BC BIDEN
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BREAK: Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States.

The Trump administration is over.

 Technically another 9 mins to go for the official handover. But it’s a formality.
Biden: "This is America's day. This is democracy's day. A day of history and hope....Today we triumph not of a candidate but of a cause. The cause of democracy. The people, the will of the people has been heard. And the will of the people has been heeded."
"At this hour my friends, democracy has prevailed."

Biden thanks his predecessors from both parties "from the bottom of my heart."

With, perhaps, the exception of one.
Biden addresses the pandemic and its economic consequences: "Few people in our nation's history have found themselves in a moment as challenging as the one we're in now...but the dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer."
Biden says the country must confront and defeat the problems of domestic terrorism in America.

15 or 10 years ago American presidents would have been using that term to refer to Islamist terrorism. Post Trump administration, it's about the far right. Transformation.
Biden: "I know speaking of unity might seems a foolish fantasy these days...but our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we're all created equal and the harsh ugly reality of racism, nativism, fear, demonisation...the battle is perennial."
Biden: "Let's start afresh, all of us, let's begin to listen to one another agin. Hear one another, show respect to one another. Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire, destroying all in its path. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manufactured."
Biden believes in this unity theme. The danger for him is that (a little like Obama) he believes it can actually be achieved. And that is setting himself up for one alrighty fall.
Biden, referring to America's first female Vice President @KamalaHarris says "don't tell me things can't change."
Biden's best passage yet: "These last weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson. There is truth and there are lies. Lies told for power and for profit. And each of us has a responsibility, especially leaders...to defend the truth and defeat the lies."
And that's going to be the difference. A president who didn't like or care about fundamental democratic principles, conventions, institutions and norms (including the value of truth) has been replaced with one who does. Not necessarily more than another politician but Biden is.
Biden: "We'll lead not only by the example of our power but by the power of our example."
Biden: "I give you my word- I will always level with you. I will defend the constitution. I will defend our democracy. I'll defend America...together we shall write an American story of hope not fear, of unity not division, of light and not darkness."
It's hardly a unique insight but it is hard to overestimate how different the last two inauguration speeches have been. America's capacity for renewal (and rapid transformation) is breathtaking.

More from Lewis Goodall

Lewis Goodall
Lewis Goodall
@lewis_goodall
Hancock: "It's your actions now which can make a difference."

Plays down prospect of immediate introduction of new restrictions.

Few doubt the public must play its part. But legitimate questions about whether the govt has made/is making public's task harder in two key respects:

1) For some there's still a major economic disincentive apropos self isolation. Sick pay still poor. Savings for many exhausted.

Imminent prospect of Universal Credit cut would make this worse. Some people have fallen through the gaps of government support throughout. Though government support for (effectively) laid off people, a full economic bargain to universally support self isolation still...

...does not exist. Rishi Sunak just made a statement to the House which offered nothing new on any of these fronts.

And 2) The job for individuals is now made harder as a result of prevalence as a result of the delay in full lockdown in most of the country between the...

...point ministers were informed that the new variant had greater transmissibility (December 18th) and full lockdown (early January). We can't interrogate the micro decisions of the public alone, we must look at the macro decisions of ministers too.
ECONOMY
Lewis Goodall
Lewis Goodall
@lewis_goodall
Earlier when asked about why the govt didn't act earlier the PM said “I think we were told about the new variant and the way it was taking off on 18th December and we went into T4 across the vast bulk of the country pretty much in the next 24 hours.”

This isn't entirely correct.

The new variant was identified in early December after genome data was paired with a curiosity that the rates of infection in Kent were not falling despite national restrictions and then T3.


So there was indicative sense that the variant may be playing its part as early as that and perhaps sport greater transmissibility.

On December 14th Matt Hancock informed the Commons, saying the new variant was in at least 60 local authorities already.

He told MPs in that over that week, there had been sharp, exponential rises in coronavirus infections across London, Kent, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.

