Got to love the screeching by the left over Musk buying Twitter.

[dialamah]

This is the guy you are all lauding as a free speech hero:

Musk cancels sale of Tesla over customer's blog post.

Fired employee for posting video of Tesla accident

Looks to me like he's only interested in free speech that doesn't criticize him or his companies.

[sharkman]

3 hours ago, dialamah said:

This is the guy you are all lauding as a free speech hero:

Musk cancels sale of Tesla over customer's blog post.

Fired employee for posting video of Tesla accident

Looks to me like he's only interested in free speech that doesn't criticize him or his companies.

I’ll say that I’m on record as not trusting him or his motives.  Some of the tech he’s into is appalling.

[robosmith]

On 4/28/2022 at 6:37 PM, Infidel Dog said:

Pick one:

Twitter's Top Lawyer Cries during meeting about Musk Takeover.

Twitter workers freaking out over Elon Musk in internal Slack messages

Human Rights Watch, ACLU, Amnesty Intl. Clutch Their Pearls in Horror At Elon Musk’s Purchase of Twitter

Adam Schiff Gets Roasted After Saying He Is Concerned About ‘Disinformation’ On Elon Musk’s Twitter

So that's what's happening over on your side Michael.

Our side is enjoying themselves:

https://www.dailywire.com/news/babylon-bee-a-factor-in-musk-buying-twitter-issues-tweet-satirizing-twitter-employee-undergoing-therapy-twitter-labels-tweet-with-warning

Apparently, your side is with Putin and China as Musk aims to sell out America by siding with them against US.

Musk appeasement of Putin and China stokes fears of new Twitter policies

Quote

The person most likely to own Twitter next month has proposed solving the war in Ukraine by letting Russia keep territory, won praise from a top Chinese diplomat for suggesting China take control of Taiwan, and welcomed a widely followed celebrity back to Twitter who had just had his Instagram account suspended for threatening Jews — all within the past week.

Billionaire industrialist Elon Musk’s moves have heightened alarm about what he will do with Twitter, which he has faulted for being too restrictive about legal but false or hateful speech.

And inciting an insurrection will once again be allowed. Goodbye, democracy. Only way the right can "win" anymore.

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by robosmith

[Rebound]

17 hours ago, robosmith said:

Apparently, your side is with Putin and China as Musk aims to sell out America by siding with them against US.

Musk appeasement of Putin and China stokes fears of new Twitter policies

And inciting an insurrection will once again be allowed. Goodbye, democracy. Only way the right can "win" anymore.

 

I don’t agree with that assessment. 
 

The very first thing Russia did when they invaded Ukraine was to destroy their communications and internet infrastructure. And they succeeded.  
 

It was Elon Musk who saved Ukraine, by providing 4,000 satellite links to his Starlink internet system. Musk also had SpaceX reposition several satellites to help Ukraine. This is what created their military communications and allowed their counteroffensives to be so successful.  
 

Now he’s trying to be a diplomat and make himself a hero for bringing this to a close, which is very egotistical of him, because he isn’t a government representative. I doubt he will succeed but that’s what he did.  

Edited October 21, 2022 by Rebound

[robosmith]

1 hour ago, Rebound said:

I don’t agree with that assessment. 
 

The very first thing Russia did when they invaded Ukraine was to destroy their communications and internet infrastructure. And they succeeded.  
 

It was Elon Musk who saved Ukraine, by providing 4,000 satellite links to his Starlink internet system. Musk also had SpaceX reposition several satellites to help Ukraine. This is what created their military communications and allowed their counteroffensives to be so successful.  
 

Now he’s trying to be a diplomat and make himself a hero for bringing this to a close, which is very egotistical of him, because he isn’t a government representative. I doubt he will succeed but that’s what he did.  

What he did in the PAST is admirable. The article is about what he's GOING TO DO with Twitter.

Of course Ukraine could "bring this to a close" by surrendering. They don't need Musk to capitulate.

And suggesting China should take Taiwan is even MORE opposed to American interests.

[Rebound]

17 hours ago, Contrarian said:

Entering Twitter HQ via Musk's Twitter:

The deal seems to happen this time around. 

He’s going to take such a huge loss on this deal. 
Since he proposed the acquisition the stock market has tanked, but he’s on the hook for the full offer price he made earlier this year. 

