Even if he doesn’t wind up buying another share of Twitter stock, he has forced the spotlight on Big Tech censorship in a way that nothing else has, not even the defenestration of Donald Trump.
He has also highlighted the hypocrisy of the bluechecks in two crucial ways: first, they had nothing to say when Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post but are now screaming how unfair allowing a wealthy person to control a major journalism platform would be.
Second, they have defended Twitter’s censorship on the grounds that it’s a private platform. Okay, so a private person wants to buy it. He’s got the money, and he can do whatever he wants with it, according to what you have been yelling at me for years. Right? It’s a private platform?
Or is it? Maybe it’s quasi-public under California law because it’s so large and such an important venue for speech and journalism.
Or does that theory only apply when someone you DON’T like wants to run it?
So difficult to believe she ever read a single chapter on economics much less got a degree. She maybe skated through as a mean girl or understands it and it very corrupt
That’s right. Even complete idiots have the right to speak their minds, or what ever vestige of a mind they might have left. The antidote for idiot speech is not shutting the idiot down, but brilliant speech by me and you that persuades others that the idiot is an idiot.
Never forget that the medical establishment did that. They have lost trust on all levels. They don't seem to be trying to get it back. They are hiding the truth about the clot-shots, masks and long term immunity via contracting the not so deadly virus.
Definitely covid gods. Intelligent evil. Our Heavenly Father is still to be praised, although we walk through the valley of death, we will fear no evil. Our God has gone to prepare a place for us. Remember His words!
the new narrative now is the 1st amendment of free speech is out of date and never planed on dealing with fake news and misinformation. You should trust people that fact check it
It funny right? Somehow people didn't lie 250 years ago. Somehow today, people can't see the lies being fed to us by the MSM. Today we need government authorities to set us straight. So funny.
There is no left. There are only right-wing and left-wing corporatists and the culture warriors that support both by getting paid to have us all to concentrated upon abortion or transgender ridiculousness etc. while hundreds of thousands of people die from lack of early treatment and forced vaccines. Progressives and the left historically would be against vaccine mandates, and conservatives would be for actual free markets. Both have been swamped by corporatist neo-liberals and neo-conservatives. What we really need is a resurgence of old school liberals, progressives, conservatives, and libertarians to create a coalition and throw these jokers out!
There was no "Right" until the "Left" came along, and now there's no "Center". We need our "Center" back because, you know the saying....Divided We Fall.
Well.. I'm not so sure that the "right" moved... but the "left" sure as heck did. And that is about 90% of the problem. I have not moved an inch from the views and positions that I had in the 70's - and I was a "center right" person at that time.
Excellent point on the divisiveness effect. Tactic of war. These people will believe the lie, and consider it true. Would rather mock God than praise God. Anger is their friend. We will choose the truth over a lie. His Word pure truth.
Yeah, like being anti-slavery, pro-women's right to vote, pro-civil rights, pro working class against corporate rapists and clowns, and the list goes on. Now "progressive" means being a pharma fascist and being woke/delusional where "follow the science" means doing the opposite. Same delirium as Trumpies and Q-Anoners who still think Trump is president. I hope these respective derangement syndromes will pass and be healed, Amen!
Anti-slavery is and was inseparable from pro individual liberty. These things are classic liberal ideas, not "progressivism" which was a term coined by actual anti-liberty and free market leftists. "Pro civil rights" is just a euphemism for pro certain identities over others, another progressive con job. Equal treatment under the law is guaranteed by the Constitution. Anything beyond that is just progressives using the state to force outcomes on otherwise free people.
"Rights to vote" are and have always been anti-liberty, pro democracy movements. Mob rule (democracy) and liberty are opposite things and only liberty is a virtue here. The advancement of mob rule over liberty is a progressive idea for sure, and one lefties like yourself endorse. Women could vote long before sufferage...as long as they owned property when voting was tied to property rights because property owners were less likely to vote themselves the property of others. Few women, however, possessed deeds to property in their name at the time.
There is no "working class." The rich work longer and harder than your favored leftist group of "victims" do on average. There is only the productive class and the welfare class and some in the productive class are more productive and reap the rewards of that than others. Of course others benefit greatly from their productivity. The "corporate rapist" is a figment of your lefty imagination. The corporation is a creation of the state and any raping allowed happens with the protection of the state/politicians.
Pfizer today recommends boosters for the kids. Who were never in danger. Like Starbucks should recommend that we drink more Americanos with add-ons. Where does Health chime in? Looked at Reuters feed today - under "Health" was just a lot of Pharma miracles aka manufacturer to end buyer marketing. Advertisements. And this will be disseminated as Fact through the usual channels.
You coined a good term: respective derangement. But I am afraid it can only pass after a cataclysm. The right and the left both moved into the fringes: nationalism on the right and socialism in the left. But history shows that they meet! People forget that National Socialism was the ideology of the Nazi Party that ruled Germany from 1932 to 1945. That’s the danger of the derangement we are witnessing.
Exactly. And the idea is that extreme left and extreme right are closer to each other than either of them to the political center. They do not necessarily collide but tend to use the same nasty tactics in fight for ideological purity, which leads to totalitarian control. Hitler and Stalin had a lot in common. Many were afraid that if Trump wins in 2020, he will become an authoritarian, but look where we are now.
"What we really need is a resurgence of old school liberals, progressives, conservatives, and libertarians"
I think there is an easier solution than this: COMMON SENSE. Politicians, particularly those who have been in any combination of "public office" for the majority of their working years (however short or long) and beyond seem to lose it in an "inverse ratio" to that. Biden, Pelosi, Feinstein, Schumer, McConnell, and so many others are so spent, they can't even remember if the last time they ever used it or if they ever had any at all.
But you can't teach common sense. And those without it think they have it. those are the "booksmart" folks who think they have it all over the rest of us. My eyes have really been opened to the closed minds and superiority complexes of the "booksmart"!
The center would get a lot bigger if the Republican party divorced itself from the religious right and removed abortion as a platform issue. They could seize this moment to grab huge market share -- given the disillusionment of many Democrat-leaning independents (myself included) who feel politically homeless after witnessing all of the authoritarianism, censorship, non-science and cancel culture behavior we have witnessed the last two years. They could own the votes of suburban moms (and dads) if they focused on sound spending, a fair tax code and a transparent public health administration, and left abortion off the table (or embraced freedom of choice, in line with true libertarianism), leaving the social debates largely to academics and religious leaders. To really earn our trust now, they would also have to put some distance between themselves and big pharma, and install a rigorous, independent drug and vaccine approval process.
Nah. Your party is melting down now that it’s led by Sandy Cortez, Eric Swalwell, and the rest of the social justice bandits. And I don’t think it’s the Republican Party that’s in bed with big pharma. Abortion is the tip of the eugenics iceberg, and no way in hell will we leave “social debates” to leftist academics and “religious leaders.” (The imposter pope has already informed Catholics today that the west is full of racists.) The “center” is just a name for people who prefer not to hold an opinion.
I somewhat agree with your sentiment, but the abortion and transgender issues are extremely important and not distractions. I agree with your overall point, however, regarding the importance of these other topics and how corporatist folks (regardless of label) are destroying both sides.
On paper they LOSE in a HUGE way, but who makes the paper, who controls the paper and who counts the votes? Someone once said its not who votes it's who counts the votes
There is no such coherent cohesive political entity as The Left. The notion is an abstract spacial metaphor, the meaning of which has become increasingly confused ever since the French Revolution when it was coined. Get fifty people who are regarded as left wing in a room and you will get endless arguments over fifty completely incompatible ideas about how to change the world. Of course we could just use the term as a lazy sneery pejorative, but we're better than that, aren't we?
"The notion is an abstract spacial metaphor, the meaning of which has become increasingly confused ever since the French Revolution when it was coined." Increasingly confused, huh?
Funny, so far at least 121 UNconfused folks have thumbs-upped my comment. Maybe you're the only confused one.
Also, if the term has become "increasingly confused"...how did YOU know it was a pejorative? How did YOU know what or who I meant by it?
I mean, if instead I had called them "the Jelly-Bean Eaters" would you have understood THAT to mean "Leftists", too?
"The Jelly-Bean Eaters have to also lose. Lose badly. Lose badly enough that they are destroyed in the process. The Jelly-Bean Eaters need to be destroyed."
Oh, and what's not to love about your condescending, self-indulgent, self-congratulatory "...but we're better than that, aren't we?"
That's on a par with ahole Lefti- I mean, that's on a par with ahole Jelly-Bean Eaters who love to say "that's not who we are", as if THEY are the only legitimate arbiters of what's allowed and what's not.
Man, I wonder what the different ways are, and what they mean. I seem to do 2 at a time, but not over and over and over at the same time. 2 now, 2 again in a little bit, then 2 again, etc. I hope that's a conservative, pro-liberty way to eat JBs.
For a real Lefty, the label is everything. I had a Lefty friend with whom I happily played music for 10 years. I never told him I voted for Trump because I knew he wouldn’t take it very well. When he finally found out, he did not hesitate to break off our friendship and to hell with the music!
Unbelievable. And yet, not really. Leftism, or Jelly-Beanism for those who don't understand the term "the Left", is a totalitarian ideology. It's that simple, and undeniable. It's on display everywhere, and all the time.
