Hey, taxi!

When the next Winter Olympics return to Salt Lake City in 2034, I’ll be just 86 years old and might need a quick and easy commute to watch all the venues, so if you’ve seen these science-fiction schemes in which air-taxis help people hop from one place to the next, by taking to the skies instead of using a self-driving car (which I hope, might work perfectly by then), then air taxi will be the perfect mean of transportation! 

This past Tuesday, an agreement was signed by BETA Technologies, an electric aircraft manufacturer, and 47G | Utah Aerospace & Defense, to bring air taxi technology and charging stations to Utah. These new electric air taxis would have the ability to fly up to five passengers — or up to 1,250 pounds of cargo. According to BETA Technologies website, the taxis can reach a full charge in just under an hour and can travel over 350 miles per charge, reaching speeds of about 155 miles per hour. 

On November 13, BETA Technologies completed the first flight of an electric aircraft built on its scaled production line. Within a year, BETA set up shop in its 200,000 square foot manufacturing facility in South Burlington, Vermont, and fully installed tooling, an organized supply chain, and manufactured propulsion systems — to rolling an aircraft off its production line, getting a certificate of airworthiness by the FAA, and flying it. 

The air taxis, which garnered support from the Utah Department of Transportation and the Governor himself, are expected to run statewide in time for the 2034 Winter Olympic Games. By early 2026, the plan is for Utah to be moving cargo in them before transitioning to people. 

A spokesperson for BETA said that “From early next year onward we start with cargo, medical logistics, and then we move into passenger flights over the next years. By the end of the decade here we’re flying cargo, medical passenger, both in… conventional takeoff — landing airport to airport — and vertical takeoff, landing going from vertiport to vertiport in quiet, clean electric airplanes.” 

We’ll see if the plan develop in time for my using it, if and when I should reach my mid-eighties! 

Am I the result of adversity?

In recent years I’ve always maintained that a good dose of adversity can be salutary when it’s well distributed over one’s lifetime. Before starting the discussion, I need to stress that we’re talking about adversity, not trauma. 

With this in mind, I’m convinced that challenge makes us stronger, teaches us everything we need and in the end, makes us much happier. In looking back at my own experience, adversity has forced me to adapt and overcome challenges.

In the process it has built my resilience, enabling me to handle future difficulties more easily and teaching me that I was stronger than I thought, fostering a healthier self-confidence. From a more personal standpoint, it has led me to self-discovery, a deeper understanding of my strengths and weaknesses, prompted me to re-evaluate my priorities and values and helped me grow even further. 

A healthy dose of challenges has also helped me fully appreciate the good times and strengthen my sense of gratitude and joy. If it were not for all the hurdles along my way, I wouldn’t have learned the valuable life lessons that I’ve experienced. It also taught me wisdom and empathy, making me in turn more compassionate towards others. 

For competitive folks like me, adversity also acted as a strong motivator as overcoming obstacles gave a strong sense of accomplishment. Many psychological and philosophical views support my belief that well-balanced adversity can be beneficial. Sure, going over obstacles sometimes doesn’t always work as people have different responses based on factors like personality, support systems, vulnerability or coping mechanisms. 

As I mentioned above, "well-distributed" adversity is crucial, if it’s poorly timed or applies constant pressure and is too overwhelming, it won’t work at all. Still, if well dosed, it will build resilience, foster personal growth, and enhance our appreciation for life.

Trump’s Hand

Just like there’s the "3 Rs" Trifecta in education that stands for Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic, given Trump’s celebrity status, he might want to be defined by the “3Ts”. But he'd want more than three, so instead of a “3Ts”, he would get a “5Ts” Quintet, or a Hand in poker, as in “Trump” standing for Truth-suppression, Treason, Terror, Tyranny and you’ve guessed it, Tariffs! 

Let’s talk about these… 

• Truth-suppression is a nice euphemism for Lying and with thousands of recorded lies since he entered politics less than 10 years ago, the New Yorker is unbeatable. All of his speeches are all stitched with lies of all kinds and sizes. Smart people usually don’t trust liars. 
• Treason is evident when Trump delivers Ukraine’s terms of surrender to Putin on a silver platter or instructs his UN Ambassador to vote with China, North Korea and Russia against the condemnation of Ukraine’s invasion. Also, the two instances when he swore on the Bible that he will enforce the US Constitution and does not. 
• Terror is for terrorizing people with maximum cruelty, from immigrants to government employees and anyone who opposes his schemes. America usually despises terrorists. 
• Tyranny is when as a head of state one only admires and associates with other tyrants, when one mocks and disregards rules and doesn’t think twice before he tramples them, unless prevented by the enforcement of the law he wants to disrespect. As a democracy, America has no room for Tyrants. 
• Tariffs is a magic wand that Trump believes can generate free money to pay for everything and as he recently claimed, to “Substitute for income tax” as he also believes that his proposed Gold Card revenues will soak up the US budget deficit. 

The man may be a “legendary businessman” but he doesn’t know anything about “aRithmetic”, which brings me back to the opening statement of that blog...

Has Vail Resorts Destroyed Skiing?

For more than a decade, the way ski is “consumed” has change drastically in North America, with the development of a business model share by two behemoths, Vail Resorts and Alterra that have litterally “forced” consumers to purchase months ahead of time season passes and have reinforced that habit by overpricing their daily pass rate to the point that they’ve raised their cost by 263% in Park City alone since 2011. 

