It's a bitter pill to give up your childhood faith in the Myth of 1776. Moldbug warned us that the pill slits open and the sodium core burns as it goes down.

...but it makes perfect sense that an elite will always be in power

I remember reading a brief article 20 or 30 yrs ago

2/

asking "why do planets and moons spin?"

and the answer was an appeal to statistics - there are a ton more items in a random distribution of momentums that equate to "spinning" than equate to "not spinning".

3/

Planets and moons are formed by the coallescence, under gravitation, of various small bits.

Things falling in from infinity, basically.

Depending on the random assortment of starting locations of those infalling bits, you get torque applied to the accumulating mass core.

4/

In order to end up with a planet with absolutely no spin, you need a PERFECT balance of starting locations of all of the constituent bits before they start their fall in.

This is possible, but is an insanely small subset of all possible starting configurations.

5/

Governments and societies form from the coalescence of individuals.

We could imagine a society where Everyone Was Perfectly Equal ... but that would require a starting universe where all people were born with equal talents.

1. Yes Northern Nigeria had upper hand (not of their making btw), but they were first in the pecking order of things, had better interactions with the West (Britain in this context). But did all of that “western influence” penetrate into Northern society?

2. I understand history is a very delicate subject in Nigeria. It arouses sentiments & biases. Understandably so, Nigeria history is not GOOD, no matter how you look at it, it doesn’t favor the people of Nigeria. So the government would rather not allow it in Nigeria schools.

3. Like it or not, the North have LITTLE to show, for a people whom Britain favored. Much of Eastern Nigeria societies, resisted the colonial conquests. Benin Kingdom put up a resistance. But today, western ideals & influence has penetrated much of the East, even its hinterlands

4. In terms of growth & advancement (western influence altogether) SW societies tops all of that. One would think Northern Oligarchy had a plan for their people, had their people in mind during those early interactions with Britain.

5. But all they did with ALL the powers Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth vested on them, was control their people, to this day even. They control the information flow, the religious beliefs, they are still the gatekeepers of their culture.

Open Letter: Our democracy is at risk. Progressivism can save us.

We’re in trouble. We have been for a long time. Hopefully, Georgia goes well and tomorrow is just noise. But what if neither happens? We can’t continue to pretend it’s all a joke. So what do we do?

First off, we need to ask how we get here?

America defeated Fascism (totalitarian rule enforced though a violent commitment to a national or racial or identity) embodied in the Nazi Party. We are not a perfect nation. We too are a nation stained by hate, apartheid . . .

slavery, Jim Crowe casteism. But there have been great moments. Defeating the Nazis was one of those moments. FDR was our leader. Like America, he wasn’t perfect. He turned away Jewish refugees. Like his counterparts in Erurope, he was also slow to recognize the Nazis as...

the danger they would become. But when economic and moral calamity threatened certain doom for all, he rose to the moment. He chose well. He led without fear. He made a promise to America. Fight this evil, and we will create a “New Deal.” Healthcare. A social safety...

net. Our soldiers carried government issued commemorative coins into Germany memorializing these sacred promises that they fought for. Sadly, not every one of these promises was fulfilled, but FDR helped rebuild America, literally. Those trails in our state parks? Many of our...

The Jewish avenger who killed an Ukrainian nationalist leader (THREAD)

The year is 1919 in the Ukrainian People's Republic ruled by president Symon Petliura.
For 3 years the Jews suffered from pogroms by the government and gangs as in 1919 they reached their peak.

In various localities throughout the republic, murders and rapes of Jews were carried out. The estimated number of Jews murdered ranges from 50,000 to about 200,000.

Following thousands of riots and pogroms, about 300,000 Jewish children became orphans. Hundreds of Jewish women experienced abuses and traumatic cruelty such as amputation of eyes, ears, and limbs.

The Jewish population in Ukraine has decreased significantly and hundreds of thousands have become refugees as they fled from Ukraine.
According to the Jews, Symon’s government did nothing to protect the Jews and actually caused some of the pogroms.

In 1615, historian Richard M. Eaton quoted, "one observer estimated the Mughal's annual revenue at 120 million silver coins, compared to 45 million for the Ottoman Empire and just 15 million for the neighbouring Iran (Safavid)."

- India in the Persianate Age: 1000-1765, p. 371

Remember here the historian is talking about year of 1615 but by the year of 1700 the Mughal wealth had been increased even more.

In year of 1700 during the era of Aurangzeb, Mughal economy was more than to the combined wealth of Western Asia, Central Asia, North Asia, Southeast Europe, Western Europe and North Africa.

(Legendary Peacock Throne)

Yeah it is right that Mughal wealth was mostly held by nobles but the point is Mughal Empire was prosperous state not the welfare state.

