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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Tuesday Evening Open Thread: See, These Guys *Can* Be Correct!

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: See, These Guys *Can* Be Correct!

by Anne Laurie|  September 21, 20215:50 pm| 118 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Tech News and Issues, Sociopaths

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“Musk thinks Peter is a sociopath, and Peter thinks Musk is a fraud and a braggart.” https://t.co/40tK77p8KA

— Matthew Zeitlin (@MattZeitlin) September 20, 2021

Max Chafkin’s book The Contrarian seems like an excellent read, if bad for sane readers’ blood pressure…

… Thiel doesn’t control Zuckerberg, and their relationship is complicated, to say the least. Thiel unloaded most of his stock as soon as the company went public. (The shares were falling and morale was low. To rally the staff, Zuckerberg invited Thiel to an all-hands meeting at headquarters, but he just ended up insulting them. “My generation was promised colonies on the moon,” Thiel told them. “Instead we got Facebook.”) But in the years since, Thiel has remained a trusted confidant to Zuckerberg — despite personally cultivating Facebook antagonists, including James O’Keefe, the right-wing provocateur who produced undercover videos attempting to expose Facebook’s supposed bias against conservatives, and Charles Johnson, who helped start the face-recognition company Clearview AI…

In 2019, while on a trip to Washington to answer questions from Congress about his digital currency, Thiel joined Zuckerberg, Jared Kushner, Trump, and their spouses at the White House. The specifics of the discussion were secret — but, as I report in my book, Thiel later told a confidant that Zuckerberg came to an understanding with Kushner during the meal. Facebook, he promised, would continue to avoid fact-checking po­litical speech — thus allowing the Trump campaign to claim whatever it wanted. If the company followed through on that promise, the Trump administra­tion would lay off on any heavy-handed regulations.

After the dinner, Zuckerberg took a hands-off approach to conservative sites. In late October, after he detailed the policy in a speech at Georgetown, Facebook launched a news app that showcased what the company called “deeply reported and well-sourced” outlets. Among the list of recommended publications was Breitbart, Steve Bannon’s site, even though it had promoted itself as allied with the alt-right and had once included a section dedicated to “Black crime.” Facebook also seemed to go out of its way to help the Daily Wire, a younger, hipper version of Breitbart that would become one of the biggest publishers on the platform. Facebook had long seen itself as a government unto itself; now, thanks to the understanding brokered by Thiel, the site would push what the Thiel confidant called “state-sanctioned conservatism.”

Zuckerberg denied that there had been any deal with Trump, calling the notion “pretty ridiculous,” though Facebook’s actions in the run-up to the election would make the denial seem not entirely credible. During Black Lives Matter protests, Twitter hid a post by the president that seemed to condone violence: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts”; Face­book allowed it. In the days leading up to the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Facebook mostly ignored calls to limit the spread of “Stop the Steal” groups, which claimed that Trump had actually won the election…

So clearly this happened, right? https://t.co/6J8mS1MbpH

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) September 20, 2021

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Previous Post: « ‘A sickness in America’
Next Post: Open Thread: Our Failed SC(R)OTUS »

Reader Interactions

118Comments

  1. 1.

    Splitting Image

    September 21, 2021 at 5:54 pm

    We need to lock them in a room with a golden apple inscribed “For the Fairest”.

    We can deal with whoever survives.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    September 21, 2021 at 5:55 pm

    I personally find our billionaires boring.

    But we should find out if there was any deal with the Trump people.

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    September 21, 2021 at 5:56 pm

    Fuckerberg. I cannot stand that fraud. Break his holdings up. Regulate content. Democracy cannot withstand a firehose of lies, amplified hour after hour.

  4. 4.

    dr. bloor

    September 21, 2021 at 5:56 pm

    Sublime. Obviously, the only way to settle this is to put them on a desert island with a variety of rusty farm implements, and check back to see who survives. In 2087.

  5. 5.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 21, 2021 at 5:57 pm

    “Two men say they’re Jesus, one of them must be wrong.”

  6. 6.

    RepubAnon

    September 21, 2021 at 6:01 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Perhaps they’re both wrong…

  7. 7.

    Nicole

    September 21, 2021 at 6:04 pm

    Ugh.  Thiel.  Who complained that women getting the vote was bad for “capitalist democracy.”

