Dear Mr. Musk (@elonmusk );
You are destroying @Twitter in countless ways. The most egregious are your calls for Star Chamber prosecution of #TonyFauci . But you have done so much more damage -- enough, that @Tesla is suffering as its stock drops & EV buyers turn elsewhere.
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2/ Despite the snarky & sometimes cruel comments levied against me @Twitter (including more than one death threat) I have usually found it a terrific platform. It's like a great newspaper: you have a window into everything from pop music to astrophysics, kittens to kinases.
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3/ @Twitter has been a place for all sorts of perspectives -- you never know what comment or video might blow your mind, taking your day on an unexpected tangent. Most Twitterati strived to be smart, funny, maybe snarky -- not pernicious, deliberately false or threatening.
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4/ For scientists - especially in #COVID19#SARSCoV2 work - @Twitter has been a hot place for swiftly-shared data & insights in a manner never seen in any prior #epidemic. Links to scientific papers have been a constant, & some long interpretive threads are game-changing.
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5/ Leaving @Twitter -- as millions have already done -- means going to more focused platforms, where the marvelous randomness of thoughts & insights is absent. Whether at #Mastadon or #hivesocialapp or #Instagram -- the scope narrows.
We talk among ourselves...
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6/ I love seeing multiple Tweeted languages, reading the WORLD -- not just some narrow group of Americans or English-speakers. @Twitter wasn't perfect, but it was a door to a large, complex universe.
Now, Mr. Musk, we have a dilemma: Fight to save our whacky Twitterverse...
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7/ Or jump ship, abandon all hope, find a smaller, more claustrophobic, yet safer haven.
And let's be clear, Mr. Musk -- millions of us are staring at this dilemma because of YOU @elonmusk . You are pushing a far-right agenda, says @washingtonpost MORE washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/…
8/ The @washingtonpost says, "#ElonMusk is right wing. He has tried hard to make that very clear."
Mr. Musk, you have always been a contrarian. Like many #SiliconValley gazillionaires, you get nerdy pleasure out of putting people off balance with weird comments.
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9/ But here's the thing: Being a weird, strange, goofy smart-ass is harmless if said nerd is toiling in a lab, or on one of your assembly lines. But the same traits are dangerous when it's @elonmusk, son of super-rich Errol, & Elon: multi-billionaire. scmp.com/magazines/styl…
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10/ I've perused the alternatives & found them wanting. I'll stay here @Twitter & fight for it as long as I can stand it.
But you, Mr. Musk, are toxic.
Strangely, you're willing to take down not only #Twitter but @Tesla & other companies, just so you can air jerk-speak.
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11/ Finally, @elonmusk -- thank God you were born in South Africa and therefore can't follow in #DonaldTrump footsteps, sweeping you, and your mammoth ego, into the Oval Office.
Just shut up and get back to building cars, batteries, spaceships and giant holes in the ground.
Donald Trump is now addressed the UN General Assembly. He notes the teleprompter isn't working and, "whoever is responsible for this teleprompter is in big trouble."
He reads from printed text on the podium.
"This is the Golden Age of America."
2/ His remarks open by listing his accomplishments domestically since taking office. "In my first term I built the best economy in the history of the world...and this time it's even better."
"The number of illegal aliens entering our country has reached zero...If you come illegally into the U-S you're going to jail...or perhaps further. You know what that means."
3/Trump at UNGA
Says the U.S. was a laughing stock, but not anymore. My administration has negotiated one historic trade agreement after another."
I have ended 7 un-endable wars. I ended 7 wars. " Cambodia/Thailand, Congo/Rwanda, Armenia/Azerbaijian, Albania/Kosovo.
"And I did it in just 7 months. There's never been anything like it."
The UN "did nothing. I never even received a phone call from the U-N."
Canadian PM Mark Carney is addressing the Council on Foreign Relations right now. He opened by describing the very positive relationship Canada and the US shared -- until now.
And looking at Trump impacts on the global geopolitical landscape.
