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Back after an insane week. I need a stand-in writer. Email me if interested. Speaking of insane:
People are already calling it the ‘Thursday Night Massacre.’
Here is your excuse… I mean the excuse that the MAGAs are going with to justify this brutal attack on… Free Speech:
And here is the Google definition of “Doxxing:”
Search for and publish private or identifying information about (a particular individual) on the internet, typically with malicious intent.
Last night, as most of you already know, Musk suspended the accounts of the 20-year-old who published @elonjet, using 100% public information easily found on the net, just gathered at one a one-stop shop. Even if one wanted to say it was in some way “identifying” information, it’s just the plane. Not Musk’s actual location. Musk had previously (In November) said that his commitment to freedom of speech included allowing the @elonjet account to continue.
Then it got both weird and far more severe. Elon suspended journalists’ accounts for “doxxing.”
From The New York Times:
The accounts suspended included Ryan Mac of The New York Times; Drew Harwell of The Washington Post; Aaron Rupar, an independent journalist; Donie O’Sullivan of CNN; Matt Binder of Mashable; Tony Webster, an independent journalist; Micah Lee of The Intercept; and the political journalist Keith Olbermann.
Aaron Rupar is a friend who just lost what was probably hundreds of thousands of income with no warning and no justification other than the generalization he was “doxxing.” The story was the same for everyone else. Though the NYT and CNN journalists have a fallback job. Aaron? Lost decades and a lot of money.
** More Below:
Quebec City.
No doubt, just as we said when Twitter was a privately-owned corporation, it had no obligation to admit anyone to its platform. Elon has the same right.
But there is a key difference.
Elon isn’t shoving liberals off generally, but a lot of us progressives now have a feed stuffed with MAGA tweets, often just retweeted by one of the few conservative figures we follow for news. We are getting tweets up top from MAGAs we’ve never heard of. The change has been nearly overnight and obvious. It was not a practice under the previous management. It is a new algorithm.
It feels like, and almost surely is, an intentional manipulation of public discourse, “the public square.” The conservative lie that their “free speech” on Twitter was suppressed is easily proven wrong by the fact that Don Jr. has an active account, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Mike Huckabee, Tucker, Kayleigh, Toni Lauren… It would never end. They ALL criticized Twitter.
Now Elon is dumping journalists who have been critical of him personally. That’s a problem, in large part due to the fact that Musk may have replaced Trump as the primary troll who is “Owning the Libs” (“Owning the libs is critically important to be a conservative leader. It is the MAGAs’ raison d’etre). In the same way that DeSantis is taking over the political leadership. Trump is getting shoved out.
But the real troubling aspect of all of this is Why. The. Fck. is Musk so busy ruining his business empire? He has already probably cut Twitter’s value in half. More importantly, he’s turned off 55% of the country such that none of them are buying Teslas ever again. Once Elon made himself SO politically active, people started to swear him off. Tesla is, by far, the greatest source of Musk’s wealth. He just lost 50% of his customer base.
Even weirder is that one doesn’t need to be a “business genius,” “a seer,” or clairvoyant to see this coming. Even a stupid-single dad writer on the Alabama coast could have predicted this would happen… though not necessarily the suspensions.
So, again, why is Musk committing seppuku in broad daylight? This is where the danger comes in.
Whatever one thought of Twitter through the years, it served a critical function. It truly was the town square, one of the precious few social platforms where conservatives mixed with liberals, usually obnoxiously, but still.
If Elon is pushing this entire thing toward “America First” - the new emerging term for “MAGA,” and - in doing so, pushing liberals to Mastadon, the current liberal contender, that mixing is gone. And why is that important? Ask yourself, who has made it their mission to split the United States in two? There are candidates. Of course, one stands out.
What the HELL is Elon doing speaking to Putin? AND, not just speaking, but adopting a spectacularly favorable end for Russia. A reward for war crimes.
It is now entry-level MAGA to oppose any more Ukrainian assistance. Tucker Carlson is played on Russian state television as an American cheering for Russia. Why is it that those closest to Trump are the most pro-Russian figures? Trump himself only seemed to get along with the world’s most brutal dictators, MBS, Erdogan, Kim, Putin… All have an interest in a weakened United States that cannot impose its classic Western Liberalism and democracy around the world.
Of course, how do these dictators really get what they want from people? Correct, Kompromat. It is no secret. Trump still talks about spying on his campaign and never came clean with his financial statements or taxes. Trump says he has “dirty laundry” on Ron DeSantis. Trump has also long had loose ties to the mob, famous for “kompromat” under a different name. Lindsey Graham went from Trump skeptic to Trump lapdog overnight.
Within the space of one year, just one, Musk turned his entire life upside down. Now he seems to be extra sensitive about people reporting on his location, even though these reporters never reported on or cared about Elon’s precise location. They did criticize Musk’s business decisions and policies. It’s almost a signal. “Get too close, and you’ll lose your access to hundreds of millions.”
IF IF IF someone is “pushing” Musk to divide the U.S. (Or the democratic west generally), and Musk has the money and the backing to do it, along with self-preservation, he can do immense damage. By firing most of Twitter’s staff as Elon moved in, he already had. It would be an entirely new company dedicated to what Musk wanted, right down to the micro-managing of six accounts. If Twitter becomes so obviously the home of the MAGA right, liberals will leave, a further crushing division with no check on disinformation (On Twitter).
Do I have any evidence at all? No. Is it all speculation? Yes. And yet, damn it, someone has to explain why Musk seems beset upon tearing apart what he built, and he’s doing so at a tremendous personal cost. Tesla? In a nosedive. Twitter? Falling apart. Space X, doesn’t make that much money. What if he can’t afford not to do what he’s doing… ? He just becomes increasingly dangerous.
Last thing. Why did he VERY suddenly become obsessed with politics? It was never important before. Mars was. Now it’s everything. One year…
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So, about 7% total clicked on the movie scene. That will not be our niche. We’ll find a better one (other than, ideally, needed analysis.)
Sweet Jesus, with a year-end drive and Christmas next week, any financial help to offset losses is just so… It would bring some tears. (Venmo (6433) @Jason-Miciak, and if one is having trouble, email at jmiciak@yahoo.com
Coming Soon, Predictions for 2023. If you go to the Wall you can find 2022. I did fairly well. Maybe got lucky.
How about a beach? It’s not cold everywhere. Bora Bora. Me and my future fiance… currently accepting applications: