Well said, @DonnaLeeSun. I have the same approach.

Donna is "Unapologretically Canadian."

I am Unapologetically New Zealander/Kiwi. Granted, "sorry" has a special meaning in Canada, eh? But our countries do have a lot in common. Mini-thread:

https://twitter.com/DonnaLeeSun/status/1479129654162243586

I really get what Donna is saying in her Twitter bio:

"Trumpism has a strong foothold in Canada & we ignore it at our peril. Pay attention, esp. to PP, former PM Harper & idiot Premiers!"

The same is true of New Zealand, Australia, and our OG mothership: The UK.

"Misogyny" is a trigger word for the far right-controlled Republican party. But the ideology is real, and it can lead to people getting killed.

Bryan Kohberger
George Huguely
Elliot Rodger
Andrew Tate
Donald T****

#RespectWomen is a public health and safety issue. Evidently, my above use of the term misogyny has triggered a few of them.

They're trying to insinuate that Kohberger was a liberal which, even if true, would have nothing to do with the points made in my tweet. We already know several things about him, and his crimes...

"Elections are decided by women." So true.

Esp. the 2020 US presidential election, and others where right wing governments were (and will soon be) punished for anti- public health and safety, anti-science, ignorant approaches to pandemic response.

We manage household health!

https://twitter.com/laurenleaderAIT/status/1590787870419476480

Do politicians and their advisers get this yet? In most households, it is one or more women who take basic health and safety seriously, & who develop a superior knowledge base due to our more complex biology, higher rates of illness, & greater need for infection control measures.

Gotta laugh, my tweet generated the following reply from a maga account:

"Ukraine flag in bio"

Ad hominem/genetic fallacy is all they have. They deflect by targeting the player not the ball. Because playing the ball is too hard for them. It requires honesty & courage.

🇺🇦

https://twitter.com/FreedomFriesInc/status/1597822266930524161

I recognize this form of gaslighting because I learned it from others and even used it, during my time* in Cult 45. (* Ended TWO years ago, OK?)

Any sign that someone is outside the cult is used as a way to disregard whatever the person says.

I proudly attach 🇺🇦 to my a/c...

Thread: Mass shooting in a Walmart store, Chesapeake, VA

Here is the latest at 4am Eastern. At 8am Eastern, local police will hold a media briefing.

Yet another shooting. There are some relatively easy ways to prevent most of them...

edition.cnn.com/2022/11/22/us/… I'm talking about changing the way domestic violence incidents are handled, and doing more to put long term distance between known DV offenders and their legal access to guns.

An idea best espoused by the outstanding @BeauTFC. Link to follow.

Thread: The future of Twitter

I wonder what price between $8 billion and $44 billion Elon Howard Hughes Musk might consider to sell this vital pro-democracy communications hub before he completely destroys it.

I mean, that's his goal, right? He paid waaaay too much for it. Value currently estimated at $8 billion. Surely there are billionaires out there with the ability to build a consortium to entice it out of his grubby little hands?

There's a good argument for the US federal government buying it, too...

Good point, @SCOTUSBlog.

Supporters of the former guy who say his tax records should remain private are missing the point. The records show evidence of longstanding white collar crime, which exposes the fact they fell for a scam & enabled a Kremlin-compromised, violent traitor.

https://twitter.com/SCOTUSblog/status/1587443254034927616

That's right. I called him a:

>longstanding white collar criminal
>scammer
>Kremlin-compromised
>violent
>traitor.

Each of those points is supported by a massive amount of credible evidence. One label would be enough, but he is all five.

Thread: Why I recently shifted my Twitter approach after 8 years.

1. Raising awareness of #narcissism is vital for democracy.

2. Unless and until T****, his US enablers, and UK cohorts are held fully accountable, I'm way less interested in the daily political news cycle.

https://twitter.com/BandyXLee1/status/1582643805160775680

I am survivor of narcissistic abuse by more than one person. Learning about narcissistic personality disorder and related behaviors changed my life. I now feel confident I can protect myself from such people in future.

"The personal is political." -1970s activists.

I think the best thing the Tories could do right now is to bring back Theresa May, as a caregiver PM, and call a snap election.

Clement Attlee 2.0: It's time; for Keir Starmer to win that electoral mandate, and get the country recovering. D'oh! Caretaker PM is the term I meant to use above, not caregiver PM, lol. See, I am informally a kind of caregiver for elderly family and I'd been reading about the subject when I happened to write the tweet. I don't even like the term. "Assistant" is more empowering...

Thread: The mass murder trial of Lucy Letby, in the UK.

TW/CW: Violent content concerning child abuse.

I don't even want to read about it, but it's an unusual case and healthcare safety is a special interest of mine.

theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/o… The approach to crime prevention, child abuse, and medico-legal issues varies a lot between countries. That's part of why I find it so interesting.

Letby is accused of murdering 7 neonatal ICU babies and the attempted murder of 15 others. There are aggravating factors, too.