He said they couldn't be sure whether that was due to the new variant but that caution was required.

As a result, London and several other places in the South East were moved to T3.

On 18th December NERVTAG reported that they believed the new variant was indeed more transmissible.

On the 19th, the govt acted. This is the action I assume the PM referred to today.
GOVERNMENT
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Lewis Goodall
Lewis Goodall
@lewis_goodall
Keir Starmer giving his most important speech yet-laying out his vision for the future.

“The Conservatives say they want to build back. But I don’t want to go back. You can’t return to business as usual. And certainly not back to an economy rooted in insecurity and inequality.”


"The foundations of our society have been weakened over a decade...even before the pandemic life expectancy had stalled for the first time in a century. Child poverty had shot up to over 4 million. A child growing up in a deprived areas of the North East can expect to live for.."

"...five fewer years than a deprived child brought up in a deprived area of London. What sort of legacy is that for a party which has been in govt for a decade? That life itself got cheaper. And shorter."

"During the last year my thoughts have returned time and time again to the wartime generation. Those who suffered the horrors of WW2, who rebuilt Britain from the rubble of the Blitz, created the NHS and built millions of homes fit for heroes. And I contrast that...

"...to those exposed to Covid in underfunded care homes, unable to say goodbye to families and to loved ones. How can the PM look those families in the eye and say 'we did everything we could'? When the truth is the Tories failed to fix social care for a decade?"
GOVERNMENT
Lewis Goodall
Lewis Goodall
@lewis_goodall
Some quick thoughts on what we just saw

Firstly hardly a unique insight but hard to overstimate the difference between the two last inaugurals. America has meandered sharply along its political arc.

Biden's rhetoric reached high. Every sentence seemed purposefully...


...constructed to negate every political and personal characteristic of his predecessor.

And insofar as he's not Trump, that he does accept, cherish and understand democratic norms, institutions and conventions in a way that Trump never could, Biden will make a real difference.

He will change the tone and tenor of politics, not only in America but across the West. As I've said before, just replacing Trump is a substantial victory for him and will earn him praise from historians.

But that aura will disappear quickly. A governing project it will not make

But how much praise he receives and stature conferred by posterity will depend on what happens next.

Because the big overarching question for me, watching this, is which of those two inaugurals, Trump or Biden's, is going to seem unusual in the future.

The relief that many are feeling is predicated on a type of politics ending. But it is at least as possible that it is Biden ..not Trump who is the last gasp of something. Is it Trump who is the dying embers of a dying, increasingly powerless old white America...
SOCIETY
Lewis Goodall
Lewis Goodall
@lewis_goodall
More study aids and generous grade boundaries for 2021's exams will be welcomed by many teachers and students. But doesn't address a fundamental problem of the next exam season: equity. Because there's great variation in how different schools have been affected by self-isolation.

Let's take the most recent attendance stats which I still don't think have really registered.

Most recent data- attendance rate across England of 83%

In secondary schools it's 78% (!)

So more than 1 in 5 secondary pupils are off school, largely for Covid related reasons.

But that’s just an average. Some schools’ attendance are at levels where they can’t really function, or certainly provide the quality of education they normally do.

Teachers’ are split between trying to run online lessons and those in schools.

Whole year groups are off.

Some students are in isolation, return to school and within days are in isolation again.

As I’ve reported before, IT provision is still patchy. Lots of reports of kids not doing work at home either because they get of the swing of it or they don’t have the IT resources.

And that’s before we get on to staff isolation, which is also proving a nightmare in many places.

In other words, you have to have everything go right for your education not to be impacted by Covid right now. And that’s affecting some places more than others.
EDUCATION

More from Biden

Joe Cunningham
Joe Cunningham
@JoePCunningham
"Ban" is a verb meaning to "officially or legally prohibit" something. If the Biden administration is not approving new fracking permits, how is that not "officially or legally prohibiting" new fracking permits?