"So, what do we do about it? We think we can thrive for three reasons"
1.) we have what the world wants:
- energy
- we are top % in world's critical minerals
- we are a leading developer of AI and quantum talent
- we have sophisticated pension funds and investors
- we have a govt that can act decisively
2.) Our public square is loud, diverse and free
3.) We recognize what's going on. A rupture. Sharp change.
- build strength at home, cut taxes, increased X-province trade, doubling defense spending, especially in AI
- defend out values
- build alliances abroad
- diverse trade agreements, espec. w/EU
- joining SAFE -- EU defense
- comprehensive approach w/Mexico trade
- we are largest contributor per capita to Ukraine
- support 2-state solution in ME
- forming buyers' clubs for REEs & critical minerals
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Carney/2
"Old Multilateralism" -- how we used to work.
Now, substantial change underway, espec. for REEs, essential minerals, energy.
When you think about Canada, think of a strong soveriegn nation.
We understand what's going on. We have the resources the world needs. We're a reliable partner...with any part of the world.
Carney/3
LIVE now Carney is talking on stage w/CFR Pres. Froman
Q - 2/3rds Canadian population lives w/in 100 km of US border -- how much can you reorient economy?
Carney: 1st, recog. the need to do it. To be masters in our own house.
Don't want to look at Truth Social daily to see changes in US poilicy
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On Friday, when most of America wasn't paying attention, heading out for the holidays, Trump signed an Exec Order transferring ALL control over foreign aid from State to OMB.
This will destroy American overseas programs. Here's why (MORE)whitehouse.gov/presidential-a…
2/US programs for everything from #famine relief & #HIV care to safe pregnancy efforts & building electricity grids have won America friends in the world & saved 100s of millions of lives. They were nested in the State Dept so our diplomats on the ground can oversee them.
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3/ By moving foreign aid out of State & into OMB, programs for saving starving children, rescuing families from catastrophes, teaching kids to read, stopping epidemics -- ALL of that now falls under the control of Russell Vought.
Who is Vought?
MOREtrumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/people/russell…
As #JoeBiden hunkered down in Delaware & Party leaders scrambled to figure out how #Democrats can win the election, I kept thinking of March 31, 1968. On that day the White House put out word of a mysterious speech LBJ would give from the Oval Office.
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@BeschlossDC
2/ In a world without Internet or 24-hour news cycles the buzz in Washington about the event failed to reach the American people until that night. America assumed LBJ’s address would be about the widening war in Vietnam. On live television, a very haggard-looking LBJ began:
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3/ "Good evening, my fellow Americans:
Tonight, I want to speak to you of peace in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
No other question so preoccupies our people. No other dream so absorbs the 250 million human beings who live in that part of the world."
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While #Trump claims no direct connection to #Project2025 it's clear han no #Republican in national power has denounced the Heritage Foundation 887-page manifesto. I put a few hours into scrutinizing the Project's plans for @HHSGov & health agencies. (pages 449-502)
🧵unfolds:
2/Health & Human Services @HHSGov must “respect for the sacred rights of conscience” for Federal workers & healthcare workers broadly who object to #Abortions contraception, gender reassignment & other issues.
“Radical actors inside & outside govt are promoting..."
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3/ “...harmful identity politics that replaces biological sex w/subjective notions of 'gender identity' & bases a person’s worth on his or her race, sex, or other identities. This destructive dogma, under the guise of 'equity,' threatens American’s fundamental liberties..."
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When a society attacks its toiling scientists, ranking the opinions of quacks, religions & charlatans above those of scientific insight and discovery, it is a sorrowful time.
Scientists who have been persecuted for their work...
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2/ -Muhammad ibn Zakariyā Rāzī or Rhazes of Baghdad (860 - 932 AD) beaten into blindness for introducing medical advances from non-Arab countries
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-Michael Servetus (1511-1553) made discoveries in blood circulation. Burned at the stake by Calvin in Geneva
-Henry Oldenburg (1619-1677) promoted sharing scientific insights, labelled a spy, held in the Tower of London
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