1/15 You'll hear a lot of talk today about how what happened yesterday is extraordinary and antithetical to our history. It's important to reject that idea, not out of cynicism or pessimism but because that pretense of innocence is dangerous. Let's talk about U.S. Cruikshank.

2/15 Cruikshank is a case virtually every single con law casebook discusses though most con law professors don't necessarily spend a great deal of time talking about but it's instructive about how we frame yesterday's events.

3/15 In Cruikshank, decided in 1875, SCOTUS considered whether, under the Enforcement Act of 1870, the federal government had the power to prosecute members of a white mob that killed between 80 to 150 Black people. The case was essentially about a mass lynching.

4/x The Court concluded Congress lacked the power to authorize such prosecutions because the massacre involved criminal matters constitutionally left to the states. In short, the court said the massacre was a series of murders and it was up to the states to prosecute such crimes

5/15 The thing is if you read the opinion, you'll get a vague sense that a mob was charged with violence but you'll never get that it was about the 1873 Colfax Massacre - the single deadliest instance of violence during Reconstruction and one that occurred because of an election

If Migration is part of your plans for 2021.

Follow this thread carefully-

7 countries you can easily move to:

NORWAY 🇳🇴

NEW ZEALAND🇳🇿

SWEDEN 🇸🇪

FINLAND 🇫🇮

I wish he was more direct about how we got here, but this is powerful. Pandemic response has had a devastating impact on 100s of millions of people in poor countries. Covid death is *not* the only thing that matters. How come this isn't the focus? 1/x


"Starvation is agonizing and degrading. You lose control of your bowels. Your skin peels off, your hair falls out, you hallucinate and you may go blind from lack of vitamin A. While you waste away, your body cannibalizes itself: It consumes its own muscles, even the heart." 2/x

"the U.N. warns that famine is looming in Yemen, South Sudan, Burkina Faso and northeastern Nigeria, with 16 other countries slightly behind in that trajectory toward catastrophe" 3/x

"Outside of the rich world, the casualties are not octogenarians with the virus so much as children dying of hunger because of economic disruptions, or middle-aged adults dying of AIDS because they can’t get medicines." 4/x

"Lockdowns meant that casual laborers had no income, and tuberculosis patients couldn’t get medicine. Campaigns to battle malaria, polio, AIDS and vitamin A deficiency were left in disarray." 5/x

2020 has brought many challenges and with them - a large volume of #disinformation. Here’s our recap! (THREAD 1/20)

In late JANUARY we collected the first examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation spinning conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19. (2/20)

In FEBRUARY disinfo outlets kept amplifying conspiracy theories about COVID-19, no matter how ridiculous. The @WHO warned that the pandemic was accompanied by “infodemic”: an unprecedented flood of false or inaccurate information about coronavirus. (3/20)

In MARCH Josep Borrell, the head of the European External Action Service, warned: “disinformation can kill”.

In APRIL global activist network @Avaaz found that harmful misinformation on coronavirus was shared over 1.7 million times on Facebook and viewed an estimated 117 million times. (5/20)

11 moments women changed the world in 2020 💪What would you add?👇

1. Kamala Harris makes history as first woman of color elected US vice-president

2. Female-Led countries handled coronavirus better, study suggests

3. Record number of women took over Fortune 500 companies in 2020

4. Malala Yousafzai Graduates from Oxford University

5. Zendaya makes Emmys history as youngest lead actress drama winner

It is at jarring times like this where society is reeling most from the lack of journalistic integrity within the mainstream media. It is for good reason that just 9% of Americans have "a great deal" of trust in media institutions, with 60% having little or no faith at all.

I would like to know how anti-Semites, climate change activists, and BLM protest attendees took front-and-center in a supposedly Trump-inspired riot (given his stance as the most philo-Semitic president in US history, a climate realist, and an outspoken critic of mob violence.)

Unfortunately, the current state of most of the news media is to engage in the exercise of simply identifying whichever take is most politically damaging to Trump, look no further, and become steadfast in the resilience against the dangers of being confused by the facts.

Commentators are po-facedly presenting the outrages on Capitol Hill yesterday as a sincere (and allegedly Trump-inspired) attempted "insurrection" (by a rag-tag group of unarmed hooligans in MAGA attire), led by these Neanderthals, who stopped to pose for a mid-coup photo shoot:

The hypocrisy is scandalous but typical. If nothing else, at least Trump has reunified the country in regarding riots as bad and law enforcement as good. That is, until the next left-wing protest turns violent.

The anti-trans rhetoric masquerading as philosophical inquiry and political philosophy in our field is both intellectually vacant and manifestly harmful.

From an academic perspective it is an embarrassment to the profession that trans lives are "up-for-debate."

It should a matter of professional legitimacy taken up by our learned societies that people engage in and are rewarded for the kind of vapid pseudo-scholarship that I see crop up in the field around trans lives.

I have a chapter in my thesis about the problem of anti-trans propaganda which focuses on the *central* argument in that propaganda: that trans women, by virtue of their socialization as men, pose a credible threat to cis women if allowed in to gender-regulated space.

I'm going to tweet out some of the points below.

