People Are Talking: Atwitter Over The Purchase Of A Social Media Platform

It's time to Break It Down!

 

In case you haven’t heard, Elon Musk, currently accorded the title, “The World’s Richest Man,” is buying Twitter. Conservatives are cheering, underscoring their confidence, that Musk who has signaled his opposition to the media conglomerate’s initiatives to moderate extremism, such as reining in content, and suspending accounts that harass other users and/or traffic in misinformation, A.K.A. fake news.

 

For his part, Musk has argued that Twitter has overcorrected in such cases. Now that he is in a position to do something other than editorialize on the subject, social media users in general, and the Twitterverse in particular, are tuning in to see just what steps the CEO of Tesla, the world’s most valuable car company, SpaceX, whose mission is to ascertain how to transport humans to other planets in the event the Earth becomes uninhabitable, and now, new owner of Twitter, will take to make their fondest social media dreams come true. As Allison Morrow, of CNN Business noted yesterday, “Musk is not only the world’s richest person, he is arguably its most powerful too.” 

 

In conversations I have either participated in, or observed about the matter, conservatives have overwhelmingly backed the idea of Musk. Some approached apoplexy when it appeared for a fleeting moment that Twitter might nix the offer. Those individuals acted almost personally offended that some elitist liberal cabal would eschew the interests of stockholders by refusing the sweetheart deal Musk had put on the table. Of course, one of the first rules of negotiation, if it’s in fact a negotiation is, never accept the first offer. In the end, the offer was accepted, pretty much as it originated. That’s probably a clear indication, as any, that the fiduciary responsibility was taken seriously, as the arbiters of the refusal did not allow the initial offer to be diminished, before accepting it.

 

I saw another erstwhile conservative equate Musk buying Twitter with Jeff Bezos purchasing the Washington Post. While they are fundamentally different entities, from purpose, to structure, at the end of the day, they are both contemporary media platforms, and their content influences people around the globe. The deeper point, however, wasn’t related to the types of media, but to the idea of liberals expressing grave concerns about Musk’s acquisition, vs. Bezos’. That comparison suggests, all such acquisitions are equal, and liberals thought they were getting some kind of upper hand when Bezos bought the post, and that Musk buying Twitter is just a case of turnabout being fair play.

 

On one hand, it’s fair to say not all liberals think the same; nor do they all subscribe to the same principles. Ostensibly, that could also be said of conservatives. Laying all that to one side, both liberals and conservatives tend to paint with a broad brush. Most liberals and Democrats (not all Democrats are liberal) believe that all conservatives and Republicans support Trump. While not “all” do, polling consistently suggests that most, in fact, do. Of course, many conservatives and Republicans (it could be most) believe Hillary and Democrats ran a pedophilia ring out of a pizza restaurant in DC, and that Obama is not an American. Some even believe Obama was responsible for the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina.

 

The essence of conservative’s support for Trump circles back to the litmus test of the moment. Ergo, if you support Trump, you must believe:

 

            The 2020 Election was stolen

            Joe Biden is not the duly elected POTUS

            There was no insurrection on January 6, 2021

 

Elon Musk may reverse Twitter practices on fake news. But, if you believe any or all the three items above…it is my opinion that you’ve been hoodwinked, bamboozled, lead astray, run amok, and flat out deceived. I’ll leave it there. “People Are Talking: Atwitter Over The Purchase Of A Social Media Platform!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

 

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

 

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

 

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/26/business/elon-musk-richest-person-twitter-tesla-spacex/index.html

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2022/04/people-are-talking-atwitter-over.html

Attorney Still Caping For 45; Withholding Over 3,000 Emails

It's time to Break It Down!

 

As tempting as it was to make today’s post a 4/20 blog, I “Just said no!” The 2020 Presidential Election was 523 days ago. In less than two weeks, it will have been a year and a half. Still, an attorney for the previous president, a man who endeavored to negate the incumbent’s defeat through a variety of legal maneuvers and assorted wrangling, continues the fight, in his own way.   

