I read this newsletter to learn about other things besides the activities of the orange putrescence. He is NOT the only thing happening in the world, even though he is a serious threat.
I espeically appreciate that Heather continues to draw attention to foreign policy in Africa, but we need to be reminded that many of these issues are global, with the same themes appearing in Latin America and South and Central Asia. The less developed world will be the main source of markets for the US and sources of strategically critical natural resources like battery metals. Promoting democracy-based stable governments will be key to combating climate change, world hunger and mass migration and providing economic opportunity worldwide but especially in the developed nations which are seeing aging populations and slow population growth.
This is so in line of my opinion too. Though barely understanding what goes on there -in all things considered- it seems a reasonable synopsis that developing countries would provide the ample growth for consumption -ie avoiding the usual aggressive competition tactics deemed necessary. That China and the US would have more than plenty to тАШsell toтАЩ if everyone was prospering.
This continued one-up-man-ship costs not only innocent lives but after restoration expenses...seems like the тАШleadersтАЩ of too many countries want CONTROL regardless the expense which ...has any one of them taken the toll? When in fact shoring up emerging countries all together could vastly shorten the intended goal ...the fastest route to customers...is everyone interested pulling together ...that a no brainer...?
Instead wars are waged internally/externally/near globally ad infinitum and mess after mess ( count them! ) to тАШclean upтАЩ ...ЁЯд╖тАНтЩАя╕ПЁЯджтАНтЩАя╕ПЁЯШФ so sad.
Seems thereтАЩs enough of тАШthe big guysтАЩ if they could join hands / get over this endless wanting to be king-of-the-hill game ...ALL would prosper monetarily as well as be equally regarded as winners.
Look at how the world smiled when Biden pulled the coalition of nations back to NATO alliance....and btw is still striving further for...
Am I THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES THIS...or is my rose colored glasses talking ..again?
Is seems thereтАЩs a growing number of people in reality understanding the intricate maneuvers to run this country...play the peacekeeper for world unity...gather togetherness coalitions...and also see the slights of hand/mind in disruptive politics/ grandstanding ..done trying to undermine for personal gain.
Imagine an 80+ year old managing all that..huh?
ItтАЩs called experience, good behind the scene choices of trusted friends and choices well thought over.
The history of American foreign policy is often not pretty and we have ended up with many problem still with us today because of our intrusion into other countries in various ways. However, I feel like what Biden and Blinken are doing is actually good and of course, they have had to repair the damage done by death star.
тАЬNot prettyтАЭ is putting it mildly. Iran is a good example. Iran is our enemy because Eisenhower, at the behest of big oil, repaced IranтАЩs elected president with a dictator. Cuba is a similar story. We should have rejoiced when Castro ousted the brutal dictator, Batista. Biden and Blinken are for sure a big improvement over our past behavior which, to be sure, isnтАЩt all bad. The Marshall plan, a project of Democrats, is a marvelous exception. Probably Dems could get approval from the American electorate for the Marshall plan because the people it helped looked like our dominant class. Regardless, it was a great success.
I am aware of our intrusion into Iran and Cuba and other places where we couldn't accept democratically elected leaders. I am reminded too of the book Lawrence in Arabia about the Middle East during WWI including an American oilman along with the Brits, the French, and the Israelis who did not have a state yet. I agree that the Marshall Plan is a good exception. My husband traveled to England and Sweden looking at unemployment strategies with funds provided by that plan. At one point we were willing to aid and abet brutal leaders as long as they sang the anti-Communist song. And of course, our work for United Fruit in Central America.
Yes, the partition after WWI of the Middle East into sheikdoms by Britain, France, and the US (described by Sir Lawrence in his sprawling book) is another example of catastrophic meddling, although Britain probably bears more of the blame than the US in that case. By contrast, the US carries all the blame for the United Fruit atrocity in Central and South America, another mistake that Eisenhower played a big role in while his henchmen, the nefarious Dulles brothers, were busy screwing up Southeast Asia.
I wrote a long one and lost it. In two words: no population increase. Children born now may starve. Adopt an orphan if you want to raise a child. Look at UN figures from the 1970тАЩs when the total was 2.2 children for existing families.
That's happened to me a couple of times. Now I write my comments in Word and copy-paste. Better spell- and grammar-checking in that program, too. It's just too infuriating to see all your thoughts disappear as the result of touching the wrong key. Godfrey Daniel (channeling my Floridian dad)!
