It’s martyrdom in a box, always ready for instant deployment

Meteor Blades of Daily Kos reported a bill is advancing through the Florida Legislature would change the state energy policy. In doing so it would remove most references to climate change. Blades quoted Emily Mahoney at the Tampa Bay Times who gave an example:

“The Legislature finds that … the impacts of global climate change can be reduced through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” the existing law reads, in part. “The Legislature further finds that the state is positioned at the front line against potential impacts of global climate change.” The bill would replace those sentences with a shorter statement of purpose, focusing on “an adequate, reliable, and cost-effective supply of energy for the state in a manner that promotes the health and welfare of the public and economic growth.”

Blades discussed the climate deniers, then adds:

But these people aren’t the only obstacle blockading serious action. So are the delayers. And delay is just another form of denial. These delayers include a bunch of politicians and corporate leaders who say they accept the global warming verdict of the vast majority of climate scientists but drag their feet when it comes to supporting actual policies—not to mention initiating policies—that address climate change in an aggressive way. While all kinds of excuses are given for why we should tip-toe slowly in dealing with climate policies, their willingness to delay suggests these people don’t really believe the scientists. Or maybe they do, but they’re worried it will cost them their jobs and corporate donations if they back policies pushing for rapid changes in how we heat and cool ourselves, how we produce our food, how we transport everything, and how we make electricity. What should get them fired is if they don’t support such policies.

James Bruggers, in an article for Inside Climate News posted on Kos, discussed two reports published in mid January that document microplastics in the environment, in our food, and in us. Here’s a couple of the alarming things from those reports:

A liter of bottled water may contain nearly a quarter million pieces of the smallest particles of plastic. These nanoplastic particles are so small, scientists have found, that some pass through intestines and lungs or make their way into human blood and placental fluid. The bottled water study, done by researchers at Columbia and Rutgers Universities, was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Also published Monday, in the journal Environmental Pollution, was a paper from scientists at the University of Toronto and the Ocean Conservancy, which found that nearly 90 percent of 16 different kinds of protein commonly eaten by people, including seafood, chicken and beef—and even plant-based meat alternatives such as tofu and veggie burgers—contain microplastics. The scientists estimated that Americans are consuming up to 3.8 million particles of microplastics per year from protein alone.

Very little research is being done to determine how much microplastic is in various foods, how food processing affects that, and what happens to the environment and to us with that quantity of plastic. And we need to use a lot less plastic. Jessica Kutz, in an article published by The 19th and posted on Kos, celebrates the “climate grannies.” People 65 and older are the second largest climate voter group, Gen Z being the largest. These are people who list climate, environment, or clean air and water as their top reason for voting. They are three times as likely to list those concerns as middle-aged people. In all age groups women are more likely to care about climate than men. For many of these women that they are grandmothers is a reason to get involved (though some have been climate warriors since they were young). Hazel Chandler is one of those lifelong climate champions. She said:

When I look my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren, my children, in the eye, I have to be able to say, ‘I did everything I could to protect you.’ I have to be able to tell them that I've done everything possible within my ability to help move us forward.

Kutz wrote:

The most prominent example perhaps, is the actor Jane Fonda. The octogenarian grandmother has been arrested during climate protests a number of times and has her own PAC that funds the campaigns of “climate champions” in local and state elections.

The Verge created a website (with cool graphics) that explains why a lot of websites look very similar. If a site is way low on Google’s search results, the site isn’t going to be seen. In response to that many sites optimize for Google’s algorithm, or Search Engine Optimization. There are some things site authors can do, such as tagging images and reducing load times, that are beneficial for both SEO and humans. There are tools, supplied by Google and other companies, that help authors optimize a site for searching. This Verge site explains a lot of the optimization these tools recommend. Soon (as in announcements have been made) search results may be generated by AI. What is optimal for SEO may not be what is optimal for AI generated results. There are two big problems with all this. First, a site optimized for SEO or for AI tends to look like all the other sites on the web. Second, a site optimized for SEO and AI is not optimized for the human reading the site for its content. Site developers face a dilemma. Create a distinctive site easy for humans to use and not get seen because it is so low in search results or create a site optimized for SEO that can be found but isn’t so useful to humans. In an article posted in the middle of January Mark Sumner of Kos wrote:

Where Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” Trump declares, “I am your retribution.” How can anyone who claims to follow one of these men support the other? The answer, according to The New York Times, is simple: Trump supporters have redefined Christianity. For them, it has little to do with religion, and even less to do with Christ. Christianity is now just another synonym for MAGA.

