dishes didn't provide good value, and the decor was on the verge of going to seed. ("If Sam Wo is here 20 years from now, I'll be very surprised.")

Since then Sam Wo went out of business twice--the second time was this January--and its chapter in San Francisco's history appeared closed. To my pleasant surprise, Sam Wo is back:

The century-old establishment, almost certainly the most famous restaurant in Chinatown, reopened its doors in early September under new ownership. There are updates to the menu — more dim sum, including sections for steamed and fried “tapas.” Also, instead of potent Hong Kong-style lemon tea and milk tea, there’s a list of oolongs and pu-erhs from Vital Tea Leaf, available by the pot. Not to fear, the barbecue pork rice noodle roll ($) is still on the menu.

I'll be sure to pick up a T-shirt the next time I go.

Harmful Beauty

Mute swan (Fish and Wildlife photo)

For thousands of years (see Greek mythology) swans have been regarded as creatures of beauty. It therefore seems incongruous that California Fish and Wildlife has declared open season on mute swans. [bold added]

Individuals with a California hunting license will now be able to “take,” or kill, invasive mute swans starting Jan. 1, a Monday news release from the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife says. According to officials, the S-shaped bird, famously used as a symbol of beauty, elegance and grace, is an aggressive species capable of critically injuring children and pets, and must be reined in.

...Mute swans are kind of like “aquatic feral pigs,” CDFW spokesperson Melanie Weaver told SFGATE over the phone Wednesday. Despite their striking physical appearance, the birds pose a serious threat to Northern California’s marine ecosystem, and homeowners now have the authority to shoot them if they’re on their property, regardless of whether they have a license, Weaver said.

That’s because mute swans unapologetically consume up to 8 pounds of aquatic vegetation per day, destroying crucial food and habitat for native species.

In California there are restrictions against shooting wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions. For property owners to be given carte blanche to kill an animal must mean that mute swans cause harm, have no constituency, and are truly valueless.

Of Humility, Exaltation, and Mercy

(Image from patrickcomerford)

The specific details of the Pharisee-tax collector passage from Luke aren't as well-remembered as the more famous parables, but the theme is very familiar: [bold added]

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."----Luke 18:10-14

When we plead our case before earthly tribunals, we are allowed to make the case for ourselves. Just like the Pharisee touted his good deeds, we can cite ours, how we have never run afoul before, etc. But it is all for nought with the implacable Judge, whose Law is immutable and who has perfect knowledge of both our deeds and what is in our hearts.

If we are lucky enough to be granted time to ready ourselves for the next world, we must forsake what makes us virtuous in the eyes of our fellow man and ask for God's mercy.

Bay Area Stand Down

Demonstrators at Coast Guard Island, Alameda (Wittpenn/Chron)

President Trump said on Thursday that he would not order the National Guard into San Francisco. Yesterday Federal officials confirmed that immigration enforcement actions, including sending the National Guard, were suspended in the entire Bay Area.

The Rev. Deborah Lee, co-executive director of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, a coalition of 300 faith groups across California, was happy to hear the “welcome news” of the Bay Area-wide stand-down, but also wanted to “to make sure that there’s not a false sense of security. … We also want to make sure people don’t let their guard down too much because we’re still in an overall difficult reality.”

In front of Coast Guard Island Bridge shortly after noon Friday, protesters were cautiously optimistic after Lee’s announcement.

“It’s not over yet, but that they’re out of Oakland for now is a huge win for us,” said protester JP Hayes.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” said protester Ryan Hasty. “Trump could change his mind tomorrow. We need to let them know that even into the future, we don’t want to see it.”

The anti-ICE protestors should take the win and be happy, but your humble blogger senses a tinge of disappointment in some of them that there won't be a confrontation. Eh, it's probably just my imagination.

"A Young Bear Finding Its Way in the World"

(Sequoia Park Zoo/Chronicle)

A bear broke into a Northern California zoo seeking companionship from the captive bears:

The visitor, a black bear, “was observed interacting” with the Eureka zoo’s three black bears through the fencing on their habitat, the zoo said...

The Sequoia Park Zoo backs into wooded area where wild animals, including bears, are common, said Jim Campbell-Spickler, the zoo’s director. But it was the first time he’s heard of a bear coming in.

