Diversity is America's greatest strength 🇺🇸

Diversity is Ireland's greatest strength 🇮🇪

Diversity is Germany's greatest strength 🇩🇪

Diversity is Australia's greatest strength 🇦🇺

Diversity is Belgium's greatest strength 🇧🇪

[Thread: Fandoms]
I was called by a long lost friend's parents today. A bit of history, she was involved with the fandom(?) of a popular sports team for the past year or so. The involvement grew so intense that she was engaged with the fandom-things for better part of the day ->

She administered multiple social media "fan-accounts" for the team and the players, had a huge "friends-group" within the fandom itself etc.

In the last few weeks, she almost stopped speaking to her parents, and lost all the contact with her friends in the lockdown. ->

3 weeks ago, somehow a (alleged) rumor spread within their fandom circle's social media that she is a "mole for the opposite team" (or something like that) and she faced everything from abuses to rape threats (was reported to authorities. More on that later) ->

From what the description sounded like, the harassment was really worse than what political social media has (in my experience of hot takes in the past year)

Anyway, 2 days after this rumor, their "fandom team lost to opposite fandom team" on some online contest thing. ->

She was blamed by the "friends" in the fandom "for conspiring" and this person went into a literal shock.

Couldn't speak, couldn't eat, lay in bed all day, didn't even get up to visit the restroom and was deaf to everything. FOR 48 HOURS. Had to be taken to a doctor. ->

Mini thread on @deshaunwatson & #Texans
Because I’m reading far too much BS from national mouthpieces who want to protect the Texans and the #NFL

This idea that Watson is going about everything wrong & disrespectfully is straight BS. Let’s use common sense here /1

Many national pundits claim Watson is handling things wrong because he’s shut off communication with the Texans & allowed “his team” to leak out various items about his being disgruntled.
These same ppl say Watson should not use media but go to team & talk behind closed doors /2

That’s a very team and league serving position for these national mouths to have. Always about protecting their access to the teams and the league.
Here’s the reality. Why would you continue to have talks with someone who clearly doesn’t give a damn what you have to say? /3

Watson was nominated by his team to bring issues to ownership. One of the biggest issues was the divisiveness & mistrust created & caused by Jack Easterby. The team’s lack of direction & lack of strong leadership. Deshaun brought these issues & more to Cal McNair during season /4

Cal McNair even spoke publicly that Jack Easterby wasn’t a “football ops” guy. Understood his role was more administrative & that he wouldn’t be involved in the GM or coaching search. He told Watson that the QB would be involved in those searched. /5

We are expecting snow in the local mountains later this week. We want to remind all the visitors and residents of a few things when traveling. So listen up! Tips are in the thread!

Do not ask us if you should bring chains. BRING THEM. It’s winter, and weather can be a little difficult. If we must issue chain control, you will be prepared since you have them. If you don’t have chains, and chain control is in effect, you’ll have to change your day plans.

Turn on your headlights when driving in the mountains. It helps other drivers see you and you see other drivers. Also, if you see more than 5 cars behind you, pull over into the nearest turnout to let people pass.

Slow. Down. We want you to get to your destination safely. Leave early, allow enough time and drive slow. Icy road conditions can occur, so its best to take your time while driving. Speeding will put you and other drivers at risk, simply because you are in a hurry.

Do not trespass onto private property. CHP is in close contact with property owners who have been advised to contact Law Enforcement immediately of trespassers. The CHP and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department will respond in haste to cite or possibly arrest trespassers.

2020 has brought many challenges and with them - a large volume of #disinformation. Here’s our recap! (THREAD 1/20)

In late JANUARY we collected the first examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation spinning conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19. (2/20)

In FEBRUARY disinfo outlets kept amplifying conspiracy theories about COVID-19, no matter how ridiculous. The @WHO warned that the pandemic was accompanied by “infodemic”: an unprecedented flood of false or inaccurate information about coronavirus. (3/20)

In MARCH Josep Borrell, the head of the European External Action Service, warned: “disinformation can kill”.

In APRIL global activist network @Avaaz found that harmful misinformation on coronavirus was shared over 1.7 million times on Facebook and viewed an estimated 117 million times. (5/20)

Here's a little pep talk for those experiencing Pandemic Fatigue. First off, this is a real thing & you shouldn't be ashamed. I’m hearing from patients, family & friends that you’ve been doing your best to follow guidelines for a year, but are simply sick of it! I get it. But...

Help is on the way. We have an amazing, miraculous scientific advancement -- a vaccine that is helping us return to normal. We just need to hold on a little longer, get our vaccines, and continue to follow safety protocols. There is light at the end of the tunnel! I promise you.

To those who’ve been distancing & masking from early on, those who’ve skipped in-person holidays and Super Bowl parties, and those who’ve not hugged their loved ones outside of their immediate household, we hear you, and we’re begging you to hang in there. I know how hard it is.