 

As CNN.com reported yesterday, John Eastman, a far-right lawyer for the then-President who wanted to block his electoral loss in 2020, is still withholding about 3,200 documents from the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, according to a new court filing this week.

In earlier developments, the court ordered Attorney Eastman to release 101 documents, which he had tried, unsuccessfully, to claim were confidential legal communications related to the former president. These documents were emails from January 4 through January 7, 2021.

 

Since that ruling, Mr. Eastman has continued to parse almost 100,000 pages of emails, also sought by the House Select Committee. These emails are from other dates around the election. Meanwhile he is currently arguing that thousands of documents, comprising about 36,000 pages, which are being sought by the House Select Committee, in its effort to investigate the January 6 insurrection, should remain confidential. The House Select Committee made a new filing this week.

 

David Carter, a Federal Judge in Santa Ana, California, is weighing whether Eastman can keep those pages secret. Carter is the same Judge who ruled tot force Eastman to release the 101 documents. That decision was pivotal for the Select Committee and represented a setback for Eastman.

 

Eastman’s lawsuit is also a, not so subtle, reminder that the Select Committee continues to be tied up in court on multiple fronts. As they fight for their subpoenas to be executed and adhered to, the clock is set to become as much a factor as uncooperative witnesses with a clear mission to obstruct the Select Committee’s objective of getting to the bottom of/determining the root causes of the January 6 hostilities.

 

The 101 emails the Select Committee received two weeks ago capture extensive discussions among Eastman and others about using court cases as a political argument to block Congress from certifying the vote, according to past proceedings in the court case.

 

In one email, a draft memo for Rudy Giuliani, that was obtained by the committee, the judge decided it was potentially being used to plan a crime. The memo recommended that then-Vice President Mike Pence reject some states' electors during the January 6 congressional meeting.

 

About that email, Judge Carter wrote, "This may have been the first time members of the President’s team transformed a legal interpretation of the Electoral Count Act into a day-by-day plan of action.

 

"Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that the President corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.”

 

As a result of determining the other emails he ordered released, were not about litigation, Judge Carter ruled they could not be protected as the work of an attorney. His reasoning was a startling acknowledgment by a federal court that the President's interest in overturning the election could be considered criminal. 

 

The House committee does not have the wherewithal to prosecute 45 or his allies, but the panel has considered formally asking the Justice Department to investigate. In the case, the House made the bold move of arguing the President was trying to obstruct Congress and defraud the government by blocking his loss of the election and discussing it with Eastman, an argument with which Judge Carter agreed.

 

In addition, the state of California's attorney regulators are reviewing Eastman's legal ethics related to the election, though neither the former president, nor Eastman have been charged with any crime. Yet.

 

Judge Carter wrote, "If the country does not commit to investigating and pursuing accountability for those responsible, the Court fears January 6 will repeat itself.”

 

Eastman did not appeal Carter's ruling on the 101 documents. “Attorney Still Caping For 45; Withholding Over 3,000 Emails!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

 

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

 

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

 

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/19/politics/john-eastman-january-6-documents/index.html

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2022/04/attorney-still-caping-for-45.html

 

Excellence Now, Excellence Forever

It's time to Break It Down!

 

So, Monday, I had the kind of opportunity that makes parents proud. So much so, that I am taking a point of personal privilege and writing about it. The it in this case being my family…a topic I explore, every once in a blue moon.

 

My wife and I ventured a couple of states south to the Peach State, where our daughter is projected to wrap up her graduate studies in atmospheric sciences this summer. Shelby, long an academic superstar, graduated as salutatorian of her high school senior class, mastering the rigorous International Baccalaureate curriculum along the way, graduated with honors from college, and Monday, as a graduate student, she was inducted into the prestigious Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

 

The society's motto is Φιλοσοφία Kρατείτω Φωτῶν (Philosophía Krateítõ Phõtôn), which is translated as "Let the love of learning rule humanity", and its mission is "to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others." Kappa Phi is a member of the Honor Society Caucus, which is composed of four honor societies: Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi, and Omicron Delta Kappa.