  8. 8.

    WereBear

    September 21, 2021 at 6:05 pm

    I am surprised by how easily I believe this. I had extensive training in 2020.

  9. 9.

    JPL

    September 21, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    @RepubAnon: Of course they are wrong, because god would never be a man.

  10. 10.

    MisterForkbeard

    September 21, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    Off topic, but this is fine: The Trump Campaign officially knew the election ‘Steal’ accusations were all lies, but both allowed and encouraged them: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-campaign-admitted-in-internal-memo-that-sidney-powells-dominion-voting-machines-conspiracy-was-bs

    And if they did this, Facebook should be in for some seriously heavy fine and Zuckerberg should be imprisoned. As should Trump.

  11. 11.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 21, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    @RepubAnon: True.  But they could also both be right.  The universe could contain infinite Jesuses (Jesi?  Jesusim?).

  12. 12.

    Parfigliano

    September 21, 2021 at 6:08 pm

    @Splitting Image: Best to be certain and have no survivors.

  13. 13.

    Mike E

    September 21, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:  How come Jesus gets Industrial Disease?

  14. 14.

    piratedan

    September 21, 2021 at 6:16 pm

    @Mike E: I believe that there’s a moratorium on Dire Straights references until after 1900 blog standard time :-)

  15. 15.

    dr. bloor

    September 21, 2021 at 6:19 pm

    @Mike E: ​
    Mark Knopfler is a deeply underappreciated observer of our age.​

  16. 16.

    MisterForkbeard

    September 21, 2021 at 6:20 pm

    Also, when Elon Musk thinks you’re a sociopath, that’s a thing. A Thing.

    I have (very briefly) met Thiel back when my wife worked for his company. I spoke all of 6 words to him so it’s not like I have a relationship with the guy, but he certainly felt like a sociopath.

  17. 17.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 21, 2021 at 6:21 pm

    @Mike E: It’s like the tides, you can’t explain that.

  18. 18.

    JPL

    September 21, 2021 at 6:22 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: Of course they did, but did you know that Joe didn’t take a question today from the press?   You decide which one is the crime.

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    September 21, 2021 at 6:22 pm

    @Splitting Image:

    Can the apple be skewered onto a 12-inch chef’s knife? (One of them must be able to lift it.)

  20. 20.

    trollhattan

    September 21, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    @Baud:

    MacKenzie Scott is officially our interesting billionaire. The rest of the lot….

  21. 21.

    Frank Wilhoit

    September 21, 2021 at 6:25 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: Only six?  “Get out of my face and stay out” is seven words; so is “Fcck off.  Fcck all the way off.”. I’m stumped.

  22. 22.

    M. Bouffant

    September 21, 2021 at 6:26 pm

    Of course Zucky did. Remember this? (It was only a wk. ago.) Behind WSJ paywall.
    Facebook Says Its Rules Apply to All. Company Documents Reveal a Secret Elite That’s Exempt.
    A program known as XCheck has given millions of celebrities, politicians and other high-profile users special treatment, a privilege many abuse

  23. 23.

    Jeffro

    September 21, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    Four words:

    HIGHLY

    progressive

    income

    taxes

    (emphasis on “HIGHLY”)

  24. 24.

    lowtechcyclist

    September 21, 2021 at 6:28 pm

    Zuck, Musk, and Thiel are proof that we need to tax the rich at ~95%.

  25. 25.

    Mallard Filmore

    September 21, 2021 at 6:28 pm

    @Frank Wilhoit: 

    “Get out of my face and stay out” is seven words

    I know we were promised no math here, but still …

  26. 26.

    Mike E

    September 21, 2021 at 6:29 pm

    @dr. bloor: it’s the answer to the question, “Why do I find this song about dystopia so damn uplifting?”

  27. 27.

    trollhattan

    September 21, 2021 at 6:33 pm

    @Jeffro: “Let me tell you how it will be, that’s one for you nineteen for me.”

    Rinse and repeat.

  28. 28.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    September 21, 2021 at 6:34 pm

    @Jeffro: THIS

  29. 29.

