On this day of (mis)/remembering MLK, I think about the promise of Latin America’s pink tide (into which I was born and which molded me politically) to deliver economic redistribution and socialism by peaceful means, a version of MLKs dream. 🧵

In the past 20 years, various spots in Latin/Central America have been the murder capitals of the world. It remains the most dangerous place in the hemisphere to be a journalist or a politician. A half century of coups and counter-coups have beleaguered the continent

Collapsing global economies have left many countries behind, and almost all are struggling to find an economic path forward, including Vnzla which now under US sanctions and dwindling reserves must construct a post-petrol economy to survive and has failed to begin to do so.

MLK’s peaceful vision for racial and economic transformation in the US made him into an enemy of the state for whom racial and economic violence is both foundational and necessary for its hegemony and he was murdered by those complicit in that mission of domination.

Allende, MLK’s contemporary, succeeded in achieving part of MLKs vision by winning a democratic mandate for social justice and transformation at the ballot box and without firing a single bullet. This made him into an enemy of a faraway State, the US, and he was murdered for it.

A few days ago @Sector035 was tagged in a tweet about the disappearance of 3 boys in Belford Roxo, Brazil. As he didn't have time to look at it, he asked me to have a look since I speak PT.

already deleted the tweet. I'll still share some an overview for whomever is interested in this case. Otherwise the time I have spent on this was in vain.

On December 27, 2020 three boys: Lucas Matheus da Silva (8), Fernando Henrique Ribeiro Soares (11) and Alexandre da Silva (10) disappeared in Belford Roxo, RJ (Brazil). They had gone to the football pitch next to their house in the Castelar neighborhood.

On Sunday Dec 27, 2020 around 10:30 am (local time) they left their house to go to a football (soccer) pitch to play as they’d done many times before. They’d return home around lunch time between 12 and 2pm, but they didn’t show up.

The boys live on Castelar hill in an apartment complex -22.750641493852445, -43.39909563311383 in a report by RJ2 they show the outside of the housing complex and the court where they were last seen.

Ok, so here we go. This is a thread and I'm not numbering them. I have been thinking about this for a while, and when @BeautyHeathen read me to filth, this is the first thing that came to my head...and when she said that maybe I already knew what it was, I think this is what

that means. I'm killing two channels, Rox Reacts and MetRox en Español. I am going to take all the content I already started working on for those channels and add them to Aviddiva and MetRox. I am testing other things to see what might work and what will not, not just for you

all but for me. It is no secret that I have been miserable with commentary for the last year. There are tons of other things I want to focus on and the reality is that although I have all the receipts for the videos I'm working on now, it has become increasingly difficult to

get through them. The amount of stupidity, micro-aggressions and nonsense I have seen recently is just mind boggling. I'm just tired of focusing on the stupidity and it is not adding to the anxiety I feel right now. There is other content that is more fun and more interesting

so I will focus on that. So all the reviews or "commentary" on books, magazines, movies, etc, will go on @AvidDiva , which I had planned to move more into artistic endeavors, projects and trying out new art forms as means of expression. As for Metamorphosis Rox, it is going

BeLonG To Youth Services is a national organisation supporting LGBT young people in Ireland between the ages of 14-23.
This week they promoted a film called Under the Skin.
I want to learn more so I decided to watch it. 1/8

The first thing I noticed was the rating of 15+ and pointed it out to BelongTo in a tweet that was added to the hidden section...

I was just trying to help... perhaps I could have worded it better but I'm cant hide my annoyance at their reckless approach to safeguarding 🙄

The short film follows the lives of 3 transgender teens over a period of 2 years. The film "Explores the challenges faced by these teens, and the strength and courage it takes to be themselves."
Those featured are named Logan, Soän and Effie.

I was particularly moved by the parents testimony. Soan's father took some time to come to terms with the facts and worried about the possibility of regrets in the future. Logan's Mother described the transition like someone killing and replacing her daughter with a son. 😔

9 mins in Logan was filmed having shots of testosterone injected. A short time after Effie is seen having breast implant surgery.
The whole film basically just follows these teens' medical path to transition.
Worryingly it has become very trendy to take "Vitamin T" 😖

1. Another batch of submissions to the @Commonswomequ GRA inquiry have been published, including our own. We will link to some of the most interesting in this thread.

https://t.co/w0TAYjMCOn
"We recommend the removal of the term ‘gender’ when they actually mean ‘sex’...

2. from all official documents, and a public information campaign to do the same across the whole of the UK."

"We recommend anyone issued with a GRC is told very clearly that their sex has not changed, and they are not entitled to the rights of the opposite sex."

3. From a @MerchedCymru woman:
"I know of one school in Cardiff where the School, despite complaints to the School and Governors, have deliberately replaced single-sex provision with mixed-sex provision........done in the name of

4. Very interesting from Judge Paula Gray, the President of the GenderRecognition Panel:
"Panel induction training included talks by trans people, and we were addressed on the background to the...Act through an academic approach by Prof. Steven Whittle.

5. From @AnnMSinnott at the AEA:

"The law is clear but the same cannot be said for guidance on EA2010 from the EHRC nor from the GEO."
(Ms Sinnott is seeking judicial review of this guidance, see her profile for

Hello everyone arguing about the #minimumwage! Someday I'll post a thread about the evidence our @UW team compiled in Seattle.

Today let's talk about hours.

Raise the wage on most low-paying jobs & workers still don't have enough to live on. Because they can't get enough hours.

The graph above is based on data from WA: one of only 4 states that collects systematic data on hours worked. It shows information for anyone earning under $11/hr in 2014-15, when the minimum wage was no more than $9.47.

