Good question @allisonpearson! What did they do in China and Wuhan that has allowed them to get back to normal?

Well, they *didn't* try to infect their teenage children at university, like you said we should.

They didn't treat Covid like a lie, and *didn't* listen to people like you who said they were "pretending" that it was a lethal pandemic.

They didn't cancel lockdowns as people like you said *we* should.

They didn't tell people that you were more likely to kill your granny by not seeing her than by seeing her, like you did.

Opposition wants NRO from corruption cases: Illusion by PM Imran Khan.
Reality of Corruption cases.

Thread:
1-

Avenfield Apartment case:
Bail decision by IHC:
IHC says convictions handed in Avenfield verdict ‘may not be sustainable’.
IHC’s detailed ruling says accountability court did not state evidence regarding how Maryam assisted her father Nawaz Sharif in buying London flats- 2

NAB failed to prove corruption allegation and also refrained from challenging Sharifs’ acquittal under Section 9 of NAO-3

There has been no determination of the value of the Avenfield Apartments at the time when they were alleged to have been acquired,” reads the judgement, adding: “There is no mention of this aspect in the judgement. How NAB can make asset beyond means case then.” -4

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi LNG case bail decision.
The investigation of the LNG terminal case, in which former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former finance minister Miftah Ismail are implicated, is "a classic example of the violation of fundamental rights", Islamabad HC
-5

Here are 12 things I learned from Lee Kuan Yew about the world and the source of many of our present ills reading Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World.

1. You need a free exchange of ideas. “China will inevitably catch up to the U.S. in absolute GDP. But its creativity may never match America’s, because its culture does not permit a free exchange and contest of ideas.”

2. Technology will change how governance operates. “Technology is going to make (China’s) system of governance obsolete... They are going to be well-informed; they can organize themselves. You cannot govern them the way you are governing them now"

3. Don’t try to install a democracy in a country that has never had one. “I do not believe you can impose on other countries standards which are alien and totally disconnected with their past."

4. Welcome the best the world has to offer. “Throughout history, all empires that succeeded have embraced and included in their midst people of other races, languages, religions, and cultures.”

GLOBAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION - A PRIMER

We have hopefully all seen this wonderful diagram from LLNL showing the Flow Diagram of the world’s Energy Consumption in a very useful form full of diagnostic power

So how did we get to here ?

And where are we going from here ?

1. The recent history of Global Energy Consumption

Back in the 1800s the primary use of energy was to generate heat by cutting down trees and vegetation and burning them as fuel - referred to here as “Traditional Biomass”

- this was a defining feature of our World 2.0

2. And then with the advent of the Industrial Revolution fossil fuels like Coal, Oil and Gas became increasingly important

- and they started to define many of the characteristics of our World 3.0

3. Wood-burning Biomass has remained as a significant source of Energy even though its proportion has declined

4. Coal reached as high as 50% of our Energy supply and has continued to grow in absolute terms even though its proportion has shrunk to around 25%

5. Oil took over 40% of the Energy market until the Oil Shock of 1973 started changing our attitudes about the efficiency of its consumption

6. And Gas has been steadily growing its share of the market

2020

Jan 1st - Australia’s fires (impacting nearly 3 billion wild animals)
Jan 3rd - US military killed Irans’ General Qasem Soleimani at the direction of Donald Trump
Jan 7th - Chinese authorities identify a novel coronavirus

Jan 8th - Both Prince Harry and Megan Markle stepped down from their position as senior royals
Jan 9th - China recorded their first coronavirus death in Wuhan, China
Jan 20th - USA recorded their first coronavirus case in Washington state

Jan 25th - Australia recorded their first coronavirus case in Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Jan 26th - Kobe and Gigi Bryant were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California
Jan 28th - Worst locust swarms in decades hit east Africa destroying crops

Jan 31st - The UK leaves the European Union

Feb 8th - First American Citizen died of the coronavirus in Wuhan
Feb 9th - Parasite wins the Best Picture Award, making it the first non-English making film to win the award

March - Panic Buying
March 1st - Australia records 1st coronavirus death
March 9th - Stock markets crashed, suffering its worst single day joint drop ever
March 11th - WHO (World Health Organisation) declared coronavirus a pandemic

🇺🇲🇺🇲Roman Empire🇺🇲🇺🇲
The main cause of the fall of the Roman Empire wasn’t one event, but a series of factors and events that caused a steady decline...to eventual collapse.

