BC SOCIETY
Saved by @Mollyycolllinss

Hi @eiaine, since you quoted me in your op-ed (“Why do we demand democracy from our government, then cede our individual power in our workplaces?”) before going on to misrepresent & misunderstand labor tactics & @AlphabetWorkers, I'll be replying in this thread 🧵:

 1) "There’s an easy solution to that problem — go work somewhere else" - this suggestion is akin to right wing fascists telling dissidents to just leave when we disagree w their governance. Deciding to stay and be a positive change is CRUCIAL when a company like
Google is in all of our back-pockets-- literally. If every ethicist and conscientious objector simply leaves, the gross impact of this corporation is in a much worse place for all of, something that should trouble every Google user.
2) Claiming that full-timers fear losing our jobs to "cheap contractor labor" and noting "many temp workers put in the same hours as full-time employees, but with none of the insurance, benefits or worker protections" proves one of the reasons that contractor
solidarity is so important to the tech labor movement-- no one's labor should be arbitrarily devalued. @AlphabetWorkers is committed to fighting for fair treatment of contractors bc it's the right thing to do. Implying selfish motivations with no basis is petty & divisive.
3) @AlphabetWorkers has 600+ members within a week of coming out publicly, a feat that I would hardly characterize as our endeavor not being "as popular as it sometimes appears." Not much else to say here lol
4) "Every time I read about Google employees staging a walkout over workplace grievances, I can’t help but wonder how such a privileged group of people became so convinced of their victimhood" Shame on you for your attitude towards sexual harassment, racism, and discrimination.
5) Anyone who knows anything about labor history knows the importance of dues. The basic foundation of unions is that folks deserve fair compensation for their work, and unions takes WORK-- our staff works HARD and deserves compensation for what they do for us.
Not to mention legal fees! Workers of all sorts of backgrounds throughout history have paid dues to their union -- maybe bc we value our democracy that much. Also, you wrote this opinion piece in Bloomberg, where the journalists are unionized, FYI.
6) "Social justice activism tends to be a divisive basis for organizing a union." Actually, it doesn't. I'll just leave this awesome article here about the role of flight attendants union & marriage equality by @FlyingWithSara: https://t.co/ZID2g1T5Al
I'll stop here but the article is full of other inane observations like "Furthermore, corporations aren’t democracies." I encourage @eiaine's readers to learn about labor history to better understand our movement. This won't be the last time you see tech workers organizing.

More from Society

John Hayward
John Hayward
@Doc_0
Our pretensions to civilization have become very thin. Political violence was legitimized last year and is spreading wildly now. "Might makes right" is clearly the only "principle" behind freedom of speech. That's why Chinese Communists will never be censored by Big Tech.

When every "principle" becomes nothing but a ruthless exercise of power, it's not surprising that a growing number of people conclude they must demonstrate some sort of power in order to be taken seriously. Violence is the crudest exercise of power.

A well-run civilization makes it clear *universally* that violence is absolutely unacceptable. Giving free passes for irresponsible rhetoric and destruction to groups favored by the dominant political ideology of the State undermines that message.

We must also people peaceable means of expressing themselves and controlling their own lives, to relieve the pressures that can lead to violent outbursts and other forms of lawlessness. The less healthy discourse and freedom of action you have, the more pressure builds up.

It's dangerous when large numbers of people begin drawing the conclusion that might makes right, that laws and principles bend easily for those who have the political strength to bend them. Might makes right is the code of anarchy and barbarism, the antithesis of civilization.
POLITICS , SOCIETY , ALL
wikipedia \u201cseasonal halloween name\u201d brown
wikipedia “seasonal ha...
@eveewing
I’m contemplating leaving @twitter. The platform has proven to be instrumental in harming people with marginalized identities, which normally I wouldn’t blame a media platform for except that @jack has demonstrated negative interest in doing anything about it.

in the past when I’ve thought about this I’ve thought about it from the perspective of my own safety/comfort. And I’m good on that front; I can handle it. But now I’m thinking about it differently: thinking about the people who tell me they join or stay on twitter because of me.

Every time someone in the press refers to me as a “twitter celebrity” (actual phrase that I don’t fully understand or subscribe to but this is what people say) it means that my presence and voice are adding social cachet to a company that I find to be quite terrible.

People tell me that they learn a lot from what I have to say here, and sometimes that it’s their first or only exposure to certain ideas, histories, perspectives, etc. and I have to weigh that too. But I could post that stuff elsewhere.