“He was able to get in by climbing a tree but was not able to get out” until staff let him out through a service gate back into the woods, Campbell-Spickler said. He said the bear was likely 1½ years old, around 150 pounds and dark brown in color (black bears can also be cinnamon brown and blond). “Not an aggressive bear in any way. He was just a curious guy.”

...Campbell-Spickler said the bear didn’t enter any animal habitats or break any fences, though it did explore some “enrichment items,” or mentally stimulating toys that the zoo provides to its animals...

Campbell-Spickler thought the bear could smell the other bears and that enticed it to check them out.

“It was a young bear finding its way in the world,” he said.

It's difficult enough deciding between freedom and security, but when you add food and companionship to the mix the latter is very compelling. Don't be surprised if the bear returns.

Trump Backs Off

Donald Trump and Jensen Huang in April (Chron)

President Trump threatened to send National Guard troops into San Francisco, but today he called off the move.

Under pressure from two of Silicon Valley’s most prominent executives, President Donald Trump on Thursday abruptly abandoned plans to deploy federal agents to “clean up” San Francisco — an idea the administration had floated since Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff suggested ahead of the Dreamforce conference earlier this month that the National Guard might be needed to address the city’s safety problems.

Now, after weeks of criticism from residents, colleagues and civic leaders, Benioff — alongside Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — may have helped spare San Francisco from a federal invasion.

“Great people like Jensen Huang, Marc Benioff, and others have called saying that the future of San Francisco is great,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “They want to give it a ‘shot.’ Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!”

Mayor Daniel Lurie, in a statement Thursday, confirmed the president “told me clearly that he was calling off any plans for a federal deployment in San Francisco.”

“Friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge in that the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, was making substantial progress,” Trump wrote.

The mayor said he touted the city’s momentum during the call.

“San Francisco is on the rise,” he said. “Visitors are coming back, buildings are getting leased and purchased, and workers are coming back to the office” — and warned that “having the military and militarized immigration enforcement in our city will hinder our recovery.”

It always helps to have the CEO's of some of the nation's most prominent companies ask President Trump to do or not do something. They can be very persuasive. Pity poor Portland, which lacks anyone with such clout.

Admissions AI: Not Fully Thought Through

(Linkedin image)

Stacey Brook, "creator of CollegeEssAI, an ethical AI tool for college essay writing," believes that there is an ethical way to use artificial intelligence (AI) in admissions essays. [bold added]

If, for instance, a student tells an AI platform they want to write a personal essay about their love of crafting intricate Halloween costumes, requesting prompts to help them explore this topic, AI might ask things like: What is a Halloween costume you created that you are especially proud of, and what was the inspiration? What does the process of creating a costume look like for you? Where else does this creative instinct manifest itself in your life?

Those questions are comparable to those posed by writing tutors, and, better still, they come free of charge to anyone with access to technology. They also represent potential pathways for more directed storytelling and reflection than a student would likely generate independently. Most students don’t have experience writing personal narratives before they are asked to do so for a college admissions essay.

While students applying to college should check a school’s specific policies on using AI on an application, using it as an assistive, self-teaching tool instead of as a ghost writer can lead to essays that are complex, contemplative and more authentic than something ChatGPT simply spits out. AI can actually help applicants hone creativity and strategic thinking, but only when used properly.

Using Ai as a spell- and grammar-checker is ok, IMHO, since those capabilities were included in word-processing software before AI. What Stacey Brooke suggests is reasonable but goes against the strict prohibitions demanded by college admissions offices.

Better--and it does involve more work by colleges--would be for candidates to attach all communications with AI that they used in composing their essays. As we are all feeling our way at the dawn of a new age, disclosure is the way to go, not imposing rules that haven't been fully thought through.

A Rare Sighting

(Raifman/Chronicle)

A white fawn has been spotted in an East Bay park.

The odds of spotting a white deer might be slightly better than that: Around one in 30,000 deer are born with albinism, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Krysten Kellum. She identified [photographer Matthew] Raifman’s sighting as a black-tailed deer, which number around 500,000 in California — meaning roughly a dozen are albino.

Wildlife biologist Ellie Bolas hopes that the fawn and its mother and siblings stick close to East Bay populated areas, where there are fewer mountain lions. Good advice for us all.

