Dena Phillips 🌻

It’s happening again. “Vermin” “They are poisoning the blood of our country” His rhetoric traces directly back to Adolf Hitler. In a normal time, he would be immediately drummed out of politics. Out of our public discourse. Every sane American would be horrified at him dredging up the evil that almost consumed the world a century ago. This is not a normal time. Cult leaders condition their flock to tune out all voices of reason. They condition them to accept absurdities, so they can be compelled to commit atrocities. Without remorse. He is guiding his cult into a suicide pact, just so he save his own hide. He must be held accountable in the courts. He must be stopped at the ballot box. He must never be allowed to repeat the darkest chapters of our history. This has become bigger than any of us wanted or expected. Nevertheless, it falls on us to make our stand here and now to stop the darkness from spreading. Again.

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PhillipsDena retweeted

Captain Allen

@CptAllenHistory

almost 3 years ago

Hi, I’m a lawyer. Do want to know what is really meant by a “#proportionate response” under international law? Then read on - and feel free to ask questions! Under International Humanitarian Law, #proportionality requires that any degree of damage (up to and including death) to #civilians not be “excessive” in relation to the “military advantage anticipated from a strike against a military target.” We are going to break that down, so everyone understands what exactly that means. However, first, you should be aware that it is a misnomer that anytime #Palestinian civilians die after an #Israeli strike, it is automatically evidence of an Israeli war crime. This is completely false - the law does not work that way. Simply, and unfortunately, the international rules of law recognize that civilians are often killed during war; and, most of the time, those deaths are actually not indicative of a war crime. Instead, the legal test for “proportionality” requires that each individual strike be looked at with a particular balancing analysis. First, here is a hard and fast rule: the strike must be intended to target a military objective; it is, therefore, an unlawful war crime to strike with the intent of targeting civilians without any military objective whatsoever. Now, let’s get a little technical while still keeping it simple. Under the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1977 at both Article 51(5)(b) and Article 52(2), we know that when #Hamas uses its own population (or Israeli #hostages) as #humanshields - either by using them to shield themselves or to shield their weapons depots - Hamas has, under international law, turned civilians targets into military targets. That means that when Hamas places weapons caches in and under schools, hospitals, mosques, etc., Hamas has made each of those places legitimate military targets. So, it has been well-known for many years that Hamas purposefully placed its headquarters underground beneath the al-Shifa Hospital. In doing so, international law holds that the hospital is no longer just a civilian target, it is a legitimate military target. That does not necessarily give the IDF carte blanche to attack hospitals, schools, mosques, etc.; however, it does mean that an IDF attack on a civilian target that has been made into a military target by Hamas’ use of human shields is not per se illegal under international law. Instead, such a strike (as is the case with any strike conducted by a military like the IDF), must be analyzed through a balancing test. One part of this balancing test performed by Israel before each strike is to determine whether the human shields in question are being used voluntarily or involuntarily. If the human shields are being used voluntarily - meaning the human shields are there protecting Hamas and its weapons of their own volition - then the target remains a completely legitimate military target. If the human shields are being used involuntarily - meaning Hamas is forcing people to act as human shields to protect themselves and/or their weapons - then the IDF must go back to the balancing test to determine whether the anticipated military advantage of a successful strike would outweigh the reasonably anticipated loss of civilian life. Importantly, the IDF rules state that if it cannot determine whether a human shield is being used voluntarily or involuntarily, it must presume the civilian is being used against his or her own will and treat the civilians as an involuntary participant. Assuming that there is a military target & that there may be human shields that are there involuntarily, the next step in the proportionality analysis for each individual strike (remember, proportionality is determined on a strike-by-strike basis, and not as the accumulation of strikes over time) is to try to determine the likely amount of damage to civilian persons and/or property as a result of the strike. In other words, under international law, Israel must be able to give a sort of “value” to the anticipated impact on civilians (including potential civilian deaths). Simply, a smaller number of anticipated civilian casualties may make the strike proportionate if there is a significant military advantage to be gained by conducting the strike. However, if Israel determines that the anticipated impact of a strike may cause many civilian casualties, it must make the difficult determination of whether the anticipated military advantage is so significant that it warrants carrying out the strike anyway. So, if Hamas has a weapons depot underneath a house with two civilians inside, and that house has been used to fire 500 rockets at Israeli civilians, and it is reasonably expected that there are hundreds more rockets under that house, Israel can almost certainly carry out the strike within the confines of international law. If that same house, however, had 10 families living inside, including many children, it could - and likely would - tip the scales of the proportionality