A thread on how absurd the UK is on transgender issues and how the UK got so transphobic

In 2015 Parliament held an inquiry looking into the state of Transgender equality. Trans people of all stripes outlined many different problems across many, many different areas.

As a result Parliament created a list of recommendations including legal recognition for non binary people, gender recognition act reform, allowing 16 year olds to change their legal gender and reform of NHS gender identity services.

The government under Theresa May ignored everything that was recommended except for Gender recognition act reform. This act came into law in 2003 and gave trans men and women (but not non-binary people) the ability to legally change their gender on their birth certificates.

The process at that time to change your birth certificate under the GRA was to make an application to a panel of cisgender people who would decide if you were sufficiently trans based on your payslips, photo ID and bank statements. You would not get the option to speak to them.

(Also this process cost £140 which is just a tax on being trans)

Joanna Cherry:"Alex Salmond secured a concession that nothing in Scotland Act would preclude the people of Scotland from subsequently choosing an independent future. This is recorded in Hansard during second reading of Referendums (Scotland & Wales) Bill, May 21, 1997."

Donald Dewar said: “I should be the last to challenge the sovereignty of the people, or deny them the right to opt for any solution to the constitutional question they wished. For example, if they want to go for independence, I see no reason why they should not do so." JC

"In same debate Alex Salmond went on to emphasise that “… the Claim of Right referred to sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine a form of Govt best suited to their needs. It did not suggest sovereignty resides with English Members of Parliament." Joanna Cherry

Joanna Cherry: "Donald Dewar articulated the democratic norm later enshrined in the Edinburgh Agreement. His concession laid the foundation for the 2014 referendum in recognising the rights of Scots to choose whether to remain part of our voluntary union with England."

"I am wholly in agreement with view that we must find a legal & constitutional way to demonstrate that public opinion in Scotland has changed since 2014 referendum, in order for our independence to be internationally recognised & therefore meaningful." Joanna Cherry

#Bookmark this

|| Geography and Astronomy ||

of “EARTH” according to Indian ancient scriptures

I repeat “Untold Unsung now Unearthed”

RT and spread the knowledge.

Slightly long thread but you’d be amaze. Go through entire thread carefully.

It is hoped that you have not forgotten that Svayambhuva Manu had a son named Priyavrata. Priyavrata had ten sons. Their names were Agnidhra, Agnivahu, Vapushmana, Dyutimana, Medha, Medhatithi, Bhavya, Savana, Putra and Jyotishmana.

Medha, Agnivahu and Putra had no desire to rule. They were not interested in material pursuits and became hermits.

Priyavrata divided the earth amongst the remaining seven sons. Thus it was that the earth came to be divided into seven regions or dvipas.

Agnidhra ruled over Jambudvip, Medhatithi over Plakshadvip, Vapushman over Shalmalidvip, Jyotishman over Kushadvip, Dyutimana over Krounchadvip, Bhavya over Shakadvip & Savan over Pushkaradvip

Agnidhra, the ruler of Jambudvipa, had nine sons. Their names were Nabhi Kimpurusha, Hari, Ilavrita, Ramya, Hiranyavana, Kuru, Bhadrashva and Ketumala.

Agnidhra divided Jambudvipa into nine regions (varshas) and gave each of his sons a region to rule over.

For those traveling to DC on Jan. 6th, I'm a native to the area and I would like to share with you what I will be doing this time and what I have done for the last two rallies...1/

1/14 How do e-cigarettes (ECs) affect cigarette smoking among youth? My new paper with @FloeFoxon simulates each scenario and finds out which one best matches actual trends... https://t.co/dBB7kcnTls @jgitchell @mikepesko @SwitchFinder @jkelovuori @TobPolicy @Clive_Bates

2/14 First, let's talk about why this question is so difficult to answer: COUNTERFACTUALS. We can't know the alternate-reality answers, like which smokers would have never started in a world without ECs, and which nonsmokers would now be smoking without ECs as an option.

3/14 So, the best we can do is use fancy/sophisticated methodologies to estimate what would have happened to youth smoking rates in the absence of ECs. In our case, simulation modeling

4/14 First, we look at the declining smoking trends *that were already happening* before ECs came (~2010), and project them into the present. This is our BASE-CASE SCENARIO about what smoking trends would be if ECs were never invented. Actual trends were LOWER than this base-case

5/14 Side note about terminology: We use the term “catalyst” instead of “gateway,” because “catalyst” is more precise about the claim we are modeling (that ECs are used first, and then causally lead to smoking). Whereas "gateway" can include other mechanisms like renormalization.

#2020yearinreview
My coverage and commentary of San Francisco homelessness in the past year.

