I keep seeing people on here suggest that making fun of the neo-Nazis undermines an understanding of how dangerous they are. I disagree. I think ridiculing them is both good and necessary. A short thread:

First: ridiculing Nazis is a great American tradition:

Satire is a potent cultural weapon and has been utilized in a political context since ancient times. It serves several functions: in a scenario where it's used to skewer people in power, it's a way to speak truth to power.

In a context more like this, where it's used to ridicule a guy in a silly costume who demands organic food for his shaman diet, it serves a related but slightly different purpose. Everyone needs to understand how dangerous that guy is.

And his stated desire to assassinate members of Congress make that clear. But if you only understand that guy as emblematic of a visceral danger to both individuals and the republic, and only portray him as a grave threat, you run a different risk:

The most offensive part of the anti-capitalist, anti-racist, and anti-imperialist legacy of MLK... is having capitalists, racists, and imperialists quote him every #MLKDay

Some additions:

And here’s the tweet from the rep for my uni who has never bothered to care about racism before today

having a cup of tea while waiting for a shortening / molasses / boiling water / brown sugar slurry to cool enough to add yeast to it, so hey, howzabout a quick sermon about the nature of God and how we do or don't see it reflected in the godly, and in poseurs? a thread:

I have to start with heavy sticky theological stuff that I personally am underqualified to fully parse so bear with me. There are many ways of understanding omniscience,

and people have for millennia debated whether an omniscient being would necessarily be able to see the future before it happens --

the God of the Bible, the O.T. God, is generally considered by believers to have this power of precognition. Anti-choice people lean hard on Jeremiah 1:5 in this regard ("Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you"),

and of course if we take prophecy to be the literal reading-out of future events (I don't, but that's a different sermon), then precognition is a whole Godly thing, it's one of His main lookouts. With me? OK:

Attacks on Lockdown sceptics – and me in particular – have ratcheted up recently, with one of the most aggressive critics being the Conservative MP @NeilDotObrien. I thought it was time to compose a reply.

On Monday he wrote a piece for @ConHome entitled "Trumpism in Britain. It’s time to call out those in the media who cynically feed the cranks, rioters and conspiracists".

#YemenCantWait there is the most brilliant plea for an end to the War on the People of Yemen right now at https://t.co/V4hiU04urX What a TRIBUTE to the #Yemeni People. SO many really care for #Yemen, @joebiden must ends the label of the #Houthis as a Terror Organisation.

Great to hear this from you on #YemenCantWait and looking forward to seeing you cease USA logistical and military support to #Saudi on their campaign in #Yemen, and that they pay reparations and lift the blockade. Yes please send that AID. @ABlinken

Couldn't be more proud to hear @johnfinucane on behalf of @sinnfeinireland and #IRELAND at the #YemenCantWait @Zoom Conference tonight.

Millions of Children, (1.5 times our population in Ireland), do not have access to safe water in #Yemen STOP the #Saudi blockade.

says that Ireland must be a symbol for PEACE. Immediate Ceasefire and Lifting Blockade DEMANDED. Funding must be restored. We have seen our share of poverty, war and hunger in the Ireland past, we will not stand by and endure that others feel it. #YemenCantWait

@FranceInsoumise now "#France selling arms, canons, missiles and ships to #Saudi for offensive purposes and to commit war crimes, along the Saudi #Yemen Border. France in breach of the arms trade treaty in all of its actions. IT IS NOT COMPLEX @EmmanuelMacron "

REAL TALK ALERT:
I’ve recently finished my 1st round of CBT (therapy) & waiting for my 2nd more in-depth CBT (god bless the NHS). My diagnosis & cause, which I don’t need to speak of here, are linked to my lower socio-economic upbringing, which is linked to a lot of past trauma

Which in turn affects my anxiety levels, my worth, my body image, my confidence & of course very low moods.
I tweet this not for any sympathy but
I want to normalise the idea that we can talk and reach out to people or in fact the services that are available

It’s insanely important and necessary for all. So please reach out. It is incredibly hard to have mental health issues in normal circumstances, but under a pandemic. Like literally fuck off, that’s something else. And I salute and feel all of you going through that.

