BC EDUCATION
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

2020 has been filled with many challenges and our community has had to adapt in unprecedented ways.

We invite you to take a moment to look back with us at what has been an unforgettable year, and what YOU made possible. (Thread)
https://t.co/epK3yfJWZB

 At the onset of the year, the coalition convened in January to plan the strategy for Secular America Votes - 2020, which was headed up this year by @SecularStudents who did an amazing job turning out the the vote of secular students this Nov!
https://t.co/RZBNhQUvfM
In February (*way back* when we could be together in person) we hosted our annual Member's Meeting with key staff from our 19 member orgs. Attendees lobbied Congress and attend a meeting of the Congressional Freethought Caucus (CFC) where they present their priorities.
When the pandemic lockdown began, Director of Policy & Gov Affairs @CaseyBrinck pivoted to virtual lobbying, contacting not only Congressional leaders, but @SBAgov, @HUDgov, and the @US_FDA as well. Making sure your leaders were held accountable.

https://t.co/vHDk7307D8
This year was dark for so many. We saw many atheists and humanists around the world persecuted for their views including Nigerian Humanist leader Mubarak Bala. Our coalition continues to stand in solidarity, demanding his freedom #FreeMubarakBala

https://t.co/SRW2f5TZEf
These inhumane blasphemy laws finally got the Congressional condemnation they deserve with this year's passage of #HRes512 and #SRes458. We thank @RepRaskin, @SenatorLankford, and @SenCoonsOffice for their leadership helping these resolutions pass.
This year was also wake up call to the continued persecution in our own country. While racism has long been aided by Christian Nationalism, we continue to improve the intersectionality of our work.

Our movement benefits from the many Black atheists and humanist voices #BLM
Our coalition is full of diversity and that was shown & celebrated this year in various ways with @BNonbelievers' billboard campaign, @LGBTQHumanists' 'Centering the Margins' Conference & @FreethoughtScty's Secular Day of the Dead. SCA is proud to have supported these efforts!
Our movement saw many of our annual traditions and gatherings moved virtually but that did not deter us!

One highlight for us was facilitating & conducting interviews with CFC members @RepRaskin and @RepHuffman for @SecularStudents' virtual Lobby Day. https://t.co/8cFCBMd1oB
Speaking of which, the CFC has grown significantly this year with the additions of @RepRashida and @RepDonBeyer!

The increased visibility and inclusion of nontheists in politics is something we do not undervalue. This year was historic in that regard.
https://t.co/7vkGzYxkBG
This year was filled with loss and grief for many. Many in our coalition have lost friends and loved ones, as well as influential figures who championed secularism and skepticism like Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg & James Randi.

We honor them in our memories and actions
2020 was the year the Secular Vote made its voice heard. With President-elect Biden's inauguration around the corner, we are optimistic about adoption of our priorities laid out in our in our Secular Agenda for the 117th Congress and Biden Admin: https://t.co/ByxLE3aPal
We can only do this work because of your support. If you appreciate the work we are doing, and want to be a part of our efforts, we hope you will consider giving today: https://t.co/Wq71AeLuC7
Today is not only the last day of 2020, it is the LAST DAY to have your donation doubled! Our 2021 lobbying efforts begin Tuesday, and with a lot of damage done to the wall of separation over the last four years, there is a great deal of work to be done: https://t.co/Wq71AeLuC7
#Secularism Big thanks to all our member organizations @AmericanAtheist @EthicalUnion @americnhumanist @BNonbelievers @CampQuest @center4inquiry @ExmuslimsOrg @FFRF @FreethoughtScty @FoundBB @hafreeusa @HumanistsInt @militaryatheist @RFRorg @SecularStudents @humanisticjews
Thread unrolled: https://t.co/WIf354RRwG

More from Education

Sarah Allen
Sarah Allen
@Mssarahmssarah
For months, but especially after the new CDC school recs came out, supporters of reopening all schools now have been peddling the idea that schools across the country have been open all year successfully. This argument is used to push for ALL schools to be opened now.

A long 🧵

Though some schools in the U.S. are open & doing well with safety protocols, many places used as examples of opening success have profoundly unsafe schools & are neglecting covid safety. Some have been lucky not to have outbreaks and other issues--it's not that they're safe.

In the last few weeks, I've been in touch with teachers in Ohio, Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Utah, and Pennsylvania.

(Thanks to @eduwonkette_jen @GeoRebekah and @saribethrose for the threads and forums that have helped me meet SO MANY teachers this year).

I collected the accounts of dozens of teachers. Obviously, this isn't an exhaustive list and it isn't a study! It's what teachers on the ground in some states are experiencing. And it's easy to see why so many in our profession are so frightened this year.

Here's the list:

There are currently open schools in the US that are being hailed as "successful" that have:

▪️no safety protocols at all besides contact cleaning, in some districts
▪️some districts with no mask mandate
▪️classes in windowless rooms, some with full classes of 20-30
EDUCATION
Factualist
Factualist
@FactualistCom
Trending news of The Rock's daughter Simone Johnson's announcing her new Stage Name is breaking our Versus tool because "Wrestling Name" isn't in our database!