balancing test toward Israel not being permitted to carry out the strike, even though the house has been used to attack Israeli civilians and can be expected to continue to be used to carry out attacks against Israeli civilians. Now, that balancing test can always change. If that same house is being used to fire long-range, precision-guided missiles at Israel’s major population centers in places like #TelAviv (effectively putting millions of Israeli civilians in danger), the balancing test may tip back in favor of Israel being legally permitted to carry out the strike. This all suggests the third and final step in the proportionality balancing test: the #IDF must determine and place a “value” on the anticipated military advantage that would be gained if it were to carry out a particular strike. An attack on Hamas leadership and/or its weapons manufacturers would be considered a high value target. An attack on a single Hamas member who has no special skill, would be a much lower value military target. Similarly, an attack on a small cache of mortars would have less military value that an attack on a large cache of advanced rockets that can reach large Israeli civilian population centers. Once the @IDF determines the anticipated “value” of the likely effect on civilian persons and property and the anticipated “value” of the likely military advantage to be gained if the strike is carried out, the balancing test can be performed, and a certain amount of judgment must go into the determination of whether that strike would or would not be “proportionate.” Importantly, this decision is so vital that the IDF does not simply permit a single solder on the ground with his or her hand on the proverbial (or actual) “trigger” to make that determination. In fact, the decision of whether a strike is proportionate is not even left up to IDF officers. It’s not even left up to IDF Generals. Instead, before any IDF strike can take place, IDF Guidelines provide that the proportionality balancing test must be presented to and analyzed by IDF military lawyers who then determine whether the strike is legally permissible as “proportionate” under international law and the rules of war. And these IDF military lawyers are not mere patsies or people who simply “rubber stamp” what the IDF requests. In fact, the IDF’s military lawyers work entirely independently of the IDF. They are outside of the chain of command and do not answer to anyone in the IDF, including a General (for example). Plus, every IDF military lawyer knows he or she may very well be held to account if he or she makes a wrong decision based on the evidence available at the time. Furthermore, sometimes the decisions to be made while balancing the likely military advantage against the likely civilian casualties can be so difficult that the legality of the strike is first brought to the Israeli Supreme Court for instant review. Another important concept: the comparison of civilian body counts of #Israelis versus #Palestinians (to the extent those numbers can be trusted since they come directly from Hamas-only) is not relevant to a proportionality analysis. Each strike must be viewed individually to determine proportionality. It is not a test of the cumulative nature of the strikes. Also, by simply comparing body counts, it does not factor in how many people killed were actually #HamasTerrorists, how many were Hamas collaborators there voluntarily, and it does not consider what military advantage was gained by Israel carrying out any individual strike. As Israel is now in the process of seeking to secure the military advantage of preventing Hamas from having the capacity to carry out repeated attacks of the kind and nature seen on October 7th, Israel is permitted to act proportionately insofar as necessary to achieve that military objective (the elimination of Hamas and/or its ability to make war). One more important fact people do not know, but that they should know: according to UN statistics of global conflict, the average civilian to combatant killed ratio is a rather appalling nine civilians killed for every one combatant killed. That’s why civilian body counts in and of themselves are never indicative of a war crime. Each individual strike has to be analyzed, and unfortunately civilians always suffer disproportionately in wars. In fact, while Israel is routinely criticized for any of its strikes that kill civilians, you may be surprised to know that Israel’s civilian to combatant ratio is routinely much lower than the nine to one average. In the very last operation carried out by the IDF prior to October 7 (in Jenin), 0.6 civilians were killed for every one combatant killed. In that conflict, not only were the IDF’s ratio numbers nowhere near the nine to one international average, but the IDF actually managed to kill more combatants than civilians - something that is extremely rare. In truth, Israel is targeted by accusations of war crimes almost immediately by the media, by politicians, and by the UN General Assembly despite the fact that those accusations are near 100% of the time based neither in fact nor in law. Since a proportionality balancing test must be used to determine whether a single specific Israeli strike falls within the confines of international law, someone providing an analysis must have all of the facts Israel considered before carrying out that strike as to the anticipated impact on civilians and the anticipated military advantage. Obviously, anyone who is making a snap judgment critical of Israel could not possibly have that information. Understand then, that when you see talking heads accusing Israel of “war crimes” immediately after and/or during Israeli strikes, that is not an actual legal analysis under international law of what constitutes a war crime. Much more likely, what you are witnessing is part of Hamas’ ongoing psychological and propaganda warfare campaign of demonizing and delegitimizing the State of Israel in the eyes of public opinion. #Hamas_is_ISIS #HamasisISIS #HamasISIS #HamasMonsters #October7massacre

