46 Comments
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Todd Davis's avatar

What to do? How to make a difference?

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robert's avatar

Well, there WAS a peace candidate on the ballot, less than 1% of American voters voted for her. see https://www.jillstein2024.com/platform

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Diane J's avatar

Great episode, guys! Your guest, Dr Haj Hassan was amazing! Thanks very much.

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furies's avatar

Thank you for bringing her on...I know I haven't slept much since Oct 7 23 I can't even imagine how anyone sleeps in Palestine right now...everyone wishing for death to take them finally.

I feel that way too, living in a world where this is OK...and knowing what precedent this sets for future problematic populations.

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

I am reminded of the MASH theme song, “Suicide is painless.” I drink wine, often, and have much PTSD. Watching the Covid-19 genocide and the Gaza genocide has been hard.

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potshot's avatar

You're not alone furies. When I do sleep I fall out at about 4 or 5 am, wake up to eat two hours and a half later. Go back to bed and sleep till noon or one if I can. Sometimes I can. That's only when I can convince myself of Leo Buscaglia's adage: "who likes to sleep cannot be guilty of any major crimes." Or am I? When I can't, despite the best intentions, it's hard to find the energy of youth to carry on anti-war activism. Even something that should be automatic like merely staying informed. Which, incidentally is a full-time job. The minor upside to the insomnia is more time to answer email, look at news videos, read, and that kind of stuff. Conversely, sometimes when I haven't slept for ~36 hours I might sneak in 2 or 3 hours before real sleep time arrives.

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

Abortion is genocide.

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furies's avatar

don't get one

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

Nope. Nor would I pay for one. I chose life and now have a grandchild on the way. There is not a verse in either the Bible nor the Quran, which describes children non-other than blessings.

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potshot's avatar

So? What about the minimum 3,000 books that are way more important than either of the two holy books you mention? Animal Farm and Thus Spoke Zarathustra to name two. Bridge Across Forever for that matter, by Richard Bach, in which he writes that upon settling on taking the journey to Selfhood you must necessarily sacrifice boredom. What could be more boring than the Bible. With rare peaks at sunshine the Bible is drudgery defined. I'm reading the Koran for the first time in my 65 years, just now, to see what all the hubbub is about. In the bathroom library where the text tells you almost from the outset that you can't do that. The first two sections, a significant chunk of the text amount to you must believe and if you don't Allah knows everything and the punishment will be harsh. No evidence required.

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

Maybe a ‘Street Car Named Desire” would a good read? There is a new edition out with a chapter on abortion.

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David Cooper's avatar

Genocide of Black babies. Over 200,000 each year. I've forgotten the name of the original woman with the idea, but her plan actually worked. She even created a mob mentality around it. Isn't that crazy?!

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

Are you referring to Margaret Sanger?

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David Cooper's avatar

Yes that's the one, Margaret Sanger. The White supremacist. "Eugenicist" they call it. Much more trendy nowadays, if you go by the numbers or by volume.

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potshot's avatar

What a slander waste/ Wasn't Margaret Sanger a pioneer in providing women with access to reproductive rights; that is, contraceptives. Lucky you're not capable of bearing a child. Prohibition of abortion is enslavement of women.

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

Either way, it was sent back to the States. So move where you may.

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

Certainly not “ladies.” But even “ladies” are gone for Transmen

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

Women or sluts?

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

I guess we all just have to accept that war, genocide, natural disasters, disease, forced injections, etc. are how the human population is kept in check, and that those of us who really enjoy life, and our health, should give thanks daily. I know I do. Obviously, my thoughts and prayers go out for those less fortunate.

So far, no one is being held responsible for the Covid-19, nor the genocide in Gaza. So, best advice I can give is to stay healthy, be aware of your surrounding, stay out of crowds, AND NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUNS.

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potshot's avatar

Isn't the demand for guns an indication of profound sickness in society on its very face? Is it any wonder we have so many mass casualty events, not to speak of casual murders, when our leaders and society at large model for us the solution to problems: violence, murder and mayhem. That citizens and compatriots have to arm themselves against each other. Who wants to die by the gun while living by it for such a short time. F guns. I hate guns. They should be outlawed. And the Second Amendment, with the possible exception of the Bible, is the filthiest piece of text I've ever read. I'm a good reader too, if you don't mind my rubbing my knuckles on my breast. Not to belabor the point or anything, and I'm sure you've studied the appropriate response to the following: the Second Amendment was written and promulgated in the day of the single load musket. Not that some maniac with a semi-automatic rifle could sneak into a school and murder 19 kids and 3 teachers, and seriously wound 12 other children. Kung Fu guns.

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furies's avatar

Look how this asshole has hijacked this comment section.