To make it more interesting, I'm interspersing quotes throughout this thread ⬇️

‘The letters or cards that I had… they could never be replaced. It just meant more to me than a zillion dollars.’ -- Derrick, who lost his tent, ID and letters from his mother to sweeps by

'We’re essentially under arrest. On an equally interesting note, I haven’t had any medical examination since my arrival — a bit strange considering what I’m here for.' -- Ken, shelter client who was tested positive for

'The shelter in place has given us permission to be out here, otherwise it was just cat and mouse' -- Toro, whose tent camp in Castro District was temporarily reprieved from police

'It’s scary coming here, especially for people using on the street and with mental health issues, there’s a lot of paranoia. I didn’t know if I was being taken to a black site.' -- Joshua Owens, on his initial trepidation about entering a SIP hotel

KILLMONGER'S DIARY

Fuck Africa. I'm American. Any African mad at dem words, kick rocks. Don't like it, jump ship. Back 2 Africa. Need receipts. How much yall made off us? U think we didn't know? Mafucka, we the vibranium that made Africa pop. We werent stole. We were sold.

Yall sold us. Then yall hv the audacity 2 come here, pass as American niggas, lecture us about racism & white supremacy, police our emotion, critique our anger & then U have the bravado 2 lecture us about fighting when yall let Europeans come & take yall shit? Fuck out of here.

Immigrants by nature unpatriotic. When times got tough, you left your country. You abdicated the responsibility to make your country better. You didn't fight. You ran. We didn't leave. We stayed. We fighters. Yall runners. Ain't know runner can tell a fighter about a damn thing.

"Erik U dont understand. We wouldve been killed." So the fuck what. We died fo our shit, but yall weren't willing 2 die for yours & now U come here trying 2 cut the line & take our place & Bitch, dont be calling me by my 1st name. We aint cool like that. Thats Mr. Killmonger 2 U.

& we ain' family. I dont play crayola politics so I dont care we got da same skin color. I ain't got no Melanin infatuation like the rest of deese niggas. I's knows what yall done did to us. I gives as much afuck about Africans as George Jefferson gave about Archie Bunker.

1) The BIG secret: The majority of people have no inner monologue and are not capable of critical thought. They can be easily controlled through lies and "the appeal to authority". This is the secret of "The Illuminati" and the secret societies.

2) You know how 99% of dogs, no matter how old or smart, will wrap their leash around a tree, and never figure out to go around the other direction to release themselves? You could put a bowl of food 1 foot from the dog and he would die of starvation before unwrapping the leash.

3) So it is with most people. To hide and exploit this knowledge is the purpose of the so called "Illuminati" and the "secret societies".

4) If you understood that this is true, you would understand those of us who are "awake" have a moral duty to herd the sheep into a decent life, so we can all have a decent world to live in. That moral responsibility, your God given purpose in life, has been hidden from you.

5) Today we use the word "sheep" as a pejorative. It was never used that way in the bible. There is nothing wrong with being a sheep. Sheep invent things, they work hard, they produce children who are not sheep. They feel love, hatred, fear, joy, sadness, they are human.

In London, it won't be long before a bail application hearing for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange starts. I'm attending remotely and will have updates in this thread.

Some history of the case: after Assange was arrested and expelled from the Ecuador embassy, he was convicted of "jumping" bail when he sought asylum. He was issued a 50-week sentence.

Sentencing judge said he exploited his "privileged position to flout the law."

Assange was scheduled for release from Belmarsh high-security prison in September 2019, after completing his sentence for "jumping" bail (essentially, he was criminalized for seeking asylum).

On September 22, 2019, Judge Vanessa Baraitser declined to grant Assange bail.

"I have substantial ground for believing if I release you, you will abscond again."

In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic intensified globally, Assange's legal team applied for bail that Baraitser denied.

"Mr. Assange’s past conduct shows the lengths he is prepared to go to avoid extradition proceedings," Baraitser

Happy New Year! On Monday, we start tweeting about #AdamSmith 's whole #WealthOfNations at the rate of about a chapter a day! Don’t miss it! #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Today, we’re looking at “The Introduction and Plan of the Work” because although it is New Year’s Day, we, the SmithTweeters, are still Very Serious Smith Scholars. #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

TFW you start reading “The Introduction and Plan of the Work” and realize that elevator speeches were invented before elevators. #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

How hard people work &how many are working is more important to national wealth than resources &climate. So much for Montesquieu et al saying climate determines levels of industriousness or laziness. (Int. 3) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

We swear we’re going to come back to Smith and this “savage nations” phrase he keeps dropping. We just can’t do it on January 1st. (Int. 4) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

Argentina legalizing abortion offers an opportunity to reflect on the great unwritten media narrative of the past few generations: the lives of women and children got worse in so many ways after Roe v. Wade.

Media would never, ever write that narrative, of course - would never string stories together and search for a pattern that could be refined into a political point - but it's the net impact of their reporting on women's issues. Everything started getting worse in the 70s.

There is a valid "narrative" to be discerned from that ocean of bad news about women and children over the past few decades. It's not a coincidence. It's a direct result of the Big Lie pushed by the abortion lobby: that only one person is involved in the decision to give birth.