    MisterForkbeard

    September 21, 2021 at 6:34 pm

    @Frank Wilhoit: I’ve had (through family and friend connections) met a few of the rich techbro dudes that pop up in articles. They ALL feel like sociopaths to me. They get personally offended when things don’t line up perfectly for them, and they demand everyone else fall in line. They also have a broad streak of “my opinion and welfare is the only thing that really matters”.

  30. 30.

    Quiltingfool

    September 21, 2021 at 6:39 pm

    This probably fits in better with Betty Cracker’s excellent essay, but who doesn’t appreciate a Trae Crowder rant about anti-vaxxers?

    https://twitter.com/traecrowder/status/1440406576255279117?s=20

  31. 31.

    piratedan

    September 21, 2021 at 6:42 pm

    @Mike E: Ian Curtis, closet optimist?

  32. 32.

    the utter dregs

    September 21, 2021 at 6:46 pm

    @dr. bloor: How about Ceti Alpha V?

  33. 33.

    Mike E

    September 21, 2021 at 6:50 pm

    @piratedan: heh, well out of that chaos came New Order so it all seemed to work out fine

  34. 34.

    Tony Gerace

    September 21, 2021 at 6:54 pm

    @dr. bloor: we can call the island Galt’s Gulch

  35. 35.

    eclare

    September 21, 2021 at 6:55 pm

    @Quiltingfool:  Thanks!  He is so funny and right on!

  36. 36.

    Sister Golden Bear

    September 21, 2021 at 7:10 pm

    With Musk and Thiel game recognizes game.

  37. 37.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 21, 2021 at 7:18 pm

    My blood pressure says “Stay the fuck away” from this conversation.

  38. 38.

    Mike in NC

    September 21, 2021 at 7:20 pm

    If only that meeting had been interrupted by a meteor…

  39. 39.

    ceece

    September 21, 2021 at 7:24 pm

    went to high school with Thiel, and was bullied by many of the same people.

    I did not turn out to be a sociopath though.

  40. 40.

    ceece

    September 21, 2021 at 7:26 pm

    back then, Peter was a garden variety nerdy kid. No real indication then of how he would turn out.

    Wonder what I would say to him if I ever crossed paths with him again…..

  41. 41.

    JPL

    September 21, 2021 at 7:31 pm

    Did they have parents or guardians?

  42. 42.

    ceece

    September 21, 2021 at 7:37 pm

    who, the bullies, or the erstwhile masters of the universe?

  43. 43.

    Mary G

    September 21, 2021 at 7:37 pm

    Job Opportunity!U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) seeks a Staff Assistant for his Washington D.C. office. https://t.co/SHZKpD1JjL— Daybook (@DaybookJobs) September 21, 2021

  44. 44.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    September 21, 2021 at 7:38 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

     

    They also have a broad streak of “my opinion and welfare is the only thing that really matters”.

    So basically IGMFY.

  45. 45.

    Bill Arnold

    September 21, 2021 at 7:39 pm

    @Quiltingfool:
    That rant and the excellent linked NYMag piece both remind me that Peter Thiel supports(ed) Project Veritas/ James O’Keefe.
    One of the side effects of Hurricane Ida was the destruction by flooding of Project Veritas’s headquarters. (Sucked to be others in the neighborhood, though.)
    https://yonkerstimes.com/project-veritas-mamaroneck-offices-destroyed-by-hurrican-ida-flooding/

  46. 46.

    Starfish

    September 21, 2021 at 7:44 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    This song was formerly known as Elongated Muskrat.

  47. 47.

    Mary G

    September 21, 2021 at 7:46 pm

    NV Republican Lt. Gov. candidate Mack Miller was dragged out of the Clark County Commission meeting today by police. It’s is unclear at this time what started the incident. (Strong language). pic.twitter.com/OK5yRItkp8— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) September 21, 2021

  48. 48.

    WereBear

    September 21, 2021 at 7:46 pm

    Oh, for the Gilded Age, when our Robber Barons were more superficially charming!

  49. 49.

    Anoniminous

    September 21, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    James O’Keefe claims Project Veritas was scammed by hackers

    In a video released last week, O’Keefe alleges that hackers secretly monitored his correspondences with outside attorneys, later replicating the lawyers’ names and email addresses with slight variations so they could hoodwink the activist into paying them a $165,000.

    Scammers scammed.

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 21, 2021 at 7:49 pm

    @ceece: By all accounts, Elizabeth Báthory was a nice quiet child too.

