BC SOCIETY
Saved by @Alex1Powell

Thread: 2021 is gearing up to be a difficult year for human rights. It's all a question of seeing how individual comments and policies create a pattern, but that in turn risks you sounding like a conspiracy theorist, so let's break it down. 1/

 From @pritipatel and @BorisJohnson's comments about "lefty do-gooders" and "activist lawyers" there has been a gradual narrative built up that human rights are some kind of left wing stalking horse. Yet in practical terms they should be apolitical. They apply to all of us. 2/
This is an excellent article by Director of @RunnymedeTrust, Halima Begum about the language the government is using to create division. I fear that it could lead some to think that she is saying the voters being targeted are white supremacists though. 3/
https://t.co/a13PFuzGka
Let's be totally clear here, the "culture war" being gamed by the government is a myth, but it is a myth which resonates with people who feel disconnected from society. A year of isolation, fear and economic concerns has likely increased that disconnect. 4/
Public attitudes fluctuate, and I am not denying that there is still a massive problem of racism within society, but attitudes towards immigration for example are, on the whole, softening. Problem is those against it tend to be more vocal. 5/
https://t.co/JuBxLiRCsI
There is a reason why we use the phrase "dog-whistle terminology". It's true meaning can only be heard by those receptive to it, for others it may seem reasonable. Take @trussliz's recent comments regarding inequality. 6/
https://t.co/POAgV5hN5o
If you're in a socially deprived area hearing we need to focus on geographic inequality sounds reasonable. You probably aren't interested in how race and gender are the two core global drivers of inequality when you struggle to put food on the table. 7/
https://t.co/hhq8KXsOwb
This is how the government works with this though. They make it sound "reasonable". They make human rights sound like something to be afraid of. That rather than protecting you they limit your options and chances. 8/
Look at all the stories about asylum seekers this year. There's a few reasons why channel crossings have increased. Arguably the main being other routes have been closed due to the pandemic. Yet we have seen a decline in overall asylum applications. 9/
https://t.co/3T0XW3htwB.
Listening to @ukhomeoffice though you would be forgiven for thinking there had been a vast increase in the number of asylum seekers coming to the UK. Why else would the government set up prison camps for them if not to protect the public after all? 10/
https://t.co/EwLyOlKcOI
"Othering" is an age old technique for politicians to try and shift blame away from themselves and appeal to voters. This year it has proven particularly useful for a government which has overseen such a massive failure of leadership with Covid-19. 11/
https://t.co/ZSTWmQm35v
The problem with "othering" is that it automatically erodes human rights. It creates a sense that some people are "more deserving" than others, while some are actually to blame for our individual issues. It ignores that human rights are there for everyone. 12/
Look at the argument for reducing Foreign Aid. It was framed as "why spend money abroad when it could be spent here". Reasonable argument I guess, but the savings made from cutting it were wiped out by an increase in spending on the armed forces. 13/
https://t.co/ezpPbiTQGg.
Instead, it actually risks harming the UK economy and creating lasting negative impacts on global safety and security, which in turn present greater long term costs, particularly during a global health emergency. We all suffer for this. 14/
https://t.co/Oaa3jvDWlD
Then you have domestic legislation specifically aimed at reducing compliance with international law. Why should a "sovereign state" be bound by international law? Well, it ensures others are as well. Laws are only as strong as the will to follow and impose them. 15/
The overseas operations bill for example has been condemned for providing a possible way for British forces to avoid prosecution and punishment for war crimes. Aside from the obvious implications of violating the human rights of those in conflicts... 16/
https://t.co/A45sRxTnc6
It poses other risks for the rights of those back in the UK. Firstly, it undermines potential trust in the armed forces which makes cooperation those they are ostensibly tasked to protect harder. Secondly though it opens the door for other countries to do the same. 17/
Only yesterday it was revealed @FCDOGovUK was prepared to deny protection to British citizens arrested overseas. It isn't a long line to draw between UK setting a precedent to break international law and human rights and others following suit. 18/

