SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk issued an ultimatum to Twitter employees Wednesday morning: Commit to a new “hardcore” Twitter or leave the company with severance pay.
Twitter is shifting to an engineer-driven operation — one that “will need to be extremely hardcore” going forward, according to the midnight email, which was obtained by The Washington Post. Employees were asked to click an icon and respond by Thursday if they wanted to stay.
“This will mean working long hours at high intensity,” he said. “Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”
By mid-Wednesday, members of Twitter’s Trust and Safety team — who are responsible for keeping hate speech and misinformation off the site — were discussing a mass resignation, according to three current employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
I could have posted ‘Musk-Rat Love’, but I think I’ve subjected you to that one before.
In a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2019, every GOP-appointed justice voted over the opposition of every Democratic appointee to prohibit federal courts from curtailing partisan gerrymandering. Chief Justice John Roberts disingenuously argued that judicial intervention wasn’t needed partly because Congress itself could end gerrymandering, at least federally. But following the 2020 elections, every Republican in Congress voted to block a bill supported by every Democrat to ban congressional gerrymandering nationwide, which failed when Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin refused to also curtail the GOP’s filibuster to pass the measure.
After Republicans blocked Democrats from ending gerrymandering nationally, Democrats largely refused to disarm unilaterally and gerrymandered where they could, just as the GOP did. Republicans, however, had many more opportunities, in large part because state courts struck down a map passed by New York Democrats and replaced it with a nonpartisan map.
By contrast, the Supreme Court and judges in Florida allowed GOP gerrymanders to remain in place for 2022 in four states even though lower courts found that they discriminated against Black voters as litigation continues. Had Republicans been required to redraw these maps to remedy their discrimination, Black Democrats would have been all but assured of winning four more seats, possibly enough to cost the GOP its majority on their own. And in Ohio, Republicans were able to keep using their map for 2022 even though the state Supreme Court ruled it was an illegal partisan gerrymander, potentially costing Democrats another two seats.
Escaping Scientology. Apparently it’s more difficult than avoiding a Marriott sales pitch:
Mike Rinder was so entrenched in the “aristocracy of Scientology” that Tom Cruise gave him birthday presents – a fancy watch and a set of Bose headphones. He earned promotion after promotion within the Sea Organization, a sort of executive order, was flown around the world and entrusted with taking Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley on a private tour of the Los Angeles museum devoted to Scientology’s founder, L Ron Hubbard. But after more than 45 years in the notoriously secretive church – which he now regards as “a mind prison” – he broke out.
Before Scientology took up all his time and energy, Rinder enjoyed reading Wilbur Smith novels, and his own book starts like an adventure story. In 2007, he walked out of the church’s office in central London and ducked into a doorway. He was 52. He carried £200 in cash, a credit card and his passport. As a church executive he had pursued people who tried to leave, so he knew what to expect. “I needed to get out of sight, remove the batteries from my phones, use only cash and stay on the move,” he says.
When he was certain that he wasn’t being followed, he caught the tube to the National Portrait Gallery, where he sat on the grass outside and let his heart rate slow to its regular beat. “I went OK, now what? What am I going to do? For the first time that I could remember, I wasn’t answerable to anyone.”
Highly-recommended.
Memo To Long-Term Care And Memory Task Force: First, demand that the law be enforced. Delaware already has on the books one of the best nursing home reform packages in the country. The problem is that a series of supposed regulators with undue sympathy to the nursing home operators have kept the laws from being enforced. You can begin by requiring that the following provision be enforced: Minimum staffing by shift, including the overnight shift.
That provision was specifically included because patients with dementia do not have the same sleep cycles as long-term care patients without dementia. It has never been enforced, which is shameful.
I’m sure there are likely some adjustments that need to be made to the legislation, however, enforcing the laws that are already on the books would be a significant improvement. Memo to John Carney: Appoint a true regulator to oversee nursing facilities, not lobbyists for the industry as you, and other governors, have done previously.
The Danny Masterson case should have been a straightforward rape case by an apparent sociopath, but is even more effed up because all involved are Scientologists. Apparently church elders persuaded the women it was their Scientological duty NOT to report the rapes (2001 and 2003).
And of course with that length of delay evidence grows stale and memories get fuzzy, creating opportunity for legitimate reasonable doubt. Plus as is often the case with celebrity sex charges, there are “settlements” with lots of money changing hands.
My mom was in three different nursing homes, she had dementia, as did my late wife. How did these regulators get in place? Why were the regulations not enforced, other then to save money for people that own and operate the homes? And do I smell Carney here? You should know that these homes are run like a racket, corporations have bought up most of the “Mom and Pop” homes. The prices are insane, the last home mom was in was $11,500 a month, but you can see why corporations are buying up these homes. The other part of the racket is “Transitioning to Medicaid” when they have soaked the last dime out of the patient, and perhaps their family, they stick the bill on the Federal government. That being you and me.
