Ding

She covered her ears against the booming sound.

Ding

Ding

This was the alarm. She checked that her eyes were open, and pointed them straight toward where she knew her window was. Most people never opened their eyes anymore, there wasn’t a point. She liked opening her eyes; liked the feeling of them opening and shutting, opening and shutting. However, sometimes at night she would get confused because she couldn’t see the woman working. Then she would remember that her eyes were closed.

A faint light began shining in through her window. It was always alarming at first, since Marin lived everyday without light. When she saw it, it always burned her eyes. She looked down and blinked a few times. Tears formed in her eyes. She wiped them away.

When she looked back… There she was. The woman, the woman who was apparently not her mother, despite the exact resemblance. She was in the sky again.

Mother had taught Marin about how the world used to be before the suns had gone out. She hadn’t wanted to tell her, but Marin hadn’t stopped questioning Mother until she’d told her everything. She’d told her about stars, about how they used to light the night sky along with something called the moon, which had reflected light from the sun.

Marin thought the woman in the sky looked like she was made of stars. She glittered like a constellation brought to life, another wonder her mother had told her about. Marin loved learning about the old world, but it also brought her great pain to hear about such wonderful things that she would never see. Stars however, she had seen. This woman was a collection of the brightest stars.

She wanted to help the woman, but didn’t know how. She was already working away at chipping the darkness covering the sun with a large tool Marin didn’t know the name of. Her mother hadn’t taught her about those.

She thought about her mother’s words. We aren’t meant to see anything. They were strange words, scary words. Who had taken away our light, mother?

A piece of darkness fell from the sky, to the earth. The sun didn’t shine through the darkness, no, it was turned off. She didn’t know how the woman planned on turning it back on after she’d uncovered it, but Marin wanted to help.

She rose on her knees and felt around for the crank on her window. She turned it, listening for the small squeak it emitted when it was finished opening. She turned back to her room and walked over to where she’d left her coat. That was another thing about the world now, there was no heat. It was always snowing. She pulled on her coat, her boots, a thick scarf, a hat, and gloves before climbing back onto her bed and out the window. She left it open behind her.

Mother had taught her these streets as soon as she’d known how to walk. She’d anticipated that Marin wouldn’t be content with staying in her house her entire life, so she’d prepared her. Now, she walked toward where the darkness had fallen with confidence.

The woman in the sky still worked. Marin wished she emitted enough light for her to see something else of her world. A tree, a bush, a house. She would love to see any of it.

She continued her walk toward the darkness. She’d only seen where it had fallen because it was a darker darkness than the darkness that already enveloped them.

A little while later she was so far away from her home that she didn’t recognize where she was anymore. She didn’t panic, however. If she got lost, mother would find her. They lived in a safe place, a place for mothers and their daughters.

Marin reached her hands out in front of her as she continued to walk. She didn’t want to run into anything. She tripped on a curb, and her arm was scratched against a tree. She knelt down. Grass. She was in a park.

She looked up at the sky. The woman was still working away. Another piece of darkness fell. It fell closeby. She wanted to run to it and see what it was, but couldn’t. She couldn’t see where she was going, and didn’t want to run into a tree.

She remained patient, arms out in front of her, and felt her way through the park to the pile of darkness. There were a few pieces in it now.. It was a strange sight. The black of the pieces that fell from the sky was blacker than anything else. She hadn’t thought that possible.

Marin glanced back up at the woman, who was still working away, and wondered if she would succeed tonight. If she did, would light return to the world?

Marin finally reached the darkness on the ground. She squatted down beside it, but didn’t touch it. No, touching strange things was something mother had told her never to do. Instead, she observed. The darkness didn’t have a definite shape or size, it didn’t hold still either. It swirled around itself, getting bigger and smaller, wider and thinner, taller and shorter.

Marin glanced up at the woman in the sky once more. The faint outline of the top of a tree was silhouetted against the light of the woman made of stars. Marin took a moment to admire the tree, the shape of it. She smiled. It was completely different than how she’d pictured trees. She loved it.

Marin locked her eyes on the woman just as another piece of darkness fell. She didn’t turn to look and see where it had fallen. Instead, she called, “I want to help you!”