Look, we were all let down by the previous administration. Hell, my profession was directly attacked & accused of somehow profiting off of a pandemic. Over 3000 healthcare workers have died trying to take care of others over the last year. We’re literally “all in this together.”

But the strength of togetherness is tempered by its weakness. If too many of us skirt the guidelines; if we decide to gather “just this once”; if we unnecessarily travel because we’re just tired of staying in one place... we all suffer. We can do this.

1/ To all who answered my question ab the college spread run game, I'd argue that RichRod & Urban were the first devotees & developers to have major success with it. RichRod started at wvu in 2001 & Urb at BG also in 2001. It was Urb's unbeaten 2004 Utah team that hit bigtime.

2/ In an interview I heard that season, Urban noted that so much of what they were doing was based on Tom Osborne's offense using inside & outside zone principles, but just from the shotgun. That's how the game almost always evolves-someone borrows something and tweaks it...

3/ the evolution of the "zone read" goes something like this: 1) teams needed a way to control the cutback defender on IZ run plays, 2) the naked bootleg was the first constraint play off IZ, 3) then came "orbit motion". Both of these actions created conflict for backside DE...

4/ SG teams used IZ as a base run play so they also used the naked and orbit actions. The legend goes that one day in pract a RichRod QB accidentally "read" the BSDE rather than just handing the ball off on an IZ play. They started tinkering with that and found that it worked...

5/ this solved the major shortcoming of the naked and orbit actions--both those things were "guesses". If you called naked, and the bsde didnt squeeze the cutback, your qb could get a face full of hard plastic and metal. By reading him from the SG, this problem was solved...

Humanity is good, but, when we let our guard down we allow darkness to infiltrate and destroy.
Like past battles fought, we now face our greatest battle at present, a battle to save our Republic, our way of life, and what we decide (each of us) now will decide our future.

They found his car, parked on the bridge between two towns, the brown sooty water of the Ohio passing beneath. After they issued his description two welders working on the bridge remember seeing a man in a topcoat and hat. /1

Friends say he was despondent. His mother had died just a few weeks before, and everyone said his was such a kind, gentle soul. His sisters already knew the worse. They understood Jimmy just as their mother had. 2/

There was no "indian summer" that year. October came in cold, stayed cold, and blew into a cold November. The local police weren't enough, so they called in the Coast Guard to drag the river. 3/

There was only time. Time to wait, but not to worry, only to find out. When they, a sister took to her bed, another retreated to her books, and my mother, the youngest, had to keep it from all falling apart. She was his kid sister, and the adoration was mutual. 4/

She kept the story from her own youngest son, who was only four. When she spoke of him at all, she simply said that he died, honey, and that he was sad. When her son was older, long left, she sent him a photo. 5/

THREAD: Last-Century thinking got humanity into a mess. It worked well though, just too well. Into the third decade of the new century and I am sad to see how little last century thinking is being named and challenged. 1/

OLD THINKING: Take that nature, use that nature. Same amount of land that we stated with, but going on four times the population and much soil erosion behind us. NEW THINKING: use it, put it back, regenerate it. 2/

OLD: Either you are good or bad. Promoted on almost every TV show. Reality is, we created a system and it grew and that system brings out the worst in us to an extent we have forgotten how to bring out the best in each other, almost. 3/

OLD: If you have money you should spend it on what you want. A few people had cars back in the 1920's. Now there are so many on the Earth that they alone can push the climate over the tipping point. NEW: Money should never give you the power and right to commit ecocide. 4/

OLD: the power in the economy is consumption. Using stuff up. Problem is, we are already using more stuff than our earth-society-earth can sustain. Successful ideas like that end badly when there is more human stuff on the earth than natural. 5/

I've been speaking with Charlie Brown, Managing Director at @Chartwells_UK over the last few days.

I've been losing my patience a bit. It's not been as quick as I wanted, but we are here now. Some of this was organised today, some is from other days but here's a round up:

1/

Over the February school holiday, if there is no Government funding for #FreeSchoolMeals, at all the schools @Chartwells_UK is working in, Charlie commits to putting out boxes anyway.

So if @BorisJohnson @RishiSunak & @GavinWilliamson won't step up by then, Charlie will.

2/

From now, the school lunches boxes from @Chartwells_UK, are also going to cover breakfast as well. Chartwells will take the extra costs associated on the chin. They are fully aware they need to do better, and this is something we both feel is positive. (That was his idea).

3/

All the hampers that went out in the first week, like my rubbish one, that you all saw, aren't being billed. Chartwells need to suck it up. They can't charge Local Authorities (schools) for that now can they! That was an early point of agreement, so you may have heard of it.

