Elon Musk and Twitter Reach Deal for Sale (Update: WSJ report details Musk’s relationship with Putin) (1 Viewer)

[SaintForLife]

Elon Musk struck a deal on Monday to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion, in a victory by the world’s richest man to take over the influential social network frequented by world leaders, celebrities and cultural trendsetters.

Twitter agreed to sell itself to Mr. Musk for $54.20 a share, a 38 percent premium over the company’s share price this month before he revealed he was the firm’s single largest shareholder. It would be the largest deal to take a company private — something Mr. Musk has said he will do with Twitter — in at least two decades, according to data compiled by Dealogic.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Mr. Musk said in a statement announcing the deal. “Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

The deal, which has been unanimously approved by Twitter’s board, is expected to close this year, subject to a vote of Twitter shareholders and certain regulatory approvals.

The blockbuster agreement caps what had seemed an improbable attempt by the famously mercurial Mr. Musk, 50, to buy the social media company — and immediately raises questions about what he will do with the platform and how his actions will affect online speech globally.

Elon Musk and Twitter Reach Deal for Sale

Twitter agreed to be taken over at $54.20 a share, a 38 percent premium over the share price before it was revealed that Mr. Musk had been buying up the company’s stock.

www-nytimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org

If Musk does what he claims he wants to do it will be a big improvement and good for free speech.

 

[MT15]

If I had to guess, that first line is dig at the left and maybe the squad with their call for a ministry of truth and reconciliation after Biden won.
The rest are good things to do.

Why should people be fired for their ideology? Why am I not surprised that you think it’s a good thing to do?

I don’t think Shapiro is kidding. He’s pretty much a fascist.

 

[MT15]

That’s wild (the terms, not that he went after a brown woman), do you have the Tweet?

Nope. But how could I predict which part you would care about?

 

[zztop]

So according to the purchase agreement Musk isn’t allowed to publicly criticize Twitter or its representatives until the sake is final. He has already broken that part of the agreement. He has publicly criticized an individual for her actions while running Twitter and now she is being harassed on Twitter by his minions. Name calling and racist comments. She is a brown woman. Color me shocked that’s his first target.

He also has amplified a tweet from Cernovich, who also called out an individual woman by name. Cernovich is notorious for promoting Pizzagate, is associated with Alex Jones and is a virulent misogynist.

So, we’re off to a great start.

not the first time he called out someone.

Musk renews pedophilia claims against diver in Thai cave rescue

Tesla CEO calls Brit diver in Thai soccer team rescue a "child rapist" who moved to Southeast Asia to take a child bride

www.cbsnews.com

In a July tweetstorm, the Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO labeled Vernon Unsworth, a diver who helped rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave, a "pedo guy," after Unsworth criticized a submarine rescue plan the billionaire had proposed. The tweet has since been deleted and Musk apologized for the comment.

Musk doubled down on the accusation in an email sent last week to BuzzFeed News, calling Unsworth a "child rapist" who had moved to Thailand to take a child bride.

 

[el caliente]

Nope. But how could I predict which part you would care about?

Why does it matter that she is a brown woman? As shown in ZZtop’s post, the man is indiscriminate with who he goes after (black, white, brown, green). That’s part of being a “troll”. What makes her any more special than Vernon Unsworth?

 

[MT15]

No, they’re on his timeline. I didn’t save them or anything. From what I am reading about him he “goes after” certain people more than others, but you are right in that he will attack a lot of people. Oddly he won’t go after Cernovich, who dabbles in white nationalism, misogyny, and far right conspiracy theories. He amplifies him. I would be interested in seeing if he has ever insulted any far right figure on Twitter or anywhere else.

Plus what he said wasn’t the real problem, but rather the slew of racist, misogynistic tweets that his “fans” dumped on her immediately. That was what was objectionable.

He doesn’t care about that, though. As long as the king gets to speak his mind. Lol.

 

[el caliente]

 

[Farb]

Why should people be fired for their ideology? Why am I not surprised that you think it’s a good thing to do?

I don’t think Shapiro is kidding. He’s pretty much a fascist.

Good question. Why would anyone be fired for their ideology? But, it is soon to be a private company so they can fire who they like correct?

I think the entire sarcasm of Shapiro's post went over your head.

What has Shapiro said that makes you think he is a fascist?

 

[MT15]

Of course they can conduct their business any way they see fit, as long as they’re not in Florida that is. Then they have to run things by Ron first.

But you said it was a good thing to fire people for being “woke”. Why do you want to fire people for their private beliefs?

And that right there is fascist adjacent, if not full fascist. That Shapiro wants people fired for their ideology.

 

[coldseat]

Of course they can conduct their business any way they see fit, as long as they’re not in Florida that is. Then they have to run things by Ron first.

But you said it was a good thing to fire people for being “woke”. Why do you want to fire people for their private beliefs?

And that right there is fascist adjacent, if not full fascist. That Shapiro wants people fired for their ideology.