CptAllenHistory's tweet photo. Hi, I’m a lawyer. Do want to know what is really meant by a “#proportionate response” under international law? Then read on - and feel free to ask questions!

Under International Humanitarian Law, #proportionality requires that any degree of damage (up to and including death) to #civilians not be “excessive” in relation to the “military advantage anticipated from a strike against a military target.”

We are going to break that down, so everyone understands what exactly that means.

However, first, you should be aware that it is a misnomer that anytime #Palestinian civilians die after an #Israeli strike, it is automatically evidence of an Israeli war crime. This is completely false - the law does not work that way.

Simply, and unfortunately, the international rules of law recognize that civilians are often killed during war; and, most of the time, those deaths are actually not indicative of a war crime.

Instead, the legal test for “proportionality” requires that each individual strike be looked at with a particular balancing analysis.

First, here is a hard and fast rule: the strike must be intended to target a military objective; it is, therefore, an unlawful war crime to strike with the intent of targeting civilians without any military objective whatsoever.

Now, let’s get a little technical while still keeping it simple.

Under the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1977 at both Article 51(5)(b) and Article 52(2), we know that when #Hamas uses its own population (or Israeli #hostages) as #humanshields - either by using them to shield themselves or to shield their weapons depots - Hamas has, under international law, turned civilians targets into military targets.

That means that when Hamas places weapons caches in and under schools, hospitals, mosques, etc., Hamas has made each of those places legitimate military targets.

So, it has been well-known for many years that Hamas purposefully placed its headquarters underground beneath the al-Shifa Hospital. In doing so, international law holds that the hospital is no longer just a civilian target, it is a legitimate military target.

That does not necessarily give the IDF carte blanche to attack hospitals, schools, mosques, etc.; however, it does mean that an IDF attack on a civilian target that has been made into a military target by Hamas’ use of human shields is not per se illegal under international law.

Instead, such a strike (as is the case with any strike conducted by a military like the IDF), must be analyzed through a balancing test.

One part of this balancing test performed by Israel before each strike is to determine whether the human shields in question are being used voluntarily or involuntarily.

If the human shields are being used voluntarily - meaning the human shields are there protecting Hamas and its weapons of their own volition - then the target remains a completely legitimate military target.

If the human shields are being used involuntarily - meaning Hamas is forcing people to act as human shields to protect themselves and/or their weapons - then the IDF must go back to the balancing test to determine whether the anticipated military advantage of a successful strike would outweigh the reasonably anticipated loss of civilian life.

Importantly, the IDF rules state that if it cannot determine whether a human shield is being used voluntarily or involuntarily, it must presume the civilian is being used against his or her own will and treat the civilians as an involuntary participant.

Assuming that there is a military target & that there may be human shields that are there involuntarily, the next step in the proportionality analysis for each individual strike (remember, proportionality is determined on a strike-by-strike basis, and not as the accumulation of strikes over time) is to try to determine the likely amount of damage to civilian persons and/or property as a result of the strike.

In other words, under international law, Israel must be able to give a sort of “value” to the anticipated impact on civilians (including potential civilian deaths). Simply, a smaller number of anticipated civilian casualties may make the strike proportionate if there is a significant military advantage to be gained by conducting the strike.

However, if Israel determines that the anticipated impact of a strike may cause many civilian casualties, it must make the difficult determination of whether the anticipated military advantage is so significant that it warrants carrying out the strike anyway.

So, if Hamas has a weapons depot underneath a house with two civilians inside, and that house has been used to fire 500 rockets at Israeli civilians, and it is reasonably expected that there are hundreds more rockets under that house, Israel can almost certainly carry out the strike within the confines of international law.

If that same house, however, had 10 families living inside, including many children, it could - and likely would - tip the scales of the proportionality balancing test toward Israel not being permitted to carry out the strike, even though the house has been used to attack Israeli civilians and can be expected to continue to be used to carry out attacks against Israeli civilians.