Hawaii: Catering to the Fewer

We stayed in a Waikiki hotel in 2012

The number of tourists to Hawaii hasn't recovered to 2019 levels, but total tourist spending of $11 billion in the first half of 2025 is nearly 24% higher than the first half of 2019. [bold added]

The shift toward fewer visitors who are spending more reflects the type of visitor Hawaii is now aiming to attract.

“It’s better for everyone, us residents, the infrastructure, and yes, even the industry. Hawaii doesn’t need more people. We need the right people, the ones who respect the place and are willing to invest back into it, this is what I have been pushing for years,” Bruce Fisher, Hawaii travel adviser and owner of Hawaii Aloha Travel, told SFGATE in an email.

Your humble blogger is a frequent returnee, but because he is able to stay with relatives has not been the target demographic for the Hawaii Visitors Bureau. For one out of five trips we'll splurge and stay in a hotel, and I must admit that Waikiki is very pleasant to walk around at night. Age and health will limit our future trips, so we'll be opening our wallets more. Besides, I've always wanted to be thought of as being among the "right people."

Of Consciousness, the Brain, and the Soul

(Image from scitechdaily)

Much as UFO skeptics claim that there is no definitive evidence of alien life, so do most scientists believe that consciousness does not exist outside the human brain. Another way of framing the latter proposition is that there is no proof that the soul exists.

American Enterprise Institute scholar Charles Murray thinks that enough evidence has accumulated to question the brain-only view of human consciousness. [bold added]

the most robust, hardest-to-ignore evidence comes from a phenomenon called terminal lucidity: a sudden, temporary return to self-awareness, memory and lucid communication by a person whose brain is no longer functional usually because of advanced dementia but occasionally because of meningitis, brain tumors, strokes or chronic psychiatric disorders.

Terminal lucidity can last from a few minutes to a few hours. In the most dramatic cases, people who have been unable to communicate or even recognize their spouses or children for years suddenly become alert and exhibit their former personalities, complete with reminiscences and incisive questions. It is almost always followed by complete mental relapse and death within a day or two.

The phenomenon didn’t have a name until 2009, but case studies reach back to detailed clinical descriptions from the 19th century. Hospices, palliative-care centers, and long-term care wards for dementia patients continued to observe the condition during the 20th century but usually treated it as a curious episode that didn’t warrant a write-up. With the advent of social media, reports began to accumulate. We now have a growing technical literature and a large, systematic sample compiled by Austrian psychologist Alexander Batthyány.

Two features of the best-documented cases combine to meet Sagan’s standard: The subjects suffered from medically verified disorders that made their brains incapable of organized mental activity; and multiple observers, including medical personnel, recorded the lucidity.

A strict materialist explanation must posit a so-far-unknown capability of the brain. But the brain has been mapped for years, and a great deal is known about the functions of its regions. Discovering this new feature would be akin to finding a way that blood can circulate when the heart stops pumping.

Charles Murray analogizes the current state of consciousness science to the late 19th century problems with Newton's physics that required the creation of a new theoretical model:

I see the strict materialistic view of consciousness as being in roughly the same fix as Newtonian physics was in 1887, when the Michelson-Morley experiment proved that the speed of light doesn’t behave as Newton’s laws said it should. It took 18 years before Einstein’s theory of special relativity accommodated the anomaly.

We are identifying anomalies in the materialist position that must eventually lead to a paradigm shift. Science will have to acknowledge that even though conventional neuroscience explains much about consciousness under ordinary circumstances, something else can come into play under the extreme conditions of imminent death.

The implications are momentous. Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow observed that for a scientist trying to explain creation, the verification of the big-bang theory “ends like a bad dream”: “As he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” Neuroscientists who have been trying to explain consciousness may have to face their own bad dream: coming to terms with evidence for the human soul.

The 21st century was predicted to be the century of the Brain or when the war on cancer would be won. But the century of "soul science"? That wasn't on my bingo card.

No Kings: Now That's Mostly Peaceful

No Kings march on Market Street (Orbegozo/Chronicle)

Hundreds of thousands of people joined "No Kings" rallies across the country to protest what they view as authoritarian behavior of the Trump Administration. The Bay Area, one of the centers of liberal politics, was no exception.