Canada has a data problem when it comes to sexual violence perpetrated against anyone other than cis people.

@ThyConsigliori

This is not in response to your work, Pat  but...

this is well, ummm

MY FIRST THREAD😳

I am posting  what I sent to my Reps in D.C., in hopes that others will follow. The time is now or never to say HEAR ME!

(1)To: (my reps),

It is your duty to stand and represent, as our reps, to not only vote to elect Trump, but also with your objections to electors that are falsely claimed for Biden. 

You are bound by the constitution to uphold what the maj. of YOUR constituents

2. believe to be true.

(A)That Donald J. Trump won this election in a grand way and should be inaugurated on Jan. 20. 2021. 

(B)That Biden electors in certain states are falsely claimed by the use of lawlessness and deception.

(3) As a public servant it is your duty, first and foremost, to represent your constituents. You are our voice in Washington and our voice needs to be heard. We know much about what happened in this election, and on what we don't know, there are very strong

(4) suggestions and unexplained anomalies. If you don't stand up to fight for America herself today, to fight for the truth to be uncovered, then you will never have this chance again. Even if you have been "promised" a "bright future". To surrender today only means one thing.

[Thread: Fandoms]
I was called by a long lost friend's parents today. A bit of history, she was involved with the fandom(?) of a popular sports team for the past year or so. The involvement grew so intense that she was engaged with the fandom-things for better part of the day ->

She administered multiple social media "fan-accounts" for the team and the players, had a huge "friends-group" within the fandom itself etc.

In the last few weeks, she almost stopped speaking to her parents, and lost all the contact with her friends in the lockdown. ->

3 weeks ago, somehow a (alleged) rumor spread within their fandom circle's social media that she is a "mole for the opposite team" (or something like that) and she faced everything from abuses to rape threats (was reported to authorities. More on that later) ->

From what the description sounded like, the harassment was really worse than what political social media has (in my experience of hot takes in the past year)

Anyway, 2 days after this rumor, their "fandom team lost to opposite fandom team" on some online contest thing. ->

She was blamed by the "friends" in the fandom "for conspiring" and this person went into a literal shock.

Couldn't speak, couldn't eat, lay in bed all day, didn't even get up to visit the restroom and was deaf to everything. FOR 48 HOURS. Had to be taken to a doctor. ->

White dude wrote a thread about how he 'taught' his hungry 9 year old to use a can opener; 'figure it out' The child was in tears unable to figure out how to get the opener to align with and bite the increasingly damaged can for 6+ hours, during which time she didn't eat anything

Leaving aside all the incredibly abusive elements of this, I want to talk a bit about the things I've learned about teaching children, something I've spent a decade doing.

1) Kids, even very young kids, are incredibly perceptive, intelligent, curious, and sensitive.

2) Kids can figure out very complicated things on their own (I taught media analysis/fiction writing ages 7-16), but they need to be given the parts.

ALL my kids knew what a character arc was, but would not have been able to give you the words 'character arc' in a million years.

To repeat, I didn't teach them what a character arc was. They already knew what it was, I just pointed it out to them so they could see the patterns.

Same for plot structure, grammar, punctuation, etc. They all knew what these things were, but not necessarily how to apply them.

Kids can absolutely figure things out, but because they're kids and lack life experience, they have to have what they need in front of them.

You don't tell them 'find all the apples in this picture' and then surprise 'there's two in the shopping bag!'

THREAD: We have a historic, even generational opportunity ahead of us just 11 days from now. Let me outline it for you. I'm gonna try and make this non-partisan. I hope you don't judge me irretrievably naïve.

The fact is, much of what's going on in America today is unsustainable. Whether it's government debt, or higher education, climate, or income inequality, it seems pretty clear to just about everyone that if we stay on current trajectory, America is hosed.

I'm not speaking to or about any particular side although if you follow me you probably know where I'm coming from. But 11 days from now we can all collectively choose to keep doing what we're doing -- which means we'll keep getting what we got...

...or we can choose to take a deep breath, close our eyes for a second, and say, "It's time to change." Part of that means turning down the rhetoric. It means taking an inventory of what's broken and thinking hard about how -- together -- we can make things a little less bad.

It means thinking practically about what to do next, and recognizing that the time for maximalist thinking is over; fixing our country will take compromise. All sides will suffer some disappointment, that's how you know the deal was close as possible to fair.

Share wildly. The anti trans (and anti VAWA, Equality Act) Heritage Foundation 'feminist' group, Women's liberation Front (WoLF), has issued its media guidelines.
This will become the standard for the trans hate groups and anti trans media (eg BBC, The Times,The Australian).

1/n

(1) It erases intersex people and even the word "intersex". Intersex people to referred to as "men or women with a Disorder of Sex Development (DSD)"
(2) Wants conversion therapy done on trans youth.

2/n

{3) State that "Primary sex determination occurs upon fertilization and is determined by the presence or lack of a Y chromosome."
(4) Always misgender and deadname trans people.