Sumner includes a bit of history. The 1956 Republican Party platform opened with a “declaration of faith.” The Democratic Party platform did not. In 1980 Ronald Reagan and supporters created the religious right with the implication that their party was more “godly” than the other. A big shift in the last 30 years is the rise of those unaffiliated with religion.

In 1992, America didn’t look much different than it did in 1972 (or 1952) when it came to religion. But by 2022, the number of Americans who called themselves Christian was just over two-thirds of what it had been when Clinton and George H. W. Bush faced off, according to polling from the Pew Research Center and the General Social Survey. ... The one growing category (in addition to those unaffiliated with any religion, which is way up) is people who report themselves as “Christian (nonspecific).” This was just 2% of the population in 1999. It’s 11% today. And “nonspecific” seems to match well with The New York Times’ description of Trump’s followers.

So when news reports say that Christians support the nasty guy so such a person may conclude “I must be a Christian.” Politics is the master identity and these Christians don’t have any interest in Christian theology. That allows pastors to substitute the nasty guy for Jesus.

The “Christian” label serves another purpose for Trump supporters: It allows them to play the victim. It gives them the right to be racist, misogynist, antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-LGBTQ+ … then retreat behind religion if anyone points it out. It’s martyrdom in a box, always ready for instant deployment. And if that means they have to trade a message of love, acceptance, and forgiveness for one of spite, anger, and violence … hey, does it matter? They’re Christians. You wouldn’t understand.

Last week Sumner reported that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy officially replaced his commander-in-chief Gen. Zaluzhnyi. This is a bit risky because Zaluzhnyi is well loved by the troops. But the counteroffensive he designed is now a stalemate. And Zaluzhnyi admitted the stalemate, which is something the president does not want the people or soldiers to hear. Sumner quoted a tweet by Mark Hertling that suggests that while Zaluzhnyi has matured considerably over the course of the war, “he likely is physically, emotionally, and intellectually exhausted.” The new guy is Col.-Gen. Syrskyi. Earlier this week Sumner reported:

Russia has lost an entire Russian army’s worth of men and machines. But that still may not be enough to keep them from capturing Ukraine if Western aid falters.

One estimate is Russia has lost more than 3,000 tanks, about its entire pre-war active inventory. Of course, there are other estimates, some twice as high. Russia has lost thousands of other military vehicles and loses dozens a day. As of December Russia has lost 87% of the forces it started with. Even so, Russia has lower quality tanks in storage to last years. Thanks to Western aid Ukrainian tanks have improved and are better than Russian tanks. But that aid can’t falter.

Russia has lost one army. They’re willing to lose another because Putin believes that between the thousands of moldering hulks on Russia’s storage field and the millions of men that can still be dragged in from the countryside, there is always another army to be found. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is unwilling to destroy his army. In part because unlike Putin, he seems to care about the lives of his soldiers. In part because, unlike Putin, he doesn’t have a spare. That difference plays a role in why a second report from Rusi.org says that Russia “now believes that is winning.”

That means Russia has hardened its demands in any negotiated peace effort, hardened to the point they’re now calling them “surrender terms.”

What happens from here is more likely to be determined in Washington, D.C., than on the muddy front lines south of Bakhmut.

Following the nasty guy inviting Russia to invade NATO if certain countries didn’t improve their defense spending, The Spectator published its 17 February 2024 issue with a cover showing a snow covered tank with a soldier popping out of the turret ready to throw a snowball.