Five Things: Harris, China, Solar, Toilet Papering, Jack Kerouac
Hello and welcome back to Five Things!
On this fine morning the summertime ended in Europe and for a few days people get to complain about the one hour time-shift and how hard it is to cope with. When they board a plane the next time to fly to a vacation destination a few timezones away, they won’t complain at all. But this one hour twice a year really arouses people. Luckily, the EU has too many hurdles in place to quickly change this, so we will have the debate twice a year for the foreseeable future.
When I look at the polls right now, I really don’t want to believe that people are still thinking about voting for Donald Trump. Don’t get me wrong, I think elections should be about choice, where you decide about policy and the person behind these policies. I also think it is good to have strong conservative candidates, because then the progressive candidates have to sharpen their arguments and make sure to explain why their policies are better. But Donald Trump doesn’t think about policy, he only thinks about himself in his weird delusional brain. He wants to become a fascist dictator and as a German, who also studied the history of the Weimar Republic, I can tell you that this is not a good idea. The US elections are going to be the most important elections in my lifetime and I sure hope that the American people will do the only sane thing and vote for Kamala Harris.
Kamala Harris is the Only Patriotic Choice for President
It’s sad that an endorsement of Kamela Harris has to start with pointing out how unfit Donald Trump is for office and on how many levels. From my transatlantic perspective, I of course root for Kamala Harris, even though I find her not progressive enough for my tastes, but that’s the way the American political system works. I have to add that Kamala Harris is also the choice that will make huge parts of the world a better place, as we don’t even want to think about what will happen when the USA is being run by a fascist Donald Trump.
China’s Agents of Chaos
The end of history is not what I expected it to be. China, Russia, Iran and North Korea certainly appear as one block, but then China does so much more to make countries depend on China and use its influence to act against the West.
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Cheap Solar Panels Are Changing the World
And while China is using its power to forge alliances against the West, they also supply the world with cheap solar panels. We are seeing a huge shift to solar power and this shift is so much bigger and faster than anyone expected. This is so important for our fight against climate change!
The History of Toilet Papering houses.
When I spent my senior year of high school in Des Moines, Iowa, I was introduced to the art of teepee’ing and also egging houses. I liked it a lot, so much more fun than just ringing a bell and then running away like we did as kids. Also, the store clerks gave us those looks when we bought cheap toiletpaper, shaving foam, flour and eggs in the middle of the night. That’s what happens when kids older than 16 are not aloud to drink and can’t get into bars, but are forced to spend their time driving around in their parent’s cars.
If Jack Kerouac Tried to Write On the Road Now
On the Road was famously written on one long reel of paper. And it is also my favorite book. Partly because I was ecstatic to read the line “and the prettiest girls in the world live in Des Moines” while I was 17 years old and in Des Moines, Iowa.
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That’s it. Have a great Sunday!
— Nico