With all that’s going on here, the global out reach and in-reach of the Biden administration is unbelievable. Thank you for bringing this to us Heather!
To truly judge a leader, one needs to look at the quality of their support team. While one may rail against some decisions of Joe Biden one should not look past the quality of his team, many of them hand selected. Anyone who questions team quality and impact should read (or re-read) Doris Kearns Goodwin’s great book, Team of Rivals. Personally, I’d stack the Biden team up against any active in my mature lifetime!
Yes Gary! It has been apparent for some time that Biden has put together a very competent team. He has also, in my opinion, really built a strong elected leadership team within the Congress. This is one reason it seemed the “age issue” was blown out of proportion. As Biden moves through a second term he will take steps (again, in my thinking) to build out both elected leadership and executive leaders to take the country forward. As he likes to say, “he’ll finish what he started.”
Vote in 2023. Get others registered and out to vote up and down the ballot.
Outlining a vision and direction, finding talent that can redirect when the vision is off the mark, or driving effective implementation when it is on the right track, is what leadership is all about.
That, and a robust mutually listening conversation between those who are led and those who lead. I read a study decades ago that suggested that managers who spend a lot of time in conversation with those on "the floor", producing whatever obtained superior results to those who remain more isolated. It's not my field and I don't know how subsequently verified these conclusions were found to be; but it seems like "common sense". That said, in my experience, the isolated, imperious manager is all too common.
Seems to me that a president is ideally an organizational manager AND an out-there public leader. In a democracy, a president is not an emperor, so that offer of leadership or advocacy of social movements may or may not attract supporters, since ideally, ultimate leadership lies with the collective will of the public. But a leader's focused vision, whether it arises from "grass roots" or a national election, can provide proposals around which democratic support may gather and grow.
Well J L, it may not be your field but you describe the lessons I took from an MBA and life experience/career. There are some differences from small businesses to corporations to government institutions BUT listening to other voices has always been a winner for me. And it helps to have some compassion and get beyond one’s ego at times.
In fact, whatever happens in November, it occurs to me that in the long run Trumps ego will do him and this country in if those being led ignore the will of the majority. It is interesting to read that folks are now recognizing the shortcomings of Jack Welch’s leadership and that of “Chainsaw Al Dunlap.”
I see encouraging signs, though (even in business) the collapse of bad leadership can cause massive collateral damage. The Subprime crisis for example.
I worked for Hewlett Packard when Bill and Dave were still there and it was an extraordinary company. They had a philosophy of "management by wandering around". I was in outside sales but a couple of times when I was in the office, one or then other would turn up. And wander over to talk. Extraordinary.
I hadn't heard that in quite some time (management by wandering around).
As a computer consultant, I worked with over 75 life insurance companies and that management style, although highly effective is way too rare in that industry.
JL it is true for law enforcement. I can tell you that the difference between a sergeant who sat in the office all night "approving reports" (and whatever other "administrative duties" were called for on the overnight shift) and one who got out of the office, into their car, responded to calls, met for coffee is immeasurable. Our current Sheriff and his Chief Deputy (rank of Captain and department second in command) both work night shifts during the holidays so that deputies with young families can be home with their kids.
The age issue...isn't an issue. The man could run circles and talk circles around me and I am 70. Daily I am impressed by how he will not be bullied by the biggest bullies on the planet.
And I know...am constantly surprised at how he and his team can quickly expose a negative move on behalf of the Rs and the Oligarchs for what it is. Just look at Schumer's move on the border bill!
It is redemption, on the part of the US to support Africa. Good news all around. Thank you HCR....for sharing.
And next time someone asks what Harris is doing as VP....ask what other VPs have done. Biden is using her talents well.
Age is traditionally associated with wisdom, but the teen-aged Greta Thunberg vs elderly Trump proves it ain't necessarily so. I think that age and experience CAN increase wisdom if the opportunity to do so is consistently taken over time In part it seems to involve knowing enough to know how much you don't know, and therefore collaborating with others. Age can be a problem when it robs us of our mind, but some minds are sharp to the end.
We need to cherish wisdom when/where we see it. Preserve it when it is threatened, and refuse to be convinced it is not wisdom when given alternative facts.
Further to the point that you and Gary make, John, I was surprised to see that Meg Whitman was our ambassador to Kenya. I lived and worked in Silicon Valley when Ms. Whitman was making her mark on the world. She's brilliant. I am now even more impressed by Pres. Biden and VP Harris for bringing such an accomplished person onto the team. It's results that matter to them.
One of the attributes of President Biden that is overlooked is his ability to delegate. This has allowed so much more than TFFG's administration to be accomplished.
Little is reported in the media about the team's accomplishments. 56,000 infrastructure projects have been completed or are in progress.
The Department of Energy has been moving hundreds of projects forward and is looking to the private sector to deliver solutions to markets across the US and offshore as well. The progress being made worldwide in battery and fuel cell technology is staggering.
Never in my lifetime has there been a cabinet with so many members qualified to be President.
Thank you, Gary, the words "ability to delegate" in your comment jumped out at me. I may have missed it the media, but I see almost nothing about Biden's ability to delegate. He surrounds himself with really brilliant people and then trusts and allows them to do the necessary work successfully. Your point about "so many members qualified to be President" is a good one also.
Very well put and, in support of your cabinet quality comment, I offer Gina Raimondo, a brilliant, down to earth leader who gets things done. Her leadership as Treasurer rescued Rhode Island’s public employees pension plan. Later she was governor. She’s a centrist and was instrumental to this administration in negotiations for the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, perhaps the most consequential legislation since Obamacare. We’re talking talent here!
"One of the attributes of President Biden that is overlooked is his ability to delegate. This has allowed so much more than TFFG's administration to be accomplished."
Trump selects obedient Orcs, Bush II on steroids. Trump's ego uber alles. What could possibly go wrong?
How could any human being do an admirable job of running an agency as large and complex as the US Government without a working understanding of what is beyond one's own abilities and expertise yet grasping the essence of what is needed and who as the skills to deal with it. I don't think we talk enough about THAT particular capacity, especially in politics. So many politicians want to HOG the glory (or blame unidentified "staffers" when thing go sour).
In my experience, some businesses, colleges, etc. operate in a culture of collaboration that pervades the whole organization. Some others are tyrannies. "Government" per se was never the problem, but sh*tty governance IS.
Team of Rivals is a masterpiece. I believe, please correct me if I am wrong, that President Barak Obama took many pointers from Abraham Lincoln's structuring of his cabinet.
(Like working with former First Lady Hillary Clinton, who was a rival!)
The trip made by President William Ruto was one of its kind and signalled the Biden's receptive and equal global outreach program. The last trip was made by late President Mwai Kibaki in 2003 when Bush was in power; the results were promising as the country's economic growth increased from 2.5% in 2003 to almost 7% in 2003 due to agricultural structural adjustments program and marked the beginning of AGOA.
Biden's foreign policy on Africa has not been short of praise as it has focused on investments in different sectors. From Agriculture which I saw President Ruto asked him to extend AGOA which has been beneficial to Africa small-scale farmers to digital economy. The state visit saw Kenya designed as non-,NATO member due to its commitment to bolster regional and international security. Kenya has been sending troops to different countries like Somalia, South Sudan, DRC, and Sierra Leone. Already it was agreed when Haiti Prime Minister came to Kenya that 2000 Haitian troops will be sent to Kenya for retraining and later redeployed.
Similarly, I have watched severally Megan, US ambassador to Kenya, and I must laud that she is committed to bolstering the interests of both countries. She has been upto the task, eloquent, and straightforward in championing development. (I wish I will meet her one day).
When asked by Richard Quest to choose between US and China investment, President Ruto said, "Africa is neither facing West nor East, it is facing forward" to mean he is not concerned with power wrangles but only opportunities benefiting the people. Ruto wanted a global platform where no one is superior to the other but equal as partners and can work on something together.
Lastly, HCR echoed what I have been writing that the continent’s population is very young and hungry for digital work. A mean of 19 years old implies that labour force will be coming from Africa In the next decades.
In the spirit of Africa-US relations, I have my own initiative dubbed Mamas Impact which I aim to uplift women as agents of economic change. You can inquire more in my newslette
Thank you, Edwin, for sharing your knowledge about Africa's stance on the global stage.
Several months ago, I started contributing to Women for Women International. Their mission statement: "We work at the critical intersection of women and conflict providing skills, knowledge, and resources that create sustainable change for women, their families, and their communities." In return, I received some beautiful notecards: "Produced from banana leaves, each card is created by hand and sold to help Rwandan women earn an income and care for their families."
Thank you Linell and first and foremost congratulations for your outstanding initiative. I had to head straight to your website and am excited about your endeavour. Coincidentally, I have an initiative which I am still gathering the momentum to begin. I have written extensively about underserved communities with one of them being Mamas Impact. I intend, through this initiative, to show women are the economic agents of change. I am happy you have a similar initiative from a different angle. Maybe we can discuss further (my email is dwinkiptoo@gmail.com)
Edwin, your voice is so important here, because the relationship between the USA and the nations of Africa has been completely under-assessed over the years. I think the US has relied way too much on the postcolonial involvement of prior colonialist countries, like Great Britain and France, to ameliorate the situations in the continent, especially sub-Saharan Africa, but without acknowledging the role that the USA has played in the challenges modern-day Africa faces. I have friends who also have been involved in the movement to bring economic independence to women, particularly in Mali and Senegal, but those initiatives have largely petered out (especially in Mali, where the government proved hostile to them) in the wake of military takeovers and so on. Senegal's stability seems to be hanging on by a thread these days, and South Africa seems to be struggling with all the challenges competing for attention. I find the rejection of pluralism (especially regarding women's equality and LGBTQ people) in many African countries to be extremely troubling, but I also admit that I see those as results of the kinds of 19th-century imperialism that played out in Africa, in which ultra-conservative groups dominated.