Virginia WitmerтАЩs comment suggests a fundamental (existential?) fact. Let me start with a quiz: I was born on VJ Day; during my lifetime, by what percentage has the human population of the planet grown?** Before retiring, I taught mathematics at the high school level. We included simple population models in the curriculum, including the concept of carrying capacity of any ecosystem. When a population reaches the limit of the carrying capacity of its ecosystem, nature takes over. My personal belief is that the human population is beyond the carrying capacity of the planet; nature is taking over. VW suggests this when she observes that children canтАЩt thrive in this situation. Desperate people do what they feel they need to do to survive: migrate where things seem better, have fewer children. IтАЩll be interested in responses to what seems a pretty bleak outlook.
I have the same feeling about where we are headed. We have no children partly because we could see this coming. We are way beyond carrying capacity. I do have children in the family who are my greats and great greats. Three of my great greats started school this week and they looked so excited. I hate to think how things might end up for them. Then I have an ex-student who seems to think older people should die. I have to remind her from time to time that we and her mother are in our 80s. She and her husband have to the money to live where they want, but she realizes that there is no place safe from climate change. We do what we can: shop locally as much as possible, grow a garden, have solar panels and a Prius Prime. A friend of mine was just here for a visit this aft (we were toasting the latest indictment) and she noted that people seem confused. Our neighbor says that people know something is wrong, but they don't know what it is. So we get the conners who use this fear and paranoia to wreck havoc.
Thank you. ItтАЩs a bitter truth unless we take it as a challenge and kill the Hastert rule, revamp SCOTUS, and take a good hard look at the future we would like to see vs the one weтАЩre hurtling toward. My question is always whether we can achieve two billion by peaceful thoughtful means instead of by wars and starvation. As humans, what are we capable of?
Again thank you for your comment and meeting the moment head on.
These things are so 'easy to miss' that their effect on voters will be minimal. Republicans will continue to criticize or at best, ignore them. I hope that this 'Letters from an American' gets picked up by those who occasionally reproduce HCR's commentary in major newspapers.
ЁЯЧгя╕ПTHANK YOU JACK LIPPMAN...whose listening that can put that into work?
Heather, is this something you want too? Beneficial to you?
I share Heathers with 4 others . Roller-shaker people, itтАЩs local people yet, IтАЩve tried sending Letters to our local paper ..controversy sparks readership theory ...and am probably laughed at ..here in deep red/used forever /near the top in poverty/ addiction stats/smoking complications/and welfare recipients. Why do I bother?
Because I care. I DO see beyond what politicians running this state profess- although their drive could have something to do with the near tops in federal money sent тАШto help outтАЩ, or the desperation of poor willing to buy into their promising lies . I know some who could make the leadership stand out , PUSKIN...he is awesome , progressive and IтАЩve encouraged him for years to take the helm. ThereтАЩs a few more too. ThereтАЩs a number of upandcoming Maxwell Frost is another and in FLORIDA! Bless their hearts! I know you, my incredible articulate and dynamics plus new family HERE , name them that are in your state , make their names known. It isnтАЩt front page news but itтАЩs future leaders ..no time like the present to get their names out there.
Might I add (sorry , suspect IтАЩm ranting...beware of the Dean P.(MN) /Manchin(WV / Kennedy...to mention a fewЁЯШм and those touting thanks for Bidenonics they VOTED against - Jen Psaki did a marvelous expose of those fence sitting /two faced users....THANKS JENЁЯл╢)
And YES, get these Substack writers guest spots in the few newspapers left ...regularly !These writers are doing a тАШhelluvaтАЩ job on talk shows , zooms, and Podcasts. Carry on, carry on to the widening stage , stage of awareness possible тАШstill yetтАЩ. We. Can. Do. It!
Thanks again Jack , oh did I come across as shouting?..ЁЯШ│ЁЯдгЁЯдгЁЯдгЁЯдгЁЯдг
ЁЯТЩЁЯТЩVOTE THE COMPLICIT OUTЁЯТЩЁЯТЩ
ЁЯТЩЁЯТЩTAKE IT ACROSS THE FINISH LINE 2024 and onward..ЁЯТЩЁЯТЩ
It's difficult not to be focused on the latest indictment, since that apparently is all the mainstream media is interested in. Again, they're giving free air time to Trump, and if they keep it up without giving time to those who would tout President Biden's many accomplishments, or without confronting or refuting the lies told by those on the radical right, then history may repeat itself with a Trump victory (which should be unimaginable, but is actually possible). That would spell the end of our nation's democracy, so we must do whatever we possibly can to get out the blue vote and to support the people and organizations working toward that goal.
Thanks for focusing on Biden admin's foreign policy progress. It's easy to miss those things when focused on latest indictment.
I read this newsletter to learn about other things besides the activities of the orange putrescence. He is NOT the only thing happening in the world, even though he is a serious threat.