  51. 51.

    MomSense

    September 21, 2021 at 8:00 pm

    Rage knitting and thinking about guillotines.

  52. 52.

    wenchacha

    September 21, 2021 at 8:02 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: In the multiverse, anything can happen.

  53. 53.

    ceece

    September 21, 2021 at 8:03 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    oh, I know he turned out to be a nutjob. But the profile linked in the OP made him out to be a bit of a victim, which wasn’t really true.

  54. 54.

    dr. bloor

    September 21, 2021 at 8:03 pm

    @Mary G: ​
     

    Deleting phone messages and emails from outraged Americans is easily a full-time gig in Manchin’s office.

  55. 55.

    dr. bloor

    September 21, 2021 at 8:04 pm

    @MomSense: Stay busy.  There’s going to be a market for guillotine blade cozies in the near future.

  56. 56.

    Starfish

    September 21, 2021 at 8:07 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    She was set up.

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 21, 2021 at 8:09 pm

    @MomSense: You know how the other side is trying to make pre-visitation Scrooge into a role model?  I guess we can mine Dickens for villains to reclaim as well.

  58. 58.

    Damien

    September 21, 2021 at 8:10 pm

    Facebook is a cancer, and should suffer the corporate death penalty. Burn the servers and top executives, everyone else quarantined in the Tenderloin

  59. 59.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 21, 2021 at 8:14 pm

    @Starfish: I said she was a nice quiet child.  ::blinks innocently::

  60. 60.

    ronno2018

    September 21, 2021 at 8:17 pm

    I just cannot imagine the power Mr. T. and Mr. Z. have.   It is incredible, and to use it to support the most stupid and idiotic political philosophy and politicians is insane.  They are idiots and should be condemned to live lives of suffering and pain.   Sadly that will not happen.

  61. 61.

    MomSense

    September 21, 2021 at 8:18 pm

    @dr. bloor:

    LMAO Guillotine Blade Cozies!!! Ha! That’s even better than Wee Willie Warmers (yes they are exactly what you think they are).

  62. 62.

    Baud

    September 21, 2021 at 8:18 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    They’ve already got reducing the surplus population down pat.

    Too bad for them that they are the surplus.

  63. 63.

    MomSense

    September 21, 2021 at 8:19 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I told my kids I want to make Instagram reels where I knit while raging about politics.  More efficient than trying to reply to all the stupid.

  64. 64.

    MomSense

    September 21, 2021 at 8:24 pm

    @dr. bloor:

    I adore him.  Did you know that when he was a kid his family moved into a house and the previous owners left a guitar behind?!  Same thing happened to Jimmy Page.  Almost makes this cynical person believe in a “higher power”.

  65. 65.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 21, 2021 at 8:25 pm

    @MomSense: I don’t knit, but it is my understanding that it is supposed to be soothing.  How does one knit and rage at the same time?

  66. 66.

    Starfish

    September 21, 2021 at 8:25 pm

    @MomSense: We cannot reply to all the stupid. There is just too much of it, and we cannot let stupid people choose what we are going to talk about. They are exhausting.

    In the local paper, I have a guest opinion about how a recall election against some school board members is a complete scam.

  67. 67.

    Ken

    September 21, 2021 at 8:27 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: How does one knit and rage at the same time?

    There is literary precedent.

  68. 68.

    MomSense

    September 21, 2021 at 8:28 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Lets just say the clacking of the needles is extra and there may be muttering.
    Knitting IS soothing so it’s a good thing I am not trying to cope with all this bullshit without it.

  69. 69.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 21, 2021 at 8:28 pm

    @Ken: Yes, I know.  But that was before Instagram.

  70. 70.

    MomSense

    September 21, 2021 at 8:29 pm

    @Ken:

    My dad’s nickname for me.

  71. 71.

    MomSense

    September 21, 2021 at 8:30 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Seth Myers recently ran afoul of knitters.  He calls his Twitter and Instagram a shitstorm.

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 21, 2021 at 8:33 pm

    @MomSense: Warning noted.  I’ll be good.

  73. 73.

    scav

    September 21, 2021 at 8:36 pm

    @MomSense: Didn’t the London Olympics run afoul of knitters? Beware Ravelry.

