Musk Buying Twitter Part II

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mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Musk has always been a chud. Mso489 nailed it: it's performance craft. Americans are especially susceptible to the whole "businessman genius" grift. Hell, just don a black turtleneck and a pair of loafers, toss out some platitudes and insipid techno jargon, and people in this country will bend over backwards to give you their loyalty and their money. Just look at Theranos: Holmes did that whole grift so well that she even managed to con a former secretary of defense.

Musk has always been a shitsack and grifter. The whole Twitter debacle just makes it much more obvious.
I'm still rolling about the floor laughing at those folk that lashed out $99 for NFTs with ridiculous images of a ridiculous person on them.

By all accounts they sold like hot cakes, how can folk be duped like that?

BTW, I had to look up 'chud'. The OED only has one instance of the word, dated 1611.

Regards,

Jay.
 
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Kobold

Lifer
Feb 2, 2022
1,235
3,874
Maryland
I'm still rolling about the floor laughing at those folk that lashed out $99 for NFTs with ridiculous images of a ridiculous person on them.

By all accounts they sold like hot cakes, how can folk be duped like that?

BTW, I had to look up 'chud'. The OED only has one instance of the word, dated 1611.

Regards,

Jay.
It’s really “c.h.u.d”. Cannibalistic Humanoid Urban Dweller. It’s from a crappy 80s horror movie. Now I kind of want to go and rewatch it.
 
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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,623
44,833
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
We love magic, and many of us love magicians, those creatures who conjure something out of nothing, sort of like Crypto. Musk has a reputation as a magician and could once lay claim to being the richest individual on earth. Not bad. Now Musk can now lay claim to being the richest deadbeat on earth.

Musk is currently making the rounds of his largest investors, seeing if they will lend him more money. Some of them are considering it because they appreciate the value of Musk being perceived as a magician. Unless he does something terminal, he can make egregious errors and they will be shrugged off, because he's seen as a magician, and we are all in awe of magicians. Some of his other lenders are not so sure, but nobody is outright saying no, which, all things considered, is a testament to the value of being perceived as a magician.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Being loathed by millions of people is often as effective as being beloved, as long as huge numbers of people are paying attention to you and attending to your actions. In that league, name recognition is everything.

It's the polar opposite of the stern ethic that the only time your name should be in the newspaper (in those days) was when you married and when you died.
 
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Yadkin1765

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 28, 2022
120
475
Maine
Had a brother, world traveller, super smart in his own way, died last year of covid on his way back from Singapore via Germany, one of my favorite people on earth. He reminded me so much of Musk in how he presented himself to the world. Probably only read a handful of books cover to cover in his life, but in a day, with a little research, he could speak the jargon of whatever field he wanted. Mastered a few things too: bee keeping, covert agriculture, amateur astronomy, pragmatic hacking, salt-water aquariums, culinary arts, the streets. Conned a lot of people into believing he was x, y, and z. Lived a fun, impulsive, exhilarating, adventurous life.

I don't know how well read Musk truly is, though I know he exaggerates his capabilities and achievements in much the same way my brother did--a little truth propping up a big lie (that he may well be convinced of). Both are quick to embrace a logical error and accept one side over another with seeing that both sides have valid positions.

When Musk speaks, I hear the con. Compared to my brother, Musk is just a con born with means. My brother's vision for the world was not extremely different from what Musk's seems to be. My brother'd have invested in rockets too, would've tried to go to Mars, claim that he was an engineer when he isn't. Probably had some good ideas to offer the whole shebang too. But tech/sci genius he was not, though he could have been a true intellectual creator if he hadn't spent his time rubbing shoulders with people networking rather than cultivating an inner garden of wisdom.

Still there remains and important place for these kinds of people. They create mass movements, wanted or unwanted, and direct great swathes of people towards their desired goals. The timeline of History is often marked off by these curious types of "great" men--cult leaders not the least among them.

As for my brother, though we came from a solid middle class family, it wasn't in the cards for my brother to rise to greatness (though it would have been a surprise to nobody). Still, 80-90% of those that met him remain to this day convinced that he was a certified genius that had had incredible adventures and accomplished impossible things (even after the cracks in reality began to show in his stories). Sad thing was, he had done amazing things, but only extraordinary compared to common people.

Musk is amazing, not because he is uncommonly intelligent, or born with great ideas, but because he can sway masses to his purpose and direct energies to a goal, just like my wonderful brother, may he RIP. Musk just had the both the fortune in cash and situation to capitalize on his position. Either way, both are and were crazy narcissists whose sense of self worth is over inflated by some deranged anti-social solipsism. Boy was my brother fun to be around. I imagine if you're in his inner circle, Musk is much the same. But he's off his rocker no matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on. Good or bad, these movers and shakers of history all seem to have a little bit of this bald faced, narcissistic, overly confident liar in them all. They will do or say anything to advance their agenda, all a means to an ends only their warped psychology can fully understand.
 
