海角大神

2022
August
16
Tuesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

August 16, 2022
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April Austin
Weekly Deputy Editor, Books Editor

Could a fable about a rabbit be an antidote to despair? After reading 鈥淎lice鈥檚 Farm: A Rabbit鈥檚 Tale鈥 by Maryrose Wood, I would answer an emphatic yes. This delightful book, aimed at 8- to 12-year olds, has captured adult readers as well. Alice, an eastern cottontail rabbit, rallies the animals in the forest 鈥 even those who would prefer to eat her 鈥 to save a family farm from developers.聽

鈥淲riting children鈥檚 literature is a sneaky side door to writing stories that are animated by hope,鈥 Ms. Wood says in an interview. 鈥淚 want to offer tales that have the possibility of change; that things actually can get better. And the truth is that many adults appreciate those kinds of stories too.鈥澛

The book is gentle, honest, and poignant. It鈥檚 also a primer on how to improve one鈥檚 own patch of ground without falling prey to frustration or helplessness. Ms. Wood knows that people feel overwhelmed by what鈥檚 happening in the world. The drumbeat of news 鈥渕akes us think that we are in a race to the bottom, we are facing doom on multiple fronts,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a tough one, because when we are overwhelmed, it鈥檚 paralyzing. And I don鈥檛 think paralysis is a useful strategy.鈥

Alice may harbor doubts about her own effectiveness, but she accepts the challenge of convincing the animals 鈥 even the fox and weasel 鈥 to work together despite their differences. Most important, Alice finds the single thing all the animals can agree on: They don鈥檛 want to lose their home.聽

As a model of floppy-eared patience, Alice wriggles her way into your heart. 鈥淚sn鈥檛 it so often an unlikely hero, some person who steps forward and is willing to speak or to be vulnerable 鈥 that we almost instantly respond to them?鈥 Ms. Wood asks. 鈥淲e respond to true acts of heroism. It鈥檚 not feats of strength.鈥

She continues, 鈥淎lice totally embraces her vulnerability. And if you embrace vulnerability with that degree of honesty, I think you get two things out of it. You get compassion, right? But in addition to compassion, I think the other thing it gives you is a kind of rock-solid bravery.鈥


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

The Explainer

Susan Walsh/AP
President Joe Biden hands the pen he used to sign the Democrats' landmark climate change and health care bill to Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Aug. 16, 2022.

The Inflation Reduction Act will allocate billions to combat climate change, while lowering the cost of some prescription drugs and cutting the deficit, although some analysts say it will not meaningfully impact inflation.

SOURCE:

Legislative text of the Inflation Reduction Act (H.R. 5376), Senate Democrats summaries, and analyses by the Congressional Budget Office, Joint Committee on Taxation, and Tax Foundation

The largest climate bill in U.S. history makes several trade-offs. There are subsidies for electric vehicles. But those come with asterisks about where materials are sourced.

Andre Penner/AP/File
Descendants of U.S. Southerners wearing Confederate-era uniforms pose at a party celebrating the 150th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War in Santa B谩rbara d'Oeste, Brazil, on April 26, 2015. For many here and in neighboring Americana, Confederate ancestry, a point of pride, is celebrated at the annual Festa Confederada, or Confederate Festival.

A new law banning Confederate symbols in a rural Brazilian town tests long-held beliefs about history and identity. It鈥檚 also creating opportunity for a more balanced narrative about the past.聽

Difference-maker

Courtesy of Nayyab Ali
Nayyab Ali receiving the GALAS International Activist Award in Dublin. Ms. Ali鈥檚 work on the front line of transgender advocacy in Pakistan has made her a target of violent crime, but she says trans people like herself "cannot afford to be intimidated."

Progressive laws don鈥檛 necessarily translate into safer streets. That鈥檚 why Nayyab Ali is dedicated to providing safe harbor for Pakistan鈥檚 transgender community.

Essay

Karen Norris/Staff

鈥淒oing what you鈥檙e told鈥 came naturally to the so-called Greatest Generation 鈥 for their midcentury offspring, not so much. Who knew how that distinction could complicate kitchenware?


The Monitor's View

AP
A Kenyan woman walks past a mural in Nairobi calling for peace during the Aug. 9 presidential election.

Journalists often focus on the conflict of elections, yet in a welcome change, a big story in Kenya before last week鈥檚 presidential election was a grassroots effort to keep the peace, both before and after the Aug. 9 vote.

One reason peacemaking in Kenya was news is that memories remain fresh about the hundreds of people killed after elections in 2007 and 2017 amid ethnic-driven violence over allegations of vote-rigging. 鈥淭he first thing that matters the most to Kenyans,鈥 said Amriya Issa, a member of Sisters Without Borders, 鈥渋s maintaining peace during the electioneering period.鈥

It has taken a range of activists, from artists to religious leaders, to remind Kenyans where peace comes from. 鈥淟et us remember that peace starts with me and we have no other country to run to other than Kenya,鈥 Jennifer Riria, chairperson of the Women Mediators Network, told the Daily Nation.

Political violence is still possible after last week鈥檚 election. On Monday, a few hundred people stormed the streets of Kisumu, Kenya鈥檚 third largest city, after the head of the election commission announced that candidate Raila Odinga had lost to rival William Ruto by a slim margin. Yet the next day, Mr. Odinga urged supporters to keep calm and not 鈥渢ake the law into their own hands鈥 even as he made a legal challenge to the official count. The tightness of the final tally may lead to disruptions, the Eurasia Group consultancy said in a note, but 鈥渨idespread unrest remains unlikely.鈥

To the credit of Kenya鈥檚 peacemakers, the European Union praised the 鈥減eaceful atmosphere鈥 during the campaign. Efforts to prevent violence began in earnest last April during the Easter season. Clergy united to give sermons about peace as part of daily life.聽

鈥淟et鈥檚 not use words to insult people, words that are going to discourage someone, but uplifting words. And let us be truthful and moderate in all we do,鈥 said Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit in one sermon.

Other actions included a campaign by artists in Kibera, Kenya鈥檚 largest slum area, to display works that celebrate the country鈥檚 ethnic diversity. One group of activists organized a 鈥減eace caravan鈥 across the country carrying messages about remaining calm during the heated election.

The Inter-Religious Council of Kenya trained young people on how not to be exploited by politicians and how to react wisely to falsehoods on social media. The National Youth Council held a prayer day to encourage peace promotion. The EU paid for a 鈥渉ackathon鈥 to develop ways on mobile phones to build peace.

Kenya鈥檚 expanding network of peace activists may be a model for other democracies 鈥 including the United States. For now at least, it is simply as newsworthy as the Kenyan election itself.


A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥 in its various forms 鈥 is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥 whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

Like the South American tala tree breaks through rocky conditions to reach the sunlight, so we can seek the light of God in difficult times 鈥 which opens the way to healing, as a woman experienced when she was healed of asthma she鈥檇 struggled with since childhood.


A message of love

Frank Augstein/AP
A woman with an umbrella and the Elizabeth Tower, which houses the bell known as Big Ben, are reflected in a puddle in London on Aug. 16. The first rain has arrived in London after a long very dry period.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us today. Come back tomorrow for a story about how families in Gaza prepare for potential emergencies, such as rocket attacks, when there are few safe places left to go.聽

More issues

2022
August
16
Tuesday

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