[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

OK, I read that link. It was a hard read and complicated. And it does make EVERYONE engaged in moving the oil either by pipeline or railcars, including Warren Buffet, seem responsible for serious environmental degradation. Railcars have crashed and pipelines have ruptured creating BIG problems. It seems like a lot of blame to go around, starting with BIG OIL.
....The US has enough oil for its own needs. It looks like the US is jeopardizing its own environment to satisfy the NEEDS of other countries. It makes me think back to some of my "big picture" comments - that the world population of 8 billion people that increased rapidly since 1900 - seems to be the ROOT cause of this crude oil problem and most other PROBLEMS.
.......And that leads to one of the positive aspects of Elon Musk's life, namely manufacturing a well-liked Electric automobile. Which could help with our OIL DEPENDENCY. I will give him credit for that, but NOT for Twitter. I do not know if Warren Buffet has ANY investments in electric vehicles. He probably does invest in electrical power companies. I will have to check that. And possibly natural gas?

Reductio Absurdum argument... You cannot extrapolate a discussion about ONE PERSON to ALL people...

Annnnd... If the US has enough oil for its own needs, why is the current administration begging, hat in hand to VENEZUELA for oil?

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by tvbound

Sorry, but you're dead wrong on a few points. In trying not to cross that 'P' line here, my quick response is: 1. Twitter was simply following its own internal rules of not passing on unsubstantiated and unproved, at the time, conspiracies right before an election. 2. Just like this, or any other site, the 1st A has absolutely NOTHING to do with private speech or businesses (other than the yelling fire in a theater/similar utterances). 3. The antisemitic and racist/bigoted comments are continuing at a record rate and are not being shut down or deleted, primarily because those people who previously would see them and stop it - were long ago fired.

So saying that Twitter was "suppressing free speech" is actually quite silly. Particularly given all of the other private sites, businesses and people, that never met a wacko conspiracy or outrageous lie that they didn't love...and publish or pass on. lol

So, TRUE. Again congrats on a drop-the-mike-type post

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Normal

Evidently Musk has done quite well with Tesla this year.

Tesla reports 1.31 million deliveries in 2022, growth of 40% over last year

Tesla reports 1.31 million deliveries in 2022, growth of 40% over last year

We need to see what Twitter will do. He hasn’t owned it more than a couple months. The overhaul could bring very good results.

And people complain about me when I capitalize some word.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

I believe that tax LIABILITY is an end-of-year determination. Taxes are taken out by State and Federal governments on a paycheck-by-paycheck basis. So, I am GUESSING that about 80% of all WORKERS pay some taxes. And I am JUST not interested / curious or have sufficient time to look up everything.

No one (but you) is talking about an "end-of-year determination"...

It's about people either not paying ANY FEDERAL INCOME TAX (not FICA or Medicare Taxes), or receiving refunds that far outweigh the little they actually paid.

Changing the subject doesn't change my original point...

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

You don't think we were buying crap from China BEFORE Nixon?

Oh, and it wasn't Nixon who did what you said he did. It was Carter & Clinton...

"President Bill Clinton in 2000 pushed Congress to approve the U.S.-China trade agreement and China's accession to the WTO, saying that more trade with China would advance America's economic interests: "Economically, this agreement is the equivalent of a one-way street..."

And, if you want to go back farther, It was Carter who got the ball rolling...

"In 1979 the U.S. and China reestablished diplomatic relations and signed a bilateral trade agreement. This gave a start to a rapid growth of trade between the two nations: from $4 billion (exports and imports) that year to over $600 billion in 2017."

Nixon's main goal in meeting with China was the SALT Agreement...

Facts trump OPINIONS...

I will stick with my statement that Nixon opened up relations with China. He was famous for it !!!!!!!

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

I am not critical of Mr. Musk's ACCOMPLISHMENTS, but his CONTOL of Twitter is a "dumpster fire", not an accomplishment.

Yes, stopping Twitter from interfering in our elections is a terrible thing.

Yes, stopping the previous regime from banning people from saying things the Feds didn't want them to say is a terrible thing...

And he has added features to Twitter that have made the user experience much better...