It started during the Minner administration. Vince Meconi convinced Minner to hire a former Carper campaign aparatchik named Carol Ellis to head the Division. She and Yrene Waldron (lobbyist for the nursing homes) became best buds. Ellis is on record at a public hearing (I ran the tape recorder) as REFUSING to enforce the staffing-by-shift ban simply because she didn’t believe in it. Unbelievable, but true.
Like I wrote earlier: DEMAND THAT THE SO-CALLED REGULATORS ENFORCE THE LAW.
As to your allusion as to how these homes rip everybody off, you’re correct. Sen. Marshall and I used to grimly joke about how we had to ‘think like criminals’ in order to anticipate how these (mostly) corporations would get around any requirements that were put in place. The main answer being that they compromised the so-called regulators.
These homes are why we kept my wife at our home until the end, that and I wouldn’t do that to her. It was tough, I had to retire early to become her caregiver, but we made it.
Well with the twitter deal we know for sure Blue Horseshoe does not love Anacott Steel. What is there to strip from a social media company to make a profit?
The Danny Masterson case should have been a straightforward rape case by an apparent sociopath, but is even more effed up because all involved are Scientologists. Apparently church elders persuaded the women it was their Scientological duty NOT to report the rapes (2001 and 2003).
And of course with that length of delay evidence grows stale and memories get fuzzy, creating opportunity for legitimate reasonable doubt. Plus as is often the case with celebrity sex charges, there are “settlements” with lots of money changing hands.
My mom was in three different nursing homes, she had dementia, as did my late wife. How did these regulators get in place? Why were the regulations not enforced, other then to save money for people that own and operate the homes? And do I smell Carney here? You should know that these homes are run like a racket, corporations have bought up most of the “Mom and Pop” homes. The prices are insane, the last home mom was in was $11,500 a month, but you can see why corporations are buying up these homes. The other part of the racket is “Transitioning to Medicaid” when they have soaked the last dime out of the patient, and perhaps their family, they stick the bill on the Federal government. That being you and me.
It started during the Minner administration. Vince Meconi convinced Minner to hire a former Carper campaign aparatchik named Carol Ellis to head the Division. She and Yrene Waldron (lobbyist for the nursing homes) became best buds. Ellis is on record at a public hearing (I ran the tape recorder) as REFUSING to enforce the staffing-by-shift ban simply because she didn’t believe in it. Unbelievable, but true.
Like I wrote earlier: DEMAND THAT THE SO-CALLED REGULATORS ENFORCE THE LAW.
As to your allusion as to how these homes rip everybody off, you’re correct. Sen. Marshall and I used to grimly joke about how we had to ‘think like criminals’ in order to anticipate how these (mostly) corporations would get around any requirements that were put in place. The main answer being that they compromised the so-called regulators.
These homes are why we kept my wife at our home until the end, that and I wouldn’t do that to her. It was tough, I had to retire early to become her caregiver, but we made it.
We’ve done the same with our in-laws. Built an addition onto our house for them rather than leave them at the (lack of) mercy of a nursing facility.
So at 5pm will twitter crash or will all the “engineers” lay fealty to Musk? Whats the over/under of the percentage that bolts?
my wife was hooked on the leah remini scientology show since that cult was so close to the mormon cult
Three month’s pay, or wait to get fired later by an erratic boss. Easy choice.
Three month’s SF tech pay could keep you afloat probably for all of next year.
Maybe you avoid getting fired by an erraitic boss. Everyone will be gone when he declares bankruptcy.
Three month’s SF tech pay could keep you afloat probably for all of next year.
???
Maybe in Delaware. Probably not in San Francisco.
Look on the bright side–all these tech layoffs might enable people of lesser means to live in–or at least visit–the Bay area.
Yeah, maybe they’ll get work waiting on tables, like starving actors in NY and LA.
Well, actors are generally good at acting, which likely makes them personable waiters.
Techies as waitpersons, OTOH, could presage the death of the SF gourmet dining scene as we know it.
Well with the twitter deal we know for sure Blue Horseshoe does not love Anacott Steel. What is there to strip from a social media company to make a profit?
Good point. This is not your 80’s style bust out.
Big Redner’s coverage in The News Journal! 18 photos! Actually more photos than sentences in the article!
Journalism!
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2022/11/17/redners-fresh-market-lewes-delaware-new-grocery-store/69655700007/
Hey, journalists gotta eat. Since they get paid shit, might as well let ’em scarf down the free samples.