US Politics: A Post-Roe Country

[mormont]

I mean using Twitter for pump and dump is one thing, but this is using Twitter for pump and dump. Next level.

(ETA - I'm not actually sure that's what happened here, to be fair. I think Musk just went in with no plan a la Putin in Ukraine and is now, unlike Putin, looking for an off-ramp that preserves his ego.)

[Tywin et al.]

11 minutes ago, mormont said:

I mean using Twitter for pump and dump is one thing, but this is using Twitter for pump and dump. Next level.

(ETA - I'm not actually sure that's what happened here, to be fair. I think Musk just went in with no plan a la Putin in Ukraine and is now, unlike Putin, looking for an off-ramp that preserves his ego.)

I've listen to a few tech and business journalists break down the situation and they all expected him not to buy Twitter and that was the market's read as well weeks ago. On top of the massive cost of purchasing Twitter his personal net worth would shrink by a good amount as Tesla stocks were projected to fall. The amount he wanted to buy it for makes no sense financially and there's little chance he'd ever make his money back. OTOH pretending to buy it and then backing out would tank Twitter's value while only costing Musk around $1B in various fees, penalties and fines. That's how a rich asshole says fuck you to a company he's mad at.

[Maithanet]

Alternatively, he could just be trying to renegotiate the deal.  Twitter's stock is way down (all tech stocks are in the past few weeks) and a lot of senior people have left.  If he could invalidate this deal, he could potentially buy it again in the near future and pay 50 or 70 cents on the dollar of what was previously agreed. 

[Secretary of Eumenes]

The enemy of my enemy is not my friend. But I sure do like seeing them kill each other.

Go get 'em Elon. Charge that machine gun nest for all humankind. Let's just the rest of us hang back and see how this shakes out. Preserve the tactical modularity of the situation if you know what I mean (I don't, so please tell me what I mean if you know what I mean). 

[mormont]

As I've observed before, Musk is in the privileged situation of being rich enough and enough of a dick that he can pretty much do anything: and no matter how it turns out, loftily declare that was what he actually intended all along, before carrying on with his life unscathed.

[TrackerNeil]

On 5/12/2022 at 12:24 PM, cock_merchant said:

Thank God for Manchin. He alone stands in the way of the radical far left democrat agenda. Godspeed, Senator.

I agree, except I thank Joe Manchin for voting for all of Joe Biden's judges. 

[ThinkerX]

Yes, it is not supposed to happen and has assorted members of the Right ticked off and all...

...but I can't help but wonder...

Maybe, just maybe, the protestors outside their residences with the certainty of more to come and the sheer hostility involved might convince a couple of the SC justices to moderate their more radical positions? Else they have to daily traverse a gauntlet?

[Larry of the Lake]

9 minutes ago, ThinkerX said:

Yes, it is not supposed to happen and has assorted members of the Right ticked off and all...

...but I can't help but wonder...

Maybe, just maybe, the protestors outside their residences with the certainty of more to come and the sheer hostility involved might convince a couple of the SC justices to moderate their more radical positions? Else they have to daily traverse a gauntlet?

I dunno, Kavanaugh in particular doesn't strike me as the type, after watching his performance during his Senate hearing, to get reflective or reconsider when challenged.  He seems to become angry, start blaming and lashing out at others, and chug water when no beer is at hand.  Probably an equal chance he assaults a protestor and gets impeached (not gonna happen).

[Zorral]

The zombie Grateful Dead Tour returns to D.C. next week, this time, 'not to circle but occupy.'  This mess is increasingly violent as it rolls around the USA.  Pundits Say that we need to expect Biden impeachment after the midterms.

https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/05/02/trucker-convoy-says-its-headed-back-to-dc/

~~~~~~~~~

These clowns, absolutely ignorant of any of the matters that go into reproduction, contraception and health care for women, are debating each other. These shit-for-brains believe they have the right to determine every woman's reproductive future -- and yours too, you guys.

 

 

 

[DMC]

2 minutes ago, Zorral said:

The zombie Grateful Dead Tour returns to D.C. next week

Hey now, let's leave the Dead out of any association to these people.

[Tywin et al.]

21 minutes ago, DMC said:

Hey now, let's leave the Dead out of any association to these people.

Dead & Company sounds inviting to all parties. 

[Zorral]

Tesla's stock was way over hyped; Tesla stock has fallen sharply in this market.  He put up a shit ton of tesla stock to borrow the money to buy twitter. As heavy into crypto as Musk is -- which has crashed -- there's a reasonable chance to think he now doesn't have the money to buy Twitter.

[Tywin et al.]

Is our children learning?

 

[Durckad]

4 hours ago, mormont said:

As I've observed before, Musk is in the privileged situation of being rich enough and enough of a dick that he can pretty much do anything: and no matter how it turns out, loftily declare that was what he actually intended all along, before carrying on with his life unscathed.

Ah yes, the Trump tactic.

[Tywin et al.]

100% fair game. Hammer them for shit like this:

 

[Mindwalker]

20 hours ago, ThinkerX said:

Yes, it is not supposed to happen and has assorted members of the Right ticked off and all...

...but I can't help but wonder...

Maybe, just maybe, the protestors outside their residences with the certainty of more to come and the sheer hostility involved might convince a couple of the SC justices to moderate their more radical positions? Else they have to daily traverse a gauntlet?

Bless your heart!

[Zorral]

Despite all the proof, naiveté continues to ride unchecked. Yes, hope supposedly does spring eternal, but in certain cases, the facts prove there is nothing to hope for.  Only change.  That's what They have believed and assiduously worked for since the 1970's.

 

[Martell Spy]

This is real’: in Oklahoma, a post-Roe world has arrived
As the US braces for the end of a federal right to abortion, a new six-week ban in Oklahoma offers a preview of what’s to come

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/14/oklahoma-abortion-post-roe-world

Quote

 

And in the meantime, patients keep calling the state’s four clinics for appointments.

Trust Women and Tulsa Women’s Clinic are still providing the service. Those who are providing care are only seeing patients up to six weeks of pregnancy, but patients well beyond that are still calling to seek abortions. Many learn about the new six-week ban only on that initial phone call.

“There’s a lot of shock and disbelief from patients, reacting like, ‘What do you mean I’ve got to go out of state?’ ‘That’s crazy, I can’t afford to take off work, I can’t leave my kids that long, how am I supposed to do that?’” Gallegos said.

Staff people tell me they got off the phone with a patient who was like, ‘Well, what am I supposed to do? Kill myself?’
Kailey Voellinger, Trust Women clinic
Patients are angry, Voellinger said. “I’ve had two staff people tell me they got off the phone with a patient who was like, ‘Well, what am I supposed to do? Kill myself?’

“People are exasperated and don’t know what to do,” she added.

 

 

[Zorral]

As if most women can even know they're pregnant in 6 weeks.

As is known, cruelty is Their Point.  It's deliberate, not a bug.  So is the ignorance.

[DMC]

5 minutes ago, Zorral said:

As if most women can even know they're pregnant in 6 weeks.

Yeah ever since the right dreamed up these "heartbeat bills" about a decade ago they've been effective abortion bans and should be referred to as such.