Protest organizers in San Francisco, Oakland, Marin County and other Bay Area communities said turnout surpassed their initial projections, in many cases exceeding the participation in the first No Kings protest. That event was held on June 14 to coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday and a parade he orchestrated for the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary.

Although your humble blogger doesn't see the President as a would be or actual monarch, it would be foolish to dismiss rally-goers as leftist extremists, i.e., Hamas members, gender reassignment advocates, and Socialists. The marchers seemed sincere, and demonstrations were peaceful. No Kings was a time for feelings to be let out, not lengthy policy discussions.

Republicans would be wise to respect the passions that were on display. Mocking or silencing the Tea Party movement arguably gave rise to Trumpism and the resurgence of modern conservatism. Conservatives shouldn't do the same to No Kings and give leftist opposition the oxygen that it needs.

Shohei Ohtani, GOAT

Major league baseball (MLB) was the first sport I followed. That's not surprising, because baseball was by far the dominant sport in the United States in the postwar era. I memorized the statistics of the srars who played before I was born: Cy Young, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Christy Mathewson, etc.

Then there was Babe Ruth, who hit an astounding 60 home runs in one season for the New York Yankees. Before he was the "Sultan of Swat," Babe Ruth was a star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. His numerous records in hitting drew crowds across the country and was enough to put him on the Mt. Rushmore of baseball, but his excellence in pitching made him the greatest player in baseball history.

Until Friday night.

Headline: Shohei Ohtani Just Played What May Be the Greatest Game of All Time

But the things Shohei Ohtani does on the field are so astonishing that they make you wonder if everything you thought you knew about baseball for the last century and a half was wrong. He has redefined what was thought possible in a sport that appeared to have no more secrets.

Ohtani isn’t just the most talented player on the planet. He is likely the most talented player in history. And on Friday, Shohei Ohtani delivered the performance that will define him.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to the World Series for the second consecutive season because Ohtani carried them there with a box score that defies belief. On the mound, he dominated the Milwaukee Brewers over six shutout innings, allowing only two hits and striking out 10. At the plate, he blasted three home runs that traveled a combined 1,342 feet, transforming Dodger Stadium into his own personal launchpad...

“We’re like the Bulls,” [shortstop Mookie] Betts said, “and he’s Michael Jordan.”

After the outing that will forever be known as the “Shohei Ohtani game,” Ohtani himself had little to say. The closest he came to any sort of self-praise was, “This time around, it was my turn to be able to perform.”

But everyone who saw Ohtani on Friday knows the truth: There has never been anybody like Shohei Ohtani. There probably never will be again.

Knowledge (and familiarity) breed contempt. but in rare cases knowledge helps us to appreciate the greatness in front of us. The number of Hall-of-Famers who have called Shohei Ohtani the greatest baseball player in MLB's 149 years continues to grow.

Yosemite: Still a Great Place

My brother visited Yosemite last week

The government shutdown has produced reports of lawless behavior at Yosemite National Park. The Interior Dept. calls these reports "fake news":

Officials at the U.S. Department of the Interior are now challenging the idea that the park has been left vulnerable during the federal shutdown. And while the National Parks Conservation Association told SFGATE that 50% of Yosemite’s employees are currently furloughed, officials with the Interior Department are saying that staffing levels are adequate to handle unlawful incidents taking place during the shutdown.

However, according to SFGate

What’s changed, according to sources who have lived and worked around the park for decades, is that visitors are taking advantage of the shutdown and becoming more brazen in their pursuit of illegal activities.

Climbers have been dealing with BASE* jumpers launching off El Capitan for decades, Ken Yager, president and founder of the Yosemite Climbing Association, said in a phone call. In some cases, they come very close to the climbers, and, “It’s terrifying,” he said. Normally, they do this in the early morning or right at dusk, when darker skies make them less likely to get caught, Yager continued, and some even time their jumps to coincide with ranger shift changes.

What’s different now, he said, is that people are BASE jumping in broad daylight, which is probably safer and certainly more scenic. “Maybe they’re getting a little bolder now, because of what they’ve been hearing about the park,” he said. “But you know, those guys better be careful, because it’s still illegal and there’s still law enforcement.”

*Grok: BASE jumping is an extreme sport where individuals leap from fixed structures—Buildings, Antennas, Spans (bridges), and Earth (cliffs)—and deploy a parachute to safely land. The acronym "BASE" represents these four types of launch points.