I espeically appreciate that Heather continues to draw attention to foreign policy in Africa, but we need to be reminded that many of these issues are global, with the same themes appearing in Latin America and South and Central Asia. The less developed world will be the main source of markets for the US and sources of strategically critical natural resources like battery metals. Promoting democracy-based stable governments will be key to combating climate change, world hunger and mass migration and providing economic opportunity worldwide but especially in the developed nations which are seeing aging populations and slow population growth.
This is so in line of my opinion too. Though barely understanding what goes on there -in all things considered- it seems a reasonable synopsis that developing countries would provide the ample growth for consumption -ie avoiding the usual aggressive competition tactics deemed necessary. That China and the US would have more than plenty to тАШsell toтАЩ if everyone was prospering.
This continued one-up-man-ship costs not only innocent lives but after restoration expenses...seems like the тАШleadersтАЩ of too many countries want CONTROL regardless the expense which ...has any one of them taken the toll? When in fact shoring up emerging countries all together could vastly shorten the intended goal ...the fastest route to customers...is everyone interested pulling together ...that a no brainer...?
Instead wars are waged internally/externally/near globally ad infinitum and mess after mess ( count them! ) to тАШclean upтАЩ ...ЁЯд╖тАНтЩАя╕ПЁЯджтАНтЩАя╕ПЁЯШФ so sad.
Seems thereтАЩs enough of тАШthe big guysтАЩ if they could join hands / get over this endless wanting to be king-of-the-hill game ...ALL would prosper monetarily as well as be equally regarded as winners.
Look at how the world smiled when Biden pulled the coalition of nations back to NATO alliance....and btw is still striving further for...
Am I THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES THIS...or is my rose colored glasses talking ..again?
Is seems thereтАЩs a growing number of people in reality understanding the intricate maneuvers to run this country...play the peacekeeper for world unity...gather togetherness coalitions...and also see the slights of hand/mind in disruptive politics/ grandstanding ..done trying to undermine for personal gain.
Imagine an 80+ year old managing all that..huh?
ItтАЩs called experience, good behind the scene choices of trusted friends and choices well thought over.
IтАЩm voting for Biden.
Thanks , Joe , youтАЩre doing a helluva job.
ЁЯТЩЁЯТЩVOTEЁЯТЩЁЯТЩ
For insights into the history of American foreign policy, I highly recommend тАЬHow to Hide an EmpireтАЭ by Daniel Immerwahr.
The history of American foreign policy is often not pretty and we have ended up with many problem still with us today because of our intrusion into other countries in various ways. However, I feel like what Biden and Blinken are doing is actually good and of course, they have had to repair the damage done by death star.
тАЬNot prettyтАЭ is putting it mildly. Iran is a good example. Iran is our enemy because Eisenhower, at the behest of big oil, repaced IranтАЩs elected president with a dictator. Cuba is a similar story. We should have rejoiced when Castro ousted the brutal dictator, Batista. Biden and Blinken are for sure a big improvement over our past behavior which, to be sure, isnтАЩt all bad. The Marshall plan, a project of Democrats, is a marvelous exception. Probably Dems could get approval from the American electorate for the Marshall plan because the people it helped looked like our dominant class. Regardless, it was a great success.
I am aware of our intrusion into Iran and Cuba and other places where we couldn't accept democratically elected leaders. I am reminded too of the book Lawrence in Arabia about the Middle East during WWI including an American oilman along with the Brits, the French, and the Israelis who did not have a state yet. I agree that the Marshall Plan is a good exception. My husband traveled to England and Sweden looking at unemployment strategies with funds provided by that plan. At one point we were willing to aid and abet brutal leaders as long as they sang the anti-Communist song. And of course, our work for United Fruit in Central America.
Yes, the partition after WWI of the Middle East into sheikdoms by Britain, France, and the US (described by Sir Lawrence in his sprawling book) is another example of catastrophic meddling, although Britain probably bears more of the blame than the US in that case. By contrast, the US carries all the blame for the United Fruit atrocity in Central and South America, another mistake that Eisenhower played a big role in while his henchmen, the nefarious Dulles brothers, were busy screwing up Southeast Asia.
I wrote a long one and lost it. In two words: no population increase. Children born now may starve. Adopt an orphan if you want to raise a child. Look at UN figures from the 1970тАЩs when the total was 2.2 children for existing families.
That's happened to me a couple of times. Now I write my comments in Word and copy-paste. Better spell- and grammar-checking in that program, too. It's just too infuriating to see all your thoughts disappear as the result of touching the wrong key. Godfrey Daniel (channeling my Floridian dad)!