That's so obviously untrue that entire civilizations are driven mad when they are forced to accept it. It's like forcing everyone to agree that the sky is green or gravity is a myth. Cognitive dissonance inflicts far more social damage than politicians or academics want to admit.

Women and (born) children suffer after abortion becomes broadly legalized because men are erased from the picture. A lot of men - including rich and powerful men - LIKE being erased from that particular picture. Others are intimidated out of insisting they belong in it.

What is happening in the United States now is a fascistic insurrection to stop the transfer of power, instigated by Trump in an attempt to nullify the elections and overthrow the Constitution. 1/

The storming of the Capitol building in DC will also give an impulse to militias and far-right organizations in states throughout the country. Just this past October, a plot was uncovered to kidnap and execute the Governor of Michigan and other states. 2/

Trump has repeatedly declared his refusal to accept the results of the election, which he clearly lost. On Monday, he proclaimed at a rally in Georgia: “They are not taking this White House. We are going to fight like hell.” 3/

As we state in the perspective on the WSWS today, "In the face of Trump’s active effort to overthrow the Constitution, the Democratic Party and its defenders are doing everything possible to conceal and downplay the threat posed by Trump’s actions."

Throughout the election and post-election crisis, the Democrats have worked to cover-up the character of Trump's actions, from the threat to invoke the Insurrection Act in June, through the Michigan coup plot, up to the post-election refusal to transfer power. 5/

Now Ministering: Pst Clem Imaku
Topic: Pursuit After God; Becoming a God Chaser
Text: Psalm 63:1
Pursuit is the act of chasing after something. The pursuit after God is the act of chasing after God in other to know him.

#ChurchGRA
#HappyNewYear
#FirstSundayOfTheYear
#Restoration

When there is no hope, put your trust in God.
In everything you do, put God in it. David is an example of a God chaser. In the midst of his trouble, he pursued God continually.

#ChurchGRA
#HappyNewYear
#FirstSundayOfTheYear
#Restoration

For you to pursue God, you must have a personal relationship with Him. Those that chase after God, have a hunger for God.

#ChurchGRA
#HappyNewYear
#FirstSundayOfTheYear
#Restoration

God chasers desire God they desire to know the power of god Philippians 3:10.
For you to be a God chaser, you must have a hunger for his presence.

#ChurchGRA
#HappyNewYear
#FirstSundayOfTheYear
#Restoration

What you never pursue, you won't get.
Psalm 14:2. God is looking at us to see if our attention would be on him. He wants to release his power and glory but if you don't desire him, He won't.

#ChurchGRA
#HappyNewYear
#FirstSundayOfTheYear
#Restoration

Wages, profits, and rents have “natural rates” regulated by the general conditions of the society in which they exist. (I.vii.1) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

When the price of any commodity = price of rent + profit + labor + price of getting it to market, the commodity is sold at its “natural price.” (I.vii.4–5) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

And that all means the commodity has been sold for what it is worth—what it really costs. (I.vii.5) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets

The price for which a commodity is sold ought to include a seller’s profit, because that’s how sellers pay themselves, just like they pay the wages of the laborers who work for them, who get their goods to market, etc. (I.vii.5) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweet

Nerds among you may recognize the concept of economic profit here: it matters to the owners of stock whether they could have done better by using their stock elsewhere, not just whether they covered their costs. (I.vii.5) #WealthOfTweets #SmithTweets #WeLoveNerds

one thing in Swordfish that bothered me was the scene where Jackman is forced at gunpoint to let a woman give him oral sex while he tries to hack into the defense department. 1

the oral sex is presented as distracting; it's a kind of sexy joke. but it's actually rape, is the thing. nonconsensual sex at gunpoint is rape.

which, the film doesn't realize at all because guys are supposed to always be willing to get oral sex from a sexy woman. even if he keeps saying no. even if he has to be forced into it at gunpoint.

there are plenty of really dicey things about the film (you're supposed to cheer at the end because the bad guy is using his billions to kill POC who you're told are terrorists.)

I feel like there's at least some limited awareness that there is some moral ambiguity in a lot of those instances. but there's absolutely no sense that Jackman has been raped or might be traumatized by being raped.

Cons in other countries don’t separate comics people from the celebrities. So you often spend a week between two cons, getting to know actors, wrestlers, and other famous people.

We always found nearly all of them lovely people.

Guess which group consistently wasn’t?

:)

1/

It wasn’t actors. In general, they have nearly all been really sweet people.

Guess again.

2/

It wasn’t wrestlers. I have had zero bad experiences with any of the wrestlers I’ve met and quite a few were above-and-beyond lovely to their fans.

Guess again.

3/

It’s not musicians. They always seem anxious, and they keep to themselves, but I never saw any being jerks in a green room at a con.

Last guess.

4/

It’s not novelists, artists, or comedians. Good guesses, but no.

One group has been so consistently loathsome, have so tortured staff and promoters, that I would say it’s probably a 90% likelihood that any con guest in this category is just awful.

Ready?

5/