Please keep posting. We in the USA hear so little about Africa, which is an appalling state of affairs, as it should be as much a part of the news cycle as everywhere else in the world.
Thank you so much for the reply. Indeed there has bit of misconstrued understanding about Africa concerning what it is today. Again the mainstream media has been only rounding up only popular news considering their major aim is profit optimisation. So the display of the continent has been shallow. There hasn't been deep assessment about the changing and emerging dynamics in Africa. This represention explains why 19th century imperialist perspective is still deeply rooted. Similarly there has been no one to make the continent equal to the rest of the continent in terms of power positioning until when President William Ruto stood upto the task (and so far, he has gotten the attention of the West and East). Equal powers on the table means a lot to the continent; it means their voice would be heard, the continent would not be a battle ground for the west and east. Concerning the issue about underserved especially women, I would like to know how the group you mentioned proceeded to work for women in war-prone countries. I know West Africa is bit challenging because of the constant coups.
A small group of musicians from KC actually got involved in Mali with a campaign to get children to use soap when washing their hands, because of the prevalence of dysentery, which turned into an initiative for women to manufacture soap, which led to a really lively exchange between like-minded folks in KC supporting the soap-making businesses in Mali. Then the coup happened and the whole thing got shut down. Tried to see if it could be moved to Senegal but that was not possible in the end. A very small step that would have been useful as a tiny start-up but fizzled. I also know people involved in a very small way in the bead-making initiatives that are funded through micro-loans. Tiny little steps that get no coverage and almost no support, especially when so many "bigger" things are happening. I also have a friend who was sent by an NGO to Uganda in 2019 and who was consulting over agricultural and food-production stuff (I think that was what was going on) and then got stuck there because of the Covid Lockdown. After he managed to get out (18 months later) the whole thing fell apart when the Ugandan government started wreaking havoc on women and LGBTQ people. I know very little about how systems work in Africa (I know how they worked in the Middle Ages more than now!) but I do know that western colonialism and imperialism did the kind of damage that only huge effort and real understanding of the issues could ameliorate--and neither seems to be in the wheelhouse of the people who screwed it up in the first place . . .
I like those startups that were started but unfortunately wreaked by covid-19. The soap for children turned out to be an initiative for women to manufacture soap. This sounds like a movie, magical in itself. KC had focused on solving another problem but it became a solution for women. These are the things I would like to hear going forward. The functionality of systems in Africa is dependent on specific countries. Countries in west Africa are bedevilled by coups. Uganda is somehow autocratic but with traces of democracy. Sub-saharan is mostly pro-democratic. But am so awe of those initiatives; they appear small but the impacts are bubbling to the deserving.
This was what motivated me to start this newsletter. Thanks a lot
Overall the Biden team has effectively addressed long standing and recent problems. In the context of Republican opposition which is driven entirely by personal politics masquerading as public policy.
Whether on the budget or the border Republicans have gone from McConnell's Party of No to MAGA's Party of Nihilism. At the moment, Republican intransigence is most at play regarding the Hamas Israel war. Not content with the appropriation of Zionism by racist right wing religious extremists, Republicans, whose Red hats barely conceal their White hoods, have taken on the mantle of fighting antisemitism - by supporting the criminal Netanyahu regime's murderously and suicidally disproportionate response to the Hamas atrocities of Oct 7.
The Biden team's diplomatic efforts to build international consensus for sovereign and geographically autonomous Israeli and Palestinian states - opposed by both Israel's Netanyahu regime and Hamas' Sinwar reign of terror - have been hampered by a longstanding US stance mistaking support for Israel with support for bad Israeli officials driving worse Israeli policy. Which has emboldened Netanyahu and his extremist cohort in their drive to destroy not just the idea of Palestine but the Palestinian people - and in the process, the state of Israel itself.
Netanyahu's government has lost all credibility - within Israel and internationally.
The Biden administration - navigating between those who cry 'antisemitism' at any criticism of Israeli policy and those who cry 'genocide' at any support of Israel's right to exist - is risking its own credibility by delaying enforcement of the Leahy Laws and Biden's own National Security Memorandum 20.
The Netanyahu regime is incapable of investigating its own actions for possible violations of international and US law, or of providing credible evidence for its compliance. It is past time for the Biden administration to pause offensive military aid to the Netanyahu regime, for use in Gaza or the West Bank. Biden and his team can and should make a clear argument to the American people, distinguishing between offensive and defensive aid.
I wonder why Bidens slow walking of delivering arms isn't explained in terms of the US is bound by law not to weaponize actions that are criminal? But is characterized as Bidens withholding aid.
Another political move by the Republican party who three months before refused to provide aid?
Yes, to all your comments. I am amazed that the Red hooded repubs can not condemn Russian invasion of Ukraine, their bombing of large housing complexes, public institutions and cutting off of oil supplies in the winter.
Republicans' refusal to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine is two tiered. The Old Cold Warrior line against the expansion of NATO - such as Kissinger blaming Putin's war of aggression on Ukraine's democratic aspirations. Bad enough. Worse yet. Since the 1990's KKK Grand Wizard and GOP gadfly David Duke has been successfully selling Putin as 'The Great White Hope of Christian Nationalism.' Part of Trump's appeal for the Republican base is his obeisance to 'Putin Preserver of White Christian Values.'
Kudos to the Biden-Harris administration for their visionary leadership and commitment to building stronger international partnerships and fostering global stability and prosperity.
Just more and more reasons to vote for a return to sanity by giving Biden - Harris 4 more years!
You are absolutely right. Most unfortunately, however, Biden's global leadership has not been appreciated nor known to most voters. Unless he wins the election, what he is doing now for Afrrican nations will be lost. Our most important task is to get voters excited with Mr. Biden's work here and abroad. We cannot keep telling each other how great he is within this letter circle.
With all the created chaos swirling around 45, greedflation hitting in the fuel and grocery markets, and crazy weather, it is too easy to ignore African and Haitian politics. Thank you for parting the curtains and bringing us up to date. It is very important to acknowledge Kamala Harris’ work as well as that of Blinken and the rest of the Biden administration.
Yep. It is a TEAM effort. I keep saying that we don't elect one person, we elect an entire team. And what an amazing team Biden has gathered. Tell that to the young people who say Biden is too old. And remind Black Americans of the Biden Administration's outreach to African nations (not to mention the prior president's comment).
I don't have the figures right at hand, but Biden under his administration, traditionally black college have received millions of dollars, I think in the range of 10X what 45's did. Perhaps another LFAA reader can elaborate.
Penney, and the next Trump Team will be filled by those whose qualifications will be to answer “YES!!!” to the question “do you believe the 2020 election was stolen?” So they’ll either be conspiracy believers or consummate liars.
Absolutely. Africa is potentially a very important partner.Though the levels of democracy fluctuates, Africa has known slavery, colonisation, dictatorship. With the advent of technology and access to information, more African governments are leaning towards democracy.
MARIEL FFARRAGANO, writing for the Ouncil on foreign relations on December 28, 2023, just five months ago, wrote:
"While Moscow’s involvement in Africa lags behind other powers, it is increasingly tapping into anti-Western sentiment to bolstĝer its influence on the continent amid geopolitical competition between Russia and the West.
Critics of growing involvement by Russia’s Wagner Group, a private military company, say Moscow is bolstering authoritarianism, driving conflict over resources, and threatening human rights.
The fallout from the war in Ukraine has revealed diplomatic fault lines. Analysts say the West needs to pursue more equal partnerships with African countries. "
....where they have emphasized partnership with African countries for economic development rather than a competition with China and Russia for resource extraction.
Since John D. Rockefeller began to drill for oil the assumption was that mineral rights belong to the landowner and not to the people. New gas and oil leases on Federal lands emphasize the point that if you can get the fossil fuel or minerals out of the ground, they are yours. And once you have finished raping the land, you can just walk away from the any ecological mess you have made.
Trump's good friend, the oil robber, Harold Hamm thought he should be able to pull as much oil as he could out of the ground and pay no taxes on it. This resulted in the State and local governments in OK being unable to fund schools and infrastructure while Hamm collected his billions.
Russia and China are like the original settlers in the US. They find a rich mineral or oil deposit, give the government a token amount of money and promises and then take what they want. Exactly, the model that has been deployed in the US for over 400 years.
I like listening to BBC news which often has updates on important events in Africa, Australia, and SE Asia. Something truly catastrophic needs to happen there for it to make the US mainstream news.
Africa is perennially a continent of promise. Until I lived and worked there, I had not fully appreciated the necessity of good governance and the massive harm wrought by corruption. The African people are resourceful and kind. Would that they have leaders that help them to realize their potential. And the countries need allies that treat them with respect and not pawns.
Absolutely! As a Peace Corps volunteer in the early 70s, I learned to respect and admire African nations and people. Coincidentally, they often ask, “Why do you treat people of color so badly in the US?”
Catherine, I spent three and half years in Sierra Leone in the 60s, first as a study abroad student at Fourah Bay College in Freetown and then three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Pujahun, small town in the south at a boys school run by Irish priests. We were also married in Freetown by our principals by special permission of the Irish bishop of Freetown. We couldn't leave the continent and couldn't visit South Africa because of the apartheid of the time, so we also spent some time in Egypt and Nigeria. Being there also changed my viewpoint of things here. So Africa holds a special place in my heart. We also won a trip to South Africa from all classical in Portland. In answer to the question about treatment of people of color, I asked my students to describe to me a certain tribe in Sierra Leone which was not one of the two main ones. The answers they gave were lazy, thieves, etc.
I think in this instance, they are not cults, but more of an ethic group and it is easy to condemn other ethnic groups. I wanted them to understand that condemnation of the other is everywhere.
I like to think of the tribes as being like the one my X follower posted about years ago. "An anthropologist proposed a game to the kids in an African tribe. He put a basket of fruit near a tree and told the kids that the first one to find the fruits would win them all. When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together, enjoying their fruits. When he asked them why they ran like that as one could've taken all the fruits for one's self, they said "UBUNTU, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad." Google says it means "humanity to others."
This reminds me a story some friends of mine told me when they were teaching among the Dine (i hope i have this Navaho name correctly) and when they played games, they always let the other team catch up, so that no one "won."
To varying degrees it appears to me that corruption has accompanied goverment in every time and nation. If there are exception, I think they must be few. It is unsurprising to me to see corruption still with us, despite Mandela's incredible victory. Corruption kills. It is remarkable how difficult it seems to be to organize sufficient resistance.
Money and power are interlocked, it seems. Wonder if Joe has some power genes hidden away, or secret Swiss bank accounts. HA I think that him wanting to finish the job he started is as greedy as he will get.
It seems that some live to dominate and others to liberate, and those in the middle get to choose which to celebrate. In retrospect, the dominators look ugly, but many confuse them with champions of their cause while they are living.
When I worked in a community development group that provided down payment assistance, I was struck by the number of immigrants from Africa who were underemployed here in the US--people who had been doctors in Kenya working as janitors because our health systems do not recognize the international certifications and do not provide procedures to do so. Even if our medical standards are correct, educational institutions do not provide opportunities to take only the additional courses needed, either in English or any other language. I had women who were professors and economists working as store clerks and personal care attendants. These are real issues that enforce all-too-common racial prejudices. If we are going to partner with African countries, we need to address some of these issues of subtle but clear sense of superiority. As one of my pastors says, "Inclusion proceeds at the pace of relationships." Get to know a Kenyan and understand.
Love your ref, KEM, to how "educational institutions do not provide opportunities to . . .."
If we're talking about the U.S., remember, we're talking about one whose elites too often resemble those such as the corrupt Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas and too many others on that court, whose first priorities are to kiss up to the rich and second to kick down women into most demeaned and demeaning theocrat packages.
We're talking about elites such as the U.S. Speaker of the House, whose talk is all religious piety, but whose actions are all love for the most vulgar, criminal, racist, lying misogynist in U.S. history.
...and more and more higher education research labs which previously enjoyed excellent reputations are being taken over by pharmaceutical companies. The public funding is inadequate for those labs to remain independent, and those companies will ultimately drive the research.
And still they come, and stay, and attain citizenship. That being a janitor here in America is still better speaks eloquently of the horrible conditions which caused them to come here. I wish more people could understand how precious our freedoms here are, and work and vote diligently to protect them.
I could not agree more! I followed the story about the President and First Lady of Kenya with interest over the past few days, but I was especially in Heather's story of their/Kenya's interest and support of what is happening in Haiti. I had the great opportunity to spend about a week in Haiti in 1976 (my winter term of my senior year in college (Augsburg, Minneapolis)and it was my favorite part of a trip that also included Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. They had serious political and humanitarian issues then and to see how much worse it is now breaks my heart. We are so fortunate to live in the US, despite all of the political stuff going on. <3
Biden has been outstanding when it comes to foreign diplomacy. He is open minded and ready to offer necessary support. The trip by president Ruto last week was laudable and successful. US under Biden has been very receptive to the African people and has opened a lot of goodies.
I cannot failed to thank Megan, Kenya's ambassador to US; she has been championing the interests of both countries equally.
Biden has raised to bar of what it means to relate to African continent.
Many LFAA have already said they have done so. It is very easy to follow the directions.
The website now includes forms for Judge Cannon. If you have already sent a complaint about Alito, perhaps you would consider doing so for Cannon as well.
Thanks, Miselle! This is so important. It bears repeating for those who may have missed hearing about it due to the number of comments posted on each Letter.
Good for Kamala Harris and Biden diplomatically and in other ways to aid countries of color.
Without, that is, saddling same with the U.S.'s most right-wing corrupt.
We're all anxious, meanwhile, as the criminal, rapist, massive fraud-committing, abjectly lying former president sees his Manhattan jury soon to go into deliberations.
Anxious, too, as it's clear that the corrupt Clarence court -- now with Alito vying for title of its "higher calling" most corrupt -- totally dilly-dallies to buy time for the fat orange guy they coddle, for whom most of the justices allow self-illiteracy to dement them, given their intent totally to ignore the Constitution's Article 14, section three. How many of them took some form of a vow related to our Constitution?
It's surprising how little most of us know about the developing African nations.
I can understand why the leadership of those countries might be suspicious of any outside presence from western Europe or the US. Our great opportunity has arrived to finally allow them the space to develop into themselves without our interference. Maybe this time we'll listen more and intrude less.
I would replace "surprising" with "deplorable". Shown a world map with country names removed, how many Americans could put their finger on Kenya first try? How many of us feel embarrassed by our ignorance of the world out there?
David - me. I’m embarrassed. While I can point out most countries in the northern hemisphere, I’m useless south of the equator. I think it starts with our education system. Beyond the “trade” triangle or apartheid, how much history did any of us get about Africa? Beyond “really long rivers”, how much do we know about the geography of South America?
We recently moved, but I think it’s past time to find the world map and get it on the wall.
More Americans need to travel, esp young people. I think a senior gap exchange program would do a great deal for improving our appreciation of other cultures and our understanding of complex global problems.
I have met many wonderful people from Africa, but I have a special place in my heart for people from Morocco. From my limited experience, the seem to exemplify the Good Samaritan in the Bible.
Gary, it's amazing how little most of us know about Canada and Mexico. We live 90 miles from the Canadian border and one would think that the US borders are the edge of the earth.
After visiting both of these countries you realize how kind and hospitable our neighbors are.
Some Americans don’t even realize that New Mexico is a U.S. state - they think it’s in Mexico - and that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. Talk about ignorance.
I have a high school classmate who is a professor at University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She's done a lot of work in Africa, and I learn a lot from her on every visit.
Tell truth. Slavery was two sides. African slave traders selling their extra unwanted people to white Catholics who were told by their Pope Nicholas V in 1455 that Christ authorized the acquisition of these people. Africans do not consider American blacks African. The Vatican got a piece of each deal. And the Africans sold to traders in the West which in the end included the Dutch and Portuguese as well as the British were from what we call West Africa.
The Africans from Eastern Africa were sold to Arabs. And those sales were not for all future children. And to put this in proper context Obama’s Kenya fathers family were slave traders.
Proper context this is what happened then and we today need to know truth and make sure no one ever again believes human slave trade is correct behavior. And I it still goes on as I write today.
I had to know who was correct, Steven or Daniel. OMG!!
"Notably, the treatment of “black Gentiles” was addressed in 1452 and 1455, when Pope Nicolas V issued a series of papal bulls that granted Portugal the right to enslave sub-Saharan Africans. Church leaders argued that slavery served as a natural deterrent and Christianizing influence to “barbarous” behavior among pagans. Using this logic, the Pope issued a mandate to the Portuguese king, Alfonso V, and instructed him:
'. . . to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever …[and] to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery, and to apply and appropriate to himself and his successors the kingdoms, dukedoms, counties, principalities, dominions, possessions, and goods, and to convert them to his and their use and profit . . .'"
Steven African slave trade is a long and complex issue. Before the sending of African slaves to the New World, there was a flourishing slave trade in Western Africa, where Africans enslaved Africans and sent them north, often through Timbuktu. Historical data on this is slim. One book indicated that up-to-3,000,000 Africans were sent up to North Africa and the eastward to parts of the Middle East.
Not sure where you get the anti-Catholic mythology here, Steven. While there is no doubt that major European countries with a primarily Catholic population and culture, such as Spain, France and Portugal engaged shamelessly in the slave trade, to tie it to Catholic doctrine is nothing short of preposterous.
Thanks for your post. The Pope can say whatever he wants but he had no writ over the sovereign of Portugal to "instruct".
Sounds more like an exhortation to continue Crusade like activities, especially when the term "Saracen" is used.
And let's not forget that the Pope was also much more a political figure then as well. So, my point that slavery cannot be tied to Catholicism or Catholic doctrines stands
The effects of colonialism & business exploitation has taken its toll around the world & it still is. Most of the clothes we buy, the goods we use come from developing nations where multinational business behemoths have exploited the populations of these countries to provide us cheap goods. To me there is very little difference to the average developing nations' person between what colonialism did & what big business does now. The one big difference I see is that the people in power in these countries are finally native citizens but they have learned the all important examples of greed, power & corruption.
