Many years back I never liked you, pre 2015, I started seeing the hope in your candidacy knowing fully well that you'll someday make us proud as a nation. You came with the hope mantra, the larger populace joined your train and the mandate was delivered, but because our.../1

... value system had been bastardized, the yarn for quick gain syndrome which the jackals and hyenas of yesteryears had planted in us made many loose the hope for a good change. We who still believed in you fought to give you a second chance, though many still got weary./2

They want a magic, but you're just a retired General and a lover of common man and a better country. You aren't a magician like the thought you'll be, you eschew freebies but embrace hard work. You never craved for luxury, you live within your mean and encourage other to do so./3

They hate sound judgment and dislike been checked, they tried to truncate and topple your government through hate and lies. They have people from all works of life and profession in their coven, but the Patriots are solidly behind you, we know you have your own shortcomings.../4

... but won't let them burn down our Fatherland with their shenanigans. They employed foreign bodies but we silenced them with truth and oneness. You promote gallantry in our soldiering and give us hope of a better nation.
You deserve our respect and honor Mr President. /5

Let’s talk about “the mark of the beast.”

Every time some new vaccine becomes necessary, there’s a small-but-loud group of evangelicals and otherwise who believe taking this vaccine could be “pledging your allegiance to the devil.” But does this have any grounds in The Bible?

The so-called “mark of the beast” appears in The Revelation, so first we’ve gotta dispel some myths about the book as a whole.

I’d argue that if there’s one book that has been twisted most heavily by the “evangelical fanfiction lore” of the 80s and 90s, it’s gotta be Revelation.

American Christianity in the 90s was wack. After years of politicians stoking fears of communism & new world order, conservatives snowballed their vision of what “the apocalypse” would look like, and reverse-engineered their fears back into Revelation with stuff like Left Behind.

The Left Behind books were pretty critical to the end-times fearmongering. Even Liberty University’s Jerry Falwell said at the time, "in terms of its impact on Christianity, Left Behind is probably greater than that of any other book in modern times, outside The Bible.”

Meanwhile, Theologian David Carlson said, “Left Behind promotes a skewed view of the Christian faith that welcomes war and disaster, while dismissing peace efforts in the Middle East and elsewhere—all in the name of Christ.”

.@GavinNewsom has made lots of showy announcements, vowing California would lead a smooth, equitable vaccine distribution plan across the state's 58 counties. He has propped up his administration as a leader & sought to reassure the public that he can handle it. Some comments:

Oct. 19: "We have long been in the vaccination business. Our experience with mass vaccinations makes us a unique partner with the CDC and DOD, based on the scale and scope of the vaccinations that occur on an annual basis here in the state of California."

Nov. 16: “Rather than criticizing the [Trump] administration, rather than lamenting about what could or should be done, we engaged proactively and continue to engage proactively to make sure we have a plan for safe and equitable distribution of the vaccine.”

Dec. 3: “There is light at the end of the tunnel. We are a few months away from truly seeing real progress with the vaccine, real distribution, real accessibility, real availability... You’ll be hearing good news on top of other good news."

Dec. 7: "Hope is on the horizon with a vaccination. We continue to accelerate our planning and preparedness for a safe, and equitable vaccine distribution," Newsom said. "I really believe this-you’re going to start hearing good news, and numbers that continue to significantly..."

A thread - We are so humbled & proud of the guests who shared a bit of their lives with the world on #Amplifiedvoices in Season 1.

As we gear up for Season 2, Catch up, comment, share & support! The more these voices are heard, the further change can go! #cjreform

was featured in the 1st full episode (3) She shared her thoughts on how her family was affected by both harm & the system, her search for answers, what they thought justice should look like, her spirituality, & journey to healing &

Episode 4 follows Iran Nazario, of @PeaceCenterofCT through his turbulent childhood, subsequent immersion in gang membership & entanglement in the cj system. His inspiring journey to repurpose himself as a proponent of peace & understanding makes an impact

Episode 5 highlights @ksburgess, a mother, wife & outspoken advocate from MI. She bravely shares her family’s story of harm, both within her family & as a result of the criminal legal process that denied them the healing that they earnestly sought.

Episode 6 features @DavidLeegarlock’s meaningful story of forgiveness, rehabilitation, spirituality & redemption. David talks of years of physical, mental, & sexual abuse prior to taking the life of his abuser, going to prison, reentry, advocacy & more.

