Catherine

love. patience. and a little bit of magic.

[Catherine @mamacbadu]

One of the best decisions I ever made was to willingly talk to God every day.

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

Fred Rogers met with a child psychologist every week for 22 years to build his show. She shaped everything: every script, prop, and song. The whole point was to give a child's nervous system time to slow down. In 1984, a single regulatory decision ended all of it.

The psychologist was Dr. Margaret McFarland, who co-founded the Arsenal Family and Children's Center alongside Benjamin Spock and Erik Erikson. She and Rogers understood that the prefrontal cortex in children, the part of the brain that controls impulse, emotion, and attention, takes decades to fully develop. At the start of every episode, Rogers tied his sneakers and changed his sweater while children settled in. Those pauses were intentional, designed to help a child's nervous system shift into a calmer, more focused state.

What ended it had nothing to do with child development science. In 1984, Reagan's FCC chairman Mark Fowler abolished the advertising limits that had protected children's programming from commercial pressure. Toy companies moved within months. Between 1984 and 1985, cartoons tied to toy lines increased by 300%, from a handful of shows to more than 40 animated series. In almost every case, the toy was designed first. The cartoon was built to sell it.

Researchers later put numbers to what parents were already noticing. A 2011 study in Pediatrics from the University of Virginia tested 60 four-year-olds across three groups: one watching SpongeBob, which cuts scene every 11 seconds; one watching a slow PBS show, which cuts scene every 34 seconds; and one drawing. Nine minutes later, all three took tests on attention, impulse control, short-term memory, and problem-solving. The SpongeBob group scored significantly worse across every measure.

In the 1970s, children began watching television around age 4. Research from pediatrician Dimitri Christakis found that by 2009, the average age of first screen exposure had dropped to 4 months, as the content got faster and the audience got younger. Researchers separately found that each additional hour of daily screen time at ages 1 or 3 raised the risk of attention problems at age 7 by 9%.

[fatima bhutto 🇵🇸🇱🇧🇮🇷 @fbhutto]

They also shot and killed his 12 year old son to punish him for not abandoning his hospital

[Nur Dogan @nurdogandiyorki]

That’s the reality!
#FIFA

[iPO MISIONARY @iPOMISIONA7tri]

Remember blind Rohingya refugee Nurul Amin Shah Alam? It's a pattern, not an accident. ICE is strategically killing refugees.

[𝓔𝓶 ♡ @emkenobi]

This is why they want you to forget about the Epstein files. There are dozens of girls just like her who were taken and sold into human trafficking. They’re probably not even alive anymore. What happened to these girls is beyond comprehension, and the people responsible are getting away with it.

[zellie @zellieimani]

Being homeless doesn’t mean you deserve to die. It doesn’t mean you deserve to be mistreated. It means you deserve housing.

[Nora @Heal_within96]

Black people make up 50% of all exonerations in the US, despite being 13.6% of the population. Black people are 7 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of serious crimes (murder, sexual assault/drug offenses) than White individuals.

[ABC News @ABC]

The CDC has activated a Level 3 emergency response for the New World screwworm.

ABC’s Youri Benadjaoud has the details.

[zellie @zellieimani]

“The rage of the oppressed is never the same as the rage of the privileged.” -bell hooks

[JulesNader386 @Julesnader386]

These are concentration camps.
These are concentration camps.
These are concentration camps.
These are concentration camps.
These are concentration camps.
These are concentration camps.
These are concentration camps.
These are concentration camps.

[Police The Police 2.0 @PoliceThePolic1]

A New York trooper who rammed an SUV during a 130‑mph pursuit, killing 11‑year‑old Monica Goods and then falsifying reports to blame her father, has been sentenced to prison after years of delays and public outrage.

https://t.co/mMZyDtegmp

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

I am more than familiar with Palestine history during the British occupation -its crimes and legacy - and yet. Watching #Palestine36 was a gut-wrenching experience.

Gentle as it can be, Palestinian storytelling cannot hide the horror of the crimes Palestinians have endured.

[failed @unnamedbutalone]

He is only 33 years old. This is the biggest moment of his career. He’s probably been waiting for it for months.

But who will talk about it? There are 48 teams, hundreds of players, and representatives from all over the world. Who will finally speak up?

[Matthew Shepard Foundation @MattShepardFDN]

Today we honor James Byrd Jr., who was brutally murdered on this day 28 years ago. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law by former President Barack Obama 17 years ago.

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

Lynching mobs.
Pogroms.
Genocidal acts.
Racism.
Suprematism.
Absolute impunity.

The failure of the post-WWII system in a nutshell.

[Alonso Gurmendi @Alonso_GD]

The “uninvolved civilian” they shot at was a SEVEN MONTH OLD BABY.

His name was Sam Fahd Abou Haikal.

[Mahmoud Massri | مَحْمُود 🇵🇸 @MahmoudMassri15]

I did not expect so many people to care about one small moment of happiness from Gaza.

Thank you for seeing us as human beings 🤍

[Barry Malone @malonebarry]

How is this not headline news all around the world?

Why aren't these images everywhere?

Imagine if this was an Israeli baby.

[Cory Archibald @CMArchibald]

Insane to think that all through the 90s we were told we absolutely had to let the Klan march in American cities to protect free speech and now they're withholding diplomas, firing people, imposing travel bans, qmd running weekslong smear campaigns for saying the word genocide.

[PS⚡️ @Neelaasapphire]

Sugar cane women workers in India HAVE THEIR UTERUS REMOVED to avoid missing a single day of work.

This is where your misogyny should end and voice the inhumane working conditions of people across the world!