You’re gonna be driving the car over a cliff

I finished the book The Second World by Jake Korell. I agree with a book I wrote about several weeks ago that says colonizing Mars is a lot harder than people claim it is. Even so, setting a story on Mars can still produce a decent tale. Flip Buchanan is the narrator. I think the first name is a nickname because so many of his friends are referred to with nicknames, but while their real names are occasionally used, his never is. The story is about him from age 8 to 28 from when he was a junior troublemaker until he fully embraces adult responsibilities. All that is complicated because his father Buzz is the Director of Mars and Flip sees him more as a the worst kind of politician and not a good administrator. On top of that Dad is quite annoyed that his son seems to always come in second – second in his generation to be born on Mars, second in his high school graduating class, and more. Even so, Flip does accomplish a lot. There were a couple times I didn’t quite believe the science in the story. However, the author does come up with some cool solutions (though maybe dubious), such as when one environment dome lays siege to another by pulling a gigantic sun blocking blanket over it. I enjoyed the story, but it’s not so great as to get a recommendation. I have praise for the Detroit Free Press and it’s edition for last Sunday. The cover story (front page above the fold) was about Jake transitioning to Jackie. Jake grew up in a west Michigan town with highly conservative beliefs that didn’t like him trying on his mother’s clothes. He trained to be a nurse. After serving through the pandemic and watching patients die he needed counseling. Only then did he began to deal with being transgender. One fear was rejection by his parents and brothers. Once firmly into her transition Jackie did experience that rejection. I thought the Free Press did a fine job of presenting Jackie’s story accurately, fairly, and without sensationalism. Good job! The article is here, though one must be a subscriber to read it. A second page, available to all, shows several pictures, many more than appeared in the printed newspaper. The Free Press also did a great job in turning it’s entire opinion section over to LGBTQ writers. These are not blocked by a paywall. Roland Leggett wrote that Pride is a protest, a call to action. There are many ways to respond, with a top one being voting. Bella Bakeman is a lesbian English teacher who left many clues around her room that it is a safe place. She’s delighted when a student recognized that. Jacob Robinson-Suarez is chief of staff at Teach for America Detroit and emphasized fostering a sense of belonging at school is critical for academic success, especially for LGBTQ kids. Drew Atkins wrote that we need to live authentically even as people try to punish us for doing so. Lyra Opalikhin wrote about realizing she is transgender. Life improved when she transitioned. Again, a big thank you to the Free Press for honoring and sharing so many LGBTQ voices. In a lengthy article (long enough that I just scanned the second half) Maddie Stone of Drilled with help from Amy Westervelt of Drilled and Katie Worth or ProPublica, in an article posted on Daily Kos, wrote about a landmark paper on climate science published in 2004 by Princeton researchers that is now reported to have been heavily influenced by the oil giant BP. The paper is known as “Wedges” and was heavily cited in other research papers and even referenced by Al Gore in his work to spread knowledge of the climate crisis. This paper is a big deal. The general point of the paper is there are enough little things that can reduce carbon pollution that taken together can save the planet. These little things were “wedges” that would flatten the angle of the rising emissions. This was an optimistic message the world wanted to hear. The paper, as ongoing climate research and human action has shown us, has two major and intentional flaws. First, it relied heavily on carbon capture and storage, the process of taking CO2 out of the air and storing it underground. The technology for this is still unable to operate at the scale needed (or at any scale) to reduce the threat of climate change. The rest of the wedges, even if implemented fully (and they weren’t), could not bend the emissions curve enough. The second flaw was that BP was able to claim that all these other things worked so well that the company could continue to encourage the use and growth of fossil fuels that it saw were necessary for economic growth. The paper as a whole made the solution to climate change seem easy. The solution still eludes us. What the paper did was to get us to waste time and allow big oil companies to continue to rake in profits. Stone talks about how influential the paper was. Some of its ideas are still ingrained in our thinking about climate. She talks about the million dollar gifts BP made to Princeton to fund the research. That alone, we now know, is enough to bias research. Stone also talks about how much the authors of the paper reviewed it with BP officials and how much those officials suggested (demanded) and shaped changes. This was not the first time a big oil company paid for research that benefited them. Exxon started doing that in the late 1970s. However, this 2004 paper seems to be the most influential. This post discussed the influence of the paper and how it boosted the careers of the authors. Stone wrote:

In 2006, former Vice President Al Gore’s movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” exposed millions of viewers to the fact that fossil fuel use was pushing the planet toward disaster. Gore soberly presented the earth’s dwindling ice, rising seas and increasingly violent weather. And then, toward the end, he shifted to optimism. Americans need not despair, he said, because “we already know everything we need to know to effectively address this problem.” Behind him as he spoke, the opening words of Socolow and Pacala’s paper — the same ones [BP official] Mottershead had suggested moving to the top — appeared on a screen. Papers published in Science often enjoy a media moment before fading into obscurity. “Wedges” was different. Its simple, optimistic message — polished with the help of BP’s sophisticated public relations expertise — had an irresistible allure. And the media loved it. “How to save the world in fifteen easy steps,” read one headline the day it was published. “The 15 ways to stop global warming revealed!” read another.

