"'What' and 'if' are two words as non-threatening as words can be, but put them together side by side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life. What if? What if? What if?” -- (Letters to Juliet)
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I'm not sure that there is anything more intoxicating to a journalist than speculation. By training and obligation, we work within the world of what can be proven -- the facts -- about any given situation, so "wishful thinking" or any such speculative endeavor is strictly out of bounds.
But of course we do speculate, endlessly, and that is ultimately how we end up getting some of our biggest stories. When that happens it starts with a hunch, then a theory, that slowly takes on the shape of reality as the evidence comes in.
There is no better feeling for a reporter than to have such a hunch come true, except for later when you can tell yourself that it actually made a difference in the world.
Naturally, this sort of experience is not confined to journalists; nothing of value is. Entrepreneurs pitch "what if" scenarios all the time, as in "what if we could disrupt this industry, it would be a multi-billion-dollar market!"
After that, go down the list. When scientists speculate, it's called a hypothesis, which like journalists they cannot publish until they've developed enough evidence to convince their peers that it is a plausible explanation for observable phenomena.
Political analysts dream up various scenarios whereby candidates can win close elections based on multiple factors, most of which boil down to voter turnout.
I'm sure you could add dozens of other professionals to this list -- sportscasters, doctors, weather forecasters, grandparents, space explorers. And, of course, what novelists do exclusively is to speculate.
When it comes to me, I rarely indulge in speculation when considering the past, as in "what if I had taken that job offer, bought that house, listened to my heart with that relationship?" The reason is that it is all pointless now, and in many cases would only lead to regret at opportunities missed.
The future, however, is another matter, and about that I speculate constantly. That's the one part of life that remains open to speculation, unlike the past or even the present.
Positive speculation, which you also might call day-dreaming, frees my mind of the all-too-real constraints of my present situation to allow something else to happen.
In my dreams.
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THE HEADLINES:
* VIDEO: W.H.O. Calls for a Moratorium on Boosters Through End of the Year -- The World Health Organization asked wealthy nations to hold off on distributing coronavirus booster shots to healthy people until at least the end of the year in an effort to reserve vaccine supplies for low-income nations struggling to access first-doses for their populations. (AP, Reuters)
* Biden to require all federal workers to be vaccinated -source (Reuters)
* Mu COVID Variant: Here's Everything You Need To Know (HuffPost)
* Beyond Delta, scientists are watching new coronavirus variants (Reuters)
* To Avoid Extreme Disasters, Most Fossil Fuels Should Stay Underground, Scientists Say (NPR)
* From 4% to 45%: Energy Department Lays Out Ambitious Blueprint for Solar Power (NYT)
* San Francisco is in the midst of a $7 million project designed to anchor the city’s rapidly eroding southern shoreline with a giant sand berm. (California Today)
* California Recall Vote Could Weaken the State’s Aggressive Climate Policies -- Many Republicans vying to replace Newsom as governor want to roll back the state’s ambitious plans to cut planet-warming emissions, a change with nationwide implications. (NYT)
* The world’s biggest plant to capture CO2 from the air just opened in Iceland (WP)
* Afghan journalists beaten in Taliban detention, editor says (Reuters)
* Aid Workers Staying in Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan Tread a Tricky Path -- Afghanistan desperately needs aid. Nonprofits desperately want to provide it. But the aid groups are being tested as never before by the uncertainty that has followed the Taliban takeover. (NYT)
* Barrier fencing that surrounded the U.S. Capitol for months after the Jan. 6 pro-Trump riot likely will be reinstalled ahead of a Sept. 18 rally that threatens to feature more violence. [AP]
* How Educational Differences Are Widening America’s Political Rift -- College graduates are now a firmly Democratic bloc, and they are shaping the party’s future. Those without degrees, by contrast, have flocked to Republicans. (NYT)
* Former President Barack Obama joined other prominent Democrats urging Californians to vote "no" in next week's recall election, supporting Gov. Gavin Newsom. Obama's entry is a huge get for the embattled Democratic governor. Meanwhile, as Newsom gains in polls, Trump and his lackeys are already lying that the election is rigged. [HuffPost]
* Many tech leaders are financially supporting Newsom, wary of what a replacement would bring. (NYT)
* Xi Jinping’s crackdown on everything is remaking Chinese society (WP)
* Man Already Has Whole Sentence Lined Up For Later In Conversation (The Onion)
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"What If"
Wish I could say that's how I am but I'd be lying, yeah
And lying in my bed at night one too many times just thinking
What if, what if
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