Democratic narrative

Hold off on calling Trump a kingmaker. Little's win was one of several reasons to doubt Trump's influence. There are still several primaries in the weeks ahead that will deliver a final verdict on the value of his endorsement.

Pro-Trump narrative

Sure, Trump hasn't swept all the races he has endorsed, including the loss in Idaho. But victories in the Pennsylvania governor's race and elsewhere show he still reigns supreme right now in the Republican party.

Left narrative

This is a step in the right direction that takes a sensible policy approach to Cuban relations. By focusing on engaging directly with the Cuban people and restoring some of the Obama-era initiatives on travel, the Biden admin. is acknowledging the value of positive engagement instead of punitive estrangement.

Right narrative

The US already faces a migration crisis with massive influx from Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Mexico, and now the Biden admin. plans to add Cubans to the mix - all in the name of freedom. Ironically, the new policies will actually run counter to this goal; money from "tourism" will only line the pockets of government officials, fortifying the government against those oppressed by the regime.

Pro-Russia narrative

This decision is completely lawless and reveals the federation's inability to cope with the mounting pressure from politicians and business tycoons who want to regulate sports. The symbol wasn't worn with any offense or discrimination, and athletes shouldn't be punished for their government's actions.

Anti-Russia narrative

Whether deliberately offensive or not, Kuliak unrepentantly wore a symbol that commends Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In doing so, he violated the FIG statutes, code of discipline, and code of ethics. He should be held accountable.

Nerd narrative

There is an 89% chance that Russia will be the world's most sanctioned country by Feb. 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Anti-Russia narrative

This invasion is an egregious violation of international law. Putin's ultimate aim is to restore the Soviet empire, even if it takes massive bloodshed and false pretexts such as calling the 2014 Ukrainian revolution after a fraudulent election a "coup". This unprovoked attack is the latest chapter in Putin's Orwellian attempt to rewrite history.

Pro-Russia narrative

NATO and the US have ignored Russia's security concerns by breaking its promise not to expand eastward in return for German reunification. These concerns are legitimate and taking them seriously would have avoided the Ukraine tragedy.

Nerd narrative

There's a 20% chance that Ukraine will have de facto control of at least 90% of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts by January 1, 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Democratic narrative

The spike in gas prices is a direct result of Russia's war on Ukraine, the ramp-up of sanctions on Russian oil, and continuing supply recovery problems following the pandemic. There's little that Biden could have done to prevent such a price hike; gas prices are not only rising in the US but across the western world.

Republican narrative

Though Russia's war in Ukraine has disrupted global petroleum markets, Biden has made things worse by implementing anti-fossil fuel policies since the beginning of his presidency. He has failed to properly address this crisis, and he even canceled an oil and gas lease sale for over 1M acres in Alaska last week, citing a "lack of industry interest."

Nerd narrative

There's a 50% chance that the price of oil will be at least $91 per barrel by December 2022, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Left narrative

After an unrelenting barrage of harassment and abuse towards Jankowicz, in addition to a gross mischaracterization of what the Board will do, right-wing trolls succeeded in bringing the effort to a halt. The irony that this decision was a hasty reaction to a right-wing operation only underscores why such a Board is needed in the first place.

Right narrative

Governments have no business declaring themselves the arbiters of truth, not least because they're not impartial entities and they have a consistent record of lying to the public across history and political parties. The creation of the Disinformation Board is reflective of what an authoritarian regime would do and it's a good thing that this unethical idea has been mothballed.

Narrative A

Harvey deserved to be punished and this ban may be too lenient considering players busted for PED use usually get longer suspensions. Now that we've seen the tragedy that can result from the distribution of opioids among athletes, a message must be sent that it won't be tolerated.

Narrative B

Harvey proved he has strong morals by testifying while knowing it could lead to MLB discipline. He's taken his punishment without appeal, and he's been a model citizen while with Baltimore. He deserves a second chance to continue his career.

Narrative C

Baseball was quick to react to possible opioid abuse by players in the wake of Skaggs' death, but investigations haven't turned up any positive tests of these drugs in MLB. So perhaps the Angels were an outlier or maybe adding opioids to the "drugs of abuse" list helped reduce their prevalence in clubhouses.

Narrative A

Leaders of the global public health community need to recognize that this virus is reaching pandemic territory and we are in danger of repeating the same mistakes from the battle with COVID. It's time to step up testing, surveillance, and vaccination to end this outbreak.

Narrative B

This is no cause for alarm. No Americans have died from the virus. Monkeypox isn't highly transmissible, and we have all the tools to contain and snuff out an outbreak - including well-stocked vaccines and antivirals in the US national stockpile. We should focus our attention on more pressing issues.

Cynical narrative

Welcome to the "Pandemicene" era of Earth's history. By completely rewiring the globe's network of animal viruses, human-caused climate change is creating a new age of dangerous diseases. This worrying future is already here and will be difficult to address.

Nerd narrative

There's a 50% chance that at least 208k human infections of monkeypox will be estimated to have occurred before 2023 worldwide, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Left narrative

This is a historic moment that represents a major victory for both women and the sport itself. The agreements rightly make women and men partners who operate as equals, a rarity in the field of sports that will elevate the USSF to a new level and potentially lead the way to equal pay in all sports.

Right narrative

The new deals aren't necessarily the "equal pay" agreements that the USSF hopes for. The reality is that, in order to achieve equal pay, the men's team - which generates most of the revenue - will have to subsidize the women's team. This could affect the larger mission of the organization as less money will be reinvested in the game.

Nerd narrative

There is a 37% chance that median wages will be higher for women than for men in the US in 2050, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Democratic narrative

Cawthorn is in the same league as Marjorie Taylor Greene and other Republicans who peddle conspiratorial falsehoods, and use inflammatory far-right rhetoric. Luckily, Cawthorn's defeat suggests that Trump's endorsement is not enough to carry a candidate with this much baggage past the finish line in every race.

Pro-Trump narrative

Cawthorn was targeted by both traditional Republicans and the mainstream media. Though it's probably for the best that he didn't win, as he has personal issues that need to be dealt with, the GOP establishment decided to knife him only because of his audacity to turn on the swamp.

Right narrative

Political moderates like Musk are inevitably flocking to the GOP, which is more in touch with the true needs of the American people. It's nearly impossible to stand by and vote for today's radical Democrats. Welcome, Elon!

Left narrative

Elon Musk is a perfect fit with the Republican party another out-of-touch, misogynist billionaire who denied the risks of COVID, compared one of our closest allies to Hitler, and continually engages in securities fraud using his favorite bully pulpit, Twitter - which he now intends to buy. There's reason to suspect that his interests in the well being of Democratic voters are insincere.