The U.S.A.I.D. case is a test - test #1 will the Judicial branch of government hold or fall? Several justices are proponents of the unitary executive theory. It is this theory of the presidency that is pushing us toward autocracy. This interpretation is at odds with everything our founding fathers tried to accomplish - no king!
IF the judicial branch holds the line & rules against the Trump administration & reinstates funds for U.S.A.I.D. we face test #2. Will Trump defy the court or comply? If they defy the court & there is no way to enforce the order we will no longer be a Republic. If they comply, then U.S.A.I.D. & our Republic both have a chance to survive in some form.
Re: Ms Cole - this message is so important because it clearly & effectively describes the work. I am convinced that most Americans simply do not know what these agencies do? Sadly they are victims of their own success - the work was so good no one saw it. We saw the failures during Covid but not the decades of success that eradicated measles & small pox & controlled the spread of Ebola in 2014. My heart breaks for Ms. Cole & my friends at these agencies. My heart aches for the suffering we are about to experience because they are unable to do their work. It is a hard way to learn civics!
😥 I struggle to find the appropriate nouns & adjectives to put context to the mayhem playing out in your country. I could turn the pages in my thesaurus yet the result would be the same 😥 I do however believe in time those with rational and compassionate judgement will prevail & restore some level of order but in the interim many will be harmed. JJF 🇨🇦
Pr o je ct 2025 and this political c o u p is impacting families, children, teens, young adults, grandparents, older folks~ in our communities nationally.
Friday is an economic 🪧 p r o t e s t. That means that many aren’t using credit cards on Friday. We’re not buying stuff that day. P r o t e s t these bad, calamitous decisions which are vastly harming public health.
Continue calling Congress your voice 📞 matters.
Find a peaceful local protest and participate if you can. Holding a sign 🪧 that shares your voice and message, opinion ~ regarding these abrupt societal changes. Demand checks and balances from our leaders so our futures are bright and stable within democracy. ✌️ ☮️Hopefully USAID is saved. Hopefully Measles stops spreading. Hopefully Medicaid is saved ~ Hopefully Public Health is saved. Time to advocate 🧫🦠🧪🌡️💊💉🩹🩻🔬🧬🩺🚰🥬🥛
I think protests need to hit them in ways that THEY care about - money & power. The disruption & even cruelty is purposeful. We may care about humanitarian impact, but they don’t! We will not be effective until we target the things they care about. The boycott will likely be more effective than the signs, letters & phone calls.
Thank you for providing this critical information. I’m terrified on what’s going to happen to this country medically as well as all the other issues that impact the world.
What can we do in the meantime? So much. First SHARE Inside Medicine regularly. I'm trying to do that more. Run for office, municipal boards and commissions. There's much need there and that's where you will find Americans most vulnerable and in dire need. Both my husband and I chair commissions in our city. We are already seeing tremendous guts to many of our programs as grants and funds set aside from Biden's ARPA and CDBG grants have been removed or frozen already. Impoverished cities like Holyoke (the one I currently live in) were starting to climb out and produce plans for the future as well as present in areas of growth, healthcare, education, housing, and infrastructure needs. We have just lost millions of dollars in Gateway city funds that we were planning to use to update our wastewater treatment system, finally. And the list goes on.
Please see Ellen's post above. That's a big one. I think eventually we need to put our donor dollars to the legal nonprofits and some funds that support fired workers. I'll look around.
Jeremy, I have read them all already. The National Boycott is all over the internet for some time and I've posted about it on my page. It is also a great exercise for each of us in understanding our own contribution to how we've given a lot of our own power and privacy away for years. We've allowed ourselves to get too caught up in consumerism. The "we" being inclusive of the speaker, me. Capitalism/consumerism is not actually a requirement of Democracy. And if you've had time to read my comments, I got my training for Non-violent Resistance a month ago. I Chair my Commission on Disabilities and have been advocating for these folks already so marginalized, now in even more danger. I believe that is definitely a public health issue.
Also have been giving to the Southern Poverty Law Center since Trump's last term for legal suits. There is also, of course, the ACLU. (Though interestingly enough both of those large groups rarely mention those who are disabled in their commercials for donations to aid marginalized groups.) Planned parenthood for women's health and those med folks that serve them is also a good one.
