BC GOVERNMENT
Saved by @jay_millerjay

Last week, @CleCityCouncil started reviewing Mayor Frank Jackson’s proposed city budget for 2021. There was robust discussion, and Documenters were there to cover it. Here’s a thread of what we learned last week about the #CLEBudget

 First, it helps to know where we are in the budget process. From today through Feb. 24, the council will meet about the General Fund budget. The council will then agree on a budget with their changes (if any); 15 days after doing so, they can vote to make the budget official.
In other words, there’s still time to use your voice! The #refundcleveland tool can help. Create the #CLEBudget you want and send it to your council member. Click “Change the Budget” on the homepage and follow the on-screen instructions from there. https://t.co/ljyAhABg5h
Want to know the budget basics? Our #CLEBudget primer details the timeline, different types of budgets and the funds involved, and defines budget-related terms. It can be a helpful guide during City Council’s discussions. https://t.co/Uz3yjYAmAP
And don’t forget: all these meetings are livestreamed on City Council’s YouTube channel. They’re slated to start at 9 a.m. every business day from today through the 24th. You can also follow along with #CLEDocumenters live-tweet threads and notes.https://t.co/pLwmzS0f1S
Now, let’s dig into some details. The General Fund supports most city services, including police, fire, emergency medical services, rec centers, and trash collection. It’s funded by state and local taxes, service charges, licenses and permits, and fines. Here’s what we learned.
We also learned a bit about the Department of Public Safety, which is set to receive the biggest portion of the General Fund budget — about 56% of it. Here are some key department tidbits that Documenters captured.
City Council also asked for clarification regarding how many officers $1M can afford. The city says $1M can cover 6-7 police officers; some council members said they’d previously been told $1M could fund 10 officers.
Curious about City Council’s approach heading into the General Fund hearings? Read through this live-tweet thread of last Friday’s virtual retreat by @GenniferwithaG_ https://t.co/qCjwAJo18Y
You can also take in Mary Paxton’s notes on the afternoon portion of the retreat. https://t.co/uFFxeboLiS
And you can work through the mayor’s full proposed General Fund budget here: https://t.co/U3EGaIwDLy
Despite some newsworthy nuggets regarding the General Fund, the council spent much of last week discussing Community Development Block Grants, also known as CDBG funding. What is CDBG? Well...
Essentially, CDBG is money provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD intends for CDBG funds to be used for safe, decent housing and economic opportunity in low-wealth areas. Check out our #CLEBudget primer for more CDBG insight.
Also, this thread from @Jesstrivisonno, economic development director for the Detroit-Shoreway and Cudell Inc. community development corporations (CDCs), provides a detailed look at the challenges surrounding CDBG funds and the way Cleveland uses them. https://t.co/S8Lv1dYgEs
Here are some high-level takeaways from last week’s CDBG hearings. #CLEBudget
Have the CDBG heebie-jeebies? Learn more from the following live-tweet threads from #CLEDocumenters who observed last week’s hearings…
@dmcbillion on the Feb. 9 morning session: https://t.co/iwRH4r0qL5
@seandene on the Feb. 9 afternoon session: https://t.co/7z0uzaj3gt
@MelanatedMillennial on the Feb. 10 afternoon session:
https://t.co/6Mc0bWoPiu
Leslie Bednar’s notes on day three of the CDBG hearings offer important details, as well.
https://t.co/NLE1znVcST
And you can read the proposed CDBG budget book here. https://t.co/mppuEKZx8Z
Think the learning stopped there? Not so. Documenters also gleaned some info about the Capital Budget, which is reserved for larger, long-term investments in city infrastructure. City Council and the City of Cleveland finalize this budget a little later in the year.
In fact, as of last Friday’s virtual retreat, the full Capital Budget book was not complete. Regardless, Documenters did gather some important details.
Learn more about the Capital Budget and the General Fund from Leslie Bednar’s notes on the morning portion of Friday’s virtual retreat. https://t.co/YpUckQZlnx
And here is the full capital projects presentation that the city gave to council members during Friday’s retreat.
https://t.co/6yoboefP02
Keep up with all Documenters reporting on our website. Documenters will cover the remaining budget meetings, along with other city government happenings. https://t.co/rWTPAI2ytm
That’s a wrap on this thread, which is just a snapshot of what last week’s #CLEBudget meetings entailed. Let us know if you have any questions, and stay tuned for more documenting!

