THREAD
What is overlooked in analysis of #RussiaProtest after @navalny's arrest? It's sophistication that the Kremlin has developed in addressing such threats, and lack of realistic strategy by Putin's opponents. Let's put together some unpleasant facts 👇

2/ Of course, it's hard not to be impressed by @navalny's and his family's courage, as well as by energy and scale of protests on January 23. Good summary by @yaffaesque for @NewYorker here:

3/ @navalny's investigation about Putin's palace (>96 million views now!) and street protests are seen as a serious challenge by the Kremlin, which is visible in heavy-handed crackdown on Navalny's team&family, as @HenryJFoy & @maxseddon document here:

4/ Jan 23 protest had the widest geographic coverage (>120 cities all across Russia), and the crowd numbers were significant, particularly in Moscow and St. Petersburg. It's important to note that the price tag for unsanctioned rallies is now higher than before...

5/... and protesters risk much more than 100k people who came to Bolotnaya Square in Moscow back in 2011. Add COVID, and 40k crowd (@Reuters estimate) in the capital will look like a success. But here comes the tricky part.

We're LIVE for the 2nd in a 3-part series around #EquityinEducation! We are grateful to have @DrDBL & @SuptEnfield joining us today for this important conversation. Follow along in this thread ⤵️ #BringPeopeTogether #TeVirtualEvents @EquitySupt1 @KafrissenKai

starts us off with a group activity to recognize our White Privilege. Kai acknowledges that she is showing up today in her own way, and leaning into these conversations as best she can. How are you showing up today? #BringPeopleTogether #TeVirtualEvents

reminds us why we are bringing people together for this work. 90% of school district leaders in the US are white. 90% also stated that the work of #DEI is important but only 20% believe that they are equipped with the skills and talent to lead this work! #Equity

- Hope is not a strategy! For marginalized populations hope is the only thing they have to hold on to, unless leaders like us pick up this work and accelerate it. #BringPeopleTogether #DEI #Equity #EquityInEducation

tells us that when she moved to Highline public schools (diverse population) she was criticized for moving too quickly in this work. There is a sense of urgency because we are so behind and we are playing catch up! #EquityInEducation #DEI

The superior regional court in Bamberg approved the extradition of Iranian diplomat based in Vienna who has been named Assadi.
6 people were arrested in Belgium, France &Germany,2 of whom were later released. Assadi was arrested at a gas station in Bavaria.
#EUTime4FirmIranPolicy

Parliamentary questions:
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Subject: The case of Assadollah Assadi
@eu_eeas @JosepBorrellF @GermanyDiplo

Germany is investigating espionage activities in Europe in connection with former Iranian diplomats
#ShutDownIranTerrorEmbassies @DutchMFA @NorwayMFA @ItalyMFA

When Asadi was arrested on July 1, 2018, German police discovered numerous documents, including a black ledger in his car, with coded dots that appear as instructions for making bombs, according to a report by the television station. German television station One.
@SweMFA #Iran

According to the Channel One report, the couple has received hundreds of thousands of euros for working with Iranian intelligence in recent years.
#EUTime4FirmIranPolicy @USAdarFarsi @StateDept
@Ulkoministerio @CzechMFA

1) Here goes my thread about how I landed my first OWA. Open Writing Assignment. Btw, I had no idea what term meant a year ago so don't feel bad if you don't. The easy way to explain: A studio/producer has a property/IP/an idea but no writer. #screenwriting #pipelinewriters

2) So they solicit writers to come in and give their take. It's basically a bake off. I had low hopes because I'm a new writer and they almost always go with more established writers, but hey, sometimes the best idea wins! I landed it, yay.I'll get to that, but first my long road

3) Grew up on Long Island, middle class, zero connections to Hollywood. I mean ZERO. Chose law school. I wanted to be in entertainment but didn't know that was a viable career path. Did well, worked at biggest law firm in the world. But deep down I knew this wasnt the life for me

4) So quit/got fired (depends who you ask ;), and hopped on a plane to LA w no plan.Begged a guy I knew to let me sleep on floor in his back room. So went from making lots of money to zero money with no gameplan.I don't recommend having NO PLAN. Knew I loved writing and standup

4) Sidenote - this thread isn't about my standup career, but objectively I've done pretty well. Started the first and only lawyer/comedy troupe, headlined the country. Album #1 on iTunes. But was making basically NO money. Got a comedy manager, pitched an idea for a reality show

NEW from me for @amprog @CAPimmigration I lay out why the 100-day moratorium on deportation is critical and why the courts must let it go

So why is the moratorium so important? Over the 4 years of the Trump administration, ICE and CBP took actions that were both cruel and illegal, from family separation, to much much more.

The 100 day pause gives the administration time to get to the bottom of what happened.

Need more evidence? Last fall ICE deported someone even without a deportations order and even before he could go before a judge. They admitted their wrongdoing in court.

