Posted on by Janani

Opinions and The Big Bad World

A group of girls sit on the desks, chatting and laughing. Bored, I listen in on their conversation. One pulls her friend closer and whispers in their ear. As a result, they both look at each other and burst into giggles simultaneously.

“Exclusion is such a terrible thing,” the first one says to the group. “I hear it makes people feel really bad about themselves. It sometimes leads to serious issues too.”

I hold myself from replying. After all, I wasn’t part of their ‘#BFF’s Squad’ or on their WhatsApp group for the same.

To myself, and only myself, I scoff.

Funny thing is, this isn’t even the most hypocritical situation I’ve come across regarding this topic. Loads of people decide to be ‘socially aware’ even if they’re pretty ignorant about the whole background of the situation. This seems to be primarily because there are people out there fighting for justice and it’s becoming a trend to ‘be socially informed.’ I’m not saying that people should turn into Tumblr-esque ‘Social Justice Warriors’, but if you really don’t care about the topic or are just more comfortable with sticking to your lifestyle, it’s better to just say so and usually, people are happier when you have a reason for your opinion. In most cases, people are fine with you just doing your own thing as long as it doesn’t hurt other people.

You don’t have to know the exact description of someone’s sexuality, get their pronouns right every time or yell at guys to be socially accepted. As long as you’re making people comfortable around you, people will be more than happy to help you if you make mistakes. People can tell when people make a genuine mistake and when they’re being a jerk intentionally, so if you’re genuinely trying to understand, it’s not a problem.

You don’t have to change your views on a situation to be socially acceptable, and no one is going to come up to you and tell you that your view of the world is wrong unless it is genuinely hurtful. And usually, people are just fine with learning about how you see the world.

So, instead of repeating what you’ve heard from other people, do some research and figure out whether you have any interest in the topic. If you do, keep going. If you don’t, that’s fine too.

Just don’t invalidate other peoples opinions. That’s it.

Posted on by Janani

What You’re Wearing And How it Affects Your Mentos Count

So you wanted to leave a good impression on the chairs? Your fellow delegates? The press, who will rip your outfits to shreds because who in the world wears a black belt with brown shoes?

Your fashion choices, (or lack thereof, in some cases), say a lot about who you are as a person. They expose your deepest darkest secrets and the very depths of your soul. From your bow tie to your untucked shirt, they all have something to say about you.

  1. The Tie and Blazer:
    Your mom picked your outfit, didn’t she? Don’t lie, you wouldn’t have worn that if you could’ve avoided it. It chokes you, restricts you, chains you. You hate it. You could have just worn a normal shirt (without the tie, if possible) and gotten away with it. If you picked that out for yourself, you’re dapper. You’re responsible. You probably finished your position paper before you got the study guides. You’re the star student in the class, the A* student, the one who’s grades are higher than my will to live. Noice.You get the most mentos, well, because you look prepared. Even if you forget half your speech you will get a handful for effort. Life’s good for you.
  2. The Tie and Shirt
    Does your mom know that you’re not wearing your blazer anymore or did you just forget it on your way out? A tired Taurus, sleeping in committee. You went halfway, only 50% effort. You didn’t give it your best.Or you’re too sleepy to comprehend what’s going on around you and are convinced that you’re actually in some sick pre-UNiS nightmare. In that case, boy do I have news for you. You’ll get some mentos for waking up. Or a yelling at, but you can always steal some later.
  3. The Tucked-In Shirt
    If you’re a girl — that’s a cool outfit. You’re gonna kick some butt in committee today. Do some paperwork, write seven communicae, plan to kill your enemies. You bet you’re gonna get mentos because you not only look, but also feel badass.If you’re a guy — didn’t the e-mail say to wear both a blazer and a vest? You are underdressed. You done messed up. You done messed up. You probably haven’t even glanced at the study guide and your position paper was rushed and submitted just in the nick of time. If you were going for casual, you went too far. You don’t deserve mentos, but you will steal some anyway. You’re the one who steals them from the delegate next to you.
  4. The Skirt-Suit
    You have a folder of evidence and notes. You planned for this. You are 110% ready. You will have your mentos. You will. Everyone is too scared to deny you your right.
  5. The Dress
    You look gorgeous. You look fierce. You take committee by storm. You were probably a chair in your past life. You’re absolutely ready to get more mentos than everyone else. And you will. Even your fellow delegates will submit their mentos to you. You are the mentos queen.

Switch up your outfit a bit and see if your mentos count changes!

Posted on by Janani

The Mueller Probe; The USA’s Trump Card

Q: What is Donald Trump’s favourite beverage?
A: Mueller Lite, served by his personal Barr-tender.
―Michael R. Burch aka “The Loyal Opposition”

What separates President Trump from other politicians is his ability to actually deliver on his promises. As Ivanka Trump states, he is the most successful president of the 21st century. He has done this by the creation of 4 million new jobs, the increase of economic growth by 4.2%, and the reduction of unemployment rates which are now reaching a 49 year low. The problem arose when the Democrats threatened to impeach the President with baseless accusations of his colluding with the Russians. An irrational accusation that has little factual basis and is, in fact, a witch hunt started by the Democrats to distract the American people from his faithful service to our country. 

As Mike Pence says, President Trump won the election fairly and on his own merit. The information provided by James Comey was unverified and it is the President’s responsibility to make sure that official information is genuine. Hence, firing the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations was completely justified, as accusations without proof become propaganda, and therefore ending those to maintain the security of one’s country is not an unreasonable act. The Mueller investigation itself is based on theories and hence is completely invalid, a waste of resources and should be put to an end. The investigation being released to the public would not be beneficial at all since the public would find all kinds of ways to twist and turn the information to mean something that is entirely misleading.

When the question of impeachment rises, the Democrats continue to make baseless accusations. Two hours of non-stop ‘debate’ within the democrat can be summarized in one sentence, ‘Trump is bad.’ That is the sole basis of the Democrat argument; they detest Donald Trump. Furthermore, their incompetence is reflected in the question, ‘would you please repeat the question’, which was repeated numerous times. Donald Trump is a successful businessman who simply gets things done; without the hassle of constructing an image. His honesty is what appeals to the masses, and his impeachment is a way for the Democrats to blame the President for their personal losses. It’s unfortunate that this strategy barely works on the democrats themselves. With only half of the Democrats in favour of impeachment, they do not seem to have much luck convincing the intelligent American people of arbitrary theories. William Barr correctly states that in the meeting with Mr Muller there was no evidence that proved Trump to be in any collusion with Russia, because there is, of course, none.

Trump’s work is also often put under the radar, he is disregarded by the Democrats since they choose to only view the work that is considered to be negative and unhelpful towards the American Government. If impeachment is the only answer, how does that reflect on the government’s reputation? Impeachment might not be the only answer. Even now, only some of the Democrats are for the impeachment of our President. The Democrats only have substantial evidence and must support their claims instead of carelessly making statements that will only lead them to their own losses. 

 

— By Janani, Samaa, Divina, Udita

Posted on by Janani

It UN-iS Time! — A Playlist

Committee is beginning, your mind is all over the place and the last thing you need right now is a playlist, right? But take a moment to reconsider.

What would some good vibes do to you? Soothe you? Relax you? Annoy the chairs? Get you in the zone?

You can listen to it here. It’s MUN TIME BABEY!!!

Posted on by Janani

Iraq Won’t Ku-Wait For It

Both the tension and the stakes are high as Iraq accuses Kuwait of stealing oil through slant-drilling into reserves present in the Rumaila oil field. There appears to be an invasion on the horizon as Iraq makes demands and threatens military action. This seems to be the climax of the underlying animosity between the two nations.

This animosity was first apparent in 1961 when Kuwait became independent. Prior to this, the country existed, up to World War I, as a “Qadha,” a district within the Basra Province. It was an integral part of Iraq under the administrative rule of the Ottoman Empire. The Iraqi government has since been trying to claim Kuwait as their own by claiming historic rights to the country. A small crisis emerged, wherein the Iraqi government threatened to invade Kuwait, but it was averted due to plans by the Arab League to form an international Arab force against Iraqi actions towards Kuwait alongside British military intervention.

However, it is interesting to note, Iraq is in financial debt to Kuwait. Kuwait openly admitted its support of Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war and even loaned the country large sums of money — though, due to Iraq’s impoverishment post the war, the country has not been able to repay the entire debt owed.

It is likely due to this, funnily enough, that Iraq is angered about oil prices. Kuwait is producing more oil than ever and allowing the prices to drop rapidly. It is estimated that for every dollar the price of oil reduces by, Iraq loses a billion dollars. Iraq has claimed that Kuwait is violating their treaty by producing large quantities of oil, but Kuwait does not show any signs of stopping.

In May, the president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein publicly stated that the overproduction of oil by Kuwait (thus lowering the worldwide prices) was a form of economic warfare against Iraq. He appears greatly angered by this and military threat seems to be looming over Kuwait.

The US, however, has not tried to stop Iraq from following this path at any given point in time. Iraq seems to be taking this as a green light to go ahead with what they are planning.

Kuwait, with Iraqi troops close to its borders, does not seem to be making any counterattack. It is possible that they are trying to avoid the conflict entirely, as Iraq has an extremely strong army that will be able to overpower Kuwait’s minuscule defensive forces rather quickly. However, conflict seems imminent with Iraq going on the offensive.

Assuming we’re all fortunate enough, Iraq will be forced to retreat and revoke their accusation, however unlikely that possibility may seem. Until then, we’re all in the dark.