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Deepti Gurdasani
@dgurdasani1
I've been seeing a lot of discussion around the dosage gaps recommended by government for the Astra/Oxford & Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines. My thoughts on the potential benefits & risks of such an approach, and the need for much greater transparency around these decisions. Thread.


The UK govt announced recently that both the Oxford & BioNTech vaccines would be now administered with a gap of between 4-12 weeks (so prioritise administration of first dose, given limited resources).

What is the basis of this?

The basis that's been discussed seems to be that
1) the first dose is likely to confer some degree of protection against disease, so better to roll this out as fast as possible, and
2) that for Oxford/Astra efficacy may be higher when the gap between doses is greater.

I discuss some of the technical details around the Oxford trial below for those interested in these. If you'd just like a summary of this, please skip to the summary tweet titled 'SUMMARY'.

What does published evidence show? The Astra/Oxford data are a bit messy because of protocol changes during the trial. This is because the trial was originally planned as a single dose trial, but a booster dose was added when developers realised that this would likely help.
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Ed Birkett
Ed Birkett
@ed_birkett
UK Energy White Paper is here.

I'll tweet the key points here👇

1/

Link to press

UK commits to an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) from 1 January 2021.

Seems like a win for @beisgovuk, as @hmtreasury was known to be keen on a carbon tax

2/

Exploring the RAB model for new nuclear, as per @emilygosden article in @thetimes this

From press release, doesn't look like that many big new measures. Not surprising, as next year we're expecting:
▶️ Heat & Buildings Strat
▶️ Industrial Decarb Strat
▶️ Hydrogen Strat
▶️ Net Zero Strat
▶️ Transport Decarb Plan

And

A couple of hours later, and the White Paper is now here.

Powering Out Net Zero Future.

Details to follow
GOVERNMENT
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Dr Duncan Robertson
Dr Duncan Robertson
@Dr_D_Robertson
The Government is making the same mistakes as it did in the first wave. Except with knowledge.

A thread.


The Government's strategy at the beginning of the pandemic was to 'cocoon' the vulnerable (e.g. those in care homes). This was a 'herd immunity' strategy. This interview is from


This strategy failed. It is impossible to 'cocoon' the vulnerable, as Covid is passed from younger people to older, more vulnerable people.

We can see this playing out through heatmaps. e.g. these heatmaps from the second


The Government then decided to change its strategy to 'preventing a second wave that overwhelms the NHS'. This was announced on 8 June in Parliament.

This is not the same as 'preventing a second wave'.

https://t.co/DPWiJbCKRm


The Academy of Medical Scientists published a report on 14 July 'Preparing for a Challenging Winter' commissioned by the Chief Scientific Adviser that set out what needed to be done in order to prevent a catastrophe over the winter
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David Cranmer Underdown
David Cranmer Underdow...
@DavidCranmerUn1
Lodestone - Wikipedia

Pieces of lodestone, suspended so they could turn, were the first magnetic compasses,[3][4][5][6] and their importance to early navigation is indicated by the name lodestone, which in Middle English means "course stone" or "leading
GOVERNMENT
NYC Angry Mom - #OpenSchools
NYC Angry Mom - #OpenS...
@angrybklynmom
Parents in cities, please pay attention to the reopening details from the Whitehouse.

Biden says "small classes". What we need to understand is how they plant to accomplish this.

Through "childcare programs in schools". We see this all over states w/ closed schools.


We need to grasp that the AFT, NEA, & local unions are systematically working to decouple education from childcare.

Their vision is your child sitting on a device all day, watched by a childcare worker, being "taught" from a Teacher working from

This isn't a paranoid conspiracy theory - it is already happening in the majority of districts across the US where schools are closed.

"Learning Hubs" open, supervised by childcare workers, sometimes in the same "unsafe" school

There is NO OTHER WAY to get "small classes" without Hybrid + wraparound childcare. Your child will spend 2-3 days per WEEK supervised by low wage workers and sitting on a laptop.

Here's

Fairfax,
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Vigilant AFA
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One fascist to watch in 2021 is Joseph Charles "Oakman" Golinske of SE MI. He's been a Proud Boy for a couple years, but took a break recently from the group and promotes himself through the "Oak Nation" channel on Telegram.