At first, it appeared like the woman hadn’t heard her, which made sense. She was likely miles and miles away. Then, the woman disappeared. Wait– no. Marin had accidentally closed her eyes. She opened them. “Please!” she tried to capture the woman’s attention again.

This time, the woman stopped her work, and peered down at Marin. She didn’t appear startled that a child from earth was speaking to her. “You want to help me, sweet child?”

Marin nodded vigorously, and stood to her feet. “Yes, please!”

The woman smiled. “Alright. Give me your energy so that I might finish before morning.”

Marin frowned. “How do I do that?” Would it hurt? Marin had been hurt before, and didn’t like it. But she would do it, if it meant light would return to the world.

“Just repeat after me. Navitas tibi.”

Marin was afraid, yet exhilarated. She didn’t hesitate before repeating, “Navitas tibi.”

The woman of stars smiled wider. “Good girl.”

Marin felt the breath rush out of her, and she hit the floor with a loud thud. She tried to sit up, but couldn’t. She couldn’t move any of her limbs. “Help me!” she cried. A tear slipped down her cheek. What had she done?

“Don’t worry, child, your energy will return as soon as I am finished. You are a special one indeed. I have worked for fifty years, every night, and have yet to succeed. Nobody has offered me help in all that time. Nobody has seen me.”

Marin’s confusion washed away her panic. “How have they not seen you? You are made of the brightest stars.”

The woman nodded. “Yes, I am. But nobody was ever brave enough to try to see me. Seeing is dangerous my dear.”

Her mother had said the same thing. “Why?”

“You will understand when you are older. I must get back to work.” The woman turned away from Marin and began working once more. She wanted to panic. She wanted to shout out for help and cry as hard as she ever had. But she didn’t. If this was the price of restoring earth’s sun, she would gladly pay it.

Marin stayed there, lying beneath the stars. The only way she was able to track the passage of time was by how close the woman became to finishing.

She was closer than Marin had ever seen her before. She was getting excited now, excited to finally feel the warmth of sunlight on her cold skin. Excited to be able to move again too.

The woman of stars had one piece of darkness left. Marin had a feeling that when she finished, she would disappear. But she didn’t want her to go. “What is your name?” she called out.

The woman paused again. It must not be too close to morning then, if she had enough time for a pause. “My name?”

“Yes.” Marin was curious. She wanted to know the name of the woman who she would later tell mother about.

The woman looked confused, then fearful. “I do not remember my name.” She looked sad. Marin felt sad for her, it would be scary to forget who one was. She couldn’t imagine ever forgetting her name. This woman must have been in the sky for a long time to have forgotten.

“I’m sorry,” Marin told her.

The woman shook her head. “That’s alright–”

“We need to give you a new name!” Marin loved naming things. She named her pillows, her dolls, each of her fingers and toes. “I’ll choose a really good one! I promise!”

The woman laughed. “What would you call me?”

Marin thought, and thought hard. It couldn’t be something frilly like lacey or starlight. No… It had to be a strong name, a brave name. Her mother was the strongest, bravest person she knew. Perhaps her name would do.

“How about Brianna?”

The woman placed a hand on her chin. “Brianna? Hmm… I approve. It is a virtuous name. I am honored to be named after your mother, dearest one.”

Marin laughed. “How do you know that?”

“I’ve been trapped here in the sky for a long time. I’ve spent my days observing every person on this earth, and, more recently, my nights attempting to free your world from the eternal darkness my monarchs have imposed upon you.”

“What’s a monarch? And how much longer will you be trapped?”

Brianna smiled. “The monarchs are the people in charge of my world. They’ve sent me here until the end of my days. It is my eternal punishment. The darkness your world faced was just another thing my monarchs did to keep me busy.”

Marin was suddenly nervous. “What did you do that was so bad they locked you away for eternity?”

“I fought for justice, just like you are now, Marin.” She smiled at her again. “When I finish this task, you will no longer see me in the night sky in this form. I will take on another form. Do you know what a constellation is?”