The economy is bleeding, and the Biden administration's response is to cripple one of the few industries that has been consistently employing people throughout this crisis.

But, his allies in the media don't want him to take that PR hit, so they run cover and play word games. Biden's exact words were "We are not going to ban fracking. Period." The "Period." there would imply that ANY ban is off the table.

If you are going to prohibit via executive order - which is nothing more than a law passed outside of the normal legislative process - anything, you are "legally" prohibiting it. There are legal consequences to violating that regulation.

So yes, definitionally, Biden has "legally prohibited" fracking in some way, shape, or form, which is the opposite of his campaign statements.

In other words, he lied.
BIDEN
Ali Velshi
Ali Velshi
@AliVelshi
1/13
I have watched every presidential inauguration that I can remember, since I was a little boy, and long before I ever imagined I would live in America. But I had never watched one the way I watched the inauguration of Joe Biden. #velshi

2/13
I’d never considered the details leading up to an inauguration. I watched this one like a nervous parent, making sure everything went as planned. #velshi

3/13
Thanks to the last four years, everything is different, now. Our demons are on full display, our Union is certifiably imperfect. Our nation is divided. #velshi

4/13
After a year that takes first place in our history for death, destruction, fear and injustice, normalcy is struggling to regain its place. One thing with which we will struggle in this new day for America is the death of shame. #velshi

5/13
In addition to the other norms the former president destroyed, he turned lying - deliberate, casual and often with the force of law - into an art form and, with that, contributed to the death of shame. #velshi
BIDEN
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@TheWiseOwl_AZ
1. According to Charlie Ward, right now there was no legal US President because B*iden was elected president of US Inc. and US Inc. has been dissolved because of their bankruptcy that finalized Nov. 2 2020.
BIDEN
kwanza "openly black" osajyefo
kwanza "openly black" ...
@kwanzer
So post President Biden’s inauguration speech, we’re going to see more #SouthernStrategy rhetoric emerge.

In particular, white folk being upset about the terms “racism” and “racist.”

And, I’m going to share response technique that my mother always used to clarity her points...

Condemn the actions not the person.

White folk see “racist” through a shallow criteria of taboo racism; saying “nigger” in the open or being a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Even then racism will be met as an abstract. It’s why even overt racism doesn’t always register.

See; domestic terror attack on the US Capitol.

So because they want to internalize the term as a slur, without giving a single thought to their behavior — separate them.

Condemn the actions not the person.

It’s a great way to dismantle the tactics and put a spotlight on what racism is.

Here’s examples of my mom doing it...

“You’re not bad, but what you said was bad.”

“You’re not stupid, but what you did was stupid.”

This allowed her to correct me by examining my actions, extrapolating deeds and their effect on others.
BIDEN
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@TheWiseOwl_AZ
1. Trust The Plan, Q

On Thurs. 14 Jan. right before B*iden’s Inauguration and due to foreign interference in the 2020 Presidential Election, Trump instigated the Insurgency Act, declared Martial Law and deferred his power to the US Military. Since then the US has been...
BIDEN

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@ArmaniTalks
Manipulation Sign:

If you are compromising too much, there is a chance that you are getting manipulated.

Why are you the one that's always compromising?

How come the other person always gets their way?

Be more curious.

If something seems off, stick up for yourself.

'Wait, you sure I am being manipulated?'

I have no clue, that is only something that you can decide for yourself.

'Dang is there anything I need to look out for?'

Plenty..

But let me give you a few things to look out for.

👇

I see manipulation as skillfully controlling someone's behavior for egotistical or unethical purposes.

'How come people don't leave when it's happening to them?'

Because most people have 0 clue that they are being manipulated.

1. Guilt Trip

You ever made a mistake around someone, only for them to hold it over your head?

The will always bring up the mistake when you 2 are not seeing eye to eye.

These people will use that mistake as leverage to get what they want from you in the future.

Look out.

2. The Rationalizer

This person will commit the worst acts & find a way to rationalize it.