Now, that balancing test can always change. If that same house is being used to fire long-range, precision-guided missiles at Israel’s major population centers in places like #TelAviv (effectively putting millions of Israeli civilians in danger), the balancing test may tip back in favor of Israel being legally permitted to carry out the strike.

This all suggests the third and final step in the proportionality balancing test: the #IDF must determine and place a “value” on the anticipated military advantage that would be gained if it were to carry out a particular strike.

An attack on Hamas leadership and/or its weapons manufacturers would be considered a high value target. An attack on a single Hamas member who has no special skill, would be a much lower value military target.

Similarly, an attack on a small cache of mortars would have less military value that an attack on a large cache of advanced rockets that can reach large Israeli civilian population centers.

Once the @IDF determines the anticipated “value” of the likely effect on civilian persons and property and the anticipated “value” of the likely military advantage to be gained if the strike is carried out, the balancing test can be performed, and a certain amount of judgment must go into the determination of whether that strike would or would not be “proportionate.”

Importantly, this decision is so vital that the IDF does not simply permit a single solder on the ground with his or her hand on the proverbial (or actual) “trigger” to make that determination.

In fact, the decision of whether a strike is proportionate is not even left up to IDF officers. It’s not even left up to IDF Generals.

Instead, before any IDF strike can take place, IDF Guidelines provide that the proportionality balancing test must be presented to and analyzed by IDF military lawyers who then determine whether the strike is legally permissible as “proportionate” under international law and the rules of war.

And these IDF military lawyers are not mere patsies or people who simply “rubber stamp” what the IDF requests.

In fact, the IDF’s military lawyers work entirely independently of the IDF. They are outside of the chain of command and do not answer to anyone in the IDF, including a General (for example).

Plus, every IDF military lawyer knows he or she may very well be held to account if he or she makes a wrong decision based on the evidence available at the time.

Furthermore, sometimes the decisions to be made while balancing the likely military advantage against the likely civilian casualties can be so difficult that the legality of the strike is first brought to the Israeli Supreme Court for instant review.

Another important concept: the comparison of civilian body counts of #Israelis versus #Palestinians (to the extent those numbers can be trusted since they come directly from Hamas-only) is not relevant to a proportionality analysis. Each strike must be viewed individually to determine proportionality. It is not a test of the cumulative nature of the strikes.

Also, by simply comparing body counts, it does not factor in how many people killed were actually #HamasTerrorists, how many were Hamas collaborators there voluntarily, and it does not consider what military advantage was gained by Israel carrying out any individual strike.

As Israel is now in the process of seeking to secure the military advantage of preventing Hamas from having the capacity to carry out repeated attacks of the kind and nature seen on October 7th, Israel is permitted to act proportionately insofar as necessary to achieve that military objective (the elimination of Hamas and/or its ability to make war).

One more important fact people do not know, but that they should know: according to UN statistics of global conflict, the average civilian to combatant killed ratio is a rather appalling nine civilians killed for every one combatant killed.

That’s why civilian body counts in and of themselves are never indicative of a war crime. Each individual strike has to be analyzed, and unfortunately civilians always suffer disproportionately in wars.

In fact, while Israel is routinely criticized for any of its strikes that kill civilians, you may be surprised to know that Israel’s civilian to combatant ratio is routinely much lower than the nine to one average.

In the very last operation carried out by the IDF prior to October 7 (in Jenin), 0.6 civilians were killed for every one combatant killed.

In that conflict, not only were the IDF’s ratio numbers nowhere near the nine to one international average, but the IDF actually managed to kill more combatants than civilians - something that is extremely rare.

In truth, Israel is targeted by accusations of war crimes almost immediately by the media, by politicians, and by the UN General Assembly despite the fact that those accusations are near 100% of the time based neither in fact nor in law.

Since a proportionality balancing test must be used to determine whether a single specific Israeli strike falls within the confines of international law, someone providing an analysis must have all of the facts Israel considered before carrying out that strike as to the anticipated impact on civilians and the anticipated military advantage. Obviously, anyone who is making a snap judgment critical of Israel could not possibly have that information.

Understand then, that when you see talking heads accusing Israel of “war crimes” immediately after and/or during Israeli strikes, that is not an actual legal analysis under international law of what constitutes a war crime.

