My cautious support for Trump Administration's global effort to end criminalization of homosexuality. Important reservations and questions also.

There could be at least some good things coming from the Trump Administration. Trump administration launches global effort to end criminalization of homosexuality. The administration is responding in part to a reported hanging of a young gay man in Iran, Trump’s top geopolitical foe.

At the same time, there's quite a bit of reservation about the motives and whether this administration is up to the task.

U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, the highest-profile openly gay person in the Trump administration, is leading the effort, which kicks off Tuesday (Feb. 19 2019) evening in Berlin.

Some people fear that this could be mostly a ploy to get European nations more on board with scrapping the Iran nuclear deal and further ratcheting up the sanctions against Iran. In my mind, there is an important question here. A question over what the best strategy is toward a country that threatens its neighbors and abuses human rights. Should there be engagement or isolation? Maybe Obama's nuclear deal with careful engagement was a better strategy than Trump's plans for total isolation? Who knows for sure.

Folks also question why so much focus on Iran when gay rights is also not respected in close US allies; such as Saudi Arabia. The Trump administration is doing some things toward reform in places like Saudi Arabia, but why a much more isolating strategy with Iran? I'd ask, are we taking sides in the Sunni Shiite conflict?

Then there is the questions about the Trump administration's record on gay rights and transgender issues at home. Do the problems of the Trump administration on a wide range of issues discredit any good initiatives that come out of that administration?

I continue to hope for the best.

Forward Washington Transportation plan sounds a bit similar to my gas tax / carbon tax combo idea

They are thinking of combining the idea of a carbon tax with the gas tax. Almost like the idea I was conjuring up last summer. See my blog entry from August. This bill isn't the same as my idea, but it's surprisingly close. Called the Forward Washington Transportation Plan introduced by state Senator Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens.

There's a need to raise money for Washington's roads and other transportation systems. Much of the need is environmental. US Supreme Court has recently ruled that our state must take out a lot of culverts under roads. Widen river crossings under many roads to enhance salmon habitat and maybe save the whales.

Carbon tax and the gas tax are sort of like cousins.

Follow above link to my blog entry from last August with a somewhat similar line of thinking.

I am hoping the governor of Virginia can be forgiven. In 1980 a gay rights activist friend of mine was still in the closet trying to pray the gay away.

I'm hoping the governor of Virginia, who supposedly did black face at a party in 1980, can be forgiven. A friend of mine, who is a gay rights activist, pointed out that in 1980, he (this friend) was in a Pentecostal church trying to pray the gay away. Since then, my friend came out of the closet.

People do evolve. In Virginia, it looks like the 2 other Democrats, that could be in line for governor, are also tainted. 3rd in line is a Republican. Of course maybe being a Republican isn't necessarily an automatic indictment; if one supports Republican ideals.

One virtue in society is compassion. Zero tolerance can go too far. Given how much worry there is about global warming, it is conceivable that at some future time, politicians who had a history of flying in jet planes or driving automobiles, while fully knowing those effects on the planet, could be seen as tainted and ask to resign.

When they say where's global warming, they can't see it above the atmospheric noise

We finally got some winter. Seems like Bellingham winters have been a bit milder than normal over recent years. This is more normal. We get a hard winter every few years.

Some people might ask where's the global warming? Here's my reply.

So far, global warming only accounts for worldwide average temp rise of around 2 degrees C since 1900. It can still be snowy in the winter, but I think cold years are getting less frequent in this area. Over the long run, most glaciers are still retreating, precipitation patterns are still changing, growing seasons are still getting longer and sea levels are still rising. It's subtle so far and often still buried in the noise of normal weather variation from day to day, year to year.

Some models predict that there could be more of a temperature rise by 2100. More than just around 2 C. More like 4 to even 8 degree rise. That would really be serious. The situation could be accelerating due to population growth and growing prosperity; especially in developing nations. Also there's talk of feedback effects with methane and so forth. Hopefully these predictions will not come true. We can make some changes.