Here's the most useful #Factualist comparison pages #Thread 🧵


What is the difference between “pseudonym” and “stage name?”

Pseudonym means “a fictitious name (more literally, a false name), as those used by writers and movie stars,” while stage name is “the pseudonym of an entertainer.”

https://t.co/hT5XPkTepy #english #wiki #wikidiff

People also found this comparison helpful:

Alias #versus Stage Name: What’s the difference?

Alias means “another name; an assumed name,” while stage name means “the pseudonym of an entertainer.”

https://t.co/Kf7uVKekMd #Etymology #words

Another common #question:

What is the difference between “alias” and “pseudonym?”

As nouns alias means “another name; an assumed name,” while pseudonym means “a fictitious name (more literally, a false name), as those used by writers and movie

Here is a very basic #comparison: "Name versus Stage Name"

As #nouns, the difference is that name means “any nounal word or phrase which indicates a particular person, place, class, or thing,” but stage name means “the pseudonym of an
EDUCATION
Advertisement
Antoine FLAHAULT
Antoine FLAHAULT
@FLAHAULT
1/9 - “In the second wave we acquired much more evidence that schoolchildren are almost equally, if not more infected by SARS-CoV-2 than others.”

2/9 - “The problem is not that schools are unsafe for children,” Mr. Boris Johnson said last week. “The problem is schools may nonetheless act as vectors for transmission, causing the virus to spread between households.”

3/9 - “An antibody survey conducted by researchers in Geneva in May and December, using thousands of random samples, found that children of age 6 to 18 were getting infected as often as young adults. The study has yet to be peer reviewed.”

4/9 - “One reason for this: The Swiss city’s schools have been open since the summer, while restrictions have been placed on adults, meaning schoolchildren played a bigger role in transmitting the virus during the autumn surge.”

5/9 - “In Austria, a nationwide survey by universities and medical institutes found that children under 10 showed a similar rate of infection to those between 11 and 14, and that the children in general were getting infected as often as teachers.”
EDUCATION
Amit Shekhar
Amit Shekhar
@funandflight
Much of upper middle class urban India has forgotten its agrarian roots
=====================
As a little kid, growing up among elderly who have seen only food shortages, the need to save every morsel was an instinctive reaction. I was conditioned to wipe clean every bit of

rice on the plate before depositing it in the sink. That training continues even today. Even in a Star hotel buffet, where we pay exorbitantly, I don't leave an empty plate. I make it a point to force everyone to eat what's ordered or pack the leftovers.

But I realise, our kids don't learn this frugality as well as my generation did. For them, food is like money that can be on tap in an ATM. You pay to buy a burger and French fries at McDonalds. And YouTube is full of automated farms. And so they have little sense of hardship

an Indian farmer faces. At least my generation grew up with visuals of Krishi Darshan compulsorily forced down our throat. We didn't have 800 channels to choose from. Even the TV came alive only for 6 hours in evening 😀
As a kid, with an extended family with roots into

hinterlands, I have waded in knee deep rice fields and I have walked through sugarcane fields on bare foot. Innumerable times, I have gotten hurt by the thorny shrubbery. Since our knickers invariably were precariously held together by safety pins (for the frequency with
EDUCATION
Tracy O'Connell Novick
Tracy O'Connell Novick
@TracyNovick
Okay, #MAEdu, let's talk FY22 and the Student Opportunity Act: https://t.co/o1tgppGy4K


First up:

The FIRST year, Governor Baker?

This is the second year of SOA implementation: you're missing one.


So, are we going to do this in six years, or are we just going to kick the can ANOTHER year on kids?

Remember, school funding is builds on prior years.

We never get that missing funding back.


Also: what are the base numbers being used?

Is the Governor dropping enrollment, even though we all know that was an artificial drop?


There's a decent chance that a WHOLE bunch of those kindergartner and preschoolers are going to be back this fall if we manage to get kids into buildings, PLUS we'll have the USUAL enrollment of preK and K!

...and less funding than usual?
EDUCATION

You May Also Like

Anshul Pandey
Anshul Pandey
@Anshulspiritual
SHAKTA DHARMA AND THEIR ACHARYAS

Śhākta or Shakti or Devi pooja is not a new upasana. It is being carried out right from the time of Vedic period. Puran's tell us that Rishi Vashishth would worship Tara devi. Parshuram ji worshipped Tripura devi,


Agastya learned the secrets of Shri Vidya from Vishnu ji in Hayagriva avtaar. Bhagwan Ram, Laxman and Krishna too learned the tantrik vidya. Even Rig Ved 7.103.5 Sayan Bhasya also mentions about Śhākta/शाक्त(शाक्तस्येव शक्तिमतः).

Then we find that in the Harrappan excavations many figurines depicting Shakti were found. So in that age too, which was supposedly an urban city shakti was being worshipped. So naturally this tradition would be prevalent in rural areas too.

