🗣 @Ianblackford_MP: “Mr Speaker, this afternoon, millions around the world will breathe a massive sigh of relief when President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are sworn into office.” #PMQs

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "Firstly, can I thank you, Presiding Officer, for this recall of Parliament today and join you in wishing everyone all the very best for a new year that we hope, despite its very difficult start, will bring better times."

NS: "The Cabinet met this morning to assess the up to date Covid situation - which I must say at the outset is extremely serious - and to discuss what further action is necessary to minimise further spread of the virus. I will set out our decisions shortly."

NS: "However, I can confirm now, in summary, that we decided to introduce from midnight tonight, for the duration of January, a legal requirement to stay at home except for essential purposes. This is similar to the lockdown of March last year."

NS: "However, before I set out these decisions in more detail, I want to take the opportunity to explain in some detail why they are so necessary.

In the last few weeks, there have been two significant game changers in our fight against this virus."

NS: "One, the approval of vaccines, is hugely positive and offers us the way out of this pandemic.

But the other - the new faster spreading variant of the virus - is a massive blow."

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us today. I've got quite a lot to cover in my opening remarks today so please bear with me, but it's all by way of important and, I hope, useful update to you."

NS: "First of all, to today's statistics. The total number of positive cases reported yesterday was 2,649."

NS: "That is 11.3% of the total number of tests carried out, and the total number of confirmed cases is now 143,715."

NS: "660 of the new cases are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 389 in Lanarkshire, 357 in Lothian and 302 in Tayside. The remaining cases are across 9 other health board areas."

NS: "I can also confirm that 1,467 people are currently in hospital. That is an increase of 83 from yesterday."

First Minister @NicolaSturgeon: "I will give a short update on today's figures. 1,656 positive cases were reported yesterday, which is 7.5% of all tests carried out. The total number of cases therefore is now 166,583."

NS: "As of yesterday, 309,909 people had received their first dose of vaccine. There are currently 2,003 people in hospital, which is 14 more than yesterday, and 156 people in intensive care, which is 6 more than yesterday."

NS: "I very much regret to report that, in the past 24 hours, a further 92 deaths were registered of patients who first tested positive over the previous 28 days and the total number of people who have died under that daily measurement is 5,468."

NS: "National Records of Scotland has also just published its weekly update. That, of course, includes cases where Covid is a suspected or contributory cause of death, even if it hasn't been confirmed through a test."

NS: "Today's update shows that, by last Sunday, the total number of registered deaths linked to Covid under the wider definition was 7,448. 368 of those deaths were registered in the most recent week, which is 23 fewer than in the week before that."

📺 Watch @Ianblackford_MP and your SNP MPs at #PMQs as they hold Boris Johnson and the Tories to account on their reckless Brexit obsession.

⏰ Tune in now: https://t.co/RlaW0Pb2tx

.@Ianblackford_MP: “Mr Speaker, In the last few hours, the President of the European Commission said that the ‘next few days are going to be decisive’ in the Brexit negotiations.”

.@Ianblackford_MP: “With just two weeks to go, it is a disgrace that businesses and people have been left with this crippling uncertainty and the real threat of food and medicine shortages ahead of the new year.”

.@Ianblackford_MP: “One year ago, at the general election, Scotland rejected this Prime Minister, rejected this Tory Government and rejected their extreme Brexit.
 
People in Scotland now need to know the price they will be forced to pay.”

.@Ianblackford_MP: “Ahead of any vote in Parliament, will the Prime Minister commit to releasing a detailed economic impact assessment of the cost to the UK of his extreme Tory Brexit plans?”

🛫 As Boris Johnson sets off on his jaunt to Scotland, he'd hope people forget his catalogue of broken promises.

🔎 We thought we'd remind him.

👀 Their latest attack on workers' rights is only the most recent example of why you can't trust the

There's hardly enough space in an article to contain what Boris Johnson thinks of Scotland, devolution, Scottish spending, and the NHS... so here's a thread 👇

1⃣ Just a few months ago, Boris Johnson said devolution is "a disaster".