Serious question: Do you actually use Twitter? Not check out an occasional link you see posted elsewhere, but actually use the platform?

Have you actually waded thru the multiple "Tweet Dumps" over the last several weeks?

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

Reductio Absurdum argument... You cannot extrapolate a discussion about ONE PERSON to ALL people...

Annnnd... If the US has enough oil for its own needs, why is the current administration begging, hat in hand to VENEZUELA for oil?

Because "everybody knows" that the US is sending Oil to Europe because Russian cut them off. And we do NOT want our allies in Europe to freeze to death. So we MAY (?) have needed to replenish our strategic reserve by going into the OPEN market........on a TEMPORARY BASIS.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

Yes, stopping Twitter from interfering in our elections is a terrible thing.

Yes, stopping the previous regime from banning people from saying things the Feds didn't want them to say is a terrible thing...

And he has added features to Twitter that have made the user experience much better...

Serious question: Do you actually use Twitter? Not check out an occasional link you see posted elsewhere, but actually use the platform?

Have you actually waded thru the multiple "Tweet Dumps" over the last several weeks?

I believe that those 1st 2 sentences are concepts that have been floated around the conspiracy ecosystem lately.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by tvbound

Musk is NOT revealing any big conspiracies, he has simply removed the controls that tried limiting completely false rumors/conspiracies that the old Twitter tried to minimize. Now, the ridiculous lies, crazy conspiracies, antisemitism and pent-up hate by certain demographics - are being allowed to proliferate.

Why and how, would any decent person (especially those claiming to be Christians)...applaud what is currently happening?

Hate Speech’s Rise on Twitter Under Elon Musk Is Unprecedented, Researchers Find - The New York Times


Before Elon Musk bought Twitter, slurs against Black Americans showed up on the social media service an average of 1,282 times a day. After the billionaire became Twitter’s owner, they jumped to 3,876 times a day.

Slurs against gay men appeared on Twitter 2,506 times a day on average before Mr. Musk took over. Afterward, their use rose to 3,964 times a day.

And antisemitic posts referring to Jews or Judaism soared more than 61 percent in the two weeks after Mr. Musk acquired the site.

These findings — from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the Anti-Defamation League and other groups that study online platforms — provide the most comprehensive picture to date of how conversations on Twitter have changed since Mr. Musk completed his $44 billion deal for the company in late October.

And Twitter's own data shows those things are actually lower than before...

What they are now counting as "hate speech" are Twitter users like "The Libs of TickTock", who simply re-posts what individual themselves have posted.

And Ben Shapiro, who holds the record for being on the receiving end of hate speech on Twitter (pre-Musk), is now seeing less since the takeover...

[Aces4]

Originally Posted by tvbound

Sorry, but you're dead wrong on a few points. In trying not to cross that 'P' line here, my quick response is: 1. Twitter was simply following its own internal rules of not passing on unsubstantiated and unproved, at the time, conspiracies right before an election. 2. Just like this, or any other site, the 1st A has absolutely NOTHING to do with private speech or businesses (other than the yelling fire in a theater/similar utterances). 3. The antisemitic and racist/bigoted comments are continuing at a record rate and are not being shut down or deleted, primarily because those people who previously would see them and stop it - were long ago fired.

So saying that Twitter was "suppressing free speech" is actually quite silly. Particularly given all of the other private sites, businesses and people, that never met a wacko conspiracy or outrageous lie that they didn't love...and publish or pass on. lol

If you believe in your heart what you just posted, I’m done. “Silly” is the premise that the old Twitter is not guilty of collusion to defame and suppress important information. You know, that little ole thing called freedom of speech. I feel like I’m having a battle of the real truth with an unarmed poster.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

I would have a hard time "mourning" the loss of left-wing censorship ( I assume of Mr. Musk).......because I HAD and still have no clue that there is such a thing going on. I simply believe that many (not all) people of whatever stripe are critical of Mr. Musk because of his actions during his takeover of Twitter. He fired 1/2 of the employees there. Some people have commented that it was a GOOD move on his part. I see it as selfish and cold-hearted. I do have an inclination to side with employees OVER upper management because upper management is often out-of-touch with the key elements that make a business run smoothly. They often have an inclination to be elitist and authoritarian. I do NOT believe in top-down management. I believe in the principles of Circles of Management
which involve even the lowest line worker in the functioning of a business. That is ACTUALLY a good business decision because those businesses tend to be the MOST profitable because the workers can actually FEEL that they are important to the business. Toyota and other Japanese car makers used those principles back in 1970 to overtake and outcompete the established US car manufacturers EVEN here in the US. So I know that it works.

