[PJMedia] New Twitter CEO Elon Musk has made another move to prevent viewpoint discrimination while he sorts out the dumpster fire known as Twitter’s “Trust and Safety” department. Bloomberg reports that employees got locked out of some internal tools used for content moderation:
Twitter Inc., the social network being overhauled by new owner Elon Musk, has frozen some employee access to internal tools used for content moderation and other policy enforcement, curbing the staff’s ability to clamp down on misinformation ahead of a major US election.
Most people who work in Twitter’s Trust and Safety organization are currently unable to alter or penalize accounts that break rules around misleading information, offensive posts and hate speech, except for the most high-impact violations that would involve real-world harm, according to people familiar with the matter. Those posts were prioritized for manual enforcement, they said.
The important part of this news is not that employees lost access to the tools. Instead, it is the confirmation that prior management empowered Twitter employees to determine what constitutes “misinformation.”
For those who have had a Twitter account limited, shadow banned, or suspended, the article provides another piece of data. According to the report, a Twitter employee banned you, not an algorithm. “Detection of policy breaches can either be flagged by other Twitter users or detected automatically, but taking action on them requires human input and access to the dashboard tools. Those tools have been suspended since last week, the people said.”
These same employees are very worried about their loss of power to correct your wrongthink:
The scaled-back content moderation has raised concerns among employees on Twitter’s Trust and Safety team, who believe the company will be short-handed in enforcing policies in the run-up to the US midterm election on Nov. 8. Trust and Safety employees are often tasked with enforcing Twitter’s misinformation and civic integrity policies — many of the same policies that former President Donald Trump routinely violated before and after the 2020 elections, the company said at the time.
This entire paragraph is a study in ridiculousness. President Donald Trump primarily questioned the results of the 2020 election and pointed out obvious irregularities. If this truly violated Twitter’s “civic integrity policies,” Hillary Clinton, Stacey Abrams, and a host of other Democrats would no longer have a Twitter account. It is evident that it is only a civic offense if a Republican questions the victory of a Democrat. Additionally, people have been voting in the United States for nearly three centuries without the geniuses at Twitter deciding what information they are allowed to review. Amazingly, we functioned as a nation before Twitter’s censors were on the job.
The employees’ loss of access could also be a function of their bad judgment. On Thursday night, just before Musk took the helm, Just the News shared a story on alleged ballot harvesting in Florida. Twitter slapped an “unsafe” warning on the report, which included details of an affidavit from a former Democratic candidate alleging illegal ballot harvesting happened for years in central Florida. The warning told readers the “misleading” content “could lead to real world harm.”
The warning appeared when the content was shared by high-profile accounts like Just the News Founder John Solomon and Rasmussen Reports. According to the outlet, similar warnings have been placed on stories from Just the News about COVID-19 vaccine approvals, and Solomon was suspended for sharing a peer-reviewed study about the jabs. When Musk saw the news about the censorship, he tweeted, “I will look into this. Twitter should be even-handed, favoring neither side.”
Solomon is not the only reporter that has tripped the wire with Twitter’s speech police. PJ Media’s Matt Margolis has a warning attached to the URL for every story he writes when someone tweets it. Users verified this censorship is still in force this morning. Margolis’s account was also permanently suspended for pointing out that transgender Americans make up a small percentage of the population, and gender dysphoria is a mental disorder. It is in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, which outlines the diagnostic criteria for all mental health disorders.
Luckily, Musk sees the one-sided nature of many of these rules. Bloomberg reports:
Internally, employees say, Musk has raised questions about a number of the policies, and has zeroed in on a few specific rules that he wants the team to review. The first is Twitter’s general misinformation policy, which penalizes posts that include falsehoods about topics like election outcomes and Covid-19. Musk wants the policy to be more specific, according to people familiar with the matter.
Musk has also asked the team to review Twitter’s hateful conduct policy, according to the people, specifically a section that says users can be penalized for “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.”
While conservative users report some changes, such as increased follower counts and more interaction on the platform, some wrongs from the past will need to be righted as the rules are attenuated to accommodate public debate and meaningful discourse. But so far, it seems Musk is moving in the right direction.
[AJOT] The US Supreme Court let stand a ruling that said the Transportation Security Administration could require airline passengers to wear masks during the height of the pandemic, keeping in place a precedent issued by a key federal appeals court.
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruling said TSA has broad authority to maintain security and safety during national emergencies. TSA scrapped its mask mandate in April after a federal judge in a different case said the requirement exceeded the agency’s power.
