@realDonaldTrump @kilmeade @foxandfriends There was a failed businessman
Who sported an orange spray-tan
He could only get votes
From some old guys in boats
And the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

@kilmeade @foxandfriends As Donny continued his lootin'
There really could be no disputin'
That year after year
It became ever more clear
He was working for Vladimir Putin

More 👇

@kilmeade @foxandfriends Trump had the brains of a llama
And accomplished nothing but drama
But despite the fake pride
He knew deep inside
He could never live up to Obama

More 👇

@kilmeade @foxandfriends He needed a wife so he bought her
But he wished she could be even hotter
It was such a concern
That he told Howard Stern
"I'd rather be fucking my daughter"

More 👇

@kilmeade @foxandfriends Old Donny was quite prone to fibbin'
And he lost every chance he was given
So when finally at last
We tossed him out on his ass
He had to find a new place to go live in

More 👇

https://t.co/gfXjaJF2tc New study re the views of nonautistic people towards autistic individuals. The aim - to move away from negative stereotypes.
But the 'sample fictional autistic person' is a white male who likes to only talk about fantasy fiction (LOTR).
Er.../

OK, that describes about 1% of autistic people.
And it exactly matches the stereotype myth that all autistic people are like this.
But...if the aim is to improve how people respond to autistic people...how does this fictional character help?/

My concern is that the more we focus on that 1%, the more we a) forget the other 99% exist and b) the more we set people up to fail, on encountering us. I cannot begin to tell you how confused people are that I'm not a young male who can only talk about Sci-Fi & IT, for example/

...and teaching people how to think positive thoughts about a white male fantasy-fiction-fan doesn't get them anywhere when asked to collaborate with a middle aged gay mum. Let alone one who can manage a decent chat on almost any standard topic on earth/

As it happens, I can chat about LOTR, and IT. But probably no more than anyone else on the street.
If we're serious about improving autistic lives, we need to be serious about diversity.

1. They spent years & acres of space in state media lampooning Morgan Tsvangirai. But in death, they eulogise him. It is not because they have discovered respect for the man, no. They do it to use him as a source of legitimacy by way of heirship to their preferred “successor”.

2. They abused Tsvangirai while he lived. They still abuse him after his death. They think if they can attach their horse to Tsvangirai he will earn legitimacy in the eyes of the MDC community. The aim is not to praise Mwonzora but to undermine their true & feared rival Chamisa.

3. The irony is that they applaud Mwonzora for the so-called notion of “responsible opposition” while at the same time naming him the true successor to Tsvangirai as if they ever recognised Tsvangirai as “responsible opposition”. In fact, they called him a puppet & beat him up.

4. For someone trying so hard to uplift their chosen horse & to pretend the MDC Alliance is irrelevant, Charamba spends far too much time throwing jabs at Chamisa & the MDC Alliance. MDC people can tell who is the successor to Tsvangirai by the amount of abuse from ZANU PF people

5. The MDC community knows that the Mnangagwa regime wants to build an opposition party that it can control. The MDC Alliance refused to be that kind of party. The regime found a willing horse in the MDC-T & they have been at it all year expelling MPs & grabbing party funds.

THREAD: We have a historic, even generational opportunity ahead of us just 11 days from now. Let me outline it for you. I'm gonna try and make this non-partisan. I hope you don't judge me irretrievably naïve.

The fact is, much of what's going on in America today is unsustainable. Whether it's government debt, or higher education, climate, or income inequality, it seems pretty clear to just about everyone that if we stay on current trajectory, America is hosed.

I'm not speaking to or about any particular side although if you follow me you probably know where I'm coming from. But 11 days from now we can all collectively choose to keep doing what we're doing -- which means we'll keep getting what we got...

...or we can choose to take a deep breath, close our eyes for a second, and say, "It's time to change." Part of that means turning down the rhetoric. It means taking an inventory of what's broken and thinking hard about how -- together -- we can make things a little less bad.

It means thinking practically about what to do next, and recognizing that the time for maximalist thinking is over; fixing our country will take compromise. All sides will suffer some disappointment, that's how you know the deal was close as possible to fair.

#NHSwhitepaper Thread:

Contrary to some of the headlines, the reforms are NOT the
‘end of privatisation’

(Will explain below)

The white paper wants to reverse legislation that mandated competitive tendering, which meant every contract had to be put out ‘to the market’....

