Luna Bliss

Nina Jankowicz is President Joe Biden's pick to serve as executive director of the Department of Homeland Security's new Disinformation Governance Board—and her appointment has already met with some controversy. (DeSatan calls it the Ministry Of Truth..lol) Women face disproportionate attacks online.

For the life of me, I don't understand why all these people who fear the power of government so much don't realize that we are controlled by the numerous oligarchs of the world, of which Musk is one, and so dangerous.

This says it all...

It wouldn't be "trusting only one man." It's "trusting only one man for one company, which is one of many that are in competition with others for attention and money." I'm far from being a knee-jerk "the market is always right" person, but I also think it's a problem if only one organization, be that a private firm or a government entity, has too much control because ultimately, no matter how noble that organization is, it's going to start acting in its own interest if it knows there is no alternative. Need I remind you that "people coming together and deliberating" is also a description of the Florida state government? Point taken.

How odd. A lot of folks on the right would say the exact opposite. Me, I see both the extremists on both sides continuing to move as far to the left, and to the right, as possible, while disparaging those of us who are trying to remain somewhere close to the center. I think you need to read a few scholars who study autocracy, like Anne Applebaum (a conservative) or Timothy Snyder (not sure of his political leanings). They support my position, that the world (and especially the US at this time) is moving to the right. V-Dem, an organization with comprehensive studies, pointed out by Aethelwine earlier, specializes in evaluating the characteristics which indicate whether a society is more democratic or autocratic. They have detailed studies and charts that also support my assertion. If we're only talking about culture wars, take a look at what's happening at the state level with LGBTQ+ rights and the rights of POC. It's horrific. They are attempting to remove a good portion of the civil rights we fought so hard for in times past.

and who defines "harmful content"? The Ministry of Truth? People coming together and deliberating over it, as they did in the EU. It's not perfect, but many minds working on a problem has more of a chance to catch and remove bias, as opposed to trusting only one man.

There has been no "massive leftward shift" -- various oppressed groups and their allies have simply become more vocal, more outwardly active regarding making their unfair treatment known and demanding that society change to end their oppression. So the "massive leftward shift" is actually the various marginalized groups and their allies attempting to do something about the oppression they were experiencing (Blacks marched to draw attention to their plight, women & others began confronting abusers in record numbers through various movements (the #metoo movement for sexual survivors, various groups calling attention to sexism, women making visible their unequal pay, the LGBTQ+ initiatives, and more). It would be more accurate for you to simply say you don't believe in activism, protests, and confrontation as a way to change society. I remember a prior conversation with you in which you were adamant that structural racism did not even exist!! You denied the results from very good tests which proved otherwise. You also expressed hatred of the gay movement making all that noise or something. Again, it's more accurate to say you don't believe in protest and we could discuss why you think it does no good (there are pros and cons, after all), but it's not accurate to say the left has shifted "massively" to the left when for the most part they are simply claiming the positions they always had yet many are now more forcefully attempting to change society in ways you disapprove of.

You gotta be kidding right? After their support of the Liberals in some of the stunts that have been pulled, it became very obvious that the NDP is not at all for the working class people they are supposed to represent. That is way off-topic but probably another party that has been protected from being dragged through the deserved mud by Twitters censorship policies, being they helped the liberals push through some very questionable laws that had a direct negative effect on many of the middle class in Canada. The so-called 'left' in most countries is not actually left -- they don't address the needs of the working class adequately. BINGO The world is moving to the far right. We need to do something.

How Congress Can Prevent Elon Musk from Turning Twitter Back Into an Unfettered Disinformation Machine "In a column for the Guardian, Robert Reich, a former U.S. Secretary of Labor, argued that Musk’s real goal in purchasing Twitter is to create a position for himself where he is unaccountable to anything, from laws to market competition. Whether that’s entirely accurate or not, the pending takeover provides yet another confirmation that Congress needs to treat the big online platforms like the social utilities they are, and regulate them. A first step would be to pass the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee, on a bipartisan basis, in January. This legislation would prohibit dominant platforms, such as Amazon and Google, from exploiting their market power to boost their own products by discriminating against their competitors. Regulating content in a manner consistent with protecting free speech may be a trickier proposition, but the E.U. has just provided a road map for how it could be done: by putting the onus on social-media companies to monitor and remove harmful content, and hit them with big fines if they don’t. The Digital Services Act is “nothing short of a paradigm shift in tech regulation,” Ben Scott, the executive director of the advocacy group Reset, told the Associated Press. “It’s the first major attempt to set rules and standards for algorithmic systems in digital media markets.” Musk would surely object to the U.S. adopting a regulatory system like the one that the Europeans are drawing up, but that’s too bad. The health of the Internet—and, most important, democracy—is too significant to leave to one man, no matter how rich he is". https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-congress-can-prevent-elon-musk-from-turning-twitter-back-into-an-unfettered-disinformation-machine

Words are powerful. People hear hatred spoken and they take license to harm those who are spoken badly of, especially when powerful or influential people utter the words. Years ago, to start with, they uttered racist words to Jews in a country across the ocean....well you know the rest. I don't like pile-ons or witch huts...demonization of individuals or making them 'all bad'. Horrible things can happen to those who are unfairly accused...lesser so when it's simply the 'mean girls' with the emotional maturity of a junior high student going after their target. Just because the extreme can and sometimes does happen doesn't mean it's not a good method to go after the powerful in society who frequently suffer no consequence to their behavior though. If someone frequently uses the 'N-word' for example, and I have evidence of this via video or reputable news articles, I believe they should be removed from their public place of prominence. Some wrongs in society simply can't be addressed with judge and jury, but it doesn't mean the harm they cause to society is any less criminal. Sometimes all a sexist does is spew disrespectful words to women.