History will repeat itself when we forget or deny its examples...

Legendary Lithuanian satire show Dviračio Žinios ("Bicycle News") features an improvised conversation between @MartinHelme and @GLandsbergis. I'll post English translations to this thread

(Part 1)

- Tere tere Martin Helme. And what did you tell to that Estonian Radio, that our elections were forged?
- But it was just like that. Lithuania elected too many liberals and women. It's not fair
- But if we forged our elections, our victory wouldn't be so small <...>

(Part 2)

- <...> and also our elections happened in October. You what, noticed only now?
- Well, we noticed instantly. And we were fast to react
- But it's January. 3 months passed
- That's what I'm saying, "we were fast to react"
<...>

(Part 3)

<...> By the way Martin, how is the financial situation during pandemic in Estonia now?
- I'm trying not to think about that
- But you're Estonian Minister of Finances
- That's exactly why I'm trying not to think about it. It's better to think about a "deep state" <...>

(Part 4)

- <...> that controls Lithuania now
- What deep state? Well we do have a few holes in our roads around Biržai but they're not that deep. And here we don't have anything deep, only some stuff on the surface, on the surface... Of course, asphalted.
<...>

King Shark, One Of The Greatest Afrikan Rulers Who Fought European Invasion In Afrika.

Thread!!!

The Dahomey Kingdom — present-day Benin — During the 18th and 19th centuries, it was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Africa. The nation had one of Africa’s biggest armies at the time, including the powerful Dahomey Amazons. It also had extensive foreign trade with different

European nations. A robust economy, as well as a highly functioning political structure. Although the kingdom was so strong, the French colonized it in 1894. But they did not go down without a fight led by Dahomey’s last king, known as King Shark.

Behanzin Hossu Bowelle was born in 1844, in the capital of Dahomey, Abomey. He was the son of King Glele, who at that time was king of Dahomey. Behanzin became the 11th king of Dahomey when his father died. He soon came to be known as the King Shark.

A king is given a name reflecting his personal symbols, as per Dahomey’s custom. The dolphin, the egg and the coconut palm trees are representations.

1/ We've discussed Persia-in-China, but what about China-in-Persia? Before the Mongols, known sources record few Chinese ppl in Iran. However, Chinese products left a distinct mark. The most famous (and imitated) was Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. #iranchina - @IranChinaGuy

2/ Chinese ceramics were an important part of a global trade network that linked China and the Middle East to the world economic system. Many of these objects were transported overland in a series of trade networks, today called the "Silk Road". In addition to land routes...

3/ ...maritime trade flourished. Middle Eastern, African, and Chinese merchants flowed back and forth between important ports along the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the coast of India, and the islands in the South China Sea. This has been called the "Maritime Silk Road".

3/ As early as the 9th and 10th centuries, ceramics were being exported in large quantities. Ibn Battuta comments that Chinese ceramics are “carried to India and to other climes so that it even reaches our country in the Maghreb. And it is the most marvelous of kinds of pottery.”

4/ The famous Muslim Chinese explorer Zheng He also documented the widespread appreciation of Chinese ceramics. Ma Huan, his traveling companion, mentions the extremely enthusiastic reception their ceramic goods received in Champa (modern Vietnam), India, Ceylon, and Mecca.

On nationalism

Is the Nazi holocaust & colonization of Europe an expression of a reactionary political strategy?

Bougois nationalism often consolidates power within one nationality - Germany stripped the Jewish nation of their right to life, without contradicting class intrests

Nazis stoked the racist bougois nationalism in Germany. Nationalism has historically been used to suppress the class contradiction below one of national opression.

Ex: (Parenti) Nazi propaganda described themselves as a classless nation, and the opressed jews as the enemy.

Ex: (Nokhem Shtif - "the pogroms in Ukrain") in Ukraine, during the Civil War of 1918-1919, the white army propagated the Jeudo-Bolshevik conspiracy, and called for the Ukrainian nation to fight the red army and the Jewish people - leading to brutal pogroms & a swollen white army

Ex: (J. Sakai - Settlers) in America, a privelaged, white settler nationality was produced and cultivated as a loyal garrison army, which could dominate the indigenous and African nationalities, at the benefit of the European bourgeois state.

Ex: (Ibrahim Kaypakkaya - "on the national question") in the 1970s, (oppressed) Kurdish and (oppressor) Turkish nationalism entailed the proletariat of each nation fighting for the benefit of their national bourgeoisie, instead of their liberation.