Here's hoping the US does it right this time, but I look askance at MasterCard "helping". My big question about that is: "What's in it for them? What were THEY promised? Our corporate giants don't do much of anything simply for the good of the recipient.
Other than that this is good news & I hope it works. We do need to be honest, however, the racism in this country is on the rise & more blatant than ever. It's hard to go to a group of nations where for over 100 years we "imported" slaves from there & tell them that now we want to help. It's no wonder they have doubts. I do too. I don't doubt our President or Vice President in their earnest desire to become partners with Africa but it's how it is deployed that counts. Opening markets & encouraging trade is fine but let's hope this time those folks get really good treaties not some backroom, under the table deal that will exploit them~~~again!
Joyce White Vance on Civil Discourse (Substack) wrote "Back in January, in New Hampshire ahead of the primary, involving a deep fake robocall of Joe Biden telling Democrats to stay home from the polls and “save” their vote for the general election.
Now, the political operative behind those calls, a Democrat named Steve Kramer, who was working for a short-lived challenger to Biden early in the primary season, has been indicted by the New Hampshire Attorney General, John Formella. Kramer is charged with 13 felony counts of voter suppression and 13 misdemeanor counts of impersonation of a candidate, related to 13 calls received by voters in various counties across the state. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Kramer $6 million for "scam calls he set up to defraud voters" in violation of the federal Caller ID law.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel pointed out that we have lived through recent election cycles filled with foreign influence and disinformation spread on social media. Rosenworcel’s assessment of the New Hampshire calls was that they were “unnerving,” because “when a caller sounds like a politician you know, a celebrity you like, or a family member who is familiar, any one of us could be tricked into believing something that is not true with calls using AI technology." Add deep fake robocalls to the list of dirty tricks to be on the alert for as November gets closer." Please address how involved individuals within our country and out are working to effect our election.
Sigh, The time and resources we are forced to dedicate to bring Trump to justice is a distraction from so many other realities.
I’m concerned that “after Trump”, democrats will return to neoliberal policies instead of correcting imbalances that caused people to support fascists.
Heather keeps us informed about now and the past, but republican think tanks seem better at accomplishing evil than democrats are at producing good. Especially since neoliberal democrats gain more media support than progressives.
These challenges require vision and at 78 years old, I’ve seen too many corporate democrats to be assured, the two Joes, Lieberman and Manchin, et al.
At 89, having lived through all kinds of tumults, many changes and experiencing the party lines to the right and the left, I think the left or let's just say Democrats could learn to communicate better, not by listing their accomplishments, but by asking the sorts of questions that are on people's minds and that can awaken people's minds. Such as What is your actual vision for the changes you want to see and what are those changes? can you be specific? if you don't understand how certain parts of government work where would you look up that information? etc
Robin I agree with your comment re: asking questions. Whenever I read articles that Biden and Democrats losing voters be they young, black, Hispanics (and the multitude of variations of that broad term), non-college educated men and any other “identity” group because the Administration has not “delivered” for them I want to know how the Administration has failed. What is it you want? How can that be achieved?
I recently read a story about conservative groups doing outreach to Hispanics voters in I believe Texas. These groups helped families find resources needed for healthcare and other needs. These voters in turn were grateful to them and the Republican party for paying attention to them.
Cori Bush, part of the “progressive house members, booted out 10 term centrist Democrat Lacy Clay, in part because during the pandemic in 2020 she knocked on doors and provided the predominantly African american community information about Covid resources. Lacy did nothing.
Sometimes voters just want to know who will get their garbage picked up.
We as a people as a culture as a country have to get off of the game playing merry-go-round, constantly trying to score points in our ultra competitive frame of mind, as if there were something to win all the time that can be counted that can be superior, the whole idea of defeat of the opposition to score points, to come out on top instead of exploring things together and for a larger purpose of affecting the quality of our lives as a whole. We would so benefit from actual dialogue and that so often can begin with good questions. Got to ask better questions!
I believe the grassroots initiatives at work to save democracy will continue after Biden and democrats are elected in November to create the reforms we need to shore up democracy.
Grassroots, think for example, the 2008 financial evils and the Occupy movement; the grassroots had/has no integrated national leadership. The issues did not resonate with corporate media and were dissolved. Eg., Bernie Sanders had a useful organization but was eliminated by corporate democrats and media.
I observe, not “believe “, no acceptance of the seriousness of fascism exists in most people one meets in a grocery store. There is no critical mass to grassroots almost by definition, I believe….
Too little, too late. I think the Africans pretty much get the idea how much the West, lead by the US, really cares about them and may just go for the Russian/Chinese deals. And who could blame them?
You may be right about our luck in Africa, but it’s food that both president and vice President understand the importance of Africa in a climate change world (the drinking water from humidity was IMPRESSIVE), so at least we are present.
Well Sabine, If Trump were to be re-elected it would certainly leave the African nations no choice but to look elsewhere amid the instability of our nation. Thus, yet another reason to get out the vote - up and down the ballot.
I think you'll find most Africans see that differently, and the Palestinians just can show the African nations what the US "has to offer" if they don't do as they're told! Africa and the rest of the world will not forget that, you can be sure.
Rather than concern for "what the US 'has to offer,'" what is it that Israel and all its Arab neighbors "have to request"?
Is it education? Programs for schools to teach youth to see and communicate with "others" by essay writing -- to build appreciation of neighbors as individuals in their variously complicated cultures and contexts?
Let's dismiss that right away. There's not a country in the world that values that.
All instead want arms. Weapons. Training in secret police surveillance. Reinforcement of sectarian group think, and hoariest labeling and packaging of others. Finance packages for elites at the top.
Is ours a world, Sabine, where any decent educators are valued much anywhere?
May be a start would be to just LISTEN to other people in other cultures instead of stuffing your own preconceived thoughts of what they need down their throats together with plenty of weapons.
But listening is truly something the US is not known for - I just suspect the day will come when it will be forced to. Can't wait for that day.
I'd love to know titles of novels, memoirs, and films you may love from various non-white cultures.
Better yet, I'd love to see commenters here voluntarily offer apt references to such treasures in the context of whatever they're addressing in whatever their comment.
Why on earth would I waste time supplying you with things you can easily access yourself - should you be able to read? I take it you read and write in a few different languages? The entitlement sounds profoundly boomery to me.
Phil, I recommend "One More Jump", a documentary shot in Gaza several years ago. It involves amazing leaps and jumps through and over bombed out buildings. There is a sad and touching back story, too, if you're interested. It was available in DVD from Amazon, or it may be streamable in the States.
Guns. Too many with too few controls. Too many private interests at stake. Does this sound like the reports out of Mexico where most of the cartel's guns come from the US? I'd love to know who is actually making the big money in this iron pipeline. From Heather: "The assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 exacerbated political instability in Haiti by creating a power vacuum, while weapons flowing into the country, primarily from straw purchases in the U.S., fed violence." Our own citizens are abetting these instabilities.
With all that’s going on here, the global out reach and in-reach of the Biden administration is unbelievable. Thank you for bringing this to us Heather!
To truly judge a leader, one needs to look at the quality of their support team. While one may rail against some decisions of Joe Biden one should not look past the quality of his team, many of them hand selected. Anyone who questions team quality and impact should read (or re-read) Doris Kearns Goodwin’s great book, Team of Rivals. Personally, I’d stack the Biden team up against any active in my mature lifetime!
Yes Gary! It has been apparent for some time that Biden has put together a very competent team. He has also, in my opinion, really built a strong elected leadership team within the Congress. This is one reason it seemed the “age issue” was blown out of proportion. As Biden moves through a second term he will take steps (again, in my thinking) to build out both elected leadership and executive leaders to take the country forward. As he likes to say, “he’ll finish what he started.”
Vote in 2023. Get others registered and out to vote up and down the ballot.
Outlining a vision and direction, finding talent that can redirect when the vision is off the mark, or driving effective implementation when it is on the right track, is what leadership is all about.
That, and a robust mutually listening conversation between those who are led and those who lead. I read a study decades ago that suggested that managers who spend a lot of time in conversation with those on "the floor", producing whatever obtained superior results to those who remain more isolated. It's not my field and I don't know how subsequently verified these conclusions were found to be; but it seems like "common sense". That said, in my experience, the isolated, imperious manager is all too common.
Seems to me that a president is ideally an organizational manager AND an out-there public leader. In a democracy, a president is not an emperor, so that offer of leadership or advocacy of social movements may or may not attract supporters, since ideally, ultimate leadership lies with the collective will of the public. But a leader's focused vision, whether it arises from "grass roots" or a national election, can provide proposals around which democratic support may gather and grow.
Well J L, it may not be your field but you describe the lessons I took from an MBA and life experience/career. There are some differences from small businesses to corporations to government institutions BUT listening to other voices has always been a winner for me. And it helps to have some compassion and get beyond one’s ego at times.
In fact, whatever happens in November, it occurs to me that in the long run Trumps ego will do him and this country in if those being led ignore the will of the majority. It is interesting to read that folks are now recognizing the shortcomings of Jack Welch’s leadership and that of “Chainsaw Al Dunlap.”
I see encouraging signs, though (even in business) the collapse of bad leadership can cause massive collateral damage. The Subprime crisis for example.
Maybe Boeing “leadership” should read this…
You can leave off the word "maybe"...
