1 - @EFF revealed today how the LAPD have been requesting Ring doorbell cameras footage of Black Lives Matter protests (https://t.co/FtPoYH3Hn2). Here is a short thread on why this is part of a worrying bigger picture.

1.1 - Over 2,000 public safety agencies have signed formal partnerships with Ring worldwide. The partnerships allow police to use a law-enforcement portal to canvass local residents for footage without

1.2 - Warrants exist to protect us. Law enforcement needs to justify access on reasonable suspicion.

1.3 - Normalising bulk footage requests from people without warrants is dangerous. It adds to the state's plethora of mass surveillance tools.

2 - Public-Private surveillance partnerships can seriously undermine our freedoms and alter democratic societies by normalising surveillance. You shouldn't have to worry that your tech purchases might be used for surveillance purposes.

Finally, here’s the *EASY* Steps to becoming a United States Registered Nurse🇺🇸

It’s a long thread, but that’s because I tried to make it nice and easy for you, so bookmark for reference.

Retweet and Tag as many Nurses as you know who might be interested.

#USRN 🇺🇸

STEP 1 ; You have to be a Registered Nurse with valid practicing license and at least 1year post-qualification experience in a at least 100 bedded hospital/institution, worked in the particular ward Or department for a minimum of 3months!& possess a valid international Passport!

For IELTS & immigration purposes, you’re taking, the ACADEMIC IELTS wt 6.5 overall!& at least 7 in speaking

STEP 2
Then, Register with Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools,(CGFNS) for credentials evaluation of secondary education, nursing education & licensure

in order to take NCLEX. their website:

NB; have all your academic record with you to make it easier, as the form is a bit tedious. Once you’re done, proceed to paying for Credential Evaluation Service (CES) this is the report prepared by CGFNS, the evaluation fee is $350

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "I want to update Parliament on Cabinet’s review of the current lockdown restrictions which took place this morning."

NS: "Let me confirm at the outset that - with one limited exception - I will not be announcing any immediate changes to the current lockdown restrictions."

NS: "The core stay at home requirement will remain in place until at least the beginning of March - and possibly for a further period beyond that although not for any longer than is absolutely necessary."

NS: "I will however confirm that the phased and gradual return to school that I said we were hopeful about when I updated Parliament two weeks ago will go ahead as planned from Monday."

NS: "I will say more about this - and about the importance of carefully implementing and monitoring it - later.

In addition, I will give an assessment of the current state of the pandemic."

cw: suicide, reactionary bs
[Thread]

One thing that really pissies me off are those facist reactionary "#ProLife" bigots.

And I'll explain in detail, WHY they are bigoted.

So strap in and hold tight...

Regardless if those advocate for the [very facist] idea of de-facto criminalizing #suicide or #abortions, "#ProLife" advocates aka. bigots are not willing to provide even a halfass alternative substitute as a figleaf to pseudo-legitimize their ideas.

I mean, regardless whether or not one person should be allowed to have a say into the health, life and well-beijng of another person is something agrees with [I think #ProChoice is the only non - reactionary-facist answer!]...

...it is clear that people don't actively seek suicide nor abortion unless they don't see another option and the alternatives are not acceptable to them.

Therefore I could at least respect [but not agree with] "#ProLife" people if they'd actually offer alternatives.

I.e. you don't want to have so many #abortion|s?
Then make actual sex - education mandatory, provide contraceptives, child-care and medical care for free whilst offering paid parental leave and undo the Gender Pay Gap ffs so that people are not economically forced into a decision

Just listened to the latest episode of @DWTWR, about Aliens of London, partly because @sjcAustenite and @KyleDAnderson are funny and insightful critics, but mostly to hear my monthly name-check.

But I think the satire in this story lands better than they give it credit for. 1/

At one point, Erik raises and dismisses the possibility that Russell might want to say that inside all our politicians are evil monsters bent on destroying us — but I think that’s absolutely what Russell wants to say. Here’s why. 2/

Russell really hates Tony Blair. He is found dead in a cupboard early on in Aliens of London, and he will return in a new form as Harold Saxon in the finale of Season 3. Russell will kill the current or former British PM (or President) literally every year during his era. 3/

(He will also kill the PM in the form of Boris Johnson in Revenge of the Nestene, the story he wrote to accompany the lockdown rewatch of Rose in March 2020.) 4/

In 1997, Blair’s Labour promised a “third way” between capitalism and socialism. This seemed new and exciting, but was basically just a shift to the right, to accommodate the sort of neoliberalism that kept getting Margaret Thatcher elected. 5/

What do you think your students might draw if you asked them to draw a mathematician? What if you asked them why someone would hire a mathematician?

