The White supremacists who attacked the Capitol on 1/6 claimed they were defending America from the coming destruction of an antiracist politics. This fearmongering piece argues antiracist demands at schools “would destroy the institutions themselves.”

White supremacist violence is tacitly being fomented by pieces like this one. McWhorter urged people to “resist destructive demands” and press “for the very survival of the institution,” and praised a professor who said the demands would lead to a “’civil war on campus.’” 2/9

And, as usual when writing on antiracism, McWhorter is arguing against himself. He misrepresented the position of campus activists and argued against his own misrepresentations. 3/9

He misrepresented these activists as believing their institutions are entirely racist, have never made antiracist changes, and need “to be blown up.” Then he points to the reforms these schools have made. 4/9

In fact, these activists would almost certainly acknowledge the existence of past reforms. But the issue is these institutions still have widespread and pervasive inequities and injustices which of course McWhorter fails to mention. 5/9

Victory for journalists, press freedom after tribunal finds there is no reason to bar people from using the UK's freedom of information act simply because they are not in the UK. @SMaurizi @estelledehon @EmmanFre @benjameslucas

The decision comes after the First-Tier tribunal stayed 16 Freedom of Information by appeals by journalists and ordinary people, because they were either not UK citizens, or had UK nationality but were living abroad. @SMaurizi @estelledehon @EmmanFre @benjameslucas #FOIA

Today's decision means that the Freedom of Information Act will continue to operate as it always has done for the past 15 years. It is open to any person regardless of nationality or place of residence.@SMaurizi @estelledehon @EmmanFre @benjameslucas #FOIA

Upper Tribunal judge O’Connor said today:" We found there is no territorial limitation that should be read into FOIA." Reasons will be given later. @SMaurizi @estelledehon @EmmanFre @benjameslucas #FOIA

The decision means that after long delays - and arguably unnecessary - delays a number of important public interest FOIA requests can now resume. @SMaurizi @estelledehon @EmmanFre @benjameslucas #FOIA

It's 2021. If you still think coal is a good business plan for America's future, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell ya.

"In April 2020, Bloomberg New Energy Finance found Solar PV and onshore wind are now the cheapest sources of new-build generation for at least two-thirds of the global population."

The @nytimes reports that Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) and Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) are likely to be the most vociferous objectors to Biden's climate plan. I'd like to point out that supporting coal is going to lead their states to ruin.

Coal is already one of the most expensive forms of energy generation. It's actually cheaper to produce *new* solar power plants than to keep existing coal plants running.

Supporting coal in this rapid-growth renewable market is like the people at Kodak who thought digital photography was a fad, or the folks at Sears who thought their "tried and true" brick and mortar stores could weather in the Amazon instant-buy age. IOW, terribly short-sighted.

Joe Biden is opening up a Special Enrollment Period for the ACA marketplaces. Here's a🧵on why this a BFD! 1/

2/ Trump took many steps to sabotage the ACA and its marketplaces. He severely restricted the Open Enrollment period to just 6 weeks and then cut the outreach and advertising budget by 90%. Awareness of dates, deadlines, and options is already low, so this was a big problem.

3/ Last Spring, everyone - including the insurance companies - was urging Trump to open a Special Enrollment Period because otherwise, uninsured people who simply wanted insurance in the middle of the pandemic or people who didn't have employer coverage before couldn't sign up.

4/ But Trump refused, despite reports that HHS/CMS officials favored a SEP. So if you were say a bartender and didn't have coverage through work before the pandemic and lost your job because of it, you wouldn't be able to sign up until November of 2021.

5/ Biden is now taking this important step that could get MILLIONS of people covered. Because Trump didn't do advertising or much outreach, there is $1 BILLION that is sitting unused in accounts that could be put to work in order to get people covered.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Asked About New Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Being Paid $810,000 From Citadel In Speaking Fees

"Are there any plans to have her recuse herself from advising the President on GameStop and the whole Robinhood situation?"

Bad news. The day before yesterday, we had confirmation of 3 new variants of concern in the US. As of yesterday, we now have 4. Three of the 4 variants have just been confirmed in the last month. The new one yesterday is the South African variant.

What does this mean for

Americans?
1. If you have been lucky and been able to get away with being in gatherings and not wearing a mask up until now, your luck is about to run out. It’s time to take the public health guidance seriously and don’t get in large gatherings, especially indoors, and you need

to wear a mask.
2. We need to slow down the transmission of this virus or we are going to get yet more variants. I have fought against the suggestions by some that we should lock up the elderly & high risk individuals at home & then let everyone get back to normal and spread the

virus to get herd immunity for a year. It is a dangerous proposal and the proliferation of new variants is a consequence.
3. We need to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible.
4. There are discussions that since schools have operated safely in the past (by and large,

they have), we should now bring students back for full in-person classes. This is a mistake for several reasons. First, our data that these decisions and the recent CDC report were based on was with the majority of schools in hybrid. The first rule of interpreting scientific

1. If the @SenateGOP think that simply turning blind eyes to Trump's high crimes will make them go away they're likely to be disappointed. First, if they fail to convict & ban Trump from future political office, IMO it's likely Trump & members are indicted soon after the verdict.

I went to DC with @thejoecardamone today to document the militarization of DC.

We spent almost 4 hours walking, and covered over 6 miles, skirting the barricaded perimeter.

#DCLockdown

Everything was covered with multiple layers of security, from metal fences, to flip up barricade.

#DCLockdown #BenjaPhoto

Even some of the very expensive local residences were boarded up, with custom fitted plywood boards that matched their arches.

#DCLockdown #BenjaPhoto

I enjoy shooting with Joe.

Even though sometimes our shots overlap, we definitely sharpen each other’s craft.

And no matter what, it’s impossible for us to get the EXACT same shot, since we see things in different ways.

#DCLockdown #BenjaPhoto

It was fascinating to see how city politics is later into how the barricades went up, which still made sure bike lanes were preserved, even though the streets were devoid of any automobiles save for military and law enforcement.

#DCLockdown #BenjaPhoto

ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTEST IN PARIS

THREAD - My thoughts on what happened at the Capitol.

Please read EVERYTHING before commenting.

The violence we saw was unacceptable and must be fully condemned. It has no place in a democracy.

Those committing violence should spend a long time in prison.

1/

After the province's ambulance dispatch consolidation plan took place last month, mayors of Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge and Wood Buffalo are sharing concerns. #ableg

This morning, during a council meeting, Calgary's 911 director said they experienced issues on the first day of the switch in the city that prevented someone from receiving timely medical assistance.

Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer says they have all been seeing issues since the switch. She is calling for a third-party inquiry to investigate these problems.

Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman says they're not too surprised about technical failures, but they are particularly concerned that AHS has not been very up front about what happened. There have also been several mix-ups in his community. Lack of accountability from the province.

Spearman says this is clearly not about money or patient care, so he asks the province why are they doing this? "Lives are at risk, and we need to pause this transition now." He also calls for an investigation.