A recipe for slavery, regardless who is President:

1. Gates owns the WHO.

2. Gates controls info—YouTube censors videos that contradict WHO.

3. Gates & Bezos will change our diet & control food supply—by law (EAT Forum).

4. Bezos controls flow of goods.

Receipts below.

Christmas Eve does not feel to me like the ideal time to be trashing Ravi Zacharias. But neither should RZIM control the story line over the holiday. I offer these thoughts on their admission yesterday that Ravi “engaged in sexual misconduct over the course of many years.”

First, the worst of Ravi is yet to come. RZIM law firm said in a letter to their client “Some of that misconduct is consistent with and corroborative of that which is reported in the news recently, and some of the conduct we have uncovered is MORE SERIOUS.” (my CAPS). Stay tuned.

Second, I was wrong when I publicly stated that the RZIM investigation would be a whitewash. Clearly the ministry has committed to letting at least *some* of the ugly truth about Ravi Zacharias be known.
This is a dramatic and welcome change from the very recent past.

That said, I do not trust RZIM any more than I did the day before yesterday. $40,000,000 in annual donations is at stake, not to mention the personal reputations of Ravi’s loyal and long-term enablers, who remain in power at RZIM. Their game continues.

Yesterday RZIM said “Unfortunately, Ravi had died several months before we first learned of these allegations, so we were unable to explore them with him directly.” Are we to believe that nobody in RZIM leadership had any idea that Ravi was a serial sex abuser?

What am I doing on my Sunday? Browsing @RepBobGood FEC filings for his largest donors and their identities. This will be a thread 😘 #VA05

Brian Hufhand, President of Amelia Overhead Doors, of Forest, VA gave Bob $5,600

Barry Clarkson, President & CEO of Equis Financial, of Concord, VA gave Bob $5,600

N. Jimmy Thomas, co-owner of RST marketing, of Lynchburg, VA gave Bob $7,600

Glen Thomas, co owner of RST marketing, of Forest, VA gave Bob $8,400

“I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb… and I also know I’m not blonde.” – Dolly Parton. #BOTD ready for a thread. #DollyParton

One of Dolly Parton's earliest singles (which she didn't write) was "Dumb Blonde." She knew going in who she was, what she wanted to look like, how she was perceived, and she was never anybody's fool about it. #DollyParton

I love Dolly Parton's stuff with Porter Wagoner. (I love her in duets, in general - but these, in particular, have an intensity and sincerity you can feel.) Here they are performing "We Found It". Heart-piercing. #DollyParton

Speaking of Dolly and Porter, the Drunk History episode about this collaboration and breakup ... is hysterical. He loves her so much. He slaps the table at the end! I love people who care this much about things.

A compilation of Dolly singing "Seeker" on different occasions. it's one of my favorites. #DollyParton

If someone’s an asshole to you, it’s your right to decide not to work w/them. Right?

If someone’s an asshole to your friend/mom/kid/neighbor, etc., it’s still your right to decide not to work w/ them. Right?

So...

If someone’s an asshole to people you don’t know personally, but you disapprove of the assholery... it’s still your right to decide not to work w/them.

It’s not a blacklist if people choose not to work with you b/c your views make them or others feel unsafe.

At a certain point, conservatives are going to have to recognize that “views” are not academic when they have real-world effects and consequences for other people.

Like, “X got fired for being conservative!” implies those conservative views exist in a vacuum and are purely thought experiments, whereas in actuality those views are likely affecting other people quite fundamentally.

If you insist that people who cut ties w/ bigots are doing it just because of pressure from “cancel culture,” you’re basically saying they can’t tell the difference between which values matter to them and which don’t. That’s pretty patronizing.

Pelosi's mot that the chose "their whiteness over democracy" disappoints me. 1/

It disturbs me when liberals recourse to racism as a universal explanation for everything bad the right does. It's reductionist. And it's not to excuse the right and its racism to point this out... 2/

In fact, reducing everything bad the right believes and does to white supremacy limits our grasp of their terribleness: in most cases in's white supremacy PLUS (and in some cases, NOT white supremacy. Non-white conservative tradition deserve consideration on its own terms). /3

a major part of the PLUS is gender-based. In the late 1970s, the ideology that cohered the Christian right, and made them such a force in Reagan's coalition and beyond, was far more eliminationist rage against LGBT people than racism. /4

Most of the people traveling to DC to protest IRS rules on Christian schools in 1979, many of them former segregationists, were witnesses to their eliminationist rage against LGBT people (conspiracy theories held the IRS sought to force Christian schools to hire gay teachers). /5

When Leah talked before a grand jury in 2012 many of her immediate friends leaped to her defense. Thankfully it was rather easy to box largely apolitical kids only passing through the punk scene out of anarchism forever. I worry the coming wave of repression will be far messier.

