Island Resilience

April 2025, Island Resilience

Tax Game Time

By Stephen Buller Benjamin Franklin wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.” Perhaps one of his less inspiring quotes, but the sentiment holds true today, arguably more so than in 1789. In case you’d forgotten, your federal taxes are due on the 15th of this month. If…

Island to Island, Forest to Forests: Part 1
April 2025, Island Resilience

Island to Island, Forest to Forests: Part 1

By Jane Valencia Vashon-born and raised and a 2024 University of British Columbia graduate, Mabel Moses, has worked with “The Mother Tree Project.” With a mission to practice forestry in a way that better preserves biodiversity and carbon storage, MTP was started by Dr. Suzanne Simard who many forest-loving Vashonites know for her work with…

Terribly Terrific Tariffs
February 2025, Island Resilience

Terribly Terrific Tariffs

By Stephen Buller Tariffs are a tax imposed on imports into a country. They have two main effects: First, like all taxes, they raise revenue for the government; second, they discourage imports from the relevant country by increasing the price of goods. Are they good or bad? In short, they’re bad, just like every other…

The Money Party
December 2024, Island Resilience

The Money Party

By Stephen Buller It’s been more than a month since the 47th President of the United States was elected, and nobody living today can remember a time when our country didn’t operate on a two-party system. Although the party holding various positions influences laws, court rulings, and other governance, I’ll argue that your daily life is…

Managing Mother Nature
Island Resilience, November 2024

Managing Mother Nature

By Jo Ann Herbert If all of us died the earth would heal itself. Calling a plant a “weed” is like calling a human a racial slur. Every plant has a name and a purpose on earth. Are we to pull out all these plants we call “invasives?” We need more information about each. That…

Savers Are Losers
Island Resilience, November 2024

Savers Are Losers

By Stephen Buller Robert Kiyosaki, famous for writing the number-one bestselling book on personal finance, “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” says savers are losers. If you’re able to get past the controversial and inflammatory nature of the statement, you will find much truth, especially in 2024. I’ll argue for the merits of saving for the future….

Microsoft Goes Nuclear
Island Resilience, October 2024

Microsoft Goes Nuclear

By Marc J. Elzenbeck Earlier in 2024, Microsoft’s current leadership proposed a plan to reduce power consumption from multiple groups within the company in order to re-route its capacity to its US-based Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) servers. GPUs power AI. The plans feature shifting the “compute” for core services, for products like MS Office, to…

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