I worked for Hewlett Packard when Bill and Dave were still there and it was an extraordinary company. They had a philosophy of "management by wandering around". I was in outside sales but a couple of times when I was in the office, one or then other would turn up. And wander over to talk. Extraordinary.
Sad it's gone.
I hadn't heard that in quite some time (management by wandering around).
As a computer consultant, I worked with over 75 life insurance companies and that management style, although highly effective is way too rare in that industry.
JL it is true for law enforcement. I can tell you that the difference between a sergeant who sat in the office all night "approving reports" (and whatever other "administrative duties" were called for on the overnight shift) and one who got out of the office, into their car, responded to calls, met for coffee is immeasurable. Our current Sheriff and his Chief Deputy (rank of Captain and department second in command) both work night shifts during the holidays so that deputies with young families can be home with their kids.
Teamwork.
The age issue...isn't an issue. The man could run circles and talk circles around me and I am 70. Daily I am impressed by how he will not be bullied by the biggest bullies on the planet.
And I know...am constantly surprised at how he and his team can quickly expose a negative move on behalf of the Rs and the Oligarchs for what it is. Just look at Schumer's move on the border bill!
It is redemption, on the part of the US to support Africa. Good news all around. Thank you HCR....for sharing.
And next time someone asks what Harris is doing as VP....ask what other VPs have done. Biden is using her talents well.
I needed good news this morning. Thank you
Agree. If you watch the White House Chanel, you see how much Harris has accomplished. Press doesn't begin to capture her many achievements.
The press doesn’t begin to capture Pres. Biden’s many achievements!
Amen! Tfg is taking up the media attention...I am sick of it!
Age is traditionally associated with wisdom, but the teen-aged Greta Thunberg vs elderly Trump proves it ain't necessarily so. I think that age and experience CAN increase wisdom if the opportunity to do so is consistently taken over time In part it seems to involve knowing enough to know how much you don't know, and therefore collaborating with others. Age can be a problem when it robs us of our mind, but some minds are sharp to the end.
We need to cherish wisdom when/where we see it. Preserve it when it is threatened, and refuse to be convinced it is not wisdom when given alternative facts.
Further to the point that you and Gary make, John, I was surprised to see that Meg Whitman was our ambassador to Kenya. I lived and worked in Silicon Valley when Ms. Whitman was making her mark on the world. She's brilliant. I am now even more impressed by Pres. Biden and VP Harris for bringing such an accomplished person onto the team. It's results that matter to them.
One of the attributes of President Biden that is overlooked is his ability to delegate. This has allowed so much more than TFFG's administration to be accomplished.
Little is reported in the media about the team's accomplishments. 56,000 infrastructure projects have been completed or are in progress.
The Department of Energy has been moving hundreds of projects forward and is looking to the private sector to deliver solutions to markets across the US and offshore as well. The progress being made worldwide in battery and fuel cell technology is staggering.
Never in my lifetime has there been a cabinet with so many members qualified to be President.
Thank you, Gary, the words "ability to delegate" in your comment jumped out at me. I may have missed it the media, but I see almost nothing about Biden's ability to delegate. He surrounds himself with really brilliant people and then trusts and allows them to do the necessary work successfully. Your point about "so many members qualified to be President" is a good one also.
Completely agree.
Very well put and, in support of your cabinet quality comment, I offer Gina Raimondo, a brilliant, down to earth leader who gets things done. Her leadership as Treasurer rescued Rhode Island’s public employees pension plan. Later she was governor. She’s a centrist and was instrumental to this administration in negotiations for the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, perhaps the most consequential legislation since Obamacare. We’re talking talent here!
"One of the attributes of President Biden that is overlooked is his ability to delegate. This has allowed so much more than TFFG's administration to be accomplished."
Trump selects obedient Orcs, Bush II on steroids. Trump's ego uber alles. What could possibly go wrong?
How could any human being do an admirable job of running an agency as large and complex as the US Government without a working understanding of what is beyond one's own abilities and expertise yet grasping the essence of what is needed and who as the skills to deal with it. I don't think we talk enough about THAT particular capacity, especially in politics. So many politicians want to HOG the glory (or blame unidentified "staffers" when thing go sour).
In my experience, some businesses, colleges, etc. operate in a culture of collaboration that pervades the whole organization. Some others are tyrannies. "Government" per se was never the problem, but sh*tty governance IS.
Thank you J L. Well put.
Team of Rivals is a masterpiece. I believe, please correct me if I am wrong, that President Barak Obama took many pointers from Abraham Lincoln's structuring of his cabinet.
(Like working with former First Lady Hillary Clinton, who was a rival!)
And this is why Biden’s age doesn’t bother me. It’s his team!
The trip made by President William Ruto was one of its kind and signalled the Biden's receptive and equal global outreach program. The last trip was made by late President Mwai Kibaki in 2003 when Bush was in power; the results were promising as the country's economic growth increased from 2.5% in 2003 to almost 7% in 2003 due to agricultural structural adjustments program and marked the beginning of AGOA.
Biden's foreign policy on Africa has not been short of praise as it has focused on investments in different sectors. From Agriculture which I saw President Ruto asked him to extend AGOA which has been beneficial to Africa small-scale farmers to digital economy. The state visit saw Kenya designed as non-,NATO member due to its commitment to bolster regional and international security. Kenya has been sending troops to different countries like Somalia, South Sudan, DRC, and Sierra Leone. Already it was agreed when Haiti Prime Minister came to Kenya that 2000 Haitian troops will be sent to Kenya for retraining and later redeployed.
Similarly, I have watched severally Megan, US ambassador to Kenya, and I must laud that she is committed to bolstering the interests of both countries. She has been upto the task, eloquent, and straightforward in championing development. (I wish I will meet her one day).
When asked by Richard Quest to choose between US and China investment, President Ruto said, "Africa is neither facing West nor East, it is facing forward" to mean he is not concerned with power wrangles but only opportunities benefiting the people. Ruto wanted a global platform where no one is superior to the other but equal as partners and can work on something together.
Lastly, HCR echoed what I have been writing that the continent’s population is very young and hungry for digital work. A mean of 19 years old implies that labour force will be coming from Africa In the next decades.
In the spirit of Africa-US relations, I have my own initiative dubbed Mamas Impact which I aim to uplift women as agents of economic change. You can inquire more in my newslette
Thank you HCR for writing about this issue today.
Thank you, Edwin, for sharing your knowledge about Africa's stance on the global stage.
Several months ago, I started contributing to Women for Women International. Their mission statement: "We work at the critical intersection of women and conflict providing skills, knowledge, and resources that create sustainable change for women, their families, and their communities." In return, I received some beautiful notecards: "Produced from banana leaves, each card is created by hand and sold to help Rwandan women earn an income and care for their families."
https://www.womenforwomen.org/
Do you know anything about this organization that you can share?
Thank you Linell and first and foremost congratulations for your outstanding initiative. I had to head straight to your website and am excited about your endeavour. Coincidentally, I have an initiative which I am still gathering the momentum to begin. I have written extensively about underserved communities with one of them being Mamas Impact. I intend, through this initiative, to show women are the economic agents of change. I am happy you have a similar initiative from a different angle. Maybe we can discuss further (my email is dwinkiptoo@gmail.com)
Thank you, Lynell, I get those cards too and love to use them. Happy memories of living in Zimbabwe for 5 years many years ago.
Sally, so good to hear you get those cards. They really are lovely cards!
Morning, Lynell! I'm going to look into "Women for Women".
Morning, Ally! Have you seen this yet? It's a 30-second video about Beethoven in the 21st Century. I must have played it 50 times so far!
https://x.com/weirddalle/status/1791617948370538648?s=46&t=V7VfS2X8f7Tb8bB5srchIg
That is so freaking cool!! I hadn't seen it.
Them bro's are right: He Don't Miss!
I just watched it about 10 times. Love it.
Lynell, thanks for this. Have you heard of Kiva? I have been giving to them for many years. Based out of San Francisco: www.kiva.org
This Kiva sounds wonderful, Marlene. Thanks for letting me know about it. I like the concept of not a hand-out but a loan.
Edwin, your voice is so important here, because the relationship between the USA and the nations of Africa has been completely under-assessed over the years. I think the US has relied way too much on the postcolonial involvement of prior colonialist countries, like Great Britain and France, to ameliorate the situations in the continent, especially sub-Saharan Africa, but without acknowledging the role that the USA has played in the challenges modern-day Africa faces. I have friends who also have been involved in the movement to bring economic independence to women, particularly in Mali and Senegal, but those initiatives have largely petered out (especially in Mali, where the government proved hostile to them) in the wake of military takeovers and so on. Senegal's stability seems to be hanging on by a thread these days, and South Africa seems to be struggling with all the challenges competing for attention. I find the rejection of pluralism (especially regarding women's equality and LGBTQ people) in many African countries to be extremely troubling, but I also admit that I see those as results of the kinds of 19th-century imperialism that played out in Africa, in which ultra-conservative groups dominated.
Please keep posting. We in the USA hear so little about Africa, which is an appalling state of affairs, as it should be as much a part of the news cycle as everywhere else in the world.