Thread: What the hell is going on with UK PM (for now) Liz Truss?

In this video clip she seems sedated. That's... an interesting way to handle the extraordinary set of circumstances she and her government are in.

Also, I don't think I've ever heard a UK Chancellor of the Exchequer refer to a policy decision in the first person. It's normally "we," as in Cabinet collective responsibility and respect for the PM as the final arbiter of such decisions in the House of Commons. Most odd.

Thread: The #HurricaneIan death toll and how to reduce the next hurricane death toll (USA)

👉Currently 44 officially reported deaths in FL, and 4 in NC.

👉As always, it will increase, over about two weeks.

👉Many such deaths are preventable.

Source: fdle.state.fl.us/News/2022/Sept… Here is the official page to check for updates on the Hurricane Ian death toll in Florida:

fdle.state.fl.us/news/news

I'm going to list some of the most common ways to die in a hurricane.

But first I'm going to talk about the political culture in FL that worsens the problem.

Thread: #HurricaneIan Day 2 in the US, my thoughts.

So I noticed a ton of damaged or destroyed boats either half-sunk at their moorings, or washed miles inland. As always happens. And it got me thinking... there are better options...

weather.com/storms/hurrica… Boat owners and users had 4-5 days' notice that #Ian was likely to develop and landfall somewhere in FL. The forecast track became more certain over time, but even at 2 days out, the info was pretty solid. If it surprised you, then IMO you weren't listening properly to the data.

Poor kid. IDK when how or why she allowed this, then decided it would be fun to share.

Every person who is a public figure has a duty to promote science based public health and safety messaging at all times but esp. during major disasters.

T****s fail this test repeatedly.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1575130672347451392

Granted, weather conditions at time and place of filming were not hazardous enough to warrant actually calling Child Protective Services but that's not the point.

To a person, they are clueless on how to behave with a working moral compass. They lack an ability to feel shame.

#HurricaneIan is a really bad one. #Katrina bad. #Andrew bad #Michael bad.

I've been away from Twitter for a couple weeks; back in #HWStormWatch mode now. My top tips below.

The very best website for #Ian info:

trackthetropics.com Tips for surviving #HurricaneIan:

#TurnAroundDontDrown

You can drown in just 6" of flood water, if it's moving fast enough. The danger threshold for vehicles is 12".

They're not the Fab Four. That is their majesties & the Waleses.

One photo op =/= reunited, nor should it.

Even the late Queen did not & would not have wanted credit given to the Sussexes for this, after what they did to her & PP.

The real Fab Four are exceptional leaders.

https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1568713904083058689

Now, since it is never possible to provide proper nuance in one tweet, here is why I said all that.

I am a subject of the King of New Zealand, and I am extremely grateful for my good luck in being born here.

I'm also one of the most knowledgeable royal watchers I know...

Thread

There are so many self-incriminating words and actions each day among T#### and his current lawyers and hangers-on that it's hard to keep up!

I'm gonna add some examples here; and please reply with any that you see and we can include them too.

#LockHimUp Christina Bobb in a TV slot referred to the classified cover sheets as cover letters.

A cover letter is what you submit with your resume for a job.

A cover sheet is the term well known by normal attorneys and civil servants the world over.

"They're not sending their best."

"The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you get one more yard"

The Espionage Act investigation into the former traitor-in-chief brings worse news for him and co each day now.

We are having to WAIT for justice, and even for basic national security.

We? Yes we. I'm a New Zealander and like people in every other country outside the US, I can see that these crimes led to a clear (and possibly imminent) threat to national security everywhere.

No one knows how much damage has already been done. We may never know.

Thread

RIP, Mikhail Gorbachev. I don't give him unmitigated praise, because he tried to keep Chernobyl secret, and it was only reported after nearby free countries in the West detected radiation in their own airspace.

This ad is relevant today because:

https://twitter.com/NumbersMuncher/status/1564719570061086735

Gorbachev failed to assist the USSR safely and constructively through the 1990s and by the end of the decade, president-for-life and right wing fascist dictator Putin was in power.

Countries like Ukraine and Georgia have suffered the most, and still do.

Thread: The potential culpability of the intel officers who allowed 45 to retain certain documents, and never followed up.

Make no mistake: 45 himself bears ultimate responsibility. But, most of us were relying on the officers to act as a kind of brake.

🤔Why didn't they? So far, the public commentary that I've read about this part of the crime kinda suggests they got tired of pushing back.

That is NOT ever an adequate defense for something so serious. No matter how hard it is to do in practice.

Thread

Val Demings for Florida encapsulates the future of American politics if voters will continue in the growing pro-democracy trend.

Not just female, and black, she's also a former Police Chief. And, I love her humility about her primary win.

I particularly enjoy seeing people of color and/or women taking the fight directly to the door of republicans at this time. Because Rs have done so much to attack these groups, and also LGTQ+ people, immigrants, disabled people, and anyone without certain kinds of privilege.