Most people may be familiar with him as the tall guy in the Proud Boys bridge shot, from their August 17, 2019 attack on Portland, which featured an American Guard bus trying (and failing) to bludgeon antifascists with hammers.


He was also with his g/f at the time (Dominique Tota, left of Tarrio), and that's definitely a twitter account folks will want to block/report because he posts on it.


He's been plenty active at the pro-Covid/anti-mask/ReOpen protests in Lansing MI, seen here with Jerry Wayne and an effigy of Gretchen Whitmer, who his militia friends tried to kidnap and publicly execute.


Outside of the Proud Boys, his solo "career" with Oak Nation features the same misogyny, classism and gateway to far-right domestic terrorism the Proud Boys themselves feature. Here's him peddling oxychlorinque and bragging about harassing service workers.
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DEVI KARUMARIAMMAN, THIRUVERKADU (TN)

Devi is worshipped here as both Swayambhu (self-manifested) and as Parashakti (with 4 arms holding skull,sword,trishul,udukkai/damru).

Here, Muruga got Vel from Devi to fight Suran. So the place was called Vel kadu which became Verkadu.


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Once, Devi went to Surya in the form of an old woman but Surya neglected her. Devi’s anger made Surya lose his brightness.
To appease her, Surya said that His rays would fall on Her directly twice in a year and touch her feet. Also, Sunday is celebrated as day of Devi Karumari.


There is also a wooden image of Devi (Marachilai Amman) here. Devotees offer locks to her in the belief that She would safe guard their houses.
Temple tank (Thiruchamber Poigai) is said to have been created by Subramanya. Taking dip in it is said to cure skin related disorders.
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Ryan Caldbeck
Ryan Caldbeck
@ryan_caldbeck
1/ I am seeing more and more founder secondary in venture rounds (Secondary = founders selling some of their shares before some other shareholders are able). Series B-D. I see both as an investor and through entrepreneur circles.

2/ I like secondary for entrepreneurs. Moderation is key but in a lot of situations I think it helps accelerate the co. Lots of very smart investors disagree. Here are my thoughts.

3/ Magnitude: My basic rule of thumb from what I see is market is 4+ yrs and up to 10% of founder’s equity stake with some $ cap that makes sense given stage etc. (typically <$10m)

4/ The entrepreneurial journey is brutally hard. Giving some financial relief helps remove one piece of pressure. I don’t think that secondary in the magnitude mentioned impacts the drive/persistence of great entrepreneurs.

5/ That secondary means they will be able to just sleep knowing they can pay their kids’ tuition. Secondary will make most founders better at their jobs, thus accelerating the co.
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Cookie Cyboid
Cookie Cyboid
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“Why are Tumblr and Facebook cracking down on sex so much? And why is Facebook in so over zealous about it? It’s all Apples fault!” Etc etc

I can explain all. It is largely the fault of a set of US laws called SESTA and FOSTA.
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1/n
The kingdom of Sindh was ruled by its last Hindu king Raja Dahir during the 8th century. When Muhammad-bin-Qasim invaded Sindh, he decimated Sindh in his savage bloodlust. The chronicles of his advent are described in the Chachnama.


2/n
The Chachnama describes in detail how the Arabs led by butcher Qasim conquered Sindh. It tells the terrible tale of bravery, treachery, & carnage marking the entry of Islamic conquest of India’s Hindus.


3/n
When Muhammad-bin-Qasim attacked Sindh, Dahir had collected an army of 50,000 horses and marched from Brahamanabad to Rawar to face the invader. Qasim had an army that numbered in the tens of thousands with camels & horses.

4/n
Earlier Arab Alafis - Syeds from Prophet Mohammed’s own family had fled from Mecca with 500 men to Sindh and Raja Dahir had given them asylum. Trusting these Muslims would prove to be the fatal mistake for the downfall of Sindh & pave the way for Islamic invasion.

5/n
On an “auspicious day” in A.D. 711, fixed by astrologers, Mohammed Bin Qasim started for Sindh at the head of the Iraqi, Syrian, and other Arab soldiers. His horses and camels were disguised to look like lions and elephants. Rebel Jats also joined Qasim’s army.
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