Because Twitter has lost virtually all of its legit advertisers — new releases from major studios/publishers, large corporations, etc. — it’s getting interesting. “Interesting” in the sense that if you’re into cheap Chinese gadgetry, hoo-boy. But also certain self-published, or practically self-published, books. You know me; I can resist neither bad writing, nor procrastination. And that’s how I ended up here:
To this writer’s credit, however, at least he’s finished something. Can’t say that here. I look forward to duplicating this exercise when “Melania” drops…whenever. Just looked it up: October 8. Imagine that. I guess we’ll see what that old ho’ has in store.
Speaking of propaganda, I’ve been alternately appalled and amused by the Tenet Media story (gift link). That is, the Russia-buys-U.S.-influencers story. Will Sommer, the WashPost reporter who covers such things, was chuckling through his briefing on “On the Media” the other day. It’s hard to believe anyone could be this stupid, but what do I know:
Most of the six members of Tenet’s “talent” team claim they did not know the money was coming from Russia. (Canadian activist Lauren Southern has not issued a statement as of this writing.) The indictment alleges that Tenet’s founders and Russian backers misled at least two of them, (Tim) Pool and (Dave) Rubin, about the source of Tenet’s funding by inventing a fictitious Belgian investor named Eduard Grigoriann.
Ah yes, an Armenian Belgian with an extra N on the end. I wonder if this real Eduard Grigoryan is getting any mileage out of this. I also wonder if Pool, Rubin and the other dullards on the team saved any of the money Tenet was paying them, as they were standing smack in the middle of a virtual firehose of cash. Because I doubt misfortune will smile on them in that way again.
Finally, the work peak is leveling out. I hope I have more time for you guys. I will. If I wanted to work this hard, I wouldn’t have retired.
More later this week.
Jeff Gill said on September 9, 2024 at 9:16 am
There’s something about that book’s title . . . it’s not right. Askew, even.
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Dexter Friend said on September 9, 2024 at 9:52 am
Some of you may have caught a little segment on NPR this weekend about 3 first graders telling what they expect as they start this school year.
The boy featured was Emmett Friend from Chicago. He is my grand nephew, son of my nephew Jonathan and his wife Becky Carroll. Ain’t that something?
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alex said on September 9, 2024 at 10:05 am
Glad I never got sucked into the Twitterverse, but I’m giddy with Schadenfreude that Elon Musk squandered his fortune on the platform and then ruined it so badly that it will never turn a profit.
Can’t believe I’m coming up on one year of retirement already and haven’t scratched a thing off of my bucket list yet.
Dex, I hope the segment gets repeated. I’ll listen for it. Hope he didn’t say he expects to get shot.
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David C said on September 9, 2024 at 10:16 am
I don’t think in Leon’s mind, that buying Twitter was a mistake at all. $44 billion, or whatever it was, is chump change for him and now he has his own propaganda network. It’s set to bring to the top any Russian horse shit he spews out. I can’t see how he still has his security clearance. Merrick Garland must have seen his shadow and was scared off charging the ketamine-addled little shit.
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Jeff Gill said on September 9, 2024 at 10:36 am
This speaks to many of us who aren’t technically content moderators, but it works out to the same sort of impact. Clergy, yes; court staff, oh yeah. Gift link:
https://wapo.st/3ZhEgox
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Jeff Borden said on September 9, 2024 at 10:50 am
The only social media I’ve ever used is Facebook, which early on proved to be a great way to look up old friends and acquaintances. Now, not so much. These days I’m reminded of how many people are totally on board with an ignorant, angry bully and how thrilled they are with the idea of him driving out 11 or 12 million of their neighbors in the name of purifying the country. The motherfucker even declared the deportation would be “a bloody business,” which the morons cheered to the heavens. Oh, boy! They get to hurt someone bad!
Elmo is one of a number of tech billionaires who have terrifying ideas about how this nation should be run. Peter Thiel, who has a sock puppet in JD Vance, is another one off the top of my head. They all love the way Russia is set up, where the oligarchs pretty much ARE the government. These guys think their wealth makes them geniuses in all areas.
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Suzanne said on September 9, 2024 at 11:05 am
This is worth reading. Not that we didn’t suspect this but it’s jarring to see it all laid out. Trump knew that the GOP was easy prey from the start and almost none of them proved him wrong.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/10/trump-gop-support-jd-vance-2024/679564/?gift=F58N5IOcUo4qAP_lFh-H947f9UOh6owWlYWMMZX4d8g&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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FDChief said on September 9, 2024 at 3:01 pm
The Tenet crew were/are all treasonous anyway – their default setting is pure MAGAtry, which is a betrayal of the promise of the American Experiment – so why NOT make a little cash out of it? At this point if you can’t figure out the collusion between Moscow and MAGA you’re either an utter idiot or in on the treason. It’s not stupid, it’s betrayal.
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Dexter Friend said on September 9, 2024 at 3:48 pm
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/08/nx-s1-5101763/kids-reflect-on-the-start-of-a-new-school-year
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Little Bird said on September 9, 2024 at 6:15 pm
James Earl Jones has died. For some reason this feels like the end of an era.
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Ann said on September 9, 2024 at 11:08 pm
Two links, first apropos of your illustration, https://www.everygoddamnday.com/2024/09/everybody-needs-editor-always-has-been.html
Second, apropos of our present situation, the cover of the new Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/press-releases/archive/2024/09/atlantic-october-issue-trumps-antidemocratic-actions/679752/
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alex said on September 10, 2024 at 10:50 am
I say we rename Chicago’s football franchise the Dinosaurs.
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