Trains, Climate Change, and the Week In Politics
The midterms are coming
What is the best way to convince someone? Do you try to argue your point with compelling evidence to substantiate it? Do you double-down, never concede and stick to your guns?
Personally, I think the best way of articulating a position is by telling a story.
So I did that recently. I entered a writing competition this past week with this submission: The Arrow Sol.
The prompt was to write about a runaway train, where the main character wakes up with no clue as to where they are and no ticket. Oh, and the train shows no signs of stopping either.
I tried to take a unique approach. One that I didn’t expect anyone else to take. I wrote about climate change.
How could you make a train story about climate change, you ask?
Well, you’ll just have to check it out (link above).
I plan to write more short stories on Vocal, so be sure to subscribe there so you don’t miss one. You can still find most of my other writing on Medium and PolisPandit.com. If you’re not a Medium member, you can become one here.
Put the body and the bedroom on the ballot
The midterms are coming. Here’s a strategy for the Democrats to win.
Democracy is at stake. Given the number of 2020 election deniers still out there, that’s unfortunately not an exaggeration.
Chinese Drills Near Taiwan
As I’m sure you read this past week, Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. To nobody’s surprise, that antagonized China. So naturally, they sanctioned her. And then proceeded to conduct military drills for the past few days on Taiwan’s doorstep.
A world where China further antagonizes and potentially invades Taiwan is, frankly, terrifying. For the Taiwanese and most westerners, at least.
Not for Russia. It’s actually probably in Russia’s best interests because China would then probably strengthen its alliance with Russia while removing itself from trade with the west. I doubt China would ever want to take such an extreme action, but if you asked most “experts” a year ago whether Putin would actually invade Ukraine, they would have laughed.
We wrote further here on how Russia and China are aiming to destroy the western world order.
Elsewhere…
When the news and details came out about the killing of Al-Zawahiri, I couldn’t help but think one thing - could this save Biden’s political disaster in Afghanistan?
Arguably, the only reason Al-Zawahiri returned to Kabul was due to the Americans no longer being there. Had some forces stayed, it’s unlikely he ever would have returned. He may have escaped assassination forever.
But instead, he poked his head up, assuming he was safe. We all have routines. His morning routine killed him.
I’m not sure anyone will fully forgive the Biden administration for their awful handling of Afghanistan, but this comes close. It provides a little more justice to the 9-11 victims’ families.
Speaking of justice for victims’ families, Alex Jones of Infowars and awful conspiracies everywhere was hit with a big penalty. Altogether it amounted to almost $50 million.
Whether he actually pays it is questionable. What it does to the state of misinformation and disinformation in the modern era is even more uncertain. Although it probably won’t change much, at least free speech isn’t an absolute shield to protect harassment and completely abhorrent and disgusting behavior.
Admittedly, defining the right balance in all situations is difficult. Alex Jones may be an easy case. Your average social media user who hides behind anonymity while spewing lies is much harder.
I always thought of myself as a free speech absolutist, but folks like Alex Jones changed me. The average redditor or Twitter user changed me. To the point where I think more needs to be done at least not amplify unsubstantiated points that may be controversial on social media.
What do you think needs to happen?
Have a good week.