But also here is a call to men. Some of you may well know this. But you need to talk and ask for help. It’s not a weakness. No one thinks less of you. You can’t ignore it and it’ll go away. Asking for help, talking about your feelings, seeking guidance doesn’t make you lesser

Lots of people may well look at me and think he’s doing ok in theatre, he’s got his shit together, he’s a big guy. But any success doesn’t make you feel any better if your mind is determined to belittle it, I may be 6ft1 but that doesn’t stop me feeling about an inch tall

I've been speaking with Charlie Brown, Managing Director at @Chartwells_UK over the last few days.

I've been losing my patience a bit. It's not been as quick as I wanted, but we are here now. Some of this was organised today, some is from other days but here's a round up:

1/

Over the February school holiday, if there is no Government funding for #FreeSchoolMeals, at all the schools @Chartwells_UK is working in, Charlie commits to putting out boxes anyway.

So if @BorisJohnson @RishiSunak & @GavinWilliamson won't step up by then, Charlie will.

2/

From now, the school lunches boxes from @Chartwells_UK, are also going to cover breakfast as well. Chartwells will take the extra costs associated on the chin. They are fully aware they need to do better, and this is something we both feel is positive. (That was his idea).

3/

All the hampers that went out in the first week, like my rubbish one, that you all saw, aren't being billed. Chartwells need to suck it up. They can't charge Local Authorities (schools) for that now can they! That was an early point of agreement, so you may have heard of it.

4/

Starting with my school, and with a lot of input from teachers, kids & parents, Chartwells will improve the menus for lunches served at school (dinner hall ones). All schools have different menus, so this is a long term project, it'll take a while, but it's important.

5/

Hello friends! Freelance photojournalist and accidental labour organizer, @photobracken here to tell you just how not good it’s been for photographers *gestures broadly at everything* esp freelancers, and what we are doing about it over at @PhotojsUnited.

It’s no news to say the news industry is struggling, but bear with me while I attempt to summarize why photojournalism is especially in crisis–it’s an inherently risky job that’s getting riskier, and most of us are freelancers who are totally unrepresented in the labour market.

We are losing photojournalists and it's terrifying bc, to echo @kassijackson_, photojournalists ARE journalists. It’s a specialized skill set that’s not easily replaced. Our work connects to the human experience, is guided by ethics and grounded in fact.

Don't even get me started on the fact that every marketing plan for every news publication out there trying to survive depends largely on photography. We get clicks baby

There is also an existential crisis going on, as we collectively grapple with the colonial roots and under representation of BIPOC and women in this practice. I’m not diving into that necessary conversation here but,

Thread: Can we be honest for a brief moment? There are 5 main arguments believers are having about racism. The conflict over race is not about CRT and its validity. The (1st) conflict is really over the evidence that proves or disproves the existence of systemic racism

What I mean is, who’s/what evidence is empirical to prove or disprove the existence of systemic racism? For those who affirm CRT, it is proof. And others go to Civil Rights Legislation for disproof. Saying that “Systemic Racism” ended in the 1964 Civil Rights
Era.

The second most prevalent argument is over the definition of systemic. And depending on the definition, it may be accurate to say there is no systemic racism. But that depends on the way one is using the word systemic. Yet ppl seem to rarely define what they mean by systemic

The third argument is over the validity of experience. How much does personal experience count in one’s evaluation of racism? Some say none. That is just Standpoint Epistemology. Personal Agency matters not Personal Experience. But how does one do that?

How does one say your personal experience is not truth, but your responsibility to act against that experience is? Personal Agency comes out of personal experience. There is no agency without experience. I’m responsible for what? My actions stemming from my experiences.

.
"AOC proposes funding to deprogram white supremacists"

The problem is: ANY expression of #WhiteIdentity, on which America was originally founded, is equated with #WhiteSupremacy.

There is a coup in progress, initiated long ago, by #BigBrother & #TheMatrix of state capital.

America's founding fathers knew it would be difficult enough forging a nation from different European peoples (English, French, German, Dutch, etc.) of the SAME race, & impossible to include other races, which is why the 1790 Nationalisation Act restricted citizenship to Whites.

