108 Comments

I'm sorry, but what kind of "tips" are we going to send to each other through profiles? Household tips? Romance? Parenting? Spelling? I feel like I'm missing something.

Expand full comment

This Twitter debacle makes me wonder about SpaceX and Tesla. Clearly Elon is not a great businessman nor is he disciplined as a leader. Are Tesla and SpaceX successful despite his leadership? Because I cannot believe he was great before then lost all of his manager capabilities the moment he bought majority share of Twitter.

I’m so glad JVL put Musk, Bankman-Fried and Holmes in the same article. We need to see these folks as a continuum. Also, when some lucky 27 year old comes to you and asks to invest your money, say no. I don’t understand these wealthy people who hand big sums to kids barely out of college. Even if the young person is smart they are unlikely to have the experience under pressure and maturity to handle a high pressure situation in the right way. In America we seem to think Ivy League school and wealth trump experience. How many times do we need to see proof that it does not?

Expand full comment

if Elon wants to keep the fomenters of hate on the platform, the "deboosting" algorithm could have a threshold that once met, would label a user and all their tweets with a tag or color indicating status (temporarily). That would change it from shadow-banning and alert other users quickly if a person is "their kind" or not.

Instead of a demotion, it could be couched as raw or runs-with-scissors or something that is not a negative label.

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2022·edited Nov 20, 2022Liked by Jonathan V. Last

I feel bad for SBF. Zoloft has taken the edge off my disdain for him. He was, after all, only 8 when the Dotcom Bubble burst.

For Elizabeth Holmes? I got nuthin'.

I left Twitter back in February and have not missed it one bit. Don't especially care what happens to Elon but watching what is happening at Twitter is like a train wreck. I can't take my eyes off of it!

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2022Liked by Jonathan V. Last

As i type this in, an online service is (i hope) deleting all my Twitter posting activity. Yes, i know that one on the Internet it's there forever but I just think it's important to not only make the statement, but DO something definitive to break away. Make it real.z

Not sure where i'll land, currently i'm on both Mastadon and CounterSocial and have opted for a membership on Post News if it actually launches. We'll see which i stay with, if any.

Twitter will be hard to replace, it was almost like a public utility and often was the best place to get fast breaking information, especially in small local news markets. It was in valuable during the wildfire season to see updates from Fire and Safety services. I don't know how that gets replaced and maybe it never will.

Well, TweetDelete ( https://tweetdelete.net/ ) says it is done. I'm feeling better already.

Expand full comment

Re: Part 2.

"For de little stealin' dey gets you in jail soon or late. For de big stealin' dey makes you emperor and puts you in de Hall of Fame when you croak."

Expand full comment

When Musk bought Twitter what was he actually buying? Some hardware, a corporate name that had some goodwill, a user base, contracts with advertisers? How difficult would it be to set up something like Twitter from scratch. Could you do that for less than what Musk paid for Twitter? Dont have much knowledge about these things and would like to hear from someone who does

Expand full comment
Nov 20, 2022Liked by Jonathan V. Last

It has ever been thus. How many high-level people were prosecuted for the shenanigans at mortgage companies after The Great Recession. I think the answer is one and that guy wasn't all that high up. The high-level people in both business and the mafia insulate themselves from their bad acts. They basically force people to commit crimes to either keep their jobs (business) or their lives (mafia) and then act like the most surprised people on Earth when some actual malfeasance is discovered. There are exceptions: Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling were convicted and sentenced to serious time (although Lay died before he served any time). And Dennis Kozlowski. But these were one-offs that were so egregious that public opinion demanded someone be held responsible. And now Holmes who, to me, is a lot more like Bernie Madoff than anyone else. And let's hope we can add Trump to this list.

I've never been on twitter and have no plans to be on twitter. But from having worked in the aerospace sector for many years, it's simply not reasonable to me that a company could fire that many people and still function. Sure they could get rid of a few low performers and things could possibly get better. But not that many. Too much experience going out the door.

Expand full comment

Spot on per usual. I like how Holmes doesn't have to report to prison until April. I dare say were she poor and black and pregnant she probably would have been cuffed right there in court and hauled off.....Just imagine too, if one is facing prison and one chooses to actually get pregnant (most likely to garner sympathy, etc.) knowing full well you could miss your newborn's early years? Her narcissism apparently knows no bounds...

Expand full comment

This one was worth it for the Blue-check special Promo Code.

Expand full comment

Rick Scott didn't suffer at all afternoon his company perpetrated the biggest Medicare fraud in history.

Expand full comment

I don’t understand why the remaining folks at Twitter don’t just form some type of collective (union?). They would have significant power.

Expand full comment

FTX: Not all that familiar with the Enron debacle but...how many women were prosecuted as part of that horror show? Now, just asking but, Elizabeth Holmes gets 11 years...how many is Bankman-Fried going to receive (assuming he is even charged with anything)? Is there a gender thing going on here?

Expand full comment
Nov 19, 2022·edited Nov 19, 2022

"Steal a thousand dollars and you’re a criminal. Steal a few billion dollars and maybe you’re a criminal. Or maybe you’re just a visionary who flew too close to the sun."

A captured pirate was brought before Alexander the Great. “How dare you molest the sea?” asked Alexander. “How dare you molest the whole world?” the pirate replied, and continued: “Because I do it with a little ship only, I am called a thief; you, doing it with a great navy, are called an emperor.

Some things never change.

Expand full comment

The most remarkable part of the Grassley bit is that Lyz Lenz actually found a childhood friend of Grassley, who’s 89 and just got re-elected to serve out a probable death sentence. There can’t be too many childhood friends of Chuck Grassley left who are walking around above ground.

Expand full comment

The only difference between Musk and Trump is that Musk can't be president. Saved by Article II.

Expand full comment