1/ Wow, what an essay, trying to distill thoughts from this masterpiece: https://t.co/bxR3cnNJrM

Hat tip: @NSKinsella

The essay is about inflation's effect on culture, through the analysis of a short story set in Weimar Germany. I've selected some quotes and will comment.

2/ "With all points of reference gone, the only law...appears to be perpetual change."

When money changes, everything else anchored on money starts to change as well. Prices being the most obvious one, but crucially, not the only one.

3/ "...if we seek an explanation for the dissolution of authority in the world he is portraying, we should look to the monetary madness of the Weimar Republic."

The insanity and disorder of society, in other words, can be traced back to monetary policy.

4/ "Everything threatens to become unreal once money ceases to be real."

Unreal, in this sense is counterfeit or fake. Societal attitudes become as fake as the money we use because it no longer just represents value provided, but also value fraudulently obtained.

5/ "By making money worthless, inflation threatens to undermine and dissolve all sense of value in a society."

Money helps us to know where we can expend our labor to best provide value. If our sense of value is skewed, we will no longer properly value our labor, time or energy.

Why should SJP’s recent shift in fake news attacks / propaganda to attack large corporates in SL should worry us? I explain my thoughts below after observed fake news that originated from the SJP camp that targeted SL’s largest apparel exporter, State Banks and listed telco - SLT

SJP is the latest avatar of UNP that built his political legacy around free markets, property rights, and pro corporate / capital market policies since independence, often paying a huge political price for its unwavering commitment to them - in 1956, 1970, and even in 2005

These principals we staunchly demonstrated all the way till 2014, when the party suddenly developed a penchant for populist policies in their desperation to oust the Rajapaksa administration. Perhaps, it was also frustration towards the corporate sector’s support for pro inv

Policies of Rajapaksa administration seen during the massive post war infrastructure investment wave. The combination of populism and the misguided zeal to teach a lesson to corporates ended up in the disastrous retrospective super gain tax of 2015 targeting the largest corporate

Suspension of the Port City project, which at the time was the largest committed FDI source and also a massive spending spree on state employee salaries as a vote buying exercise- and predictably, investments crashed , stock marked tanked , bud deficit in 2015 rose &rupee crashed

The latest focal S:N501 build is now up! It includes data from 4 Jan 2021.

We have new sequences in 501Y.V1/B.1.1.7 from Denmark, Singapore, Australia, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Germany, Brazil, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Pakistan & the USA.

1/12

https://t.co/FTjvV7T7wL

Denmark has 43 new sequences (in orange). These indicate additional introductions, as well as further expansion of the existing large local transmission cluster we saw previously (shown in zoomed divergence view).

2/12

10 new sequences from Portugal (orange) indicate additional, separate introductions.

3/12

Singapore has 5 new sequences (yellow). These indicate at least 5 separate introductions for the total of 6 sequences, with two identical sequences likely being 1 introduction.

4/12

5 new sequences from the US, from Florida & California (older sequences crossed through).

Zooming in (divergence view) on the California cluster, the relationship between these samples is difficult to infer from phylogenies alone.

5/12

#Thread! For peace in #Balochistan, Islamabad must review FC's role.

In 2021, the conflict in Balochistan entered its 17th year. Islamabad deployed FC in Balochistan in 2004 to counter insurgent activities. The force soon after its deployment became unpopular among the locals

for human rights violations and heavy-handed operations. The Balochistan provincial govt gave police powers to FC in 2013. Since then, FC's traditional role in maintaining border security expanded into controlling crimes and countering terror activities.

More than 550 #ShiaHazaras have been killed in FC's presence since 2012, and thousands of Hazaras have been targeted and wounded in apparent sectarian attacks. Thousands of Baloch activists have disappeared without a trace. More than 1,000 dead bodies of political activists

and suspected armed insurgents were found dumped between 2010 and 2016, according to a report by BBC in 2016. Officials from Ministry of Interior said: "from 2010 to 2015, organized political violence events linked to the insurgency gradually increased, peaking in 2015 with 96

events and 383 total reported fatalities for the year. In 49 suicide attacks in Balochistan between 2003-2018, at least 939 people died, and more than 1820 injured. As insurgents activities increase, FC has become more ruthless and lethal targeting civilians and unarmed activists