We will all be certainly watching the SCOTUS outcome, but I imagine for this one test in a whole line-up of tests (cases/suits), their answer will be wishy-washy at first. After all, we've seen that the US court justice is slow and plodding, and we've also seen Trump utilize appeals as obfuscation/delay. He now has a never-ending line-up of willing lawyers while this "administration" continues it's destruction through actual actions and perception utilizing fear and insecurity. As always I hope I'm wrong as my mantra is, "I'm more interested in doing right, than being right". And we still need to keep fighting back. (Thanks, Jeremy, for your endless time contribution.)
Friday is such a huge day in this nation, potentially. We'll see what the Court does. I think the Court's own power is at stake here, and merits aside, they'd be ill-advised to roll over. We'll see
PLEASE tell me -- What can we, as the public, do to make a difference? There has to be more than writing/calling my congressmen and standing outside protesting, isn't there??
See Ellen's post. 1. peaceful protest. 2. call your reps. 3. donate to legal nonprofits (and maybe funds for wrongly terminated people; I'll look into that). 4. vote (obviously not a short term answer) 5. spread good information so that people are informed. These can work, but it will take time and sustained effort
I'd add, if you are not already, join a union. Well-organized unions have built in structure for amplifying messages and getting large numbers of folks (members!) out in important actions. If you are in a union, step up as an organizer not just an activist.
50501movement on IG has a list of protests Nationwide for March 4 th (example there’s a protest in Boston March 4 at 4 pm at Boston Common Bandstand) 50 states 50 protests 1 day March 4 it’s a movement of the people for Democracy ( all people and all political affiliations etc welcome it’s a peaceful protest )
Wanted to point out that an infectious disease panel at NSF has been archived: Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases, NSF24-592. Just when we need to increase understanding of arthropod vectored pathogens …
The U.S.A.I.D. case is a test - test #1 will the Judicial branch of government hold or fall? Several justices are proponents of the unitary executive theory. It is this theory of the presidency that is pushing us toward autocracy. This interpretation is at odds with everything our founding fathers tried to accomplish - no king!
IF the judicial branch holds the line & rules against the Trump administration & reinstates funds for U.S.A.I.D. we face test #2. Will Trump defy the court or comply? If they defy the court & there is no way to enforce the order we will no longer be a Republic. If they comply, then U.S.A.I.D. & our Republic both have a chance to survive in some form.
Re: Ms Cole - this message is so important because it clearly & effectively describes the work. I am convinced that most Americans simply do not know what these agencies do? Sadly they are victims of their own success - the work was so good no one saw it. We saw the failures during Covid but not the decades of success that eradicated measles & small pox & controlled the spread of Ebola in 2014. My heart breaks for Ms. Cole & my friends at these agencies. My heart aches for the suffering we are about to experience because they are unable to do their work. It is a hard way to learn civics!
Totally. As Atul said in our conversation yesterday, USAID is a test because it's supposedly unpopular (Can you imagine!?)
Thanks for commenting on Ms. Cole. I agree!
😥 I struggle to find the appropriate nouns & adjectives to put context to the mayhem playing out in your country. I could turn the pages in my thesaurus yet the result would be the same 😥 I do however believe in time those with rational and compassionate judgement will prevail & restore some level of order but in the interim many will be harmed. JJF 🇨🇦
Yeah, I agree. We need to stop the bleed here.
Pr o je ct 2025 and this political c o u p is impacting families, children, teens, young adults, grandparents, older folks~ in our communities nationally.
Friday is an economic 🪧 p r o t e s t. That means that many aren’t using credit cards on Friday. We’re not buying stuff that day. P r o t e s t these bad, calamitous decisions which are vastly harming public health.
Continue calling Congress your voice 📞 matters.
Find a peaceful local protest and participate if you can. Holding a sign 🪧 that shares your voice and message, opinion ~ regarding these abrupt societal changes. Demand checks and balances from our leaders so our futures are bright and stable within democracy. ✌️ ☮️Hopefully USAID is saved. Hopefully Measles stops spreading. Hopefully Medicaid is saved ~ Hopefully Public Health is saved. Time to advocate 🧫🦠🧪🌡️💊💉🩹🩻🔬🧬🩺🚰🥬🥛
Thank you for advocating. Peaceful protests still work, but they have to be persistent and widespread.