The same 1/20 Memo that set out the moratorium orders a top-to-bottom review of immigration policy at DHS. But to make that successful DHS has to ensure that no one is deported who otherwise shouldn't be. Hence the pause.

And yet Texas--who was all about executive authority on immigration under Trump, not so much now--sued to try and stop it, and a federal judge agreed, putting the moratorium on hold.

Here's why that is wrong.

Want to include the menstrual cycle in your scientific work, but aren't sure how to do it? My lab (@katjaschmalen) have just published an article on best practices for observational studies of the cycle! Thread below! 🧵

Despite decades of research on the menstrual cycle, empirical studies have not adopted consistent methods for operationalizing the menstrual cycle, resulting in confusion in the literature and limited possibilities to conduct systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Below, I summarize this "how to" article, and relay some of the key points!

PARTICIPANTS: All participants should be naturally-cycling people with ovaries (remember that they are not necessarily "women"! 🏳️‍⚧️ ⚧).

We provide a Reproductive Status Questionnaire with rules for identifying naturally-cycling people (current function of the sexual organs and hormonal/other medications that stop the cycle).

New Report: Funding students instead of institutions in Georgia

On “Climate Day”, President Biden is making good on his commitment to tackle climate change by signing a suite of executive orders directing all agencies of the federal government to prioritize #climateaction at home and abroad.
Here are the major actions [Thread]

International Leadership. Biden directs the U.S. to begin the process of developing the country’s emission reduction target (NDC), a climate finance plan and hosting the international climate summit on April 22 to push major emitters to ramp up climate ambition.

Foreign Policy and National Security. Climate change must now be prioritized as an essential element when considering U.S. foreign policy, national security decisions and other international work.

Federal Lands & Waters. Biden commits to #30by30–conserving 30% of our lands and waters by 2030. Biden also pauses new oil and gas leases on public lands and offshore waters, and directs a review of existing leasing/permitting practices.

Federal Agencies. Leaders from 21 federal agencies and departments will make up the National Climate Task Force to enable a whole-of-government approach to combat the #climatecrisis.

1/9 For Holocaust Memorial Day, I drew this short comic based on one of the many stories my grandpa used to tell. When he was 14, he came home to discover his family was gone. With no where else to turn, he was forced to hide and live in nearby woods for years.

2/9 As much as he wanted a companion during this time of isolation and terror, he made the decision to tell the dog to go away, fearing that the barking would get him caught. Miraculously, the dog understood, left, and never came back.

3/9

4/9

5/9

🎉Global Game Jam Online Sponsor Appreciation thread 2021!🎉

Please support our sponsors this year if you are able as GGJ could not happen without them. Give them a like, RT an @, follow, download or subscribe. Show them how much #GGJ means to the community!! 👏👏👏 #ggjonline

First a huge thanks to @CoreGames for being our Headline Sponsor! 🤍💛💙Core is a radically accessible game construction kit, content exchange, and game-playing platform, all in one. Get started here

Our Empower Sponsors this year are @Microsoft & @unity3d

Unity believes the world is a better place with more creators in it. Game jams and hack weeks are part of Unity’s DNA, so they are proud to be able to help continue the tradition. Visit

The biggest games in the world run on Microsoft Game Stack but Game Stack was born to democratize game development and even the playing field by giving all developers the same powerhouse toolsets as big studios, so they can create the games they want.

Our Diversifier Sponsors for #ggjonline: @IGDAFoundation @Sony/@PlayStation @NextNav @virtuosgames @EpicGames @EndlessOS @CalPoly DxHub & Carina Fund

has anyone covering the Wall Street GME reaping and sowing gone into the fact that a lot of the GameStop and directly associated trades have been largely amplified by social listening powered mega firms doing machine learning automated trades because the “idea” of GME is popular?

like I thought this was a thing investor people & press just knew & instead it’s all just focused on the message of redditors clowning short sellers and not “the computers saw the infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters and decided That Would Be A Cool Thing To Emulate” for $$$

for those new: finance social listening is a marketing “science” that involves advanced web & social network data collectors scraping everything for nuance on companies, purchasing behavior & language, investor & finance sentiment, etc & using it to make billions of trades for $$

Musk & his core investor clique is notorious for doing this as are some other big hedge firms & finance firms - you take the raw off Bloomberg Terminal, Superdata, public social networks and headlines etc etc, machine learning the fuck out of it, collect money. A hype machine.

This has been going on for about 8 years but only got popular & competitive in the past 2, when firms realized the machines could do a better job with these data flows in setting up short term shorts & holds vs people - & they could also “game” media to effect other hype machines

Just as the Sun moves through the Zodiac, medieval astrologers of the Islamic world also noted the movement of the Moon through a zodiac of its own, known as manzil al qamar or the lunar mansions.

