Thread on how PDM failed:

1) No sight of common man + families in Jalsas; mostly party workers which explained that public is not with them

2) BBC interview by Bilawal where he asked Nawaz Sharif to produce evidence before accusing army chief

#PakistanRejectsPDM

3) Maryam back tracking and being open to discussion with Army (again on BBC interview), even the people who got fooled by revolution, understood that Maryam is wrong number

4) Work from home (woh bhi abroad wala home) revolution of Nawaz Sharif rejected

#PakistanRejectsPDM

5) Serious defeat of both PPP & PMLN against PTI in Gilgit Baltistan elections showed that Pakistanis trust PM Imran Khan

6) Epic Failure of Lahore Jalsa (this hurled them more than anything because monumental hope was from that Minar e Pakistan event

#PakistanRejectsPDM

7) Maryam’s frustration after Lahore Jalsa failure where she talked about Saza / Jaza

8) Maryam’s trust in Bilawal for “Aar ya Par” resignations decision, Zardari Kafi Bhari broke their hearts, not more than PM’s playing with dogs picture during Lahore Jalsa

#PakistanRejectsPDM

9) Maulana’s complaint about Maryam’s selfish politics to Nawaz showed that they have trust issues. PPP practically left at that point too

10) Maryam’s Israel tweet mistake and several other twitter mistakes (photoshopped images) showing desperation

#PakistanRejectsPDM

Thread on something really important.
At the outset of the pandemic, @DrMikeRyan called on us to "break the chains of transmission".
We haven't. The chains now number over 100,000,000 people.
Why? A central measure is often overlooked: isolating those exposed to the virus.

The above graph by @Paul5cott compares policy measures around the world on isolation and quarantine.
A lot of focus has been on reducing the random seeding of new chains of transmission through travel.
That's important - but only one part of containing Covid-19 spread.

It sounds simple: if everyone who currently has the virus right now could be kept separate from other people for about two weeks, infections would drop to zero. Pandemic over.
But individuals cannot achieve it alone. Isolation only works within a system of support and enforcement

Survey data shows that a very low percentage of people who are just 'told' to self-isolate actually do it.
A study of 32,000 people in the UK over three months last year found only 18% of them actually kept away from others. In the Netherlands, data indicates it's about 44%.

A large proportion of those who ventured out despite being warned they had been exposed to Covid-19 did so to go to work.
Others have to buy groceries, or medicines, or need something for their child.
It's not just people being dicks -- they need support.

So, MAGA want to succeed from the union? Fine. Let 'em go. We'll take our Blue states & as many progressives as we can out of Red states and form our own country. That includes Hawaii, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and (1)

all the Northeast.

We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and Washington D.C. We also get Costco and Boeing. (2)

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma, and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Branson, Missouri. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom. (3)

We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share. Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get (4)

a bunch of happy families.
Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. (5)

Burma or Myanmar? What's the difference? Does it matter? A thread on political linguistics in Southeast Asia 👇

First, what's the difference between "Burma" and "Myanmar"? You might be surprised that these are basically the same word, borrowed into English twice from two different registers of the Burmese language. (A "register" describes the level of formality of a language)

Burma comes from "Bama." Myanmar comes from "Myanma." "Bama" (pronounced buh-mah) is a colloquial version of "Myanma", which incidentally has two syllables (myuh-ma), not three

How do you get "b" from "my"? Well, make a "b" sound and notice where your lips are. Then do the same with an "m" sound. Both of these are voiced bilabial consonants, and such sound changes are pretty common

For a rough analogue of Myanma/Bama, say the name of the country that is the six counties in the northern part of Ireland. Is it called "Northern Ireland"? Or is it "Norn Iron"?

How the 36 Nigerian states got their names. A thread 🧵

1. Abia

Abia is an acronym from the four main groups of people in the state as at the time it was formed in 1991: Aba Bende Isuikwuato Afikpo.

2. Adamawa

Adamawa was named after a warrior, Modibbo Adama Bin Ardo Hassan, that conquered the region in the beginning of the 19th century.