The Supreme Court order is a defeat for Jonathan Corbett, a California lawyer and self-described frequent flier who sued to challenge the mask mandate. He asked the Supreme Court to either take up his appeal or declare the case legally moot and wipe away the DC Circuit opinion so it couldn’t serve as a precedent.
President Joe Biden put the mandate in place on his first full day in office, issuing an executive order requiring masks in airports and on planes, trains, intercity buses and other forms of transportation. His administration urged the Supreme Court to keep the DC Circuit opinion in force.
The DC Circuit handles an outsize share of cases involving the power of federal administrative agencies.
The case is Corbett v. TSA, 22-33.
Posted by: The Walking Unvaxed ||
11/01/2022 00:00 ||
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#1
It will take legislation to stop the stupidity.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
11/01/2022 21:28 Comments ||
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Whee! Thus far, this is an absolute hoot to watch.
[NationalReview] Elon Musk has dissolved Twitter’s board of directors and appointed himself the company’s "sole director," according to a Monday securities filing.
Immediately after completing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on Thursday, Musk fired several senior executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal. The board included nine directors.
Musk’s move is the latest in a series of overhauls he is planning on implementing.
On Sunday, Musk announced that Twitter was contemplating revamping its entire approach to the blue verification badges displayed on profiles to authenticate users.
"Whole verification process is being revamped right now," Musk cryptically tweeted at the time.
According to Musk’s proposed plan, authenticated users will have 90 days to decide whether they wish to pay a monthly $4.99 fee or face the potential of losing their "verified" status, technology newsletter Platformer reported.
Among Musk’s most provocative plans include openly considering laying off as many as 75 percent of Twitter’s workforce due to bloat as well as "its strong left-wing bias."
For their part, Twitter employees have pushed back against many of Musk’s initiatives. In response to Musk making mass layoffs, employees circulated an open letter condemning the move.
"A threat of this magnitude is reckless, undermines our users’ and customers’ trust in our platform, and is a transparent act of worker intimidation," the letter read in a copy obtained by Time.
TRUMP SAYS HE WON’T BE RETURNING TO TWITTER AFTER ELON MUSK TAKEOVER
A centerpiece of Musk’s plans has been his public commitment to free speech and correcting Twitter’s political censorship bias, which disproportionately targets conservative voices.
"The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence," Musk tweeted.
However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... Musk noted, "Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hell-scape, where anything can be said with no consequences!" Musk has proposed a new content moderation council for Twitter to determine how to better address viewpoint diversity, hate speech, permanent bans, and account reinstatements.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2022 00:00 ||
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#1
The media will be absolutely furious. The bluecheck was not just a verified account, it was nothing less than the mark of modern aristocracy. If you had a bluecheck, that meant something.
Now, any asshole with $5 can get one? Do you know how humiliating and demeaning that is? It's deliberate cruelty inflicted on journalists.
#8
Blue Checkmark Mafia keeps promising to quit Twitter over this. Some even post that Twitter should pay them for their digital presence. I pity the person who would join Twitter simply to follow one of these woke simps.
[FIREARMSNEWS] This past week was the Alachua County Republican Executive Committee’s 20th Annual Ronald Reagan Black Tie & Blue Jeans BBQ, and they had Governor Ron DeSantis as the keynote speaker.
As I reported earlier in a previous article, right before the event was to happen, it came out that the event was a gun-free zone -- something that the Governor has said doesn’t work. Remember what Gov. DeSantis said about the mass shooter who opened fire at a grocery store in New York state and how gun-free zones/gun control doesn’t work? He stated:
"The Buffalo shooter, for example, said ’you know I’m going places where I don’t have to worry about people, conceal carry, or anything like that’, because he wants — they wanted basically sitting ducks." — Gov. DeSantis — Florida Phoenix; June 3, 2022
Continued on Page 49
[FoxNews] The driver claimed someone put a curse on him and he was faced with only two choices: drive home without tires or set the car on fire.
[FoxNews] A Florida man driving a vehicle missing two tires was pulled over by law enforcement and alleged that paranormal activity was responsible.
Andres Orjuela-Montealegre, 29, was stopped on an Interstate 75 ramp near Marion Oaks on October 23 at about 4 a.m. after Marion County Sheriff’s deputies noticed the vehicle's hazard lights were on and that the tires on the driver's side appeared deflated.
A deputy then realized that the tires were not deflated but were missing and Orjuela-Montealegre was "driving on what remained of the rim," the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook.
When asked about the damage to the vehicle, Orjuela-Montealegre told the deputy someone had put a curse on him and that he had hit a curb too hard. The driver said he was given a "do or die" choice in which he could either drive home without tires or set the car on fire and sleep on the median, body camera footage shows.