Most remarkably, they’ve also made their passes valid at a large number of ski areas, thus creating an itinerant form of skiing never seen in the past and exacerbating lodging costs already unaffordable and never seen before crowding, hence the accusation of destructing skiing as portrayed in that video. 

In fact, the real reason behind customer dissatisfaction is ski resorts' overcrowding caused by both company and woeful incompetency from Vail Resorts that makes most of its money through huge and systematic economies of scale, preventing local management to act in unison with the interest of the community. Alterra, more decentralized mode of operation, does a better job at that. The question is obviously can the toothpaste be put back inside the tube, and will it get worst before it gets better. 

With limited beach heads in Switzerland by Vail Resorts (Andermatt-Sedrun and Crans-Montana ) will the this nefarious epidemic reach the Alps? That is of course the $64 million question! As the video says, the Vail Resorts - Alterra duopoly now controls the entire sport of skiing with packed trails, pricey meals, an empty wallet and super wealthy executives! 

When I don’t feel 100 percent on skis...

There are days, even though I feel okay, when I go skiing that I feel I don't ski well, I'm afraid, feel awkward, and just don't perform well. How can we explain this? That’s right, this is what happened to me last Friday, one of these days when everything feels just a little "off," despite feeling okay otherwise.

This phenomenon isn't uncommon, and I think it can be explained it by a combination of factors—both physical and mental. Even if I feel fine, my muscles or motor coordination might need extra time to "wake up." I just don’t feel like entering in sync with what I want to do on my skis and my body struggles to get going effectively. I’m convinced that my performance is intimately linked to my mindset. 

Some tiny distractions, overthinking, or self-doubt (like worrying about falling or failing) will mess up my natural flow. It's almost as if I were skiing from my head, not my whole body! True, there can also be fatigue or stress in play that plays games with my physical coordination without my being conscious of it. Even if I’m not totally exhausted, these factors will interfere with my fluidity on skis. 

On that particular day, the new snow fell perfect, but visibility was kind of lacking, heightening in me a more intense sense of caution. This probably led to a smidgen of hesitation and, in turn, a general feeling of awkwardness. 

While I don’t want to openly admit it, I’m also concerned that my age (77) isn’t helping things either and this might signal at best a plateau or at worst, the beginning of an inexorable decline, telling my body that both intensity and speed might be dialed down to still ski smoothly like a love to. 

When these days happen, I’ll do my best to be kind to myself. I remember to focus on the basics, take it a bit slowly, and let my muscle memory take over. Above all, I do my best not to judge my performance too harshly. Off-days are part of the process in any sport!

“Ukraine GoFund me”

When Zelenskyy got cornered by the two American bullies at the White House, last week, the idea came to me “Why don’t we start a worldwide, giant GoFund me to benefit Ukraine, and step into what Trump refuses to do for fear of upsetting his buddy Putin?” I loved the concept, but wondered how it could get into motion. 

That’s when I was reminded that it would amount to restarting the “Stand With Ukraine” campaigns, that raised tens of millions of dollars to support humanitarian aid and relief efforts three years ago, but this time put on steroids, so to speak, in order to compensate for Trump’s traitorous support withdrawal. 

I’d like to see a stronger, better repeat of that, but don’t really know where to start so it takes global proportions. The original campaign showed the power of online fundraising during times of international crisis and that’s why it deserves a “re-boot”. 

It sure could be a very high-profile event and an opportunity for the world to speak loudly against Trump and Putin nefarious schemes. It would capture widespread public attention and emotion, evoke empathy and compassion, motivating people to donate by leveraging social media platforms to help amplifying the campaigns' reach. 

Any idea how we could revive the idea?

How can we see we’re lied to?

If you’re not an easy target for liars and lies, how can you help folks who fall for them, see the lie before they believe it. 

Well, we begin by helping them develop a healthy skepticism and question the information they get, especially when it originates from sources that may have a vested interest in misleading them. Show them different angles and a variety of viewpoints and sources of information to help them get a more balanced and nuanced understanding of issues. 

Most importantly though, have them verify all the information they receive before sharing it or acting on it, like passing it on to their buddies! Show them what fact-checking websites are, and how to navigate the news. Tell them about media bias; all media sources have some degree of bias, so teach them to identify different types of bias and how they can influence reporting. 

Show them how and where to find evidence-based reporting and avoid sources that rely on sensational headlines and emotional appeals. Instead, support investigative journalism that exposes corruption and dishonesty. Make sure they understand that it’s their right to demand transparency and accountability from leaders in government, business, and other institutions. 

Make them also understand that honesty and integrity is the only way to conduct one’s life and encourage them to speak up against lies and misinformation when they encounter them. For all of us, let’s not forget to spot persuasion techniques used in advertising, marketing, and political campaigns and let’s also establish clear boundaries in our relationships and interactions with others. 

Let’s not be afraid to say "no" or to question information that seems suspicious. Keep in mind that while people may sometimes prefer to be misled, it's ultimately harmful to them and society as a whole. By cultivating critical thinking skills, promoting media literacy, and fostering a culture of honesty, we can all create a more informed and truthful society.