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The Afghanistan War had to end

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The Afghanistan War had to End ☮️

There was no good way to end the war but it seems like a bandage over a wound, this one had to be ripped off and let the Afghanistan people run the government they are want. Best to do in the summer months, three years until the presidental election.

“It is a 20 year war that had to end.” – President Biden

I am not convinced that the Afghan people really don’t want the Taliban as their leadership. It is hard if not impossible to run a government that lacks popular support. It’s rare that a king or a dictator lasts for long unless they provide a level of services that the public demands. Dictators are often good at one level at providing security and decent public services even as they silence the opposition.

I also doubt that it’s all about religious extremism – people probably weren’t happy with the level of services provided by the previous Afghanistan regime, or the corruption that was previously the norm. People where probably tired of a generation of war and ready for the stabilization of an Afghanistan under the Taliban after America leaves.

The ‘Hiroshima Cover-Up’ & The Journalist Who Exposed The Truth

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The ‘Hiroshima Cover-Up’ & The Journalist Who Exposed The Truth

8/19/20 by NPR

Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/111312409
Episode: https://play.podtrac.com/npr-381444908/edge1.pod.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/npr/fa/2020/08/20200819_fa_fapodweds-da549908-b651-4c08-b7ca-210e0f707ca5.mp3?awCollectionId=381444908&awEpisodeId=903895214&orgId=1&d=2853&p=381444908&story=903895214&t=podcast&e=903895214&size=45552537&ft=pod&f=381444908

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Historian Lesley M.M. Blume’s new book, ‘Fallout,’ tells the story of John Hersey, the young journalist whose on-the-ground reporting in Hiroshima exposed the world to the devastation of nuclear weapons. “Hersey had seen everything from that point, from combat to concentration camps,” Blume says. “But he later said that nothing prepared him for what he saw in Hiroshima.”

Light and happy 😊 podcast for listening 🎧 on the beach 🏖.

NPR

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A Mission to Give Afghans Democracy Became a Bid to Repair America’s Own : NPR

The U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is a story of democracy and its shortcomings. In this piece, Steve Inskeep — host of NPR's Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First — analyzes how the United States inadvertently took on a mission to democratize Afghanistan, and instead undermined democracy at home, as unpopular wars tend to do.

Leaks Reveal Spyware Meant To Track Criminals Targeted Activists Instead

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Leaks Reveal Spyware Meant To Track Criminals Targeted Activists Instead

7/29/21 by NPR

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Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/126402377
Episode: https://play.podtrac.com/npr-381444908/edge1.pod.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2021/07/20210729_fa_fapodthurs.mp3

‘Washington Post’ reporter Craig Timberg explains how military-grade spyware licensed to governments and police departments has infiltrated the iPhones of journalists, activists and others. “It takes a story like this to help people understand how deeply enmeshed these tiny little computers have gotten into our lives,” Timberg says. “I still carry my iPhone everywhere I go … And the reality of that is that every time I do that, I’m exposing not just myself, but everyone I deal with to the possibility of spying by governments all over the world.”

Mandatory emasculation

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I would post a comment on social media about mandatory emasculation rather than mandatory vaccination for government workers but such a comment would be rather tasteless these days.

That said, mandatory emasculation for government workers probably isn’t a bad idea if not somewhat unpopular with the unions. But it would mean much more level headed, well thought out public policy and a generally fairer and better society. Less police brutality, fewer crashes of transit vehicles, less war.