1/

Which was a nuisance
Created unnecessary beurocracy And wasted a lot of money

This legislation was brought in under Cameron’s coalition government

(Against the advice of the unions, health think tanks, royal colleges...basically everyone)

2/

i have to head to the grocery store for my fortnightly supplies run in a minute here and i'm trying to formulate a plan for if that pack of anti-mask goons shows up who have been roaming the state livestreaming themselves pestering people in grocery stores

i'm sure the store itself would try to keep them out but what if i'm the unlucky shopper wiping down my cart in the lobby right as they show up and start causing a scene before the cops come

i'm not even remotely scared of them but i don't really want an assault charge so is there a way i can ruin just their video? can i play copyrighted disney music on my phone really loud or something

it's just a group of horrible old conspiracy theorist ladies and one or two gigantic nazi biker thugs and they're not going to hit a white woman on camera, i won't be in danger from anything but the germs

if they are in fact streaming live is there anything i could verbally communicate to their audience directly that would encourage them to turn off the stream and not donate to the streamers? "these people are scam artists and you are being scammed by them" that sort of thing

1/ To meet or not to meet, that is the question. Is Highfields Church going to keep meeting in-person on Sundays? (27 part thread coming up, for the brave-hearted), beginning with three intro comments:

2/ • This is a wisdom call not a right/wrong call; Satan would love to have churches & leadership teams divided on the topic, so we need to pray for unity and grace as we decide what’s best in our context.

3/ • What we decide will vary hugely on what the virus is doing in the geography and the demography of the church. I have friends pastoring where the case rate is over 1000, with majority older congregation. I don’t judge them at all for making the call to close.

4/ • I'm not going to rehearse the theological reasons for in-person gathering (e.g. by @WilliamsGarryJ earlier this week, which you can read again here:

5/ Rather this thread will focus on 10 practical reasons why in our context, we've decided to keep meeting in-person on Sundays (though we'll keep reviewing, in line with Welsh Govt guidance).

I'm feeling kind of bored and at loose ends, so I'm going to start serializing, in tweets, my 2006 ~10,000 word "Training Manual for the New American Left"

Here goes:

1. The following might be considered as a treatise on a strategy or for progressives in coming years. It is not at all necessary for those reading the following to agree with every point made in the document as long as there is acceptance of several underlying premises:

2. The new conservative right has achieved at least partial control of many of the significant institutions in American society, especially in politics, media, and to a lesser extent in business and - increasingly - in the area of religion.

3. Meanwhile, political progressives have failed to effectively defend enlightenment values and mainstream institutions from a sustained attack that has been ongoing now for several decades, and...

4. progressives have almost wholly missed the parallel construction, by the new American right - largely now the Christian and religious right - of an entire parallel nation, a shadow nation with its own alternate institutions, culture, assumptions, and even versions of history..

My husband’s family history is complicated (on both side), to say the least.

Recently, he grew curious and wanted to learn more about his maternal grandfather—which was quite a force of nature.

Here’s a pretty long thread ⬇️

His maternal great grandfather was from a samurai family, so wealthy enough at the time to study at Todai and to become a judge. He got married, had 2 sons and then found nothing better to do than abandoned wife & kids to ran with a mistress and go do business in Manchuria.

Suffering from financial hardship, his ex-wife (from a merchant family) had to sell one of her son to another family.

She kept my husband’s grandfather with her, and remarried.

His grandfather received some good education, luckily, and studied at Meiji university.

The grandfather dreamt of becoming a prosecutor. But when he graduated, all the exams got cancelled—Japan was at war and the administration had no time to overview tests. He missed his one chance, and had to settle with becoming a public servant.

He married another descendant of a samurai family—my husband’s grandmother, an admirable lady and a nurse who had come from Gifu to Tokyo at 18.

They both were hardworking folks, who came from wealthy families who lost all their wealth in a fast changing world.

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

Yesterday, as at 08:00am-09:00am, I left the residence of a family member and something pathetic happened when I was about getting home.
I was on a street closer to the junction when I suddenly heard a heavy sound. I ran towards the junction in few seconds and saw people...

gathered around a MAN. He just had an accident.

This man, who looks in his early, mid or late forties is soaked in blood. His right eyeball is almost entirely out of its SEAT, his nose isn't clearly seen because thick blood had drenched it, half his head was full of blood...

& more kept gushing off his head towards the ground. This MAN'S left leg has broken and his wrist crushed and was bruised too.
When I got to this place, over 60-100 humans gathered around him and began pitying him. The MAN roared, "please, I need water, I need water, I'm dying"..