https://t.co/pJszdXFFza
Then we have the whole issue with "judicial review". Again it has been framed as "lefties undermining the government". What it is in fact is judges holding the government to account and ensuring that it can't violate the law. 19/
https://t.co/bkvGFGvqFj
Many of the rights we all value, no matter our politics, are based on principle the government cannot deny us of them. Judicial review maintains that. Whether you agree with individual judgements or not, you have to question who will protect your rights in future without it. 20/
This is just a small snapshot of how the government is gearing up for a wider attack on human rights and playing voters by trying to make out it is a left or right issue. It isn't. Losing them for one loses them for all. 21/
There are racists and white supremacists, bigots of every stoke, who would dearly love to see human rights limited for some while their own are protected. They tend to be in the minority though. If human rights are eroded further in 2021 then it will hurt all of all. 22/

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Noah Smith
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1/People I know on the Right tend to be obsessed with the idea of "crimethink", taboos, and the (supposedly) oppressive, omnipresent enforcement of liberal cultural norms.

Why?

My new theory: A lot of it is guilt.

2/It's true that in some circles - the media, universities, many big corporations - liberal norms *are* enforced to some degree, and the enforcement has probably gotten stronger in recent years.

But I don't think this explains all of the Right's obsession.

3/The stereotype is that people on the Right tend to be more threat-sensitive. That would help explain the perception that liberal norm-enforcers are lurking everywhere, ready to pounce and anathematize anyone who makes a misstep.

But I don't think that's all of it either.

4/And of course, it's always fun - whether you're on the Right or the Left, or playing a video game, or whatever - to style yourself as the brave iconoclastic rebel fighting against the oppressive forces of blah blah blah.

But I don't think this is all of it, either.

5/The reason I think it's more than these things is that even *in private*, people on the Right express their "crimethink" ideas very gingerly and hesitantly.

I get the sense that they're not just afraid of external censure, but have also internalized liberal norms.
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Evan Sparks
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So, as the #MegaMillions jackpot reaches a record $1.6B and #Powerball reaches $620M, here's my advice about how to spend the money in a way that will truly set you, your children and their kids up for life.

Ready?

Create a private foundation and give it all away. 1/

Let's stipulate first that lottery winners often have a hard time. Being publicly identified makes you a target for "friends" and "family" who want your money, as well as for non-family grifters and con men. 2/

The stress can be damaging, even deadly, and Uncle Sam takes his huge cut. Plus, having a big pool of disposable income can be irresistible to people not accustomed to managing wealth. https://t.co/fiHsuJyZwz 3/

Meanwhile, the private foundation is as close as we come to Downton Abbey and the landed aristocracy in this country. It's a largely untaxed pot of money that grows significantly over time, and those who control them tend to entrench their own privileges and those of their kin. 4

Here's how it works for a big lotto winner:

1. Win the prize.
2. Announce that you are donating it to the YOUR NAME HERE Family Foundation.
3. Receive massive plaudits in the press. You will be a folk hero for this decision.
4. Appoint only trusted friends/family to board. 5/
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Abir Ballan \U0001f60a
Abir Ballan 😊
@abirballan
I have just received information about a family that has locked up their child at home in isolation because she complained of some aches in her body. They suspected the child as having C19. She was tested and after a couple of days, the test came out negative. 1/n

The girl has already been in isolation for 4 days. Now they are waiting to do another PCR test today to check again because they fear that the first test was done too early and it didn't detect covid. So this little girl will remain in isolation for at least another 24 hrs. 2/n

This is idiocy. Insanity. Ignorance. Cruelty. Simply a crime against children.
The stupid fear and the stupid policies are driving parents to abuse their children. 3/n

Children are not the main source of C19 transmission.

"transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from children under 14 years of age was minimal in primary schools"
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Adedamola C. Adesina
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@DamolaAdesina01
Faith Without Works is Dead!

Jam2:17 NLT - “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”

There is a growing message and doctrine in the church that seems to discountenance works and suggests that the only thing we need ...

