BC GOVERNMENT
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

1/ While we wouldn’t do last year over again, #CHIdocumenters saw a lot happen in open meetings, local government and activism. So, before we put it behind us, here’s the story of 2020 through our eyes

 2/ Back in January ‘20 #CHIdocumenters documented all meetings in person and had to navigate all that came with that...There's no one right way to run an open meeting but this setup wasn’t exactly "public-facing” / @rogueclown https://t.co/ae8xyorlYf
3/ #COVID19 was on the horizon––Dr. Allison Arwady called it at this @ChiPublicHealth meeting on February 19––but the average Chicagoan didn’t have an inkling of what would happen next / @britahunegs https://t.co/QEPVUgc2ZJ
4/ The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District @MWRDGC expected to celebrate every possible holiday this year in a similar fashion––how could it be otherwise? / @amelia_diehl https://t.co/goG3bUE0mU
5/ Independently, however, some public bodies were upping their government transparency game by proactively posting meeting materials and resources online (@ChicagoDPD) https://t.co/XYGi85lR3w
6/ To increase access to mental health services, Cook County planned to create video-call examining rooms where patients could access tele-health appointments / @RachelNaffziger https://t.co/XRnvRziCHo
7/ And the Regional Transportation Authority (@RTA_Chicago) was already trying to understand the long-term effects of a shift to more people working from home on @cta, @Metra & @PaceSuburbanBus / @morleydoc https://t.co/UOqynes2Uc
8/ Then concerns about #COVID19 started to grow… / @hcehogan https://t.co/ZMrFJsNgKr
9/ Things moved online... https://t.co/E46HJXh5Iv
10/ And government agencies had to adjust to a new normal. While the tech struggle was real… 💔 / @hd_documenter https://t.co/ETp5fBKIBl
11/ Remote public meetings brought some welcome innovations, like usernames that made it easier to ID the speaker + close-ups of slides / @MegannHorstead https://t.co/4Ku5RQe3yo
12/ And, as agencies got the hang of remote life, #CHIdocumenters covered more meetings than ever (600+). We documented… 🐤 📝
13/ Public bodies as they re-budgeted for a pandemic; South Shore Special Service Area (SSA 42) was quick to cancel its annual Summer Fest and redirect funds to support local businesses affected by the lockdown / @digitalSheila https://t.co/W8eJJ0QAZn
14/ @ChiPubSchools as it navigated the challenges of educating during a pandemic / @Rose26rv https://t.co/Qqsd5AOK9I
15/ City Council, @Chicago_Police and oversight agencies as they reckoned with the killing of #GeorgeFloyd, #BlackLivesMatter protests and police brutality / @newagehippie_ https://t.co/nbhB8C75m8
16/ Years of effort by middle schoolers “tired of being called cute and smart” come to fruition in the official renaming of Douglas Park to honor Frederick Douglass / @gremlina333 https://t.co/KGgiJR0kiE
17/ And 11 days and over 80 hours of city budget hearings, plus #PeoplesBudgetChicago conversations about what our communities need to be safe and thriving / @ahmad_sayles https://t.co/aYizx84SVd
18/ Here’s to each new day, healthy doses of skepticism and hope, and keeping our eye on the civic process. #CHIdocumenters

More from Government

HStvNews
HStvNews
@HStvNews
#Justin A day before the @MyMDC_T EOC, the party Treasurer General says he is unable to fund travel costs for delegates to congress because the money was allegedly stolen. We share contents of the letter from #ChiefNdlovu


“My office has been inundated with calls from concerned EOC delegates who by now should have received their Provincial transport allocation.
It has come to my attention that some of our members may not be able to travel to the EOC due to lack of funding.”