Comments:
1) The libertarian in me isn't bothered by unauthorized BASE jumping, unless it jeopardizes the safety of climbers and other park goers. Surely most participants don't wish to hurt others and will follow posted guidelines.
2) Park staffing is inadequate to handle mass lawlessness in normal times. If sizeable numbers of people come to Yosemite because they believe they won't get caught breaking rules, they would be right, shutdown or not.
3) My brother went to Yosemite last week. He had a great trip, and nothing untoward occurred. Also, there were no entrance fees or rangers due to the shutdown. Granted, his experience is only anecdotal, and is about as generalizable as videos of peaceful Portland neighborhoods and the absence of homeless tents in parts of San Francisco.

"A Good Death"

Shelli Feder

What does compassionate care look like at the end of life? What does it mean to have a “good death” today?

Yale School of Nursing (YSN) Associate Professor Shelli Feder:

What we think is a good death has changed over the decades. There is no single good way of dying. It’s really about what matters most to that person and how they want to die and where they want to die and what they want to do before they die. Part of providing good hospice care is trying our best to make sure that that happens.

One of the most beautiful things about hospice is about reframing end of life and living with a critical or a life-limiting illness. Oftentimes by the time patients get to hospice, which too often is too late, they’re tired. They have been in and out of the hospital; they’ve been stuck a gazillion times for IVs; they’ve undergone tests; and they’re tired of all that intervention and invasiveness. Hospice is an opportunity to sit down and talk about what matters most to you right now. We can’t change the fact that you’re dying. But what we can change is how you’re feeling in this moment. That’s the definition of dying well.

I have come to realize that dying is about letting go, which sounds trite because what is dying but letting go of life? But prior to that final act one has to let go of dreams unfulfilled, wishes for one's children, legacies that won't be completed. Once one releases oneself from those burdens, the feeling can be liberating. Then, perhaps, you are ready to go.

Stop Exporting Jobs....to Texas

GAF shingles

We first became aware of solar shingles (not solar panels) when we visited a Tesla showroom in 2017.

Tesla’s basic premise is to make solar ownership more attractive and affordable by eliminating the need to install both a roof and solar panels. Tesla says it will manage the entire process of solar roof installation, including removal of existing roofs, design, permits, installation, and maintenance. The company estimates that each installation will take about a week.

We will seriously consider installing solar shingles when it comes time to replace our 30-year-old roof. Tesla isn't the only vendor, of course, which is why it's disappointing that one of its competitors is moving its headquarters from San Jose to Texas.

GAF Energy, which sells solar panels embedded in roof shingles, will shut down its San Jose headquarters on Dec. 13, it announced in a Thursday WARN document, filed with California officials. The company uses the facility for researching, developing and manufacturing its solar shingles — a whole green energy factory at San Jose’s southeastern corner, operational since 2021. But now, GAF Energy will lay off local workers and shift its official headquarters to Georgetown, Texas...

Compared with California, Texas is building housing at a rapid rate, potentially making the state a more appealing market for a solar provider like GAF Energy that aims to grab customers as they’re adding or replacing a roof. A Realtor.com report from February — published alongside that company’s move to Texas — said the Lone Star State accounted for 15% of the country’s new house permits in 2024.

California's exodus of large companies (Tesla, Oracle, HP) gets the publicity, but the loss of hundreds of smaller businesses is damaging, especially since smaller companies are the engines of future growth.

It's discouraging that we will have to buy a newish technology from a company in Texas instead of from the state that invented it.

Columbus Day, 2025

(Portrait from Musei di Genoa)

Christopher Columbus is back. A Proclamation from President Trump:

Today our Nation honors the legendary Christopher Columbus — the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization, and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the earth. This Columbus Day, we honor his life with reverence and gratitude, and we pledge to reclaim his extraordinary legacy of faith, courage, perseverance, and virtue from the left-wing arsonists who have sought to destroy his name and dishonor his memory.

..Guided by steadfast prayer and unwavering fortitude and resolve, Columbus’s journey carried thousands of years of wisdom, philosophy, reason, and culture across the Atlantic into the Americas — paving the way for the ultimate triumph of Western civilization less than three centuries later on July 4, 1776.