First of all, your assertion that 50 leftwingers would offer endless arguments over fifty completely incompatible - COMPLETELY incompatible! - ideas about how to change the world is patently absurd. To illustrate, take 44 left-wingers and add The Squad, and at worst you'd get 45 incompatible arguments. At worst. That's stipulating your absurd premise for argument's sake. The Squad proves the fallacy of your assertion.
Second, your "there is no such coherent cohesive political entity as The Left" is pure straw man. I never made such an assertion, so you're not rebutting anything I wrote. Also, I didn't call them The Left. I called them the Left. The capitalization on my "The"s was merely because those words began sentences. You should've noticed that.
As for "the Left" being "a lazy sneery pejorative", it's succinct and used enough in this day and age to be be sufficiently descriptive and understandable, when used in particular contexts, to all but the most pedantic among us.
As I see it, The Left is a pejorative, as it well should be. It is also course in its gradation as to encompass all who hold Anti-American values and views.
How’s this: they are unaware bots with zero self awareness seeking salvation from “others” or, more specifically, looking anywhere but within their own self.
All of that is certainly true, but "bots", hummm, not sure, sometimes I do believe they can "think", just choose not to, saw a clip of one of the women of The View, absolutely RANTING about even thinking of removing the mask mandate on planes ! SHE didn't even want to THINK about being on a plane with other people casting all their Covid germs ALL OVER HER ! She had no concept of the little children, babies, healthy young adults, etc. on the plane, only herself, nothing else around her seemed to even exist ! ? ? ?
That was disturbing. 5 years ago who cared, except immunodeficient, who still made it from A to B. The "bots" are MSM now. As for self-awareness..... like a TikTok?
Don't want to give away my age but this is manipulation, of the mind. Truly unforgivable.
Hey, my post is certainly not the final say. Let’s just call it a start to get the ball rolling. All input is welcome! So what would you call her? Self centered? Self-absorbed? Insecure?
Actually a dog is not a clearly defined thing. I know a dog named Ernest. He lost one leg, lost his fur, lost his tail, has no teeth and can't bark. How then can we know he is a dog?
I expect he still has canine genes. Biological questions, although sometimes difficult with no obvious answer on the surface, can have some objective criteria applied to them. Political philosophy is more subjective.
"It's a private company!" was obviously never a serious argument. Parler was a private company, too, and they were still attacked and deplatformed. Lefties will say anything they have to in order to gain more power.
The problem with Parler was they used Amazon's server system which was not theirs. If they'd built it from the ground up like they've had to do now, they would have never been shut down by a liberal host.
They also took no precautions when it was obvious this was coming, then vacillated about how to respond to the de-platforming. Finally they tried to take a Gab like approach but now they are an also-ran. Not that Gab or Gettr have panned out to be particularly interesting places. Substack, and maybe a few other subscriber-only models like Locals, are the big winners in the end.
Parler possibly didn’t have sufficient resources or leadership competent enough to resist the de-platforming. GETTR supposedly learned on their experience, but I have to agree that it is not an exciting place to be, to put it mildly.
Yes but, this was all new territory for us at the time. Never in our wildest dreams, did Americans think our freedom of speech would be infringed. Poor Parler...
The scary thing is - these people truly believe that free speech means only liberal speech. They truly believe that something as simple as an opposing viewpoint, is a threat to democracy.
They've literally lost the true definition of freedom, free speech, capitalism... all the things that have made America the best country on the planet
Like I said earlier, no matter what happens, seeing these pathetic petulant children lose their minds at the possibility they might not be able to censor everything they don't like is absolutely priceless.
I do enjoy your posts Alex - and appreciated your books. I am not on any “social media”(unless this counts?!) and live in an obnoxiously, so called, liberal community on an island on the west coast of Canada. Know that you are touching many elements of society. Thanks for what you are contributing.
It’s been a ride hasn’t it… Alex has been a balm of reason, coherence and sanity. In a small community, it’s hard to be swimming against the current let’s say. A number of like minded “big picture” thinkers around and fortunately we have found one another. Hope you have that.
Only on line. In real life, even if people smell a rat, they are too busy/afraid to really look behind the curtain. This whole episode has taught me that most people choose the blue pill.
Mind boggling isn’t it - they don’t want to hear another perspective (what I call “the truth”!!), only what fits their narrative- which makes me double check mine. I like to think I approach others with acceptance but it’s getting harder. Until we have true “free press”/un-censored commentators etc, they never will.
There's a number of reasons people don't want to question the dominant narrative of X,Y and Z.
One obvious one, is the realisation that something you thought was true was actually a lie.
There's a famous saying about that one.
Day to day life is a little easier if you just go along with the official narratives.
Most people exert a lot of effort every day just to live a normal working life.
From the moment we wake up until the moment we fall asleep at night our life is a series of tasks that must be completed, from waking up on time, leaving on time, navigating the outside world to get to work, dealing with people at work you like or dislike in various degrees, all while actually being productive in your workplace.
Then the commute home, visiting the grocery store, gym before getting home, cooking and general household tasks, before you finally relax for a short time before bed. And if you have bad neighbours or live in a noisy street even then you never fully relax for long.
So you have all of that to deal with 5 days a week and then someone comes along and tells you that vaccine you felt pressured in to taking wasn't needed and worse, it may have actually harmed you!
It's not surprising that many people don't want to hear the truth on top of everything else they have to deal with just to maintain an ok existence.
I believe there is even more to what you commented than met the eye. The "cancelling", banning, whatever you want to term it, of people, goes right back to the isolate, extricate, eliminate, exterminate type of well known psychological war fare. When people can not touch base in anyway with someone who may be thinking the same thing, that's a winning strategy for those who wish to dominate. It's always been practiced in prisoner of war camps, if only two begin to think there might be a way to actually escape, it could spread faster than a virus, faster than Covid even, can't have people being able to reach others who may be having the same thoughts, doubts, questions, and internet forums, as we KNOW (China, China, Cuba Cuba) MUST be carefully controlled. Better for the Great Cause, that people like you, in Australia, continue to feel alone, to ?" Better you are kept isolated, it would be "dangerous" to find out there are those of us in the USA, in Canada, in France, or Germany, or.... name it, who are thinking exactly like YOU ! Doubting a money making vaccine that appears to at best do nothing, at worst is harming some, well, THAT could be a very dangerous thing. To begin to question if a mask made of quilting cotton really does "protect" you from much of anything, say from getting WET from someone sneezing right on you, but your brain says, does that really also protect me from the actual "germs", or are "they" so small they go right through the fabric... why I think my 5th grade teacher explained all about the size of MICRO particles... let's see, what did she say about that ???
You can never, never, NEVER bow to this "guns" ARE the problem line of thinking, people absolutely MUST (and I don't know how we can convince them) understand that once we do that, it's over. You confiscate all fire arms (by force , by fines, by simply putting manufacturers out of business by making them PAY for all the evil guns they produce that have a mind and brain of their own, and just go "out of control" one night and go out and kill people. It's like the SUV's you read about daily in the newspapers. Always says: "an SUV went out of control, crashed through the restaurant, and killed 3, injured 11, etc. It's always those evil, gas guzzling, SUV's. Someone please cut out and send me the article from your local paper that has the headline: Green electric crashes into local Starbucks killing 4 innocent college students... that's WHEN you see that printed. Guns, cars, saying and printing the emotional words is what counts ! Logic.... OUT the window. More MORE MORE gun laws, and finally, maybe, these darn guns will stop allowing themselves to migrate into the hands of the very criminals we don't want to have them, and if we make the language of the laws VERY strong, maybe it will scare the criminals, drug lords, etc. into REGISTERING them legally ! Let's do this the right way, we know they will cooperate after all.... More laws, less prosecution, more illegal migration, it all adds up to a safer, more peaceful country, right ? Right ?
Well, that might just be the case, remember what 'ol Joe did to Corn Pop with just a chain, you might be next and not chain, with your own gun next time. Don't mess with Joe.
And... if Joe doesn't get you on the first try, HE PROMISED, LIVE ON EVERY NETWORK, he would send Beto, on his fastest skateboard, to get your gun(s) and HE WILL succeed.
Stay strong there in Canada! You’re probably on one of those lovely islands like Salt Spring… all of us are benefiting from Alex’s search for the truth..,greetings from a former Canadian living in Switzerland!
Almost! I used to live on Salt Spring, now closer to Vancouver and blush at my former leftie self.... how manipulated we allowed ourselves to be. Which way is up? It’s getting frighteningly clearer but rather red pilled than not. ...and yes, some of us are prisoners in our chosen country (ex pat UK) and hold our breath and try to enjoy the views and make a difference. I will not comply with this tyranny. Blessings to you and all in this space.
I never complied either but my whole family of origin did! They all still live there, I’ll stay untested, unmasked and unjabbed! You need to rid your country of Trudeau and his followers!!?
I disagree, twitter is way too convenient and incorporated in the daily life of most politicians, journalists, decision makers, etc. crap egomaniacs. There is no real alternative. And after November the monopoly power and arrogance of the libtarded tech-megas WILL be curbed at minimum. The world needs free speech platform, whether someone uses it or not (like I don't but would like to have the option if needed)
When one side stops caring that they spew blatant hypocrisy, it is time to stop believing that there is a conversation to be had and start realizing that there is a war that Musk be won.
