Medium

Dick Dowdell

In

The Polis

by

Dick Dowdell

·

5h ago

The Tangled Web Over the Strait of Hormuz

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive.” — Sir Walter Scott

A vast glowing spider’s web stretches across the Strait of Hormuz at dusk, trapping an oil supertanker at its center as distant naval vessels wait beyond the rocky passage.

In

The Polis

by

Dick Dowdell

·

1d ago

The Most Dangerous Sentence in Silicon Valley

“It’s just an engineering problem” — and the billionaires who say it understand neither physics nor engineering

A gleaming modern rocket stands dwarfed at the base of an immense granite cliff that fills the frame, symbolizing human ambition and capital confronting the immovable laws of physics.

In

The Political Prism

by

Dick Dowdell

·

2d ago

The Wages of Shamelessness

Two men, one standard, and the side that no longer pays it

An antique brass balance scale sits perfectly level on a dark wooden judge’s bench, with a wooden gavel resting on one pan and the opposite pan empty, lit in dramatic gold and shadow.

In

The Polis

by

Dick Dowdell

·

3d ago

It’s the Economy, Stupid — But Which One?

An American voter’s primer on capitalism, socialism, and the words politicians hope you won’t define

A lone football referee stands at midfield, whistle raised, facing two colossal figures — one built from gold bars, the other from financial charts — colliding beneath dollar-sign stadium lights. Fine-print legal text covers the field in place of yard lines.

In

The Polis

by

Dick Dowdell

·

6d ago

Two Dollars a Month to Break a Republic

Fox News was never an ideological project. It was a billing innovation — and every American with cable paid for it, willingly or not.

Minimalist illustration of a red coaxial cable plugged into the cream-colored U.S. Capitol dome, splitting it with a jagged crack, while a white “$2.00/MO” price tag hangs from the cable against a midnight-blue background.

In

The Political Prism

by

Dick Dowdell

·

Jul 11

The Creed That Did the Deed

JD Vance is right that America lost its moral grounding. He has the autopsy exactly backward.

Abandoned white clapboard church with open doors and empty pews, dwarfed by a vast rusting steel mill under broken gray-gold light.

In

The Polis

by

Dick Dowdell

·

Jul 11

A Pawn That Crosses the Board Stops Being a Pawn

The strangest rule in chess is the most political idea in the game

A worn wooden pawn stands on the far edge of a chessboard, backlit by golden light, casting a long shadow toward the viewer in the unmistakable shape of a queen.

In

The Polis

by

Dick Dowdell

·

Jul 10

The Argument Is the Camouflage

Shirley Kher is right that liberal elites don’t see poor white America

Two angry crowds face off in a cracked mill-town street at dusk while, unnoticed above them, suited figures dine at a glowing rooftop banquet table.

In

The Polis

by

Dick Dowdell

·

Jul 8

A Proposal to the Board of Directors of Erythros Explorations, Inc.

Re: Authorization of the Erythros Prime Mars Permanent Settlement Initiative

A sleek empty boardroom faces a large screen showing a glowing Mars colony with glass domes, its warm orange landscape reflected across the polished conference table.

In

The Political Prism

by

Dick Dowdell

·

Jul 7

You Can’t See a Black Hole But You Can Still Fall Into One

America’s billionaires aren’t engines of creation. They’re gravity wells — and their pull is already bending your orbit.

A glowing orange-gold black hole pulls houses, cars, dollar bills, and small human silhouettes into its swirling accretion disk against a dark star-filled background.

Dick Dowdell

Dick Dowdell

A former US Army officer with a wonderful wife and family, I’m a software architect and engineer, currently CTO and Chief Architect of a software startup.

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