3/n

(5) Use “cosmetic body modification”, “cosmetic genital surgery”, etc rather than “gender reassignment surgery”.
(6) Make it clear when trans people are victims of male violence it is by romantic partners or when they experience violence as a result of being in the sex trade.
4/n

(7) Use "“About 10 percent of murders in the US are committed by women or men who identify as women” rather than “About 10 percent of murders in the
US are committed by women”
(8) Not to conflate women’s sex-based rights with discrimination against trans-identified people.

5/n

1. They spent years & acres of space in state media lampooning Morgan Tsvangirai. But in death, they eulogise him. It is not because they have discovered respect for the man, no. They do it to use him as a source of legitimacy by way of heirship to their preferred “successor”.

2. They abused Tsvangirai while he lived. They still abuse him after his death. They think if they can attach their horse to Tsvangirai he will earn legitimacy in the eyes of the MDC community. The aim is not to praise Mwonzora but to undermine their true & feared rival Chamisa.

3. The irony is that they applaud Mwonzora for the so-called notion of “responsible opposition” while at the same time naming him the true successor to Tsvangirai as if they ever recognised Tsvangirai as “responsible opposition”. In fact, they called him a puppet & beat him up.

4. For someone trying so hard to uplift their chosen horse & to pretend the MDC Alliance is irrelevant, Charamba spends far too much time throwing jabs at Chamisa & the MDC Alliance. MDC people can tell who is the successor to Tsvangirai by the amount of abuse from ZANU PF people

5. The MDC community knows that the Mnangagwa regime wants to build an opposition party that it can control. The MDC Alliance refused to be that kind of party. The regime found a willing horse in the MDC-T & they have been at it all year expelling MPs & grabbing party funds.

Normally at this time of year, I get to tout the successes we’ve enjoyed in #Chattanooga in the past 12 months, like initiatives that help our families, ribbon cuttings for park improvements, and economic development deals that bring good jobs.

This year has been different. 1/

As we enter 2021, it is also important to count our blessings. This painful, strange year, for example, has indeed brought renewed clarity to a lot of what is truly important. 2/

I’m thinking about the nurses, doctors, home healthcare staff, and medical providers who have been working harder than ever to care for COVID-19 patients and others. Every day, we witness their sacrifice and service. 3/

I’m thinking also about the police, firefighters, public works employees, teachers, child care workers, and other truly essential personnel who have shown unrelenting dedication to keeping us safe and educating our young people against truly staggering odds. 4/

The pandemic has been brutal on our small businesses and Chattanoogans already living on the edge. I appreciate our Economic & Community Development Dept giving rent and utility assistance and other kinds of support to the business owners and employees who need it the most. 5/

I quit my job today and started a Twitter account for my cat (@KCPuppyCat). Why is going to take some time to explain. At least on the first count, anyway. Puppy deserves his own Twitter. But the job is about #a11y(accessibility) & a company with zero respect for their employees.

No, I'm not going to name the company. Suffice it to say they are in healthcare and provide customer service and other things related to benefits offered by other companies. They're kind of a middle man, controlled quite a few government regulations. There's lots of those around.

If you read the reviews of a company and there are a few disgruntled former employees saying horrible things, it's normal. If you look and nearly every review talks about how badly employees are treated, that's something else. I should have known. I thought I was prepared.

There were complaints about how "you only get 15 minute breaks and they count points against you if you're a minute late." But that's normal. There was talk of favoritism...that's pretty common too. Even the talk of mandatory overtime didn't ring any alarm bells at first.

What didn't concern me at first that should have was talk of how incomplete training was, how employees were expected to do 2 weeks of training and be on the phones right away. I've had a job where that was the norm, but training was actually decent and we were actually prepared.

My husband’s family history is complicated (on both side), to say the least.

Recently, he grew curious and wanted to learn more about his maternal grandfather—which was quite a force of nature.

Here’s a pretty long thread ⬇️

His maternal great grandfather was from a samurai family, so wealthy enough at the time to study at Todai and to become a judge. He got married, had 2 sons and then found nothing better to do than abandoned wife & kids to ran with a mistress and go do business in Manchuria.

Suffering from financial hardship, his ex-wife (from a merchant family) had to sell one of her son to another family.

She kept my husband’s grandfather with her, and remarried.

His grandfather received some good education, luckily, and studied at Meiji university.

The grandfather dreamt of becoming a prosecutor. But when he graduated, all the exams got cancelled—Japan was at war and the administration had no time to overview tests. He missed his one chance, and had to settle with becoming a public servant.

He married another descendant of a samurai family—my husband’s grandmother, an admirable lady and a nurse who had come from Gifu to Tokyo at 18.

They both were hardworking folks, who came from wealthy families who lost all their wealth in a fast changing world.

If you are still suffering from cognitive dissonance and can't seem to interpret what is going on around you, let me see if I can at least help you understand what is happening within broader evangelicalism and the Roman Catholic Church:

(2) The "church" is becoming the state church. The church that doesn't just obey the state and governmental authorities but that is incorporated into the state.

Ecumenism will be based upon subjective economic, social, and supranational policies: and you must believe.

(3) And along with this transition you must obey and do whatever the state tells you to do. This is now "loving thy neighbor". This is the new collective.

And you must hate the old nation, the old constitution, the old economy, the old ways.

You must embrace the new systems