We’ll see. I’m just thinking aloud for now but I’m watching closely to see what @twitter and @jack do in the coming days and how they respond to what we now know about Cesar Sayoc (beyond one really stupid tweet). Because we know it’s not just him. Big changes need to happen.
SOCIETY
Advertisement
Noah Smith
Noah Smith
@Noahpinion
Krugman is, of course, right about this. BUT, note that universities can do a lot to revitalize declining and rural regions.


See this thing that @lymanstoneky wrote:

And see this thing that I wrote:

And see this book that @JamesFallows wrote:

And see this other thing that I wrote:
SOCIETY
Austin Energy
Austin Energy
@austinenergy
WATCH LIVE: The City of Austin to address the ongoing severe weather and its impact on Austin and Travis County residents, utilities, and service. Follow this thread for live

City Manager Spencer Cronk: This storm is stressing our entire community in ways we can never imagine. We are so sorry for the continued hardships so many in our community have had to endure the past several days. We are getting resources that can help you.

Palmer Events Center is full.
However, there is still limited room available at:
•Del Valle High School, 5201 Ross Road, Del Valle, TX 78617 
•Mendez Middle School, 5106 Village Square, 78744
•Reilly Elementary School, 405 Denson

Cronk: @AustinISD has warming centers. Place for people to warm up and charge essential medical Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
•Lee ES - CENTRAL 3308 Hampton Road
•Murchison MS -  3700 N. Hills Drive
•Joslin ES – 4500 Menchaca Road
•Barrington ES – 400 Cooper Dr,

Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros: We're sorry for the hardships people are experiencing. we never imagined a day hospitals wouldn't have water, large customer base wouldn't have water. We're committed to restoring our system as safely and rapidly as we can.
SOCIETY
Deepti Gurdasani
Deepti Gurdasani
@dgurdasani1
Brief thread to debunk the repeated claims we hear about transmission not happening 'within school walls', infection in school children being 'a reflection of infection from the community', and 'primary school children less likely to get infected and contribute to transmission'.

I've heard a lot of scientists claim these three - including most recently the chief advisor to the CDC, where the claim that most transmission doesn't happen within the walls of schools. There is strong evidence to rebut this claim. Let's look at


Let's look at the trends of infection in different age groups in England first- as reported by the ONS. Being a random survey of infection in the community, this doesn't suffer from the biases of symptom-based testing, particularly important in children who are often asymptomatic

A few things to note:
1. The infection rates among primary & secondary school children closely follow school openings, closures & levels of attendance. E.g. We see a dip in infections following Oct half-term, followed by a rise after school reopening.


We see steep drops in both primary & secondary school groups after end of term (18th December), but these drops plateau out in primary school children, where attendance has been >20% after re-opening in January (by contrast with 2ndary schools where this is ~5%).
SOCIETY

You May Also Like

Guillaume Chaslot
Guillaume Chaslot
@gchaslot
The YouTube algorithm that I helped build in 2011 still recommends the flat earth theory by the *hundreds of millions*. This investigation by @RawStory shows some of the real-life consequences of this badly designed AI.


This spring at SxSW, @SusanWojcicki promised "Wikipedia snippets" on debated videos. But they didn't put them on flat earth videos, and instead @YouTube is promoting merchandising such as "NASA lies - Never Trust a Snake". 2/


A few example of flat earth videos that were promoted by YouTube #today:
https://t.co/TumQiX2tlj 3/

https://t.co/uAORIJ5BYX 4/

https://t.co/yOGZ0pLfHG 5/
TECH , FLAT EARTH
Suchi Sharma
Suchi Sharma
@Suchi_sharma_
Yantrodharaka Anjaneya Temple, Hampi, Karnataka.

This temple dedicated to pawanputra Hanuman, near the banks of Tungabhadra river was built by dwaita philosopher and rajguru of the Vijayanagar empire, Sri Vyasaraja around +500 years ago.


:It is only in this temple that Hanuman appears in a prayer position. In this image, Bhagwan Hanuman’s crown has been formed by his tail.12 monkeys have been carved around this amulet.


:They represent the 12 days Sri Vyasaraja prayed to Hanuman ji. Each monkey holds the tail of the monkey in front of him but is facing backward. Seed syllables have also been carved around the amulet.


:It is believed that Sri Vyasaraja used to draw a picture of lord Hanuman here on the rocks before offering prayers using charcoal and the sketch disappeared after prayers.This incidence happened for 12 days in a row until he pleaded to bhagwan to appear in front of him.