We have to study the conditions of Mughal citizens from the perspective of middle ages instead of modern era

and their comparsion with other empires of that era.

As far concerns of living conditions of common man, the living standrads of Mughal citizens were higher than Eureopens.

200 followers special!

WORLD AT WAR

#WorldWar2 key events and their timeline with visual references.

Long 🧵

@ForumStrategic @SierraDeltaPk @Corpor8Xploiter @AhmAdTipu7 @Thunder07101 @WPCPSFION @ZA1N87 @ali_zarwan @schaheid @ainakhalid801 @AScf90

November 11, 1918
WORLD WAR I ENDS

Britain, France, the US, and other allies defeat Germany, bringing an end to World War I, billed as “the war to end all wars.”

January 30, 1933
HITLER APPOINTED GERMAN LEADER

Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany and later assumes dictatorial powers. German rearmament takes off.

September 1, 1939
WORLD WAR II BEGINS

Germany invades Poland, inciting Poland’s allies Britain and France to declare war on Germany.

September 17, 1939
SOVIET UNION INVADES POLAND

Working in concert with Hitler, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin orders the invasion of Poland, securing a share of Polish territory.

Not sure if people want a historical comparison thread, but here’s one on insurrection and a violent attempt at a coup in 1874 New Orleans, often called the Battle of Liberty Place. Thread includes a white supremacist monument. 1/

During Reconstruction, there was a lot of white supremacist violence in the South, as former confederates and whites in general wanted to reclaim full political power. Image from Harper's after the New Orleans Massacre in the summer of 1866.

In the summer of 1874, the White League in New Orleans was galvanized by false stories spread by former confederate officer Frederick N. Ogden. Those false stories were that groups of Black men were going to incite violence. This was all false.

Political tension was high in New Orleans in 1874. Rather than concede the 1872 gubernatorial election, Democratic candidate John McEnery set up his own dueling government. (Remember that this was before the parties changed, as @KevinMKruse has detailed on here before.)

On Sept 12, 1874, a steamer came into the port of New Orleans with guns and ammunition for the White League. When the ship was seized, Ogden and others claimed their 2nd Amendment rights were being trampled.

The 12 Life Learnings of Carlos Gracie Sr.
(And my thoughts)

//THREAD//

1.) Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

Mental strength is possibly the greatest strength you could have.

While physical strength is a great supplementation, the power of the mind is essential to any great achievement.

2.) Speak to every one of happiness, health, and prosperity.

This is self-explanatory.

However, it is equally important to speak of these things to yourself.

Perfect your health,
Pursue your happiness,
Think of your prosperity.

Kary Mullis won a Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1993.

His most famous achievement was the invention of PCR, the method being used around the world to test for Covid-19.

I've been asking myself: what would he think of current events?

It's time for a thread. 👇👇

Please retweet.

In one of life's strange coincidences, Mullis died in August 2019 - just months before the first cases of Covid were allegedly discovered in China.

Since I can't ask him for his latest thoughts, I've read his book, "Dancing Naked in the Mind Field".

Here are the six best bits.

1. The invention of PCR.

The idea for "polymerase chain reaction" came to Mullis while driving at night through the Californian countryside.

With PCR, he could make "as many copies as I wanted of any DNA sequence I chose".

He predicted he would win the Nobel prize for this.

2. Battling with the safety officer.

Mullis invented PCR while working at a biotechnology company called Cetus.

He enjoyed working there, but he hated its embrace of safety culture. He hated the "safety officer" who was given power over him.

He called this man the "danger officer", because "all he ever did was put up DANGER signs".

This man covered up his glass cabinets with warning stickers, making it impossible to see the chemicals inside.

"Overnight, my lab had become a very dangerous place".

Thread: Hinduphobic origins of the word ‘juggernaut’

“Juggernaut” is the Anglicized name for the Hindu god Jagannath, the “Lord of the Universe.”
“Juggernaut” entered English in the early 19th c. to mean “a powerful, dominant, unstoppable force”, as colonial Brits encountered

the massive chariot of Jagannatha being pulled through the streets devotees during the Rath Yatra.

Rev. Claudius Buchanan was the first to popularize “the Juggernaut” in both Britain and the United States in the early 1800s. Buchanan was an Anglican chaplain stationed in India,

and a staunch supporter of Christian missions to India. In his letters sent back home from India, Buchanan described ‘“Juggernaut” as a dangerous, violent, and bloody religious cult. These letters were reprinted in Christian missionary magazines on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 1811, Buchanan published Christian Researches in Asia, his broad examination of the religious state of India and its need for Christian missions. He described devotees throwing themselves under the wheels of Juggernaut’s chariots.