Much more likely, what you are witnessing is part of Hamas’ ongoing psychological and propaganda warfare campaign of demonizing and delegitimizing the State of Israel in the eyes of public opinion.

#Hamas_is_ISIS #HamasisISIS #HamasISIS #HamasMonsters #October7massacre

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Pam Keith, Esq. @PamKeithFL

almost 3 years ago

The 2024 election will be about the ISSUES, not the candidates: Democracy v. MAGA Women’s rights v. Control of women Gun control v. Open carry Public education v. Vouchers Social security v. Tax cuts for the wealthy. Climate protections v. Pollution at will

Who to follow

Cerinthe

@Purpurescens

Trump's a manbaby sore loser, traitor, pathological liar, lifelong grifter who bent and broke the law to line his pockets. Vote blue to preserve democracy.

Wally Fordyce

@FordyceWally

rabid sports fan trying to be good father and husband,

PhillipsDena retweeted

Jack Hopkins

@thejackhopkins

almost 3 years ago

You do remember my post a few days ago about there being at least 1,000 active Russian spies in the United States, yes? In September of this year, FBI Director Christopher Wray told an audience at the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C: “The Russian traditional counter-intelligence threat continues to loom large. The Russian intelligence footprint-and by that I mean intelligence officers-is still way too big in the United States and something we are constantly bumping up against…” When you see these silly ass polls showing “Trump leading Biden” considerably….I want you to immediately think “Russian influence.” Don’t you think…even for a minute…that Putin’s sophisticated networks of people who are dedicated to influencing the 2024 election…don’t have the people in place, or the means to shape the polls you are seeing. Do not. To think that isn’t possible…or even likely, would be an exercise in gullibility, ignorance, or lack of imagination. Most of the things you’re going to see about the election over the next 12 months….that scare you the most…have a very high likelihood of being the result of Russian influence. Watch the peripheral events even closer. While the war with Israel-Hamas might not seem like “election interference,” I would argue it is some of the most potentially potent election interference there is. How? It induces fear and anger about the very kinds of issues that studies have shown to trigger people turn to domineering, power house candidates in an election year. In short, rather than try to shape the man to what they know you want, they seek to shape the world events…that shape you….so that you’ll want…. the man. The most important thing, every day, is to remind yourself, “Russia seeks to scare me, anger me and motivate me…and have me think it’s being caused by ANYTHING other than Russia.” Look at EVERYTHING that scares you, angers you or motivates you in directions that are different than usual…and ask yourself, “Who benefits most from me being scared of this, mad at that, or motivated to do this?” If how you’re feeling isn’t driving you harder towards voting BLUE, the answer is almost certainly “Russia/MAGA.” It’s safe to say that the world’s largest covert election interference in history….is happening right now. We’re all part of it. We have to keep our shit together and our head on a swivel. I’m going to be helping you do that. Please subscribe to my Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter at https://t.co/77NeBziyWQ

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Don Winslow

@donwinslow

almost 3 years ago

6.5 MILLION VIEWS and still growing because of your retweets and quote tweets. 500,000+ views in the past few hours. Please keep sharing #DonaldTrumpLifetimeofLies. And send it to a Republican voter today.

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Omar Rivero

@OmarRiverosays

almost 3 years ago

Exactly!

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ᗰᗩƳᖇᗩ

@LePapillonBlu2

almost 3 years ago

This 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

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Prez

@PrezLives2022

almost 3 years ago

Alexander Hamilton warned a demagogue could rise to power with unprincipled attacks on the entire governing class while making promises that he alone could fix the ills of this country. “When a man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, (possessed of considerable talents, having the advantage of military habits), despotic in his ordinary demeanor, known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty, when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity, to join in the cry of danger to liberty, to take every opportunity of embarrassing the General Government & bringing it under suspicion, to flatter and fall in with all the nonsense of the zealots of the day, It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may ‘ride the storm and direct the whirlwind,’ George Mason also warned James Madison that giving the president pardon powers would lead to unintended consequences such as a blank check to commit unlimited crimes and cover it up or pardon themselves from criminal consequences. Donald Trump is that man Hamilton feared…he attacks the rule of law with vengeance, he attacks anyone that dares get in his way, and has even suggested we terminate the Constitution to put him back in power. Our government has always depended on some sense of cooperation as has our rule of law…if one man can encourage every man in power to deny the rule of law then the rule of law ceases to exist…that is what will happen if Trump is elected…you don’t give a failed demagogue a 2nd chance…he may not fail again. https://t.co/JIOASzsorE

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Just Jack

@7Veritas4

almost 3 years ago

They rejected their own nominee for Speaker four times. They introduced a poison pill to allow any one person to overturn the majority vote. So when they tell you “Democracy is messy”. What they really mean is… “Getting rid of Democracy is messy.”