Marin tried to nod her head, then remembered that she still couldn’t move. “Yes. Mother told me about them.”

“I will become a constellation. You will see my shape among the rest of the stars. Perhaps–” Brianna faltered. “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind saying hello every once and a while. It gets rather lonely up here, and talking with you–maybe even hearing about your life if you would indulge me–would brighten the dullness that will accompany the rest of my existence.”

“Of course I’ll talk to you. We’re friends!”

Brianna’s smile turned sad. “Yes, friends. You are my first friend Marin.”

“Mine too.”

“I must get back to work now, morning is getting closer, and I want everyone to wake up to a rising sun.”

“I understand. I promise I won’t ever forget about you, Brianna.”

“Neither I you, Marin.”

Brianna lifted her tool high over her head. She turned to look at Marin and winked, before shooting her a shining, and slightly sad, smile. As soon as Brianna brought the tool back down, the earth began to shake.

The last piece of darkness fell. The earth vibrated all the while, and Marin was jostled around on the ground. It was scary, but it was also exhilarating. She didn’t watch as the darkness joined the rest on the ground. She kept her eyes on Brianna. She’d stopped moving, but Marin could still see the feeling in her eyes. Brianna began to split apart, her stars moving further from each other. She smiled down at her one last time before she became one more constellation plastered in the night sky. She was very distinguishable, holding her tool high above her head like that.

Feeling returned to Marin’s limbs right as a loud whooshing sound emitted from the sun, and sunlight, bright and beautiful, hit her with startling force. Marin stood, and stumbled back, immediately blinded by the sight. With her eyes closed, tears fell down her cheeks. Half of them were from the light, the other from the joy blossoming in her heart.

She slowly peeled one eye open, blinking furiously. She opened the other, and then she cried harder. The grass in the park was green, like her mother had told her. Marin had never known what green looked like, or what a color really was. Now she could see endless colors. The leaves on the trees were green, and the trunks were brown. The sky was blue, and the sun… the sun was too bright for her to examine its color. But the light that shone down cast a yellow hue on her surroundings. She didn’t know every color’s name, but she loved each and every one of them.

Ding

Ding 

Ding

It was morning. The first real morning in fifty years.

Marin ran home to tell mother, tears falling down her face the whole way back. A woman of stars uncovered the sun, mother. She would say. I helped her, and I named her after you because she is also strong and brave. 

I named her Brianna.

Why is Trump trying to buy Greenland?

Greenland is of immense strategic value.

It’s the size of Alaska and is mostly an inhospitable belmanage of glaciers. The territory already provides the United States with its Thule Air Base about 750 miles north of Arctic Circle. The airbase was established in the 1950s primarily for an early warning ICMB system.

With the Arctic continuing to melt, Greenland’s land and sea will open up even further for shipping and mining potential. Greenland possess vast quantities of rare earth metals and minerals used for electronics and wind turbines. These include uranium, gold, platinum, zinc, graphite, titanium, rubies, sapphires and even huge potential reserves of hydrocarbons.

The region is much sought after for strategic, mineral and territorial purposes. America’s potential acquisition of the landmass would solidify its claims in the Arctic against Russia.

Greenland is the largest landmass in the Arctic region. The territory is enormous and sparsely populated with only 56,000 inhabitants. It is currently a glorified colony under the Danish crown with growing calls for independence by its population who are mostly indigenous Americans.

Of course, the territory was only recently settled by humans and indigenous Europeans also have a valid claim over the landmass. Scandinavian forefathers explored the region a thousand years ago and ventured into the Americas before Christopher Columbus.

The land is almost entirely uninhabitable with about 80% of it covered in an ice sheet. Its exposed land is mountainous, barren and hostile to vegetation. There are very few roads connecting the settlements. Think of Greenland as a barren planet with only a handful of humans scattered sporadically across its wastes.

America has long sought to claim Greenland for about one hundred years, but Russia and China have now increased their economic interests in the region. This means the topic of Greenland’s control has become extremely relevant. China describes itself as a near-Arctic state and Russia is militarising the Arctic regions it controls. This militarisation could gravely influence emerging sea lanes such as the Northern Sea Route.