[robosmith]

4 hours ago, Rebound said:

He’s going to take such a huge loss on this deal. 
Since he proposed the acquisition the stock market has tanked, but he’s on the hook for the full offer price he made earlier this year. 

That's going to make him desperate enough to allow crackpots, cranks, and Trump to post bullshit and drive up the traffic.

[Infidel Dog]

This one below might be the best one out there to explain what Musk is up against if he tries to allow even the free speech we knew 10 years ago back to the West:

The Battle of the Century: Here’s What Happens if Elon Musk Buys Twitter

[Rebound]

13 hours ago, Infidel Dog said:

This one below might be the best one out there to explain what Musk is up against if he tries to allow even the free speech we knew 10 years ago back to the West:

The Battle of the Century: Here’s What Happens if Elon Musk Buys Twitter

The “speech norms” that ass clown is talking about is “lying.”

Look at all the nonsense you people spread around here. Your politics cannot win on fact. You depend upon lies and ridiculous conspiracy theories. 

[Infidel Dog]

2 hours ago, Rebound said:

The “speech norms” that ass clown is talking about is “lying.”

Look at all the nonsense you people spread around here. Your politics cannot win on fact. You depend upon lies and ridiculous conspiracy theories. 

You're entitled to your opinions - crazy nuts as they are.

Meanwhile though, meme-makers are having great fun with the Elon Musk takeover of Twitter this morning:

More Here

Edited October 28, 2022 by Infidel Dog

[-TSS-]

Is that firing by humiliation some sort of American culture? I mean you must clear your room immediately and you are escorted out of the building with a box in your hands.

[DogOnPorch]

Nobody gets fired in Finland.

Edited October 29, 2022 by DogOnPorch

[sharkman]

It’s obvious that Musk is playing both sides.  Freer speech on Twitter, but help Ukraine and make strides in AI.

From this we can deduce that he is possibly waiting to see which side will eventually be victorious in the US.  

[robosmith]

8 hours ago, -TSS- said:

Is that firing by humiliation some sort of American culture? I mean you must clear your room immediately and you are escorted out of the building with a box in your hands.

Of course, fear and intimidation are the tools of autocrats. Far EASIER than TEACHING employees how to do their jobs more effectively.

[sharkman]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/twitter-jack-dorsey-retains-stake-after-elon-musk-buy-1235252557/

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is betting that Elon Musk can turn the social platform’s fortunes around.

According to securities filingsMonday evening, Dorsey opted to roll his ownership stake in the company over to Musk’s new private venture. While Musk had said in the months leading up to the closing of the deal that he had been in talks with Dorsey to roll over his stake, neither man had confirmed the deal until the filings were disclosed on Oct. 31.

Dorsey owned more than 18 million shares in Twitter, valued at about $1 billion. He could have cashed those shares out at $54.20 a piece when Musk took the company private, instead, he will end up saving Musk about $1 billion in his purchase price by rolling those shares over.

[Michael Hardner]

On 10/29/2022 at 11:25 AM, -TSS- said:

Is that firing by humiliation some sort of American culture? I mean you must clear your room immediately and you are escorted out of the building with a box in your hands.

Not really.  The "walk out" is the most secure way to ensure that a terminated employee has no ability to counteract the termination or take any action against the company's wishes.

[Michael Hardner]

20 minutes ago, sharkman said:

Dorsey owned more than 18 million shares in Twitter, valued at about $1 billion. He could have cashed those shares out at $54.20 a piece when Musk took the company private, instead, he will end up saving Musk about $1 billion in his purchase price by rolling those shares over.

Interesting for sure.

[Hodad]

On 11/1/2022 at 11:09 AM, Michael Hardner said:

Interesting for sure.

Wow, that's a big gamble. Musk is not used to being held accountable for what he says and does, but in a  business that relies so heavily on revenue from advertisers who will hold him accountable he will have to censor himself a bit. 

[robosmith]

Twitter Roils With Hate Speech as Trolls Test New Limits

Quote

In the wake of Elon Musk buying Twitter a tide of slurs and racist memes swelled on the platform, sparking concern that the site is entering an era of hateful speech.