To be woke is to believe in democracy...it's a set of values...freedom, peace, equality, justice, truth A good portion of the US does not believe in democracy anymore, and so we cannot cede to their demands as we would in a typical political debate. Hence Musk's plans are rubbish -- you can't treat the problems in the US like there are two valid sides. Are women human beings? Black people? Are we allowed to limit freedom of movement, expression, association — whether through intimidation or hate or making laws to restrict people? This is the reason rights are inalienable — there aren’t “two sides” to whether or not people should have them. There’s just one.

I'd be totally good with that. Me too, along with the car video screen blasting day and night, running an endless loop of his former girlfriend running off with the transgender women.

Nope, that's not the issue. Social media has become so powerful that it has the ability to influence presidential elections. During the last election the US almost became an autocracy as the rioters stormed the Capitol and attempted to overthrow a democratic election, and social media was influential in making this happen. Social media should not be owned and governed by one man who, being limited in perspective, simply can't see or have empathy for others outside the perspectives of his own biased mind. When any faction of the population, of any political persuasion, buys a powerful institution that should exist for the common good this is an extremely dangerous situation. This is actually one of the primary steps taken by those who desire autocracy -- they buy the powerfully influential institutions of that society in order to mold it to their desires.

700 US Billionaires Got $1.7 Trillion Richer During Two Years of Pandemic *including Musk* "A new analysis finds that the 704 billionaires in the U.S. now own more wealth than the bottom half of Americans—roughly 165 million people. During the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic, the collective wealth of billionaires in the United States grew by a staggering $1.7 trillion as Covid-19 killed millions of people across the globe and threw entire nations into turmoil, worsening extreme poverty, hunger, and other preexisting crises. "We can't accept an economy and tax code that allows billionaires to hoard trillions while working families struggle." For billionaires it's been two years of raking in the riches, while for most families it's been two years of fear, frustration, and financial worry," ATF executive director Frank Clemente said in a statement. According to ATF's new analysis, the biggest billionaire winners during the coronavirus pandemic's first two years were: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who saw his net worth skyrocket by $209 billion; Google co-founder Larry Page, whose fortune grew by $63 billion; and Google co-founder Sergey Brin, whose wealth increased by $60 billion. "We can't accept an economy and tax code that allows billionaires to hoard trillions while working families struggle to afford healthcare, childcare, education, and housing," the group added. "It's wrong, and we can do better."" https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/03/11/700-us-billionaires-got-17-trillion-richer-during-two-years-pandemic

I don't know why some others don't find the coca-cola joke funny, but I know why I don't. If I'm angry at someone because I think their actions could likely harm others in the future I don't feel like laughing with them.

Yes. If all the billionaires chipped in with just a fraction of their wealth we could end world hunger.

The guy is so poor. He only has 3 billion in liquid assets. He should apply for food stamps. "Ultimately, there’s little doubt he can come up with the money. Musk is the world’s richest person, with a fortune of $257 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. However, he has just about $3 billion in cash and somewhat liquid assets, according to Bloomberg estimates". https://news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-21-billion-mystery-224515600.html

Do you have the ability to NOT make this discussion political? Rarely have I seen you (going back several years) make a point without framing it as 'left' vs 'right'. You miss things when you do that.

How not to understand the point☝️ (Can't say i'm surprised) Regarding the Musk cartoon that you think reveals some sort of truth... For sardonic humor to work (and sometimes sarcastic and ironic humor) it has to point to a truth -- generally someone or something is shown to be rather stupid or absurd and we are making fun of it in order to highlight the truth. However, your Musk cartoon doesn't point to any truth. It demonstrates an understanding of economics at about a junior high level. So if you think that is funny it can only mean you're very unaware of how the economy operates. Think of my cartoon in the other thread you had trouble comprehending -- it was making fun of, showing it was preposterous, for some people to think they have the right to own the uteruses of other people, and to make laws in order to achieve their control.

The more I google the worse it gets: https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-mocks-people-who-are-pro-ukraine-and-for-transgender-rights Last time I'm spending my break on this...I've had enough!

lol cancel!! I need to cancel this country and move across the southern border. I thought the deep south and the plains where I live was the worst, but now Florida!? How did it get so crazy there? BTW, my brother is in Florida too. Twitter will transcend all borders. *Shudders*

Tesla being sued over rampant discrimination against Blacks: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/11/1080073061/california-sues-tesla-racism-fremont Statement from NAACP president: "Mr. Musk: free speech is wonderful, hate speech is unacceptable. Disinformation, misinformation and hate speech have NO PLACE on Twitter. Do not allow 45 to return to the platform. Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech, or falsehoods that subvert our democracy. Protecting our democracy is of utmost importance, especially as the midterm elections approach. Mr. Musk: lives are at risk, and so is American democracy."

Your point is countered by a portion of the article you copy/pasted: What people know or express (and don't forget that something like building a rocket is different from managing a social media platform) can be different from what they actually do. The more relevant paragraph from the article I posted: "On Tuesday and Wednesday, he issued a series of tweets critical of both Twitter as a company and individual Twitter employees, including its top policy executive, Vijaya Gadde. Those tweets have helped to fuel an ugly, and at times violently racist, harassment campaign against her — and signaled that he won’t hesitate to use the platform against his own workers. They also likely poisoned the well for any relationship between Musk and Gadde, or anyone at the company who was loyal to her". The entire article sheds some light too: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/27/jack-dorsey-elon-musk-singular-solution/