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@PenlandKW

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@BoardingSoon 🌻

@boardingsoon

Jan 16

Crazy that it has to be said, but dictatorships are bad. Trust me, you do NOT want to live in one. If you think having Trump as a dictator is ok because he’s your guy, here is what you’re in for:

1. No more free press. Sounds great since you hate ‘mainstream media’, but… /1

It also means you will no longer know what’s happening in your country and the world. Everything is censored so truth no longer exists.

2. Censorship. Goes beyond the news. Books, websites, events, all controlled or blocked by the dictatorship. So much for small government /2

3. No civil rights. Don’t get attached to your rights because they disappear VERY fast. You can be imprisoned without trial, indefinitely, if you’re alleged to be anti-dictator. Your Trump signs won’t protect you if someone reports you. Innocent until proven guilty is gone. /3

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@BoardingSoon 🌻

@boardingsoon

Sep 20, 2023

My friends and followers, I beg you to let my experience be your guide if you ever contemplate moving overseas. Someday I may write a whole book on the joys and pains of the journey but for now let me tell you about the tiny print of international moving companies. /1

When you sign your agreement, it seems like a very straightforward document. There are a few things not included, and they make a point of telling you in very big bold letters, that your delivery date is just an estimate. Since there is literally no alternative, you sign it. /2

On July 10-11, the domestic moving company came to pack up the house. They did a truly remarkable job resulting in 351 boxes labeled and removed to a warehouse, prior to delivery to the cargo ship. The ship was supposed to depart from Norfolk, VA on the 29th. It didn't. /3

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@BoardingSoon 🌻

@boardingsoon

Oct 3, 2022

In case you’re not familiar with electoral system in Brazil:
All persons 18 and older must vote. It’s mandatory. You can justify your absence due to some reasons such as travel. They make it easy - there’s literally an app for that.
If you don’t vote and don’t justify, /1

there’s a fine (not much, about USD 3). Until you pay this and regularize your status with the electoral authorities, you can’t do certain things like renew your passport or apply for a government job.
Brazil has too many political parties to count so this election /2

is not just Lula v. Bolsonaro. There were more than 10 presidential candidates. Most will get under 0.2% of the votes. If no candidate gets 50% or more of the votes, the two best voted candidates go to a run off. For this particular election, the second round is Oct 30. /3

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@BoardingSoon 🌻

@boardingsoon

Apr 23, 2022

[thread] Fair warning I’m jet lagged, sleep deprived and really fucking cranky. But I finally figured out what bothers me most about US politics. It’s not the assholery. Politicians have been assholes for ages. Corruption, hypocrisy, partisanship, vitriol - nothing new. /1

What’s really pushing me off is that all of that used to be considered so shameful that they at least tried to hide it. And you’d better because if you were caught, say, making fun of the disabled, no decent human being was going to vote for you ever again. You’d be done. /2

Those days are gone. Voters not only no longer shun unethical, rabid, self-interested, lying scum politicians, they reward them with attention and donations the more extreme their antics get. Nothing is too despicable. No low is too low./3

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@BoardingSoon 🌻

@boardingsoon

Jan 30, 2022

[thread] on the subject of banning books. If you follow me you probably know that I grew up in Brazil during the military dictatorship there. Censorship was extreme to the point where newspapers had to publish cake recipes to fill the space where actual stories had been cut. /1

Needless to say, “history” class was highly redacted. Libraries had only approved books. It would be faster to list the books we COULD get rather than the ones that had been banned. My parents, however, kept a very well stocked clandestine library hidden at home. /2

I was a precocious reader and my parents encouraged me to go through every book I could, banned or not. By the time I reached high school we’d transitioned to a shaky democracy and all of a sudden we could read anything anywhere. I remember looking around before getting a book /3

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@BoardingSoon 🌻

@boardingsoon

May 15, 2021

[thread] In December 2014 I was hospitalized with pneumonia. For the next two months, my lungs collapsed repeatedly and despite different drugs, hospitals, doctors and exams, I kept getting sicker. By January I could not walk to the bathroom without stopping to rest. /1

I gasped for air 24/7. Twice I had liquid drained from my lungs. Finally, I was diagnosed with tuberculosis. When I got the call from my pulmonologist, he said he wasn’t allowed to treat me. I was a public health hazard, and my county government was taking over. No choice. /2

My work involved for 1-2 international trips a month. On the same day I was diagnosed, the pulmonologist said I’d be placed on the no-fly list. Within minutes I was called by a county nurse who warned me not to leave the house and to isolate from my family. /3

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