Twitter has long wrestled with how to enforce content policies fairly on its platform in order to appease the advertisers, users and powerful world leaders that use its service. But as Musk, a self-styled ‘free speech absolutist,’ took over ownership of the company, some conservative officials, partisan extremists and conspiracy peddlers saw reason to celebrate the change. 

My money is on cesspool.

[Aristides]

Seeing some of the Twitter links people post just convinces me more that I'm better informed by not being on it.

[robosmith]

Beware Elon Musk’s Takeover of Twitter

Quote

In recent years, all the big social-media companies, Twitter included, have, under public pressure, invested in content-moderation policies, which employ artificial-intelligence programs and actual humans to search out posts and users that violate the platforms’ terms-of-service agreements. On paper, Twitter’s rules are quite strict. They say that users can’t use the platform to threaten violence against an individual or a group of people, nor promote the glorification of violence, nor promote terrorism or violent extremism, nor encourage suicide or self-harm, nor engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so, nor harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.

It was on the basis of these rules that Twitter, two days after the January 6th assault on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump, issued a permanent ban to the former President’s account due to the risk of further incitement of violence. Musk's insistence on free speech and his claims of left bias in Twitter policies have sparked concern that he would loosen content-moderation standards and let Trump back onto the platform. Such a move would likely be accompanied by the return of many other right-wing incendiaries and disinformation merchants.

The optimistic case for Musk’s purchase is that, since he is reportedly investing tens of billions of dollars of his own money, he has a strong incentive to make a financial success of it, and this wouldn’t be consistent with allowing the platform to turn into even more of a cesspit. To his credit, Musk has demonstrated a strong record of innovation at his other companies, and some of the proposals that he has floated for Twitter—such as eliminating spam or fake accounts; expanding subscriptions; and giving users more leeway to edit their tweets, or post longer ones—seem reasonable.

The pessimistic case is that Musk, in downplaying the dangers of adopting a laissez-faire approach to content, is being naïve, or that, despite his public assurances, he isn’t operating in good faith. While he claims to be a political centrist and a responsible new owner of Twitter, some of his own tweets have targeted individuals for abuse or echoed right-wing memes. Earlier this year, he said that he had voted Republican for the first time, supporting Mayra Flores, a conservative Texas congresswoman who won a special election in June. He also said that he was leaning toward supporting Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, in 2024.

Musk is entitled to his political views, of course. But the world’s richest man now runs one of the world’s most powerful social-media platforms, and, since he is taking the company private, he won’t be answerable to public shareholders. That alone is an alarming development. Nobody should take it on trust that the outcome will be a benign one. 

 

[BeaverFever]

So far Musk’s incompetent management and “tyranny in the name of freedom” explain why hes supporting Republicans 

 

Elon Musk's flaming Twitter fiasco is what the US will look like if MAGA wins the midterms
 

….

 

Part of it, no doubt, is the schadenfreude of watching Musk fall on his face after he was able to fool so many people for so long into thinking he's some kind of genius. But, if I may be an optimist about human nature for a moment, I also think it's about something deeper. The story of Musk buying Twitter and the story of MAGA Republicans attempting to end democracy are in many ways the same story: Entitled dipshits whose resentments over a diversifying system lead them to take an ax to the very thing they claim to love. For Musk, it's Twitter, a platform he claims he wishes to "save" but which he will likely destroy in record time. For Republicans, it's the U.S. and democracy itself. Flat-out false claims of a "stolen" election are being used as a shield to wage all-out war on the very concept of free and fair elections. Republicans say they wish to "make America great again," but in fact, their plan is to end the very democracy that conferred whatever greatness America ever had. 

..,

Instead, we can look at what's happening to Twitter, which is swiftly turning into a Nazi-drenched hellscape fueled by the grievances of crypto-buying misogynist dweebs. And I'm far from the only one who sees the destruction of Twitter under Musk as a synecdoche for what's awaiting the entire country if Republicans win in the midterms. 

…

 

So many echoes of the larger political situation in the U.S. The mass firing of staff, only to beg some of them to return? Reminiscent of how Republicans want to lay waste to the urban centers of the U.S., even though they are the most economically productive parts of the country. Musk's self-congratulatory rhetoric about "free speech" followed by his banishing people for setting up parody accounts to mock him? That sounds an awful lot like how the Trumpers constantly complain about "cancel culture" while also banning books, terrorizing librarians and using police violence to silence peaceful protesters. Even Musk's dumb plan to replace Twitter verification with a pay-to-play "blue check" program feels evocative of our larger problem of watching once-trusted institutions — such as the Supreme Court — being hollowed out and refilled with authoritarian hacks who have no fealty to facts, good faith or reason. 

