18 Comments

Today, members of the new regime are considering the elimination of FDIC insurance. Another admin hopeful suggested eliminating polio vaccines. Heather, do the world a favor and use your incredible grasp of history to teach us how others removed unqualified despots from office. Do it quickly before our economy is shattered and newborns suffer polio, etc.

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GP, the usual solution is revolution to depose the tyrant. However, I don't see much stirring in the streets. College students are notably silent. A handful of Republican senators could shut Trump down in 5 minutes; that is not happening either. This does not bode well for the overthrow of the Moron King. The people are impressed by money and rich people who could care less about them. It's an age-old, tragic story. But nothing will prevent the coming disaster. It's way too late now. And that increases the likelihood of a 'revolution'.

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Without measles and mumps vaccines, we are looking at several disease catastrophes in the making. Add at least 1% more deaths of babies 0 to 2 years old, and for those that survive, around +/-3 % will suffer deafness from mumps and blindness from measles. And then there is Rubella, Diptheria, Pertussis, Meningitis, etc etc. It's almost too much to bear. What have these idiots done?

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I had measles as a child and am now immune to rubella...I'm not saying that I would support children not getting these vaccines.

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RFK jr and his lawyer Aaron Siri advocate for ending polio vaccinations:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/health/aaron-siri-rfk-jr-vaccines.html

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Thank you for pointing this out, Heather, because no one else in the media is... at all.

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Tru-p is RACIST. We are all descended genetically to Africans. You can see their faces across the continents. Self determination is the key, while not reversing racism. These issues are still entangled with the nature human natures.

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I watched a documentary many yrs ago that said that. I think it was from National Geographic

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Thank you for this insight on the loss of Russia's strategic transportation sites now lost with Syrian rebels victory. Assad is gone and so are Putin's stopover sites to read havoc in Africa.

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Thank you for turning attention to Africa in this letter. Africa is connected to everything else that is going on in the world, not in a minor way either.

I don't get the impression that the incoming administration are enlightened enough to take care of our relationship with Africa, one that benefits them as well. Russia on the other hand has been or still is up to no good in Africa.

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Trumpomuskovia might in fact take self serving advantage of the goodwill that this generates... ( see Tim Snyder)

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Brainstorm the new platform with me. We can highlight what is needed. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/brainstorm-the-2028-party-platform?r=3m1bs

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reak

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This was a nice piece on the shape of good policy in Africa! While waiting for the days when we can go back to good policy - the great Troll, the Trollards and Trollism not only won't last forever but, à la Putin, are unlikely to survive the shit-storm they've stirred up - we the people of the web and the targeted newsletter can pay more attention to Africa's arts and culture. For instance, we can look for and support musicians such as Inna Modja or initiatives such as afropolis; Taking an interest in Africa's culture scene might also be a way of joining fellow Americans of African heritage in getting a better understanding the genius of their community and its contribution to the wider American society and culture. Also exploring our neighbors' and colleagues' heritage will give a leg up in better appreciating today's Global Culture, so profoundly shaped by Africa-heritage America's contributions in moeurs, music, dance and culture fusion. On this general point, those with ears to hear will know why I mention I'm listening to Annie Lennox's "Cold" as I write... Anyhow, culture might be a good place to practice for a post-Troll and much better politics.

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I welcome the daily texts but have no use whatsoever for the afternoon audio.

Can you please stop sending the latter?

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I enjoy the audio very much.

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This comment is not going to get the job done for you. If you have a Substack account go to it. Find "manage subscriptions". You should find a way to turn off notifications for the podcasts.

I rely on the podcast as well as the text at times and appreciate both as many here seem to as well.

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Thanks to all, especially the suggested fix

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