Deborah Shadovitz

Backpacking Author & Radio person focusing on Mac/Apple tech & TRAVELING w/tech. Travel writer. Don't use UBER.

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@facebook Public Group Admins can no longer see the top 10 Insights->Membership->Top countries. This is an important tool for us to keep out usurpers, accounts that are clearly not legitimate and can only be seeking to phish participants. We do see top 4. We need those 10. Please

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐔 𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐔.𝐒.: 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐃’𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐓 — 𝐈𝐓 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐃 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.” — Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, former African Union Ambassador to the United States

The American press covered USAID’s shutdown as a tragedy — a lifeline severed, children abandoned, soft power obliterated. Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao has a different read. She held the African Union’s ambassadorship to Washington. She was on the ground. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Her core charge isn’t about waste or mismanagement — it’s about intent. USAID, she says, used the cover of humanitarian access to penetrate the most remote parts of Africa and 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. The phrase “wolf in sheep’s clothing” isn’t a metaphor she uses loosely — she watched it happen.

The evidence she offers: after decades of USAID presence, name one African country where education improved. Name one where healthcare improved. The social services, she says, were “peanuts” — a fraction of the billions allocated ever reached the people it was billed for. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, not to the programs Congress funded and the public assumed were running.

She isn’t an anonymous critic. She’s a former official of the institution that represents 55 African nations. She says the view she’s describing isn’t just hers — it’s the majority position across the developing world. African leaders didn’t lose a lifeline when USAID left. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞.

The left spent months arguing that shutting USAID was America abandoning the world. The former African Union ambassador is saying the world was relieved to see it go.

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@sproutsfm I just got your recent email & was curious about a product so I clicked the ad. I'd have loved to see the product but my 13" screen was covered by a mandate to choose a store for delivery and crap. All I wanted was to SEE a product. You lost me - again.

[M.A. Rothman @MichaelARothman]

𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐆𝐀𝐙𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃: “𝐈 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐍”

Twenty people were invited to watch a video exposing the propaganda machine operating in Gaza — children’s TV shows teaching kids to k∗ll Jews, schools funded by the UN promoting antisemitism, and a systematic campaign of indoctrination. Their reactions say everything:

“𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 — 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺 — 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘝 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬∗𝘭𝘭 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?”

“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯.”

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 80 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢.”

One participant connected the dots to American taxpayer dollars: “𝘈 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜.𝘕. 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘜𝘕𝘙𝘞𝘈, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 — 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘴.”

Another challenged the world: “𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴’ 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦.”

The 𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐬. 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 analogy hit hardest: “𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 — 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦.”

For context: 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟏,𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐤∗𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑, including 33 Americans. H-m-s took approximately 𝟐𝟓𝟑 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬. UNRWA schools have been repeatedly documented using educational materials that glorify violence against Jews (UN Watch).

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨. 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨.

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@DuckDuckGo NOPE. I love DDG. However, there should NOT be AI image generation ANYWHERE by Anyone! And if there is, I want to know who did it. Maybe none of your devs are a targeted minority fighting for your right to exist in this world.

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@ABC7 You keep saying R Good was shot & killed by an officer. That's Brainwashing not News. She was driving at him. You don't have to say she was aiming at him, or breaking the law. Just stop saying he killed her as if he wanted to. U have 0 cred w/me; sadly some believe in you.

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@DropboxSupport This is insane. Question: I signed up in my browser on my Mac. Single use account. (So don't tell me about other methods.) Let's assume I can figure out how to Upgrade to Pro (2TB). How EXACTLY do I proceed to SWITCH from Pro Monthly payments to YEARLY payment.
JUST TELL ME!

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@DropboxSupport You state storage space BUT not whether there is a data transfer limit. There is no way to call a human. Cannot purchase w/out this info. Please tell me whether PLUS "2TB of storage" has limits. Ex: a video that people view from DB instead of downloading.

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@DropboxSupport I read that before writing to you. I'm not asking to CANCEL. I'm asking how to END monthly & CHANGE to annual.
If I could figure out this generic stuff I wouldn't be asking. (Again, I detest not having a person to help with presale questions.)

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@DropboxSupport 2 more questions.
1) I signed up for free 2g plan to test. Next step: Upgrade to Plus for full files test. If works, great. If not, don't wannna lose $120. Cancel seems complicated. Thinking to get Plus monthly for 1 mo, then after 2-4 weeks switch to annually. Is that possible?

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@DropboxSupport Thanks! YOU gave me the info I needed. It is NOT on the page you sent me to. All it says there is "Deliver up to 50 GB" which is File Size, not daily transfer. YOUR answer should be on your website. How can a person buy what they don't know they are getting?

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@RepNancyMace @Ilhan Good start. Now strip her over citizenship and her post because I’m sure what she has done is treason.

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@DuckDuckGo in your a summary please stop saying “thinking” when a person ask for more information. please change that word to “researching. Please be a leader and helping people to remember how to think. People think through research. AI, I pray, never quite “thinks.”

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@AdelphiU You put Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on probation for a year? Youre a LEARNING Institution! TEACH those terror-backing students. Making them learn history & facts. If they only stop their social media campaigns all you are teaching them is to not get caught.

[Bill Ackman @BillAckman]

This guy @ZohranKMamdani is bad. Watch him and listen to his words.

[Yael Bar tur @yaelbt]

Update: Zohran Mamdani actually put out two statements, this one ON Oct 7 with @DemSocialists. It clarifies that "today’s events are a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime" and calls to stop fiancing the "Israeli state". Our potential next mayor. Shame on NYC.

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@Hanes Outsourcing is one thing: Now allowing a US customer to be escalated to a US rep for resolution is another - a failure. Nice foreign supervisor but she can't resolve. So customer is screwed? Do I say thanks for the loss & frustration?

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@ABC7 Eyewitness News - leave your distain for PRESIDENT Trump OUT of your so-called REPORTING! He is NOT MR Trump. He is THE US PRESIDENT. But thanks for the reminder that YOU DO NOT report accurately.
And, if this is Disney's policy, glad once more I no longer promote Disney.

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@Groupon Today I searched your site for "Microsoft for Macintosh" & other attempts. Everything you delivered was Windows. To your search credit way down one did say "not for Mac or Chrome." Better search needed? Or, "sorry, none here."

[Deborah Shadovitz @ShadoDeb]

@Awesome_Jew_ @MayorOfLA and @CAgovernor: Where are you in this?