For those of you interested in what edu-geeks of times past argued about, here's a selection of journal articles* from the 70s:

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2/10

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4/10

5/10

New from me.

Alberta is exploring the idea of establishing a provincial police force. What are the motivations behind this move, how much is it going to cost, and do Albertans even want it?

#yeg #ableg

Alberta currently pays $262.4 million for its RCMP service, with the feds paying $112.4 million annually in a 70-30 split. This is the prime concern for Alberta’s small towns and cities.

“We could be saddled with some immense costs going forward without federal contributions.”

Dr. Laura Huey, a criminologist at the University of Western Ontario, estimates the cost is likely to be in the billions.

"I’m not convinced necessarily that people understand and appreciate how enormous those costs are, and that those costs are ongoing and forever.”

In the end, it all comes down to cost versus control, Dr. Huey argues. But with increased control comes the risk of politicization, an issue that concerns NDP Justice critic Irfan Sabir.

“I think the province shouldn’t be controlling directly how these police forces operate."

So why is Alberta pursuing this? Autonomy from Ottawa seems to be the largest driving factor.

Derek Fildebrandt, former MLA for Strathmore-Brooks and publisher of the Western Standard, suggests the UCP are in search of a “legacy project” to hang its hat on. #ableg

This is going to be a thread about the annual #footbag Christmas Calendar, the Joulukalenteri. It is annual tradition going back more than a decade.

#footbag players from around the world submit their video to a main organiser. This year there was a lot of focus on different tutorials as it has been quite a different year for everyone. #hackysack

Day 1 we were in Colombia with "Don Gui", awesome countryside and drone shots. #footbag #hackysack

Day 2 we are learning about Barfly from Dante himself -

Day 3 - The first of a series of doubles tutorials from @freestyle_smile and Sergio Garcia in Spain. #footbag #hackysack

It's true that a sufficiently high UBI could serve as an alternative to a $15 minimum wage, but I personally would prefer a combo of both plus a 4-day 32-hour week. Let's pay people more for work, support all unpaid work, and distribute employment and leisure time more equitably.

What the left needs to be honest about in regards to a $15 min wage is that although the overall effects will likely be positive, there will be impacts like reduced hours to compensate. Let's lean into that by leaving the 5-day 40-hour week behind. Every weekend should be 3 days.

It's also likely that a higher min wage will increase automation. Great! Let's do that! But that means less employment for humans. 4-day weeks share the available employment better, and universal basic income makes automation literally work for

UBI makes sure that micro-level responses to a higher minimum wage don't reduce people's total incomes if hours drop, or drop incomes to zero. For that person who can't find a job to pay them $15/hr, they can have $1500/mo vs $0. And unpaid workers would have $1500/mo vs $0 too.

If all we did was redefine full-time as 32 hours, businesses would need to pay more per hour so that employees got paid the same for less time. That would distribute leisure time better and I think raise productivity, but it wouldn't raise total incomes, which need to be raised.

THREAD:  A few quick thoughts on #Navalny and why the Kremlin opted for such a harsh sentence. 1/10

Ever since news broke about the failed assassination attempt last August it’s been clear the security services have been operating according with very simple logic.  2/10

The overriding goal was to destroy Navalny and to demonstrate that no move aimed against the security services would remain unpunished.  3/10

Thus, there was no way for the authorities to accept that Navalny could return and operate freely against Putin and the security establishment in the new political conditions created by the fact of the assassination attempt. 4/10

The current ruling is only the first part of a saga.The Kremlin has plenty of other potential criminal charges it can bring against Navalny.The goal is to make Navalny—and others-realize that they face the prospect of spending the rest of their lives behind bars. 5/10

Across America these last several months, we have witnessed violent actors trying to do an end-run around public discourse.

This has underscored a need to improve civic education in our country. (THREAD)

Violent actors have tried to intimidate, to silence voices. These folks want to short-cut public debate through fear. They want to make people scared.

