In my annual, ritual meditation on King, I keep thinking about those misused,spontaneous references to his “four little children” in “I Have a Dream.” As many have noted, this passage has been pressed into the work of domesticating King’s radical project, into inserting him 1/

into a reactionary, progressivist narrative emphasizing just how far “we’ve” come & overcome. Thinking too about the fact that King’s most enduring rhetorical tropes—the touchstones of American memory of the Civil Rights struggle—the dream, the mountaintop, the Promised Land, 2/

are all chosen from the end of the addresses in which they appeared. The beginnings of these speeches are seldom emphasized, although they are rich with suggestions for thinking about time and tense, ending and beginning, past and present. In his last sermon, 3/

“I See the Mountaintop,” widely considered his most apocalyptic, King took as his point of departure, the matter of time. “If I were standing at the beginning of time, “ he began, “with the possibility of a general, panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now, and 4/

The Almighty said to me, “Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?” King then takes the reader on an imaginary journey through the ages, pausing at historic sites and momentous occurrences, ending with Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation. Then /5

.@claudiahammond introduces the panel discussion on elitism in occupational psychology with @NancyDoylePsych @TomCalvard @PavtweetKhurana and Ben Williams, former Chair of @ABPsychologists

Ben starts by taking a poll on the topic, do we feel the profession is elitist? 22% say yes, 13% say not at all. #DOPconf

Ben says if success comes to the "best" in a profession, how accessible is it? Or do factors such as network bring you to the elite? Challenging to level the playing field. #DOPconf

Turning to @PavtweetKhurana, who takes issue with "best". Who defines it, standards mapped against what? Does school define access? We can have an elite without elitism, it is exclusion that is problematic. #DOPconf

And now @NancyDoylePsych who talks about lack of disability, racial and other areas of representation in Occupational Psychology. #DOPconf

THE SNP'S 12-POINT PLAN FOR AN ILLEGAL REFERENDUM

1. We intend to fool our followers by proposing that we can hold a referendum on Scottish Separation.

2. A bonus is that we can distract them from Sturgeon’s problems in the Salmond inquiry.

3. We'll not tell our followers that we have no legal right to hold a referendum and never mention that it’s a matter reserved to the UK government.

4. We’ll tell them that it’s up to the UK Government to challenge the legality of our actions. Just like someone saying that burglary is not a crime, breaking into your house and then telling the judge it's legal because they said so.

5. We'll not mention that, because it’s illegal from the outset, local authorities, who control polling places, will reject holding it. And The Electoral Commission? Better not say anything about them either.

A mini history re: AZ Senate Seat Politics:
McCain was an AZ Senator for 31 yrs over 5 terms.
In 2015 he was primary challenged by Dr. Kelli Ward, an AZ State Senator and tea party fav.
In a surprisingly brutal primary, where McCain poured HUGE 💰 into, he won. (Did he?🤔)

So here's the problem. Most (but admittedly not all) of the R reps & sens are signing up for this charade *because they know it will fail*. Their calculus is this gives them a media / primary advantage for doing it, but can safely discount the logical conclusion of their argument

That works for them because there's basically no personal cost to doing it. And in the US system as it is, not at all clear to me that externally-imposed consequences would ever be remotely on the table. Not criminal; no personal consequences; no political costs. So an easy win.

The problem is that this strategy is now the new normal. Next time the political cost of engaging in this strategy will be *far* lower.

That's fine (but obnoxious) so long as it stays in the realm of symbolic political bullshittery.

But one day it won't be. Maybe that'll be in 2025, maybe 2029, maybe later. But eventually this strategy will coincide with majorities in Congress where the strategy isn't doomed

And on that day, America will break in a way that won't resolve without extreme violence. America *will not survive* the direct blow of a democratic election for the highest office being explicitly overruled by the other party.

@Justfirenews Not quite. I’m arguing that they did the best that they legally could when constrained by bad policy. These are hard ethical calls. Do you continue working for an org that you think is heading in the wrong direction, or do you try to do your best from inside?