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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,762
13,785
Humansville Missouri
Elon Musk is taking a poll to see if he remains the CEO of Twitter:
—-

CNET

Elon Musk on Sunday launched a Twitter poll asking users to vote on whether he should step down as the social media platform's chief executive.

"Should I step down as the head of Twitter?" he wrote in the poll's question Sunday, adding that he would "abide by the results."

As of this writing, based on 2.8 million votes, the Yes vote has a 15% edge over the No vote. The poll appears to be timed to expire around 3 a.m. PT Monday.

Musk followed up the poll with a note promising that, in the future, there would be a vote for all major policy changes at the company.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Musk has a replacement in mind should his followers vote him out. Twitter, which no longer has a communications department, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

—-

This ought to be interesting to see how, this chase of fame ends.

 

CallMeSangy

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 12, 2022
131
362
Central Virginia
Sounds to me like he's trying to put all future blame for the fate on twitter on everyone that isn't him. New CEO means there's someone he can point the finger at if things get even sourer, and he can point it again at his user base.

Makes me wonder how a guy who can lay off so much of his work force and still demand overtime from his employees thinks this will change anything.
 

ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,378
70,056
60
Vegas Baby!!!
I hate Twitter and I think Elon is doing it Justice.

It’s rich listening to fake journalists screech that the first amendment is real, when just a couple months ago they loved the censorship.

It’s also funny how people worry about Elons labor practices.

I’d suggest they not worry about some person they never met whining about a job they were obviously taking advantage of.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,762
13,785
Humansville Missouri
My Amish renter probably has no idea of who Elon Musk is, or what Twitter does, but he cares quite a bit about the price of oil, because so many chemicals he depends on are made from oil and diesel fuel powers the generators for all Amish businesses.





3EDC3B67-8716-4700-91E8-1A30521DCCED.jpegThe beauty of capitalism is that free markets determine the value of nearly everything we buy.

Elon Musk will find out exactly how well his bid for Twitter turns out.

At least he didn’t go long in oil futures.:)
 
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It’s interesting the vote out without knowledge of replacement. Imagine if he really wanted to experiment and after being voted out, announced someone like trump junior or Alex Jones as the new head of Twitter.
A little thing about human beings is that when someone asks them if they should do something terrible, most if us will say, “sure, do it.” For most, that vote had nothing to do with Elon, except as an attempt to appease his narcissism.
It’s like when someone walks out onto a ledge, the crowds start chanting, “jump, jump, jump.”

The vote was just stupid… like Elon… and Twitter.
 

avail

Can't Leave
Oct 13, 2015
351
2,915
Michigan
The vote was just stupid… like Elon… and Twitter.
...and me. LOL

UUqxqACm.jpg
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,762
13,785
Humansville Missouri
Some comparisons.

This time last year Elon Musk was, on paper, worth 250 billion, the richest man alive, and oil traded about $75 a barrel.

The USA uses about 20 million barrels of oil a day, and at $75 that’s 1.5 billion dollars worth every day, or about 45 billion a month.

Elon Musk could have tried to corner oil. The same 44 billion he spent on Twitter would have bought the entire amount of oil the USA uses, all of it, for one month at $75 a barrel. Even if he temporarily lost the bet, he’d own contract rights to 600 million barrels of oil, which is a helluva lot of oil.

Instead, on November 8, a little more than a month ago, Twitter was delisted, Musk owns all of it, he owes or has spent 44 billion on stock in a company, that if it shuts down is worth zero, nada, nothing at all.

Gee, he could have owned four Gerald Ford class aircraft carriers, instead.:)


The Hunt brothers, were not so bold.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,623
44,833
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
But, what a source of entertainment, so long as the news editors think it’s news worthy!
Exactly. After having watched several episodes of "Spunk of the Dragon" or whatever the Game Of Thrones prequel is titled, I can use something entertaining.

Even better because it's unscripted.

Probably not so much fun for those directly involved, however, except for the toxic crazies, who are having a field day running rampant over the site.

The site itself being bankrupted and shuttered would give Musk one hell of a business tax credit, which will more than pay for the whole mess.

So catch the limited run while you can.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,762
13,785
Humansville Missouri
Exactly. After having watched several episodes of "Spunk of the Dragon" or whatever the Game Of Thrones prequel is titled, I can use something entertaining.

Even better because it's unscripted.

Probably not so much fun for those directly involved, however, except for the toxic crazies, who are having a field day running rampant over the site.

The site itself being bankrupted and shuttered would give Musk one hell of a business tax credit, which will more than pay for the whole mess.

So catch the limited run while you can.
It’s surprising to me that due to the residual value of the name Montgomery Ward, you can still order online from Montgomery Ward’s decades after they went bankrupt.


In the worst event, Musk loses all his 44 billion investment, the bankers own the stinking remains of Twitter, and they sell the name to Facebook, or some other social media company.

Provided Musk waits six months and sells Twitter, he won’t get a tax credit but he’ll have have a huge long term capital loss, one of the largest in the history of the world to offset any future long term capital gains he may have.

Who knows, in a few years he may recover like the Hunt brothers did.

 
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