  74. 74.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    September 21, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    @MomSense: You could do a TicToc

  75. 75.

    debbie

    September 21, 2021 at 8:39 pm

    @MomSense:

    One of my aunts was a fierce knitter. Clack, clack, glare.

  76. 76.

    Another Scott

    September 21, 2021 at 8:41 pm

    Relatedly, … ProPublica:

    Legislation currently making its way through Congress would take a sledgehammer to the massive individual retirement accounts built up tax-free by a select group of the ultrawealthy.

    The proposal, which is part of the infrastructure and tax package advancing in the House, targets the jaw-dropping IRAs accumulated by multimillionaires and billionaires such as tech investor Peter Thiel, which were first reported by ProPublica earlier this year. Those accounts — Thiel’s alone was worth $5 billion in 2019 — have allowed some super-wealthy Americans to turn their Roth IRAs, tools meant to incentivize middle-class retirement saving, into supersized tax shelters.

    The proposed reform, put forward by House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., would effectively cap the total amount someone could hold in a Roth at $20 million and compel the holders of the giant accounts to withdraw anything over that limit. Separately, individuals would have to add up the balances of their retirement accounts — including Roths, traditional IRAs, 401(k)s and 403(b)s — and every year withdraw half of any amount over $10 million. The provisions would only apply to individuals with taxable income of over $400,000 or couples making over $450,000.

    […]

    Good, good.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    MomSense

    September 21, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    @scav: It didn’t go well for the IOC

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/slate.com/technology/2012/06/ravelry-olympics-usoc-apologizes-to-online-knitting-community-over-trademark-crackdown.amp

  78. 78.

    dr. bloor

    September 21, 2021 at 8:44 pm

    @MomSense:

    Wee Willie Warmers (yes they are exactly what you think they are).

    Now there’s a bit of information I hadn’t expected would come my way today.

  79. 79.

    Baud

    September 21, 2021 at 8:45 pm

     

    @Another Scott:

    Dems just can’t stop sticking it to working class people. /GOP voter

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 21, 2021 at 8:46 pm

    @MomSense: “Anonymous with pointy sticks.”

  81. 81.

    MomSense

    September 21, 2021 at 8:46 pm

    @dr. bloor:

    ?

  82. 82.

    MomSense

    September 21, 2021 at 8:47 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Heh.

  83. 83.

    MomSense

    September 21, 2021 at 8:59 pm

    Sarah Dash Rest in Power!

  84. 84.

    Bill Arnold

    September 21, 2021 at 9:02 pm

    @Starfish:
    For the science fiction fans among us, bold mine:
    Project MARS(Das Marsprojekt) (Dr. Wernher von Braun, English translation by Henry 1 White, Lt. Cdr. USN)
    Chapter 24 How Mars is Governed
    …
    The Martian government was directed by ten men, the leader of whom was elected by universal suffrage for five years and entitled “Elon.” Two houses of Parliament enacted the laws to be administered by the Elon and his cabinet.

  85. 85.

    Another Scott

    September 21, 2021 at 9:04 pm

    NEW: the House just passed legislation to prevent a shutdown and fund government operations and disaster relief efforts.

    The bill would also avert a default that could wreck the U.S. economy and destroy huge numbers of jobs.

    I voted YES.

    Every Republican voted against it. pic.twitter.com/8ntY4JsuEV— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) September 22, 2021

    Good, good.

    It’s almost as if there’s a difference between the political parties…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  86. 86.

    Baud

    September 21, 2021 at 9:05 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Go Team Disarray!

    ETA: How did they resolve the Israel thing?

  87. 87.

    The Dangerman

    September 21, 2021 at 9:07 pm

    I look forward to the book “The Axe Incident and Billionaires”.

  88. 88.

    Another Scott

    September 21, 2021 at 9:13 pm

    Xi is on the case!!

    Hey @Sen_JoeManchin this will be the end of coal in West Virginia so can you quit fucking around with the infrastructure bill, pass it, and then bring some green energy jobs to WV. I know a nice young woman in the Bronx you can talk to for help. @AOC https://t.co/BNUsrIDuSZ

    — John Cole (@Johngcole) September 22, 2021

    Interesting. The details of how Xi’s decision came to be might be even more interesting.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  89. 89.