Donald Trump is not the first President to seek Greenland’s acquisition, but he would certainly like to do so for his legacy as a leader who expanded American territory. This is not the only reason, but it likely features prominently.

Greenland’s fate is actually part of a wider problem of European countries with overseas territories. Whilst Denmark’s hold over Greenland partially stems from Viking era connections and more recent activities, many current European territories are hangovers from their colonial era. Britain has many including Gibraltar, bases in Cyprus, Falklands, Diego Garcia and Monserrat.

I think Britain will soon be incapable of even holding onto these territories if they were threatened by military force. I’ve long held the view that the Falkland’s will fall into American control. Britain is no longer a mature military power and its capabilities have been greatly weakened since the 1980s. It doesn’t even have an independent foreign policy.

I foresee a moment when the Falkland islanders demand American protection. Its population will see that Britain cannot adequately defend its independence with such a crippled navy and ingrained apathy. This may be replicated across many of Britain’s territories including the mess of Diego Garcia. This process of territorial transfer of small islands across the world into American hands could happen within the next few decades.

One of the failures of post-colonialism for European powers has been evident by Chinese and Russian expansion into Africa and over regions America controlled like the Panama Canal or Cuba. When one power vacates, another replaces it. I’m not defending colonialism, but merely revealing the geopolitical reality much of the world faces today.

I doubt Denmark would be able to defend Greenland from Chinese or Russian incursion, although the territory does fall under NATO’s wider defence umbrella. Any incursion from these powers into Greenland would immediately incur American acquisition.

I’ve always stated my firm belief that America has not yet concluded its Manifest Destiny. I believe the United States will eventually control all of Mexico and Central America. I also predict America will assume direct control of Israel. This process could take over a century to unfold and will be driven by a whole host of factors.

Two of these factors for the Americas are interconnected. They concern illegal migration and the cartel wars. America may find the only way to crush the cartels is to occupy the territories where they originate. At the same time, America could weaponise its prize of citizenship and slow down the advance of illegal migration by conferring it onto Mexico and Central American nations. Rome engaged in this exact policy.

With increased Mexican-Americans in the United States and its army, there could be popular approval from that very population itself. I expect many Cuban Americans would applaud permanent American intervention in Cuba just as it controls Puerto Rico.

The acquisition of Greenland and the potential to reacquire the Panama Canal is all part of America’s historical destiny which seeks to control the whole North American landmass. Already this destiny was declared with the Monroe Doctrine in 1832, forbidding European and other foreign powers from having any influence over the American landmass.

Denmark is technically going against the spirit of the doctrine by its old colonial presence in Greenland. Whilst this is no fault of its own, it still goes against the desires of a far larger power. America could also use the Monroe Doctrine to sweep up many European islands in the Caribbean.

There are moves afoot amongst regions in the Commonwealth of Nations, formally the British Empire, to have ceremonial independence from the British monarchy, but many of these moves are being influenced by China. America will not tolerate such ambitions.

If Greenland is purchased legally, I hope its peoples benefit. It’s unlikely the purchase will bring any tangible benefit to anyone else except private mining companies. The cost would be immense. Some have floated the figure of $1.5 trillion.

Whilst that money can be printed, it will add inflation and debt to the US economy. It’s important to be realistic about these things. Very few people will visit the territory or see any change in their life unless the mineral extraction was undertaken by nationalised companies. There’s something a bit sad about an uncharted territory being bulldozed for mineral extraction so someone can get an extra private jet or eat Greenlandic caviar.

As a principle, I view American control of overseas territories as more stable than their current European protectors. Perhaps the Greenlandic people are considering this reality just as others in the Falklands and elsewhere should also begin to seriously think about.

I also think it would benefit European nations to hand over these territories to American guardianship because it may finally end their delusions of global influence. This would be of immense benefit for European countries who are facing many terrible domestic crises. Britain still pretends it’s both an empire and global soft superpower along with other meaningless terms. Getting rid of its imperial relics would hopefully make it concentrate on its own serious problems.

Perhaps Denmark should follow suit, providing the Greenlandic people are happy.

The scariest thing I ever had to learn about women