 

Day tripping down to Athens for the quick visit of the University of Georgia’s campus was a pleasant getaway. We had visited the town to help set up Shelby’s first apartment, but neither of us had spent any time exploring the campus. Admittedly, it was a quick trip, but purpose-driven visit, so our exposure to the campus footprint was limited. But we liked what we saw.

 

Much more important than campus aesthetics is the reason for our jaunt, seeing our daughter get recognized for successfully navigating the rigors of a challenging course of study at a major American University. It was comforting to note that among her peers, professors, and advisors, Shelby appeared in her element. Her advisor was especially laudatory as he extolled her serious studentship. I think her mom was particularly comforted by the external confirmation that she had done a great job in igniting Shelby’s passion for learning.

 

Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most selective all-discipline honor society. The organization’s mission is to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others,

 

The Badge of the Society is a globe against the background of the sun, whose rays form an expansive corona and radiate in a number of symmetrical equal concentrations from behind the globe. These signify equivalence among the various branches of learning and represent dissemination of truth as light. Encircling the globe is a band containing the Greek letters for Phi Kappa Phi and symbolizing a fraternal bond which girds the earth and the lovers of wisdom in a common purpose.

 

The Seal of the Society has at its center the Badge. This is in turn surrounded by a crenelated line which represents the battlements and walls of Troy and which symbolizes a technological aspect of the ancient Greek culture reflected by the Society. In the space between this line and the periphery of the Seal appear three stars just above the Badge, one for each of the three original chapters. Just below the Badge is the phrase “Founded 1897.”

 

The Ribbon of the Society is a meander pattern which is common in ancient Greek art and thus symbolizes the classical features of the society.

 

Phi Kappa Phi’s motto, as noted above is, “Let the love of learning rule humanity;” its mission, “to recognize and promote excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service of others.” Congratulations Shelby..."Excellence Now, Excellence Forever!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

 

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

 

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

 

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Kappa_Phi

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2022/04/excellence-now-excellence-forever.html

It's A GDTBATH

It's time to Break It Down!

 

Monday night was the end of this year’s college basketball season. Congratulations to the Kansas Jayhawks, the 2022 NCAA College Basketball’s National Champions. May they, Coach Bill Self, staff, students, and fans thoroughly enjoy their well-deserved “One Shining Moment.”

 

Of course, this post is not about any of the above. It’s an homage to the runner-up University of North Carolina Tar Heels. If you are familiar with my posts, you know that from time to time, I write about the Heels. This is one of those posts.

 

The past year has been one of a roller-coaster of experiences for the team, and emotions for fans. On April 1, 2021, Roy Williams, the Tar Heel Coach for 18 years abruptly announced his retirement. Like a lot of Tar Heel fans, I initially thought it was an April Fools’ Day prank. It wasn’t.

 

Three days later, on April 4, the University of North Carolina named Tar Heel Assistant Coach Hubert Davis as their new Head Coach. A year later, Coach Davis and the Tar Heels were at the center of college basketball’s biggest, most compelling stage, the NCAA Championship Game, held this year at the New Orleans Super Dome.

 

North Carolina is an elite program. The Heels started playing basketball in 1910 and have amassed a record of 2,321 wins and 831 losses, for a winning percentage of .736. UNC Hoops has an extraordinary list of superlatives that include:

 

-       Third winningest program of all-time

-       1 Premo- Poretta Title (Pre-NCAA), undefeated season 

-       1 Helms Foundation Title (Pre NCAA), undefeated season

-       6 National Titles, including an undefeated season in 1957 (Third most all-time)

-       6 National Runner-up finishes, including 2022

-       21 Final Four Appearances (most all-time)

-       29 Elite Eight Appearances

-       35 Sweet Sixteen Appearances

-       52 NCAA Tournament Appearances

-       8 Southern Conference Tournament Titles

-       9 Southern Conference Regular Season Titles

-       18 ACC Tournament Titles

-       32 ACC Regular Season Titles (most all-time)

-       49 All-American Players (Chosen 78 Times)

-       130 NCAA Tournament Wins (most all-time) 