    Another Scott

    September 21, 2021 at 9:19 pm

    @Baud: It got pulled.  It will be in a separate bill (probably the final defense appropriations bill) according to RollCall).

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  90. 90.

    Baud

    September 21, 2021 at 9:19 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Thanks.

  91. 91.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 21, 2021 at 9:21 pm

    @Another Scott: Good.  It didn’t belong there anyway.

  92. 92.

    Ruckus

    September 21, 2021 at 9:22 pm

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    Nope.

    It’s IGMAIWYT

    (I Got Mine and I Want Yours Too)

  93. 93.

    Gabe Nichols

    September 21, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    “Musk thinks Peter is a sociopath, and Peter thinks Musk is a fraud and a braggart.”

     
    por qué no los dos

  94. 94.

    Ken

    September 21, 2021 at 9:43 pm

    @MomSense: So what is the knitting equivalent of waking up to find a horse’s head in your bed?  Receiving a package with a knitted coffin cosy?

  95. 95.

    mali muso

    September 21, 2021 at 9:43 pm

    Probably a dead thread by now, but I’m home alone and need to scream into the void.  Just got the call from a cousin in Louisiana that our grandpa just passed.  He had been dealing with some heart issues in recent years and then came down with COVID last month even though he had been vaccinated.  Never was the same after the symptoms abated…can’t help but think that it’s what got him in the end.  fuck.

  96. 96.

    Eunicecycle

    September 21, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    @mali muso: so sorry for your loss.

  97. 97.

    NotMax

    September 21, 2021 at 9:52 pm

    @The Dangerman

    “To Serve the Monied”

  98. 98.

    Benw

    September 21, 2021 at 9:52 pm

    @mali muso: sorry that fucking sucks. I hated losing all my grandparents (pre covid), but Grampy in particular was rough

  99. 99.

    trollhattan

    September 21, 2021 at 9:54 pm

    Ten bitcoins to you, if you had this on your 2021 bingo cards.

    A High Desert State Prison employee is on leave amid allegations he shot another prison employee Sunday in Susanville.

    On Monday, someone made a bomb threat to the same prison, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Dana Simas confirmed in the email.

    “It has not yet been determined if the two incidents are related,” Simas said.

    Simas confirmed Tuesday that there was an “incident involving two off-duty, non-peace officer” employees at the Lassen County institution. The victim survived the incident.

    Simas declined to identify the employees involved or provide more details on the incident, deferring to the Lassen County Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff’s Department deferred to the Susanville Police Department, which did not return multiple calls on Tuesday.

    Kenneth Hunter, 63, a prison store supervisor, is being held on attempted homicide charges, according to the Lassen County jail. Hunter’s bail was set at $500,000, according to the jail.

    Simas said the corrections department coordinated with the Reno Police Department to respond to the bomb threat.

    They found “no evidence of bombs and don’t believe the institution is in any danger,” Simas said in the email.
    https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article254421723.html#storylink=cpy

    The Susanville prison is on Newsom’s list of correctional facilities to close and the Patriot State of Jefferson Small Gummint Citizens of Lassen County are hell-bent on retaining their sack of of gummint jerbs, because Freedom’s just another word for not pulling shifts at the 7-11.

  100. 100.

    trollhattan

    September 21, 2021 at 9:55 pm

    @mali muso: Damn, so sorry to hear that! Sincere sympathies to you and you family.

  101. 101.

    mali muso

    September 21, 2021 at 9:55 pm

    @Eunicecycle:

    @Benw:

    Thanks, I guess you always think you’ll have more time, y’know? He was a very physically active and fit man, even into his 80s, so he had a good run.  Trying to feel some comfort that he’s not suffering and trapped in a failing body.

  102. 102.

    Yutsano

    September 21, 2021 at 9:59 pm

    @mali muso: ​ I honestly don’t know what to say. I hope his soul is at peace.

  103. 103.

    geg6

    September 21, 2021 at 10:01 pm

    @mali muso:

    I’m so sorry.

  104. 104.

    NotMax

    September 21, 2021 at 10:02 pm

    @trollhattan

    The tendrils of Nataqua infiltrate deep.

    (Lassen county voted more than 80% in favor of the CA recall, BTW.)

  105. 105.