Blood kept gushing off his head.
The statement he made echoed into me when I got there. I ran Helter skelter in search of water and luckily I got. I was about fetching it when those who I met gathering around the man shouted, "NOBODY should give him water, it's dangerous for...

...him." I dropped the bowl, I was perplexed!
I ran towards him, now, he's soaked in blood, the ground was well soaked too. The MAN began, "I'm dying, someone should please help me, I'm dying, don't watch me please, please, this is, please..."
I didn't make him finish his mixed..

A thread on election fraud, political grandstanding, and incitement—expanding on my tweets last week about Hawley and Carlson.
Let us begin by stipulating the following. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, and the first rule of rhetoric is knowing one’s audience.

2. Consider three convictions (1) Widespread election fraud occurred, on such a scale that Biden “stole” the election. (2) You doubt that, but you think it’s at least possible. (3) You’re pretty sure that, despite irregularities here and there, they did not alter the outcome.

3. It is clear that President Trump, beginning election night and insistently thereafter, made claim (1). Polls and personal experience show that a large portion of the GOP public, for their own reasons or because Trump said so, also embraced claim (1).

4. However, when it comes to conservative intellectual and political leadership, I have not encountered anyone personally who holds claim (1). Some seem to hold claim (2), most, however, are in camp (3). They believe Biden won fair and square. So, apparently, do the courts.

5. Now, consider if you are in camp (2). You think there might’ve been serious fraud. You think it’s worth investigating. But you also recognize that’s a massive claim. A claim that could destabilize the entire political system for years to come.

.@GavinNewsom has made lots of showy announcements, vowing California would lead a smooth, equitable vaccine distribution plan across the state's 58 counties. He has propped up his administration as a leader & sought to reassure the public that he can handle it. Some comments:

Oct. 19: "We have long been in the vaccination business. Our experience with mass vaccinations makes us a unique partner with the CDC and DOD, based on the scale and scope of the vaccinations that occur on an annual basis here in the state of California."

Nov. 16: “Rather than criticizing the [Trump] administration, rather than lamenting about what could or should be done, we engaged proactively and continue to engage proactively to make sure we have a plan for safe and equitable distribution of the vaccine.”

Dec. 3: “There is light at the end of the tunnel. We are a few months away from truly seeing real progress with the vaccine, real distribution, real accessibility, real availability... You’ll be hearing good news on top of other good news."

Dec. 7: "Hope is on the horizon with a vaccination. We continue to accelerate our planning and preparedness for a safe, and equitable vaccine distribution," Newsom said. "I really believe this-you’re going to start hearing good news, and numbers that continue to significantly..."

@ondakondratiev @PlzBeSensible @mattyglesias Okay, as promised, some links. @Burgerfacemcta1

This is from Canada:

@PlzBeSensible @mattyglesias @Burgerfacemcta1 This was in Psychiatric Times:

@PlzBeSensible @mattyglesias @Burgerfacemcta1 This is from a uni counseling center, and is a good overview of gendered victim-blaming for male victims:

@PlzBeSensible @mattyglesias @Burgerfacemcta1 This is tangentially about male victims of sex crimes and discusses gendered bonding and what men can admit.

@PlzBeSensible @mattyglesias @Burgerfacemcta1 Finally, RAINN has a summary, similar in theme to the UTK counseling center above:

A recipe for slavery, regardless who is President:

1. Gates owns the WHO.

2. Gates controls info—YouTube censors videos that contradict WHO.

3. Gates & Bezos will change our diet & control food supply—by law (EAT Forum).

4. Bezos controls flow of goods.

Receipts below.

NEW from me for @amprog @CAPimmigration I lay out why the 100-day moratorium on deportation is critical and why the courts must let it go

So why is the moratorium so important? Over the 4 years of the Trump administration, ICE and CBP took actions that were both cruel and illegal, from family separation, to much much more.

The 100 day pause gives the administration time to get to the bottom of what happened.

Need more evidence? Last fall ICE deported someone even without a deportations order and even before he could go before a judge. They admitted their wrongdoing in court.

The same 1/20 Memo that set out the moratorium orders a top-to-bottom review of immigration policy at DHS. But to make that successful DHS has to ensure that no one is deported who otherwise shouldn't be. Hence the pause.

And yet Texas--who was all about executive authority on immigration under Trump, not so much now--sued to try and stop it, and a federal judge agreed, putting the moratorium on hold.

Here's why that is wrong.