On the 12th day, Hanuman ji appeared in front of Sri Vyasaraja and blessed him. Hanuman asked Sri Vyasaraja to constrain him in a hexagonal amulet & install him in that place.
ALL
Advertisement
Tej Dosa \U0001f602\U0001f9e0
Tej Dosa 😂🧠...
@ComedicBizman
(A THREAD)

18 Things I Would Do At 18:

I was a dumb 18-year-old. I thought I had the world figured out. I didn't.

I stayed up till the wee hours. Drank every liquor invented.

Partied non-stop. Woke up after noon.

Surfed the web aimlessly.

Read BS self-help.

Repeat.

If I could do it all over again, here's 18 things I would do...

PHASE ONE: GET MY MIND RIGHT

ACTION #1: Break the chains - I wish I made the decision earlier. I didn't. I was scared. Anxious. Nervous. I knew once I made the decision, there was no going back.

Don't be like me.

Make the decision at 18. The decision to pave your own path in life. To go against the herd. To choose your own adventure. To commit to whatever sets your heart on fire.

ACTION #2: Cut off every negative person in your life.

Scroll through the contacts in your phone...

Notice how the names make you feel.

Delete any and all names that fill you with doubt and negativity.

ACTION #3: Condition your mind to embrace the producer mindset instead of the consumer mindset.

Consume 20% of the time. Produce 80% of the time.

Case closed.

ACTION #4: Set an intention to make $10k a month and write it out every MORNING and NIGHT as if you already achieved it (in the past tense).

Visualize yourself already having the money as you write.

Cheesy?

Yes.

Does it work?

Yes.

PHASE TWO: EDUCATION
LIFE
Adam McKay
Adam McKay
@GhostPanther
1) My Stan Lee story happened when I was in 5th grade. I was visiting NYC with my Dad and had read the address for Marvel in the comics I read constantly. I begged my Dad to take me and to his credit he did. And guess what? It was just an office.

2) We were down in the lobby and I was kind of crushed. I don’t know what I expected, The Thing and the Yancy Street Gang to be sitting around smoking cigars? Anyway, my Dad was taking a beat to figure where we were going next and a guy came up to us.

3) He was wearing a white shirt and tie and said to Dad “Is he disappointed because. The Marvel offices were just offices?” My Dad said yes and then the guy who had gray around his temples and a mustache said “hold on a second” and opened one of those office mailboxes with a key.

4) He then handed me a thick stack of EVERY SINGLE MARVEL COMIC COMING OUT THE NEXT MONTH. “Here you go. Keep reading Marvel comics” he said and then walked off. I left in a daze and about 15 minutes later it hit me “Gray around the temples, mustache... That was Stan Lee!”

5) Later when I wrote on the Ant Man movie I told Kevin Feige the story, the year, look of the guy etc and Kevin said “That’s exactly the kind of thing Stan would do and he would have been there then. That was him.” Rest In Peace Stan Lee and thank you for the comics.
CULTURE
SK
SK
@sk_diary1
Krishna & Paarijaata apaharana #sculpture #story #Thread

Parijata tree was in Indraloka which was one of gifts he received from churning of Ocean to obtain Amrit.

This beautiful #sculpture depicts Indra Dev chasing Shri Krishna for stealing parijatha tree branch from Indralok


📸- sculpture on outer walls of Hoysaleswara temple, Halebeedu,Karnataka

Krishna has 4hands with Shankha,Chakra,Mace&Lotus holding Satyabhama tightly,mounted on Garuda. Garuda has a beautifully carved Parijata tree trunk in left hand& a weapon in his right hand, attacking Indra.

Other side is Indra,riding on Airavata.Indra can be seen attacking Krishna with his Vajrayutham.Airavata is charging towards Garuda.Wife of Indra can be seen in pillion seat.Just look at the Detailing of Garuda & Airavat sculptures.

So what led Krishna to steal parijatha tree👇

Narada Rishi once returning from Indralok collected few Parijatha flowers&reached Dwaraka.There he met Bhagwan Krishna&gave the heavenly flowers to him.Narada explained the greatness of Parijatha flowers & also said that these flowers must be given to the most loved ones.


Despite knowing Satyabhama’s anger,Krishna gave it to Rukmani Devi.Narada Rishi then went to palace of Satyabhama. He narrated whole incident that had happened.Satyabhama turned furious on hearing that Krishna gave Parijatha to Rukmini.Then Satyabhama shows her anger to Krishna.
ALL