Thank you so much for the reply. Indeed there has bit of misconstrued understanding about Africa concerning what it is today. Again the mainstream media has been only rounding up only popular news considering their major aim is profit optimisation. So the display of the continent has been shallow. There hasn't been deep assessment about the changing and emerging dynamics in Africa. This represention explains why 19th century imperialist perspective is still deeply rooted. Similarly there has been no one to make the continent equal to the rest of the continent in terms of power positioning until when President William Ruto stood upto the task (and so far, he has gotten the attention of the West and East). Equal powers on the table means a lot to the continent; it means their voice would be heard, the continent would not be a battle ground for the west and east. Concerning the issue about underserved especially women, I would like to know how the group you mentioned proceeded to work for women in war-prone countries. I know West Africa is bit challenging because of the constant coups.
A small group of musicians from KC actually got involved in Mali with a campaign to get children to use soap when washing their hands, because of the prevalence of dysentery, which turned into an initiative for women to manufacture soap, which led to a really lively exchange between like-minded folks in KC supporting the soap-making businesses in Mali. Then the coup happened and the whole thing got shut down. Tried to see if it could be moved to Senegal but that was not possible in the end. A very small step that would have been useful as a tiny start-up but fizzled. I also know people involved in a very small way in the bead-making initiatives that are funded through micro-loans. Tiny little steps that get no coverage and almost no support, especially when so many "bigger" things are happening. I also have a friend who was sent by an NGO to Uganda in 2019 and who was consulting over agricultural and food-production stuff (I think that was what was going on) and then got stuck there because of the Covid Lockdown. After he managed to get out (18 months later) the whole thing fell apart when the Ugandan government started wreaking havoc on women and LGBTQ people. I know very little about how systems work in Africa (I know how they worked in the Middle Ages more than now!) but I do know that western colonialism and imperialism did the kind of damage that only huge effort and real understanding of the issues could ameliorate--and neither seems to be in the wheelhouse of the people who screwed it up in the first place . . .
I like those startups that were started but unfortunately wreaked by covid-19. The soap for children turned out to be an initiative for women to manufacture soap. This sounds like a movie, magical in itself. KC had focused on solving another problem but it became a solution for women. These are the things I would like to hear going forward. The functionality of systems in Africa is dependent on specific countries. Countries in west Africa are bedevilled by coups. Uganda is somehow autocratic but with traces of democracy. Sub-saharan is mostly pro-democratic. But am so awe of those initiatives; they appear small but the impacts are bubbling to the deserving.
This was what motivated me to start this newsletter. Thanks a lot
Detailed and very informative. Thank you!
Welcome Alan!
Yes. Vote for a ticket and elect team.
Overall the Biden team has effectively addressed long standing and recent problems. In the context of Republican opposition which is driven entirely by personal politics masquerading as public policy.
Whether on the budget or the border Republicans have gone from McConnell's Party of No to MAGA's Party of Nihilism. At the moment, Republican intransigence is most at play regarding the Hamas Israel war. Not content with the appropriation of Zionism by racist right wing religious extremists, Republicans, whose Red hats barely conceal their White hoods, have taken on the mantle of fighting antisemitism - by supporting the criminal Netanyahu regime's murderously and suicidally disproportionate response to the Hamas atrocities of Oct 7.
The Biden team's diplomatic efforts to build international consensus for sovereign and geographically autonomous Israeli and Palestinian states - opposed by both Israel's Netanyahu regime and Hamas' Sinwar reign of terror - have been hampered by a longstanding US stance mistaking support for Israel with support for bad Israeli officials driving worse Israeli policy. Which has emboldened Netanyahu and his extremist cohort in their drive to destroy not just the idea of Palestine but the Palestinian people - and in the process, the state of Israel itself.
Netanyahu's government has lost all credibility - within Israel and internationally.
The Biden administration - navigating between those who cry 'antisemitism' at any criticism of Israeli policy and those who cry 'genocide' at any support of Israel's right to exist - is risking its own credibility by delaying enforcement of the Leahy Laws and Biden's own National Security Memorandum 20.
The Netanyahu regime is incapable of investigating its own actions for possible violations of international and US law, or of providing credible evidence for its compliance. It is past time for the Biden administration to pause offensive military aid to the Netanyahu regime, for use in Gaza or the West Bank. Biden and his team can and should make a clear argument to the American people, distinguishing between offensive and defensive aid.
Excellent comments and assessments, lin•. "...Red hats barely conceal their White hoods..." is chillingly accurate.
I wonder why Bidens slow walking of delivering arms isn't explained in terms of the US is bound by law not to weaponize actions that are criminal? But is characterized as Bidens withholding aid.
Another political move by the Republican party who three months before refused to provide aid?
Yes, to all your comments. I am amazed that the Red hooded repubs can not condemn Russian invasion of Ukraine, their bombing of large housing complexes, public institutions and cutting off of oil supplies in the winter.
Republicans' refusal to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine is two tiered. The Old Cold Warrior line against the expansion of NATO - such as Kissinger blaming Putin's war of aggression on Ukraine's democratic aspirations. Bad enough. Worse yet. Since the 1990's KKK Grand Wizard and GOP gadfly David Duke has been successfully selling Putin as 'The Great White Hope of Christian Nationalism.' Part of Trump's appeal for the Republican base is his obeisance to 'Putin Preserver of White Christian Values.'
AMEN lin! AMEN!
Kudos to the Biden-Harris administration for their visionary leadership and commitment to building stronger international partnerships and fostering global stability and prosperity.
Just more and more reasons to vote for a return to sanity by giving Biden - Harris 4 more years!
Can anyone imagine Trump managing this complex set of international relations? How do we get "America First" followers to understand why this matters?
You are absolutely right. Most unfortunately, however, Biden's global leadership has not been appreciated nor known to most voters. Unless he wins the election, what he is doing now for Afrrican nations will be lost. Our most important task is to get voters excited with Mr. Biden's work here and abroad. We cannot keep telling each other how great he is within this letter circle.
With all the created chaos swirling around 45, greedflation hitting in the fuel and grocery markets, and crazy weather, it is too easy to ignore African and Haitian politics. Thank you for parting the curtains and bringing us up to date. It is very important to acknowledge Kamala Harris’ work as well as that of Blinken and the rest of the Biden administration.
Yep. It is a TEAM effort. I keep saying that we don't elect one person, we elect an entire team. And what an amazing team Biden has gathered. Tell that to the young people who say Biden is too old. And remind Black Americans of the Biden Administration's outreach to African nations (not to mention the prior president's comment).
I don't have the figures right at hand, but Biden under his administration, traditionally black college have received millions of dollars, I think in the range of 10X what 45's did. Perhaps another LFAA reader can elaborate.
Penney, and the next Trump Team will be filled by those whose qualifications will be to answer “YES!!!” to the question “do you believe the 2020 election was stolen?” So they’ll either be conspiracy believers or consummate liars.
Absolutely. Africa is potentially a very important partner.Though the levels of democracy fluctuates, Africa has known slavery, colonisation, dictatorship. With the advent of technology and access to information, more African governments are leaning towards democracy.
MARIEL FFARRAGANO, writing for the Ouncil on foreign relations on December 28, 2023, just five months ago, wrote:
"While Moscow’s involvement in Africa lags behind other powers, it is increasingly tapping into anti-Western sentiment to bolstĝer its influence on the continent amid geopolitical competition between Russia and the West.
Critics of growing involvement by Russia’s Wagner Group, a private military company, say Moscow is bolstering authoritarianism, driving conflict over resources, and threatening human rights.
The fallout from the war in Ukraine has revealed diplomatic fault lines. Analysts say the West needs to pursue more equal partnerships with African countries. "
JOB WELL DONE TEAM BLUE.
....where they have emphasized partnership with African countries for economic development rather than a competition with China and Russia for resource extraction.
Since John D. Rockefeller began to drill for oil the assumption was that mineral rights belong to the landowner and not to the people. New gas and oil leases on Federal lands emphasize the point that if you can get the fossil fuel or minerals out of the ground, they are yours. And once you have finished raping the land, you can just walk away from the any ecological mess you have made.
Trump's good friend, the oil robber, Harold Hamm thought he should be able to pull as much oil as he could out of the ground and pay no taxes on it. This resulted in the State and local governments in OK being unable to fund schools and infrastructure while Hamm collected his billions.
Russia and China are like the original settlers in the US. They find a rich mineral or oil deposit, give the government a token amount of money and promises and then take what they want. Exactly, the model that has been deployed in the US for over 400 years.
I like listening to BBC news which often has updates on important events in Africa, Australia, and SE Asia. Something truly catastrophic needs to happen there for it to make the US mainstream news.
Cameron, thanks for the suggestion. In fact, we listen to BBC America on the local PBS station for just that reason.
Agreed Mary 👏
Africa is perennially a continent of promise. Until I lived and worked there, I had not fully appreciated the necessity of good governance and the massive harm wrought by corruption. The African people are resourceful and kind. Would that they have leaders that help them to realize their potential. And the countries need allies that treat them with respect and not pawns.
Absolutely! As a Peace Corps volunteer in the early 70s, I learned to respect and admire African nations and people. Coincidentally, they often ask, “Why do you treat people of color so badly in the US?”
They are from where we all came. Wouldn’t hurt us to remember that.
😰😰😰
Catherine, I spent three and half years in Sierra Leone in the 60s, first as a study abroad student at Fourah Bay College in Freetown and then three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Pujahun, small town in the south at a boys school run by Irish priests. We were also married in Freetown by our principals by special permission of the Irish bishop of Freetown. We couldn't leave the continent and couldn't visit South Africa because of the apartheid of the time, so we also spent some time in Egypt and Nigeria. Being there also changed my viewpoint of things here. So Africa holds a special place in my heart. We also won a trip to South Africa from all classical in Portland. In answer to the question about treatment of people of color, I asked my students to describe to me a certain tribe in Sierra Leone which was not one of the two main ones. The answers they gave were lazy, thieves, etc.