3. Akwa-Ibom

Akwa Ibom is named after the Qua Iboe (or Kwa Iboe) River.

4. Anambra

The state got its name from the corrupted version of Oma Mbala (Ànyịm Ọma Mbala), a popular river in the area.

Thread About my city
On this day last year, the Assad gangs and Russia took control of the city of Maarat al-Numan after it was destroyed with all kinds of internationally prohibited weapons, and unfortunately the world was watching this silently. 1\1

Good day my fellow Nigerians. This what happened this morning on our way going to Lekki (Along Anthony Ikeja) we are heading towards Ikorodu road when these rogue men in uniform stopped us again. They started searching our car uncontrollably. they checked our paper and everything

Was Completed. they told us to come down from the car which we did.the next thing d other man said we should go and meet their oga. that's where I started shouting what is our offense why would we meet your oga. bcos I already sense that all their effort trying to find anything

Incriminating was futile so they want to forcefully extort us. We reluctantly meet the oga. I asked the oga pls what is our offense, oga said we used the "wrong u-turn" which is a lie, bcos about 4 to 5 motors made a u-turn there, our car was the only one they stopped bcos they

Sense maybe we were Yahoo boys so that they can exhort us as usual. That's when I brought out my phone to start recording dem. One guy said "call the anti-robbery Squad I was saying to myself which offense did we commit. However, SARS is the Only Anti-robbery squad I know and

They had banished dem so whc SARS again are we talking about here. I nvm I continue my video, in the course of it one of dem even slapped me but I continue. To cut the long story short: one of us called a fellow Police officer that speaks to dem b4 they let's go

THREAD on the Palestinian territories & the vaccine: The Israeli government is facing criticism from human rights groups & international organisations for not extending the vaccination programme currently underway in Israel to the millions of Palestinians in the WB and Gaza 1/

Let’s just deal in some facts. The Israeli government is embarking on an unprecedented drive to become one of the first countries to vaccinate its entire population, including Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians in East Jerusalem and in Israeli prisons. 2/

#Israel is receiving supplies from #Pfizer. In return, Israel has agreed to share its #vaccination data with the pharmaceutical company to help it ascertain how successful its COVID-19 vaccine will be in a real world environment. 3/

The argument from critics that Israel is carrying out “medical apartheid” is based upon Israel’s perceived international law obligations as an “occupying power” to vaccinate the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza. 4/

However, the Oslo Accords, signed in the 1990s by Israel & the Palestinians, moved the relationship between them beyond the default occupier/occupied legal paradigm by creating the Palestinian Authority (PA) and giving it a range of autonomous powers. 5/

BREAKING: 100+ China experts and human rights activists slam “naïve” EU-China deal for “entrenching Europe’s strategic dependency on China”

Maik Baumgaertner and Ann-Katrin Mueller report about open letter for @SPIEGEL_English

🔸What follows is the text of the open letter in full 🔸

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned by the China-European Union Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) and call on the European Union to withdraw from this agreement

The signal sent by both the timing and the substance of CAI is that European leaders are set on pursuing access to Chinese markets, even if this is at the expense of the bloc’s values and national security.

The deal is not only poorly timed but is also based on a naïve set of assumptions about the character of the Chinese Communist Party. It further entrenches Europe’s existing strategic dependency on China and runs counter to Europe’s core values.

The outcome of seven years of negotiations, the agreement and the hopes attached to it are products of a bygone era. The Chairmanship of Xi Jinping has been marked by a steep deterioration in the human rights situation everywhere from Hong Kong to Xinjiang. 5/32

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.

I have watched with concern the recent development in Oyo and Ondo States in which quit notices were given to Fulani herders, with the subsequent burning of the property of Fulani herdsmen in some parts of Oyo State.

These happenings have increased the tension and unduly raised the temperature in the country.

The ugly development in these two states are symptomatic of the continued threat to the unity of our country that we have witnessed on a higher scale in recent times and in different parts of the country — including the South-East and South-South zones.

