“He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks he'd blow our minds”

50 years ago, David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust fell to Earth

Due to environmental destruction, humanity had reached its final 5 years of existence & Ziggy had come to tell us “not to blow it”
2/. Beneath a hedonistic facade, Ziggy’s message - & Bowie’s - was one of peace & love “‘cos he knows it's all worthwhile”

Like Lennon’s Imagine released the year before👇, the message was aimed at the young: the generation in whose hands the future lies
3/. “All people, no matter who they are, all wish they'd appreciated life more. Its what you do in life that's important, not how much time you have, or what you wish you'd done. Life is fantastic” BOWIE

Soon @brettmorgen’s #MoonageDaydream will be out

We’re also making a movie
4/. “I’m just visiting” (BOWIE)

None of us have any choice of which family or the country or time we are born into

Like Ziggy, we fall to earth & have a short time to try & make sense of our world & our Universe & our place in it, before softly moving on

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More from @StefSimanowitz

Jun 13
A good day for journalism!

The multimillionaire Brexit backer Arron Banks has lost his libel action against the Observer and @Guardian journalist @carolecadwalla, which was criticised as an attack on free speech. @Haroon_Siddique
theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/j…
“It hasn’t sunk in yet but…SOME NEWS. I am so profoundly grateful & relieved. Thank you to the judge, my stellar legal team & the 29,000 people who contributed to my legal defence fund” @carolecadwalla

Here’s the @TEDTalks Banks tried to sue her for👇
“My investigation into Brexit, Cambridge Analytica & Facebook triggered investigations on both sides of the Atlantic, record-breaking fines & findings of multiple breaches of the law, incldg by Banks's LeaveEU campaign. But I’m the only person to ever face trial.” @carolecadwalla
Read 4 tweets
Jun 9
1/. In 2019, students at #METU university in #Turkey gathered for their annual #Pride  march

They were met with batons, tear gas, plastic bullets, pepper spray & arrest

Tmw, they will gather for Pride again

The university says they will call the police
2/. The university’s attempt to ban on this Pride march has no legal grounds

METU university authorities must reverse this decision & allow the student community to celebrate #Pride tmw

@amnesty will be on campus
#PrideMonth #Pride2022 #pridemonth2022
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
3/. Join @amnesty in calling on the @METU_ODTU administration to reverse its decision to 'categorically ban' the planned campus-based #Pride march due to take place tmw

Please sign and share the urgent action appeal #Pride2022 #PrideMonth #pridemonth2022
amnesty.ie/metu-pride-tur…
Read 13 tweets
Jun 7
Too often govt ministers & MP are allowed to get away with the absurd claim that - on #COVID19 & #Brexit - the govt/#BorisJohnson “got all the big calls right”

Here @skysarahjane gives a masterclass in challenging this narrative (with MP @PeterBoneUK)
And this by @vicderbyshire

Another masterclass showing journalists how to hold the powerful to account

MPs are trained on ways not to answer uncomfortable questions

One method loved by many is to keep talking

A mute button is very useful here
“This will also do great damage to organisations like the BBC!”

In response to journalistic scrutiny, the govt often accuse the journalist, programme or even channel of bias

As we’ve seen with the sell off of @Channel4, these are not just hollow threats
Read 5 tweets
Jun 7
1/. For too long, homelessness has been explained as the failure of the individual to cope with the stresses & strains of life

We see it for what it is: a failure of the state to guarantee equality of opportunity, equal access to essential services to all amnesty.org.uk/resources/amne…
2/. "England’s housing and homelessness system is effectively a gruelling obstacle course

Many fail to get past the first barrier because they are not considered eligible for homelessness support

Others fall through trap doors along the way"
@AmnestyUK
amnesty.org.uk/files/2022-06/…
3/. Three in 10 fear homelessness within five years due to housing costs, according to an @AmnestyUK survey.

Unless housing is rightfully recognised as a basic legal human right, there is no way to hold the Government to account for its woeful failings.
standard.co.uk/news/uk/englan…
Read 4 tweets
Jun 6
Journalist Dom Phillips, a regular contributor to @guardian, has been missing in the Javari Valley in the #Brazilian Amazon for more than 30 hours after death threats to his indigenista companion, Bruno Pereira, who is also missing #IndigenousHistoryMonth theguardian.com/media/2022/jun…
'We knew it was a dangerous place but Dom really believed it’s possible to safeguard the nature & the livelihood of the Indigenous people. We urge Brazilian authorities to do all they can to help”

Appeal by the sister of missing journalist Dom Phillips
theguardian.com/world/video/20…
A record number of activists working to protect the environment & land rights were murdered in 2020 & 2019 according to @Global_Witness

Almost a third of the murders were reportedly linked to resource exploitation

Indigenous populations bear the brunt of the deadly violence ImageImageImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Jun 2
1/. #DidITellYouAboutTheTime I became Al Jazeera's Royal correspondent?

It was 2011 & I was scraping by as a freelance journalist

As preparations were underway for William & Kate's Royal Wedding, I got a call from @AJEnglish's interview producer

Would I be free on 29 April?
2/. "Absolutely! But why me?"

The producer explained how she'd spotted an article I'd done for @NewStatesman where I argued that the fawning media coverage & the "Cinderella story" framing was rife with negative gender stereotyping & ugly class prejudice. newstatesman.com/politics/2010/…
3/. I'd been drafted in to help decode some of the more curious aspects of our royal family to @AJEnglish's l audience

But surely, with the wedding coinciding with the Arab Spring & being on a Friday – the peak day for protests - I wouldn't be on for long
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Read 6 tweets

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