And the point being that at Twitter Elon Musk has broken ALL THE PRINCIPLES of Circles of Management. And he has gotten INCREDIBLY BAD press that he may never recover from. And for what? .......a personal VANITY project.

So, you have NO IDEA what was going on at Twitter and WHY all of those people were fired...

And yes, he has gotten incredibly bad press from the usual sites who were in bed with the previous Twitter regime...

Shall I show you my shocked face?

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

That is a GREAT post and I agree with all of it. I heard a prediction on a TV news program that groups like the Proud boys and the Oath Keepers are ZEROING in on transgender people and are likely to engage in serious violence against that group of Americans. It reminds me of the beginning of Hitler's rise to power that I read about in a book titled. "The Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich". The idea being to pick a weak group and flex their muscles against that weak group thereby feeling stronger by tearing at a weak seam in society. History seems to be repeating itself.
......Another discussion on the news channel was that Europe and other countries are looking at the US violence-prone groups with GREAT concern. Europe is a co-dependent with the US as freedom-loving countries. Europe needs a strong US and seems HORRIFIED by what it sees as cracks and weaknesses in US society.
.......For a long time, I have felt that Russian trolls have been successful at exploiting group differences and hatreds which exist in the US. It is hard to quantify the amount of chaos that they have succeeded in creating in the US. Yet, we can quantify the increase in membership among the Proud Boys and ALL the other extremist groups. To me, these groups seem to feel left out of society for various reasons, so they get together and BOND either in person or on media and the HATE flows out of them.
........I also connect their DISPLEASURE to the general loss of economic and even spiritual strength of the US middle class. I am NOT sure that they are completely AWARE of the exact reasons for their despair. But, they know that SOMETHING has let them down and they then are willing to resort mindlessly to consoling themselves with violence. To me, they are only a SYMPTOM of a greater disease.

Russia, Russia, Russia!

And regarding the violence against transgenders... I suggest you do a bit of research as to exactly WHO is committing those atrocities...

I'll give you a tip... It ain't "The Proud Boys" nor "The Oath Keepers"...

[Aces4]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

I believe that those 1st 2 sentences are concepts that have been floated around the conspiracy ecosystem lately.

Being blind to injustices seems to be easy for you. Most of us have common sense to see exactly what was perpetrated by the old Twitter and it’s seedy, unlawful interferences.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Well, thanks a lot for that observation. I will act on it IMMEDIATELY by going down for a MIND-checkup at my local psychiatry GARAGE and asking for a tune-up.

I'll give you a referral if you'd like... I'm licensed to practice in Florida...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by tvbound

Sorry, but you're dead wrong on a few points. In trying not to cross that 'P' line here, my quick response is: 1. Twitter was simply following its own internal rules of not passing on unsubstantiated and unproved, at the time, conspiracies right before an election. 2. Just like this, or any other site, the 1st A has absolutely NOTHING to do with private speech or businesses (other than the yelling fire in a theater/similar utterances). 3. The antisemitic and racist/bigoted comments are continuing at a record rate and are not being shut down or deleted, primarily because those people who previously would see them and stop it - were long ago fired.

So saying that Twitter was "suppressing free speech" is actually quite silly. Particularly given all of the other private sites, businesses and people, that never met a wacko conspiracy or outrageous lie that they didn't love...and publish or pass on. lol

1. Nope. Twitter's own internal email show they KNEW the info they were blocking was NOT "unsubstantiated" nor "unproven"...

2. Twitter worked with the FBI and the White House to censor content. So yes, it is most certainly a 1A issue...

3. So says the NYTs. The paper who also lied about a certain laptop...