A thread on the astrology and magic of the moon

There are 28 stations the moon travels through forming the basis of a lunar calendar used in ancient Arabia and drawn into the medieval astrology of the Islamic world.

A quick list of some of the mansions (though not all)

The first mansion is Sharatayn is of the nature of fire and is the period to take medicine and to avoid trade.

Its talismans are made to cause harm and destruction

The second mansion is Butayn of the nature of fire and is a period favorable to rulers, but less favorable for marriage.

Its talismans are made to find buried treasure and to soften the anger of kings.

The third mansion Thuraya is a good time to make requests of rulers and to travel.

Its talisman is made to grant wishes and acquire wonders and goods.

[BIG THREAD] BitChute is a video-sharing site growing in size after an exodus of upset conservatives from YouTube. Like similar “anti-censorship” platforms, it also is riddled with a disturbing amount of hateful content and blatant disinformation.

Around the time of the Capitol riot, interest in BitChute skyrocketed. It continued to rise as Donald Trump’s channel had videos removed, was suspended, and then finally banned. Although he has yet to arrive on BitChute himself, his followers have moved on from YouTube.

BitChute founder Ray Vahey has called the platform “pro-free expression”, accusing sites that censor their content as building echo chambers that serve only to exacerbate problems. What he fails to recognize is that his own creation has become one itself.

wo massive trends on BitChute are anti-Covid vaccine and pro-Nazi/anti-Semitic propaganda. Both break the site’s Community Guidelines. Below are examples of easily accessible and highly-viewed videos. Bear in mind the medical advice is harmful and the Nazi content is disturbing.

First, the anti-vax disinformation. “Timmy Learns About COVID Vaccines”. Safety precautions are called “enslavement” and “extortion”. Over 5k views.

A lot has been written today about the $GME pump on /r/WallStreetBets from a financial angle.

But I think there's another angle - this it also works as a *multiplayer game* and one with an interesting design.

Don't believe me? Let's look at it structurally!

1/

WSB pump of $GME exhibits a number of gamelike elements:
1. resource mechanics
2. multiplayer social mechanics
3. progression mechanics
4. multi-system interactions
5. prediction complexity, and
6. a powerful player fantasy to tie them together

2/

1. Just by itself, the stock market is an engrossing game (for those who can afford the time and money). It's got a variety of simple resource mechanics (buy / sell stocks), more complex mechanics (buy / sell options), super complex mechanics (would you like some futures?) ... 3/

... and a very high analytic complexity (which mechanic should I apply to maximize return, short term or long term?).

Like in chess, this analysis is very hard but therefore interesting.

And the system gives somewhat clear feedback about how well you're playing ($$$). 4/

2. Now WSB specifically adds social mechanics. Being a lone wolf timing the market is one thing - but banding together to see what you can do together, now that's something else!

Specifically WSB allows not just socializing/meta, but also for coordination. 5/

It's time for a thread of (my) editions of Alan Garner's "The Owl Service" & related books. I'd love to hear what you think, and all about your own copies. And do, please, share if you enjoy it.

Anyway, off to the magical Shelf of Garner...
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#OwlService 1/22

"The Owl Service", Alan Garner, Collins, 1967
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Starting at the beginning, here's the first edition of "The Owl Service", with a jacket design by Kenneth Farnhill.
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#OwlService 2/22

"The Owl Service", Alan Garner, Collins, 1967
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Here's the plate design, created by Griselda Greaves from the original plates belonging to her mother, Betty, and now in print for the first time on the paste-down and free endpapers of the hardback.
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#OwlService 3/22

"The Owl Service", Alan Garner, Collins, 1967
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Alan & Griselda signed this copy for me. (I've pixelated Griselda's signature as it's not already on the internet.) A note from Griselda which might be of interest. I like the red binding, even if it's a mistake.
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#OwlService 4/22

"The Owl Service", Alan Garner, Peacock Books, 1969
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The television adapatation of "The Owl Service" was broadcast in late 1969. This is the edition which accompanied the series. I'm fairly sure that this is the first paperback edition.
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#OwlService 5/22

The wealthiest person I know prints millions out of thin air in the real estate business.

This is what he does...

A thread.

He finds a distressed retail plaza. Let's say 50% of the space isn't leased.

On a 300,000 sf plaza that might mean 150k square feet is vacant.

If asking rent is $8 per square foot per year, that means the building has a "potential revenue" figure of of $2.4MM.

So in this retail center 50% is leased and 50% is vacant. So the actual revenue, right now, is $1.2MM.

Most retail leases are whats called "Triple Net" or "NNN". This means the tenant pays the taxes, insurance, maintenance and CAM (common area maintenance).

They basically pay all of the landlord's expenses (except debt service on any loans he/she has, of course).

Commercial properties are valued based on something called a "cap rate".

The equation is:

net operating income / (cap rate) = value

The cap rate is a %.

Think about it as the return on your money, annually, as a percentage, you spent to buy a property.