Equally I have received allegations that the Treasury is refusing to make payments for EOC, nothing could be further from the truth. I would like to take this opportunity as your Deputy Treasurer to inform you that as treasury we are not able to pay due to the fact that...


that funds were withdrawn from the party account on the 18th December 2020, we are still pursuing and trying to get some Standing Committee members who were involved in the unapproved transfer to return the money to the Party.
I was left a bit shocked to learn that the SG expects


Treasury to release money when he is the one who transferred all the money out of the account without my explicit approval. Perhaps the SG must inform members where the money is. I certainly do not have any knowledge of who he sent the money to or what has happened to those funds
GOVERNMENT
Ernie Plumley-POTUS WON\u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f\u2b50\ufe0f
Ernie Plumley-POTUS WO...
@ernie_plumley
1 of 19) A number of tweets were posted by @LLinWood beginning late last night and into the morning. There are a total of 19. This thread has compiled all.

{“Shots fired across the bow”}
{Warning to traitors}
{Light will reveal the evil plans}
{You were warned traitors}
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
GOVERNMENT
Noah Bookbinder
Noah Bookbinder
@NoahBookbinder
We've been hearing this a lot: the House managers have successfully shown how horrible the January 6 insurrection was and also highlighted Donald Trump's vulgar comments. But they haven't really proven the connection between Trump's comments and the attack. This is nonsense. 1/

There is a criminal case to be made against Trump for his role in inciting the inspiration, and @CREWcrew has made that case in its criminal sedition complaint against Trump. But this is not a criminal case, and does not require that kind of proof.

On a basic level, this case is painfully obvious. Donald Trump spent weeks and months and years saying, falsely, the election would be fraudulent and then that it had been stolen. This primed his supporters to believe their democratic rights were being take away. 3/

Trump spent weeks and months and years fueling a sense of grievance among his supporters and hostility to any political opponents, as well as condoning violence or mildly condemning it with a clear wink and a nod obviously meant to encourage it. 4/

In the weeks after the election, he compounded his big lie that he had won with efforts to take bogus claims to courts and to pressure officials at every level of government to overturn the results. He portrayed the across the board rejections as further persecution. 5/
GOVERNMENT
Christiaan Triebert
Christiaan Triebert
@trbrtc
At least six people providing security for Roger Stone participated in the Capitol attack, our new Visual Investigation shows. Here's how the guards (all Oath Keepers) went from guarding Trump's longtime confidant to standing inside the Capitol on Jan. 6:

Mr. Stone, a convicted felon who was pardoned by Mr. Trump, has a long history as a self-proclaimed “dirty trickster” political operative. On Jan. 5 and 6, Oath Keepers provided security for him, something he himself confirmed.

We combed through hundreds of videos and photos and drew on research from @CTExposers to visually identify Mr. Stone's guards on Jan. 5 and 6. — from that group, these six entered the Capitol during the insurrection.


Here's how. On Jan. 5, Mr. Stone made two public appearances in D.C. in support of Mr. Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud. In the afternoon, he spoke in front of the Supreme Court. Five of the six Oath Keepers we’re tracking can be seen in this video.


The Oath Keepers are a far-right, anti-government militia — and there's plenty of footage to visually identify them around Mr. Stone on Jan. 5 and 6. Here's another video from that same event in front of the Supreme Court.
GOVERNMENT

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Reagan Gomez
Reagan Gomez
@ReaganGomez
Black movie goers know which movies are for us and which films aren’t. We really don’t like our stories being made into films that center (and humanize) people that hate us. The filmmakers/studio know that by naming the film “The Green Book”, black movie goers...

...are going to be expecting a story about black people trying to safely navigate the country (real history) and instead will get a white savior film. Like folks went to see Detroit thinking it was about the riots...

Anywhoo, I know Mahershela is fantastic in it. He was the best thing about the trailer. As rich as the history behind the creation of ‘The Green Book’ is/was, as amazing as Dr. Don Shirley’s story is, WHY is this film about a random, racist driver and his family?

This feeds into the ignorant anti-Black American stereotype of “Black Americans don’t have any culture/history/mythology” or whatever. That our stories are still both being used while simultaneously erased in 2018 is wild to me. It’s gonna clean up come award season. 🤦🏾‍♀️

And now, if black filmmakers WANTED to make a film about The Greenbook, guess what it can’t be called🙃. Just like if someone wanted to make a film about the actual Detroit riots, guess what it can’t be called? Then those filmmakers would run into...
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Greg Olear
Greg Olear
@gregolear
Strange things are afoot at the Circle K. Let’s sort it out.