The data have some important limitations:

-No information on gig/contractor employment
-No "informal" employment
-No jobs outside WA

However if a worker is holding 2+ job we can "see" all of them and include them all in calculating how many hours they work.

The median low wage worker works ~800 hours per year.

With a $15 minimum wage, working 800 hours/year, your annual income works out to $12,000.

That's below the poverty line for a single person, and less than half the poverty line for a family of 4.

Whereas if you could get full time hours (2,000/year) your income would be $30k.

The problem with low wage work (aside from low wages): these jobs tend to be unstable, seasonal, or offered by employers that need a large workforce for a limited number of hours per week.

Since the minimum wage is specified in dollars/hour, it can't guarantee a living income.

I’m not what you’d class as ‘well’. But a few things I learned. First up...things that ease your breathing. I find it hard to imagine having done this without Olbas oil and Vicks VapoRub or cheap as chips menthol crystals. You cannot over apply. I used it like body butter.

Patience. I’m a card carrying workaholic but this took control away. One day you’re quite ill, the next you might have some respite, but then another wave of symptoms can hit. This is the Marathon Des Sables of viruses. But much less fun and no medal at the end.

Water. Buckets of it in whatever form...cold, hot with lemon, tea, pop. Sipping frequently short circuits coughing, soothes the throat, and means your mucous is thinner and easier to shift. My tests found fizzy water the best.

Sleep. If you’re like me you’ll barely get any especially as you’re pissing like a donkey with all the water. Lying down causes pressure on your lungs. Accept that your sleep pattern will change, don’t fight it. Don’t get anxious about it. Stay up and watch Netflix until 5am.

Buy a pillow wedge. You do need to sleep but lying down is the enemy. Pillows don’t stay stacked up and I ended up waking up gasping for air. A wedge is stiffer creating a sturdy slope to put your pillows on. They also say sleep on your chest. Not with these chebs I wasn’t!

1. 🚨 Announcement!

I, with everyone, have dedicated my last five years of time & money to crowd sourced projects digging into Republican finances, writing as much as possible, & working to topple the far-right agenda.

I will still do this, but I'm narrowing my messaging.

2. My personal platform is equality, safe access, and inclusion of marginalized communities to natural areas, making marganilized communities partners and stakeholders in the environmental conversation, & including unsafe & dirty living conditions as a mental health issue.

3. I will also teach & encourage everyone, especially children, to tell their environmental story from their backyards & communities by using very basic equipment (such as cell phones) and how to use these stories to gain public awareness & stop #EnvironmentalRacism

4. Environmental solutions aren't these big ideas which are only available to governments & corporations.

Environmental health, especially those in cities, include trash pickup, standing water, more sidewalks for both walking and bike riding, air & water quality, clean parks...

5. Bus stops in front of parks with wheel chair access, emergency call buttons in parks, security available in parks which represent all citizens, lighting in neighborhood parks, natural areas which double as educational resources, green spaces, urban gardening, and so much more.

1. About 2 years ago, the FG proposed a RUGA solution to herders farmers conflict and some Nigerians blackmailed the conversation with some of the most disgusting ethnocentric bile you would ever see.
The monstrous gang up weakened people like me, who wanted a lasting solution.

2. Some people even went as far as saying the FG shouldn't invest Nigeria's money to pastoralists advantage. I was stunned at such amount of bile. When you point out that other farmers were equally collecting grants, they started comparing the amounts of grants looking for bias.

3. It was shocking that a problem which predated the amalgamation of Nigeria was reduced in space and time to become the agenda of a Fulani President who wanted to "Fulanise," Nigeria of 2010s and 2020s. Apart from it being socially impossible it is also bizarre to think such.

4. Hypocrites of all shapes and sizes crept out of their holes, spinning conspiracy theories that would have made the writer, Dan Brown green. In one breath, you hear, "ranching is the solution," in another you hear, "don't use my father's land for ranching."

5. At the end of the day, we're neither here nor there. The forced stalemate of that RUGA conversation of 2019, is morphing into a bigger problem for Nigeria's unity in 2021. Every right thinking Nigerian know we have to sieve out the criminals from the Fulani pastoralists.

Republicans celebrating MLK Day with inspirational tweets who also joined a Supreme Court brief in support of the Texas AG's attempt to nullify millions of Black votes: a thread

Rep. Rick Allen

Rep. Jim Banks

Rep. Dan Bishop

Rep. Ken Buck

1/ #TERF From my friend, Jodi Mae F. who understands #IDPol and what it does. This trans issue is not exempt, but part and parcel of it. It is a divisive tactic. THREAD!

I am a Seeker of Weblandia; I explore the less-traveled corners of Webtopolis, where the cool kids and adventurers like to stash rare and fantastic loot, and secret but extremely valuable information. These fringe corners and outskirts of Webtopolis are the last vestige of

Politics on social media creates echo chambers that result in people automatically being offended and easily being hurt by terms like "SJW", "libtard", "racist", "fascist", "sexist", etc...I've been scolded by users for saying certain words, even lately, but I've also gotten...

Another week in the paediatric clinic, another week of #Covid19 induced massive difficulty for children & families, particularly the poorest.

Please! Whatever we think about schools, can we stop auto-speaking "children are resiliant" and they'll "bounce back" because... 1/n

whilst MOST children we very much hope will be fine, (& some will even thrive!)... 2/n

for many, pandemic is destructive and damaging. We know that adversity through the early years sticks, and can manifest through childhood, adolescence, and onwards into adulthood... 3/n

And it's hard to see how things are going to get wonderfully better "post-COVID" 4/n

Childrens lives go way beyond schools but are certainly key. In this country we currently have situation where parents are expected to work and look after young children simultaneously (impossible) and where playing with your friends is illegal 5/n