And of course the total hypocrisy by Shapiro, let's not forget that. He's one of the loudest complainers of being canceled from speaking at collages because of his ideology. But you know, when the shoe's on the other foot ...

 

[el caliente]

And of course the total hypocrisy by Shapiro, let's not forget that. He's one of the loudest complainers of being canceled from speaking at collages because of his ideology. But you know, when the shoe's on the other foot ...

That’s the interesting part in all of this. From Disney to Twitter, we are seeing how folks enjoy when the shoe is on the other foot. It truly is an eye opening, and inner self exposing exercise.

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

Ultimately, I don't hold Musk in high regard. Not because of his politics (don't even know what they are) but in my estimation he is basically a man-baby with endless money. I don't think his privileged upbringing did him any favors. In short, his temperament is not the best. For whatever reason his legions of fans think he's some kind of great genius when the reality is he is just a savvy venture capitalist. He's no scientist, he just buys science-y things and expands their brand.

He's certainly not the deranged sociopath that Trump is, but there's definite narcissism which is only exacerbated by his fanboys and girls.

 

[MT15]

That’s the interesting part in all of this. From Disney to Twitter, we are seeing how folks enjoy when the shoe is on the other foot. It truly is an eye opening, and inner self exposing exercise.

So, you just equated liberals griping about their favorite social platform being taken over by a troll-man-baby and a Governor using the power of the state to try to punish economically a corporation for expressing their opinion on one of his bills.

Did you mean to say these things are the same?

 

[el caliente]

So, you just equated liberals griping about their favorite social platform being taken over by a troll-man-baby and a Governor using the power of the state to try to punish economically a corporation for expressing their opinion on one of his bills.

Did you mean to say these things are the same?

Sort of, but not. It was more commentary on how people (liberal or conservative) react when the shoe is on the other foot. Turns out neither side wants to put down their guns.

 

[MT15]

They are not “sort of” the same. One is an authoritarian overreach of government power. And one is people using their free speech to birch.

 

[MT15]

 

[el caliente]

They are not “sort of” the same. One is an authoritarian overreach of government power. And one is people using their free speech to birch.

You mean you were fighting for corporate tax breaks a month ago?

The commentary has to do with folks not taking a step back to see that they are in the very same spot that they were complaining about others being in a short while ago.

 

[RobF]

I think Musk is a classic example of someone not being anywhere near as smart as they think they are.



That's the kind of shallow take that might sound like it makes sense at a glance, but a moment's thought should reveal that, no, it doesn't.

If we take being 'politically neutral' here to mean, for example, applying a set of common (and, we'll assume, themselves politically neutral) rules without regard to political outcome, why would we expect that to impact and upset two different groups equally? The impact on the groups depends on how they behave with regard to those rules.

It's akin to saying a referee in a football match must be neutral - sure - and then saying that means penalising and upsetting both teams equally. No, of course not.

Being politically neutral in that regard is a matter of process, not outcomes. If one team takes an approach that breaks the rules and crosses the lines more than the other, that team should be penalised more.

Disproportionate outcomes should at most be seen as a flag to review and check that the process is being applied fairly. But if disproportionate outcomes are seen as an inherent problem, and equal outcomes are seen as the goal, in the event of disproportionate outcomes that are driven by differing behaviour, that then drives the process to be adjusted to compensate, either by being less strict, benefiting the group breaking the rules more, and/or by being artificially harsher on the group not breaking the rules as much, at which point the process isn't politically neutral any more.

And that's before we even get into whether it's possible, or desirable, to be truly politically neutral in the first place.

In fairness, this kind of false compromise argument is both common and popular - that tweet has over a million likes - but it's not usually coming from someone trying to buy one of the world's largest social media platforms.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Quitting Twitter is the new moving to Canada.


A plan by the richest man in the world to blow some spare change on a perennially troubled social media platform has prompted plenty of users to claim they’re logging out — for good.

Yet, their threats not only do little to intimidate a billionaire chief executive intent on colonizing space; they also ring familiarly empty.


The intention to pack up and leave a place to protest its leadership has become almost a cliche. If Barack Obama wins, Republicans said in 2008, we’re marching north. If Donald Trump wins, Democrats echoed in 2016, across the border we go.

Few actually acted on these indignant commitments.

Why? Well, moving is hard. Relocating across the street already requires some heavy lifting; living somewhere truly new involves as much nostalgia for old stomping grounds as excitement at exploring untrodden territory.

It’s one thing if you’re leaving because you really like the place you’re headed, and another entirely if you’re tearing yourself away from somewhere you still love to make a statement.


Statement-making is precisely what’s at stake in a promised post-election move to the land of mounted police and over-apologizing.

We’re upset because the country might change — which means that at least to some extent, we’re happy with (and happy in) the country as it is. Or at least, we’ve gotten used to it.

We’re not saying we want to leave. We’re saying that if the wrong team wins, we’ll have to.


And then, of course, we don’t.


The same is true of Twitter……….

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/26/quit-twitter-elon-musk-move-canada/