I strongly appeal to all of us to work for peace and take initiatives that can douse the tension. All Nigerians have a responsibility to begin to take measures that will reassure people across board that a united Nigeria will benefit everybody better than a disintegrated country.

The deafening silence by key stakeholders, leaders and others who we think should speak out is worrisome. This silence is a dangerous tell-tale sign that things are wrong. This is not good for our country.

PMF PERSONNEL SUCCESSFULLY REPEL AMBUSH ATTACK ON THEIR CONVOY IN BIRNIN-GWARI

​· Inflict heavy casualties on Tens of the Bandits as IGP Commends Officers for gallantry in repelling the attack

The Inspector General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni has commended the Police officers attached to Police Mobile Force - 9 PMF Squadron, Kano for displaying uncommon gallantry and repelling the attack on their convoy by bandits numbering about hundred

along the Birnin Gwari - Funtua Highway on Friday, 15th January, 2021, on their way back to their base in Kano after the completion of their special duty.

The officers are personnel attached to Operation Puff Adder and deployed to Niger State in the sustained operation to reclaim the public space and tackle incidents of banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes in the area.

Contrary to unconfirmed reports in some sections of the media stating that eighteen (18) officers were kidnapped, only sixteen (16) officers were attacked in the ambush. The officers successfully repelled the attack accordingly and neutralized the bandits in their tens

Last October, Israelis were rightly horrified to hear that ~400 acres of forest burned down as a direct result of an IDF training exercise carried out in a nature reserve,despite warnings.
Now look at what happened when the IDF insisted on training in a Palestinian village today:

This is Jinba, a village in Firing Zone 918. Large-scale artillery forces arrived there this AM w/ armored vehicles. In response to @acri_online who reminded them of the damage caused last time, the IDF promised to avoid damaging residents' property. But somehow, this happened:

And this is what some of the agricultural lands looked like this morning, after the heavy armored vehicles flattened them. The residents depend on this land for their livelihood. Several months of hard work can be destroyed in a matter of minutes. (Video: Guy Botavia)

Destroying agricultural fields isn't new. Here's what a Nahal Brig soldier saw in 2004-05: "There was wheat that overflowed beyond the fields, so the instruction [...] that the platoon commander got, or at least what he said to us, [was] to trample."

Here's another picture from this morning, this time from fields belonging to residents of the neighboring Bir al-Eid:

THREAD: tomorrow, Jan 25 is the global day of action for Yemen. Here’s a list of everything you can do to support it 🇾🇪👇🏼👇🏼

Show up in person if you can! there are protests happening all over the world. You can look at the action map here and RSVP to one!

Register for the online rally happening tomorrow featuring @mrdannyglover, @jeremycorbyn, @CornelWest , @shireen818 and more! We will be highlighting the importance of ending US/UK/Canadian etc support for the war and the weight of the crisis!

if you can’t get out to a protest, no worries, social media action is super important too! Use these super easy toolkits to take action online.
Here’s one the entire world can use!

Here’s one for the UK! thank you @STWuk ❤️

The subject of true and false prophesying has been raised recently. See @derekradney especially. It’s important because as @PLeithart notes in his fine commentary on 1&2 Kings, Israel’s history is not so much political as it is prophetic.

One example - Ahab. Not only does he despise & reject the three prophets God mercifully sends him, but he embraces the hundreds who falsely prophesy in God’s name. That latter fact is the issue. It’s not that the false prophets are invoking Baal but YHWH.

Ahab’s prophets are false for numerous reasons but let me cite just one. They aimed to reinforce an unholy alliance between Judah’s future king and Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, a disaster that resulted in the attempted destruction of the Messianic hope.

Prophetically backing unholy alliances - defending the union of what God has separated - nearly led to the disastrous destruction of Judah. They are false not simply because of false predictions but because of errant theology.

I’m going to put this as plainly as I can. The Church today is disturbed, divided, and misled because of false prophets. They aren’t false in an obvious sense (or only in a narrow ‘charismatic’ sense) because they operate within otherwise orthodox settings & use orthodox terms.