This is un-American. And it certainly has no place in South Dakota. (2)

Whether on the right or on the left, political violence is not the answer. Our political process, though contentious at times, works because we resolve issues through discussion and rigorous debate. (3)

Sometimes, political debate includes peaceful protests. Assembly is a tool, enshrined in the Constitution, to help drive our point home. Every American has a right to peacefully protest. But that right ends where violence begins. (4)

We saw a similar situation play out on Capitol Hill a few days ago. We were all appalled by it. Frankly, it was horrible to watch. Today, we have an opportunity to address the root cause of this problem: we must reform young Americans’ civic education. (5)

Last week, a white guy wanted white solidarity to undermine a minoritized group's access to a safe space. I was in the group he approached.

Afterthoughts now collected.

It's story time 🧵!

Comment if you'd like with any favorite readings on safe spaces by minoritized writers.

Some quick terminology!

White solidarity - the tacit agreement that we will protect white privilege and not hold each other accountable for our racism.

This is the definition white sociologist Robin DiAngelo uses.

Safe space.

SAFE SPACES FOR BLACK FOLKS ARE NOT NEGOTIABLE; THEY ARE NECESSARY AND VITAL TO PROTECT THE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUPPORT THE MULTI-FACETED WELL-BEING OF BLACK PEOPLE. 

This and more on safe space by Black writer Cameron

White Guy (WG) approached a white-majority community I'm part of. They were upset and distressed. Being one of the group insomniacs, I was, y'know, up.

December 14th

Dearest John,
I went to the door today and the postman delivered a partridge in a pear tree. What a delightful gift. I couldn't have been more surprised.
With dearest love and affection, Agnes

December 15th

Dearest John,
Today the postman brought your very sweet gift. Just imagine, two turtle doves.... I'm just delighted at your very thoughtful gift. They are just adorable.
All my love, Agnes

December 16th

Dear John,
Oh, aren't you the extravagant one! Now I must protest. I don't deserve such generosity. Three French hens. They are just darling but I must insist.... you're just too kind.
Love Agnes

December 17th

Today the postman delivered four calling birds. Now really! They are beautiful, but don't you think enough is enough? You're being too romantic.
Affectionately, Agnes

December 18th

Dearest John,
What a surprise! Today the postman delivered five golden rings. One for each finger. You're just impossible, but I love it. Frankly, John, all those squawking birds were beginning to get on my nerves.
All my love, Agnes

The real Xmas miracle is thinking Katherine Murphy is one of the nation’s best political writers, and that The Guardian is left-wing.
She’s not.
It’s not.
Confusing #ScottyFromHillsong with the PM shows how effectively the PMO spins stuff to the Gallery.

Like her colleagues on #Insiders, Murphy laps up the spin and regurgitates it as her special sauce insight.

It’s not insightful, it’s just stenographic repetition of a failing ideology.
It starts from the false premise that our game of mates system is a democracy.
It’s not.

Journalists love to separate base and superstructure as if the political sphere operates independently from the economy.
It doesn’t.
Capitalism requires a veneer of political democracy built on commodity fetishism to mask the economic inequality that is endemic.
Gallery is blind

to this glaring contradiction because they buy into the systemic lie that a formal equality of opportunity exists and that through application of the Protestant work ethic anybody can become a member of the wealthy elite.
They can’t.
Class inequalities are an essential feature

of capitalism and papering them over with idealist gibberish about democracy just perpetuates class divisions.
Journalists don’t see it because they are incapable of critical, independent, materialist analysis.
They cling to the Fourth Estate delusion of objectivity and balance

Weaver, Joseph and Young apparently have no understanding of what it means to have a "holistic discussion" on homelessness.

That's not me saying it... that's literally what they are saying in a scheduling meeting now about the followup to Tuesday's meeting.

"I don’t really comprehend what that means bc in the end we make discrete decisions. ... I don’t understand what a holistic (discussion)

Council decided last week that camps will keep being removed BUT they didn't weigh in on staff's recommendations for more enforcement. Members Brockett/Friend said they didn't want to vote on those without also considering more services....

....which might reduce the need for removals.

Basically, you can spend on removals or you can spend on services. So to uncouple these discussions doesn't make sense, they argued.

Council members will be polled about when they want this Part 2 meeting to be, but Weaver and Joseph are both in favor of later. Council needs time to "digest," they said. So possibly March or later.