Got my fingers crossed he pulls this off. He might be saving the world. You can tell when he wouldn't censor Russia he won't censor anyone. Including the idiot liberals. I will never understand why they think silencing people is ever right. If you have truth on your side, it will be obvious. (Well, I guess that's why, eh?)
Some of the entertainment value of this pageant is watching the second-guessing, the people who are trying to figure out what he's up to...because he's Elon Musk, he's always up to something.
His brain operates 1,000x faster than the average person. He's 75 moves ahead in every chess game.
Personally, because I'm no where near as smart as Musk, I'm enjoying the hysterics of the Twitter-scape along with the tantalizing idea that Musk could tank the company.
I don’t think the board will approve the sale. There is a faint glimmer of hope because Twitter is controlled most through institutional investment companies and they will stand to make a handsome return.
However, if by some miracle Elon does pull this off he will quadruple the value of the company within a few years. Then he can take it public again, still retain control and make a tidy profit.
I do think he is serious about the free speech bit, so there are a lot of positives in this for him (and the rest of us)
Again, I don't think any of the institutional investors care that much--never mind ESG scores. I think that's just pandering--good for annual reports & shareholder meetings. I doubt one investor would object to making a boatload of money.
The institutional investors are the biggest threat with his offer. Collectively they're worth trillions. Musk is pot committed. The government and the institutional investors are already rabid dogs. He is merely a David vs. Goliath. But as you say, he's crazy like a fox. I like his chances, but it'll be a cage match
I like your take Alex, but here's what I think it's missing: As soon as the leftists-with-money saw Musk's offer, it put the idea in their head to buy it out from under him. Blackrock/Vanguard is purportedly already trying to outbid him, and Blackrock's CEO Larry Fink brags about how he has the power to "force behaviors" and how he is in fact "forcing behaviors" on the population. If he is successful and takes over Twitter, things will get far worse than they are right now and the digital ID/social credit score nightmare scenario will become an almost certainty faster than we can imagine. And of course there are those who regularly point out Musk's penchant for the Luciferian hand signs of the upper level Freemasons, and say he is controlled opposition and his public offer was done on purpose to hand Twitter over to Blackrock. If he truly intends to buy it he wouldn't have said his opening bid was his "best and final offer." And if he pulls out now, things don't stay the same as they were; they get worse when Blackrock takes over.
They are all playing a game of 5D Chess that we peasants cannot comprehend. As much as people want to believe that Elon is a real life Tony Stark, the proof remains in the veritable pudding. He's said a lot of things about free speech and the constitution that that make me want to believe in him. That said, there are still people out there who believe that Bill Gates is a philanthropist.
Totally! It keeps coming back to that bible quote for me: "You will know them by their fruits." The only people who believe Bill Gates is saving millions of lives, are the ones who only listen to him talking about himself, while they ignore all the evidence from his victims. Elon, I share your feelings. I want him to be Tony Stark. But I just see him throwing the devils horns hand sign and trying to merge humans with AI. Free speech = Good fruits. If it happens.
Like many, I hope he is what he appears to be... but... I ALWAYS keep in the back of my mind, he (Musk) may well have read Machiavelli back in school. If you wanted to become king of the hill, to take all, what would YOU pretend to be publicly ? The champion of the common folk ? The defender of free speech ? Or, would you reveal (remember back in college freshman psychology... the Johari window theory ? your true personality, show that you actually want to rule the universe, be in control of all ? Only God sees deep into a man's heart, we can only guess ? Or maybe "hope" ?
If you haven't watched his Ted Talk today, you might want to. I sort of had the same take as you do until I watched it. He's all in. The initial offer was a head fake.
'Tis aCTually my fear he's controlled opposition, espEcially with his affiliation in the WEF. Kinda got that feeling in the pit of my stomach that, if it looks/sounds tOO good to be true, it prOlly is. : / Surrre do hope I'm wrong!!
Me too but I share your concerns. Since people like this who we don't know for certain if they are here to do good or evil, are forecasted in the Bible, I keep returning to these quotes to remind myself not to judge a man's character by his words, but rather by his fruits. According to this, if he brings forth good fruits, he is a good tree, and if not, he is an evil tree. [updated: not an "evil tree" but a "corrupt tree"]. Time will tell!
Matthew 7:15-20 (KJV)
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
They are admitting it’s a journalist/ media platform......... if true U look forward to the defamation lawsuits as thousands are slam dunks. Defamation by algorithm....
The opposite of defenistration is the word that describes a dead body rising quickly off the ground, reanimating itself and flying into a house through an open window. Resurrection!
The funniest part (to me, anyway) of all the sturm and drang today has been watching all the Blueanon types simping for Saudi Arabia after the Kingdom (a major Twitter shareholder, as it turns out) announced that they were rejecting Elon's offer.
Saudi f'ing Arabia!
You know. The guys who send goon squads to murder journalists. That Saudi Arabia.
I doubt it. They probably won't be able to contain themselves. There is really no big competition. Not that I tweet or do facebook. I left a long long time ago.
They have absolutely nowhere else to go for their narcisstic attention. Some may try to split but will come right back when the normies don't follow them there.
There is a certain amusement to be had in watching the blue checks that spent the last 2 years shilling about COVID and then Ukraine while pretending to be pro-democracy squealing that if Musk buys Twitter it will become a platform for “right wing Nazis”. Idiots, just don’t realise how stupid they sound outside of their echo chamber. “Sure Musk has built fantastic cars and rockets but he can’t be trusted with our social media platform, it’s literal rocket science, oh…”. Morons, utter morons.
Here is another way Elon has won. If they don't sell to him, then they are really not a capitalistic enterprise--not out to make money. Rather they are an information controller for the left. That is what they are screaming about. Can you imagine if Twitter now has to give equal time to differing viewpoint and those viewpoints won't be censored? It would drive the left nuts. This whole process will help to reveal their hypocrisy.
Your play by play / blow by blow is so entertaining - like a heckler with intelligence or a bemused sportscaster - I’m a fan. Waiting for the house of cards to come tumbling down.
Amen to that Alex. My husband and I were discussing all the options (this would have been a great drinking game, except it was in the morning) and we decided at least he would expose the great dirty underbelly of titter! (oops! I mean twitter!)
The only way Twitter works is as a Utility. Congress carved out this status for them and the other Social Media platforms with the effect that they can't be sued as a Publisher, and this is of course the only way Twitter can work as the Town Square. Elon has not been emphasizing allowing all back on the platform as the most important thing that it is. So I'm hoping, for the sake of the free world, that this will be part of the story and that Elon is successful.
It should really be a protocol, like SMS or TCP/IP. A tweet is just a data packet, a type of text message. Nobody needs a separate company to exchange text messages, why have one for tweets?
That's Mastodon. Shame it hasn't taken off but the fact is, commercial platforms have more incentive to innovate and make themselves user and UX friendly. Open source communities just don't innovate at the same rate because they don't have nearly the capital.
well, not exactly. They have designed an interface/user-experience and it is their platform after all. But, if they are a Utility, they gotta be a Utility. (As Alex might say: "Utility going to Utility.") They can't also have the luxury of being a Publisher, unless they make that choice of having the liability that comes with it....and this of course would not be doable at their scale -they'd have to vet every tweet.
That all being said.... it might be that they also have to provide the stream of tweet data to other entities for a fee....but really they would choose to do this anyway if the business model makes sense.
Love it! The problem is usually the same, people simply are not willing to give up what is popular, thus they are willing to take abuse and even falsify their preferences / statements to keep playing the game.
The sad truth is 70M users should have simply stopped using Twitter the moment they deplatformed a President. Not left the platform (though alternatives are needed), but rather, simply stopped for however long it took for the twitter board to wake up and reassess (plus that would drive the share price down for some investor activist to pick it up).
If We the People willfully take abuse, why would our abusers choose to change their ways?
Thank you for using the word "defenestration". I had heard it before but didn't know what it meant untill now, when I looked it up. I guess it's better than the overused deplatforming of Donald Trump, or ejection of Donald Trump from Twitter
How can it be private when it's open for the entire global population? If it is private owned but operated for anyone and everyone to use, that would negate its private function because it is no longer private but worldwide and all inclusive. They don't make you apply and wait until you receive acceptance to join like a private club. It's either run with exclusive private membership or it's open to everyone and thus you cannot change the rules for just few. I've never understood the pick-and-choose Twitter nonsense.
I don't think you understand the "private" meaning being used here. It is a private company owned publicly - i.e. publicly traded stock ownership. Elon will buy all of the shares and make it a truly privately owned company - i.e. not publicly traded.
That may be true, but the arguments I keep hearing is that it can set its own rules and kick anyone off they want because it is a private company, not a government entity, so therefore, they do not have to honor free speech.
well, yes, that is true and what the leftists love to trumpet. They will switch suddenly on that if/when Elon makes it uncensored again. I would argue that they and the other "platforms" and the government have conspired to attack free speech and therefore they ARE liable.
What the elites don’t want us to know is that the backbone of Twitter is the US Gov and the Intelligence Community. If MUSK takes Twitter private this will all be revealed.