Blocked

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

You need to MOVE TO CANADA AND GET BOOSTED.

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

You sound Goyish

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

The Pope pretty much predicted what would happen with Humane Vite

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David Blackwell RN, BSN, CCM's avatar

Isn't the demand for guns an indication of profound sickness in society on its very face? Absolutely not. A knife. A sword. A gun. Even in the streets of NYC, they can come in handy.

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Jan 3
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Todd Davis's avatar

Ain’t it great we have a country with freedom of speech! For both of you!

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potshot's avatar

You don't put any store in the cliche then Todd that free speech is free only for those who own a newspaper? Facebook? Twitter? The Washington Post, Amazon and Whole Foods? Ad nauseam? You know what's also cool? To live in a country in which 800 billionaires control more wealth than the bottom half of the population. Just delightful. Pop the champagne. .

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potshot's avatar

I think that's actually epilepsy. And especially if they're Christian.

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Kathlean J Keesler's avatar

Thank you. Peace, harmony & goodness to you, yours + all Useful Idiots guests & supporters.

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Anne Prowse's avatar

The Israeli who says children grow up to be Arabs is American.

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Open Letters by Mersault's avatar

⚕️𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡 𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗔 𝗗𝗢𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗢 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔'𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗔 𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦

𝗔 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗗𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗗𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 🩺

https://patricemersault.substack.com/p/an-open-letter-from-a-doctor-to-americas

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Steve Woodward's avatar

This interview was compelling beyond my words to even come close to express. Thank you, Idiots. That's some of your best work, ever, and that's an incredibly high bar.

Any chance, in the near future, of interviewing Dr. Rupa Marya, from University of California San Francisco? Her tireless advocacy for Palestine, and the heavy price she's having to pay, are a story that needs to be told. Thank you so much.

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potshot's avatar

That is a high bar. Katie's reporting is akin to Kahlil Gibran poems. Where Gibran's poems never waste a single word, Katie's guests are without exception important voices, gripping and informative. Often humorous, a nice plus. Often unknown theretofore and so the more compelling. Is that dialectics? The Socratic method? In the event huzzahs Katie. Huzzahs Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan

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Bobs Yorunkl's avatar

Thank you for this extended interview. I feel so helpless to do anything, but Dr Haj-Hassan inspires me to do more.

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Priya's avatar

Dr.Tanya speaks the truth! #shero

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Cheryl's avatar

Trump keeps saying stupid things, even as terrorist plot to kill him, or even if the CIA is stacking it that way.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=baSvmefDsas

Trump says “a bullet in your damn forehead” so is Trump helping the CIA to kill Trump and pretend it’s a terrorist doing it.

I mean really Hamas doesn’t care what Trump is saying since it is known that the IDF shoots infants and children in the head.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EgSZ1fTk4r8&pp=ygUoRG9tY3JhY3kgbm93IG9uIHNuaXBlcnMgdGFyZ2V0IGNoaWxkcmVuIA%3D%3D

Is Trump trying to stage his death by which to get MAGA to join the military to avenge Trump????

I don’t care. If the stupid MAGA people want to sacrifice their kids or themselves in the Mideast, they should go right a head. Good riddance. Would be called the big oil farewell tour.

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Cheryl's avatar

Can’t be competitive with the Petro dollar.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/nyrCFyN1Ejw

Once again Ford defers to the combustible engine.

China doesn’t have this problem.

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EcoSocialista's avatar

The CNN hosts face is gross

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potshot's avatar

Whenever this debate arises I think but for laws against abortion in 1959, and my mom's family being lax enough Catholics that religion was important to them, I could have been aborted. How do you know what you've missed if you missed it? A good argument can be made that as painful as life can be, it isn't even a good. Indeed, Mark Twain writes a very, very short story, The Five Boons of Life, in which not being is preferable to its opposite. I only describe it that way because I wouldn't want to spoil the denouement for anybody who might want to read it. It's about 800 words, easily available on the net. Perhaps the most powerful piece of literature I have ever read.

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Citizen of the World's avatar

As heartbreaking and necessary the myriad testimonies like these are to hear, I fear their only usefulness at this point is for the historical record and for accountability.

Not enough human beings even have enough heart to listen to the myriad testimony of even Western American medical personnel, who speak with one voice, who have returned from their humanitarian work in Gaza.

American Doctors of Palestinian heritage are no longer allowed in.

Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan is white and American and a woman. Perhaps people will listen to her more. Maybe they will empathize more with her tears and uncovered head.

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potshot's avatar

*****

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Brian's avatar

Thank you for bringing the good doctor on. Sad, and I hope the world changes. Education is about always the first step. So good work Useful Idiots!

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