Virginia WitmerтАЩs comment suggests a fundamental (existential?) fact. Let me start with a quiz: I was born on VJ Day; during my lifetime, by what percentage has the human population of the planet grown?** Before retiring, I taught mathematics at the high school level. We included simple population models in the curriculum, including the concept of carrying capacity of any ecosystem. When a population reaches the limit of the carrying capacity of its ecosystem, nature takes over. My personal belief is that the human population is beyond the carrying capacity of the planet; nature is taking over. VW suggests this when she observes that children canтАЩt thrive in this situation. Desperate people do what they feel they need to do to survive: migrate where things seem better, have fewer children. IтАЩll be interested in responses to what seems a pretty bleak outlook.
**about 300%
I have the same feeling about where we are headed. We have no children partly because we could see this coming. We are way beyond carrying capacity. I do have children in the family who are my greats and great greats. Three of my great greats started school this week and they looked so excited. I hate to think how things might end up for them. Then I have an ex-student who seems to think older people should die. I have to remind her from time to time that we and her mother are in our 80s. She and her husband have to the money to live where they want, but she realizes that there is no place safe from climate change. We do what we can: shop locally as much as possible, grow a garden, have solar panels and a Prius Prime. A friend of mine was just here for a visit this aft (we were toasting the latest indictment) and she noted that people seem confused. Our neighbor says that people know something is wrong, but they don't know what it is. So we get the conners who use this fear and paranoia to wreck havoc.
Thank you. ItтАЩs a bitter truth unless we take it as a challenge and kill the Hastert rule, revamp SCOTUS, and take a good hard look at the future we would like to see vs the one weтАЩre hurtling toward. My question is always whether we can achieve two billion by peaceful thoughtful means instead of by wars and starvation. As humans, what are we capable of?
Again thank you for your comment and meeting the moment head on.
These things are so 'easy to miss' that their effect on voters will be minimal. Republicans will continue to criticize or at best, ignore them. I hope that this 'Letters from an American' gets picked up by those who occasionally reproduce HCR's commentary in major newspapers.
ЁЯЧгя╕ПTHANK YOU JACK LIPPMAN...whose listening that can put that into work?
Heather, is this something you want too? Beneficial to you?
I share Heathers with 4 others . Roller-shaker people, itтАЩs local people yet, IтАЩve tried sending Letters to our local paper ..controversy sparks readership theory ...and am probably laughed at ..here in deep red/used forever /near the top in poverty/ addiction stats/smoking complications/and welfare recipients. Why do I bother?
Because I care. I DO see beyond what politicians running this state profess- although their drive could have something to do with the near tops in federal money sent тАШto help outтАЩ, or the desperation of poor willing to buy into their promising lies . I know some who could make the leadership stand out , PUSKIN...he is awesome , progressive and IтАЩve encouraged him for years to take the helm. ThereтАЩs a few more too. ThereтАЩs a number of upandcoming Maxwell Frost is another and in FLORIDA! Bless their hearts! I know you, my incredible articulate and dynamics plus new family HERE , name them that are in your state , make their names known. It isnтАЩt front page news but itтАЩs future leaders ..no time like the present to get their names out there.
Might I add (sorry , suspect IтАЩm ranting...beware of the Dean P.(MN) /Manchin(WV / Kennedy...to mention a fewЁЯШм and those touting thanks for Bidenonics they VOTED against - Jen Psaki did a marvelous expose of those fence sitting /two faced users....THANKS JENЁЯл╢)
And YES, get these Substack writers guest spots in the few newspapers left ...regularly !These writers are doing a тАШhelluvaтАЩ job on talk shows , zooms, and Podcasts. Carry on, carry on to the widening stage , stage of awareness possible тАШstill yetтАЩ. We. Can. Do. It!
Thanks again Jack , oh did I come across as shouting?..ЁЯШ│ЁЯдгЁЯдгЁЯдгЁЯдгЁЯдг
ЁЯТЩЁЯТЩVOTE THE COMPLICIT OUTЁЯТЩЁЯТЩ
ЁЯТЩЁЯТЩTAKE IT ACROSS THE FINISH LINE 2024 and onward..ЁЯТЩЁЯТЩ
It's difficult not to be focused on the latest indictment, since that apparently is all the mainstream media is interested in. Again, they're giving free air time to Trump, and if they keep it up without giving time to those who would tout President Biden's many accomplishments, or without confronting or refuting the lies told by those on the radical right, then history may repeat itself with a Trump victory (which should be unimaginable, but is actually possible). That would spell the end of our nation's democracy, so we must do whatever we possibly can to get out the blue vote and to support the people and organizations working toward that goal.