By modern standards, the founders were indeed White supremacists, but also had enough sense to know that multi-racial nationhood could never work. And so it has proven.

America never became a genuine nation, but just a bigger, more powerful, mercenary #PatronState than Britain.

This is profoundly important to understand.

America's #FoundingMistake was to equate state & nation.

It is by deceitfully posing as our nation that the state tricks us into loving #BigBrother.

The famous line from Lincoln's #GettysburgAddress, "Government of the people, by the people, for the people" was Orwellian newspeak (long before Orwell was born) for "Government of the elites, by the elites, for the elites.

Lincoln, remember, was a lawyer & one of the elite.

Before everyone raises glasses to make their “the system worked” toasts, let’s remember…./1

The racism, nativism, sexism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and vicious social hatred/2

The lawlessness and disorder, the disinformation and lies, the vanishing norms of governance/3

The corruption and cronyism, the toxic rhetoric from the presidential bully pulpit, the dysfunctional and brutal public policies/4

The politicization of basic public health and the dismissal of science and expertise/5

THREAD: Been thinking a lot about images of the Jan 6 Capitol Hill attack, Inauguration Day, and cognitive dissonance. It got me wondering how, if ever, we could bring conspiracy-minded loved ones back into the fold. (1/N)

My initial reaction to conspiracists freaking out over Biden’s inauguration was schadenfreude. But then I started questioning why I was reacting this way, and if there might be a teachable moment for many of us. (2/N)

I’ve been pretty quiet on Twitter for a while now; most of my work is more behind-the-scenes nowadays, and my time away from Twitter has been recuperative for me. (3/N)

So I haven’t talked about the enormous amount of time I’ve spent over the last year monitoring domestic extremist and conspiracy-based online communities. The well of hate I see in these spaces seems bottomless. (4/N)

And yet when I spent Inauguration Day monitoring Gab, MeWe, MyMilitia and other places where white nationalists, Q believers, etc gather, alongside the usual hateful rhetoric, I saw confusion. People truly struggling to process what had just happened. (5/N)

i have to head to the grocery store for my fortnightly supplies run in a minute here and i'm trying to formulate a plan for if that pack of anti-mask goons shows up who have been roaming the state livestreaming themselves pestering people in grocery stores

i'm sure the store itself would try to keep them out but what if i'm the unlucky shopper wiping down my cart in the lobby right as they show up and start causing a scene before the cops come

i'm not even remotely scared of them but i don't really want an assault charge so is there a way i can ruin just their video? can i play copyrighted disney music on my phone really loud or something

it's just a group of horrible old conspiracy theorist ladies and one or two gigantic nazi biker thugs and they're not going to hit a white woman on camera, i won't be in danger from anything but the germs

if they are in fact streaming live is there anything i could verbally communicate to their audience directly that would encourage them to turn off the stream and not donate to the streamers? "these people are scam artists and you are being scammed by them" that sort of thing

MY PERSONAL SEXUAL HARRASSMENT CASE :

This SYED woman had her new born baby admitted at JVC NICU. Her brother in law was SHO. They seemed to have high level contacts as I got a call to take care of baby from Consultant before the baby was admitted.

Incidentally, a cousin of lady happened to be my intern just days ago, she came with her own reference.

The rule was, attendents are not allowed into ICU except 1 to change diappers & feed baby, but this family got VIP entry for more than 1 attendent for obvious reasons.

The baby was doing well, some issues had settled, others were resolving.

On fateful night, I wasn't on duty, my colleague was.

Father of baby tried to interfere beyond acceptable level. He asked my colleague why he hasn't sent such test on repeat when it wasn't needed.

Next he tried to read the file & take pics with intent to send them outside, which is illegal.

My colleague objected but attendent was VIP with SHO brother, so it ended up in fight between attendents & my colleague, with attendents breaking some property.

Next day, I went to duty & came to know about the incident.

Now I was in charge of ICU.

As I was putting my morning notes & examining patients, mother came & gave me urine culture vial & told me to do her babie's urine culture.