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Melanie D'Arrigo

@DarrigoMelanie

almost 3 years ago

There are 9 Republican men vying to be Speaker. Tonight's GOP Speaker candidate forum is brought to you by some of the worst special interest groups. 🧵Let's meet the candidates and their sponsors:

DarrigoMelanie's tweet photo. There are 9 Republican men vying to be Speaker.

Tonight's GOP Speaker candidate forum is brought to you by some of the worst special interest groups.

🧵Let's meet the candidates and their sponsors: https://t.co/qhGNsmqA6n

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Just Jack

@7Veritas4

almost 3 years ago

To the 20ish Republicans refusing to be held hostage by the MAGA caucus: When Jim Jordan calls for a vote tomorrow, tell him 5 of you will vote “Present”. And then 5 more in the next round. You’ll have a new nominee before lunch. You’re welcome. Ps: This advice assumes Jim can do basic math.

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CALL TO ACTIVISM

@CalltoActivism

about 3 years ago

I absolutely love this story........ It made me cry. "An 87 Year Old College Student Named Rose The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?” I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze. “Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…” “No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age. “I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me. Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up. At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.” As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. 1) You have to laugh and find humor every day. 2) You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it! 3) There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. 4) Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.” She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose. She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly be. When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it! These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE. REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL. We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give."

CalltoActivism's tweet photo. I absolutely love this story........ It made me cry.

"An 87 Year Old College Student Named Rose
The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know.

I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me
with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.
“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.

She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…”

“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.
After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this “time machine”
as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us.

She was introduced and stepped up to the podium.
As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.”

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop
playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success.

1) You have to laugh and find humor every day.

2) You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.

We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!

3) There is a huge difference between growing
older and growing up.

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old.

If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow older.

That doesn’t take any talent or ability.

The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change.

4) Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those
with regrets.”

She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose.

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died
peacefully in her sleep.

Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s
never too late to be all you can possibly be.

When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it!

These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.

REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS
OPTIONAL.

We make a Living by what we get,

We make a Life by what we give."

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Boston Smalls

@smalls2672

about 3 years ago

I'm almost 40. Ive been studying political history and authoritarian movements for years now. To you younger ppl that may follow me or anyone who comes across this. This is the reality of our situation. Your parents and grandparents have been completely radicalized by a multi billion dollar echo chamber specifically designed to exploit ppl's fears and prep them to undertake anti-democratic actions against their own country. Ready to commit and accept violence as a means to an end. A death cult. You know what I'm talking about. You've seen it with your own eyes. One of the biggest pieces of shit to hold office was Ronald Reagan. Tho, he was correct when he said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." Unfortunately, because of the path he put us on, you are that generation. Forget the culture war. This is what oligarchs use to hide true power. Republicans tell you government doesn't work so therefore it needs to be dismantled but it is them who are actively trying to render our institutions futile. They actively work against your interest and try to blame their opposition for the failure of the government that they are actively destroying. All in an attempt to convince you to give them power to fix it. Only to not relinquish it ever again because they are a dying out party that only represents a minority ruling class that's gasping for air. When anything looks at extinction it will do anything to grasp for life and to protect itself (in this case, power & wealth). You will no longer have a say and your future will be stolen. A reinvented hierarchy predicated on cruelty solely to prop up a ruling class with the law behind them to step on anyone persuing unlimited profits. Only violence will bring back what we once had. That our ancestors fought and bled for. The American dream all but a nightmare. You have to understand the gravity of our situation and what such an important crossroad we are at in our history. Literally the future of our country is in your hands. One of our most revered American icons once said, "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." If this were to stand true you have to come together. You have to organize and get involved. There's a reason why Republicans are trying to make it hard as possible to vote. There's a reason why they want to raise the voting age. They fear you. The vote is more powerful then the bullet. Use it while you still can. Carpe díem