Today many folks see social media spaces like twitter *as* the movement or scene. And many folks less committed AFK can be louder on here, which means the housemates and buds of a snitch might create giant flamewars online, also making it harder for onlookers to discern norms.

Further, the next wave of state repression is probably going to look more like the 00s Green Scare than the 2012 Grand Jury, that is to say, *many* trials simultaneously. And *a fuck ton* of people snitched in the Green Scare.

I chalk the mass snitching in the Green Scare up to 1) many of the targets and their circles being only loosely ideological / firmly in the scene, and 2) the sheer scale of the repression, which sometimes let snitches bond together.

In contrast situations where Grand Juries failed usually involved highly ideological, highly committed people, with intense binds to the anarchist AFK scene. Folks for whom "I guess we're just going underground / serving time" was not a surprise development.

TEN (10) countries you can MOVE to - for Jobs, Academics & Move your Family.

ALL YOU NEED-

A thread :

CANADA 🇨🇦

HOLLAND 🇳🇱

AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺

NORWAY 🇳🇴

Really just so proud of all the people at @ucdavis and at @HealthyDavis and #DavisCA involved in this. And happy to play a supporting role.

A California College Tries to Shield an Entire City From Coronavirus

Incredibly thankful to my lab manager and friend @davidacoil for his amazing efforts on this project, helping set up the testing, working with @HealthyDavis, managing procurement of supplies (which he loves), and just working his tail off on this. #HealthyDavis

Also incredibly impressed with the @genomecenter and @michelmorelab and others for getting the high throughout testing up and running and working very well #HealthDavis

Many thought this could not be done on this scale, in this way. But Richard Michelmore and others at @genomecenter (and with support of many @ucdavis from top to bottom) they figured it out. #HealthyDavis

The @ucdavis campus leadership found the money to get things up and running and linking to the local community via @HealthyDavis has also been critical

🧵 After much deliberation concerning the events of last week concerning homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in our Catholic schools, Toronto—St. Paul’s New Democrats have decided to act.

Members of the @TCDSB and other publicly-funded Catholic institutions and boards have repeatedly attacked members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. The 2SLGBTQIA+ community is an at-risk community; the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected many at-risk 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.

Many Catholic publicly-funded school boards neglect or intentionally omit 2SLGBTQIA+ resources, which may affect the availability of life-saving information and/or resources.

However, we recognize with sadness that there is a culture of homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in the @TCDSB and in publicly-funded Catholic education based on recent events.

We welcome the 14 January 2021 action wherein the @TCDSB passed a motion to establish 2SLGBTQIA+ resources and to create an advisory committee to deal with issues thereof.

Must agree with David Lammy.

Winston Churchill was indeed a great champion of human rights *

(*Exceptions apply: guarantee does not cover Asians, Africans, Irish, Native Americans or non-docile working-class communities. See historical record for further details)

People upset with Lammy have not seen what wonderful shade he has cast on the Tories. 'Winston Churchill emerges among you lot as the greatest defender of human rights--the winner of the Extremely Low Bar Award.'

1/ Further thoughts on @DavidAFrench's important essay on #ChristianNationalism.

It's great to see a leading evangelical thinker publicly engaging the topic.

But....

2/ It would be even better if @DavidAFrench would engage with work on #ChristianNationalism by scholars and journalists like:

@ndrewwhitehead @socofthesacred @praxishabitus @sarahposner @kathsstewart @AntheaButler @Nicholef and yours truly @GorskiPhilip

Also...

3/ With the work of black theologians such as:

Willie Jennings, @JemarTisby @stewartdantec @esaumccaulley to name just a few.

If he did, then....

4/ He'd know that there are much better and more nuanced definitions of #ChristianNationalism than the one offered by @ThomasSKidd, who is a smart guy, but not a scholar of the subject.

Plus...

5/ He'd know that the phenomenon is, in fact, much more widespread than he implies, not just amongst white evangelicals but also amongst non-evangelical white Protestants and white Catholics....See "Taking America Back for God" for the receipts.

So, why do I keep saying "white"?