I think about this a lot. For instance, my university brought back uni students for in-person learning last fall w no surveillance testing or modified housing. I thought that was a reckless decision. But I didn’t quit my job...

Partially bc the balance of the work my colleagues were doing locally, nationally, & globally was so important and I could support that in a small way. Also income and longterm professional goals that I think will help public health beyond covid.

I think my position is justified. I think the work of many of my applied public health colleagues has been heroic and harm-reducing.

But I recognize that there are always ethical minefields. For instance, finders. My research is mostly supported by the federal government. I think it’s ethical to use that money for my work. But what about Department of Defense? They also...

Now that we lost our power, it's time for healing.

Of course, if we were in your position, we would crush you. That's what would make your capitulation so healing.

Yes, we are acting in bad faith. But if you acted in good faith, that would help us a lot, I mean, help the country heal.

We definitely haven't learned our lesson, but if you give us a break, maybe we will.

Admittedly, we have acted very badly. But do you want to sink down to our level? You are better than that, America.

Pete Buttigieg testifies today on his nomination to run the Dept. of Transportation.

I spent almost a year covering Buttigieg. He refused to speak with me, so I’m going to thread some of the things senators could ask him about today.

In 2011, Jiha’d Vasquez, 16, was found dead, hanged, on a utility tower.

In 2012, Buttigieg became mayor and Jiha’d’s mother asked him for help with the case. Common Council records show Buttigieg was at the meetings where she spoke about her son.

Jones and a local NAACP official wanted help because her son’s death had been ruled a suicide…with no autopsy and no investigation.

Items were missing from his backpack.

Jones told reporter @jharrell6468 that she asked Buttigieg to help get the case re-opened. She says he gave her his card and told her to call.

But when she did, she never got through to him, and no one ever returned her

When we looked into it in 2019, the county coroner told me it would be “prudent” to reopen the case. And also told us the file on the case was missing.

Buttigieg never responded to Jones or to our questions about the case. It remains closed

Organizations Protecting Former FPI Members and Public Provocateurs Are Next In Line.

On December 30, 2020, the good people of Indonesia felt relieved, because they received the gift of being free from a bothersome gripping fear.

The activities of the Defenders of Islam Front (FPI) were banned by the government, because they were growing increasingly far from the life of our Pancasila-based society which is tolerant of differences.

The public can now hope to live more peaceful life, in the democratic environment which has been growing since the reformation period began in 1998.

There will be no more disruptions of people who are worshipping or holding weddings, no banning of saluting the national flag, no more raids of cafes, mini-markets, drugstores, eateries, shopping malls and other activities where that group had taken the law into their own hands.

Organized criminal activity hiding behind a religious front has been curtailed by the government in order to uphold the law, as well as for the benefit of social discipline.

You know how unwilling men are to accept that their attraction to women is socialized to desire and prefer women closer to a child’s age/ aesthetic? They will deny it until they die even when you point out how that most of what they find attractive represents “youth” 🙂🙂🙃🙃

First: Skin

No wrinkles or blemished skin, even if their skin looks like a Google satellite map

Ask a man over 30 if he finds wrinkles in a woman’s face sexually desirable, see what he says. He should. He likely cant. He doesn’t know how. He’s never learned to see them that way

Second: Fitness

They seek evidence of “health” bc that is associated with youth. We know that as we age, our bodies/ health deteriorates. Women who “work out” are seen as healthier and more youthful, not old and decrepit. However, this doesn’t apply to fat women who exercise

Third: Body Count/Marital status

The assumption is that the older a woman is the more men have been inside of her and if she’s divorced, a man used to own her pussy. This isn’t something pushed as attractive. Older men seeking younger women is connected to this

body count matters for various reasons but the one we don’t talk enough about is sexual insecurity and the fear of not measuring up to past lovers. The more there are, the greater the risk of failure. Younger women are more attractive bc they minimize this risk of embarrassment

