Finally read the new update on UK variant B.1.1.7, posted yesterday, which includes a study suggesting the variant is no more (or less) severe than prior virus variants.
Just a very brief thread (or read the entire document here:

Researchers took 1769 cases of people infected with the new variant and then looked for 1769 cases of people with “normal” virus to compare them to. They chose these so that median age and proporion of females was the same. That’s why it’s called a “matched cohort study”

They then compared hospitalizations for the two groups:
Overall 42 people were hopsitalized,
16 with the variant
26 with wild-type
The difference between the two was not significant.

Caveat: “Due to potential time delays for receipt of hospital admissions data, the identified hospital admissions should be regarded as a minimum number of hospital admissions and further admissions data are likely to be received into this NHS dataset in the future.”

The researchers also compared fatality rate for those cases where 28 days had elapsed since sample was taken:
12 of 1430 (0.89%) variant cases had died
10 of 1360 (0.73%) wild-type cases had died
Again, the difference was not significant.

So, today I want to tell you about ADHD. Because I didn't call myself the 'queen of chaos' in my pinned tweet just because it's a nice alliteration with cats and crochet. 1/

A lot of people still think about hyperactive boys when they think of ADHD. And they're WRONG!

Prepare yourself for a long thread!

Also, disclaimer. I am in no way suggesting that everything in this thread is the be-all end-all of ADHD. 2/

ADHD is a lot more than just hyperactivity for starters.
It's a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects executive functions (impuls control, emotional control, planning) for instance. It can even affect your short term memory. And don't get me started on hyperfocus. 3/

There are 3 types of ADHD:
1. Hyperactive-impulsive type
2. Inattentive type (formerly known as ADD)
3. Combined type

People with hyperactive-impulsive type tend to be 'on'all the time. They can't sit still, they talk at inappropriate times, are impulsive and impatient. 4/

People with innatentive type tend to have difficulty focusing. It's not that they have a lack of focus, they just can't control their focus for a long period of time. They're easily distracted and tend to lose things (key's, hone, etc.). They are usually seen as daydreamers. 5/

1. Brian Fung works for CNN. I will share with you some of his recent tweets and his family. ((thread))

Alright, it's time for my @threadapalooza - 100 tweets (if I can limit myself) on:

Judaism Is Not Christianity

2. When I was in Yeshiva, a certain Rabbi once explained the process of studying Chassidus as follows:

"The beginner thinks everything is different. Then he learns more, and thinks everything is the same. Then, he learns more, and finally realizes everything is different."

3. In my opinion, this process is broadly applicable. When we first enter any field, because we understand nothing, there seems to be an infinite variety of ideas. Then we learn, and each level of understanding reduces things to fewer and fewer central principles.

4. The Sophomoric student thinks not that everything is different, but that everything is the same. Only when we move on to actual understanding do we realize there is infinite or near-infinite variety and differences are real, despite or because of shared underlying principle.

The same is true when you learn about Judaism and Christianity. Judaism is not Christianity, and all semblances of similarity are mere semblances.

In fact, the illusion cannot hold under any close scrutiny at all. What follows is intended merely as close scrutiny. /5

While covering a Nov. 10 protest led by @copsoutofNU, I spoke to an Evanston resident who experienced an easy relationship between EPD and Evanston residents. He put NIPAS in a different category, saying they appeared "dangerous." 🧵:

As of yesterday, we learned EPD police chief is responsible for all NIPAS calls and behavior, including calling for the firing of pepper balls on NU students on 10/31. Some of these students needed medical attention.

And while NIPAS, with their numbers and ammunition, appears chiefly responsible for larger, crowd control activities, EPD typically handles arrests.

I've spotted EPD arrest vehicles present at almost every NUCNC protests, big or small.

While covering NUCNC, I've noticed esp. in higher-income, White parts of Evanston that residents see the police relationship as peaceful.

( I work at a a local Evanston restaurant, and customers will often offer to pay for EPD officers meals when they eat at the restaurant.)

The idea, it seems to me, is that many residents in these higher-income, predominantly White parts of Evanston see the community as a gold-standard, liberal community where police and citizens get along.

When police are recorded engaging in violence, the blame shifts elsewhere.

UPDATED FOR NEW LINK
Need a "red pill" crash course without the censored links?
https://t.co/pFvn6dlSkI

Now ministering: Pst Gabriel Oboh
Message Title: Gratitude in Marriage

When a man is grateful to the wife, he will get double from the wife and vice versa. Anytime you're grateful to your spouse your cup overflow.

#ChurchGRA #Gratitude #MyTurnToShine

Gratitude is an appreciation for something one has done for you. (2 Samuel 9:1) Couples expect their spouse to show appreciation for things done. Whenever this isn't forthcoming, there will be a reaction from such a spouse.