This study asked exactly that to 470 year 8's across 5 countries. The results are depressing. But also hilarious.

Thread...
1/n

Here are some of their drawings:
"an old stain, he's too lazy to wash his shirt" "fat from doing nothing but maths".

2/n

This student drew a mathematician that is apparently a devil teacher...

3/n

This is umm... concerning

4/n

"You should all know this"

5/n

1/ The Evidence-Based Social Work Alliance has written an open letter to the Chief Executives of all four UK social work regulators, CAFCASS and BASW.

A request for policy review and practice guidance

https://t.co/xfISp9y9Vd

2/ "EBSWA gathers and considers evidence on the questions of sex and gender identity in order to inform professional discussion. We are concerned by the uncritical use of gender identity theory in social work and other professions".

3/ "Of immediate concern is the increasing numbers of children and young people with gender dysphoria who are presenting to the profession. The welfare of gender-dysphoric children is increasingly being discussed within the child-protection context...

4/ "...and yet our attempts to explore alternatives to the affirmation model are being met with accusations of hateful conduct and referrals to our regulator for investigation. We are being silenced in our attempts to understand and discuss the evidence-base approaches to this".

5/ "The recent high-profile Judicial review of the Tavistock and Portman Trust’s treatment of Keira Bell...will change the way in which professionals approach this issue. Social work policy and practice must engage and respond in line with these developments".

If you care about any of the following:
#Fairness and #Integrity
#Honesty in #HigherEd
#Liverpool and #Wellbeing
Can you please RT?
👇

It pains me to have to tweet the following about the University where I have spent 18 largely happy years. I am still an honorary professor there and I want it to remain an honour.

What is happening at the University of Liverpool is not normal and it threatens not just the 47 academics who are threatened with the sack. What is at stake is even bigger. I explain why below. Please RT to ask management to reconsider.

Both teaching and research missions of universities require high integrity and respect for truth, in fact, more than respect, yearning for truth. The current campaign to sack the 47 is based on Trumpian lies ; Trumpian because of their dimension and their cruelty.

The 1st lie is that the sack of the 47 is to improve health in Liverpool. There is zero evidence that it wld do that & large amount of evidence that it would do the opposite by threatening research infrastructures & projects, including some funded by local biomedical charities.

There is a lot of conflicting "information" about the TX blackouts. Here's the bottom line: the root cause of the TX blackouts is a national and state policy that has prioritized the adoption of unreliable wind/solar energy over reliable energy.

THREAD

For the last decade+ policy in TX and in the US has been focused on mandating or subsidizing as much wind and solar as possible. TX has bragged about being the biggest wind generator in the US.

The TX focus on wind has come above all at the expense of coal, which has the resiliency advantage (along with nuclear) of being able to store large quantities of fuel onsite; gas mostly requires "just in time" delivery from pipelines.

“In 2009, coal-fired plants generated nearly 37 percent of the state’s electricity while wind provided about 6 percent. Since then, three Texas coal-fired plants have closed...In the same period, our energy consumption rose by 20

Because intermittent wind and solar can always go near zero--as we saw recently in TX--they don't replace the cost of reliable power plants, they add to the cost of reliable power plants. This is why the more wind and solar grids use, the higher their electricity prices.

Much misinformation out there about #Texaspoweroutage, @ERCOT_ISO, wind and solar power, and thermal generators (gas and coal). Let's review what we think we know right now. @TPPF @Life_Powered_ 1/10

Two problems in #Texas, one short term and exacerbated by the long term issue, and one long term. 2/10

The short term failure came at about 1 AM Monday when #ERCOT should have seen the loads soaring due to plummeting temperatures and arranged for more generation. 3/10

Texas came very close to having a system-wide outage for the whole state (ERCOT area, about 85% of the state) due to not arranging for more generation. 4/10

This tripped the grid, knocking some reliable thermal plants (gas and coal) offline. This was a failure of the grid operator (ERCOT) not the power plants. 5/10

COLD WEATHER ADVICE, FROM A MONTANA YOTE TO ALL MY TEXAS FRIENDS STRUGGLING RN!

1) Cotten Kills. Cotten fabrics absorb water and stay wet. Wet will make you cold. Stay as dry as possible and if any under where or socks become wet change into dry ones right away.

