1/ In Brazil, my wife and many others told me that a lot of people had drowned trying to swim the Buranghem River, in Porto Seguro, Bahia.
So, I studied the river carefully, learned how others had died, and devised a plan. Then, I swam across the river successfully.
2/ The river ran into the ocean a 1/4 mile away. When the tide was going out, the current was swift and also had whirlpools.
When the tide was coming in, it washed swiftly toward mangroves.
Just before high tide, there was near equilibrium between the river and ocean.
Nov 9, 2020 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
@bfitzinAR@NicolasEdny I asked an MD in the Dominican Republic if "racism" is an illness of the heart or the mind.
She said, without a pause, "Of the mind."
I asked her who should treat it.
She said, "Psychologists and psychiatrists. With meds."
Are you an MD? Are you competent to diagnose?
@bfitzinAR@NicolasEdny 2/ I am losing this question to everyone: 'Do you have the *medical* qualifications and expertise to determine whether racism is an illness of the mind?'
Are you medically trained and *qualified* to determine at what point a mental illness requires treatment?
Nov 8, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I just had a convo w/a friend from Brazil who agrees w/my view: Jair Bolsonaro won by convincing Brazilians that gays were becoming too prominent and prevalent in Brazilian society, while weaponizing Christian ideology to mobilize Christians against gays and for Bolsonaro.
Brazil's 50% Black and should've rejected most of Bolsonaro's agenda, but Brazil's Blacks and whites -- left and right -- are also evangelical.
Brazil was very gay-friendly, but Bolsonaro mobilized the Bible, evangelicals, their churches and communities against "Adam and Steve".
Jul 24, 2020 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
I wish @therealzanetta 'd unblock me. I think we debated if Blacks have a solemn moral obligation to spell "Black" w/capital "B".
Since then, the AP "changed its writing style guide...to capitalize the “b” in the term Black when referring to people..." apnews.com/71386b46dbff81…2/ Many Tweeters told me it was "semantics" whether "Black" should be spelled with a capital "B".
They said whites would never agree to it and it wouldn't be accepted in academia, so it was a futile discussion.
The AP style guide's adopted "Blacks", so let's examine "race".
Jul 16, 2020 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
@newliberals The USA spent 155 yrs pretending it is impossible to know who alive today lawfully inherits the unpaid wages of their ancestors.
Disinterested in reviewing public documents that provide precise details, our collective ignorance of history then serves as a reason for inaction.
@newliberals The first question asked about "reparations" is who should get them and how much.
The most obvious and morally obligatory answer to this question is that, before "repairing" lives, the US Government must sponsor an audit of slavery to identify and calculate unpaid wages owed.
Jul 16, 2020 • 15 tweets • 10 min read
@DearDean22@Mel_Ankoly 1/ There are straightfoward ways to identify descendants of slaves who should receive their ancestor's unpaid wages: The US Constitution requires a census every 10 yrs. Blacks were counted, noting names and free/slave status. Property title to unpaid workers was recorded.
1/@DearDean22@Mel_Ankoly 2/ When unpaid workers were purchased and sold, their names and ages and often their family relations were recorded in bills of sale.
Owners of unpaid workers also recorded their names in their wills along with the names of those who inherited these unpaid workers.
3/
If GOP follows, Dems led on the issue. If GOP *doesn't* follow, their convention will be the embarrassingly traceable cause of identifiable new contagion.
@ColleenWrites@dharmaworks@carol_kateseven@DrDinD@waltshaub The future Dems seek to lead is defined by advances in science and technology. If Dems get out ahead and do competent virtual Convo, they demonstrate ability to lead the future.
Figure out essential elements of Convo and do them on TV, w/encrypted comms for vote tallies, etc.
Apr 23, 2020 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
1/ My resentments at white VPs includes mediocrity that costs Dems dearly.
Al Gore got a D in science at Harvard, majoring in pot.
At Vanderbilt Divinity and law, he dropped out of both, ran for US House, and Clinton picked him for VP. m.dailykos.com/stories/2006/1…
Compare to Obama.
2/ Dem's belief "VPs don't matter" caused Al Gore's 2000 loss.
Had Gore been a brilliant Harvard Law graduate and Editor of Law Review, like Obama, instead of a dropout, Gore wouldn't have picked Lieberman for VP in 2000 and lost the Electoral College. m.dailykos.com/stories/2006/1… 2/
Apr 14, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
In cases of domestic abuse, I privately and confidentiality share my past experience providing legal representation to victims of domestic abuse and to undocumented battered immigrant spouses of US citizens.
You are not alone. DM for referral to professionals who can help you.
En casos de abusos domesticos, yo comparto en confianza mi experiencia previa de representar víctimas de violencia doméstica y de ayudar à personas inmigrantes que han sido abusadas por esposos americanos.
Usted no está sola(o). Puedo indicarle profesionales que saben ayudarle.
Apr 13, 2020 • 13 tweets • 6 min read
"Nobody has done more to elevate Whitmer than Trump himself. Had the president not singled her out, perhaps Biden wouldn’t have noticed her...Biden wouldn’t have noticed that Whitmer, more than anybody else he’s considering for the job, is a lot like him." google.com/amp/s/www.poli…
2/ Walter Mondale and Hillary Clinton *proposed* VPs just like them. Both tickets lost the Electoral College.
That's because, to form a coalition, you have to choose a running mate who is JUST like your voters who are NOT just like you, the way Obama chose Biden.
Mar 29, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
I suspect Trump probably does have the legal authority to establish and enforce quarantines. They ought not be arbitrary or capricious, but SCOTUS has upheld, refused to review or delayed some cases so long that Trump has been given a free hand in these cases.
2/ In context of a pandemic and generalized fear, w/1/2 the USA believing Trump is acting effectively, SCOTUS is unlikely to supplant Trump's judgments with its own on how to manage COVID_19.
The real limits on Trump's ability to quarantine are scientific and political. Cont.
May 11, 2019 • 7 tweets • 6 min read
@SER1897@darylsturgis Should residents of GA be able to vote nine months earlier if their age is calculated based on their date of conception?
Should women in GA include unborn fetuses when responding to Census questions?
What if they lie or are unsure about the fetus' name? Potential felony? @SER1897@darylsturgis Will the Census in GA count live births not yet dead, include fetuses in the womb or eggs in the ovaries?
When will it become illegal to ovulate?
Who pays for the medical care that doctors are required to provide to neonates that cannot survive? The fathers or mothers only?