#ChurchGRA #Gratitude #MyTurnToShine

In a similar vein, God expects us to express gratitude to Him for all He has done for us. The story of the ten lepers portrays this fact. (Luke 17:11-19)

#ChurchGRA #Gratitude #MyTurnToShine

Whenever you don't show gratitude to your spouse, you are removing something from your spouse. Many times couples focus on things that have not to be done rather than appreciating things that have been done.

#ChurchGRA #Gratitude #MyTurnToShine

How do you show appreciation in marriage?

1. Never trivialize what your spouse has done; no matter how little it may seem, always appreciate their effort.

#ChurchGRA #Gratitude #MyTurnToShine

Without getting into the ins and outs of the ‘Is Christmas pagan?’ debate, it’s worth dealing with some faulty assumptions people often make about the ‘Christianisation’ of pre-Christian traditions (buckle up for the thread…)

First of all, language people use in this area can be quite emotive, e.g. talk of Christians ‘usurping’ or ‘sanitising’ a pre-existing pagan festival. There’s a tendency to ascribe a collective agency that never existed to ‘the Church’ or ‘Christians’ when it comes to Midwinter

That wasn’t how it worked; there was no centralised programme of reforming popular festivities. The Church introduced liturgical celebration of Christmas to northern pagan cultures; how those Christianised cultures then dealt with Midwinter festivities as a whole varied widely

The minds and behaviour of early medieval people weren’t software programmed by a Church that exercised total control. The Church showed sporadic interest in popular celebrations, but its main concern was Christian rites and belief - not suppressing all pre-Christian legacies

(By the way, it’s always a bit perilous to apply the term ‘pagan’ to pre-Christian legacies, because we know so little about pre-Christian religion we have no reliable way of distinguishing between *specifically religious* pre-Christian customs and others)

Happy Tuesday! The latest focal S:N501 build is now updated with sequences from 11 Jan.
There are 101 new sequences in the 501Y.V1 (B.1.1.7 #b117) & 501Y.V2 variants.

Additionally, I'll include some updates on S:E484K in this thread.

1/20

https://t.co/dXx6nk6Llz

There are 97 new non-UK sequences in 501Y.V1, including the first sequences in the cluster from Slovakia, Mexico, & Belgium, plus additional sequences from the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, Spain, Ireland, & Sweden.

2/20

Slovakia has 10 sequences that fall in 501Y.V1 for the first time. These are closely linked, & likely indicate a single introduction and ongoing transmission (remember: vertical distance is not meaningful on the same branch - position of the 2 English samples is arbitrary).

3/20

Belgium has 5 sequences in 501Y.V1 for the 1st time, indicating 3 separate intros. 3 seqs cluster together (zoomed, divergence), indicating a single introduction. The connection to Netherlands might indicate transmission, or 2 transmissions from same diversity in the UK.

4/20

Mexico also has a sequence that falls into 501Y.V1 for the first time.

5/20

THREAD: Gorilla Troop Comms

These people are

2) Orig. tweet & timestamp

3) start >

San Diego

Members of the Gorilla [guerilla] Troop

San Diego

two guerillas

current circumstances

initiated the process

through

California

detected the presence of the virus in the gorilla troop > infiltrated?

confirmed the positive results

4) results confirm the presence

some of the gorillas

does not definitively rule out the presence

in other members of the troop > infiltrated by more than 1?

some congestion > trouble w/ communications

the gorillas are doing well

troop remains

together

full recovery

5) suspected

guerillas

acquired

infection from an asymptomatic staff member > again signaling infiltrated

precautions

protocols

wearing PPE when near the gorillas > ordering them wear masks

verified that some non-human > [I'm not decoding this one - WTF]

One way to fan Railaphobia was to ascribe to him mystic powers. He took Uhuru and Ruto to Hague; he incites teachers to strike etc. Sixth thread – LONG THREAD, YOU CAN DISCARD

Having suffered so much under Moi who used state power to sabotage the whole economy and foster impunity, you would have expected the Kikuyu to all be on the frontline championing democracy and rule of law. So that nobody suffers again state victimization

In the last thread we have seen how Kikuyus ganged up against ICC to ensure Uhuru went scot-free – “Uhuru ni witu,” was the clarion call that we exported to The Hague

Just then Kikuyu now became the biggest enemy of democracy. Human rights activists filed a case in court to have Uhuru and Ruto barred from vying for public office as per chapter 6 of the new constitution. The Kikuyu were openly hostile to the court system. Ni matutigithie...

Having worked so hard to have a new constitution to ensure things that happened to the Kikuyu under Moi never happen again, Kikuyu became the biggest haters to the new constitution. That is was the first backward step for the country – courtesy of the Kikuyu

Peak Oil > The Singularity - A thread
When trying to outline future challenges, a lot of attention is typically given to advanced technology, like blockchain, genetic engineering, wired brain, increased digitalization of the world, and AI, culminating in the Singularity.

While this kind of thinking is important, as our dreams reveal something about ourselves irrespective of the degree of realization, I think there are other possible challenges that may equally or more merit our attention.