Indeed, the two stories are converging. Musk's insistence that he's entitled to advertiser money is being embraced by Republican politicians, who are threatening to legally terrorize companies who prefer to spend their money elsewhere. Which is to say, in the name of "free speech," they're trying to force companies who don't want to sponsor racist speech to do it anyway. ….. 

 

https://www.salon.com/2022/11/08/elon-musks-flaming-twitter-fiasco-is-what-the-us-will-look-like-if-maga-wins-the-midterms/

[DogOnPorch]

Twitter is fun again.

That's evident.

[Hodad]

1 hour ago, BeaverFever said:

So far Musk’s incompetent management and “tyranny in the name of freedom” explain why hes supporting Republicans 

 

Elon Musk's flaming Twitter fiasco is what the US will look like if MAGA wins the midterms
 

….

 

Part of it, no doubt, is the schadenfreude of watching Musk fall on his face after he was able to fool so many people for so long into thinking he's some kind of genius. But, if I may be an optimist about human nature for a moment, I also think it's about something deeper. The story of Musk buying Twitter and the story of MAGA Republicans attempting to end democracy are in many ways the same story: Entitled dipshits whose resentments over a diversifying system lead them to take an ax to the very thing they claim to love. For Musk, it's Twitter, a platform he claims he wishes to "save" but which he will likely destroy in record time. For Republicans, it's the U.S. and democracy itself. Flat-out false claims of a "stolen" election are being used as a shield to wage all-out war on the very concept of free and fair elections. Republicans say they wish to "make America great again," but in fact, their plan is to end the very democracy that conferred whatever greatness America ever had. 

..,

Instead, we can look at what's happening to Twitter, which is swiftly turning into a Nazi-drenched hellscape fueled by the grievances of crypto-buying misogynist dweebs. And I'm far from the only one who sees the destruction of Twitter under Musk as a synecdoche for what's awaiting the entire country if Republicans win in the midterms. 

…

 

So many echoes of the larger political situation in the U.S. The mass firing of staff, only to beg some of them to return? Reminiscent of how Republicans want to lay waste to the urban centers of the U.S., even though they are the most economically productive parts of the country. Musk's self-congratulatory rhetoric about "free speech" followed by his banishing people for setting up parody accounts to mock him? That sounds an awful lot like how the Trumpers constantly complain about "cancel culture" while also banning books, terrorizing librarians and using police violence to silence peaceful protesters. Even Musk's dumb plan to replace Twitter verification with a pay-to-play "blue check" program feels evocative of our larger problem of watching once-trusted institutions — such as the Supreme Court — being hollowed out and refilled with authoritarian hacks who have no fealty to facts, good faith or reason. 

Indeed, the two stories are converging. Musk's insistence that he's entitled to advertiser money is being embraced by Republican politicians, who are threatening to legally terrorize companies who prefer to spend their money elsewhere. Which is to say, in the name of "free speech," they're trying to force companies who don't want to sponsor racist speech to do it anyway. ….. 

 

https://www.salon.com/2022/11/08/elon-musks-flaming-twitter-fiasco-is-what-the-us-will-look-like-if-maga-wins-the-midterms/

It's a good analogy, but its gets really sad at the point at which the analogy falls apart: it's super easy for people to leave the ruined version of Twitter, but considerably more difficult to emigrate from a ruined America.

I'm beginning to think we should work out an exchange program. Liberal Americans can move to Canada and the MAGA Canadians can move to the US. 

Of course, well be bringing the intelligentsia, the tech sector and the entertainment sector with us.  They can keep the coal mines and tractor factories.

[Michael Hardner]

On 5/2/2022 at 12:21 PM, WestCanMan said:

   

I could have told you that Hannity gets some of his walking orders from Trump, but he's not lying for Trump. That's the difference between Fox/Trump and CNN/Biden.

Hannity didn't believe some election fraud claims that he put on his show.

Some of you sometimes say that mainstream media lies.

In the case of FOX, we have their most popular host admitting that under oath.