Example: cheaters when they get caught.

They have every excuse in the book for why they did it.

Heck, they are so good at rationalizing, they will make it seem like your fault.
LIFE
Dr Amanda Moehring
Dr Amanda Moehring
@FlyBehaviour
In Academia, people aren’t always supported when they need it. I want to share what @WesternU did when my husband died right after the pandemic shutdown. It should be shared with other uni’s as a model for empathy and proactive care when someone is in crisis.
1/
#AcademicChatter
SCIENCE
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@TheWiseOwl_AZ
1. There are more people added on the list of arrests and executions of famous people but no further intel is available at this time.

ARRESTS and EXECUTIONS OF FAMOUS PEOPLE 2020 UPDATED
Explanation of the latest military tribunal arrests and executions of famous people in 2020.

2. The tribunals are arresting these people in plain clothes. We saw the Obama’s arrest, although we didn’t know it was an arrest at the time. The arrest was done nonchalantly so as to not get noticed by the public.
All arrests of these famous people were done this way.

3. If the person is convicted of child sex trafficking, crimes against humanity or treason, they will be executed.
If the person arrested has evidence on someone else to help their prosecution, or is willing to help Trump, & they want to cooperate, they may be allowed to do so.

4. A sentence of execution down to life in prison may be accepted if their evidence is worth anything.
When a plea deal is done, the defendant must present evidence they have to make their sentence lighter. This information is given to the prosecution, defense, and to the judge.

5. If evidence is accepted, they are presented the plea deal. They will have to make a guilty plea to the crime with a video confession & written statement. That is how all plea deals work.

All famous people arrested were either treasonous or involved in satanic worship rituals.
CRIME
Eric
Eric
@ericbahn
1/ Recently, I learned about the concept of ‘struggle porn’. This refers to the fetish of sacrificing nearly everything (health, relationships, time) for your startup. I fear that this label is creating more harm than good.

2/ @nateliason wrote a fabulous article about this topic, which first introduced me to this concept. Everyone should read it:

3/ @alexisohanian also recently spoke about struggle porn, though referring to it as ‘hustle porn.’ (as the co-founder of @hustlefundvc, obviously I take issue with this pejorative definition of ‘hustle’, but that’s another topic)

4/ Struggling in itself isn’t necessarily bad. Let’s be real here--if you’re going to start a startup, you will struggle. Founders should expect to work harder generally than employees. You will be challenged in many ways and also be super rewarded in others. This is normal.

5/ However, if you are over-indexing on hard work without clear purpose and degrading your mental health/relationships in the process--then this is very bad and we obviously should not celebrate this behavior.
STARTUPS
sriram
sriram
@SriramKannan77
Swami Ramanujar:
Important personalities in Sri Ramanujas Life :
🌸ASURI KESHAVA SOMAYAJI-Father of Sri Ramanujar .Asuri keshava somayaji was a learned brahmana living in sriperumbudur.


🌸KANTHIMATHI-Mother of Sri Ramanuja. Kanthimathi was the sister of sri periya thirumalai nambi .
🌸SRI YAMUNACHARYA-Acharya of Sri Ramanuja.Also known as Alavandar.
🌸THIRUKOKOSHTIYUR NAMBI-Also known as Ghosti Purna.He instructed the Rahasya Traya to Sri Ramanujar.

He lived in thirukoshtiyur.
🌸THIRUKKACHI NAMBI-Kanchi purna was born in puvirunthavalli near kanchipuram and met the young ramanuja at an important time.He did the service of Lord Varadha.

🌸THIRUVARANGA PERUMAL ARAIYAR-Important acharya lived in srirangam and rendered the service of playing music for lord Sriranganatha.

🌸PERIYA THIRUMALAI NAMBI-He was the maternal uncle of Sri Ramanuja.He taught sri ramanuja about the epic of sri ramayana and other ithihaas and puranas.Served sri venkateswara at tirumala.
ALL