The advancement of these technologies depends on our access to cheap energy resources, primarily fossil fuels, which with continued growth (not hindered by f.e. a pandemic) won’t be possible for much longer. I see no answer to Peak Oil.

Peak Oil isn’t the sexiest discourse – interactions of quantities of energy resources, economy, extraction techniques, disinformation – I prefer to get my hands less “dirty”, dealing with something more purely of the mind, but that doesn’t mean peak oil doesn’t merit attention.

What may face us, if Peak Oil thinkers like Michael Ruppert got it right, seems to be something between a chaotic collapse of the globalization and the emergence of political orders based less on fragile, global complexity, and more on geography and ecological limitation.

Staying well out of this beef, but I've spent the last 48 hours in hysterics since I learned that an influencer has been getting fans to give her money by calling it "individual reparations."

That's the joke line I use when I want one of my white mates to get a round in!

I get how this dynamic emerges. Social media blurs the distinction between influencer and activist. Individuals are seen as totemic of a wider political struggle, so you want to see them succeed. And of course, supporting people's work is meaningful.

But it's not reparations.

Reparations isn't an individual white person giving money to an individual black or brown person (apart from when I'm broke and want a cocktail, in which case it's very much that).

It's about recognising that

a) colonialism and slavery have had a lasting economic impact

b) this impact is not just a legacy, or a long tail.

It has been reinforced by the underdevelopment and debt servitude of the Global South, and the exploitation of labour and resources from the Global South.

And unless you're a billionaire or a central bank, it's unlikely that your PayPal activity is going to make much of an impact on the root causes behind the Global Movement for Reparations..

THREAD: Senate committee on public services holds hearing on cashless modes along tollways https://t.co/sDo55hwVGt

Tweets by our digital producers @YsabelwithaWhyy and Bamba Galang

Senate committee chair Grace Poe: The Toll Regulatory Board can't even do its job of collecting toll fees - ₱44.24 million in 2017 uncollected, ₱859.94 million in 2019 - almost a billion pesos

Sen. Poe: The TRB, like the NDRRMC and PhilHealth, suffers from a governing board dominated by ex-officio cabinet secretaries who have more important things to do. The future of the TRB is another issue that should be resolved in this hearing.

Sen. Poe: The backlash in the cashless toll collecting service reminded of the importance of careful planning.

Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian is present in the hearing.

Earlier, he suspended NLEX Corp.'s business permit over traffic problems caused by its cashless toll-collecting system. He has since lifted the suspension after coming to an agreement with NLEX.

The evidence is mounting that what we witnessed yesterday was an attempted coup (related terms are “insurrection” and “sedition”). 1/10

But it is important to note that the bad actors involved in the events can be sent to jail (for up to twenty years) for something that falls short of an attempted coup and is easier to prove in court: obstruction of justice. 2/10

The relevant federal statute is 18 U.S.C. § 1512--a statute, you might recall, that figures prominently in the Mueller Report. 3/10

Bill Barr, who wanted to construe the statute narrowly, contested Mueller’s interpretation of the statute. There is a lengthy reply to Barr’s construction (which I think might have been written by Michael Dreeben) in the Report. 4/10

The Report establishes conclusively that Barr’s interpretation violates every known principle of statutory construction, and it is fun to read the Report and see Barr get *destroyed* on this point. 5/10

1/ Mitch McConnell wants to let corporations kill you without consequence. (THREAD)

2/ Probably the most under-reported story of the year has been how Mitch McConnell is holding Americans hostage in exchange for letting big corporations kill Americans without any consequence.

3/ Mitch took you and me hostage back in May, when the House of Representatives passed the HEROES act that would have funded state and local governments and provided unemployed workers with an ongoing weekly payment.

4/ Mitch refused to even allow the Senate to discuss the HEROES Act until or unless the legislation also legalized corporations killing their workers and customers. To this day, he refuses to let it even be discussed in the Senate.

5/ We’ve seen companies fire people for refusing to take their lives in their hands, executives organize betting pools on which employees are going to die first, and companies lying openly to their workers and customers about the dangers of COVID-19.

1/ Thread: You are not a lottery ticket

Peter Thiel is a contrarian. In 2013, he spoke in SXSW pushing against the conventional wisdom of luck’s outsized role.

2/ I like Thiel’s ideas not because I fully agree with them, but because he consistently pushes against ideas that seem settled.

Peter showed a simple 2x2 framework to make his case.

Are we optimistic/pessimistic about the future?
Is the future determinate or indeterminate?

3/ Optimists think about the promises of the future whereas pessimists deeply fear the future.

If the future is determinate, you should have strong conviction. If it is not, you should heavily diversify.

4/ In the 50s-60s, Americans not only believed they would be at the forefront of progress but also had big, hairy audacious projects in mind that would materialize the definite future they had in mind.

5/ US, generally speaking, still remains optimistic perhaps by just extrapolating the past, but the future vision seems increasingly unclear.

Japan and Europe probably need no explanation at this point.