4/

Starting with my school, and with a lot of input from teachers, kids & parents, Chartwells will improve the menus for lunches served at school (dinner hall ones). All schools have different menus, so this is a long term project, it'll take a while, but it's important.

5/

If Migration is part of your plans for 2021.

Follow this thread carefully-

7 countries you can easily move to:

NORWAY 🇳🇴

NEW ZEALAND🇳🇿

SWEDEN 🇸🇪

FINLAND 🇫🇮

THREAD: Been thinking a lot about images of the Jan 6 Capitol Hill attack, Inauguration Day, and cognitive dissonance. It got me wondering how, if ever, we could bring conspiracy-minded loved ones back into the fold. (1/N)

My initial reaction to conspiracists freaking out over Biden’s inauguration was schadenfreude. But then I started questioning why I was reacting this way, and if there might be a teachable moment for many of us. (2/N)

I’ve been pretty quiet on Twitter for a while now; most of my work is more behind-the-scenes nowadays, and my time away from Twitter has been recuperative for me. (3/N)

So I haven’t talked about the enormous amount of time I’ve spent over the last year monitoring domestic extremist and conspiracy-based online communities. The well of hate I see in these spaces seems bottomless. (4/N)

And yet when I spent Inauguration Day monitoring Gab, MeWe, MyMilitia and other places where white nationalists, Q believers, etc gather, alongside the usual hateful rhetoric, I saw confusion. People truly struggling to process what had just happened. (5/N)

BOYS ALSO SUFFER FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LIKE GIRLS

HON ROBSON MAVENYENGWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for allowing me the opportunity to add my voice to the motion brought by Hon. Bhuda concerning gender based violence which is mainly targeted against women and children. @wlsazim

HON MAVENYENGWA: I am a parent, I have a girl child and it pains me to witness the girl child being abused especially when they live with people who are not their natural parents. If people live with a step mother in most cases, they are ill treated.@YetTrust @NAYOZimbabwe

HON MAVENYENGWA: They grow up in an environment that is not conducive for children. There was a case where we ended up having to call the police because the stepmother was ill treating the child. @Y4pdZ @Youth4SDGsZim @NYDT1 @Youthdecidezw @moysarzim

HON. MAVENYENGWA: The child would draw water, look for wood and do everything to the extent that the child was failing to go to school. The father was there and was seeing these events unfold with his own eyes. That also touched me as the local Member of Parliament.

HON. MAVENYENGWA: I ended up looking for the police& those from Social Welfare department to ensure they assist the child. We are saying that Govt should come up with laws& penalties that are deterrent especially in GBV especially where the mother has passed away.

I’ve been seeing tweets from women demanding not to be treated as sex objects so I figured an exposition on the subject matter may help us all. First, let’s remind ourselves what a sex object is. In simple terms, a sex object is a person who is regarded primarily...

1/12

in terms of their sexual attractiveness or availability.

When women post pictures that highlight their boobs and ass on social media, (which they do all the time) they primarily want men to see how sexually attractive they are. In other words they want men to see them...

2/12

as sex objects and that external validation in turn, boosts their self esteem.

It's called thirst trap because that's exactly the effect they want to achieve. They want men to thirst for them. On a conscious and subconscious level, they want you to see them as an...

3/12

object of sexual desire.

And contrary to what some would have you believe, it's absolutely normal for heterosexual men to see women they're attracted to as sex objects.

It has nothing to do with misogyny and this is proved by the fact that homosexual men see men they...

4/12

are sexually attracted to as sex objects. If heterosexual men are misogynists in this regard, then homosexual men are man-haters.

Go through the TL and you'll see tweets like "If you can't AFFORD EXPENSIVE women, stop trying to date them" They've made themselves into...

5/12

White dude wrote a thread about how he 'taught' his hungry 9 year old to use a can opener; 'figure it out' The child was in tears unable to figure out how to get the opener to align with and bite the increasingly damaged can for 6+ hours, during which time she didn't eat anything

Leaving aside all the incredibly abusive elements of this, I want to talk a bit about the things I've learned about teaching children, something I've spent a decade doing.

1) Kids, even very young kids, are incredibly perceptive, intelligent, curious, and sensitive.

2) Kids can figure out very complicated things on their own (I taught media analysis/fiction writing ages 7-16), but they need to be given the parts.

ALL my kids knew what a character arc was, but would not have been able to give you the words 'character arc' in a million years.

To repeat, I didn't teach them what a character arc was. They already knew what it was, I just pointed it out to them so they could see the patterns.

Same for plot structure, grammar, punctuation, etc. They all knew what these things were, but not necessarily how to apply them.

Kids can absolutely figure things out, but because they're kids and lack life experience, they have to have what they need in front of them.

You don't tell them 'find all the apples in this picture' and then surprise 'there's two in the shopping bag!'