Week Posted August 14 Author Share Posted August 14 1 hour ago, Tears of Lys said: He sounds like he's off the wire, but until recently was he really a Nazi? That sounds a bit hyperbolic. Has he actually been responsible for killing over 6 million people? 11 million? And are we so simple as to only be able to understand calling out fascism and Nazism as literally referring to Germany in the 1930s-1940s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maithanet Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 I'm not an expert, but my impression is that he has always been a d-bag, but there are definitely indications that he is getting worse in the past couple of years. 5-10 years ago, he was much more focused on being rich and whatever technologies he was interested in. Nowadays it seems like that has all taken a backseat to conservative grievance politics. Larry of the Lawn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 (edited) 18 minutes ago, Week said: 11 million? And are we so simple as to only be able to understand calling out fascism and Nazism as literally referring to Germany in the 1930s-1940s? Well, the numbers vary, but my point was clear, I thought. "Nazi" is thrown around so much these days. 10 minutes ago, Maithanet said: I'm not an expert, but my impression is that he has always been a d-bag, but there are definitely indications that he is getting worse in the past couple of years. 5-10 years ago, he was much more focused on being rich and whatever technologies he was interested in. Nowadays it seems like that has all taken a backseat to conservative grievance politics. That was my original question. Doesn't it seem like he's behaving rather counter-intuitively within the last, oh, 8-10 years? in a very public way? I guess I'm looking at his actions in a slightly more dispassionate and, yes, curious way. ETA: IOW, what the hell is going on with Elon Musk. Edited August 14 by Tears of Lys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Week Posted August 14 Author Share Posted August 14 41 minutes ago, Tears of Lys said: Well, the numbers vary, but my point was clear, I thought. "Nazi" is thrown around so much these days. Disappointingly so. A snark that I thought everyone grew out of years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 Musk was always a libertarian. Like many libertarians, he has made the journey to being a right-wing reactionary. Not a huge surprise. He did used to disagree with the right on some issues, but he has either changed his mind or doesn't discuss those issues at all any more. Again, this happens to a lot of 'libertarians'. Arakasi, Gorn, timmett and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThinkerX Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 Put this up in the Politics thread, but sort of relevant here: Musk is funding research into fertility and demographic issues that might lead to a population implosion. This is at least somewhat legitimate; the global year by year birth rates over the past several decades are an eye opener. The research is even being done through a credible (?) institution. Musk Is Funding Fertility, Population Research in Texas Project (msn.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 18 minutes ago, ThinkerX said: Put this up in the Politics thread, but sort of relevant here: Musk is funding research into fertility and demographic issues that might lead to a population implosion. This is at least somewhat legitimate; the global year by year birth rates over the past several decades are an eye opener. The research is even being done through a credible (?) institution. Musk Is Funding Fertility, Population Research in Texas Project (msn.com) Well, he seems to have done his part for the cause. Tywin et al. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 (edited) 1 hour ago, Week said: 11 million? And are we so simple as to only be able to understand calling out fascism and Nazism as literally referring to Germany in the 1930s-1940s? But, you know, here nazis are again, with flags, ideology and the same objectives. In countries like Sweden there is the party that just comes out and calls itself the NeoNazis. Also, South Africa was / is home to many literal nazis in the day to which you seem nazi must be confined, and also afterwards, and apartheiders were/ are among them. And that's to whom musk was born, yanno? So you know Nelson Mandela, if he were with us, would have some words about the musk stances over the years . . . . Edited August 14 by Zorral Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 He also got divorced, and other folks pointed out that Musk was always going to be the MOST divorced guy out there. He's playing that pretty well. The other aspect is that his shine had faded quite a bit even before Twitter and all that bullshit, largely around his behavior on twitter and his massive inability to deliver what he promised on time and with the quality he expected. It was also pointed out that with things like cars and rockets ideas tend to be curbed based on reality of actual physics. Software doesn't have that limitation - it has limitations in social engineering instead. And that's where he's doing extra stupid shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 10 minutes ago, Zorral said: But, you know, here nazis are again, with flags, ideology and the same objectives. In countries like Sweden there is the party that just comes out and calls itself the NeoNazis. Also, South Africa was / is home to many literal nazis in the day to which you seem nazi must be confined, and also afterwards, and apartheiders were/ are among them. And that's to whom musk was born, yanno? So you know Nelson Mandela, if he were with us, would have some words about the musk stances over the years . . . . That's what I was curious about was the claim that his father was a proponent of apartheid. Is there anything to back up this claim? I am most certainly not a Musk apologist; I'm trying to get the facts. But it seems facts are not what most people are interested in. I think he looks like a shapeshifting lizard alien, as EHK famously brought up, and he certainly has been behaving bizarrely lately. But does anyone know for a FACT his father PARTICIPATED IN APARTHEID??