No matter who owns Twitter it will remain a place where mostly angry leftists will try to convince you that a man can “transform” into being a woman. Or that communism is a wonderful idea and capitalism doesn’t work. Or that America is racist. Or that cops are racist thugs. Or that AOC is really, really smart. Or that a balding man can look really great in a ponytail or manbun. Or that women look great covered in tattoos. Or that illegal aliens “contribute to our wonderful diversity”
Twitter's woke employees may have just realized that their publicly held private employer is up for sale every morning when the stock market opens. Their jobs are only as secure as the next majority shareholder says they are.
As usual, it`s the insult even to sub par intelligence that's so jarring, like a page right out of Animal Farm. In the absence of any conceivable logic & reason, the Fascist elites have long abandoned any such attempts and now just tell us that we cannot trust our own eyes; yet again, we did not really see what just happened right in front of us. This IS the systematic process of incremental totalitarianism. If we allow it, we get what we accept, just like always in history. The process is just about complete in Canada, where an orderly civil resistance, inspired by the instincts of freedom in some (many, immigrants who fled fascist regimes & know exactly what is happening), was swiftly crushed by the fascist Trudeau regime WITH MAJORITY ACQUIESCENCE/SUPPORT OF ITS OWN CITIZENS. Au Revoir, free Canada. You laid down.
No, that's not a male swimmer you just watched dominate a field of women. You are (offensively) mistaken. It`s in full swing here. Do we have the resolve to squash it in its tracks? We once did. I pray we still do.
Buried lede in the entire story: Twitter, and likely other major SM platforms are backed and funded by the US govt. probably using taxpayer funded server platforms and technology. Just one of the ways they spy on you. Note that the US govt immediately announced an “investigation” into Musk and Tesla as soon as Musk announced his offer. Twitter reported revenue of 5.1 billion in 2021. The cost of running the platform is likely 2-3 times that amount. Where does the rest of the funding come from. I think we know the answer.
An essential instrument of the Deep State programming and control of weak-minded people for sure. Which is why they are working so hard to fight against Musk.
If the Twitter Board of Directors, contrary to its fiduciary duty to do what is best for their shareholders, rejects EM's embrace, a liquidation of EM's shares that will coincide with massive short selling of Twitter stock will devastate the share price and that will provide tangible proof of what the BOD thinks of its fiduciary duty.
I am tentatively ecstatic.. feels like there is always another shoe to drop. But I do agree that regardless of outcome the mask is off and they hypocrisy has exposed the Emperor's (lack of) clothes. They are playing checkers with someone playing 3-dimensional chess and they don't even realize it.
One thing I have always been astonished at is the argument that people like Trump or you are "DANGEROUS!!!" These are largely people who would fight tooth and nail to have the right to say whatever they wanted, and yet see no problem putting a gag on anyone else. And as they like to say about content others complain of on any platform, they are free to turn the channel or mute the tweeter. Easy-peasy.
All of them were ecstatic and had nothing but praise for the article in Time Magazine about how a "cabal" of powerful people in tech and government came together to "fortify" the 2020 election, ensuring the "right" outcome. It's nauseating.
What I think it really exposes, though, is the very real contempt the "elites" have for the rest of the population. They feel entitled to control what everyone else sees and hears and knows because they know best. But if they really did have confidence in their positions they would not be bothered by people challenging them, because the best ideas win out in the end. They think that those not in their bubble are not intelligent enough to understand the complexities of issues or situations, so they must be fed only what they deem them worthy of knowing, expecting a compliant population to accept it uncritically. Unfortunately for a lot of the population they are absolutely right. It's those pesky outliers that must be silenced at any cost. People like us.
It’s almost like they’re against equal tweetment. 🤷🏻♀️
Or fweedom!! 🐦🚫
Vewwy cwever MSRB & Paul E!
Not just fweedom, but wuv. Twue wuv; that dweam wivin a dweam.....
OMG! Loved that film!
No. Not that. Paleez! 😩
Any twuth to the rumor that Elon is a Twojan horse?
Well, he's not a unicorn.
Why it really should be called BITTER…
Wow, how accurate is that substitute…
As in “Build Back Bitter”?
It's "Build Back BADDER".
It's Build Back Bankrupt.
Build Biden’s Bankaccount.
Bilk Back Better
The best of this thread!
It's getting badder all the time....
Nah, the name fits. It’s for twits.
I thought it was "Build Back Bummer," but I'm happy to accept all the other suggestions for a good name for this atrocity.
How about this for the Democrat 2022 campaign slogan in general?:
“Bitter Bitches & Bastards??!!”
(giggle)
🤭
Or as they say “tweet others like you would like to be tweeted”
So these tweeters would be called twits, right?
I believe it is twats.
Twits? Twats? Is that for different genders? And if you’re not sure which gender you are, would you then be a Twhat?
Omg did I need that laugh. 💜💜💜
Love it. Crazy times!
This is the best retort of the week, if not the perfect synopsis for BITTER!
Very cute
Bravo.
Imagine the threat to freedom and democracy if people can just say what they think.
They somehow think that is bad. They are literally calling for more moderation (censorship). They can't see more than 5 minutes into the future.
That's because they think the world will end in 10...
9...8...7...6...5...
Didn't that moronic little girl from Queens tell me so?
Oh, you mean that girl from Westchester with a B.A. in Economics who was working as a bartender in the Bronx when she got elected?
Yep, that's the one. The one who does makeup and skin-care videos.
I wish I could be a Congressman for just one day, long enough to be able to say to her "now shut up and get me a drink".
So difficult to believe she ever read a single chapter on economics much less got a degree. She maybe skated through as a mean girl or understands it and it very corrupt
EXACTLY
Even the lunatics who can't/don't/won't think.
That’s right. Even complete idiots have the right to speak their minds, or what ever vestige of a mind they might have left. The antidote for idiot speech is not shutting the idiot down, but brilliant speech by me and you that persuades others that the idiot is an idiot.
Working for the FDA or CDC or NIH or even being WH Media personality is the best way to be an idiot and have a speaking “platform”.
and following "orders"
And it's so much FUN when that happens.
That sounds like the Blue checks who run Twitter. Really
Cheers!
A threat to “our”democracy is the slogan. Translation: their democracy or club.
The saddest thing was all the people who died alone in hospitals and nursing homes. Whether they had covid or not.
This. So true. What a lonely year+ for so many.
Never forget that the medical establishment did that. They have lost trust on all levels. They don't seem to be trying to get it back. They are hiding the truth about the clot-shots, masks and long term immunity via contracting the not so deadly virus.
And now paxlovid. Thats a heap of trash too.
Definitely covid gods. Intelligent evil. Our Heavenly Father is still to be praised, although we walk through the valley of death, we will fear no evil. Our God has gone to prepare a place for us. Remember His words!
You win the best comment award. 🤣
LOL
the new narrative now is the 1st amendment of free speech is out of date and never planed on dealing with fake news and misinformation. You should trust people that fact check it
It funny right? Somehow people didn't lie 250 years ago. Somehow today, people can't see the lies being fed to us by the MSM. Today we need government authorities to set us straight. So funny.
You win!
And they actually are against equal treatment…
He’s a white-wing extwemist!
actually a south Texas white wing is a dove. What better to get rid of the blue bird (nasty little mean bird) and choose a bird of peace. the dove.
It's not enough for Elon to win.
The Left has to also lose. Lose badly. Lose badly enough that they are destroyed in the process. The Left needs to be destroyed.
There is no left. There are only right-wing and left-wing corporatists and the culture warriors that support both by getting paid to have us all to concentrated upon abortion or transgender ridiculousness etc. while hundreds of thousands of people die from lack of early treatment and forced vaccines. Progressives and the left historically would be against vaccine mandates, and conservatives would be for actual free markets. Both have been swamped by corporatist neo-liberals and neo-conservatives. What we really need is a resurgence of old school liberals, progressives, conservatives, and libertarians to create a coalition and throw these jokers out!
There was no "Right" until the "Left" came along, and now there's no "Center". We need our "Center" back because, you know the saying....Divided We Fall.
Well.. I'm not so sure that the "right" moved... but the "left" sure as heck did. And that is about 90% of the problem. I have not moved an inch from the views and positions that I had in the 70's - and I was a "center right" person at that time.
Excellent point on the divisiveness effect. Tactic of war. These people will believe the lie, and consider it true. Would rather mock God than praise God. Anger is their friend. We will choose the truth over a lie. His Word pure truth.
Progressivism has ugly roots. I'll pass.
Yeah, like being anti-slavery, pro-women's right to vote, pro-civil rights, pro working class against corporate rapists and clowns, and the list goes on. Now "progressive" means being a pharma fascist and being woke/delusional where "follow the science" means doing the opposite. Same delirium as Trumpies and Q-Anoners who still think Trump is president. I hope these respective derangement syndromes will pass and be healed, Amen!
Bunch of leftist nonsense you're spewing.
Anti-slavery is and was inseparable from pro individual liberty. These things are classic liberal ideas, not "progressivism" which was a term coined by actual anti-liberty and free market leftists. "Pro civil rights" is just a euphemism for pro certain identities over others, another progressive con job. Equal treatment under the law is guaranteed by the Constitution. Anything beyond that is just progressives using the state to force outcomes on otherwise free people.
"Rights to vote" are and have always been anti-liberty, pro democracy movements. Mob rule (democracy) and liberty are opposite things and only liberty is a virtue here. The advancement of mob rule over liberty is a progressive idea for sure, and one lefties like yourself endorse. Women could vote long before sufferage...as long as they owned property when voting was tied to property rights because property owners were less likely to vote themselves the property of others. Few women, however, possessed deeds to property in their name at the time.
There is no "working class." The rich work longer and harder than your favored leftist group of "victims" do on average. There is only the productive class and the welfare class and some in the productive class are more productive and reap the rewards of that than others. Of course others benefit greatly from their productivity. The "corporate rapist" is a figment of your lefty imagination. The corporation is a creation of the state and any raping allowed happens with the protection of the state/politicians.
Yay!!! Someone who knows what democracy really is!
And what progressivism really is. I like to shorten it as 'a cancer on liberty and free enterprise.'
You can bring a man to history, but you cannot make him drink, when all he drinks is his own Kool-aid.
Pfizer today recommends boosters for the kids. Who were never in danger. Like Starbucks should recommend that we drink more Americanos with add-ons. Where does Health chime in? Looked at Reuters feed today - under "Health" was just a lot of Pharma miracles aka manufacturer to end buyer marketing. Advertisements. And this will be disseminated as Fact through the usual channels.
I read this today & now pray our youngest 2 grands don’t get the boosters 😢
75% of all TV advertising comes from Pharma. 4.5 Billion Dollars.
There's a new drug out every week, I swear. And with a host of possible side effects.
Truly terrifying
At its base its evil
You coined a good term: respective derangement. But I am afraid it can only pass after a cataclysm. The right and the left both moved into the fringes: nationalism on the right and socialism in the left. But history shows that they meet! People forget that National Socialism was the ideology of the Nazi Party that ruled Germany from 1932 to 1945. That’s the danger of the derangement we are witnessing.
You're Right. Look at "horse-shoe" theory
Exactly. And the idea is that extreme left and extreme right are closer to each other than either of them to the political center. They do not necessarily collide but tend to use the same nasty tactics in fight for ideological purity, which leads to totalitarian control. Hitler and Stalin had a lot in common. Many were afraid that if Trump wins in 2020, he will become an authoritarian, but look where we are now.
I don’t much care what people call themselves. What is the fruit of their lives?
Progress =/= Progressivism
can't "heart" your comment. Strange .
substack sometimes does that. The heart will appear eventually, even though you cannot see it
"What we really need is a resurgence of old school liberals, progressives, conservatives, and libertarians"
I think there is an easier solution than this: COMMON SENSE. Politicians, particularly those who have been in any combination of "public office" for the majority of their working years (however short or long) and beyond seem to lose it in an "inverse ratio" to that. Biden, Pelosi, Feinstein, Schumer, McConnell, and so many others are so spent, they can't even remember if the last time they ever used it or if they ever had any at all.
But you can't teach common sense. And those without it think they have it. those are the "booksmart" folks who think they have it all over the rest of us. My eyes have really been opened to the closed minds and superiority complexes of the "booksmart"!
Well said
The center would get a lot bigger if the Republican party divorced itself from the religious right and removed abortion as a platform issue. They could seize this moment to grab huge market share -- given the disillusionment of many Democrat-leaning independents (myself included) who feel politically homeless after witnessing all of the authoritarianism, censorship, non-science and cancel culture behavior we have witnessed the last two years. They could own the votes of suburban moms (and dads) if they focused on sound spending, a fair tax code and a transparent public health administration, and left abortion off the table (or embraced freedom of choice, in line with true libertarianism), leaving the social debates largely to academics and religious leaders. To really earn our trust now, they would also have to put some distance between themselves and big pharma, and install a rigorous, independent drug and vaccine approval process.
Nah. Your party is melting down now that it’s led by Sandy Cortez, Eric Swalwell, and the rest of the social justice bandits. And I don’t think it’s the Republican Party that’s in bed with big pharma. Abortion is the tip of the eugenics iceberg, and no way in hell will we leave “social debates” to leftist academics and “religious leaders.” (The imposter pope has already informed Catholics today that the west is full of racists.) The “center” is just a name for people who prefer not to hold an opinion.
I somewhat agree with your sentiment, but the abortion and transgender issues are extremely important and not distractions. I agree with your overall point, however, regarding the importance of these other topics and how corporatist folks (regardless of label) are destroying both sides.
Transgender issues are nothing more than a wedge issue used by Marxists to divide Americans. Abortion is an important issue to the helpless unborn.
Yes! This!!!
I guess you don’t have any children or you might be a bit concerned about the state of our culture.
On paper they LOSE in a HUGE way, but who makes the paper, who controls the paper and who counts the votes? Someone once said its not who votes it's who counts the votes
That was Uncle Joe (Stalin)
And we saw that in November 2019...
Well according to Dinesh D'Sousa's new doc 2000 Mules, it's who stuffs the ballot boxes with forged votes that matters.
They will lose. It’s inevitable. They destroy everything they touch.
It's always good to have the opposition, until the opposition opposes the opposition.
Unless it's opposite day
Bullets
There is no such coherent cohesive political entity as The Left. The notion is an abstract spacial metaphor, the meaning of which has become increasingly confused ever since the French Revolution when it was coined. Get fifty people who are regarded as left wing in a room and you will get endless arguments over fifty completely incompatible ideas about how to change the world. Of course we could just use the term as a lazy sneery pejorative, but we're better than that, aren't we?
"The notion is an abstract spacial metaphor, the meaning of which has become increasingly confused ever since the French Revolution when it was coined." Increasingly confused, huh?
Funny, so far at least 121 UNconfused folks have thumbs-upped my comment. Maybe you're the only confused one.
Also, if the term has become "increasingly confused"...how did YOU know it was a pejorative? How did YOU know what or who I meant by it?
I mean, if instead I had called them "the Jelly-Bean Eaters" would you have understood THAT to mean "Leftists", too?
"The Jelly-Bean Eaters have to also lose. Lose badly. Lose badly enough that they are destroyed in the process. The Jelly-Bean Eaters need to be destroyed."
Oh, and what's not to love about your condescending, self-indulgent, self-congratulatory "...but we're better than that, aren't we?"
That's on a par with ahole Lefti- I mean, that's on a par with ahole Jelly-Bean Eaters who love to say "that's not who we are", as if THEY are the only legitimate arbiters of what's allowed and what's not.
"You can tell alot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans"
Ronald Reagan
Man, I wonder what the different ways are, and what they mean. I seem to do 2 at a time, but not over and over and over at the same time. 2 now, 2 again in a little bit, then 2 again, etc. I hope that's a conservative, pro-liberty way to eat JBs.
Now, that's some funny shit
For a real Lefty, the label is everything. I had a Lefty friend with whom I happily played music for 10 years. I never told him I voted for Trump because I knew he wouldn’t take it very well. When he finally found out, he did not hesitate to break off our friendship and to hell with the music!
Unbelievable. And yet, not really. Leftism, or Jelly-Beanism for those who don't understand the term "the Left", is a totalitarian ideology. It's that simple, and undeniable. It's on display everywhere, and all the time.
Ah, well, ah, I guess, maybe, we are... but a "lazy sneery pejorative, well, that's pretty hard to dismiss....LOL !
First of all, your assertion that 50 leftwingers would offer endless arguments over fifty completely incompatible - COMPLETELY incompatible! - ideas about how to change the world is patently absurd. To illustrate, take 44 left-wingers and add The Squad, and at worst you'd get 45 incompatible arguments. At worst. That's stipulating your absurd premise for argument's sake. The Squad proves the fallacy of your assertion.
Second, your "there is no such coherent cohesive political entity as The Left" is pure straw man. I never made such an assertion, so you're not rebutting anything I wrote. Also, I didn't call them The Left. I called them the Left. The capitalization on my "The"s was merely because those words began sentences. You should've noticed that.
As for "the Left" being "a lazy sneery pejorative", it's succinct and used enough in this day and age to be be sufficiently descriptive and understandable, when used in particular contexts, to all but the most pedantic among us.
It’s a useful term and most reasonable, intelligent people know what it means. Quibbling over definitions is disingenuous.
As I see it, The Left is a pejorative, as it well should be. It is also course in its gradation as to encompass all who hold Anti-American values and views.
A dog is a clearly defined thing.
How’s this: they are unaware bots with zero self awareness seeking salvation from “others” or, more specifically, looking anywhere but within their own self.
All of that is certainly true, but "bots", hummm, not sure, sometimes I do believe they can "think", just choose not to, saw a clip of one of the women of The View, absolutely RANTING about even thinking of removing the mask mandate on planes ! SHE didn't even want to THINK about being on a plane with other people casting all their Covid germs ALL OVER HER ! She had no concept of the little children, babies, healthy young adults, etc. on the plane, only herself, nothing else around her seemed to even exist ! ? ? ?
That was disturbing. 5 years ago who cared, except immunodeficient, who still made it from A to B. The "bots" are MSM now. As for self-awareness..... like a TikTok?
Don't want to give away my age but this is manipulation, of the mind. Truly unforgivable.
Hey, my post is certainly not the final say. Let’s just call it a start to get the ball rolling. All input is welcome! So what would you call her? Self centered? Self-absorbed? Insecure?
I think that’s called NPD.
But but but what if the dog identifies as a zebra?
Actually a dog is not a clearly defined thing. I know a dog named Ernest. He lost one leg, lost his fur, lost his tail, has no teeth and can't bark. How then can we know he is a dog?
And he answers to the name “lucky” when called! Not ernest
I expect he still has canine genes. Biological questions, although sometimes difficult with no obvious answer on the surface, can have some objective criteria applied to them. Political philosophy is more subjective.
With one glance we can tell Ernest is a dog. Ok, maybe it would take a second or two given his condition, but we would all know what it is.
corporate personhood too
"It's a private company!" was obviously never a serious argument. Parler was a private company, too, and they were still attacked and deplatformed. Lefties will say anything they have to in order to gain more power.
The problem with Parler was they used Amazon's server system which was not theirs. If they'd built it from the ground up like they've had to do now, they would have never been shut down by a liberal host.
But then they would go after Comcast for owning the pipes taking the website to your house. These people are authoritarians.
That's where Musk's StarLink comes into play....game over.
Gab has made such an offer to Musk.
Waiting for my dish!!
Gab just posted that they believe that's the next step the censors will take to take down places such as gab.
They also took no precautions when it was obvious this was coming, then vacillated about how to respond to the de-platforming. Finally they tried to take a Gab like approach but now they are an also-ran. Not that Gab or Gettr have panned out to be particularly interesting places. Substack, and maybe a few other subscriber-only models like Locals, are the big winners in the end.
Parler possibly didn’t have sufficient resources or leadership competent enough to resist the de-platforming. GETTR supposedly learned on their experience, but I have to agree that it is not an exciting place to be, to put it mildly.
Gab is the definition of an echo chamber with an unhealthy obsession with Jewish conspiracies.
That's why Twitter is so important in this fight to have open public debate among all sides.
That explains it. Why did they use amazon?? Crazy
Yes but, this was all new territory for us at the time. Never in our wildest dreams, did Americans think our freedom of speech would be infringed. Poor Parler...
The private company narrative was to get niaive Republicans to agree with supporting the rights of private companies to censor who they want.
The left's tactics are quite brilliant really.
and soooo many did!
and sooooo many did!
absolutely will do ANYthing!
The scary thing is - these people truly believe that free speech means only liberal speech. They truly believe that something as simple as an opposing viewpoint, is a threat to democracy.
They've literally lost the true definition of freedom, free speech, capitalism... all the things that have made America the best country on the planet
Yes. These are the people who want to amend the First Amendment. They concocted "hate speech" -- whatever the hell that is.
Further perversions of language include "misgender" and pretty much the entire woke glossary.
Agree and I think my acid reflex is rearing it’s ugly head.
I keep telling them that I will be for banning of hate speech when I am the one who decides what it is.
They don't seem interested in that.
Funny
You are so on target! Rules for Thee not for Me! Pathetic Losers!
Berenson, has been saying these words for more than 2 years.
Like I said earlier, no matter what happens, seeing these pathetic petulant children lose their minds at the possibility they might not be able to censor everything they don't like is absolutely priceless.
Agreed!
Me too.
I do enjoy your posts Alex - and appreciated your books. I am not on any “social media”(unless this counts?!) and live in an obnoxiously, so called, liberal community on an island on the west coast of Canada. Know that you are touching many elements of society. Thanks for what you are contributing.
Me too. I’m Australian and Alex has really helped me get through this plandemic without losing my mind.
It’s been a ride hasn’t it… Alex has been a balm of reason, coherence and sanity. In a small community, it’s hard to be swimming against the current let’s say. A number of like minded “big picture” thinkers around and fortunately we have found one another. Hope you have that.
Only on line. In real life, even if people smell a rat, they are too busy/afraid to really look behind the curtain. This whole episode has taught me that most people choose the blue pill.
Mind boggling isn’t it - they don’t want to hear another perspective (what I call “the truth”!!), only what fits their narrative- which makes me double check mine. I like to think I approach others with acceptance but it’s getting harder. Until we have true “free press”/un-censored commentators etc, they never will.
My mind boggles at the amount of time my mind boggles. Alice in wonderland on ground hogs day. Move to Florida!
We might do that when we are allowed to leave! Frogs in the warming pot for now.... with no exit allowed except private charter - boggling indeed!
There's a number of reasons people don't want to question the dominant narrative of X,Y and Z.
One obvious one, is the realisation that something you thought was true was actually a lie.
There's a famous saying about that one.
Day to day life is a little easier if you just go along with the official narratives.
Most people exert a lot of effort every day just to live a normal working life.
From the moment we wake up until the moment we fall asleep at night our life is a series of tasks that must be completed, from waking up on time, leaving on time, navigating the outside world to get to work, dealing with people at work you like or dislike in various degrees, all while actually being productive in your workplace.
Then the commute home, visiting the grocery store, gym before getting home, cooking and general household tasks, before you finally relax for a short time before bed. And if you have bad neighbours or live in a noisy street even then you never fully relax for long.
So you have all of that to deal with 5 days a week and then someone comes along and tells you that vaccine you felt pressured in to taking wasn't needed and worse, it may have actually harmed you!
It's not surprising that many people don't want to hear the truth on top of everything else they have to deal with just to maintain an ok existence.
Cue Elon!
I believe he’s in Vancouver! Bill Gates not getting quite the warm welcome (a Ted Talk)
I believe there is even more to what you commented than met the eye. The "cancelling", banning, whatever you want to term it, of people, goes right back to the isolate, extricate, eliminate, exterminate type of well known psychological war fare. When people can not touch base in anyway with someone who may be thinking the same thing, that's a winning strategy for those who wish to dominate. It's always been practiced in prisoner of war camps, if only two begin to think there might be a way to actually escape, it could spread faster than a virus, faster than Covid even, can't have people being able to reach others who may be having the same thoughts, doubts, questions, and internet forums, as we KNOW (China, China, Cuba Cuba) MUST be carefully controlled. Better for the Great Cause, that people like you, in Australia, continue to feel alone, to ?" Better you are kept isolated, it would be "dangerous" to find out there are those of us in the USA, in Canada, in France, or Germany, or.... name it, who are thinking exactly like YOU ! Doubting a money making vaccine that appears to at best do nothing, at worst is harming some, well, THAT could be a very dangerous thing. To begin to question if a mask made of quilting cotton really does "protect" you from much of anything, say from getting WET from someone sneezing right on you, but your brain says, does that really also protect me from the actual "germs", or are "they" so small they go right through the fabric... why I think my 5th grade teacher explained all about the size of MICRO particles... let's see, what did she say about that ???
I hope you can fix your once fine country. I wish you luck!
I know we're trying to do the same for the US. We need all the luck we can get here in America.
Ya'll gave up your guns and now you are just a slave to your government.
You can never, never, NEVER bow to this "guns" ARE the problem line of thinking, people absolutely MUST (and I don't know how we can convince them) understand that once we do that, it's over. You confiscate all fire arms (by force , by fines, by simply putting manufacturers out of business by making them PAY for all the evil guns they produce that have a mind and brain of their own, and just go "out of control" one night and go out and kill people. It's like the SUV's you read about daily in the newspapers. Always says: "an SUV went out of control, crashed through the restaurant, and killed 3, injured 11, etc. It's always those evil, gas guzzling, SUV's. Someone please cut out and send me the article from your local paper that has the headline: Green electric crashes into local Starbucks killing 4 innocent college students... that's WHEN you see that printed. Guns, cars, saying and printing the emotional words is what counts ! Logic.... OUT the window. More MORE MORE gun laws, and finally, maybe, these darn guns will stop allowing themselves to migrate into the hands of the very criminals we don't want to have them, and if we make the language of the laws VERY strong, maybe it will scare the criminals, drug lords, etc. into REGISTERING them legally ! Let's do this the right way, we know they will cooperate after all.... More laws, less prosecution, more illegal migration, it all adds up to a safer, more peaceful country, right ? Right ?
From my cold dead hands
Yep I’m locked and loaded.
Well, that might just be the case, remember what 'ol Joe did to Corn Pop with just a chain, you might be next and not chain, with your own gun next time. Don't mess with Joe.
Right....
And... if Joe doesn't get you on the first try, HE PROMISED, LIVE ON EVERY NETWORK, he would send Beto, on his fastest skateboard, to get your gun(s) and HE WILL succeed.
Stay strong there in Canada! You’re probably on one of those lovely islands like Salt Spring… all of us are benefiting from Alex’s search for the truth..,greetings from a former Canadian living in Switzerland!
Almost! I used to live on Salt Spring, now closer to Vancouver and blush at my former leftie self.... how manipulated we allowed ourselves to be. Which way is up? It’s getting frighteningly clearer but rather red pilled than not. ...and yes, some of us are prisoners in our chosen country (ex pat UK) and hold our breath and try to enjoy the views and make a difference. I will not comply with this tyranny. Blessings to you and all in this space.
I never complied either but my whole family of origin did! They all still live there, I’ll stay untested, unmasked and unjabbed! You need to rid your country of Trudeau and his followers!!?
Trudeau is a flower. I’m still not over what he did to those truckers.
I live in Tampa and my blood boils for you guys in Canada. Every. Damn. Day.
Stay strong guys!
Me either my Canadian flag still up.
Me too - from Ontario where it's now consdiered divisive to fly the flag, but mine's still flying!
Good for you!
He has another 3 years and 6 months - but who’s counting?!!
Washington State? LOL
BC, Canada… very Left Coast, smug and woke - help! 🙃
Don't celebrate just yet. I doubt the GLOBALISTS will give up easily on censorship
They never will
Watch Tucker Carlson tonight. It's already happening
If Musk wins control of Twitter they will come for twitter.
Watch how fast Twitter gets removed from the app stores if the likes of Alex are allowed back on to promote their Covid19 'misinformation'.
Watch all the celebrities start a boycott, the online 'grassroots' petitions spring up, the public denouncements etc etc.
Just watch the cancellation of Russia to see where this goes.
This play is unfortunately doomed to fail.
I disagree, twitter is way too convenient and incorporated in the daily life of most politicians, journalists, decision makers, etc. crap egomaniacs. There is no real alternative. And after November the monopoly power and arrogance of the libtarded tech-megas WILL be curbed at minimum. The world needs free speech platform, whether someone uses it or not (like I don't but would like to have the option if needed)
I'm not as optimistic as you, Alex. Until I see real change, censorship is winning.
Yes, Elon Musk has got everyone talking.
Meanwhile, a former president and one of the best reporters ever (hint: the author of this Substack) are still banned from Twitter.
Have faith. Elon is negotiating with folks who wouldn't know how to negotiate at a garage sale
I really hope Elon succeeds. If you want a laugh, read the blue check panic over the possibility of Elon acquiring Twitter.
I know, right?! There's only so many times I can belly laugh without puking through my nose
Absolutely love what he is doing!! Exposes all the jackasses in one fell swoop.
When one side stops caring that they spew blatant hypocrisy, it is time to stop believing that there is a conversation to be had and start realizing that there is a war that Musk be won.
This is a war-https://youtu.be/O9a_P0evO7Y
Try again, please. Link seems broken?
Got my fingers crossed he pulls this off. He might be saving the world. You can tell when he wouldn't censor Russia he won't censor anyone. Including the idiot liberals. I will never understand why they think silencing people is ever right. If you have truth on your side, it will be obvious. (Well, I guess that's why, eh?)
They think silencing people is righteous because any viewpoint that's not theirs is violence in their mind.
Perfectly well put! 👆👆👆
Well the indoctrinated believe that, the ones pushing the narratives know full well it's about power and control of the masses.
Elon put free speech in check on the chessboard.
We rooks, pawns, and other pieces on the board are glad for it.
Elon gonna Elon
Elon Musk is crazy like a fox.
Some of the entertainment value of this pageant is watching the second-guessing, the people who are trying to figure out what he's up to...because he's Elon Musk, he's always up to something.
His brain operates 1,000x faster than the average person. He's 75 moves ahead in every chess game.
Personally, because I'm no where near as smart as Musk, I'm enjoying the hysterics of the Twitter-scape along with the tantalizing idea that Musk could tank the company.
YES, YES, YES!
I don’t think the board will approve the sale. There is a faint glimmer of hope because Twitter is controlled most through institutional investment companies and they will stand to make a handsome return.
However, if by some miracle Elon does pull this off he will quadruple the value of the company within a few years. Then he can take it public again, still retain control and make a tidy profit.
I do think he is serious about the free speech bit, so there are a lot of positives in this for him (and the rest of us)
This is what I'm talking about: the second-guessing. There's always the hostile takeover avenue.
See? Second guessing by employing the financial machinations available.
BTW, I don't think the institutional investors give a rip about free speech, censorship.
Larry Fink of Blackrock is involved and it seems like he is full woke, ESG scores and all. I’m thinking he will be the road block. I hope not 🤞🏻
Again, I don't think any of the institutional investors care that much--never mind ESG scores. I think that's just pandering--good for annual reports & shareholder meetings. I doubt one investor would object to making a boatload of money.
The institutional investors are the biggest threat with his offer. Collectively they're worth trillions. Musk is pot committed. The government and the institutional investors are already rabid dogs. He is merely a David vs. Goliath. But as you say, he's crazy like a fox. I like his chances, but it'll be a cage match
Hope you can answer: How long has Musk given them (whomever that is),to say yes or no; if that is what happens…..thanks
4/20. And his offer was $54.20. He likes pot and he's punking them
Thank you!
I noticed those numbers as well. :)
The Pageant. Hilarious!
Rule #1 for liberals: must be a hypocrite.
I like your take Alex, but here's what I think it's missing: As soon as the leftists-with-money saw Musk's offer, it put the idea in their head to buy it out from under him. Blackrock/Vanguard is purportedly already trying to outbid him, and Blackrock's CEO Larry Fink brags about how he has the power to "force behaviors" and how he is in fact "forcing behaviors" on the population. If he is successful and takes over Twitter, things will get far worse than they are right now and the digital ID/social credit score nightmare scenario will become an almost certainty faster than we can imagine. And of course there are those who regularly point out Musk's penchant for the Luciferian hand signs of the upper level Freemasons, and say he is controlled opposition and his public offer was done on purpose to hand Twitter over to Blackrock. If he truly intends to buy it he wouldn't have said his opening bid was his "best and final offer." And if he pulls out now, things don't stay the same as they were; they get worse when Blackrock takes over.
They are all playing a game of 5D Chess that we peasants cannot comprehend. As much as people want to believe that Elon is a real life Tony Stark, the proof remains in the veritable pudding. He's said a lot of things about free speech and the constitution that that make me want to believe in him. That said, there are still people out there who believe that Bill Gates is a philanthropist.
Totally! It keeps coming back to that bible quote for me: "You will know them by their fruits." The only people who believe Bill Gates is saving millions of lives, are the ones who only listen to him talking about himself, while they ignore all the evidence from his victims. Elon, I share your feelings. I want him to be Tony Stark. But I just see him throwing the devils horns hand sign and trying to merge humans with AI. Free speech = Good fruits. If it happens.
Like many, I hope he is what he appears to be... but... I ALWAYS keep in the back of my mind, he (Musk) may well have read Machiavelli back in school. If you wanted to become king of the hill, to take all, what would YOU pretend to be publicly ? The champion of the common folk ? The defender of free speech ? Or, would you reveal (remember back in college freshman psychology... the Johari window theory ? your true personality, show that you actually want to rule the universe, be in control of all ? Only God sees deep into a man's heart, we can only guess ? Or maybe "hope" ?
LOL, LOL, LOL, Bill, LOL, Gates, LOL, LOL, a PHILANTHROPIST, I'm more than LOL, I'm nearly chocking from laughter....
If you haven't watched his Ted Talk today, you might want to. I sort of had the same take as you do until I watched it. He's all in. The initial offer was a head fake.
'Tis aCTually my fear he's controlled opposition, espEcially with his affiliation in the WEF. Kinda got that feeling in the pit of my stomach that, if it looks/sounds tOO good to be true, it prOlly is. : / Surrre do hope I'm wrong!!
Me too but I share your concerns. Since people like this who we don't know for certain if they are here to do good or evil, are forecasted in the Bible, I keep returning to these quotes to remind myself not to judge a man's character by his words, but rather by his fruits. According to this, if he brings forth good fruits, he is a good tree, and if not, he is an evil tree. [updated: not an "evil tree" but a "corrupt tree"]. Time will tell!
Matthew 7:15-20 (KJV)
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Woke ideology is really Tyranny
They are admitting it’s a journalist/ media platform......... if true U look forward to the defamation lawsuits as thousands are slam dunks. Defamation by algorithm....
Defamation by algorithm...OOOH! I like that!
Aside from the important issue, love the use of defenestration. Did you know there is no opposite of that word? Thanks for the great work!
Hot damn!, you're right, there isn't an antonym for defenestration. Redefenestration? I guess that would be tautological.
I learned something today. Thx
I used to have a list of all the words with no opposite. It is always fun to bust out a "fun-fact" like this with my SAT students.
Pop quiz: What's the only 8 letter word with only one vowel?
Hint: we need it right now
Ha! No clue.
STRENGTH
My turn to learn something.
The opposite of defenistration is the word that describes a dead body rising quickly off the ground, reanimating itself and flying into a house through an open window. Resurrection!
That could apply if we wait until Sunday
I had to look it up, had no idea. Interesting, the French word for window is fenêtre.
The funniest part (to me, anyway) of all the sturm and drang today has been watching all the Blueanon types simping for Saudi Arabia after the Kingdom (a major Twitter shareholder, as it turns out) announced that they were rejecting Elon's offer.
Saudi f'ing Arabia!
You know. The guys who send goon squads to murder journalists. That Saudi Arabia.
Alex, your flashlight of truth is making all the cockroaches squirm and run for cover!
We must leave Twitter if the American Mafia of cia, doj, dnc, etc., steps in to prevent this sale. If we stay, we deserve what we get.
Ehh I believe all liberals would leave Twitter if Elon truly makes it a haven for free speech.
I doubt it. They probably won't be able to contain themselves. There is really no big competition. Not that I tweet or do facebook. I left a long long time ago.