-       17 Number 1 NCAA Tournament Seeds (most all-time)

-       928 Weeks Ranked in the AP Top 25

-       14 Times Defeated the Number 1 Ranked Team in the Country (8 Times – Duke)

-       8 Retired Jerseys (Must have won at least 1 National Player of the Year Award

-       43 Honored Jerseys (Must have won National Title MVP, Olympic Gold Medalist, 1^st or 2^nd Team All-America, ACC Player of the Year, or NCAA Tournament MOP honors)

-       11 Members of the Naismith Hall of Fame (5 as Coach)

-       21 Olympians (6 Coaches)

-       12 Current NBA Players

-       19 Current International League Players

-       16 NBA Coaches and Executives

-       Longest home winning streak against one opponent

-       Most consecutive 20-win seasons

-       Most consecutive top-three ACC finishes

-       Most 25-win seasons

 

Given Carolina’s amazingly consistent success, this season may not stand out at first glance. But when framed in the context of having had two subpar (for Carolina) seasons before this one, and then sustaining thrashing defeats by Tennessee, Kentucky, Miami, Wake Forest, Duke (at home), and an unexpected loss to a Pittsburgh team that lost more than twice as many conference games as it won, the Heels were thought at one point late in the season to have fallen off the NCAA Bubble. Then an interesting turnabout occurred. They beat Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium. In Coach Krzyzewski’s last home game. Where He, Duke, and ESPN has organized an epic retirement celebration and send-off to the ACC Tournament. In a victory that will live in infamy (in Durham), the Tar Heels post season life was born. The Heels were forthwith launched on an NCAA Tourney run that saw four different players lead them in scoring in their first four tournament games, all wins, including a victory of the Number 1 Seed in the East Region, last year’s Champion, Baylor.

 

Then, for what many fans viewed as the piece de resistance, for the first time ever in NCAA Tournament play, the 8 Seed Heels faced off against Duke in the nightcap of the Final Four semi-finals. In a certified Instant Classic, the Heels downed Duke, ending Coach K’s season, tournament run, and career. Meanwhile, Carolina’s rookie coach, Hubert Davis, who’d never been a Collegiate Head Coach anywhere, ended what many had envisioned, if not hoped for, a 6^th National Title for Duke and for Coach K, the winningest NCAA Division 1 Coach of all-time. Congratulations Coach Davis; Happy Retirement Coach K. Duke fans and Coach K will have to live with the reality that rookie Hubert Davis pulled back the curtain and went 2-1 against the Great and Powerful K.

 

Many Tar Heel fans were so ecstatic at this (for most of the season) unexpected outcome that they considered Saturday night’s win their Championship. Do not count me among them. While I was glad we beat Duke, happy we beat Duke twice in one year, excited we beat Duke at Cameron in K’s last home game, delighted we beat duke in the NCAA Tourney, joyful we beat duke in the Final Four, jubilant we ended K’s career on college basketball’s biggest stage, because after all, K, and Duke are our rival (now). Why now? Because I attended Carolina so long ago, North Carolina State was our rival. But that was a lot of years ago.

 

Winning a College Basketball National Championship is a considerable accomplishment. The inception of the Tourney was 1939. It’s been played every year but one, since then, 2020. Thanks Covid. Carolina has won 6 time, third most. Only UCLA, 11, and Kentucky, 8, have won more Titles. Duke is number 4, with 5, and Kansas is number 5, with 4. Undoubtedly, for some fans, their real enthusiasm comes from the stark contrast in trajectory the team made in turning around the season. That’s fair. However, just making it to the Final Four is tough. Win two games against the best remaining four teams at the end of the year is especially challenging. However, if you make it to the Final game, odds of winning the Title are never going to be better. It is for that reason; I rue not having prevailed Monday night. However, rest assured, I am, and forever shall be a proud Tar Heel. “It’s A GDTBATH!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

 

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

 

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

 

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects related to this post, consult the links below:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Tar_Heels_men%27s_basketball#By_the_numbers

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2022/04/its-gdtbath.html