By Dennis and Diane Linthicum
December 28, 2024
Some thoughts about the upcoming session and changes in our office…
Throughout my husband’s private sector career, Dennis was blessed with a myriad of opportunities. He started as an astute programmer and he worked well with others.
And…, as often happens, if the guy at the keyboard is good, works hard and is not too nerdy then he might get promoted. That’s what happened to Dennis.
He joined Hughes Aircraft Co. just before we were married and was involved with data-structure design, management and implementation endeavors when processing power was slow and expensive.
At the time programing was batch process oriented. The data came from data entry operators because scanner and sensor technologies were still in their infancy. Dennis worked in an environment where CPU time-slices were shared by multiple business (like renting CPU time…). Back then, few could afford the high initial costs for computer gear, space and cooling.
So, every bit and byte mattered because of technological limits and cost. Dennis spent part of his time exploring ways to pack and unpack data by coding it into specific bits. This sounds like a lot of work for little gain, to me.
But there was a point. The space needed to store the data was too expensive. Many of you might remember the rampant Y2K fear-mongering stories from twenty-five years ago when we were misled about our own demise because of 2-digit date shorthand (instead of 4-digit date designations).
It was remarkably similar to the 24/7 fear cycle regarding Climate Change, Global Warming, Global Freezing, or the next big earthquake on the Pacific Coast.
I mention these things simply to note that just like today our past had its share of fake news and fear-mongering. The problems were real and needed solutions. But we must remember that government is rarely the right tool. Problems are more readily solved in free, unhampered markets rather than by confiscating vast sums of money from misled taxpayers for poorly conceived ideas.
Let’s begin 2025 inspired by the wisdom in President Reagan’s famous 1981 quote:
“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time, we’ve been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?”
As the your newly elected state Senator for District 28, I predict, we will see more problems arise because of a failed mindset that places too much faith in government. I’ve been involved at the capitol long enough to know that political players tell stories.
So, I’ll be on hand to let you know what to make of the news and I’ll report on how the battle goes during Oregon’s struggle to throw off the extreme left.
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© 2024 Diane Linthicum – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Dennis Linthicum: sen.DennisLinthicum@gmail.com