The driver was then instructed to step out of the vehicle but appeared unsteady on his feet. The deputy asked him to perform field sobriety tests.
All sorts of stupidities were done by Mr. Orjuela-Montealegre, at the end of which:
Orjuela-Montealegre faces up to 25 and a half years behind bars. He is being held on a $27,000 bond.
Anybody having a difficult time feeling sorry for this thing?
[Newsweek] Kathy Griffin has revealed she's continuing to regain her original voice, after her vocal cords were damaged during surgery following her lung cancer diagnosis.
The comedian [sic, for two reasons], 61, announced that she was diagnosed with the disease in August 2021, before then revealing in November that she was cancer-free.
Over the past several months, she has expressed fears that her voice may never go back to what it was, after it was altered to a higher pitch than usual as a result of her treatment.
In a TikTok post shared on Wednesday, Griffin revealed that those concerns remained following a visit to a laryngeal surgeon.
And Doctor Jill. Oh wait First lady Jill Biden tests positive for COVID-19 in rebound case
And Brandon. Oh never mind and just take yer damn Paxlovid ya dogfaced pony soldier! Biden tests positive again for coronavirus after Paxlovid ‘rebound’
[Rooters via Times of SD] Shares of TuSimple Holdings nearly halved on Monday after the self-driving truck startup said it had removed Chief Executive Xiaodi Hou in connection with the company’s ties to a China-backed firm.
San Diego-based TuSimple said in a securities filing that an investigation by its board showed some of its employees spent paid hours last year working for Hydron, a startup working on autonomous trucks mostly in China.
In connection with the evaluation of Hydron as potential original equipment manufacturer, the company had shared confidential information with Hydron that was not brought to the attention of audit and government security committees, according to TuSimple.
Hou confirmed in a WeChat post that he had been removed as chairman and CEO by TuSimple’s board, but denied any wrongdoing and said the move was "without cause."
"It is so unfair to let politics get in the way of the dream we were pursuing together," he said.
Hou’s ouster came after a Wall Street Journal report that TuSimple was being investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) about its relationship with China-backed Hydron.
The FBI, the SEC and the CFIUS did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
TuSimple has named Ersin Yumer, the vice president of operations, as its interim CEO.
The company also said that it had not been able to determine the value of the confidential information shared with Hydron.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/01/2022 06:48 ||
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[Breitbart] The U.S. will deploy up to six nuclear-capable B-52 Stratofortress bombers to a remote Australian airbase in a move experts say is aimed directly at China, a report Monday details. Or their pet yappy dogs, the NORKS
An investigation by Four Corners, a program hosted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), revealed Washington is planning to build new, dedicated facilities for the giant aircraft at Tindal air base, south of the Northern Territory capital Darwin.
The U.S. has drawn up detailed plans for what it calls a “squadron operations facility” for use during the region’s dry season, an adjoining maintenance centre and a parking area for “six B-52s.”
Becca Wasser from the Centre for New American Security told the outlet putting B-52s in northern Australia is a warning to China, as fears grow Beijing is preparing for an assault on Taiwan.
“Having bombers that could range and potentially attack mainland China could be very important in sending a signal to China that any of its actions over Taiwan could also expand further,” she says.
The bombers are part of a much larger upgrade of defence assets across northern Australia, including a major expansion of the Pine Gap intelligence base, which would play a vital role in any conflict with Beijing.
In July, the U.S. sent four nuclear-capable B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to Amberley air force base near Brisbane, in another deployment that was partly aimed at sending a deterrence message to China.
Another B-2 flew to Amberley in March while Admiral John Aquilino, head of US Indo-Pacific command, was on a week-long visit to the country.
The B-52s have been the backbone of the U.S. Air Force for more than 60 years, with the capability to deliver long-range strikes of both nuclear and conventional weapons.
#6
Nuclear capable... yes. But not likely the role they would play. Any air dropped nukes would be done via B-2 or cruise missile. Buffs are just to vulnerable to anti-air systems.
If they are used it would be as a missile boat and possibly fire a shit ton of AGM-158 JASSMs at the problem.
#7
The AUKUS thing is going to start taking shape in the next 12 months (or less). This will be a decades long commitment that could re-shape the strategic layout in Asia Pacific. If the ChiComms are mad about 6 x BUFFs, wait until they see what AUKUS brings.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
11/01/2022 14:47 Comments ||
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(Bloomberg) -- US gasoline prices rose for the first time in 16 days, potentially posing a political challenge for the Biden administration ahead of elections even as it casts a spotlight on Big Oil’s massive profits.