    Citizen Alan

    September 21, 2021 at 10:02 pm

    @Damien: I’m back in FB jail for 30 days. Because I said someone who complained about Obama golfing all the time was super-ultra-mega-stupid. Apparently, that’s bullying, at least to think-skinned snowflake fascist toddlers.

  106. 106.

    laura

    September 21, 2021 at 10:04 pm

    @mali muso: i am so sorry for your loss. Peace and Grace to you and all that loved and were loved by your Grandpa.

  107. 107.

    Ksmiami

    September 21, 2021 at 10:09 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: paraphrasing Quint, “A sharks’ got black eyes; dead eyes and when he bites you they roll back…” maybe it was his eyes that gave away Thiel’s inner psycho killer

  108. 108.

    Feathers

    September 21, 2021 at 10:12 pm

    Greetings all. Boosting kitties in need of new homes that came across my Twitter feed. Angelica Jade is a brilliant film critic and culture writer who has had a rough COVID. Her grandmother passed and then she evacuated her mother out of Ida’s path, along with her cats. Her mother has gone home, but left the cats behind. Angelica has cats of her own and can’t keep these. They are young, shy but friendly, healthy with all their shots. Three total, two of them a bonded pair, one could be be adopted separately. They are in Chicago. Tweet link: https://twitter.com/angelicabastien/status/1440476407843340292

    She doesn’t hang out here, but I’d really recommend her work to everyone. Hope folks can boost this. Thanks.

  109. 109.

    eclare

    September 21, 2021 at 10:12 pm

    @mali muso:  Oh I’m so sorry

  110. 110.

    Ksmiami

    September 21, 2021 at 10:12 pm

    @mali muso: I’m so sorry- this virus is a beast.

  111. 111.

    Bill Arnold

    September 21, 2021 at 10:26 pm

    @Another Scott:

    The details of how Xi’s decision came to be might be even more interesting.

    Indeed.
    Here’s a pdf of the translation of the speech:
    Bolstering Confidence and Jointly Overcoming Difficulties To Build a Better World – Statement by H.E. Xi Jinping, at UN General Assmembly (21 September 2021)

    China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.

    What will also be interesting is any domestic changes in China re its extremely high CO2 emissions from coal burning.

  112. 112.

    Urza

    September 21, 2021 at 10:34 pm

    removed intentionally

  113. 113.

    Another Scott

    September 21, 2021 at 10:45 pm

    @Bill Arnold: It’s an important step.

    AlJazeera:

    From 2013 to 2019, data shows that China was financing 13 percent of coal-fired power capacity built outside China – “far and away the largest public financier,” according to Kevin Gallagher, who directs the Boston University centre.

    The climate advocacy movement 350.org called Xi’s announcement “huge,” saying it could be a “real game-changer” depending on when it takes effect.

    Helen Mountford, the vice president for climate and economics at the World Resources Institute, said it was “a historic turning point away from the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel.”

    “China’s pledge shows that the firehose of international public financing for coal is being turned off,” she said but noted that Beijing continued to invest in coal at home.

    China brought 38.4 gigawatts of new coal-fired power into operation last year – more than three times what was brought on line globally.

    Non-governmental groups in a letter earlier this year said the state-run Bank of China was the largest single funder of coal projects, providing $35bn since the Paris climate agreement.

    Xi repeated pledges from last year that China would achieve a peak in carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.

    Xi needs to get on the stick at home, also too.

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  114. 114.

    Old School

    September 21, 2021 at 10:50 pm

    @mali muso: My sympathies. I’m sorry for your loss.

  115. 115.

    Another Scott

    September 22, 2021 at 12:32 am

    @mali muso:  I too am very sorry for your loss. :-(. Remember the good times.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  116. 116.

    Eric NNY

    September 22, 2021 at 12:46 am

    Gonna kill me, but just shut my Facebook account down. Will have far reaching effects but fuck those guys. Ugh. Gotta get my rolodex out of storage.

  117. 117.

    Chris Johnson

    September 22, 2021 at 5:54 am

    @Eric NNY:  Good for you! I deleted my Facebook and Twitter sometime last year and it was a real quality of life upgrade too :)

  118. 118.

    Uncle Cosmo

    September 22, 2021 at 8:26 am

    @NotMax: “To Serve the Monied”

    Wait til they find out it’s a cookbook….

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