1/. Tonight I happened upon the grave of William Friese-Greene, “inventor of cinematography”

Born William Greene, he added his wife's name

In 1889, Friese-Greene patented his 'chronophotographic’ camera, which could take ten photographs per second, using celluloid film. #Oscars
2/. Any money Friese-Greene earned he ploughed back into his inventions, going bankrupt 3 times & dying in poverty

His son, Claude, continued to his father's work, shooting "The Open Road", offering a rare portrait of 1920s Britain in colour. #Oscars2021
3/. Just 50 years later, a very different type of documentary about travelling through Britain was made

"Black Safari" is about a group of African explorers who go on a safari by boat along Liverpool-Leeds canals to explore "darkest heart of Lancashire" #Oscars #OscarsSoWhite
4/. Black Safari was perhaps one of the inspirations for another powerful mockumentary, made 16 years later in 1986, about racism & colonialism

Babakiueria (Barbeque Area) reimagines Australia from the POV of Aboriginals discovering White People #Oscars #Oscar2021 #OscarsSoWhite
5/. On the subject of film & colonialism, a quick plug for @FiSahara - the world's remotest film festival, held in a refugee camp deep in the Sahara desert

It has dune parties, camel races & screenings beneath the stars & some politics #Oscars2021 #Oscars
6/. In 1933, Hollywood cancelled The Mad Dog of Europe, a film Herman Mankiewicz wrote that predicted a future Nazi genocide #Mank #Oscars #Oscars2021 #AcademyAwards #Hollywood #FilmTwitter

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More from @StefSimanowitz

27 Apr
1/. Excuse me, but I’m confused

On 5 March 2020, @BorisJohnson told @Schofe on @thismorning:

“One of the theories is we could take it on the chin...allow the disease to spread through the population”

14 months & 150,000+ deaths on, WHY are the media shocked by these comments? ImageImage
2/. The #TakeItOnTheChin clip I dug out on 8/3/20 went viral (2.5m views in 48hrs)

But incredibly it was ignored by the media

At the time, I thought the PM was floating the theory as a rhetorical device - a straw man he could tear down later - but I was wrong

He was serious!
3/. Not only did the mainstream media fail to report on #TakeItOnTheChin, but some tried to brand it “fake news”

“Fake news merchants on the cesspit that is Twitter are distributing a clip of the PM!!!” screamed @TheSun

The PM wasn’t “advocating” it, but he had clearly said it. Image
Read 6 tweets
26 Apr
Tonight’s #supermoon is at its fullest

It is near its closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit & seem bigger & brighter than usual

April’s full moon is also known as the Pink Moon, as its appearance coincides with the flowering of a type of pink moss.
Astrophotographer, Andrew McCarthy, used 50,000 photos to produce this detailed image of the Moon.

The near side of the Moon is marked by dark volcanic maria ("seas"), which fill the spaces between bright ancient crustal highlands & prominent impact craters. (pic @Mario_Livio) Image
“By thy pale beams I solitary rove
To thee my tender grief confide Serenely sweet you gild the silent grove
My friend, my goddess, & my guide.”

The view from my neighbour’s telescope on #CovidMemorialDay

The moon was in its waxing gibbous phase

The Sea of Tranquility is clear. Image
Read 4 tweets
25 Apr
“To initiate a war of aggression is the supreme int’l crime”

The Iraq war was neither in self-defense against an armed attack nor sanctioned by the UN

Over 1 million ppl died

Bush & Blair should be in The Hague at a war crimes tribunal rather than on TV
Eight months before the start of the Iraq war, Tony Blair wrote to George W Bush: "We don't want to be mucked around by Saddam...the danger is he drags us into negotiation"

This is from the #ChilcotReport, yet still Blair is treated by the media like a respected elder statesman.
To try & get UN approval of the war on Iraq, the US & UK tried every trick in the book

The UN saw through their lies, as did most people around the world

They went ahead anyway

No WMD’s were found

A million people died

Blair & Bush faced no charges.
Read 7 tweets
25 Apr
1/. “As far as I’m concerned, this completely answers the question” says @trussliz after refusing to answer @JayneSeckerSky’s question three times.

Liz Truss & the entire Cabinet appear to have been ‘media-trained’ to answer questions dishonestly. #Ridge
2/. The purpose of media training should be to help people to communicate their message

I always tell people I train to:
- answer the question
- tell the truth

These Ministers do the opposite

As viewers, we end up shouting at the TV or switching it off!
3/. Too often over the past year, Ministers have been allowed to not just sidestep questions, but blatantly lie

For example, whenever a Minister claims that “no one knew about asymptomatic transmission ‘til May”, it’s a lie

They knew about it January.
Read 7 tweets
24 Apr
“I think what the public wants, is for us to move on from this #BarnardCastle thing” said @BorisJohnson & his entire cabinet

What the public wanted was transparency & accountability

@maitlis deleted this tweet about @adamboultonSKY’s story

The media were largely silenced
By asking why #Cummings hadn’t been sacked by the PM, @maitlis was doing her job

Political journalists NOT asking this question were failing to do theirs

Cummings’ trip to Durham proved to be one of the 2 clear drop points in adherence to lockdown rules.
“Some journalists are sitting on explosive information that should come out in real time.” @joncoopertweets

Shrinking space for journalism is something we witnessed in the UK during the Iraq War

Is it happening again now?

Would journalists be able to comment if it were?
Read 4 tweets
24 Apr
1/. Let’s not forget, that #DominicCummings - who employed ‘eugenicist’, Andrew Sabisky - was central to the #HerdImmnityScandal which is central to the #PalantirPlan

It puts genomics at the heart of the programme for govt, using the UK as the petri-dish for a ‘brave new world’.
2/. “I feel we’re all paying the price for a girl laughing at his poem in 6th form” @MarinaHyde on Cummings

#DominicCummings imagined the mood of these photos was very James Dean. Instead they reveal his narcissism & complete tone-deafness
#CummingsGate
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
3/. Here’s a good #HerdImmunityScandal intro

It’s long, but gripping & it has #Cummings’ grubby fingerprints all over it

#HerdImmunity is an outcome not a strategy. Every scientist will tell you that

This thread starts to unpick WHY the govt knowingly went against the science.
Read 7 tweets

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