The average national pump price inched up to $3.761 a gallon Friday, snapping a streak of declines seen as easing pressure on Democrats trying to keep control of Congress. The reversal is being driven by rising prices on the East Coast, where gasoline supplies are so tight that some terminals have reported running out of fuel.
The jump comes as President Joe Biden lambasts some of the world’s biggest oil companies for reaping record profits while Americans struggle with historic inflation. Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday posted the highest profit in its 152-year history while Chevron has its second-best quarter ever. Meanwhile, some of the states facing the highest pump prices are those poised to determine which party controls Congress.
While the cost of gasoline generally follows the price of oil, the current rise has more to do with US fuel supplies being at historic lows. Inventories on the East Coast have depleted to their lowest levels in a decade for this time of year, with imports from energy-starved Europe slowing and top supplier India also cutting back on shipments due to refinery maintenance there. A backwardated market structure is disincentivizing storage, exacerbating the shortage.
The Biden administration is weighing several options to cushion the blow, including expanding emergency fuel reserves and requiring private companies to hold minimum inventories, but no decisions have yet been made.
Posted by: The Walking Unvaxed ||
11/01/2022 00:00 ||
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Two weeks and the game is over. Home heating oil, All vehicle fuels. Some corporate management factory meetings being held with employee's.I should hear today what is to come. National railroad strike never resolved in most of the country. Florida settled but that was a local Union thing.
#3
Number of cracking plants the government, at all levels, have approved for building in the last 20 years?
Before you even breath, Venezuela nationalized theirs. How's their production going?
#16
Thanks, Dale. You know I don’t know enough not to ask awkward questions, for which I apologize afterward and in advance. In future just say something about not being comfortable mentioning the name, and I should get the hint not to ask.
[MarketWatch] Millions of workers are bouncing back — and making enough money to pay Uncle Sam.
Some 72.5 million households or 40% of households will pay no federal income tax this year, down from the pre-pandemic high of 60% two years ago, according to new estimates from the Tax Policy Center.
In 2021, nearly 56% of households or 99 million households paid no federal income tax, down from 60% or 100 million households in 2020, the nonpartisan think tank’s said in the report.
Massive job losses in the pandemic’s early stages sent millions of people to unemployment lines and temporary rules exempted much of 2020 jobless benefits from income taxes, Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at Tax Policy Center, said.
Meanwhile, there were waves of direct cash assistance that were all technically tax credits — two round of stimulus checks in 2020 and another round in 2021, plus a temporarily enhanced child tax credit. Those waves came and went.
The approximate 40% of households projected to pay no federal income tax is back to pre-pandemic levels, and is even slightly smaller than the 42% to 43% range during recent pre-pandemic years, Gleckman noted.
It reflects the labor market’s return to its pre-pandemic status, "which is to say pretty tight, pretty strong," Gleckman said. "Lots of people are working, lots of people are paying income tax."
For 2022, the standard deduction is worth $12,950 for individuals and $25,900 for married couples filing jointly. People earning below that amount do not owe federal income taxes, even if it may still be a good idea to file a return to access credits including the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit, Gleckman said.
[EurasianTimes] According to the British newspaper Daily Telegraph, the US is bringing forward delivery of dozens of guided tactical nuclear weapons, the new B61-12 thermonuclear bombs, to NATO bases, including those in Germany and Italy, within weeks.
It is said that these new bombs that are 12 feet long can be dropped from planes as a "dumb" gravity bomb or in "guided drop mode" with an accuracy of within 30 meters.
Close counts in horse shoes, hand grenades, kissing... and nukes.
The US is also said to be having 100 older B61s stored at European bases.
The US bombs being delivered to Europe can be dropped by a variety of aircraft, including B-2 stealth bombers and smaller warplanes like the F-15, F-35, and Tornado. Milley disagrees with the decision, so...
Now can everybody please stop posturing about this?
#1
Just in time for the election!
What could Uncle Sniffer have in mind?
Posted by: Big Brother Is Sniffing You ||
11/01/2022 0:14 Comments ||
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#2
They're talking about sub launched nuke cruise missiles.
The effect of deploying nuke cruise missiles would potentionaly turn every attack sub into a nuke platform. Treaty implications.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
11/01/2022 11:23 Comments ||
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#3
I guess Slim Pickens is smiling from Heaven, but I am not too big on weapons that likely kill the delivery system and crew. Seems like a set of orders to avoid like a Beach Master MOS or Force ANGLICO.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
11/01/2022 11:55 Comments ||
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#4
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that one of the key reasons for looking at land based vice sub based nuclear weapons is that the pool of schoolkids in America is dwindling as far as those capable and willing to go to sea on a submarine for a career. Looking at the future, there will be less capable talent there. So much so that this will be a strategic platform choice factor.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