Outrageously, in recent years, Christopher Columbus has been a prime target of a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage. Before our very eyes, left-wing radicals toppled his statues, vandalized his monuments, tarnished his character, and sought to exile him from our public spaces. Under my leadership, those days are finally over — and our Nation will now abide by a simple truth: Christopher Columbus was a true American hero, and every citizen is eternally indebted to his relentless determination.

Academia, with its focus on the depredations of Western civilization, selected Columbus as the wellspring from which evil sprung. Isabella, who bankrolled his voyage, and the Spanish conquistadors are more fitting targets of opprobrium, but according to Progressive educators the descendants of the ruthless Spanish are now the oppressed, so an Italian hero is a politically safer target.

Personally, I am in favor of celebrating Columbus and indigenous people today, but to the oppressor-oppressed philosophy honoring all heritages is as racist as saying "all lives matter." I'm glad that the President is restoring some balance to the conversation.

Canterbury Fails

Canterbury Cathedral, one of the most venerated houses of worship in Christendom, has plastered its interior with graffiti-style artwork. From the Cathedral's website:

A major new art installation at Canterbury Cathedral in which ordinary people pose questions to God has split public opinion ahead of its official launch, with visitors reporting visceral reactions to the bold graffiti-style graphics and thought-provoking questions displayed on the ancient walls. Whilst many have reported their delight and intrigue, others have been discomforted by encountering the artworks.

Featuring questions including “Are you there?”, “Why did you create hate when love is by far more powerful?” and “Does everything have a soul?”, the “Hear Us” installation is the culmination of poet Alex Vellis and curator Jacquiline Creswell’s collaboration with marginalised communities and a team of skilled artists to create vibrant handwritten literature responding to the question “What would you ask God?”.

Jesus commands His followers to minister to the marginalized and of course He does so Himself. But the marginalized story is not all kumbaya: in today's Gospel from Luke 17:11-19 Jesus heals ten lepers, but only one of these outcasts comes back to thank Jesus. The message seems to be that the lepers may not be loving people themselves, but we are to love them anyway.

Your humble Anglican is not particularly offended by the temporary graffiti stickers. Having regularly winced at the Progressive sensibilities of Anglican-Episcopal clergy (comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable) this is far from an extreme provocation. However, he is sorry for the tourists who were hoping to take photos of the magnificent interior.

Worse, IMHO, is the patronizing point of view of the art sponsors. If I were a law-abiding, God-fearing, hard-working "marginalized" person trying to succeed in British society, I might feel personally insulted that the Anglican church decided that the graffiti format was the best way to speak to me, much as some Black Americans might feel if white elites try to reach them using Ebonics. Snobs are often not self-aware.

The Way Things Were, but Not Too Long Ago

The Blue Angels won't be here for Fleet Week due to the government shutdown. To the right is a 2003 picture of the Angels near Alcatraz. It was taken by my Canon point-and-shoot camera from my old Embarcadero Center office, four years before the first iPhone was released.

Speaking of the way things used to be, Young People Are Falling in Love With Old Technology.

Driven by a desire to escape screens and reclaim a sense of control, [teens and twenty-somethings] are resurrecting digital cameras, flip phones and CDs. It’s not unusual to see them roaming the aisles of a record store or doing sidewalk photo shoots with digital cameras, as if they had traveled back to the early 2000s.

The Luddite Club, a nonprofit group that supports taking smartphone breaks, has 26 chapters, nearly all of them at high schools or colleges.

You know you're really old when stuff you once marvelled as new (digital cameras, CD players, AOL dial-up e-mail) is now thought of as ancient history.

Peace in Gaza: Skeptical and Hopeful

It's easy to be skeptical about this week's peace agreement between Israel and Hamas. The recent history of the Middle East is filled with misery, dashed hopes, and broken promises, with major interests possessing seemingly irreconcilable differences.

Joy in Israel (Correa/AP/WSJ)

Nevertheless, the spontaneous outpourings of joy in both Israel and Gaza at even the possibility of an end to the fighting reveal the powerful yearning for peace. Herewith the key elements of the Gaza deal--you, dear reader, be the judge of whether all parties have enough incentives to make it stick.

All living hostages held by Hamas are to be released.
Roughly 20 hostages are believed to be alive. Trump said they would be released Monday or Tuesday, as “getting them is a complicated process.”