He used a biblical reference to the Old Testament’s description of the heathen god Moloch (to whom people sacrificed their children) to explain Juggernaut to his Christian audience:

📌Start the year with a LONG READ!

✅ The scene...

▶️ Nelson Mandela, conducting his own defence in his 1962 trial.

▶️ Presiding, is a 'white' magistrate

▶️ Mandela starts with an application asking magistrate to recuse himself....

https://t.co/p7z9q6ArgT

#GreatReads2021🎆

MANDELA: A judiciary controlled entirely by whites and enforcing laws enacted by a white parliament in which we have no representation, cannot be regarded as an impartial tribunal in a political trial where an African stands as an accused

#GreatReads2021🎆

MAGISTRATE: After all is said and done, there is only one court today and that is the White Man's court. There is no other court. What purpose does it serve you to make an application when there is only one court. What court do you wish to be tried by?

#GreatReads2021🎆

MANDELA: I feel oppressed.
It reminds me that I am voteless because there is a parliament in this country that is white-controlled. I am without land because the white minority has taken a lion's share. We are ravaged by starvation and disease....

#GreatReads2021🎆

MAGISTRATE: I fully realise your position, Mr Mandela, but you must confine yourself to the application and not go beyond it. I don't want to know about starvation. That in my view has got nothing to do with the case at the present moment.

#GreatReads2021🎆

The Indo-Greeks were on decline & the grounds were fertile for yet another invasion of #India. This time it was the Yuezhi tribe of Gansu from #China. They established the #KushanEmpire.

This #thread is about Kushans & how they became Indianised, unlike later Islam!c invaders.

The Kushans started to establish themselves as a major power around 30 CE with Kujula Kadphises forming a confederacy of various tribes from China.

They adopted Greek as their court language, which was soon replaced by Bactrian, the popular local language.

They also adopted #Buddhism & #Hinduism as their religion. They issued coins with Hindu Gods like Shiva with a trishul & Buddha in Abhaya mudra.

This was unlike the later Islam!c invasions where the invaders would try to obliterate local languages and religions.

The Kushans were heavily influenced by the prevalent Greek culture, especially in sculpture. The Kushans expanded their territories & ruled with two capitals, one in Gandhara & one in Mathura. This also established the Gandhara & Mathura School of Kushan arts.

Kushans also introduced the first human form of Buddha who was previously depicted with symbols like a throne, a wheel or a peepal leaf.

They patronised trade & sent Buddhist monks to #Tibet, #China, #Korea & #Japan. Lokaksema went to China & translated Buddhist texts in Chinese

Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "IRELAND AND ISRAEL. — WHAT MAKES NO SENSE.
1)

I have been on this earth since 1951 and have to say that 2020 was the worst year I ever experienced. Not personally; being retired and a misanthrope with a loving wife made the lockdown fairly easy. I got covid but it was a mild case. So compared to others, I had it easy.

But I cannot think of a worse year than 2020 for most other people. I remember the polio epidemic of the 1950s, but I also remember competent public health officials who kept it under control.

I remember the Kennedy assassination and the awful year of 1968 when we lost Bobby and Dr. King, and the cities burned. (I lived not far from Newark and grew up in Detroit.) But those events left no serious, lasting scars on society. Neither did Watergate in 1974.

Probably the most personally painful events of my adulthood were the gas lines of the 1970s. But at least they didn't kill anyone, just caused a lot of inconvenience. The years since the 1970s were mostly okay as far as the nation and society were concerned except for 9/11,

which tuned out to be more of triumph over adversity than a tragedy. I could not have imagined that less than 20 years later we would kill as many as died on that day every day and the president would do absolutely nothing about it. Even more shockingly,

A thread on some links between art and literature...
All available in an editable booklet >> https://t.co/QQQ5j31ekw #TeamEnglish

Sethos I Before Horus, by Unknown Artist (c.1280 BCE)

Sethos I was the father of Ramesses II (also known as Ozymandias). In the wallpainting, Sethos is receiving pharaonic regalia to emphasise his power and military success.

Link: Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci (1503)

The smile of Mona Lisa, also known as a Lisa Gherardini, is playful and ambiguous – almost like she is hiding a secret.

Link: My Last Duchess, by Robert Browning

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1558)

An illustration of the dangers of pride and ambition. From soaring so high, Icarus is barely noticeable after his fall and life simply carries on around him.

Link: Jekyll and Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson

Experiment with a Bird in an Air Pump, by Joseph Wright of Derby (1768)

A wild-eyed scientist, onlookers who seem both intrigued and horrified, and a strong contrast between darkness and light.

Link: Jekyll and Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson