(1) "Don't you want to see what happens if you don't give up?" #Nightbirde

This is relevant to everyone.

She is an angel lent to us and while she is here fighting I will absorb us much as I can from her hopeful soul.

(2) And if I have to go to her music & words to absorb that I will, in gratitude... the pandemic is a life changing, multi-year event that forces almost all of us to contemplate life itself in ways big and small. August 2021 is the harshest month yet for several countries.
(3) For these countries I cannot see a way for September to bring better news for us but we are going to try our darnedest to save lives and support each other.

So many things seem unimportant and right now for me they are.

Then a friend told me a #Nightbirde exists.โค๏ธ
(4) She's amazing, I can't explain it. Watch the interview above and you will see what I mean.

Some of my dearest friends are living with cancer or other challenges at that level, in the midst of the the pandemic and all manner of issues like natural disasters too.
(5) It doesn't matter if it all became too much and we got cynical and/or tuned out. What matters is the present moment. Opportunities arise each day to turn things around. Find what helps you and do more of that.

Draw on what our forbears did in challenging times.
(6) The kindness and rapport evident in the interview between Chris Cuomo and Nightbirde was really special. I don't judge him by his brother's actions. I judge him by his own, and right now I think he is a force for good. I'm glad the interview was with him.
(7) I used to feel differently about him & his employer, CNN. Since I let go of that BS eight months ago I feel like the weight of a small car has been lifted off my shoulders.

It's as if we exist between two very powerful magnets that suck people away to one side or the other.
(8) So I fight each day to stay where there's more objectivity and, arguably, more humanity. If we had met, he would have scoffed at my Christian faith, but Hitchens made some very good points when he was here.
(9) Nuggets of wisdom or serenity can be found in many places. I just found an incredible source. I'll say a prayer for her and everyone else who is dealing with something heavy.

Here's how #Nightbirde sounds on stage:

โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข

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More from @FreedomFriesInc

12 Aug
(1) NZ had just achieved it's largest Olympic medal haul in history. 20 from a country of 5 million people.

All our athletes, and the country were on a high.

Then 2 days ago 24 year old Olivia Podmore died by suicide.

au.sports.yahoo.com/olympics-2021-โ€ฆ
(2) I need to write a short Twitter thread so that some key messages get seen.

I have both professional & personal experience of trying to deal with suicide prevention & "postvention" in NZ.

We *can* learn some common signs of suicidal risk.

healthnavigator.org.nz/health-a-z/s/sโ€ฆ Image
(3) After decades of research around the world, the potential reasons why some people suicide are not a mystery.

We need to think about our loved ones, family, friends & others to see if they might be at risk. Then take action.* Image
Read 17 tweets
11 Aug
I'm sure Kabul will fall within a month or even sooner.๐Ÿ˜ข

So that the deaths of 80* countries' soldiers wouldn't be in vain, I wanted the coalition to stay there longer. But then July 2021 ravaged the US w/ Delta.

The US needs it's people (& money) on the home front. Period.
*OK I see now it was >40 countries officially involved. I always thought it was more like 80, but I've made a mistake somewhere along the line. 20 years is a long time to follow the events of a war, right?

Anyway, it was a lot. Not just the USA. Even New Zealand helped...
I don't want the sacrifices of the other countries to be forgotten.

10 of my fellow Kiwis lost their lives serving in Afghanistan. There were a few more who fought for the UK but were NZ-born.

Lest we forget: newshub.co.nz/nznews/a-look-โ€ฆ
Read 14 tweets
9 Aug
(1) As I predicted in February when New Zealand started vaccinating it's 5 M people, today we learned the Delta variant is almost certainly here & we're nowhere near vaccinated enough.

๐ŸšจOur rates are <the US Deep South.๐Ÿšจ

By my estimate:

1 dose: 27%
2 doses: 16%

๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ
(2) My goal since February has been to receive two Pfizer doses & I'm relieved to say I have achieved that.

I have diabetes, qualifying me for early access, & other less common health issues also contributing to my high risk of complications.

I've been anxious since Jan 2020.
(3) My first instinct in Jan 2020 was to get to the USA. In hindsight I'm glad that didn't happen. Maybe someone up there is looking after me.

(I can understand those who say there's clearly no one up there looking after most humans at the moment.)

So, about NZ:
Read 20 tweets
9 Aug
(1) I never thought anything like this pandemic would happen in my lifetime. There's no rational basis for that belief but I still held it.

Today I recalled memories of the initial 1980s-90s HIV-AIDS epidemic.

The GOAT came up on a playlist:
(2) Freddie Mercury's death was the one celebrity death that stays with me to this day. An absolute musical genius. I was stunned at the time.

Homophobia had a big part in the ~36 M body count of that epidemic. Politicians politicize matters of life & death when it suits them.
Read 10 tweets
8 Aug
(1) Unless this TN GOPer can show statements made at the right time, he is no better than those currently failing to properly endorse the vax. Which is most of the party in office, and their anti-vaxxer in chief.

Source for tweet (2016 article): historyofvaccines.org/trump-and-vaccโ€ฆ
(2) ICYMI, #VaccinesDontCauseAutism.

The approximately 1% of people in the world with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and their families, allies, and doctors, would like a word with those pushing this lie since the 1990s.
(3) The malign crank who published a deliberately dishonest article in the UK's Lancet journal has been exposed perhaps more than any other anti-vax industry leader in history. Pre-pandemic, that is.

I'm a family member & ally of people with ASD.
Read 17 tweets
7 Aug
(1) We've had about a month since Hurricane #Elsa with quiet seas out in the Atlantic. That is about to change, as we approach peak season in late August/early Sept.

Some systems forming: nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo.php?basinโ€ฆ

Plus some E. Pacific storms.

#HWStormWatch๐ŸŒ€
(2) Now is not the time for states like FL to be tormented by partisan political division & the rejection of life-saving steps like #GetVaccinated & #MaskUp.

It's never the time, but especially not in peak hurricane season.

#NoPoliticsOnTheBoat #ThisIsAmerica #RightMatters
(3) That Facebook post was written by a woman in Houston, TX affected by one of the worst US hurricanes on record, #Harvey in 2017.

How I wish the level of partisan division in 2021 was lower, like it was 4 years ago.
Read 12 tweets

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