Egyptian officials and others briefed on the deal said mediators are still hashing out the arrangements.

The bodies of around 28 hostages who have died are to be handed over later. Hamas has said it would need at least 10 days to locate the bodies, according to people close to the talks.

The families of hostages are waiting anxiously to see their captive relatives return after a monthslong struggle in the streets and lobbying world leaders.

Israel will release Palestinian prisoners.
Once all the hostages are returned, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinians who are in Israeli prisons and 1,700 Palestinians who have been detained in Gaza during the conflict. Precisely who is on that list is being finalized.

Hamas has pushed to get as many big-name prisoners released as possible, including Marwan Barghouti, whom Israel jailed over his role in a Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s.

A cease-fire has gone into effect.
Israeli troops began withdrawing from parts of the Gaza Strip on Friday morning, Israeli and Arab officials said.

U.S. troops began to arrive in Israel on Thursday, the first of about 200 being sent to support the cease-fire in Gaza as part of an international team, according to U.S. officials.

The troops will help monitor the implementation of the cease-fire and eventual transition to a civilian government, according to a U.S. official. They will also help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Though celebrations have erupted in both Gaza and Tel Aviv, mediators and many civilians on both sides are holding their breath to see if the cease-fire will hold. Truces have given way to renewed fighting in Gaza before.

The precise details of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza are unclear.
A critical task in the coming days will be getting Israel and Hamas to agree on the exact lines for Israel’s initial military withdrawal.

Hamas wants Israel to exit from around 70% of Gaza in return for the release of hostages, Arab mediators said. Israel wants to vacate less territory, and the two sides are still negotiating this detail, according to people briefed on the negotiations.

The Rafah crossing with Egypt will open.
The border crossing will reopen to facilitate aid deliveries and allow for entry and exit of Palestinians. Some aid trucks have been entering Gaza in recent months, though in much lower numbers than what is needed, as the enclave endures a hunger crisis.

"Trump said they would be released Monday or Tuesday", which means that the next few days will be crucial. Why Hamas would agree to give up the hostages, Hamas' main source of leverage, remains a mystery. Regardless, if that happens, the celebrations will begin.

Junipero Sierra Statue: 50 Years Was Enough

What he's pointing at is a mystery (Macor/S.F. Chronicle)

Father Junipero Serra is a major figure in California history. From 1769 to 1782 the Franciscan priest founded nine missions, some of which became major metropolitan areas [e.g., Mission San Diego de Alcalá, Mission San Gabriel Arcángel (Los Angeles), Mission San Francisco de Asís, aka Mission Dolores].

Schools, roads, and monuments have been dedicated to Junipero Serra, but none stranger than the 26-ft-tall statue that was erected in 1975. Caltrans quietly removed it in August.

Caltrans officials disputed claims made by the San Francisco Archdiocese that accused the transportation agency of neglecting to inform the church of its decision to destroy a polarizing statue of Junipero Serra at an Interstate 280 rest stop near Hillsborough.

The colossal freeway icon — a 26-foot tall monument to the Roman Catholic saint who is remembered by many Indigenous communities as an enslaving colonizer — was a landmark for the last 50 years before the transit agency removed it in August.

Caltrans officials said the statue, created by artist Louis DuBois in 1975, did not meet current criteria for its Transportation Art program, which installs graphic or sculptural artwork that expresses “unique attributes of a community’s history, resources or character.” The agency reviews applications for proposed artworks by cities, counties, incorporated towns, tribal governments or non-federally recognized tribes.

Caltrans officials did not respond to direct questions about what criteria the statue failed to meet. Officials told the Mercury News that the statue was “frequently targeted” with vandalism and graffiti.

The I-280 rest stop became known for its views of the reservoir. It was also rumored to be a place for gay hookups in the 1980's.

I won't be mourning the statue's removal; it's big and not beautiful, and Caltrans had good reason to take it down quite apart from the prevalence of anti-settler ideology in academia and progressive government. A 50-year run was probably long enough.

Canada Goose Population Management

"Remote-controlled amphibious device": beware the rubber duckie.

Foster City announced the first steps in its Canada Goose Population Management program: [bold added]

The first phase of this plan will focus primarily on observation and surveillance, which will begin to take place in the first week of October. Though the visibility of this work to the public may be limited, community members could notice goose tracking cameras hung in trees at the previously identified parks, or uniformed Wildlife Innovation staff monitoring the bird population...