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted August 14 Share Posted August 14 (edited) 1 hour ago, Tears of Lys said: I am most certainly not a Musk apologist; I'm trying to get the facts. But it seems facts are not what most people are interested in. I think he looks like a shapeshifting lizard alien, as EHK famously brought up, and he certainly has been behaving bizarrely lately. But does anyone know for a FACT his father PARTICIPATED IN APARTHEID??? Not that I'm aware of, but I'm not his biographer. His Grandfather was some kind of weird ass Technocrat type wanna be [look him up, pretty interesting philosophy back in the day, anyway] and the chatter is he fled Canada for South Africa. From what I recall the group he was associated with leaned pretty far left, didn't even want borders, etc. It'd be hard to square that to onboarding Apartheid, but that was his Gramps. His father sounds like a Triple A piece of shit though and he could've been for Apartheid [again, I don't know] but yea or nay, it's hardly surprising wee Elon is such a confused and messy fuck. His own sympathies [Elon's] lie where they lie, however. edit: can’t write for shit lately Edited August 14 by JGP Tears of Lys 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik of Hazelfield Posted August 15 Share Posted August 15 14 hours ago, Zorral said: But, you know, here nazis are again, with flags, ideology and the same objectives. In countries like Sweden there is the party that just comes out and calls itself the NeoNazis. Wait, what? No such party in Sweden last time I checked. Unless of course you mean the National Socialist Reformistic Party, which got exactly one vote in the latest election, almost certainly from the founder himself. As a comparison, the Donald Duck Party got 144 votes and the Evil Chicken Party got 39. I shit you not. Link in Swedish, official election results: https://resultat.val.se/val2022/slutlig/RD/rike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaston de Foix Posted August 15 Share Posted August 15 So it turns out, in a surprise to precisely nobody, that Twitter is throttling access through the app to its competitors and (bizarrely or maybe not) the NYT. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/15/twitter-x-links-delayed/ At this point, my Twitter usage is largely because (I) I don't have an invite to Bluesky; (ii) I find it useful to for soft-news/education like the Cultural Tutor and Art History in a Tweet. I have the app set on receive rather than transmit. But the explosive growth of Threads has slowed, and we are going to live in a multi-platform world for the foreseeable future. I still find it amazing that Elon Musk is devoting so much time and effort to actively burning his cool new toy. If he did nothing after his purhcase, Twitter would have twice the value it does today. Tears of Lys 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 Spockydog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Elon Musk Planning to Scrap Twitter’s Block Feature: ‘It Makes No Sense’ Musk is not allowed to do this without violating the App Store rules. https://www.complex.com/life/a/brad-callas/elon-musk-scrap-block-feature-twitter JGP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Like the thread title says, he hasn't had one good idea at Twitter. Every decision he's made has been wrong. JGP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThinkerX Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 1 hour ago, Larry of the Lawn said: Like the thread title says, he hasn't had one good idea at Twitter. Every decision he's made has been wrong. Or correct, if the end goal is to destroy Twitter (X) or leave it weakened to the point of irrelevance. I still maintain he'll blame the flunky allegedly in charge to the sound of resounding cheers from the far right when that happens. JGP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 As thousands of Canadians fled raging wildfires in the Northwest Territories on Friday, the country’s top leaders called on Meta to reverse its ban preventing users in Canada from sharing news articles on its social networks. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/18/meta-news-ban-canada-wildfires/ Quote Meta began blocking news links for Facebook and Instagram users in Canada in June after the country passed a law that allows news organizations to negotiate with tech giants to receive payment for articles shared on their platforms. The ban by Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has rankled Canadian authorities trying to share evacuation information this week across a remote swath of the country where social media is key to disseminating news. “What Meta is doing currently is unacceptable,” said Pablo Rodriguez, Canada’s transportation minister, at a news briefing Friday. “We’ve seen that, throughout this emergency, Canadians have not had access to the crucial information they need. So, I ask Meta to reverse its decision, allow Canadians to have access to news on their platforms.” .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Week Posted August 19 Author Share Posted August 19 Apropos of nothing Some people really just don't shut the fuck up. Kalbear 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Elon Musk’s Idea to Actually Make Twitter a Hellsite Users cherish the block button. Of course Musk says he’s ditching it. https://slate.com/technology/2023/08/elon-musk-blocks-x-twitter-explained.html Mindwalker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts