The Friday 10: Edition #10
Musk drama continues, various illiberal liberals being silly, and misc.
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CNN doing CNN things.
Hey, um. Have you guys at CNN taken any time to reflect on how you could possibly spend $300 million on CNN+ and barely get 10,000 subscribers at $6 a pop? Is that not like at least mildly disconcerting to you, orโฆ? I know Girl Scouts who get better numbers in two-month time frames.
โThat's why it's hard for them to swallow the news that CNN+ will now disappear at the end of April, just one month after its massively hyped March 29 debut. The short-lived direct-to-consumer service will go down both as one of the most ambitious launches in cable news historyโ$300 million, a gaggle of marquee talent, marketing out the wazooโand one of the most stupendously ill-fated.โ โ Vanity Fair
Also, how insulated do you have to be to think CNN+ would โ not could, but would โ achieve 29 million โsuper fansโ when the network has lost 56% of its viewers since 2021?
Hey, have you guys heard Elon Musk is a NAZI?
Apparently, Bill Gates has a 500k short on Tesla. Gates and Musk had been planning on doing some philanthropic projects together. But after multiple people at a TED conference told Musk about Gates, who postures himself as something of a climate change warrior and yet is hoping to profit off Teslaโs failure (about as likely as Apple tanking, at this point) even though Tesla has done more than any other company to help accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy, Musk inquired as to whether the rumor was true. (NYT got ahold of the texts somehow.) Not a good look, Billy.
![Twitter avatar for @elonmusk](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/elonmusk.jpg)
![Twitter avatar for @frank_thelen](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/frank_thelen.jpg)
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![Twitter avatar for @RihardJarc](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/RihardJarc.jpg)
I feel like Musk has a right to be a little peeved. And I'm sorry, but he's a funny dude. Makes every other billionaire seem dry as dust (Bezos and his WaPo, come on).
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I love when someone like Mr. Wisdom here, โa consultant who provides anti-racism lectures to institutions," implies a desire to use violence against others despite the fact that thereโs a 100% chance heโs never touched a gun (do bare minimum research on the guy, it's dispositive, trust me), let alone fired one, and probably hasnโt been in a physical altercation of any kind since maybe grade school. Mr. Wisdom, if you're reading this (-0.05% chance, admittedly), I invite you to be the first ever guest on the Euphoric Recall Podcast. It'll be fun. We can do a little verbal sparring and I can embarrass you.
![Twitter avatar for @pmarca](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/pmarca.jpg)
(Preference falsification is when people lie about their true opinions and conform to socially acceptable preferences instead. In private theyโll say one thing; in public, theyโll say another.)
![Twitter avatar for @WalterIsaacson](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/WalterIsaacson.jpg)
![Twitter avatar for @kittypurrzog](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/kittypurrzog.jpg)
NO! REALLY?
![Twitter avatar for @MaryMargOlohan](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/MaryMargOlohan.jpg)
Be The Catcher
This is an actual journalist, and those arenโt real guns.
You donโt have to be some kind of gun nut to realize this. Look at the price tags, moron.
![Twitter avatar for @PadraigBelton](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/PadraigBelton.jpg)
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Johnny Depp is a funny dude.
Has the #MeToo movement too often been used dishonestly for power, clout, and leverage? Ruins the entire movement's legitimacy.
![Twitter avatar for @Bruce_Cares](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/Bruce_Cares.jpg)
โDisinformationโ
![Twitter avatar for @KatiePavlich](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/KatiePavlich.jpg)
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![Twitter avatar for @ChadGilmartinCA](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/ChadGilmartinCA.jpg)
![Twitter avatar for @TheLeoTerrell](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/TheLeoTerrell.jpg)
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![Twitter avatar for @TulsiGabbard](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/TulsiGabbard.jpg)
Seriously, though.
![Twitter avatar for @Theo_TJ_Jordan](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/Theo_TJ_Jordan.jpg)
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![Twitter avatar for @nytimes](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/nytimes.jpg)
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The desire for absolution among rich white moralizers has reached a new level of desperation.
Our Lord and Savior Tony Fauci
โEquitable Speech.โ Sick hair, my dude.
![Twitter avatar for @thereidout](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/thereidout.jpg)
![Twitter avatar for @leonidragozin](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/leonidragozin.jpg)
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![Twitter avatar for @tomgara](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/tomgara.jpg)
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![Twitter avatar for @dodo](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/dodo.jpg)
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![Twitter avatar for @dodo](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/dodo.jpg)
White House Chief of Staff implies that Biden can win re-election with 36% approval.
![Twitter avatar for @WHCOS](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/WHCOS.jpg)
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The Biden Administration knows that the majority of Americans disapprove of what theyโre doing, but don't care?
Awkward
Doesn't sound all that bad to meโฆ
![Twitter avatar for @GovRonDeSantis](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/GovRonDeSantis.jpg)
Heโs an Annapolis grad but I can't hold it against him.
The key to promoting disinformation is pretending youโre the one fighting it.
Meanwhile, in China, where the Zero-Covid zealots are at the reinsโฆ
![Twitter avatar for @dog_rates](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/dog_rates.jpg)
Presented without comment, just thought it was interesting.
The fact that Gavin Newsome is ahead of DeSantis makes me doubt these numbers. Newsome is not well-liked in California, to put it mildly.
![Twitter avatar for @dog_rates](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/dog_rates.jpg)
![a tan and black bloodhound wearing a blue collar leaps up at the camera, mouth open, eyes crazed and slightly crossed, and both front feet off the ground. her tail is out at a wonky angle, and her ears are flapping out at right angles from her head. she is beauty and grace](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFReNxwGVsAAvS2m.jpg)
![tan and black bloodhound is mid-jump again. her right ear has flapped entirely over the top of her noggin in a blurry pompadour, and her lips are splayed outward from her snout in a cartoonish diagonal line. the whites of her eyes are visible as the skin on her face continues its epic dance](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFReNxwxUYAA3bdp.jpg)
![what goes up must come down. the tan and black bloodhound appears to be dropping down onto her front paws. her jowl did not get the memo and is still midair somewhere around her ears, which are blurred in motion. one eye looks up and the other looks down. she is powerful](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFReNxwFUUAAJSTe.jpg)
![tan and black bloodhound lunges upward from out of frame. her left ear is extended straight up in the air, and her mouth is open with jowls flapping up, revealing a few very shiny teeth. she must be very excited to see you](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFReNxwxUUAIUD7v.jpg)