I think protests need to hit them in ways that THEY care about - money & power. The disruption & even cruelty is purposeful. We may care about humanitarian impact, but they don’t! We will not be effective until we target the things they care about. The boycott will likely be more effective than the signs, letters & phone calls.
Thank you for providing this critical information. I’m terrified on what’s going to happen to this country medically as well as all the other issues that impact the world.
It's going to be ugly but in a very insidious way. An outbreak here, an outbreak there. Easy for them to downplay, as RFK Jr did yesterday
What can we do in the meantime? So much. First SHARE Inside Medicine regularly. I'm trying to do that more. Run for office, municipal boards and commissions. There's much need there and that's where you will find Americans most vulnerable and in dire need. Both my husband and I chair commissions in our city. We are already seeing tremendous guts to many of our programs as grants and funds set aside from Biden's ARPA and CDBG grants have been removed or frozen already. Impoverished cities like Holyoke (the one I currently live in) were starting to climb out and produce plans for the future as well as present in areas of growth, healthcare, education, housing, and infrastructure needs. We have just lost millions of dollars in Gateway city funds that we were planning to use to update our wastewater treatment system, finally. And the list goes on.
Please see Ellen's post above. That's a big one. I think eventually we need to put our donor dollars to the legal nonprofits and some funds that support fired workers. I'll look around.
Jeremy, I have read them all already. The National Boycott is all over the internet for some time and I've posted about it on my page. It is also a great exercise for each of us in understanding our own contribution to how we've given a lot of our own power and privacy away for years. We've allowed ourselves to get too caught up in consumerism. The "we" being inclusive of the speaker, me. Capitalism/consumerism is not actually a requirement of Democracy. And if you've had time to read my comments, I got my training for Non-violent Resistance a month ago. I Chair my Commission on Disabilities and have been advocating for these folks already so marginalized, now in even more danger. I believe that is definitely a public health issue.
Also have been giving to the Southern Poverty Law Center since Trump's last term for legal suits. There is also, of course, the ACLU. (Though interestingly enough both of those large groups rarely mention those who are disabled in their commercials for donations to aid marginalized groups.) Planned parenthood for women's health and those med folks that serve them is also a good one.
We will all be certainly watching the SCOTUS outcome, but I imagine for this one test in a whole line-up of tests (cases/suits), their answer will be wishy-washy at first. After all, we've seen that the US court justice is slow and plodding, and we've also seen Trump utilize appeals as obfuscation/delay. He now has a never-ending line-up of willing lawyers while this "administration" continues it's destruction through actual actions and perception utilizing fear and insecurity. As always I hope I'm wrong as my mantra is, "I'm more interested in doing right, than being right". And we still need to keep fighting back. (Thanks, Jeremy, for your endless time contribution.)
Friday is such a huge day in this nation, potentially. We'll see what the Court does. I think the Court's own power is at stake here, and merits aside, they'd be ill-advised to roll over. We'll see
PLEASE tell me -- What can we, as the public, do to make a difference? There has to be more than writing/calling my congressmen and standing outside protesting, isn't there??
See Ellen's post. 1. peaceful protest. 2. call your reps. 3. donate to legal nonprofits (and maybe funds for wrongly terminated people; I'll look into that). 4. vote (obviously not a short term answer) 5. spread good information so that people are informed. These can work, but it will take time and sustained effort
I'd add, if you are not already, join a union. Well-organized unions have built in structure for amplifying messages and getting large numbers of folks (members!) out in important actions. If you are in a union, step up as an organizer not just an activist.
Unbelievable.
:(
Also we’re not talking about the EPA reductions and health impacts associated with changes to air, water, climate, weather surveillance NOAA etc
50501movement on IG has a list of protests Nationwide for March 4 th (example there’s a protest in Boston March 4 at 4 pm at Boston Common Bandstand) 50 states 50 protests 1 day March 4 it’s a movement of the people for Democracy ( all people and all political affiliations etc welcome it’s a peaceful protest )
Wanted to point out that an infectious disease panel at NSF has been archived: Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases, NSF24-592. Just when we need to increase understanding of arthropod vectored pathogens …