For years, I distrusted sidewalks. I grew up in Athens, where sidewalks are cramped, cracked, or just missing. I learned to walk on the street, something I had to “un-learn” after moving overseas. But I spent time in Athens recently, and it all came back. A thread—on sidewalks.

First rule: sidewalks are *not* for pedestrians. They function chiefly as overflow parking. If there is enough space on the sidewalk, a car or motorcycle will appear. Vehicles win—every time. (Photos taken around Alimos and Palaio Faliro.)

The next barrier is the trash can. The urban planner has often firmed its place on the sidewalk with this little insert. Good luck squeezing past these guys.

And, of course, these obstacles exist alongside others (e.g. trees, poles, etc.). Combined, they are a formidable barrier—like a poorly played game of Tetris. The committed pedestrian might pull off the slalom required, but most will simply walk on the street. Easier that way.

The indifference towards the pedestrian extends to every non-car user. I often saw bikers on the tram path—the only way to move seamlessly along the coast. Or they risked their lives to ride alongside cars. The bottom line is this: unless you’re in a car, get out of the way.

Hello friends! Freelance photojournalist and accidental labour organizer, @photobracken here to tell you just how not good it’s been for photographers *gestures broadly at everything* esp freelancers, and what we are doing about it over at @PhotojsUnited.

It’s no news to say the news industry is struggling, but bear with me while I attempt to summarize why photojournalism is especially in crisis–it’s an inherently risky job that’s getting riskier, and most of us are freelancers who are totally unrepresented in the labour market.

We are losing photojournalists and it's terrifying bc, to echo @kassijackson_, photojournalists ARE journalists. It’s a specialized skill set that’s not easily replaced. Our work connects to the human experience, is guided by ethics and grounded in fact.

Don't even get me started on the fact that every marketing plan for every news publication out there trying to survive depends largely on photography. We get clicks baby

There is also an existential crisis going on, as we collectively grapple with the colonial roots and under representation of BIPOC and women in this practice. I’m not diving into that necessary conversation here but,

@MarkYoungTruth @chuckwoolery 1) What would you say if a BLM/ANTIFA activist (attached) was paying people in 2020 during BLM/ANTIFA "protests", I mean riots. Could that same man have been at the Capitol helping plan the fake MAGA people (attached)?

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 🇧🇪

@ADuvsLife He's ignoring everything, essentially. In the short-term, we're already seeing delays at the ports, which has a very basic impact on getting stuff into distribution centres in the first place. Every DC has a limited number of loading bays for in & outbound ...

Trucks have defined delivery slots for drop-offs and pick-ups - think of it like a doctor's appointment list - they must be there in their 30-60 minute window, or else the haulier gets fined. And DCs operate 24/7. So if 10 trucks miss their slots because of a logjam at the ports

It's not just a case of squeezing them into another window - there *is* no spare slot (or hardly any). So you can't easily catch up. And once a delivery slot at the DC is missed, that has a knock-effect. A missed inbound delivery means outbound trucks leave without their stock

And stores don't receive their orders (which are placed on a just-in-time basis anyway - your average Tesco actually has a very small warehouse space, as almost all of its stock goes straight to shelves)

Now Tesco can mitigate this for tinned/dry food by forward-ordering stockpiles, but this is a squeeze to fit extra delivery trucks in, and there's only so much extra space in their DCs, so they can only forward-buy so much

Ideology matters, folks. I've been publicly calling Republicans a fascist party bc their only consistent ideological position is white power. Their 180° reversals on debt & national security underscore the point & make them especially dangerous. No "compromise" will fix this.

I am deeply worried that white Dems, & white folks more broadly, don't understand this point—that our national religion of whiteness will lead white Americans to embrace a neo-redemptionist politics. Nothing could be more dangerous.

The original politics of "redemption" came after the Civil War when white Americans from #bothsides found common cause in white power—suppressing migrant, white women's, & especially Black rights. This "reunion" of Rebel & U.S. soldiers at Gettysburg is a classic of the genre.

The term itself—"redemption"—comes from the white paramilitary units who sought to "redeem" their states from "Negro rule" by murdering their political opponents, especially Black southerners.

Lots of quibbling on this point, but as a historian of this movement, I think it would be correct to call theirs a proto-fascist movement.