Tribes resemble cults, it seems. Wherever they are…
I think in this instance, they are not cults, but more of an ethic group and it is easy to condemn other ethnic groups. I wanted them to understand that condemnation of the other is everywhere.
I like to think of the tribes as being like the one my X follower posted about years ago. "An anthropologist proposed a game to the kids in an African tribe. He put a basket of fruit near a tree and told the kids that the first one to find the fruits would win them all. When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together, enjoying their fruits. When he asked them why they ran like that as one could've taken all the fruits for one's self, they said "UBUNTU, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad." Google says it means "humanity to others."
This reminds me a story some friends of mine told me when they were teaching among the Dine (i hope i have this Navaho name correctly) and when they played games, they always let the other team catch up, so that no one "won."
Certainly is a mind warp for us
Yes. There was so much hope after Mandela became President of South Africa. Unfortunately subsequent governments have devolved into corruption.
To varying degrees it appears to me that corruption has accompanied goverment in every time and nation. If there are exception, I think they must be few. It is unsurprising to me to see corruption still with us, despite Mandela's incredible victory. Corruption kills. It is remarkable how difficult it seems to be to organize sufficient resistance.
Money and power are interlocked, it seems. Wonder if Joe has some power genes hidden away, or secret Swiss bank accounts. HA I think that him wanting to finish the job he started is as greedy as he will get.
It seems that some live to dominate and others to liberate, and those in the middle get to choose which to celebrate. In retrospect, the dominators look ugly, but many confuse them with champions of their cause while they are living.
I consider money a species of power. It induces people to do your bidding, be it to give you a sandwich or (for some) commit treason or murder.
Jackson certainly exemplified this. I still can’t fathom chump being anybody’s champion for anything. Just a vicious cult. Idiotic as defines cult
When I worked in a community development group that provided down payment assistance, I was struck by the number of immigrants from Africa who were underemployed here in the US--people who had been doctors in Kenya working as janitors because our health systems do not recognize the international certifications and do not provide procedures to do so. Even if our medical standards are correct, educational institutions do not provide opportunities to take only the additional courses needed, either in English or any other language. I had women who were professors and economists working as store clerks and personal care attendants. These are real issues that enforce all-too-common racial prejudices. If we are going to partner with African countries, we need to address some of these issues of subtle but clear sense of superiority. As one of my pastors says, "Inclusion proceeds at the pace of relationships." Get to know a Kenyan and understand.
Love your ref, KEM, to how "educational institutions do not provide opportunities to . . .."
If we're talking about the U.S., remember, we're talking about one whose elites too often resemble those such as the corrupt Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas and too many others on that court, whose first priorities are to kiss up to the rich and second to kick down women into most demeaned and demeaning theocrat packages.
We're talking about elites such as the U.S. Speaker of the House, whose talk is all religious piety, but whose actions are all love for the most vulgar, criminal, racist, lying misogynist in U.S. history.
...and more and more higher education research labs which previously enjoyed excellent reputations are being taken over by pharmaceutical companies. The public funding is inadequate for those labs to remain independent, and those companies will ultimately drive the research.
Bad omen, by any measure
Thanks, KEM, for pointing out the price that immigrants pay to enter this country. Truly a travesty that needs to be corrected, IMO.
And still they come, and stay, and attain citizenship. That being a janitor here in America is still better speaks eloquently of the horrible conditions which caused them to come here. I wish more people could understand how precious our freedoms here are, and work and vote diligently to protect them.
Truly a worthy endeavor. A Kenyan nurse was over the care facility where my husband was. He was a jewel.
That’s a lot to unpack. Thank you, Heather, for presenting it all in a comprehensible and concise package.
I could not agree more! I followed the story about the President and First Lady of Kenya with interest over the past few days, but I was especially in Heather's story of their/Kenya's interest and support of what is happening in Haiti. I had the great opportunity to spend about a week in Haiti in 1976 (my winter term of my senior year in college (Augsburg, Minneapolis)and it was my favorite part of a trip that also included Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. They had serious political and humanitarian issues then and to see how much worse it is now breaks my heart. We are so fortunate to live in the US, despite all of the political stuff going on. <3
Fortunate to have such an outstanding administration. To be continued!
Biden has been outstanding when it comes to foreign diplomacy. He is open minded and ready to offer necessary support. The trip by president Ruto last week was laudable and successful. US under Biden has been very receptive to the African people and has opened a lot of goodies.
I cannot failed to thank Megan, Kenya's ambassador to US; she has been championing the interests of both countries equally.
Biden has raised to bar of what it means to relate to African continent.
Thank you for checking in on this topic, Edwin. What I know about that part of the world can be written with a chisel-tip marker on a 3"x5" card.
Thank you Ally. But going forward, things would change. Deep exploration about the continent is what we're aiming for. We're in this together.
I've posted this already this week, but if you have not yet done so, please consider registering a complaint regarding Justice Alito!
www.dumpalito.com
Many LFAA have already said they have done so. It is very easy to follow the directions.
The website now includes forms for Judge Cannon. If you have already sent a complaint about Alito, perhaps you would consider doing so for Cannon as well.
Thank you.
Done! It’s easy and gratifying to pitch in!!
Thanks, Miselle! This is so important. It bears repeating for those who may have missed hearing about it due to the number of comments posted on each Letter.
Thanks Miselle! I’ll get these letters in the mail today.
Printed out and will go out in today's mail.
Trump didn’t “allegedly” refer to African countries as shithole countries, he actually referred to them in that way:
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-north-america-donald-trump-ap-top-news-international-news-fdda2ff0b877416c8ae1c1a77a3cc425
Good for Kamala Harris and Biden diplomatically and in other ways to aid countries of color.
Without, that is, saddling same with the U.S.'s most right-wing corrupt.
We're all anxious, meanwhile, as the criminal, rapist, massive fraud-committing, abjectly lying former president sees his Manhattan jury soon to go into deliberations.
Anxious, too, as it's clear that the corrupt Clarence court -- now with Alito vying for title of its "higher calling" most corrupt -- totally dilly-dallies to buy time for the fat orange guy they coddle, for whom most of the justices allow self-illiteracy to dement them, given their intent totally to ignore the Constitution's Article 14, section three. How many of them took some form of a vow related to our Constitution?
The fat orange gangster has something on all of them…
That's a very difficult situation. I salute Kenya for being willing to step up, but I can understand the need for caution.
That caution shows wisdom.
It's surprising how little most of us know about the developing African nations.
I can understand why the leadership of those countries might be suspicious of any outside presence from western Europe or the US. Our great opportunity has arrived to finally allow them the space to develop into themselves without our interference. Maybe this time we'll listen more and intrude less.
I would replace "surprising" with "deplorable". Shown a world map with country names removed, how many Americans could put their finger on Kenya first try? How many of us feel embarrassed by our ignorance of the world out there?
David - me. I’m embarrassed. While I can point out most countries in the northern hemisphere, I’m useless south of the equator. I think it starts with our education system. Beyond the “trade” triangle or apartheid, how much history did any of us get about Africa? Beyond “really long rivers”, how much do we know about the geography of South America?
We recently moved, but I think it’s past time to find the world map and get it on the wall.
Absolutely correct. More Americans need to travel the African continent.
More Americans need to travel, esp young people. I think a senior gap exchange program would do a great deal for improving our appreciation of other cultures and our understanding of complex global problems.
I have met many wonderful people from Africa, but I have a special place in my heart for people from Morocco. From my limited experience, the seem to exemplify the Good Samaritan in the Bible.
Gary, it's amazing how little most of us know about Canada and Mexico. We live 90 miles from the Canadian border and one would think that the US borders are the edge of the earth.
After visiting both of these countries you realize how kind and hospitable our neighbors are.
Some Americans don’t even realize that New Mexico is a U.S. state - they think it’s in Mexico - and that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. Talk about ignorance.
Ellen, maybe they will have a hard time figuring out how to vote. Notice I didn't say "for whom" to vote. Not sure there is any upside here.
I have a high school classmate who is a professor at University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She's done a lot of work in Africa, and I learn a lot from her on every visit.
Tell truth. Slavery was two sides. African slave traders selling their extra unwanted people to white Catholics who were told by their Pope Nicholas V in 1455 that Christ authorized the acquisition of these people. Africans do not consider American blacks African. The Vatican got a piece of each deal. And the Africans sold to traders in the West which in the end included the Dutch and Portuguese as well as the British were from what we call West Africa.
The Africans from Eastern Africa were sold to Arabs. And those sales were not for all future children. And to put this in proper context Obama’s Kenya fathers family were slave traders.
Proper context this is what happened then and we today need to know truth and make sure no one ever again believes human slave trade is correct behavior. And I it still goes on as I write today.
I had to know who was correct, Steven or Daniel. OMG!!