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PhillipsDena retweeted

𝔗𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰

@politicsusa46

about 3 years ago

It’s a sad day when a President who has literally dragged a country out of the gutter, gains little to no respect for driving the fastest post COVID recovery of G7 partners and almost all developed nations. The lowest unemployment for 60 years, another 187,000 jobs added in August, bringing the total now to almost 13.4 million. The US is the top destination for direct foreign investment. Manufacturing is outpacing the rest of the world. Share of global manufacturing output is at 18.6%, the highest since 2009. With GDP standing at 2.1%, by any measure, the US economy is proving very resilient. So why is Joe Biden struggling to gain any credit for what can only be regarded as an outstanding performance? Maybe it’s time for US to stop being played like a fiddle by the Republican chaos machine? THIS IS ON US and we need to do better, because we’re too busy rage tweeting about the bait the GOP message monster keeps throwing over the fence to us. The right have been very successful in painting Joe Biden as cognitively impaired and too old. This despite sex pest, criminal defendant Trump’s crimes against sentence construction, only beaten by remembering the words, “Person, woman, man, camera, TV”. NOT ONE PERSON has said, despite his age, he still wants to continue in service of the nation he loves, because he believes there’s still work to be done. That’s called real dedication and commitment to making life better for ALL Americans, not the chosen few. Mr President, I commend you on your outstanding achievements to date. I applaud your grit and determination to build on what history will remember as a transformative presidency. A presidency that stood firm against vicious, relentless assaults on democracy and decency. WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK SIR #DemsAct #DemVoice1 #wtpBLUE #ONEV1 #FAM46

politicsusa46's tweet photo. It’s a sad day when a President who has literally dragged a country out of the gutter, gains little to no respect for driving the fastest post COVID recovery of G7 partners and almost all developed nations.

The lowest unemployment for 60 years, another 187,000 jobs added in August, bringing the total now to almost 13.4 million.

The US is the top destination for direct foreign investment. Manufacturing is outpacing the rest of the world. Share of global manufacturing output is at 18.6%, the highest since 2009. With GDP standing at 2.1%, by any measure, the US economy is proving very resilient.

So why is Joe Biden struggling to gain any credit for what can only be regarded as an outstanding performance? Maybe it’s time for US to stop being played like a fiddle by the Republican chaos machine?

THIS IS ON US and we need to do better, because we’re too busy rage tweeting about the bait the GOP message monster keeps throwing over the fence to us.

The right have been very successful in painting Joe Biden as cognitively impaired and too old. This despite sex pest, criminal defendant Trump’s crimes against sentence construction, only beaten by remembering the words, “Person, woman, man, camera, TV”.

NOT ONE PERSON has said, despite his age, he still wants to continue in service of the nation he loves, because he believes there’s still work to be done. That’s called real dedication and commitment to making life better for ALL Americans, not the chosen few.

Mr President, I commend you on your outstanding achievements to date. I applaud your grit and determination to build on what history will remember as a transformative presidency. A presidency that stood firm against vicious, relentless assaults on democracy and decency.

WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK SIR

#DemsAct #DemVoice1 #wtpBLUE #ONEV1 #FAM46

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Dena Phillips 🌻 @PhillipsDena

about 3 years ago

@PopularLiberal Oh yes! Can NOT wait!!

PhillipsDena retweeted

David Hogg 🟧

@davidhogg111

about 3 years ago

Seeing this written on the ground at UNC today really hit me. It’s hard seeing another school go through another shooting. The school year is just starting. Hug your friends and kids because they might not make it to the last day of school in this country. We deserve better.

davidhogg111's tweet photo. Seeing this written on the ground at UNC today really hit me. It’s hard seeing another school go through another shooting. The school year is just starting. Hug your friends and kids because they might not make it to the last day of school in this country. We deserve better. https://t.co/lvFKwr6JU3

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Dena Phillips 🌻 @PhillipsDena

about 3 years ago

@Angry_Staffer 😂😂🤪

PhillipsDena retweeted

Just Jack

@7Veritas4

about 3 years ago

Please stop posting actual pictures of him. Especially the one where his chin is preparing to testify against his face.

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PhillipsDena retweeted

Angry Staffer

@Angry_Staffer

about 3 years ago

Ohio GOP: we’re going to do this super clever end-around and make it all but impossible for our agenda to be un-fucked even when we’re voted out! Ohioans: the fuck you are

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Dena Phillips 🌻

@PhillipsDena

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