It is wrong to say that shakti puja originated from Bengal although it was popular there. Matsyendranath received this vidya from Maheshwari herself in Kamrup. We know that Shakti pooja is practised all over India.

Not much is known about the Śhākta saints in other parts of India in the middle ages.

Adi Shankaracharya wrote Pramanech saar named book on tantra and Anand lahri book on Devi strotras. Then there were Acharya Shankar, Bhaskar Rai, Laxman, Deshikendra, Raghav Bhatt, Krishnand,
ALL
Peter McCormack [Jan/3\u279e\u20bf \U0001f511\u220e]
Peter McCormack [Jan/3...
@PeterMcCormack
1/ So here is a thread on how I turned $32,000 into $1.2m and back to pretty much zero (once taxes are paid).

Just note, I am not bitter or salty in any way at all, the last 2 years have been an amazing ride - travelled the world, been wealthy, been poor.

2/ Dec '16, my advertising agency folded, I had a little bit of money left and I put $32k into Bitcoin and Ether. As it started to go up I diversified into everything, Monero, Dash, this that, any crap - even Ripplecoin. Everything just kept going up.

3/ By March I think I had around $300k and $500k by the summer. I used to take 25% out but towards the end of the summer I got greedy and put it all back in and by December it was $1.2m.

4/ Thinking I was an absolute genius I decided to start a bunch of businesses. As silly as it sounds I had this goal of making $5m as I wanted to buy Bedford Town Football Club and get them in the league, and as Crypto was going up forever I needed 6 months.

5/ So:
- Trading (income 1)
- Podcast (income 2)
- Mining (income 3)
- Mining pool (income 4)
- Consulting (income 5)

Yes - all of the above as a one-man army :)
LIFE
Advertisement
Jaya_Upadhyaya
Jaya_Upadhyaya
@Jayalko1
SRI BANASHANKARI AMMAN, BANGALORE
#bharatmandir

Located in Southern Bangalore, this is one of the most popular places of worship in Bangalore City.
Devoted to Devi Banashankari, this shrine is visited specially during Rahukala which is believed to be an unfavorable time.


Somanna Shetty, a great devotee of Devi, brought this murti from Badami’s Banshankari Amma Kshetram.
It is said that many years ago, three ladies visited this shrine and requested the pujari to conduct puja for them. Since it was the inauspicious rahu kaal, the pujari refused.


However, upon their insistence, he conducted the puja. When he returned with prasadam, the ladies vanished. This made the people believe that they were none other than the Devi herself. Since then, the people perform poojas here during the Rahukaal.
@GunduHuDuGa


People use lemons as a diya. Lemons are cut from the centre and their pulps are removed, for pouring oil in them.
It is strongly believed that Devi removes all the troubles from the life of her devotees during the Rahukala although it is considered inauspicious for any pooja.
ALL
The Chartians
The Chartians
@chartians
Took me 5 years to get the best Chartink scanners for Stock Market, but you’ll get it in 5 mminutes here ⏰

Do Share the above tweet 👆

These are going to be very simple yet effective pure price action based scanners, no fancy indicators nothing - hope you liked it.

https://t.co/JU0MJIbpRV

52 Week High
One of the classic scanners very you will get strong stocks to Bet on.

https://t.co/V69th0jwBr

Hourly Breakout
This scanner will give you short term bet breakouts like hourly or 2Hr breakout

Volume shocker
Volume spurt in a stock with massive X times
SCREENERS , ALL , CHARTLINK SCREENERS
SK
SK
@sk_diary1
Sri Sanjeevi Rayar Temple located in Ayyangar Kulam,near Kanchipuram,TN

#Thread

Ancient but beautiful temple dedicated to Hanuman. This temple is a legendary one. According to the Sthala Puranam of Sanjeevi Rayar temple,it is associated with an episode from Ramayana.


Legend story -Hanuman was flying from Himalayas to Lanka bearing Sanjeevi hill to revive Lakshmana during battle between Rama& Ravana, a piece of the Sanjeevi Parvat fell at this place.Many believe this legendary story & even today that no one here dies of any kind of poisoning.

From historical background of the temple it is known that temple was originally built by a great scholar &administrator Kotikanyadanam Lakshmikumara Tatacharya. Temple itself&village were named following name of great scholar Tatacharya, who was then popularly known as Ayyangar.

He was the royal preceptor of Vijayanagara emperor Venkata Raya who had his capital at Chandragiri in AP.Upon returning from a pilgrimage,robbers tried to attack Tatacharya at this place. Being a great devotee of Hanuman,he instantly composed a poem in Sanskrit praising Hanuman.


The bandits immediately ran away &Tatacharya decided to build a temple dedicated to Anjaneya at that very place.This Sanskrit poem is called Hanumad Vimshati, has been inscribed in Grantha script inside this temple.The huge temple tank called Tatasamudram, in honor of Tatacharya.
ALL