2) layers. Wear as many layers that is comfortable. It is much easier to stay warm than it is to warm back up.

3) close all the doors in the house and isolate to one room. Your body produces heat! Use it!

4) gas is cheeper than electricity. If the power is off-

But the gas’s is still on isolate to the kitchen, and turn on the oven! Many gas stoves can be turned on with a hand lighter. Take caution ⚠️ as you don’t want to cause a gas fire.

5) buddy up! Yes even the dog. Mammals make body heat so get all the pills and blankets and sleep-

Together. It’s -12 and no heat can be very serious. If someone dose go out make sure they remove any and all cloths with snow on them before returning to the warm blanket. NO MOISTURE!

6) tent time! Have a tent? Set it up in the living room as your new hot space with body heat

7) help yourself neighbor. These are very serious times. Covid is still ongoing so take precautions but if you know anyone who is currently living alone and low risk without power could be life threatening. Mask up and invite them in to add to your body heat It could save someone

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.

Just got off statewide elected officials call with ERCOT. Trying to relay from memory:

-17 GigaWatt still off line.
-Trying to bring stuff back on line ASAP.
-Combination of gas, coal, solar, wind, and nukes went off line. (Nukes?)
-500 MW (0.5GW) came back during the call

Sun warming up wind turbine blades and shed off ice that formed during cold rain will put wind farms back on line quickly.

Water vapor in gas lines freezing up sensors and regulators in LNG plants.

LNG well heads frozen at the pump.

All cold related outage.

There were cold related measures taken after the freeze of 2011.

But the measures were for 2011 level storm.

2021 far exceeded what was planned or expected.

Just didn't expect this cold and across the entire state.

ERCOT is not responsible for who gets blacked out.

That goes to the transmission entity... oncor, centerpoint, and co-ops decide how to rotate the blackouts. ERCOT just tells them how much load to shed.

The expected blackout cycle is supposed to be 24hr on 24 off.

The only regulation on blackouts is about first responders and critical infrastructure.

(Downtown and hospital districts are critical I would guess)

They apologize for not letting the public know that this was what was going to happen. They knew this was coming last week. (?)

@Maxwell4Fresno Hi Tyler, I support free bus rides in @CityofFresno . I'm a former college-educated paralegal who was priced out of my native SF Bay Area. I moved to Fresno 3 yrs ago for cheaper cost of living, and a Social Work degree @Fresno_State . -Michaela /1

2/ @Maxwell4Fresno My plans were derailed by illness, hospital, and long application for benefits & housing. I'm too young for 62 yr old affordable apts (58) and too healthy for transitional programs (no drugs or alcohol). I sleep in my car in 2+ yr wait list. N Fresno.-Michaela

3/ @Maxwell4Fresno In my long healing period, I spent thru my savings and became homeless. I used a variety of Fresno's homeless services for women. They were dangerous, unethical, untrained, exhausting, and abusive. I wouldn't recommend them to any woman. Traumatic.-Michaela

4/ @Maxwell4Fresno I had very little money and I had to pay car ins, preserve gas. It takes YEARS in most cases for our homeless, most of whom have a major illness, to be approved for Social Security disability. -Michaela

5/ @Maxwell4Fresno I was required to meet with a @FresnoCountyCA case worker every two weeks about my housing application. I asked for a bus pass or gas voucher, as I couldn't afford to get to these appts. -Michaela

A Black couple put in $400k in home renovations, but their home appraisal barely budged.

When a white friend posed as the homeowner for a new appraisal, the home appraisal went up by $500k!

This is outrageous but unsurprising. Let me explain. /1/

Home ownership is *the* single biggest wealth generator for most families. It builds your retirement nest eggs, allows a family to pass on generational wealth, and you can borrow against a home to pay for big expenses, e.g., children’s college education. /2/

Yet, home ownership is out of reach for many Black people for many reasons. First, discrimination in lending makes it difficult for Black borrowers to obtain a mortgage. Black borrowers are denied mortgages at DOUBLE the rate as white borrowers. /3/

Second, less generational wealth for Black borrowers means they don’t get help from parents and grandparents who can you pay the outrageous down payment that most borrowers need to secure a mortgage. /4/

Finally, Black borrowers on average owe about DOUBLE the amount in student loan debt than white borrowers, and owe more than when they started college(!), which means the dream of home ownership is delayed if not denied. /5/