STAR WARS GENOCIDE THREAD: If you're a Mandalorian fan you are no doubt aware that @ginacarano was fired by Disney for explaining on Twitter how the same sort of behavior Democrats are engaging now in resulted in the holocaust. The left-wing mob wasted no time proving her right.

1/ PROFILE THREAD: So just who were the people who entered the Capitol on the afternoon of January 6th? If you believe the media they were wealthy, well-armed, white nationalists seeking to overthrow the government - a riotous insurgency. Here are the stories of a few of them:

1/ Georgia State Senate Hearing Live Tweet Thread:

The current Senate witness, J. Hutton Pulitzer, claims that the state's ballot auditors audited reproduction ballots because the original ballots are missing.

2/ This is concerning because previous witnesses testified that stacks of ballots appeared to be machine-made missing telltale creases and having identical vote markings for Biden and no other candidates.

3/ J. Hutton Pulitzer states his team can review 100% of Georgia's ballots to determine if they are REAL or FAKE within two hours. The State of Georgia has refused to allow any examination of the ballots for authenticity.

4/ J. Hutton Pulitzer claims he can determine the authenticity of the ballots from the State Farm Arena within hours if the state will make them available to his company. He calls the physical ballot the Holy Grail.

5/ The Senate has moved to compel the Georgia Secretary of State to turn over the physical ballots. The fight will likely end up in the courts as the Secretary of State has refused to comply with the Senate's request.

1/ Political violence is NEVER an appropriate call to action. It is certainly not appropriate for a sitting United States Senator like @CoryBooker to call on Americans to head to the Capitol to "get up in the face of Congresspeople." #incitement

ENEMY OF THE STATE: There is a growing concern in Biden's administration that the world's richest African American could pose a huge problem for Biden and Democrats in general. This thread discusses the possible reasons why they fear the mercurial billionaire named Elon Musk.

1/25 ELECTOR CHALLENGE THREAD

Each state governor sent their slate of electors by registered mail to Senate President Pence. By tradition, he will count these votes in a joint session of Congress tomorrow. If he simply counts those votes Biden will become president. But...

2/ Traditionally states have empowered their governors to certify and transmit the votes of their electors to the Senate President but this year at least six GOP-controlled legislatures acted to revoke this authority and count the votes of electors for President Trump.

3/ The first question is whether or not the state's legislatures have the constitutional authority to rescind the governors' traditional authority to transmit the 'official' vote of the electors to the Senate President.

4/ Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 3, gives the state legislature the sole authority to determine the manner of appointment of electors. While a state has the right to outsource this to the governor they do not lose the right to change their mind at a later date.

5/ Six state legislatures changed their minds and voted to send alternative electors to the Senate President. These electors were loyal to President Trump and cast their ballots for him. So what is the problem?

Amongst my absolute favourite musicians of all time, one name that is certainly near the top is of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sahab. I don’t know if any such data exists, but I am pretty sure he would also be among the most widely sold international artists in India. (1/43)

This is a thread about Nusrat sahab’s connections with India - his first performance here, songs blatantly copied from his compositions, his non-film albums done here, and also his work in Bollywood. So buckle up, coz this is gonna be very very loooong. (2/43)

The story starts in 1979, when a certain legend by the name of Raj Kapoor was invited to a Qawwali show in Birmingham, and heard Nusrat sahab performing there. So impressed by his music was Kapoor sahab, that he made up his mind to invite Nusrat sahab to India. (3/43)

Soon after, in early 1980, Rishi Kapoor was getting married to Neetu Singh, and Raj Kapoor promptly invited Nusrat sahab to perform at one of the sangeet ceremonies. The invitation actually was sent through Pakistani actor Mohammad Ali, a mutual contact of the two. (4/43)

Nusrat sahab accepted the invite, and was apparently excited with the prospect of also visiting Ajmer Sharif. His performance at the sangeet was attended by the who’s who of Indian film and music at the time, and he is said to have performed for hours through the night. (5/43)

At it's #NewYearsEve we're going to end the year by playing the Agatha Christie game!

I'll show you the book cover artwork by Tom Adams, and you guess the Fontana edition Agatha Christie novel it's from.

Here's your first one...

A little bit trickier for question 2...

A lot trickier for number 3, but the clues are there if you know your Christie...

And here's your last Agatha Christie cover for this round - quite a famous one.

I'll post the answers in a bit, so get your guesses in now please!

Here are the answers to round 1 of the Agatha Christie game. I hope you got a few right, as round 2 will exercise your little grey cells a little bit more...

The more I think about the Bruce Springsteen Jeep ad, the more disgusted I get. It's allegedly a call for unity, but it is drenched in a very particular culture's iconography: a Christian church (that superimposes the cross on the US flag), farms, rural living, "the middle" ...

... it's all so white. This is the "America" of nationalist fairy tales: rural land, settled by self-reliant white farmers & good Christians. It's all trucks & dust & manual labor & squinting at the horizon while wiping sweat from your brow. This is the kind of "unity" ...

... designed to comfort (or at least not threaten) white people. It says, "let's unify by joining together to reaffirm America's mythical self-conception, despite the real-world violence & repression it has always entailed."

If I'm, I dunno, a latino housekeeper in Vegas or black Uber driver in Sacramento, what's in the commercial for me? What does this kind of "unity" promise me? What can I find in "the (mythical) middle"? Nothing. It's not for me.

If America ever does come together in some kind of social solidarity again (which looks pretty doubtful), it's not going to be around the myths & iconography of 20th century hegemonic white culture in the US. It's going to be around something NEW -- new stories, new icons.

Dear hearts, some terrific news that I can now share❗️I got a book deal❗️YAS! I am overjoyed that my next book, ABUNDANT BLACK JOY: THE LIFE AND WORK OF PATRICK KELLY, will be published by @AmistadBooks @HarperCollins in Fall 2023! 💜💜💜💜❤️❤️❤️🎊🎉😍🥰🙏🏿✊🏿

There’s much more work to do, but those who know me know that I’m a gratitude girl, so right now I want to pause and sit fully in this moment and just be grateful and express that gratitude.

I’m so grateful to my agent, Tanya McKinnon, & Carol Taylor, editorial director at @McKinnonLit ,for their wisdom, kindness, & artful guidance in process, but also in the ways they’ve inspired me to be open to new ways to think about my work as a scholar, writer, & creative.

I’m grateful to my Soul Sister, @alexispauline, for connecting me w/Tanya. I’m grateful also for ways Alexis & @SangodareJulia, also my kindred and who I consider my pastor, have been a loving presence beside me & encourage me in this ancestrally held work. I love y’all so much.

I’m excited to work w/ my editor, the other Patri(c)k, Patrik Henry Bass. To be shepherded through process by a longtime & proven talent in publishing, and someone who knows books and fashion/beauty industries through his years as an editor at Essence, is a dream come true.