Gore’s optimism wasn’t accurate. We did not know everything we needed to know. Still don’t. We don’t know how to make carbon capture, the core of the argument, work at a cost that is viable. As for those 15 steps, few have been implemented enough to make a difference. Most of them are not yet mature enough to help and would require much more research. Marty Hoffert, New York University physics professor, wrote a critique of “Wedges” in 2013, saying it “made the solution seem easy.”

To a lot of people, Hoffert said, “Wedges” served a purpose. “You have to give people hope” that climate change could be solved without radically disrupting society, he said in a recent interview. “Yet in the end,” he added, if that hope is gained by convincing people they can continue without getting rid of fossil fuels, “you’re gonna be driving the car over a cliff.” The fact is, he added, BP “got their money’s worth.”

After that a little bonbon that YouTube proposed for my enjoyment. Every year Broadway Backwards puts on a show turning Broadway tunes inside out. The show raises money to fight AIDS. The words are kept the same but the actors are both of the same sex. In the 2017 show Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Jay Armstrong Johnson did the duet “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” from The Sound of Music. I may have to explore more of these.

A good argument to vote for Democrats

My Sunday movie was Close, filmed in Flanders in 2022. It was Belgium’s submission for Best International Feature Film in 2023 Academy Awards and nominated for an Oscar. I’m sure I learned of it then. I got around to watching it now because it is about to leave Kanopy. I’m sure it is on other streaming services. The story centers on Leo, 13, and his best friend Remi, also 13. They are such close friends that Leo frequently does a sleepover with Remi. Both boys are well loved by their own and the other’s parents. Though they are besties, there is no hint, other than they’re always together, that either is gay. That fall they start a new school (not sure if middle school or high school). The other students notice their closeness. One asks if they are a couple, which Leo denies. At this point I don’t see any homophobia. But a while later another student uses the gay slur. Each boy begins to look for other interests and friends, and begins to push the other away. That leads to disaster. Much of the movie is about the consequences. Boys who are not gay can be harmed by homophobia. Both boys do an excellent job of acting – the whole cast does. It’s a beautiful bittersweet story. GoodNewsRoundup of the Daily Kos community discussed ten days ago about hints that Fox News (or at least their website) is turning on the nasty guy. A couple of the hints: Noting the nasty guy’s Iran deal is worse than the Obama agreement he tore up along with quoting Republicans who agree. Reporting on Republicans who question the funding of the new ballroom. This post also has examples of Republicans disagreeing with the nasty guy on the Iran deal. Even Newsmax is critical. There is also criticism of Bibi Netanyahu and Putin (though maybe not by Republicans). I don’t know the source of this quote:

Bibi is about to learn the ETTD rule the hard way. Everything Trump Touches Dies, and Bibi has just been touched, a lot. I say this as a man who advised a race against Bibi in 2021; if Bibi loses, he dies in prison. His odds of winning again are much lower than his odds of wearing the Israeli version of an orange jumpsuit. Bibi’s political utility for Trump in the United States was once decisive, both electorally and financially. When even Trump thinks you’re a war criminal who needs to be thrown off the sled to the wolves, you’re well and truly cooked.

Emily Singer of Kos reported words of Speaker Mike Johnson:

If we were to lose the midterms, heaven forbid, … y’all, impeachment’s not even the biggest concern. They will turn every committee of Congress into an investigative body, and they’ll go after the president’s family, the Cabinet, his donors and friends—half of you in this room will be targeted.

Singer replied that is a good argument to vote for Democrats. Democrats like the idea too:

“Good point,” Democratic strategist Dan Pfeiffer wrote in a post on X, regarding Johnson’s remark. “If you think politicians, billionaires, elites, and members of the Epstein Class should be able to do whatever they want without any accountability, vote Republican this Fall.”

In today’s pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin included a tweet by Soren Dayton. That includes a tweet by Jordan Weissman. First by Weissman, quoting an article in Vox that quotes him.

So in several cities now, democratic socialists have put up younger, progressive “change” candidates who’ve channeled many voters’ dissatisfaction with Democratic establishments both in their cities and nationally – and promised something new, while an increasing out-of-touch establishment was defending the past. “You have an extremely energized left activist network that really knows how to put together a ground game, whereas on the moderate side there’s just a void,” said Jordan Weissman of the Progressive Policy Institute (who is sympathetic to moderates). “What’s the center-left organization that is supposed to provide any kind of counterweight to DSA? There’s none.”

Dayton added:

Another way to look at this is that moderates in both parties just aren't interested in building power. They are mostly interested in relying on the institutional power they have, even as it atrophies before their eyes.

