Things in the news

Or have to take their kids to overcrowded inner-city clinics that have had their human services funding cut to pay for the billionaires tax cuts.
Or have the refugees who have displaces by climate change camp out on their estates.

 

The David Bowie quote in @redravin post...
https://www.thetfp.com/threads/miscellaneous-photos-images-that-dont-have-a-thread-here.11606/page-16#post-404511

applies here....

Greta Thunberg Puts ‘Haters’ In Their Place With Stunning Twitter Thread
The teen climate change activist said she didn’t “understand why adults would choose to spend their time mocking and threatening teenagers and children for promoting science.”

View: https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1176931068349468674



View: https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1176931580893454336

***

Added...

Teenage Girls Are Leading The Climate Movement — And Getting Attacked For It

​

 

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) has been a money pit/cesspool for many years, perhaps even decades, and it will be taken over, barring unexpected court rulings, by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

The good news is the HISD has been long overdue for a major overhaul. The bad news is the TEA was, perhaps still is, controlled by conservative right wing republican members who support religious beliefs over science (creation v evolution was a huge fight here). Book publishers wanting the huge text book market in Texas are more than willing to print what the TEA wants printed.

This is the largest takeover by the TEA in their history. I can see Houston winding up with a larger & more complicated cesspool; reversing decades of incompetence will require decades of competence.


State to take over Houston ISD by replacing school board and superintendent


Texas Education Agency to take over Houston ISD

 

Not to be a hater but you do know that Greta is neurodiverse?
Folks that are in the spectrum don't have the normal social modes that we are used to.
They don't have a sense of decorum or modesty.
When they speak a fact, they expect people to just understand that and why should they be offended if it is true?

I work with a lot of neurodiverse folks because their unemployment rate is really high.
They may be great for the job but they don't interview well.
Everything is black and white to them, so they won't see subtle aspects of questions.

They can however focus on a problem like a laser and not let go.
If you want to sit for hours and find out everything there is to know about a subject ask someone who is neurodiverse about something they have focused upon.

 

EDIT: Redravin was writing while I was. His post explains a lot. It makes her irritating manner of speaking understandable, and still irritating.


The one TV clip I saw of her was off-putting, to say the least. I agree with her message, but not necessarily the delivery. Being lectured in a condescending tone is bad enough, in a raised voice makes it worse, and both coming from a prissy kid is seriously irritating.

Her writing I like.

 

The same could probably be said about MLK and other black civil rights leaders.

Or Rachel Carson, a recognized leader of the environmental movement who was attacked for being a "woman" scientist (Personal attacks on Rachel Carson | Environment & Society Portal) .

And the students from Parkland, Florida, who became outspoken gun control advocates and were subjected to all kinds of hate and ridicule (and some threats) (How rightwingers have attacked Parkland students with lies, hoaxes and smears) .

Is it a coincidence that all of the above (and in fact, many "movement" leaders) are teenagers, women and minorities and have had their character attacked for being strident in their beliefs? I wont jump to that conclusion.

Or is being "full of oneself" simply an extension of having a vocal passion for a cause that rubs some critics the wrong way, but who cant criticize the substance of the message, so direct their response at the messenger instead? (I am not suggestion Lindy falls into this category, but directing my response more to those who engaged in vicious and some times threatening personal attacks directed at Greta)

 

You only get one chance to make a first impression. Unfortunately for Greta, the first impression millions of people received of her was her absolutely horrible delivery of her speech.

I'm not defending those people going after Greta on a personal level.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 11, 2019, Original Post Date: Nov 11, 2019 ---

I also think being an activist in the age of social media and 'instant news' is much different than what King, Carson, and many others faced. Any idiot who can access the internet can voice an opinion, and entertain themselves (and others) by being an asshole.

 

In terms of political leaders and policy makers around the world (as well as the older demographic like us), I agree it was the wrong tone.

In terms of appealing to other teens and first-time voters (particularly, in the US), I think it struck the right chord and added to the interest in climate change as a significant issue when voting in upcoming elections.

And even before her UN summit speech, the first impression of her for from many young people came about earlier in the year with the hundreds, if not thousands of student-sponsored "FridaysForFuture" events around the world inspired by her actions, engaging young people on the issue of climate change for the first time. Social media certainly had a role in this.

Added....

Most American teens are frightened by climate change, poll finds, and about 1 in 4 are taking action

The fact that "roughly 1 in 4 have participated in a walkout, attended a rally or written to a public official to express their views on global warming — a remarkable level of activism for a group that has not yet reached voting age" is significant and, IMO, she deserves some of the credit for lighting that fire.

Again, first impressions were probably generational.

 

Edit: I want to add "her" name, Greta Thunberg.

I'll repeat:

I agree with her thinking and her message. The personal attacks on her are repulsive, but they are impossible to control. *** My comment about idiots & assholes on social media were about her attackers, not her ***

Her passionate speeches might appeal to teenagers and irritate others along generational lines, but
IMO *** IMO ***
she seriously needs help with her public speaking.

Perhaps she has learned to dial it back a bit? Does her neurological disorder prevent her from understanding how she came across? Does she embrace verbally irritating people?

Edit 2: Where is @Lindy
?

 

Again, I agree with you on her speech at the UN climate summit.

But look at her speech at a rally in Iowa City...


...or her testimony and Q&A at a Congressional hearing


Both are passionate but thoughtful and measured, IMO.

 

I skipped a bit here & there in the two videos ^, but yes Greta was definitely more palatable? listenable?. Which certainly helps her message reach the brain, instead of being stopped at the ears (at least for me).

 

I've never heard the term neurodiverse before. will now go off to read up.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 14, 2019, Original Post Date: Nov 14, 2019 ---

regarding her public speaking, I've not heard her, except from some snippets in the news, but I suspect that she will improve with age and experience.

 

Breaking News ...

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is really a time-traveler who landed in 2019 to save the Earth!



Photo From 1898 Sparks Hilarious Theory That Greta Thunberg Is A Time-Traveler
A photo taken 121 years ago has sparked a hilarious internet conspiracy theory that teen climate activist Greta Thunberg is a time-traveler who landed in 2019 to save the Earth.

The image shows three children operating a machine in a gold mine during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. It was shot by Eric Hegg in the Yukon territory of northwestern Canada and is today part of the University of Washington’s Special Collections archive.


View: https://twitter.com/history2cool/status/1196804875847393280?s=19

 

I don’t call it the news anymore. I call it Trump vision. I remember presidents all the way back to Kennedy and never has any president so dominated the news cycle as Donald Trump. I think he owns Fox

 

I loved her speech. The inflamed youth laying it out. What she said may have been harshly delivered, but it was also accurate. As far as people full of themselves, some people take seriously religious people who expound on god's will without a single person in the entirety of history being able to prove that there is even some supernatural force in the universe. So listen to some bullshit con artist in a funny hat or collar or listen to someone who is speaking the truth, I'll take the truth.

 

he's an ass.