Me too. Don’t miss them. Not. At. All.
They have absolutely nowhere else to go for their narcisstic attention. Some may try to split but will come right back when the normies don't follow them there.
maybe only the toxic liberals
equity requires unequal treatment...remember that!
Don't know how it will turn out, but sure fun to watch. Wished the CDC was a stock company.
Yes! Let's do them next!
There is a certain amusement to be had in watching the blue checks that spent the last 2 years shilling about COVID and then Ukraine while pretending to be pro-democracy squealing that if Musk buys Twitter it will become a platform for “right wing Nazis”. Idiots, just don’t realise how stupid they sound outside of their echo chamber. “Sure Musk has built fantastic cars and rockets but he can’t be trusted with our social media platform, it’s literal rocket science, oh…”. Morons, utter morons.
Here is another way Elon has won. If they don't sell to him, then they are really not a capitalistic enterprise--not out to make money. Rather they are an information controller for the left. That is what they are screaming about. Can you imagine if Twitter now has to give equal time to differing viewpoint and those viewpoints won't be censored? It would drive the left nuts. This whole process will help to reveal their hypocrisy.
Your play by play / blow by blow is so entertaining - like a heckler with intelligence or a bemused sportscaster - I’m a fan. Waiting for the house of cards to come tumbling down.
The twitter response reminds me of a great song from the 1960s "Two faces have I".
Amen to that Alex. My husband and I were discussing all the options (this would have been a great drinking game, except it was in the morning) and we decided at least he would expose the great dirty underbelly of titter! (oops! I mean twitter!)
The only way Twitter works is as a Utility. Congress carved out this status for them and the other Social Media platforms with the effect that they can't be sued as a Publisher, and this is of course the only way Twitter can work as the Town Square. Elon has not been emphasizing allowing all back on the platform as the most important thing that it is. So I'm hoping, for the sake of the free world, that this will be part of the story and that Elon is successful.
It should really be a protocol, like SMS or TCP/IP. A tweet is just a data packet, a type of text message. Nobody needs a separate company to exchange text messages, why have one for tweets?
RSS feeds for everyone!
That's Mastodon. Shame it hasn't taken off but the fact is, commercial platforms have more incentive to innovate and make themselves user and UX friendly. Open source communities just don't innovate at the same rate because they don't have nearly the capital.
well, not exactly. They have designed an interface/user-experience and it is their platform after all. But, if they are a Utility, they gotta be a Utility. (As Alex might say: "Utility going to Utility.") They can't also have the luxury of being a Publisher, unless they make that choice of having the liability that comes with it....and this of course would not be doable at their scale -they'd have to vet every tweet.
That all being said.... it might be that they also have to provide the stream of tweet data to other entities for a fee....but really they would choose to do this anyway if the business model makes sense.
Love it! The problem is usually the same, people simply are not willing to give up what is popular, thus they are willing to take abuse and even falsify their preferences / statements to keep playing the game.
The sad truth is 70M users should have simply stopped using Twitter the moment they deplatformed a President. Not left the platform (though alternatives are needed), but rather, simply stopped for however long it took for the twitter board to wake up and reassess (plus that would drive the share price down for some investor activist to pick it up).
If We the People willfully take abuse, why would our abusers choose to change their ways?
Thank you for using the word "defenestration". I had heard it before but didn't know what it meant untill now, when I looked it up. I guess it's better than the overused deplatforming of Donald Trump, or ejection of Donald Trump from Twitter
You go Alex!!
How can it be private when it's open for the entire global population? If it is private owned but operated for anyone and everyone to use, that would negate its private function because it is no longer private but worldwide and all inclusive. They don't make you apply and wait until you receive acceptance to join like a private club. It's either run with exclusive private membership or it's open to everyone and thus you cannot change the rules for just few. I've never understood the pick-and-choose Twitter nonsense.
I don't think you understand the "private" meaning being used here. It is a private company owned publicly - i.e. publicly traded stock ownership. Elon will buy all of the shares and make it a truly privately owned company - i.e. not publicly traded.
That may be true, but the arguments I keep hearing is that it can set its own rules and kick anyone off they want because it is a private company, not a government entity, so therefore, they do not have to honor free speech.
well, yes, that is true and what the leftists love to trumpet. They will switch suddenly on that if/when Elon makes it uncensored again. I would argue that they and the other "platforms" and the government have conspired to attack free speech and therefore they ARE liable.
Fuck Max with his own Boot.
He wants to stomp out free speech.
What the elites don’t want us to know is that the backbone of Twitter is the US Gov and the Intelligence Community. If MUSK takes Twitter private this will all be revealed.
Also it is provably an extension of at least two Democrat-controlled state governments (CA and MA) and likely more than that.
No matter who owns Twitter it will remain a place where mostly angry leftists will try to convince you that a man can “transform” into being a woman. Or that communism is a wonderful idea and capitalism doesn’t work. Or that America is racist. Or that cops are racist thugs. Or that AOC is really, really smart. Or that a balding man can look really great in a ponytail or manbun. Or that women look great covered in tattoos. Or that illegal aliens “contribute to our wonderful diversity”
Twitter's woke employees may have just realized that their publicly held private employer is up for sale every morning when the stock market opens. Their jobs are only as secure as the next majority shareholder says they are.
I am thoroughly enjoying every minute of this. Of course, I’ve got my money on Elon. I heard that the Saudi’s have rejected Elon’s offer. 😟
Touché 🤺
As usual, it`s the insult even to sub par intelligence that's so jarring, like a page right out of Animal Farm. In the absence of any conceivable logic & reason, the Fascist elites have long abandoned any such attempts and now just tell us that we cannot trust our own eyes; yet again, we did not really see what just happened right in front of us. This IS the systematic process of incremental totalitarianism. If we allow it, we get what we accept, just like always in history. The process is just about complete in Canada, where an orderly civil resistance, inspired by the instincts of freedom in some (many, immigrants who fled fascist regimes & know exactly what is happening), was swiftly crushed by the fascist Trudeau regime WITH MAJORITY ACQUIESCENCE/SUPPORT OF ITS OWN CITIZENS. Au Revoir, free Canada. You laid down.
No, that's not a male swimmer you just watched dominate a field of women. You are (offensively) mistaken. It`s in full swing here. Do we have the resolve to squash it in its tracks? We once did. I pray we still do.
Defenestration? I had to look that up. Who are you, William F Buckley?
Buried lede in the entire story: Twitter, and likely other major SM platforms are backed and funded by the US govt. probably using taxpayer funded server platforms and technology. Just one of the ways they spy on you. Note that the US govt immediately announced an “investigation” into Musk and Tesla as soon as Musk announced his offer. Twitter reported revenue of 5.1 billion in 2021. The cost of running the platform is likely 2-3 times that amount. Where does the rest of the funding come from. I think we know the answer.
An essential instrument of the Deep State programming and control of weak-minded people for sure. Which is why they are working so hard to fight against Musk.
Don’t forget Pfizer pays for the “fact” checkers.
Richard Pan drops opposition to Personal Belief Exemption for children's vaccine in California! Celebrate fellow Californians! Though he will be back to try to destroy our children tomorrow. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/California-legislator-drops-bill-to-eliminate-17081993.php
The state has already lost a ton of schoolkids and thus funding. They can't afford to lose more.
If the Twitter Board of Directors, contrary to its fiduciary duty to do what is best for their shareholders, rejects EM's embrace, a liquidation of EM's shares that will coincide with massive short selling of Twitter stock will devastate the share price and that will provide tangible proof of what the BOD thinks of its fiduciary duty.
I am tentatively ecstatic.. feels like there is always another shoe to drop. But I do agree that regardless of outcome the mask is off and they hypocrisy has exposed the Emperor's (lack of) clothes. They are playing checkers with someone playing 3-dimensional chess and they don't even realize it.
One thing I have always been astonished at is the argument that people like Trump or you are "DANGEROUS!!!" These are largely people who would fight tooth and nail to have the right to say whatever they wanted, and yet see no problem putting a gag on anyone else. And as they like to say about content others complain of on any platform, they are free to turn the channel or mute the tweeter. Easy-peasy.
All of them were ecstatic and had nothing but praise for the article in Time Magazine about how a "cabal" of powerful people in tech and government came together to "fortify" the 2020 election, ensuring the "right" outcome. It's nauseating.
What I think it really exposes, though, is the very real contempt the "elites" have for the rest of the population. They feel entitled to control what everyone else sees and hears and knows because they know best. But if they really did have confidence in their positions they would not be bothered by people challenging them, because the best ideas win out in the end. They think that those not in their bubble are not intelligent enough to understand the complexities of issues or situations, so they must be fed only what they deem them worthy of knowing, expecting a compliant population to accept it uncritically. Unfortunately for a lot of the population they are absolutely right. It's those pesky outliers that must be silenced at any cost. People like us.
They are hypocrites.
Everyone knows that.
Trying to make them admit it is a fool's errand.
They will never be anything but fascist sociopaths.
The only answer is to finally remove what sustains them: that you care about their approbation in the first place.
And that is entirely in your hands.
Shit just got real.
🇺🇸Elon Musk makes their lefty heads hurt bc he also makes the expensive electric cars they’re so proud to own. Brilliant, brave and smart!