Following the observation and surveillance phases, Wildlife Innovation staff will transition to tracking the Canada Goose population in early November. This effort will include banding select birds with GPS tracking devices around their feet and neck. Application and operation of the GPS devices is in no way harmful to the birds. Community members who observe banded birds should not be concerned – federal and state permits have been issued for this work.

Wildlife Innovation staff will initiate bird deterrent activities shortly after the tracking efforts are introduced. All the deterrent methods included in the plan are nonviolent and nonlethal. These efforts will include use of a: trained dog and handler; remote-controlled amphibious device; aerial drone with speaker and lights; audio deterrent; handheld laser; and fogging.

We've been given a heads-up to these solutions for Foster City's goose problem, but your humble blogger thinks the clever birds will discover there's little reason to be fearful.

More drastic, potentially lethal steps will probably need to be tried; for example, given the many leashed dogs we see on our walks around town, perhaps the City could suspend its leash laws in Foster City parks temporarily and see if that puts a dent in the problem. Here's hoping we don't need to go that far.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone

(Graphic from oregon.gov)

The San Andreas fault, which is responsible for the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, is less destructive than the Cascadia Subduction zone. The Cascadia has triggered most of the San Andreas' earthquakes in the past 3,000 years (but not in 1906), which will make a future Cascadia/San Andreas combined quake the most destructive natural disaster in American history by far.

A megaquake in the Pacific Northwest could trigger a large earthquake along California’s San Andreas Fault, creating an unprecedented catastrophe up and down the Pacific Coast, a new study has found.

The study suggests that the fearsome Cascadia subduction zone, a fault line running offshore from Northern California to British Columbia that is capable of producing earthquakes of magnitude 9 or higher, has triggered large quakes in San Francisco and elsewhere along the northern part of the San Andreas Fault. In some cases, it’s possible that quakes on the San Andreas followed the first quake within minutes or hours, according to the study, which was published Sept. 29.

For example, researchers found evidence that the last magnitude 9 earthquake in the Cascadia subduction zone — in 1700 and so large that it caused a tsunami in Japan — also produced a major earthquake on the northern San Andreas Fault. That part of the fault extends from the Mendocino Junction offshore of Humboldt County, where it meets the Cascadia, to Hollister (San Benito County). That earthquake could have been as large as the magnitude 7.9 earthquake in 1906 San Francisco, said Jason Patton, a co-author of the study and engineering geologist at the California Department of Conservation.

According to lead author Chris Goldfinger of Oregon State University

We could expect that an earthquake on one of the faults alone would draw down the resources of the whole country to respond to it,” Goldfinger said. “And if they both went off together, then you’ve got potentially San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver all in an emergency situation in a compressed timeframe.”

Mr. Goldfinger said that if he heard that the Cascadia Subduction zone went off, he would immediately leave his home in Palo Alto and head east. This is one expert's advice that we intend to follow.

One Stop Shopping in Sonora

( Valentino/SFGATE)

Guns and booze can be bought together at the Sportsman in Sonora.

The Sportsman — the last standing business in California where patrons can simultaneously buy a beer and a firearm — is encased in a historic brick building between the town’s main drag and its police station. The store-and-bar is as much a tourist destination as it’s a living room for some in the gateway town. On a weekday afternoon, two locals nursed Michelob Ultras beneath a television showing a Giants game while another man put down the next installment on a deposit for a rifle.

Storekeeper Steve Kane toggled between the two sides of the slim room. One half of the tawny-walled store is a pub with numerous framed photos of past and current customers. The other side is reserved for firearms — pistols and rifles — contained behind glass casings. A six-shooter goes for $250 while a .22-caliber rifle costs more than $600...

A fixture of Sonora but an oddity for the rest of the state, the Sportsman routinely draws tourists from around the world who enter with a wide-eyed gaze before Kane warmly welcomes them in. “I tell them, ‘This is a unicorn.’ You’ll go your whole trip in the United States and never see this,” he said. “And being in California, that’s what makes it crazy.”

The Sportsman also sells cigarettes, which means that it is overseen by a single Federal agency (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms). Is this what is known as a regulatory advantage?