1/ Secretary of Defense nominee Lloyd Austin at Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing:

"Globally I understand that Asia must be the focus of our effort and I see China in particular as a pacing challenge for the Department"

2/ SecDef nominee Lloyd Austin on advance policy Qs

"Globally...most significant challenge I will face will be to ensure DOD's contd efforts to prepare & strengthen the US military for a dynamic, future security landscape driven by accelerating competitions w China & w Russia.."

3/ SecDef nominee Austin in written answers says strategic competition w/ China & Russia primary challenges but "because of its ascent and the scope and scale of its military modernization, China is the top priority"

4/ SecDef nominee Austin in written answers on his assessment of the military threat posed by China...

5/ SecDef nominee Austin on whether the NDS needs to be revised notes: "For example, the pace of China’s military modernization, its increasingly aggressive actions in the INDO-PACIFIC and its ability to threaten the US Homeland are concerning and must be continually reexamined"

The new Skills White Paper (Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth) has been released.
https://t.co/zYgAMVte2G
Here are some of the things regarding the evolving technical education system in England we'll be looking at:
#SkillsWhitePaper #FEWhitePaper

1. Employers will be put at the heart of helping to shape additional technical training options alongside apprenticeships.
#SkillsWhitePaper #FEWhitePaper

2. Local Skills Improvement Plans will be introduced, bringing education and industry closer together to set the course for the technical training offer in an area to ensure if can respond to local employer need.
#SkillsWhitePaper #FEWhitePaper

3. New higher technical training options to be developed with a view to creating parity of esteem with academic options at the same level.
#SkillsWhitePaper #FEWhitePaper

4. Modular approaches to be introduced for technical training options to support lifelong learning, an important option for career changers
#SkillsWhitePaper #FEWhitePaper

As the confirmation hearing for retired Gen. #LloydAustin gets underway, here's a roundup of what should be covered and what he will face as defense secretary.

"Does Austin still see himself as an apolitical actor removed from the politics of policymaking, or does he believe that accepting a Cabinet nomination places him squarely in the political realm?" -- @jblankshain

"At Austin’s hearing it will not be enough to accept the tired statements of ‘this is not who we are’ or that ‘the military has zero tolerance’ on issues of gender discrimination, but to pinpoint exactly how he proposes to bring real change to the military." -- @Jason_K_Dempsey

"What is your view on whether the power to decide who is prosecuted for what under the Uniform Code of Military Justice should be transferred from nonlawyer commanders to uniformed lawyers independent of the chain of command?" -- @globalmjreform

"The new SecDef will have to meaningfully re-center character as a requirement for military service: the need for all service members to work respectfully and effectively with their teammates regardless of race, gender, or religion." -- @suefulton

WHAT IF... Q was designed by bad actors to whip up support for 3 years, for the sole purpose of developing a mass "cult following" of people who loyally follow the themes, catch phrases and direction of Q? Why would they do that?

.@POTUS: "For the past year, we couldn't rely on the federal government to act with urgency and focus and coordination we needed. And we have seen the tragic costs of that failure."

Biden: "While the vaccine provides so much hope the rollout has been a dismal failure thus far...I understand why many governors, mayors county officials tribal leaders, feel like they're left on their own without a clear national plan to get them through the crisis. "

.@POTUS: "Let me be very clear: Things are going to continue to get worse before they get better. The memorial we we held two nights ago will not be our last one, unfortunately. The death toll will likely top 500,000 next month, the cases will continue to mount."

Let's discuss the environmental cost of the US dollar. Because despite all the push for sustainable and green investment in the government, there's a giant smoldering Chernobyl sitting at the heart of Washington which a lot of investors would prefer you remain quiet about. 🧵 (1/

TLDR on the US dollar and government spending: It's a pyramid-shaped investment scheme backed by the collective delusion that value can created out of nothing by convincing greater fools to borrow more money after you do. (2/)

That alone is sufficiently awful on its own merits, but on top of this the environmental damages of the US dollar and associated military industrial complex are enough to make even Greta Thunberg weep at the pointless waste of it all. (3/)

The underlying technology of US dollar is based on the notion of "printing", a technical term for a process that keeps the government running and processing transactions. (4/)

I won't cover the details of the algorithm, suffice it to say the premise of US dollar printing is to prove how much economic productivity you can waste, and the more productivity you can waste, the more votes you can probabilistically secure in exchange for your waste. (5/)

4.3 years ago, I felt like the United States bitch slapped me straight across the face. Over the last 4 years, I've felt subjected to repeated existential abuse, a fresh set of wounds just as I was getting over the last ones. 1/

I started posting on Twitter as a way to express my rage and fear. As a steward of my Firm and as an "influencer," I felt buttoned up elsewhere. At home, with a man who repeatedly told me "what harm can 4 years do?" I felt misunderstood (at best), and betrayed (more often). 2/

It was on Twitter that I discovered I wasn't the only one who crawled into the bathtub and wept on Nov 9 2016, I wasn't the only one who saw the threat to our democracy, I wasn't the only one who was learning--day by day--how many who shared our borders won't share our values. 3/

It was on Twitter that I discovered how many people still love our country, however much we sometimes hate our country. 4/

To all the judges who pressed their shoulders into the bulwark of our Republic, who leaned in to reinforce the mettle of our Constitution, thank you. I have never been more proud to be a member of the bar in my life. 5/

We sifted through thousands of videos taken by Parler users during the riot at the Capitol.

Then we created an interactive database that lets you sort through the footage.

Here’s how it works 👇

Thanks to everyone who supported me and contributed ideas over the past nine months! Here’s where I think we are and where we’re going:

First, my philosophy: The purpose of government is to set frameworks that allow each of us to safely pursue our own version of happiness. Government should *expand* freedom, not constrain it.

Banks and other corporations are supposed to respond to demand by providing those things people want and are willing to pay for.

But sometimes institutions decide people’s ideas or economic choices are wrong, and then try to suppress those ideas or choices.

Hence decentralization: an *open* internet and an *open* financial system put power back in the hands of the actual people for whose benefit government and corporations are supposed to exist.