In the comments of Sunday’s pundit roundup are a couple good memes, both posted by exlrrp One shows Richard Nixon in his famous victory pose. The caption says, “I am not a crook ... by today’s standards.” The other one, is of an AI generated book cover showing the nasty guy splattered with algae sitting in a rowboat on the Reflecting Pool. The title of the book is The Old Man and the Pool.

No money for health care, endless money for unpopular war

Charlie Warzel of The Atlantic discussed Poolgate, the mess in the Reflecting Pool at the National Mall. Warzel says the mess is an example of the nasty guy’s debacles, which tend to unfold in 13 steps. I won’t mention all 13, partly because some of them repeat. Devise unnecessary spectacle, such as improving a landmark. All the better if he can claim he’ll do it faster, cheaper, and better than Obama. Disregard expertise. Bypass normal procedures because it has to be done right away. Declare victory too early. Spend way more than estimated. Realize it’s not going well. Bypass procedures to fix the problem. Allege conspiracy and sabotage, blame other people. Lose interest. Pretend it never happened and move on to the next thing. Emily Singer of Daily Kos said the nasty guy has asked Congress for $87.6 billion cover costs of the war with Iran, to bail out farmers hurt by his tariffs, and to fund his vanity construction projects around DC. He’s asking for that much even though the war is widely unpopular and many voters think it was a waste. As for his vanity construction projects he appears to be turning his eye towards the WWII Memorial and its fountain (having learned nothing from Poolgate).

If Republicans vote to give Trump more money for the conflict and bail out farmers but not help average Americans afford their skyrocketing cost of living, Democrats will almost certainly use that in attack ads this year. “President Trump launched a reckless and costly war with Iran—without authorization from Congress or the support of the American people—that he should never have started, and now, instead of doing anything to help families get by, he is asking taxpayers to pick up the tab and give him billions more to wage wars overseas,” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. Murray added, “This president is telling the American people there’s no money for health care, housing, or child care—but there should be endless taxpayer dollars to fund wars they don’t support.”

I heard a bit about this in the morning news and I’m glad I found links to the whole story. That story is told by Pete Buttigieg on his Substack about what his family just went through. An anonymous person called Child Protective Services saying that a woman claimed that several years ago Buttigieg told her he had committed violent crimes against his twin children, now age 4. The caller thought those children were still at risk. I’ll pause the story to note that if Buttigieg said that “several years ago” the children would have been infants or it happened before they were born. Did CPS spend any time investigating the veracity of the claim before traumatizing the family? Buttigieg doesn’t say. He eventually told them he had never been to the place where the woman said it had happened. Because of the allegation he had to stay away from the children for 24 hours. They stayed with grandparents. The next day each child was interviewed with no family member present. Only after that would the case workers interview him, then explain what was going on. They ended by saying there was nothing to substantiate the allegation. That was traumatic for the kids. After being warned against talking to strangers each child had to spend an hour with only strangers. The night before they couldn’t have Papa read their bedtime stories and couldn’t understand why. That was also traumatic for Buttigieg. He’s endured all kinds of hate and cruelty from opponents and is able to take it in stride. But this cruelty involved his kids. And it appears to be politically motivated. Buttigieg noted that the target of this cruelty was a family led by gay dads and done during Pride month.

Now our family is left to deal with the aftermath. I worry about any unseen effects this had on our kids, on Chasten and me, and on the rest of our family. Even though the accusation was absurdly and obviously false, and was promptly rejected by law enforcement, I still worry about the harm it has done. Chasten and I worry about who else might try to do this kind of thing, to us or to others. And at the most basic level, I worry about how anyone, even in today’s world, could fail to respect the absolutely fundamental principle that whatever you think about someone in politics, you leave people’s kids out of it.

Jon Paul Sydnor of the Kos community and its Street Prophets group discussed a progressive Christian political vision. Towards that he discussed authenticity. To be in a relationship with God we must be honest and authentic.

If a church demands that we hide our self to be accepted, if a church creates an artificial standard and demands that we conform to it, then that church has stifled the image of God within us.

Sydnor divides churches into low social control and high social control.

A low social control church respects members’ uniqueness, trusting that cohesion will emerge from diversity, as it does within God. Some churches deny the possibility of unity-in-diversity and become high social control groups, subjecting members to shame, shunning, denial of sacraments, and threats of damnation if they fail to be who the church wants them to be. These churches demand that members subordinate their God-given uniqueness to a church-generated stereotype, hiding their authentic self within a conformist shell.

Where there is hiding, there are secrets, and there is shame. A low social control church, an authentic church, celebrates their LGBTQ members. A high social control church does not, instead it denies what LGBTQ people know about themselves. And that causes horrific harm. When transgenders transition they frequently change their name. The Bible has stories of people who undergo a profound change and change their name.

Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah (Genesis 17), Jacob becomes Israel (Genesis 32), Simon becomes Peter (Matthew 16), and Saul becomes Paul (Acts 13).

A church that is a true reflection of God is one that celebrates the authenticity of its LGBTQ members.