2⃣ While Boris Johnson seemingly liked devolution as Mayor of London, he told Tory MPs he did not "currently see a case" for devolving more powers from Westminster to Scotland and other nations.

3⃣ Boris Johnson's Leader of the Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, recently said that devolution amounted to "vandalism" and must be

4⃣ In 2007, nearly a decade after the Scottish Parliament was re-convened - Boris Johnson's current Secretary of Scotland, Alister Jack, indicated he was opposed to devolution and the Scottish Parliament.

Riley J. Williams is charged in the Capitol riot.
She allegedly stole a computer from @SpeakerPelosi’s office, & now @FBI is investigating a tip that she intended to send the computer to a friend in Russia who’d sell it to Russian intelligence.
Williams appears to have “fled”.

From the affidavit against her: Riley Williams’ former romantic partner called the FBI several times in the days following the riots to report that they had seen her in videos inside the Capitol, but friends of Williams had shown the tipster a video of Williams taking a laptop...

... computer or hard drive from Speaker Pelosi’s office. The witness told the FBI that “WILLIAMS intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service...”

“... but that the transfer of the computer device to Russia fell through for unknown reasons and Williams still has the computer device or destroyed it. “This matter remains under investigation.”

Williams has appeared to have fled, she packed a bag & did not tell her mother where she was going but said she would be gone for a couple of weeks. She has changed her telephone number & deleted what are believed to have been her social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram...

1. Military Intelligence contact continued:

. There were 300 arrests that took place yesterday Fri 11 Dec--that was one of the last pieces that needed to be put in place for the final release of the RV shotgun start--and that leads to the Insurrection Act possibly being...

2. ...invoked by POTUS (for military suppression of Deep State riots fomented by Antifa thugs), that leads to martial law (if necessary when people realize the vote fraud NEGATES A BIDEN PRESIDENCY & the Deep State tries to start RIOTS IN 18+ URBAN HOT SPOTS AROUND THE COUNTRY...

3. ... that have already been prepared with initial arrests and round-ups by Spec Op (SOF) military missions (black hawks carrying them);
. ALL THESE THINGS are TIED to NESARA / GESARA, to the restored Republic being organizationally and legally in place by Mon 21 Dec...

4. ... (POTUS TEAM'S LEGAL DEADLINE to get it done), and to COMMON LAW or CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (your post-RV CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOM and your post-RV FINANCIAL FREEDOM to spend the money as YOU INTEND and NOT AS THE DEEP STATE GOVT wants to do to LOCK YOU DOWN, TAX 50%-70% of...

5. ... your post-RV funds, and to LIMIT YOU under DRACONIAN ECONOMIC LOCKDOWNS and SCAMDEMIC LOCKDOWNS while FORCING COVID-19 VACCINE MANDATES on you AGAINST YOUR WILL and against YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL & GENEVA CONVENTION RIGHTS >>NOT<< to HAVE TO TAKE A VACCINE--Trump will NOT...

Thread:
I'm thinking about Tim Keller's influence.

There is the curious fact that Keller is well-regarded among the culture elite (or at least has not suffered the sort of vilification one might expect given his influence). How can we explain this?

Looking at Prodigal God and other writings, you see that his approach to urban ministry is deeply political in a way that appeals to Democrat-heavy cities. It involves two moves:

1) equalizing sins: elevating the sin of hypocrisy, "moralism," and "religion" (the sins of "conservatives") and equating these with the sins tolerated among liberal (e.g., homosexuality)
&
2) emphasizing "self-righteousness" as a sort of chief sin (the sin of "red states").

Keller effectively downplays the sins that liberals tolerate while elevating the sins of their political enemies, the red state conservatives.

But the greatest appeal to liberals is that critiquing the "self-righteous" vilifies political action, particularly the action of social conservatives (e.g., anti-gay marriage). And the equalization of sins eases concerns over changes in social policy (e.g., gay marriage).