"Notably, the treatment of “black Gentiles” was addressed in 1452 and 1455, when Pope Nicolas V issued a series of papal bulls that granted Portugal the right to enslave sub-Saharan Africans. Church leaders argued that slavery served as a natural deterrent and Christianizing influence to “barbarous” behavior among pagans. Using this logic, the Pope issued a mandate to the Portuguese king, Alfonso V, and instructed him:
'. . . to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever …[and] to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery, and to apply and appropriate to himself and his successors the kingdoms, dukedoms, counties, principalities, dominions, possessions, and goods, and to convert them to his and their use and profit . . .'"
https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/african_laborers_for_a_new_emp/pope_nicolas_v_and_the_portugu
Steven African slave trade is a long and complex issue. Before the sending of African slaves to the New World, there was a flourishing slave trade in Western Africa, where Africans enslaved Africans and sent them north, often through Timbuktu. Historical data on this is slim. One book indicated that up-to-3,000,000 Africans were sent up to North Africa and the eastward to parts of the Middle East.
Not sure where you get the anti-Catholic mythology here, Steven. While there is no doubt that major European countries with a primarily Catholic population and culture, such as Spain, France and Portugal engaged shamelessly in the slave trade, to tie it to Catholic doctrine is nothing short of preposterous.
See my post above.
Thanks for your post. The Pope can say whatever he wants but he had no writ over the sovereign of Portugal to "instruct".
Sounds more like an exhortation to continue Crusade like activities, especially when the term "Saracen" is used.
And let's not forget that the Pope was also much more a political figure then as well. So, my point that slavery cannot be tied to Catholicism or Catholic doctrines stands
No. Study the history. See how everything is tied to and that papal bull. Sad but true.
The effects of colonialism & business exploitation has taken its toll around the world & it still is. Most of the clothes we buy, the goods we use come from developing nations where multinational business behemoths have exploited the populations of these countries to provide us cheap goods. To me there is very little difference to the average developing nations' person between what colonialism did & what big business does now. The one big difference I see is that the people in power in these countries are finally native citizens but they have learned the all important examples of greed, power & corruption.
Here's hoping the US does it right this time, but I look askance at MasterCard "helping". My big question about that is: "What's in it for them? What were THEY promised? Our corporate giants don't do much of anything simply for the good of the recipient.
Other than that this is good news & I hope it works. We do need to be honest, however, the racism in this country is on the rise & more blatant than ever. It's hard to go to a group of nations where for over 100 years we "imported" slaves from there & tell them that now we want to help. It's no wonder they have doubts. I do too. I don't doubt our President or Vice President in their earnest desire to become partners with Africa but it's how it is deployed that counts. Opening markets & encouraging trade is fine but let's hope this time those folks get really good treaties not some backroom, under the table deal that will exploit them~~~again!
Joyce White Vance on Civil Discourse (Substack) wrote "Back in January, in New Hampshire ahead of the primary, involving a deep fake robocall of Joe Biden telling Democrats to stay home from the polls and “save” their vote for the general election.
Now, the political operative behind those calls, a Democrat named Steve Kramer, who was working for a short-lived challenger to Biden early in the primary season, has been indicted by the New Hampshire Attorney General, John Formella. Kramer is charged with 13 felony counts of voter suppression and 13 misdemeanor counts of impersonation of a candidate, related to 13 calls received by voters in various counties across the state. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Kramer $6 million for "scam calls he set up to defraud voters" in violation of the federal Caller ID law.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel pointed out that we have lived through recent election cycles filled with foreign influence and disinformation spread on social media. Rosenworcel’s assessment of the New Hampshire calls was that they were “unnerving,” because “when a caller sounds like a politician you know, a celebrity you like, or a family member who is familiar, any one of us could be tricked into believing something that is not true with calls using AI technology." Add deep fake robocalls to the list of dirty tricks to be on the alert for as November gets closer." Please address how involved individuals within our country and out are working to effect our election.
https://joycevance.substack.com/p/update-voter-suppression-in-new-hampshire
Sigh, The time and resources we are forced to dedicate to bring Trump to justice is a distraction from so many other realities.
I’m concerned that “after Trump”, democrats will return to neoliberal policies instead of correcting imbalances that caused people to support fascists.
Heather keeps us informed about now and the past, but republican think tanks seem better at accomplishing evil than democrats are at producing good. Especially since neoliberal democrats gain more media support than progressives.
These challenges require vision and at 78 years old, I’ve seen too many corporate democrats to be assured, the two Joes, Lieberman and Manchin, et al.
At 89, having lived through all kinds of tumults, many changes and experiencing the party lines to the right and the left, I think the left or let's just say Democrats could learn to communicate better, not by listing their accomplishments, but by asking the sorts of questions that are on people's minds and that can awaken people's minds. Such as What is your actual vision for the changes you want to see and what are those changes? can you be specific? if you don't understand how certain parts of government work where would you look up that information? etc
Robin I agree with your comment re: asking questions. Whenever I read articles that Biden and Democrats losing voters be they young, black, Hispanics (and the multitude of variations of that broad term), non-college educated men and any other “identity” group because the Administration has not “delivered” for them I want to know how the Administration has failed. What is it you want? How can that be achieved?
I recently read a story about conservative groups doing outreach to Hispanics voters in I believe Texas. These groups helped families find resources needed for healthcare and other needs. These voters in turn were grateful to them and the Republican party for paying attention to them.
Cori Bush, part of the “progressive house members, booted out 10 term centrist Democrat Lacy Clay, in part because during the pandemic in 2020 she knocked on doors and provided the predominantly African american community information about Covid resources. Lacy did nothing.
Sometimes voters just want to know who will get their garbage picked up.
We as a people as a culture as a country have to get off of the game playing merry-go-round, constantly trying to score points in our ultra competitive frame of mind, as if there were something to win all the time that can be counted that can be superior, the whole idea of defeat of the opposition to score points, to come out on top instead of exploring things together and for a larger purpose of affecting the quality of our lives as a whole. We would so benefit from actual dialogue and that so often can begin with good questions. Got to ask better questions!
I believe the grassroots initiatives at work to save democracy will continue after Biden and democrats are elected in November to create the reforms we need to shore up democracy.
Grassroots, think for example, the 2008 financial evils and the Occupy movement; the grassroots had/has no integrated national leadership. The issues did not resonate with corporate media and were dissolved. Eg., Bernie Sanders had a useful organization but was eliminated by corporate democrats and media.
I observe, not “believe “, no acceptance of the seriousness of fascism exists in most people one meets in a grocery store. There is no critical mass to grassroots almost by definition, I believe….
Keep up your hopes
Too little, too late. I think the Africans pretty much get the idea how much the West, lead by the US, really cares about them and may just go for the Russian/Chinese deals. And who could blame them?
You may be right about our luck in Africa, but it’s food that both president and vice President understand the importance of Africa in a climate change world (the drinking water from humidity was IMPRESSIVE), so at least we are present.
Well Sabine, If Trump were to be re-elected it would certainly leave the African nations no choice but to look elsewhere amid the instability of our nation. Thus, yet another reason to get out the vote - up and down the ballot.
But the Russian and Chinese governments have nothing to offer. They are only interested in resource extraction.
I think you'll find most Africans see that differently, and the Palestinians just can show the African nations what the US "has to offer" if they don't do as they're told! Africa and the rest of the world will not forget that, you can be sure.
Let's turn around the view you cite here, Sabine.
Rather than concern for "what the US 'has to offer,'" what is it that Israel and all its Arab neighbors "have to request"?
Is it education? Programs for schools to teach youth to see and communicate with "others" by essay writing -- to build appreciation of neighbors as individuals in their variously complicated cultures and contexts?
Let's dismiss that right away. There's not a country in the world that values that.
All instead want arms. Weapons. Training in secret police surveillance. Reinforcement of sectarian group think, and hoariest labeling and packaging of others. Finance packages for elites at the top.
Is ours a world, Sabine, where any decent educators are valued much anywhere?
May be a start would be to just LISTEN to other people in other cultures instead of stuffing your own preconceived thoughts of what they need down their throats together with plenty of weapons.
But listening is truly something the US is not known for - I just suspect the day will come when it will be forced to. Can't wait for that day.
Might you have a list, please, Sabine?
I'd love to know titles of novels, memoirs, and films you may love from various non-white cultures.
Better yet, I'd love to see commenters here voluntarily offer apt references to such treasures in the context of whatever they're addressing in whatever their comment.
Why on earth would I waste time supplying you with things you can easily access yourself - should you be able to read? I take it you read and write in a few different languages? The entitlement sounds profoundly boomery to me.
Phil, I recommend "One More Jump", a documentary shot in Gaza several years ago. It involves amazing leaps and jumps through and over bombed out buildings. There is a sad and touching back story, too, if you're interested. It was available in DVD from Amazon, or it may be streamable in the States.
Ah, the sweet sound of blossoming nuclear mushrooms! We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when.
Someday...
"And we will all go together when we go,
what a comforting fact that is to know.
Universal bereavement,
an inspiring achievement,
Yes, we all will go together when we go" (Tom Lehrer)
"There will be no more misery when the world is our rotisserie" 😂
Did China and/or Russia have a past President and Vice President of African descent?
Sort of like the US has been for many years and still is, sad to say, to a certain extent.
Guns. Too many with too few controls. Too many private interests at stake. Does this sound like the reports out of Mexico where most of the cartel's guns come from the US? I'd love to know who is actually making the big money in this iron pipeline. From Heather: "The assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 exacerbated political instability in Haiti by creating a power vacuum, while weapons flowing into the country, primarily from straw purchases in the U.S., fed violence." Our own citizens are abetting these instabilities.