Colin

Evangelical Frasier fan, em dash addict. Likes are usually very much endorsements.

[Colin @mecolinp]

@radio_RG Listening in Atlanta with the tv perfectly synced up (on mute) - the strategy I recommend to all my friends!

[Colin @mecolinp]

@AFCEMA seeing a huge cloud of black smoke in Kirkwood, any idea what that is?

[Colin @mecolinp]

@PriscillaPilon Do you seriously think that the biggest prison system in the world needs to get bigger? We deserve better.

[Colin @mecolinp]

@PriscillaPilon @PHShriver These are not things that happen. Crime is at historical lows in the US.

[Alec Karakatsanis @equalityAlec]

THREAD. It's important for all people of good will to understand the Laken Riley Act before the Senate votes on it tomorrow. It’s unconstitutional. It’s horrific in every word and clause. But there is a deeper, more imminent violence lurking beneath its hate-filled text.

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

The problem with liberalism is that it rests on a fundamental contradiction that cannot be resolved. It will always fail, it will always collapse, and this explains everything about our current moment.

Liberals try to hold two commitments at once: on the one hand, they are firmly committed to capitalism; on the other, they express support for principles like human rights, democracy, equality, freedom of speech, environment and the rule of law.  This duality is the core of liberalism.

But there's a problem. Capital accumulation requires cheapening labour and nature. This eventually comes into direct conflict with principles like rights and equality. And whenever this conflict appears, the liberal ruling class sides with capital, abandons their lofty principles, and throws workers and nature under the bus.  Every. Single. Time.

This results in flagrant displays of hypocrisy. They run on nice-sounding platforms but end up either betraying their promises or actively working against their stated values. They'll slash public services, bail out banks, imprison journalists, beat up students, expand fracking, coup democratically elected leaders in the global South, bomb liberation movements, fund a genocide - they'll even trash international law itself - anything that's needed to maintain the conditions for capital accumulation.

At most, they may try to negotiate mediocre compromises, a few social policies here and there - some abortion rights, a tiny increase in the minimum wage - but nothing that might pose any serious threat to capital accumulation. Thus the soul-crushing slowness of liberal incrementalism.  Ultimately they are unwilling to take any of the obvious steps that would actually resolve our urgent social and ecological crises.

This is why nobody trusts liberal politicians.  This is why they come across as so fantastically insincere, and even sneering.  This is why they feel so spineless and *empty*.

The center cannot hold.  Liberalism will always collapse, inevitably handing power to fascists, and this is not acceptable.  There is only one way to overcome this deadly impasse, and that is to mobilize a socialist alternative. A political movement that can unite the working-classes, overcome capitalism, deliver real economic democracy, and enable us to achieve rapid progress toward social and ecological goals.

[abby @abby4thepeople]

Please stop acting surprised. A right-wing populist being elected when the people of a country are barely living paycheck to paycheck is, historically speaking, the most predictable thing that could have happened.

[Colin @mecolinp]

Our politics is encapsulated by each candidate one-upping each other on fracking: “I swear I will incinerate this planet, my opponent won’t but I promise you this whole place will go up in smoke so fast”

[Colin @mecolinp]

@Olly_Tennis_ If anyone can find me an Aussie open 2017 shirt (that diagonal stripe!) I’ll love you forever

[Colin @mecolinp]

NBC show one other swimmer challenge.

They were showing Katie’s family’s reaction as a close race for silver & bronze came down the stretch. Excruciating!!

[NBC Olympics & Paralympics @NBCOlympics]

DOMINANCE.

[Colin @mecolinp]

The world is waiting to see who will be the first tennis player to learn to write backwards

[Swish 🍒 Tennis @Zwxsh]

He paused to think about whether it was "is" or "are" and he still got it wrong in the end 😭

[Colin @mecolinp]

The only as agency I’d work for is R/GA and it’s entirely due to this social media account

[R/GA @RGA]

"The presentation went great. Everyone was perfectly in sync and the clients were speechless, honestly"

The presentation:

[Colin @mecolinp]

I'm using Valentine's Day to tell people how I feel (unsubscribe from emails)

[Dr Eleanor Janega @GoingMedieval]

If you are feeling sad and hopeless that is completely understandable, but it's also a luxury we can't afford right now. Here's a list of some great organisations helping on the ground, just as a handy guide:

[Michael Lynk @MichaelLynk5]

The Guardian has created a stunning visual map of the scale of destruction in Gaza. Homes, mosques, libraries, churches, schools, universities -- everything that makes civil life possible -- erased. https://t.co/ZiAfbGdbRZ

[Be A King @BerniceKing]

🧵 ~#MLKDay Eve Reading/Listening~

I invite everyone to read and/or listen to my father’s words this evening before posting tomorrow.

Here’s a list:

[Sean Parker is FOR Transit @SeanForFive]

My favorite shit-era twitter twitter paid ad is this one for little stamped steel brackets

[Colin @mecolinp]

@jimdavis_online

[Colin @mecolinp]

Y’all Harry Houdini was fit! How do I get those legs

[Fascinating @fasc1nate]

In 1908, Houdini stood at the edge of the Harvard Bridge—commonly referred to as the Mass. Ave. Bridge—and was shackled by a Boston patrolman. His hands were handcuffed behind his back and chained to a collar around his neck.

According to a Boston Globe article chronicling the feat, a signal was tooted from a towboat, and Houdini went overboard into the chilly waters below.

“There is always the possibility that I will be unable to free myself, as one never can tell what will happen to a lock,” Houdini told the newspaper.

“However, I am a good swimmer, have confidence in myself, and I hope to perform this feat successfully.”

The Globe estimated some 20,000 spectators gathered to see Houdini’s leap, including the mayors of Boston and Cambridge. They waited 40 seconds for the magician to resurface, which he did with the shackles in his hands.