[THREAD]


1/ Two nights ago, Rupert Murdoch called on Mitch McConnell, after hours. Since then, two Fox News-related Twitter accounts have not tweeted.

2/ Trump fired Sessions on Wednesday, replacing him with human dildo/Putin collaborator Matt Whitaker. Sessions had asked to stay until Friday and was told to leave immediately. So there was clearly some urgency to install the dildo...er, puppet.

3/ The Democrats won the SHIT out of the Midterms. Come January, the House check on Trump will leave him so hobbled, he’ll be like the dude from Misery.

4/ Trump went to Paris, ostensibly for an Armistice Day centennial event. He skipped the event, and much of the dinner tonight, because of “weather,” which everyone seems to agree is a bullshit excuse.
POLITICS
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History Under Your Feet
History Under Your Fee...
@HUFToday
#TodayInHistory Ram Prasad Bismil,Ashfaqullah Khan and Roshan Singh are hanged in 1927, as they give up their life for the cause of freedom and inspire many a revolutionary. #LestWeForget


Shahjahanpur was a hub of revolution during the freedom struggle. Most of the revolutioaries in the North, were from this town. And among them, the most famous were two friends, whom destiny would bring together- Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan.

Ashfaqullah Khan was born at the turn of the 20th century on October 22, while Bismil was born 3 years earlier on June 11, in the same town. Both of them were excellent writers in Urdu and Hindi.

Both of them would come together under the Hindustan Republican Association, not to mention the fact that Ashfaq was an admirer of Bismil’s poetry, and became close friends with him on that account.

And both these men were hanged on the same date, December 19, 1927 for their involvement in the Kakori event. Two men from different religions, different backgrounds, yet destiny would bring them together.
HISTORY
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श्रीमाली हितेश अवस्थी...
@HiteshAwasthi89
Statue of Equality (Ramanuja) Muchintal, Hyderabad, Telangana

The Statue of Equality is a monument in India dedicated to the 11th-century Vaishnavaite Sage Bhagavad Ramanuja, commemorating 1000 years since his birth. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji in 2019.


In 2014, Sri Chinna Jeeyar came up with the idea to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of Sri Ramanuja's teachings by building the Statue of Equality. The statue is constructed on an estimated 34 acres in Hyderabad, India.


It consists of a 216 foot tall statue of Ramanuja and is surrounded by 108 Divyadesams (model temples) and includes an educational gallery. The project budget is 1000 crore rupees.The foundation stone for the Statue of Equality was laid by Chinna Jeeyar.


The statue was built by Aerosun Corporation in China before being shipped to India. It is made of panchaloha, a combination of gold, silver, copper, brass and titanium. The statue relies on donations to fund its construction.


The temple is located on the 27,870 square metre second floor with a 120 kg statue of Ramanuja, representing the years he lived, meant for daily worship. The 1,365 square metre third floor including a Vedic digital library and research center.
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Simon DeDeo
Simon DeDeo
@SimonDeDeo
This is a pretty valiant attempt to defend the "Feminist Glaciology" article, which says conventional wisdom is wrong, and this is a solid piece of scholarship. I'll beg to differ, because I think Jeffery, here, is confusing scholarship with "saying things that seem right".


The article is, at heart, deeply weird, even essentialist. Here, for example, is the claim that proposing climate engineering is a "man" thing. Also a "man" thing: attempting to get distance from a topic, approaching it in a disinterested fashion.


Also a "man" thing—physical courage. (I guess, not quite: physical courage "co-constitutes" masculinist glaciology along with nationalism and colonialism.)


There's criticism of a New York Times article that talks about glaciology adventures, which makes a similar point.


At the heart of this chunk is the claim that glaciology excludes women because of a narrative of scientific objectivity and physical adventure. This is a strong claim! It's not enough to say, hey, sure, sounds good. Is it true?
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