... as Christians is just to ‘believe’ in Christ and that lack of good works does not affect one’s faith in Christ. My brother and sister, this is big lie from the pit of hell. It doesn’t matter who is saying it or how big their ministry is, it goes against the scriptures ...

... and is against the Truth.
Our opening scripture tells us that it is not enough to simply believe in Jesus; there must be accompanying works to prove it. In fact, Jam2:19 says even demons believe that there is one God and His only begotten Son is Jesus.

However, they don’t obey Him or submit to His will. In order words, submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the total will of God is the proof of faith. Jesus said “not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will ...

... of My Father in heaven.”(Matt7:21) and “for whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matt12:50).

Rom3:28 NIV - “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”
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Dant\xe9 Stewart (Stew)
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@stewartdantec
As many of you know, I was apart of the white evangelical tradition. I have talked about things I learned about being Black in white spaces. Now I want to say some things about what I learned about once being a Black evangelical returning back to the Black church.

A thread.

Spending years in white evangelical churches and schools, specifically from 2012-2018, shapes Black people in more ways than we would like to admit. It shapes us to diminish Blackness, devalue our people’s story, and always test what we have against the white logic and litmus.

This is particular reality for us Black men in that space. White Christians exploit our vulnerabilities, give us the room to speak, while simultaneously subverting and devaluing Black women and their struggles and their grievances. Opportunities abound for us and we take them.

We are invited into the meetings, we are given the mic, we are asked to lead groups on race, the Black church, etc. We are asked though often we actually haven’t read or thought deeply about each. We become a weapon. Profiting and policing/punishing those who get out of line.

All the while, white Christians feel good about themselves and other Black people are left to clean up the mess we’ve made, the ways we’ve made fools of Black folk, and the harmful ways we’ve learned to think, and to preach, and to be around us. It is profoundly depressing.
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Hindu Media Wiki
Hindu Media Wiki
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Speech Delay is most common in children nowadays

In ancient times, our grandparents used to follow typical natural way of caring the needs of a child. All they used were more of natural products than chemical based for the growth of child.


One of major step followed was to feed Gurbach Jadd/ Vasa Kommu/ Acorus Calamus for initiating good speech ability in a child. This stem was needed to babies on Tuesdays and Sundays in mother's milk.

Vasa is feed to baby after the 1st bath on 12th day in week. Weekly only thrice it is fed and named as :

Budhwar - Budhi Vasa
Mangalwar - Vaak Vasa
Ravi Vaar - Aayush Vasa

This stem is burnt and rubbed against the grinding stone in mother's milk or warm water to get a paste


The procedure to make it is in the link

https://t.co/uo4sGp7mUm

It should not be given daily to the child. Other main benefits are

1. It clears the phlegm in child's throat caused due to continuous milk intake. It clears the tracts and breathing is effortless.
2. Digestion

For children who haven't got their speech and is delayed than usual should feed this vasa on these days in week atleast for 6months. Don't get carried away with this dialogue
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Ok, I'll hop on this Elizabeth Warren/Native American testing bandwagon (gently and non-politically).

I've been a @23andMe customer for a while, and have followed their ancestry updates closely.

All is more or less as expected....except for this bit about Native American.


The family is almost completely composed of Spanish peasants (from various regions) who emigrated, along with a massive wave in the late 19th-cent./early 20th-cent., to Cuba back when it was a booming economy (richer than Spain's) and worth emigrating to (Communism killed that).

Also, the native population of Cuba was annihilated early on---was the first place the Spanish colonized after all. Having a native background in Cuba would be like having the same in, say, Massachusetts, particularly if you're (say) mostly Irish. Just really, really unlikely.

(Note: the North African/Arab background is less mysterious. The Iberian peninsula was part of the Muslim world for centuries. It would be odd *not* to have some Arab/Middle Eastern background coming from Spain. Given the family is mostly from Northern Spain, it's small though.)

I have a Spanish passport, have been back to the ancestral villages in Spain, seen the church where my grandmother was baptized, my grandfather told me stories about growing up as the child of Spanish colonists in rural Cuba. The native bit just clashes with all the family lore.
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