1/14 As a rabbi, the moment something significant, if not historic occurs, there is pressure to weigh in, put out a statement or write a post. The luxury of time to process, think, study, consider and consult is gone. In the absence of commenting immediately people draw their own

2/14 conclusions and assumptions about what you believe. So while I wish I had time, here it goes:

3/14 What happened yesterday needs no nuance and should take no time to comment on. The attack on our Capitol and on our Democracy, both the symbolism of it and more importantly the physical attack, was horrific, reprehensible, indefensible and intolerable. It was categorically

4/14 different from other rioting and looting that has been happening and to compare or make equal is an insult to those who were threatened and to all who hold that building and space sacred. All those who participated must be brought to justice. Guilt and accountability lie not

1/14 As a rabbi, the moment something significant, if not historic occurs, there is pressure to weigh in, put out a statement or write a post. The luxury of time to process, think, study, consider and consult is gone. In the absence of commenting immediately people draw their own

I think I just realised why the cipher of ‘trans rights’ (which few seem to be able to define in concrete terms) has become the sine qua non of human rights.

Unlike inclusion of women or ethnic minorities, Jolyon et al. know they won’t need to cede any spaces in boardrooms.

It’s 3 a.m. and the 2020 Fall Sitting of the 30th Alberta Legislature has concluded. #ableg 1/10

Jason Kenney and the UCP shut down debate on a number of their horrendous bills, including one to strip away workers protections and supports for the very Albertans on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. #ableg 2/10

The Government also rammed through legislation to accelerate their failed $4.7-billion corporate handout tonight. #ableg 3/10

Earlier in the session, the UCP passed broad legislation to put tolls on new Alberta roads and existing roads that are under construction. They also stripped away rights for drivers injured in motor-vehicle collisions. #ableg 4/10

The UCP pushed forward healthcare legislation with glaring privacy holes that have been flagged by the Information and Privacy Commissioner. #ableg 5/10

Hey, Happy New Year's Eve, I want to talk about the federal workforce 1/

Let's say in theory that a prominent retired military leader recently suggested that you could "pink slip 50% of the [defense civilian] workforce = 4x gain in productivity."

This is in no way unique, and is totally acceptable political rhetoric by public leaders.

Bashing the federal workforce as lazy, slow, pointless, non-responsive, intransigent, or even subversive is common, even successful, political commentary on a bipartisan basis.

There are many interesting things about this to me, but I'll start with an aside: do you imagine that a congressman could remark, to applause, that we should remove half the soldiers in the Army in order to experience a massive increase in military readiness? Probably not.

But back to your basic bureaucrat. I'm fascinated by understanding the origin of America's derision for the average federal worker. Because to start, it doesn't match with federal worker's view of themselves.

@salty3y3s @matthaig1 1. Thank you for asking! I don't mind sharing, but an important question deserves a full answer and hopefully it will help someone else too.
I was "stable", but not ideally so on strattera for several years, it kept me emotionally level, although now I'm off it,

@matthaig1 2. I realise that it kept me somewhat muted in my emotions. I avoided the extremes, but that included the highs as and the lows. I didn't enjoy watching comedy or listening to music as much for example, but I figured that was worth it at the time, to escape the extreme emotions.

@matthaig1 3 I also found that it wasn't as good as when I was on methylphenidate, at controlling my "primary" ADHD symptoms, such as how to prioritise and actually start tasks. That makes atomoxetine (Strattera) sound rubbish, but it gave me a period of emotional stability over a very

@matthaig1 4 stressful time and allowed me to function during some very difficult life events, it really was what I needed at the time and it could work for others.
My decision to come off it was kind term and very considered. I was frankly, terrified to do so. I hadn't been unmedicated

@matthaig1 5 Since my diagnosis almost 10 years ago and my life before that was very different. Very chaotic and basically surviving, desperately feeling like life was so hard and not understanding why, veering from one last minute by my fingernails achievement to another, that never felt